BULLOUS INFLAMMATION 149 



Treatment would be precisely the same as that prescribed for the 

 pustular form of eczema. 



Prurigo. — This disease is distinguished by an eruption of slightly 

 raised papules, which in the case of a horse can be felt more easily than 

 seen. Considerable itching attends the eruption, and as a result of the 

 scratching or biting the irritation rapidly increases; the tops of some of 

 the pimples are frequently rubbed oft', and a blood-coloured scab is formed. 

 In severe attacks the disease is complicated with the secondary conse- 

 quences produced by scratching. It is sometimes difticult to distinguish 

 between prurigo and some stages of eczema. Prurigo generally arises 

 from debility, due to insufticient food, hard work, and absence of proper 

 sanitary precautions. It may be looked upon as one of the consequences 

 of bad stable management. 



The treatment consequently will consist chiefly in liberal feeding, 

 while at the same time the bowels should be carefully regulated in their 

 action by the occasional administration of a dose of laxative medicine, of 

 which sulphate of magnesia is perhaps the most to be preferred. Vege- 

 table a,nd iron tonics, or both combined, may be necessary where great 

 debility exists. Some cases yield more readily to a run at grass and a 

 course of alterative medicine. As external applications, a lotion of vinegar 

 and water, or glycerine with a solution of the acetate of lead, will be 

 found to allay the irritation. 



BULLOUS INFLAMMATION 



Herpes is the only disease which comes under this heading, so far 

 as the horse is concerned. It consists of the eruption of vesicles in 

 patches of an irregular form; the vesicles are sometimes very large, and 

 are called blebs or bullae. The lips in the horse are sometimes the seat 

 of the disease, and it also appears round the coronets; the mucous mem- 

 brane of the mouth is also sometimes invaded. A characteristic variety 

 of the disease is herpes circinatus, in which the eruption of vesicles ap- 

 pears on various parts of the body. In this form the disease is commonly 

 described as ringworm; it is, however, quite distinct from the true 

 contagious ringworm, which depends on the presence of a parasitic plant. 

 In herpetic ringworm the vesicles appear in a ring surrounding a patch 

 of healthy skin, whereas in parasitic ringworm the disease commences in 

 the centre and spreads outwards. Herpes depends as a rule upon some 

 derangement of the digestive organs, and ceases when the normal condition 

 is restored. Very little treatment is necessary. The local irritation can 

 be removed by the application of a lotion composed of a solution of the 



