38 HOUSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



horse may receive small quantities of Glauber's salts (handful three 

 times a day), as a laxative, bicarbonate of soda or niter in 1-dram 

 doses every few hours, and small doses of iodide of potash, aconite, 

 or quinine. Steaming the head with the vapor of warm water poured 

 over a bucket of bran and hay, in which belladonna leaves or tar 

 have been placed, will allay the inflammation of the mucous mem- 

 branes and greatly ease the cough. 



The swelling of the glands should be promptly treated by bathing 

 with warm water and flaxseed poultices, and as soon as there is any evi- 

 dence of the formation of matter it should be opened. Prompt action 

 in this will often save serious complications. Blisters and irritating 

 liniment should not be applied to the throat. When lung complica- 

 tions show themselves the horse should have mustard applied to the 

 belly and to the sides of the chest. When convalescence begins great 

 care must be taken not to expose the animal to cold, which may 

 bring on relapses, and while exercise is of great advantage it must 

 not be turned into work until the animal has entirely regained its 

 strength. (Spl. Rpt. Horse Dept. Agr. 1911; S. C. A. E. S. B. 25; 

 Va. A. E. S. B. 6.) 



INFLUENZA. 



(SYNONYMS: Pinkeye, typhoid fever, epizooty, epihippic fever, hepatic 

 fever, bilious fever, etc.) 



Influenza is a contagious and infectious specific fever of the 

 horse, ass, and mule, with alterations of the blood, stupefaction of 

 the brain and nervous system, great depression of the vital forces, 

 and frequent inflammatory complications of the important vascular 

 organs, especially of the lungs, intestines, brain, and laminae of the 

 feet. One attack usually protects the animal from future ones of the 

 same disease, but not always. An apparently complete recovery is 

 sometimes followed by serious sequelae of the nervous and blood-ves- 

 sel systems. The disease is very apt, under certain conditions of the 

 atmosphere or from unknown causes, to assume an epizootic form, 

 with tendency to complications of especial organs, as, at one period, 

 the lungs, at another the intestines, etc. 



Etiology. As one attack is self-protective, numbers of old 

 horses, having had an earlier attack, are not capable of contracting 

 it again; but, aside from this, young horses, especially those about 

 four or five years of age, are much more predisposed to be attacked, 

 while the older ones, even if they have not had the disease, are less 

 liable to it. Again, the former age is that in which the horse is 

 'brought from the farm, where it has been free from the risk of ex- 

 posure, and is sold to pass through the stables of the country taverns, 

 the dirty, infected railway cars, and the foul stockyards and damp 

 stables of dealers in our large cities. Want of training is a predis- 

 posing cause. Overfed, fat, young horses which have just come 

 through the sales stables are much more susceptible to contagion than 

 the same horses are after a few months of steady work. 



The atmosphere is the most common carrier of the infection 

 from sick animals to healthy ones, and through it may be carried for 

 a considerable distance. The contagion will remain in the straw 

 bedding and droppings of the animal and in the feed in an infected 



