HORSE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



97 



cies resembles the common earthworm in 

 s.11 respects but color, which is a pinkish 

 white. It inhabits the small intestines, 

 though it is sometimes, but very rarely, 

 found in the stomach. The symptoms are 

 a rough, staring, hollow coat — a craving 

 appetite — more or less emaciation — the 

 passage of mucus with the foeces, and 

 very often a small portion of this remains 

 outside the anus, and dries there. That 

 part generally itches, and in the attempt 

 to rub it the tail is denuded of hair ; but 

 this may arise from vermin in it, or 

 from mere irritation of the anus from 

 other causes. When these several symp- 

 toms are combined, it may with some de- 

 gree of certainty be supposed that there 

 are worms in the intestines, but before 

 proceeding to dislodge them, it is always 

 the wisest plan to obtain proof positive of 

 their existence, by giving an ordinary 

 dose of physic, when, on watching the 

 evacuations, one or more worms may gen- 

 erally be discovered if they are present. 

 When the case is clearly made out the 

 plan of treatment is as follows : 



Take of Tartar Emetic I drachm. 



Powdered Ginger - ~ % " 

 Linseed Meal sufficient to make into a 

 ball with boiling water. 



One should be given every morning for 

 a week, then a dose of physic, linseed 

 oil being the most proper. Let the stom- 

 ach rest a week ; give another course of 

 balls and dose of physic, after which let 

 the horse have a drachm of sulphate of 

 iron (powdered) twice a day with his feed 

 of corn. 



There is no medicine which is so effect- 

 ual for moving worms in the horse as tartar 

 emetic, and none which is so entirely in- 

 nocuous to the stomach. Calomel and 

 spirit of turpentine Were formerly in use 

 as vermifuges, but they are both danger- 

 ous drugs; the former, if given for any 

 length of time, causing great derange- 

 ment of the stomach and liver; and the 

 latter often producing considerable in- 

 flammation after a single dose, if suffi- 

 ciently large to cause the expulsion of the 

 worms. Linseed oil given in half-pint 

 doses every morning is also an excellent 

 vermifuge, but not equal to the tartar 

 emetic. If this quantity does not relax the 

 bowels, it may be increased until they aae 

 rendered slightly more loose than usual, 

 but avoiding anything like purgation. 



The smaller species of intestinal worm 

 chiefly inhabits the rectum, but is oc- 

 casionally found in the colon and caecum. 

 It produces great irritation and uneasiness, 

 but has not the same prejudicial effect on 

 the health as the larger parasite. It is 

 about one to two inches in length, and 

 somewhat smaller in diameter than a crow 

 quill. These worms are commonly dis- 

 tinguished as ascarides, but both this spe- 

 cies and the round worm belong to the 

 genus ascaris. The term thread worm is 

 more correctly applied, as they are not 

 unlike sections of stout threat or cotton. 

 The only symptom by which their pres- 

 ence can be made out is the rubbing, of 

 the tail, when if, on examination, no ver- 

 min or eruption, is found in the dock, it 

 may be presumed that worms exist in the 

 rectum. The remedy for these worms is 

 by the injection every morning for a week 

 of a pint of linseed oil, containing two 

 drachms of spirits of turpentine. This will 

 either kill or bring away the worms, with 

 the exception of a few which are driven 

 by it higher up into the colon, but by 

 waiting a week or ten days (during which 

 time they will have re-entered the rectum)- 

 and then repeating the process, they may 

 generally be entirely expelled. The sul- 

 phate of iron must be given here, as 

 before described. 



HORSE, Liver, Diseases of the.— The 

 liver or the horse is less liable to disease 

 than that of any other domestic animal, 

 and the symptoms of its occurrence are 

 so obscure that it is seldom until a post- 

 mortem examination that a discovery is 

 made of its existence. This unerring 

 guide, however, informs us that the liver 

 is sometimes unnaturally enlarged and 

 hard, at others softened, and in others 

 again the subject of cancerous deposits. 

 It is also attacked by inflammation, of 

 which the symptoms are feverish ; rapid 

 pulse, not hard, and generally fuller than 

 usual ; appetite bad ; restlessness, and the' 

 patient often looking round to his right 

 side with an anxious expression, not in- 

 dicative of severe pain; slight tenderness 

 of the right side; but this not easily made 

 out satisfactorily. Bowels generally con- 

 fined, but there is sometimes diarrhoea. 

 Very frequently the whites of the eyes 

 show a tinge of yellow, but anything 

 like jaundice is unknown. The treat- 



