80 DISEASES OF THE HOESE. 



by milk punches, eggs, beef tea. oatmeal gruel, etc. In spite of the 

 best care and treatment, however, dysentery is likely to prove ratal. 

 In the case of nurslings, the dam should be placed in a healthy con- 

 dition or, failing in this, milk should be had from another mare or 

 from a cow. 



GASTROENTERITIS^ 



This condition consists in an inflammation of the stomach and 

 intestines. Instead of being confined to the mucous, or lining, mem- 

 brane, as in gastrointestinal catarrh, the inflammatory process ex- 

 tends deeper and may even involve the entire thickness of the wall of 

 the organ. 



This disease may be caused by irritant feed, hot drinks, sudden 

 chilling, moldy or decayed feeds, foul water, parasites, or by chemical 

 poisons. It may also complicate some general diseases, especially 

 infectious diseases, as anthrax, influenza, rabies, or petechial fever. 

 Long-continued obstruction of the bowels or displacement resulting 

 in death are preceded by enteritis. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms differ somewhat with the cause and 

 depend also, to some extent, upon the chief location of the inflamma- 

 tion. In general the animal stops eating or eats but little: it shows 

 colicky pain; fever develops; the pulse and respiration become rapid; 

 the mucous membrane becomes red; the mouth is hot and dry. 

 Pressure upon the abdomen may cause pain. Intestinal sounds can 

 not be heard at tlie flank. There is constipation in the earlier stages 

 that is followed later by diarrhea. The extremities become cold. 

 Sometimes the feces are coated with or contain shreds of fibrin, 

 looking like scraps of dead membrane, and they have an evil, putrid 

 odor. If the disease is caused by moldy or damaged feed there may 

 be great muscular weakness, with partial paralysis of the throat, as 

 shown by inability to swallow. If chemical poisons are the cause, 

 this fact may be shown by the sudden onset of the disease, the his- 

 tory of the administration of a poison or the entire absence of known 

 cause, the rapid development of threatening symptoms, the involve- 

 ment of a series of animals in the absence of a contagious disease, 

 and the special symptoms and alterations known to be produced by 

 certain poisons. To make this chain of evidence complete, the poison 

 may be discovered in the organs of the horse by chemical analysis. 

 In nearly all cases of gastroenteritis there is nervous depression. 



The poisons that are most irritant to the digestive tract are arsenic, 

 corrosive sublimate, sugar of lead, sulphate of copper, sulphate or 

 chlorid of zinc, lye, or other strong alkalies, mineral acids, and, 

 among the vegetable poisons, tobacco, lobelia, and water hemlock. 



Treatment. — The treatment will depend upon the cause, but if this 

 can not be detected, certain general indications may be observed. In 

 all cases feed should be given in small amounts and should be of the 



