PARASITIC DISEASES OF THE HORSE 159 



together iii some instances as to form considerable patches. Sometimes 

 the amount of blood actually discharged is slight, at others it is very 

 considerable. The breakage of the vessels and leakage may also attack 

 the lungs, when it is attended with a convulsive cough and marked distress 

 in breathing. 



Injuries in the form of contusions usually result in swelling out of all 

 proportion to the violence inflicted, the enlargement thus occasioned 

 being produced by the escape of blood into the tissues of the part. 



As a skin affection it shows itself by the presence of numerous small 

 points, from which blood or blood-stained serosity oozes from the surface 

 of the integument, and hangs from the ends of the hairs in small red or 

 reddish-yellow drops. 



The diagnosis of the disease is affirmed when the bleeding, whether 

 in one form or the other, is repeated from time to time, in which case 

 it may give rise to anaemia, loss of condition, and general debility. 



Treatment. — Animals affected with this disease should not be sub- 

 jected to severe exertion, and should be protected against all forms of 

 injury. Where operations require to be performed, it must be under- 

 stood that they can only be carried out at the risk of inducing dangerous, 

 if not fatal, hemorrhage. Operations should therefore be avoided if possible. 

 In bleeding from the skin and mucous membrane, small repeated doses of 

 perchloride of iron, alone or in combination with turpentine, may be given 

 whenever the hemorrhage appears. The patient should be kept perfectly 

 quiet, and confined in a cool well- ventilated box. The cessation of bleeding 

 should be followed by the administration of small repeated doses of nux 

 vomica and quinine, which may be given in the food. 



Whenever a tendency to this disease is known to exist, the general 

 health should be upheld by a liberal allowance of good food, regular and 

 moderate work, and strict regard to the sanitary condition of the stable 

 and other surroundings. 



13. PARASITIC DISEASES OF THE HORSE 



INTRODUCTORY 



Parasites, in the common acceptation of the term, are presumed to 

 be worms of some kind which infest the internal organs of the higher 

 animals. In reality the word has a much more extensive meaning, as it 

 applies literally to all kinds of organisms which live upon other and higher 

 organisms, and it is quite within the limits of possibility that science may 



