164 THE VETERINAEY SCIENCE. 



throat, sometimes under the throat and sometimes at the sides. 

 This lump gradually gets larger and causes the animal to have- 

 difficulty in breathing, he is dull, hangs his head and soon becomes 

 very gaunt. The disease generally runs its course in from six to 

 twelve days, the abscess or lump around the throat generally 

 breaks and runs, and he nearly always runs at the nose, which is a 

 good sign, in some cases there is more than one lump or abscess^ 

 forms, and if the poison is in the system it is best to have them 

 brought to a head and let the discharge out for this gets the 

 poison out of the blood. 



Treatment. — ^This is very satisfactory in most cases : Always 

 allow the disease to run its course, give plenty of pure air, clothe 

 the body according to the season of the year, feed on good food, 

 such as boiled oats or chop stuff with plenty of boiled flaxseed in 

 it to keep the bowels loose. This is a disease that does not re- 

 quire much medicine. Give the following powder : 



Nitrate of Potash or Saltpetre ^ pound. 



Sulphur ^ " 



Mix thoroughly and give a teaspoonful three times a day on 

 his tongue with a spoon. Rub the throat and lumps well with 

 white liniment three times a day, apply a hot poultice of half lin- 

 seed meal and bran to the throat every night, this will draw the 

 abscess or swelling to a head and cause it to break, which is 

 better than lancing. In cold weather it is best to apply a mustard 

 plaster to the swelling instead of a poultice, for after the poultice 

 is taken oflf the animal is apt to catch cold. Never, in any case, 

 burn sulphur under the animal's nose, because it is apt to set up 

 inflammation of the lungs. In case the lump gets so large around 

 the throat that the animal's life is threatened by choking, you 

 may then perform the operation of tracheotomy, which is per- 

 formed by cutting into the windpipe on the underside about nine 

 inches down the neck from the larynx (Adam's apple). About 

 thi part of the neck you will find that the windpipe is 

 almost bare — just covered with the skin — cut a hole through the 

 skin about two and one-half inches long, then cut across three of 

 the rings of the windpipe and have the regular tracheotomy tube 

 to put in the hole and keep the rings open so the horse can 

 breathe through this opening until the abscess or lump breaks 

 and the swelling goes down so he can breathe through his throat, 

 when this occurs take the tube out and draw the skin back to its 



