156 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



The arteries, where the pulse is felt, are the deep-seated 

 blood-vessels; the veins lie nearer to the surface. There are 

 several places where the larger arteries come close enough to 

 the skin to be felt, but the best place to take the pulse is on the 

 under side of the angle of the under jaw, where an artery bends 

 around the bone. The pulse can also be counted by placing 

 the hand against the side. 



"The temperature of the horse is determined roughly by 

 placing the fingers in the mouth or between the thighs, or by 

 allowing the horse to exhale against the cheek or back of the 

 hand. In accurate examination, however, these means of de- 

 termining temperature are not relied upon, but recourse is had 

 to the use of the thermometer. The thermometer used for 

 taking the temperature of a horse is a self-registering clinical 

 thermometer, similar to that used by physicians, but larger, 

 being from five to six inches long. The temperature of the 

 animal is measured in the rectum. 



"The normal temperature of the horse varies somewhat 

 under different conditions. It is higher in the young animal 

 than in the old and is higher in hot weather than in cold. The 

 weather and exercise decidedly influence the temperature, physi- 

 ologically. The normal temperature varies from 99.5 to 101 

 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature rises to 101.5, the horse 

 is said to have a low fever; if the temperature reaches 104, the 

 fever is moderate; and if it reaches 106, it is high. Above this 

 point it is regarded as very high. In some diseases the tem- 

 perature goes as high as 108 or 110 degrees. In the ordinary in- 

 fectious diseases it does not often exceed 106. A temperature 

 of 107.5 degrees and above is very dangerous, and must be 

 reduced promptly if the horse is to be saved."* 



"The lungs are the essential organs of respiration. They 

 consist of two (right and left) spongy masses, commonly called 



*Page 17, "Diseases of the Horse," Bureau of Animal Industry, 

 1903. 



