PEOULIAB TO HORSES. 29 



Teeatment of Chronic Cough. — Should it appear that the cough 

 is occasioned by irritation, or an irritable state of the lining mem- 

 brane of the respiratory passages, I recommend the following: 



Fluid Extract of Indian Hemp 1 ounce. 



Syrup of Balsam of Tolou 2 " 



Balsam Copaiba I " 



Mix. 



About a table-spoonful of the above should be given twice, daily, 

 from a small bottle. 



The patient should be coaxed to drink an infusion of linseed now 

 and then ; it will lubricate the surfaces with which it comes in con- 

 tact, lessen the cough, and tend to improve the condition. 



Attention must be paid to the Diet. An irritable state of the mu- 

 cous surfaces is apt to be aggravated by the use of hay of an infei'ior 

 quality ; in fact, poor hay, dusty or musty, is dear at any price, and 

 is not, in that condition, fit for food. If the patient has been long 

 kept on any particular kind of provender, a change becomes neces- 

 sary — then such articles as linseed, sliced carrots, green feed, or oat 

 straw, may advantageously be given. 



Should the cough be dependent on disease of the liver, I would 

 advise the owner of the animal to consult a veterinary surgeon. 



See Magnetic Horse Powders. 



FISTULOUS WITHERS. 



Cause of Fistulous Withers. — Various are the causes assigned, 

 by veterinary writers, for the origin of fistulous withers; but it may 

 be laid down, as a general rule, that this accidental, local afiiiction is 

 occasioued by local injury inflicted by a bad-fitted collar or saddle; 

 which, one or the other, are continually worn, and are constantly 

 augmenting the irritation. In fitting a collar or saddle to a horse's 

 back, or shoulders, the harness-maker should study the conformation 

 of the parts to be fitted, so as to distribute an equal pressure on all 

 the bearing parts. Unequal pressure is usually attended or followed 

 by local injury, inflammatory tumor, and suppuration ; and the result 

 is " fistulous withers." 



Nature of Fistulous Withers. — In the first stage a tumor, or 

 inflammatory swelling, varying in size, is observed in the dorsal 

 spines, just at the top of the shoulder blade ; it appears hot and 

 tender, and resembles a common boil ; after a short time it suppu- 

 rates, and then may be considered as a common local abscess ; soon 

 4ihe matter accumulates, and then is apt to spread and burrow in 

 various directions, and instances have occurred where the matter 

 has burrowed beneath the scapula, and found its way to the point of 

 the elbow. The fistulous condition, however, does not exist until 

 the matter, by absorption, has created several canals, or " pipes," as 

 they are sometimes called; the skin is then also broken, and we have 

 a real case of fistulous withers. 



Occasionally the matter becomes so acrimonious and morbid that 



