164 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



If the patient becomes debilitated, the stimulants as prescribed 

 for pneumonia should be used according to the same directions. The 

 same attention should be given to the diet. If the animal will par- 

 take of the bran mashes, scalded oats, and grass, it is the best; but 

 if he refuses the laxative diet, then he should be tried with different 

 kinds of food and allowed whichever kind he desires. In the begin- 

 ning of the attack, if the pain is severe, causing the animal to lie 

 down or paw, morphine may be given by the mouth in 5-grain 

 doses, or the fluid extract of Cannabis indica may be used in doses 

 of 2 to 4 drams. 



If the case is not progressing favorably in ten or twelve days 

 after the beginning of the attack, convalescence is delayed by the 

 fluid in the chest failing to be absorbed. The animal becomes dull 

 and weak and evinces little or no desire for food. The breathing 

 becomes still more rapid and difficult. An effort must now be made 

 to excite the absorption of the effusion. An application of liniment 

 or mild blister should be rubbed over the lower part of both sides 

 and the bottom of the chest. Also give 1 dram of iodide of potas- 

 sium, dissolved in the drinking water, an hour before feeding every 

 night and morning for a week or two. 



Hydrothorax is sometimes difficult to overcome by means of the 

 use of medicines alone, when the operation is performed of tapping 

 the chest to allow an escape for the accumulated fluid. The opera- 

 tion is performed with a combined instrument called the trocar and 

 canula. The puncture is made in the lower part of the chest, in the 

 space between the eighth and ninth ribs. Wounding of the inter- 

 costal artery is avoided by inserting the instrument as near as pos- 

 sible to the anterior edge of the rib. If the operation is of benefit, 

 it is only so when performed before the strength is lowered beyond 

 recovery. The operation merely receives a passing notice here, as it 

 is not presumed that the nonprofessional will attempt it, although 

 it is attended with little danger or difficulty in the hands of the 

 expert. 



There have been described here bronchitis, pneumonia, and 

 pleurisy mainly as they occur as independent diseases, but it should 

 be remembered that they merge into each other and may occur to- 

 gether at one time. While it is true that much more might have been 

 said in regard to the different stages and types of the affections, and 

 also in regard to the treatment of each stage and each particular 

 type, the plan adopted of advising plain, conservative treatment is 

 considered the wisest on account of simplifying as much as possible 

 a subject of which the reader is supposed to know very little. 



PLEURO-PNEUMONIA. 



This is the state in which an animal is affected with pleurisy and 

 pneumonia combined, which is not infrequently the case. At the 

 beginning of the attack only one of the affections may be present, 

 but the other soon follows. It has already been stated that the pleura 

 is closely adherent to the lung. The pleura on this account is fre- 

 quently more or less affected by the spreading of the inflammation 

 from the lung tissues. There is a combination of the symptoms of 



