LYMPHATITIS. 167 



its duration so short as not to be observed by any except a 

 careful observer. Generally, the attack is sudden ; the owner, 

 or servant in care, may go now, as it were, out of the stable, 

 and leave his horse, to all appearance, perfectly well, and upon 

 returning, in an hour hence, he will find him standing upon 

 three legs, while the fourth will be flexed, (raised), and held 

 high from the ground. The pulse will vary in its beats accord- 

 ing to the intensity of the attack, rarely, however, beating less 

 than fifty or more than one hundred per minute, while the res- 

 piration may be fifteen or twenty, or even forty, in the same 

 interval of time. If the affected limb be examined, it will be 

 found hot and swollen, and tender if pressed upon, which 

 symptoms, for many hours, will gradually increase in intensity. 

 ■ Soon after commencement, a number of vessels may be seen 

 running across the limb, in various directions, of about the 

 thickness of a quill; they are the most numerous, however, 

 upon the inner surface of the leg, where they appear to termi- 

 nate in round or irregularly formed masses, which masses are 

 acutely tender if squeezed w^ith the hand. These prominent 

 vessels are the inflamed lymphatics, and the prominent masses 

 referred to are the inflamed lymphatic glands. Sometimes the 

 swelling extends from the junction of the limb with the body 

 down to the very foot; at other times it only reaches down to 

 the hough ; and, when very severe, a sort of dew exudes from 

 the skin and lies upon the hair. 



"The coarser the breed and the older the animal, the greater 

 the liability to lymphatitis. Young, coarse-bred horses are 

 also very prone to it, particularly if highly fed and under- 

 worked; but in the young horse, the disease, in the majority 

 of cases, if not in all, quickly runs its course, and the afflicted 

 limb becomes in time perfectly restored ; and, if due precau- 

 tion be taken, the malady may not again manifest itself, at 

 least for years to come; while, in the old horse, the diseased 

 limb is seldom or never reduced ; it remains permanently thick- 

 ened, and the animal is extremely liable to have acute or sub- 



