DISEASES OF HORSES 91 



advantage over the last remedy of removing only the watery and 

 not the formed elements from the circulation. The blood cells re- 

 main, leaving the blood as rich as it was before. Again, the glands 

 of the intestines are stimulated to excrete much waste matter and 

 other deleterious material which may be acting as a poison in the 

 blood. (4) Diuretics. These operate through the kidneys in the 

 same way. (5) Diaphoretics. They aid depletion of the blood by 

 pouring water in the form of sweat from the surface of the skin and 

 stimulating the discharge of waste material out of its glands, which 

 has the same effect on the blood pressure. (6) Antipyretics. They 

 are remedies to reduce the temperature. This may be accomplished 

 by depressing the center in the brain that controls heat production. 

 Some coal-tar products are very effective in this way, but they have 

 the disadvantage of depressing the heart, which should always be 

 kept as strong as possible. If they are used it must be with knowl- 

 edge of this fact, and it is well to give heart tonics or stimulants 

 with them. The temperature of the body may be lowered by cold 

 packs or by showering with cold water. This is a most useful pro- 

 cedure in many diseases. (7) Depressants. They are drugs which 

 act on the heart. They slow or weaken the action of this organ and 

 reduce the quantity and force of the current of blood which is car- 

 ried to the point of local disease ; they lessen the vitality of the ani- 

 mal, and for this reason are now used much less than formerly. 

 (8) Anodynes. These quiet the nervous system. Pain in the horse, 

 as in the man, is one of the important factors in the production 

 of fever, and the dulling of the former often prevents, or at least re- 

 duces, the latter. Anodynes produce sleep, so as to rest the patient 

 and allow recuperation for the succeeding struggle of the vitality of 

 the animal against the exhausting drain of the disease. 



The diet of an animal suffering from acute inflammation is a 

 factor of the greatest importance. An overloaded circulation can be 

 starved to a reduced quantity and to a less rich quality of blood by 

 reducing the quantity of food given to the patient. Foods of easy 

 digestion do not tire the already fatigued organs of an animal with 

 a torpid digestive system. Nourishment will be taken by a suffer- 

 ing brute in the form of slops and cooling drinks where it would be 

 totally refused if offered in its ordinary form, as hard oats or dry 

 hay, requiring the labor of grinding between the teeth and swallow- 

 ing by the weakened muscles of the jaws and throat. 



Tonics and stimulants are remedies which are used to meet spe- 

 cial indications, as in the case of a feeble heart, and which enter into 

 the after treatment of inflammatory troubles as well as into the acute 

 stages of them. They brace up weakened and torpid glands; they 

 stimulate the secretion of the necessary fluids of the body, and hasten 

 the excretion of the waste material produced by the inflammatory 

 process ; they regulate the action of a weakened heart ; they promote 

 healthy vitality of diseased parts, and aid the chemical changes 

 needed for returning the altered tissues to their normal condition. 

 (Spl. Rpt. Horse, Dept. Agr. 1911.) 



