468 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



fed and advises the administration of pitch for a length of time 

 and the avoidance of saccharine feed. Otherwise the horse may take 

 a laxative followed by dram doses of carbonate of potash, and the 

 aifected parts may be bathed with soft, tepid water and smeared with 

 an ointment made with vaseline and sulphur. In obstinate cases 

 sulphur may be given daily in the feed. 



PRURITUS, OR NERVOUS IRRITATION OF THE SKIN. 



This is seen in horses fed to excess on grain and hay, kept in close 

 stables, and worked irregularh^ Though most common in summer, 

 it is often severe in hot, close stables in winter. Pimples, vesicles, 

 and abrasions may result, but as the itching is quite as severe en other 

 parts of the skin, these may be the result of scratching merely. It 

 is especially common and inveterate about the roots of the mane and 

 tail. 



Treatmetit consists in a purgative (Glauber's salt, 1 pound), re- 

 stricted, laxative diet, and a wasli of water slightly soured with cil 

 of vitriol and rendered sweet by carbolic acid. If obstinate, give 

 daily 1 ounce of sulphur and 20 grains nux vomica. If the acid 

 lotion fails, 2 drams carbonate of potash and 2 grains of cyanid of 

 potassium in a quart of water will sometimes benefit. If from pin- 

 worms in the rectiun, the itching of the tail may be remedied by an 

 occasional injection of a quart of water in Avhich chips of quassia 

 wood have been steeped for 12 hours. 



HERPES. 



This name has been applied to a disease in which there is an erup- 

 tion of minute vesicles in circular groups or clusters, with little 

 tendency to burst, but rather to diy up into fine scabs. If the vesicles 

 break, they exude a slight, gummy discharge which concretes into a 

 small, hard scab. It is apparently noncontagious and not appreci- 

 ably connected with an}^ disorder of internal organs. It sometimes 

 accompanies or follows specific fevers, and is, on the whole, most fre- 

 quent at the seasons of changing the coat — spring and autumn. It 

 is seen on the lips and pastern, but may appear on any part of the 

 body. The duration of the eruption is two weeks or even more, the 

 tendency being to spontaneous recovery. The affected part is very 

 irritable, causing a sensitiveness and a disposition to rub out of 

 proportion to the extent of the eruption. 



Treatment. — It may be treated by oxid of zinc ointment, and to 

 relieve the irritation a solution of opium or belladonna in water, or 

 of sugar of lead or oil of peppermint. A course of bitters (one-half 

 an ounce of Peruvian bark daily for a week) may be serviceable in 

 bracing the system and producing an indisposition to the eruption. 



