DISEASES OF HORSES 89 



formed into fixed cells. Those which are the result of the tissue 

 cells, wakened into active life, follow the same course. The vessels 

 themselves contract, and, having resumed their normal caliber, the 

 part apparently reassumes its normal condition; but it is always 

 weakened, and a new inflammation is more liable to reappear in a 

 previously inflamed part than in a sound one. The alternate termi- 

 nation is necrosis, or mortification. If the necrosis, or death of a 

 part, is gradual, by small stages, each cell losing its vitality after the 

 other in more or less rapid succession, it takes the name of ulcera- 

 tion. If it occurs in a considerable part at once, it is called gan- 

 grene. If this death of the tissues occurs deep in the organism, and 

 the destroyed elements and proliferated and dead cells are inclosed 

 in a cavity, the result of the process is called an abscess. When it 

 occurs on a surface, it is an ulcer and an abscess by breaking on the 

 exterior becomes then also an ulcer. Proliferating and dying cells 

 and the fluid which exudes from an ulcerating surface and the 

 debris of broken-down tissue is known as pus, and the process by 

 which this is formed is known as suppuration. A mass of dead tis- 

 sue in a soft part is termed a slough, while the same in bone is called 

 a sequestrum. Such changes are especially likely to occur when the 

 part becomes infected with micro-organisms that have the property 

 of destroying tissue and thus causing the production of pus. These 

 are known as pyogenic micro-organisms. There are also bacilli that 

 are capable of multiplying in tissues and so irritating them as to 

 cause them to die without forming pus. 



Treatment of Inflammation. The study of the causes and 

 pathological alterations of inflammation has shown the process to 

 be one of hypernutrition, attended by excessive blood supply, so 

 this study will indicate the primary factor to be employed in the. 

 treatment of it. Any agent which will reduce the blood supply and 

 prevent the excessive nutrition of the elements of the part will serve 

 as a remedy. The means employed may be used locally to the part, 

 or they may be constitutional remedies, which act indirectly. 



Local treatment consists of (1) Removal of the cause, as a stone 

 in the frog, causing a traumatic thrush; a badly fitting harness or 

 saddle, causing ulcers of the skin ; decomposing manure and urine 

 in a stable, which, by their vapors, irritate the air tubes and lungs 

 and cause a cough. These causes, if removed will frequently allow 

 the part to heal at once. (2) Rest. Motion stimulates the action 

 of the blood, and thus feeds an inflamed tissue. This is alike ap- 

 plicable to a diseased point irritated by movement, to an inflamed 

 pair of lungs surcharged with blood by the use demanded of them 

 in a working animal, or to an inflamed eye exposed to light, or an 

 inflamed stomach and intestines still further fatigued by food. 

 Absolute quiet, a dark stable, and small quantities of easily digested 

 food will often cure serious inflammatory troubles without further 

 treatment. (3) Cold. The application of ice bags or cold water 

 by bandages, douching with a hose, or irrigation with dripping 

 water, contracts the blood vessels, acts as a sedative on the nerves, and 

 lessens the vitality of a part; it consequently prevents the tissue 



