286 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



tract that the peculiarities of each should be carefully noted and treated 

 accordingly, instead of insisting upon any hard-and-fast rules regulated 

 by market prices or local prejudice. 



DIAERHCEA 



Definition. — Diarrhoea is the expression of an irritable condition of 

 the alimentary canal, sometimes resulting from an excess, or deficiency 

 or impaired quality of one or other of the digestive secretions. It is 

 marked by an increase in the quantity and fluidity of the alvine discharges, 

 and is accompanied by digestive disturbance, and occasionally by inflam- 

 matory changes involving the stomach and bowels. 



Causes. — The causes that give rise to diarrhoea are improper food, 

 sudden changes from one kind to another, gluttony, eating too fast 

 after long abstinence, imperfect mastication, bad water, chills, overwork, 

 and exposure to vicissitudes of climate. It may also be induced by 

 parasites, chemical irritants, and injudicious drugging, or perverted func- 

 tion of the liver and other organs. Besides these, excessive action of 

 the bowels may be caused by an effort of nature to rid the system of some 

 deleterious agent in the blood. This is not unfrequently seen in advanced 

 lung disease, or where the function of skin or kidney is arrested and 

 impurities which they should discharge are allowed to accumulate in the 

 system. When associated with other diseases, and as a sequel to inflam- 

 matory and wasting disorders, it is a grave condition, and may be the 

 prelude to dissolution; the conditions which bring about like results in 

 the young have often a very different origin and more frequently fatal 

 consequences. In some seasons and in particular situations a mucous 

 catarrh, extending from the mouth to the anus, and especially involving 

 the bowels in certain portions, is sometimes prevalent among foals. Its 

 cause in the majority of instances is some alteration in the character 

 of the milk, or functional derangement of the mare, consequent upon 

 unsuitable food, or it may be a sequel of difficult labour, or parturition 

 troubles. Anything interfering with the well-being of the dam is liable 

 to be reflected in the health of the sucker. A very large proportion of 

 the cases of diarrhoea met with in young foals are to be accounted for 

 I iv long abstinence while the mares are at work, and the overheating 

 and excessive exertion to which the latter are subjected at a time when 

 nature is making a special demand on the system in the supply of milk. 

 Maternal solicitude under certain circumstances renders mares restless 

 and excitable, and takes more out of them than the work assigned 

 would do at any other time. Without discussing here the propriety or 



