HORSE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



121 



but it may go on for an indefinite time, 

 and is recognized as the first stage ; dur- 

 ing which the health does not suffer, and 

 the horse can, and often does, go on with 

 his ordinary work. It may be distin- 

 guished from ozena by the purple color 

 of the lining membrane, and by the trans- 

 parency and freedom from smell of the 

 discharge. 



In the second stage, the discharge in- 

 creases in quantity, and though still 

 watery and transparent, it is slightly sticky, 

 indicating the presence of mucus. The 

 lymphatic glands below the jaw enlarge, 

 and become adherent to the bone, feel- 

 ing hard to the touch, and almost like 

 exostosis. Here the permanent character 

 of the discharge and the adherence of the 

 glands to the bone are the diagnostic 

 signs from ozena. 



In the third stage, the discharge in- 

 creases rapidly, and becomes yellow and 

 opaque — in fact, it is pure pus. If the 

 nose is carefully examined, its lining mem- 

 brane will be seen to present one or more 

 sores, with depressed centres and ragged 

 edges, and surrounded by small varicose 

 vessels leading to them from all directions. 

 In proportion to the extent of the local 

 mischief, constitutional disturbance is dis- 

 played. The appetite fails — the horse 

 loses flesh and spirits — the coat is turned 

 the wrong way — the skin is hide-bound, 

 .and the legs fill slightly during the day, 

 but go down at night — the nose is, at last, 

 frightfully ulcerated, the sores spreading 

 to the larynx — ulcers break out on the 

 body — and the horse finally dies, worn to 

 a skeleton. 



When the diagnosis of the disease is 

 confirmed, as it is undoubtedly highly 

 contagious, both to other horses and to 

 man himself, the patient ought to be 

 destroyed. By the use of green food, his 

 life may be prolonged for a time, and a 

 certain amount of work may be got out of 

 him; but the risk of contagion is too 

 great to be incurred, and no man who re- 

 gards his own welfare, and that of his 

 neighbors should keep a glandered 

 horse. 



HORSE, Farcy. — This disease appears 

 to depend upon the development of the 

 same poison as in glanders ; but the at- 

 tempt at elimination is made in the skin, 

 instead of the mucous membrane lining 

 the nose. A horse inoculated with slan- 



ders may exhibit farcy, and vice versa ; so 

 that the essence of the disease is the 

 same, but its seat is a different tissue. 



Farcy usually shows itself first by one 

 or two small hard knots in the skin called 

 " farcy buds." These soon soften, and 

 contain a small quantity of pus ; but as 

 this is rapidly absorbed, the lymphatics 

 which convey it into the circulation in- 

 flame ; and at a short distance another bud 

 is formed, and then another, and another. 

 These buds are usually met with in the 

 thin skin covering the inside of the thighs 

 and arms, or the neck and lips. They 

 vary from the size of a shilling to that of 

 a half-crown ; and as they increase in 

 numbers, the skin becomes cedematous. 

 In process of time, the general system 

 suffers, as in glanders, and the horse dies, 

 a miserable, worn-out object. No treat- 

 ment can be relied on to cure the disease; 

 and as it is equally contagious with 

 glanders, every farcied horse ought at 

 once to be destroyed. The hard nature 

 of the buds, and the thickened lymphatics 

 extending like cords between, clearly 

 make known the nature of the disease. 



HORSE, Chloroform, Administration of. 

 — The use of chloroform to procure in- 

 sensibility to pain is a great aid to the 

 operator on the horse, who without it acts 

 under great difficulties, owing to the nerv- 

 ous twitch which the poor animal gives 

 at each touch of the knife. Under chlo- 

 roform, however, he lies as if dead ; and 

 as long as its effects continue, the most 

 elaborate dissection may be conducted 

 with comparative ease. There is some 

 little danger of over-doing this powerful 

 agent, but the risk is not so great as is 

 generally supposed, and with ordinary 

 care it is more than 1,000 to i that no 

 injurious effects produced. 



The best and most simple apparatus for 

 the purpose of administering chloroform 

 is a common wire muzzle, to the upper 

 edge of which a strip of leather six inches 

 deep is stitched, and so arranged that it 

 may be buckled round the upper part of 

 the jaws. This insures that all the air 

 inspired shall pass through the wires, and 

 by covering them with a cap of very loose 

 flannel, in which a few holes are cut to 

 facilitate respiration, the muzzle may be 

 made ready for use. The horse is first 

 cast, after which the above apparatus is 

 put on and buckled round the jaw, when 



