SPECIAL REPORT 



ON 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



THE EXAMINATION OF A SICK HORSE. 



By Leonabd Peabson, B. S., V. M. D. 



In the examination of a sick horse it is important to have a method 

 or system. If a definite phm of examination is followed one may feel 

 reasonably sure, when the examination is finished, that no important 

 point has l)een overlooked and that the examiner is in a position to 

 arriAe at an opinion that is as accurate as is possible for him. Of 

 course, an experienced eye can see, and a trained hand can feel, slight 

 alterations or variations from the normal that are not perceptible to 

 the unskilled observer. A thorough knowledge of the conditions that 

 exist in health is of the highest importance, because it is only by a 

 knowledge of what is right that one can surely detect a wrong condi- 

 tion. A knowledge of anatomy, or of the structure of the body, 

 and of physiology, or the functions and activities of the body, lie at 

 the bottom of accuracy of diagnosis. It is imj^ortant to remembei- 

 that animals of ditl'erent races or families deport themselves ilitFer- 

 ently under the influence of the same disease or pathological prcx-ess. 

 The sensitive and highly organized thoroughbred resists cerebral 

 depression more than does the lymphatic draft horse. Hence a de- 

 gree of fever that does not produce marked dullness in a thorough- 

 bred may cause the most al)ject dejection in a coarsely bred, heavy 

 draft horse. This and similar facts are of vast importance in the 

 diagnosis of disease and in the recognition of its significance. 



The order of examination, as given hereafter, is one that has proved 

 to be comparatively easy of application and sufficiently thorough for 

 the purpose of the readei*s- of this work, and is recommended by 

 several writers. 



