A DICTIONARY. 



237 



the foal, no efforts can bring the foetal mass 

 away entire, it must be dismembered. A 

 knife made for the purpose, having the blade 

 concealed, with the haft lying within the 

 hollow of the hand, is to be taken up into 

 the vagina. We are told that, occasion- 

 ally, hydrocephalus in the colt prevents 

 the head from passing. Such a case 

 wiU detect itself by the volume that will 

 be felt on examination, and which will 

 be easily lessened by plunging the point of 

 the knife in the forehead, and evacuating the 

 contents by pressing the skull in ; when, 

 laying hold of the muzzle, the head may be 

 brought through the pelvic opening. But it 

 is usually the natural size of the head which 

 forms the obstruction ; in which case the 

 head itself must be removed. When the 

 head has been dissected off and brought 

 away, it wiU be necessary probably to con- 

 tract the volume of the chest; which will 

 not be difficult, by cutting the cartilaginous 

 portions of the ribs, detaching the thoracic 

 viscera, and then crushing, or rather mould- 

 ing, the empty thorax together ; after which 

 the rest of tlie body will offer little obstruc- 

 tion. When the head cannot be got at, the 

 limbs must, one by one, be detached : after 

 which the body, and at last the head, may 

 be drawn out either entire, or lessened con- 

 siderably. 



Emetic, Tartar. — Tartarized antimony. 

 A coiTosive metallic poison. Dr. White 

 relates : " From examining the stomachs of 

 horses that have taken this mineral, I am 

 satisfied that irreparable mischief may be 

 done with it, and certain it is that a vast 

 deal of unnecessary pain 'has been thus 

 inflicted." 



Emphysema. — Swellings which contain 

 air. Such swellings are known by a kind of 

 crackling noise, or sensation, when they are 

 pressed with the finger. 



Emulgent Arteries. — The arteries 

 which convey blood to the kidneys. 



Encanthis. — A disease of the inner 

 corner of the eye. 



Encysted. ^ — A term applied to tumors 

 which consist of a solid or liquid substance, 

 contained in a sac, or cyst. 



Enteritis. — Inflammation of the bowels. 

 This is a very serious form of disease, and is 

 the result of plethora, or the sudden applica- 

 tion of cold to the surface. It is sometimes 

 owing to an overloaded state of the stom- 

 ach and bowels. Obstinate spasm will also 

 produce it. 



Epidemic. — Diseases which spread over a 

 whole country, at certain seasons, are thus 

 named. If many suffer in the same manner, 

 it is called epizootic. There are very few 

 diseases which assume, in its latter or earlier 

 stages, such a variety of forms ; perhaps 

 depending on the location, and the peculiar 

 state of the constitution. Youatt writes : 

 " In 1711, an epidemic commenced, which, 

 although it sometimes suspended its ravages, 

 would visit new districts ; it also appeared 

 in a certain district, and confined itself to 

 that location. In 1747, it appeared, and 

 would seem as if there was a strange caprice 

 about it. It would select its victims, the 

 best of the herd, around a certain district, 

 and confine itself to that location for a short 

 time ; then disappear for several months, 

 return, and pounce upon this privileged spot. 

 In some districts, it would attack the mouth 

 and throat; commencing with a loss of 

 appetite and difficult respiration, terminat- 

 ing with a discharge of blood from the 

 anus. Sometimes the animals will eat and 

 work until they suddenly expire ; others will 

 linger in dreadful agony." It appears that 

 this malady is not infectious ; for the same 

 author writes: " Cattle were in the same 

 barn as those infected ; they ate of the same 

 fodder that the distempered beasts had 

 slavered upon, drank after them, and con- 

 stantly received their breath and odor, 

 without being the least affected. In 1756, 

 it assumed a different form ; some cattle 

 were taken all at once with violent trem- 

 bling of every limb, and blood ran from the 

 nose, and bloody slime from the mouth, and 

 the animals died in a few hours." 



Epiglottis. — The cartilage which covers 

 the larynx, or top of the windpipe, at the 

 time food or water is passing into the gullet. 



Epilepsy. — The faffing sickness ; fits. 

 Horses, cats, and dogs are subject to fits, 



