Book VII. DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 917 



5825. The treatment of glanders, it has already been stated, is so uncertain that it is hardly worth the at- 

 tempt ; however, when the extreme value of the horse or the love of experiment leads to it, it may be re- 

 garded as fixed by experience, that nothing but a long course of internal remedies,\drawn from the 

 mineral acids, can effect it. These have all been tried in their endless variety : White recommends the 

 mildest preparations of mercury, as cethiops mineral ; under the conviction that,the more acrid prepara- 

 tions disturb the powers of the constitution so much, as to destroy as effectually as the disease. At the 

 veterinary college the sulphate of , copper (blue vitriol) has been long in use. Others have used the sul. 

 phatcs of iron and zinc. Clark recommends the daily administration of a drink or ball,* composed of 

 the following ingredients : sulphate qf zinc 15 grains, powdered cantharides 7 grains, powdered allspice \5 

 grains ; of which he gives one or two extraordinary proofs of utility. 



5826. Thefarcy is a disease more easily cured than the glanders, of which our daily experience convinces 

 us ; farcy, or farcin, attacks under distinct forms, one of which affects the lymphatics of the skin, and is called 

 the bud or button farcy : the other is principally confined to the hind legs, which it affects by large indura- 

 tions, attended with heat and tenderness. A merd dropsical accumulation of water in the legs sometimes 

 recei\esthena.ineof water farcy J but this has no connection whatever with the true disease in question^: 

 farcy is very contagious, and is gained from either the matter of farcy or from that of glanders. 



5827. Treatment qf farcy. The distended lymphatics or buds may oflen be traced to one sore, which 

 was the originally inoculated part, and in these cases the destruction of this sore, and that of all the 

 farcied buds, will frequently at once cure the disease, which is here purely local. But when the disease 

 has proceeded farther, the virus must be destroyed through the medium of the stomach ; although even 

 in these cases, the cure is rendered more speedy and certain, destroying all the diseased buds, by caustic 

 or by cauterj'. Perhaps no mode is better than the dividing them with a sharp firing iron ; or if deeper 

 seated, by opening each with a lancet, and touching the inner surface with lapis infernalis. The vari- 

 ous mineral acids may any of them be tried as internal remedies with confidence ; never losing sight of 

 the necessity of watching their effects narrowly, and as soon as any derangement of the health appears, 

 to desist from their use ; oxymuriate of quicksilver (corrosive sublimate) may be given in daily doses 

 of fifteen grains ; oxide of arsenic may also be given in similar doses. The subacetate of copper (verdi- 

 gris) may also be tried, often with great advantage, in doses ofa drachm daily. Blaine joins these prepara- 

 tions, and strongly recommends the following: oxymuriate qf quicksilver, oxide of arsenic, subacetate of 

 copper, qf each eight grains ; sulphate of copper one scruple j make into a ball and give every morning, 

 carefully watching the effects, and if it be found to occasion distress, divide, and give half, night and 

 morning. The same author professes to have received great benefit from the use of the following : the 

 expressed juice of clivers or goose-grass, a strong decoction qf hempseeds, and of sassafras, of each six 

 ounces, to be given after the ball. It remains to say, that whatever treatment is pursued will be 

 rendered doubly efficacious if green meat be procured, and the horse be fed wholly on it ; provided the 

 bowels will bear such food ; but if the medicines gripe, by being joined with green food, add to the diet 

 bean-meal. When green meat cannot be procured, carrots usually can ; and when they cannot, still 

 potatoes may be boiled, or the corn may be speared or malted. As a proof of the beneficial eflfects of 

 green meat, a horse, so bad with farcy as to be entirely despaired of, was drawn into a field of tares, and 

 nothing more was done to him, nor further notice taken of him, although so ill as to be unable to rise 

 from the ground when drawn there. By the time he had eaten all the tares within his reach, he was 

 enabled to struggle to more j finally he rose to extend his search, and perfectly recovered. 



SuBSECT. 8. Diseases of the Extremities. 

 5828. Shoulder strains are very rare, most of the lamenesses attributed to the shoulder 

 belong to other parts, and particularly to the feet. Out of one hundred and twenty 

 cases of lameness before, Blaine found that three only arose from ligamentary or mus- 

 cular extension of the shoulder, or rather of the adductor and sustaining muscles : 

 when shoulder strain does happen, it is commonly the consequence of some slip, by 

 which the arm is forced violently outwards. It is less to be wondered at than at first 

 seems probable, that farriers mistake foot lameness for shoulder strains, when we reflect 

 that a contracted foot occasions inaction, and favoring of the limb ; which thus wastes 

 the muscles of the shoulder. Seeing that one shoulder is smaller than the other, the 

 evil is attributed to that, and it is pegged, blistered, swam, and fired, to the torture of 

 the animal and the increase of the foot's contraction by the confinement. In real 

 shoulder strains, the toe is dragged along the ground while in motion ; at rest it is planted 

 forward, but resting on the point of the toe. When the lameness is in the foot, the horse 

 points his foot forward also, but he does so with the whole limb unbent, and the foot 

 flat. These differences are highly necessary to attend to, as well as the peculiar difficulty 

 there is in moving down hill, which he does with reluctance, and by swinging his leg 

 round to avoid flexing it. This lameness may be farther brought to the test by lifting 

 up the fore leg considerably, which, if the evil be in the shoulder, will give evident 

 pain. The muscles between the fore legs are likewise tumefied and tender in these 

 cases. 



5829. The treatment consists, when it is recent, in bleeding in the plate vein, rowelling in the chest, and 

 fomenting with hot water two or three times a day. When the heat and tenderness have subsided, first 

 bathe daily with the astringent wash for strains {Vet. Pharm. 5S^ A'o.l.) for a week; and afterwards, if 

 uecessary, proceed to blister in the usual manner. 



5830. Strain in the whirl bone (5655.). This important joint is sometimes strained, or its ligaments and 

 muscles unnaturally extended, from a greater force being applied to them than their structure is able to 

 bear, or their powers to resist : a Isesion takes place of some of their fibrillae, or in lesser injuries their 

 elasticity is injured by being put on the stretch beyond their power of returning. In all such cases, the 

 parts react, and inflammation follows ; by which heat, tenderness, and swelling ensue. 



5831. TreattnenL The first indication is the same in this as in all ligamentary strains, which is to 

 moderate the inflammation by fomentations, &c. &c., and when that nas subsided, to endeavor by 

 astringents and bracers to restore the tone of the parts : after which, if any swelling remains, from the 

 extravasated blood becoming organised, to promote its absorption by mercurial frictions, and blistering. 

 This applies to all strains, and will direct the treatment therefore of that of strain in the articulation of 

 the thigh with the body also. 



5832. Strain in the stifle, is treated in the same manner. 



5833. Strain or clap in the hack sinews. This is generally an injury done to the sheaths of the tendons, 

 or of the ligaments which bind them down. In very aggravated cases, it sometimes occurs that even the 

 tendons themselves are extended beyond their capacity. The heat, swelling, and tenderness, are first to 

 be combated by fomentations, and if these be extreme, bleed also, and give a dose of physic. .Next 

 proceed to poultice witii saturnine applications, until the heat and swelling are reduced : then use tonics, 



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