DISEASES OF HORSES 167 



tains but little nutriment have much to do with the cause of the dis- 

 ease, and therefore should be entirely omitted when the animal is 

 affected, as well as before. It has 'been asserted that the disease is un- 

 known where clover hay is never used. The diet should be confined to 

 food of the best quality and in the smallest quantity. The bad effect 

 of moldy or dusty hay, fodder, or food of any kind can not be over- 

 estimated. A small quantity of the best hay once a day is sufficient. 

 This should be cut and dampened. The animal should invariably be 

 watered before feeding; never directly after a meal. The animal 

 should not be worked immediately after a meal. Exertion, when the 

 stomach is full, invariably aggravates the symptoms. Turning on 

 pasture gives relief. Carrots, potatoes, or turnips chopped and mixed 

 with oats or corn are a good diet. Half a pint to a pint of thick, 

 dark molasses with each feed is useful. Arsenic is efficacious in pal- 

 liating the symptoms. It is best administered in the form of the solu- 

 tion of arsenic, as Fowler's solution 1 ounce to drinking water 3 

 times a day. If the bowels do not act regularly, a pint of raw linseed 

 oil may be given once or twice a month, or a handful of Glauber's salt 

 may be given in the feed twice daily, so long as necessary. It must, 

 however, be borne in mind that all medical treatment is of secondary 

 consideration ; careful attention paid to the diet is of greatest impor- 

 tance. Broken-winded animals should not be used for breeding 

 purposes. 



A CHRONIC COUGH. 



A chronic cough may succeed the acute diseases of the respira- 

 tory organs, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, laryngitis, etc. It ac- 

 companies chronic roaring, chronic bronchitis, broken wind. It may 

 succeed influenza. As previously stated, cough is but a symptom and 

 not a disease in itself. Chronic cough is occasionally associated with 

 diseases other than those of the organs of respiration. It may be 

 a symptom of chronic indigestion or of worms. In such cases it is 

 caused by a reflex nervous irritation. The proper treatment in all 

 cases of chronic cough is to ascertain the nature of the disease of 

 which it is a symptom, and then cure the disease if possible, and the 

 cough will cease. The treatment of the affections will be found un- 

 der their appropriate heads, to which the reader is referred. 



PLEURO-DYNIA. 



This is a form of rheumatism that affects the intercostal muscles; 

 that is, the muscles between the ribs. The apparent symptoms are 

 very similar to those of pleurisy. The animal is stiff and not inclined 

 to turn around ; the ribs are kept in a fixed state as much as possible. 

 If the head is pulled round suddenly, or the affected side struck with 

 the hand, or if the spaces between the ribs are prassed with the fin- 

 gers, the animal will flinch and perhaps emit a grunt or groan expres- 

 sive of much pain. It is distinguished from pleurisy by the absence 

 of fever, cough, the friction sound, the effusion into the chest, and by 

 the existence of rheumatism in other parts. The treatment for this 

 affection is the same as for rheumatism affecting other parts. 



WOUNDS PENETRATING THE WALLS OF THE CHEST. 



A wound penetrating the wall of the chest admits air into the 



