A CKISIS. 139 



horse stop, his mouth dry and hot, the action of 

 the heart greatly accelerated, and the abdominal 

 vessels in a state of flutter, the animal beginning 

 to stagger, shiver, have a frightened look, and the 

 eyes hot and bloodshot, here bleeding will pro- 

 bably stop staggers and inflammation going on ; 

 and bran tea, or a bran mash, if he can be got to 

 eat it, is all he should be allowed till we find the 

 pulse begin to beat with its usual pulsation. It 

 will probably, shortly after, begin to beat feebly 

 and slower than usual : in that case, we may con- 

 sider that life is pretty safe ; and then nourish- 

 ment may, and, indeed, should, be carefully and 

 gradually given. Laudanum, in cases of this sort, 

 is a very dangerous article in the hands of an 

 ordinary groom; he has, perhaps, just learned 

 enough to know that it is a sedative; so it is, 

 given at a proper time, and to prevent inflamma- 

 tion taking place ; but where it actually has done 

 so, it is usually as improper to be given as it 

 would have been judicious when we only feared 

 its coming on ; our friend bran must then be the 

 sedative. 



Bran is also most useful where we find water 

 hard, or a horse subject to be affected by it ; 

 indeed, it is always a safe precaution to use it 

 where we are not certain of the nature of the 

 water ; a few handfuls stirred in will render hard 

 water safe and innocuous, even to delicate horses. 



