DISEASES OF HORSES 165 



both diseases, but to the ordinary observer the symptoms of pleurisy 

 are the most obvious. The course of treatment to be pursued differs 

 in no manner from that given for the affections when they occur 

 independently. The symptoms will be your guide as to the advisa- 

 bility of giving oil and laudanum for the pain if the pleurisy is very 

 severe. Do not resort to it unless it is necessary to allay the pain. 



HEMOPTYSIS, OR BLEEDING FROM THE LUNGS. 



Bleeding from the lungs may occur during the course of conges- 

 tion of the lungs, bronchitis, pneumonia, influenza, purpura hem- 

 orrhagica, or glanders. An accident or exertion may cause a rupture 

 of a vessel. Following the rupture of a vessel the blood may escape 

 into the lung tissue and cause a serious attack of pneumonia, or it 

 may fill up the bronchial tubes and prove fatal by suffocating the ani- 

 mal. When the hemorrhage is from the lung it is accompanied by 

 coughing; the blood is frothy, of a bright red color, and comes from 

 both nostrils; whereas when the bleeding is merely from a rupture 

 of a vessel in some part of the head the blood is most likely to issue 

 from one nostril only, and the discharge is not accompanied by 

 coughing. The ear may be placed against the windpipe along its 

 course, and if the blood is from the lungs a gurgling or rattling sound 

 will be heard. When it occurs in connection with another disease it 

 seldom requires special treatment. When caused by accident or over- 

 exertion the animal should be kept quiet. If the hemorrhage is pro- 

 fuse and continues for several hours, 1 dram of the acetate of lead 

 dissolved in a pint of water may be given as a drench. It is rare that 

 the hemorrhage is so profuse as to require internal remedies. But 

 hemorrhage into the lung may occur and cause death by suffocation 

 without the least manifestation of it by the discharge of blood from 

 the nose. 



TUBERCULOSIS OF THE LUNGS. 



Pulmonary consumption or tuberculosis has been recognized in 

 the horse in a number of instances. The symptoms are as of chronic 

 pneumonia or pleurisy. There is no treatment for the disease. 



HEAVES, BROKEN WIND, OR ASTHMA. 



Much confusion exists in the popular mind in regard to the na- 

 ture of heaves. Many horsemen loosely apply the term to all ail- 

 ments where the breathing is difficult or noisy. Scientific veterina- 

 rians are well acquainted with the phenomena and locality of the 

 affection, but there is a great diversity of opinion as regards the exact 

 cause. Asthma is generally thought to be due to spasm of the small 

 circular muscles that surround the bronchial tubes. The continued 

 existence of this affection of the muscles leads to a paralysis of them, 

 and the forced breathing to emphysema, which always accompanies 

 heaves. 



Heaves is usually associated with disorder of the function of 

 digestion or to an error in the choice of food. Feeding on clover hay 

 or damaged hay or straw, too bulky and innutritious food, and keep- 

 ing the horse in a dusty atmosphere or a badly ventilated stable pro- 

 duce or predispose to heaves. Horses brought from a high to a low 

 level are predisposed. In itself broken wind is not a fatal disease, 



