94 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



only a small quantity of water at a time, and in most cases of fever 

 a bucket of water should be kept standing before the patient, which 

 may be allowed to drink ad libitum. The skin becomes dry and the 

 hairs stand on end. Sweating is almost unknown in the early stage 

 of fevers, but frequently occurs later in their course, when an out- 

 break of warm sweat is often a most favorable symptom. The mu- 

 cous membranes, which are most easily examined in the conjunctivas 

 of the eyes and inside of the mouth, change color if the fever is an 

 acute one; without alteration of blood the mucous membranes be- 

 come of a rosy or deep-red color at the outset; if the fever is attended 

 with distinct alteration of the blood, as in influenza, and at the end 

 of two or three days in severe cases of pneumonia or other extensive 

 inflammatory troubles the mucous membranes are tinged with yel- 

 low, which may even become a deep ocher in color, the result of the 

 decomposition of the blood corpuscles and the freeing of their col- 

 oring matter, which acts as a stain. At the outset of a fever the va- 

 rious glands are checked in their secretions, the salivary glands fail 

 to secrete the saliva, and we find the surface of the tongue and inside 

 of the cheeks dry and covered with a brownish, bad-smelling deposit. 

 The excretion from the liver and intestinal glands is diminished and 

 produces an inactivity of the digestive organs which causes a con- 

 stipation. If this is not remedied at an early period, the undigested 

 material acts as an irritant, and later we may have it followed by 

 an inflammatory process, producing a severe diarrhea. 



The excretion from the kidneys is sometimes at first entirely 

 suppressed. It is always considerably diminished, and what urine is 

 passed is dark in color, undergoes ammoniacal change rapidly, and 

 deposits quantities of salts. At a later period the diminished excre- 

 tion may 'be replaced -by an excessive excretion, which aids in carry- 

 ing off waste products and usually indicates an amelioration of the 

 fever. While the ears, canons, and hoofs of a horse suffering from 

 fever are usually found hot, they may frequently alternate from 

 hot to cold, or be much cooler than they normally are. This latter 

 condition usually indicates great weakness on the part of the cir- 

 culatory system. 



It is of the greatest importance, as an aid in diagnosing the 

 gravity of an attack of fever and as an indication in the selection of 

 its mode of treatment, to recognize the exact cause of a febrile con- 

 dition in the horse. In certain cases, in very nervous animals, in 

 which fever is the result of nerve influence, a simple anodyne, or 

 even only quiet with continued care and nursing, will sometimes be 

 sufficient to diminish it. When fever is the result of local injury, 

 the cure of the cause produces a cessation in the constitutional symp- 

 toms. When fever is the result of a pneumonia or other severe par- 

 enchymatous inflammation, it usually lasts for a definite time, and 

 subsides with the first improvement of the local trouble, but in these 

 cases we constantly have exacerbations of fever due to secondary in- 

 flammatory processes, such as the formation of small abscesses, the 

 development of secondary bronchitis, or the death of a limited 

 amount of tissue. 



