6 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



which is at first moderately full, becomes weak and compressible, the 

 number being with difficulty counted owing to its rapidity and want of 

 resistance to the touch. Auscultation yields a minute crepitating sound, 

 besides a harsh bronchial noise in the place of the ordinary murmur of 

 healthy respiration, and later there are areas in which the sounds are much 

 subdued. 



Cases of pulmonary congestion from excessive exertion, althougli ex- 

 hibiting the severest distress, are more likely to recover than the so-called 

 passive form when complicating diseases of a febrile and exhausting nature. 

 Whether as a result of overtaxing the animal's capacity, or as a sequel 

 to other affections, its course is rapidly fatal unless checked by treat- 

 ment. 



Treatment. — In attempting any kind of treatment the oliject in view 

 is to relieve the overtaxed pulmonary vessels of their surplus blood, and to 

 impart tone to them and to the embarrassed and enfeebled heart. If this 

 can be done promptly the battle is half-fought. If the hunting man is 

 horseman enough to recognize when his mount is " pumped out ", he may 

 accomplish it by pulling up witli the horse's head to the wind, slacking out 

 the girths, hand-rubbing the legs, pulling the ears, and giving the contents 

 of his flask to the exhausted steed. Many a horse is thus saved by a 

 judicious rider with that intelligent sympathy which every man should 

 have who rides to hounds. Too many do not possess it, or assume that a 

 hired horse must be in the pink of condition and have no weakness that 

 shall curtail the pleasure of his rider; " the last ounce", as the phrase goes, 

 is got out of the animal by whip and spur, and he finally comes to a stand- 

 still, or a check occurs too late to save a high-spirited animal that will go 

 till he drops. In such a situation the propriety of bleeding can hardly be 

 called in question, but it is, comparatively speaking, a lost art among 

 horsemen, who at one time were always ready to perform the operation 

 with more zeal than judgment. The exhausted hunter, after first being 

 allowed to recover himself, should be led to the nearest stable and put into 

 the most airy box obtainable. The veterinary surgeon, when summoned, 

 may not consider it too late to bleed, especially if the pulse is found fuller 

 after a stimulant has b.een given. Every effort should be made to restore 

 the circulation by friction, vigorous wisping of the body with straw, chafing 

 the legs and ears, bandaging, and clothing. Alcoholic stimulants, such as 

 gin or whisky, are mostly obtainable without much delay, and should be 

 given at once or as soon as the animal has recovered his " wind ". Some 

 authorities recommend carbonate of ammonia with digitalis, for which they 

 claim the double advantage of increasing the power and diminishing the 

 number of the heart's contractions. The doses, whether of alcohol oi other 



