DISEASES OF HORSES 135 



The symptoms of rupture of the liver will depend upon the 

 extent of the laceration. If slight, there will be simply the symp- 

 toms of abdominal pain, looking back to the sides, lying down, etc. ; 

 if extensive, the horse is dull and dejected, has no appetite, breath- 

 ing becomes short and catching, he sighs or sobs, visible mucous 

 membranes are pale, extremities cold, pulse fast, small, and weak or 

 running down. Countenance now shows much distress, he sweats 

 profusely, totters in his gait, props his legs wide apart, reels, stag- 

 gers, and falls. He may get up again, but soon falls dead. The 

 rapid running-down pulse, paleness of the eyes, nose, and mouth, 

 sighing, tottering gait, etc., are symptoms by which we know that 

 the animal is dying from internal hemorrhage. 



Treatment. But little can be done in the way of treatment. 

 Opium in powder, in doses of 2 drams every two or three hours, may 

 be given, with the idea of preventing as much as possible all move- 

 ments of internal organs. If there is reason to suspect internal 

 bleeding, we should give large and frequent doses of white-oak bark 

 tea, dram doses of tannic or gallic acid, or the same quantity of sugar 

 of lead, every half hour or hour. Fluid extract of ergot or tincture 

 of the chloride of iron, in ounce doses, may be selected. Cold water 

 dashed upon the right side or injected into the rectum is highly 

 spoken of as a means of checking the hemorrhage. (Spl. Rpt. 

 Horse, Dept. Ag. 1911; Va. E. S. B. 115, 116, 117, 119, 120; Ark. 

 E. S. B. 25; S. C. E. S. B. 22.) 

 DISEASES AFFECTING THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM. 



The organs pertaining to the respiratory function may be 

 enumerated in natural order as follows: The nasal openings, or 

 nostrils; the nasal chambers, through which the air passes in the 

 head ; the sinuses in the head, communicating with the nasal cham- 

 bers; the pharynx, common to the functions of breathing and swal- 

 lowing; the larynx, at the top of the windpipe; the trachea, or 

 windpipe; the bronchi (into which the windpipe divides), two 

 tubes leading from the windpipe to the right and left lungs, respec- 

 tively; the bronchial tubes, which penetrate and convey air to all 

 parts of the lungs; the lungs. 



The pleura is a thin membrane that envelops the lung and 

 lines the walls of the thoracic cavity. The diaphragm is a mus- 

 cular structure, completely separating the contents of the thoracic 

 cavity from those of the abdominal cavity. It is essentially a muscle 

 of inspiration, and the principal one. Other muscles aid in the 

 mechanism of respiration, but the diseases or injuries of them have 

 nothing to do with the diseases under consideration. 



Just within the nasal openings the skin becomes gradually but 

 perceptibly finer, until it is succeeded by the mucus membrane. Near 

 the junction of the skin and membrane is a small hole, presenting the 

 appearance of having been made with a punch; this is the canal 

 that conveys the tears from the eyes. Within and above the nasal 

 openings are the cavities, or fissures, called the false nostrils. The 

 nasal chambers are completely separated, the right from the left, by 

 a cartilaginous partition, the nasal septum. Each nasal chamber is 



