PART SIXTH. 



DISEASES OF HORSES. 



SIGNS OF DISEASE IN THE HORSE. 



The horse being unable to describe to us his feel- 

 ings and tell us the seat of pain, we are compelled to 

 rely on such signs and symptoms as we can discover 

 by various means to determine the nature of his ail- 

 ments. A few of the more common symptoms, or 

 signs of disease, will now be considered. But to de- 

 termine exactly the character of any particular case 

 of disease, the combination of symptoms presented 

 will have to be considered. In what follows, how- 

 ever, important landmarks are presented which may 

 be useful in guiding to correct conclusions. 



THE PULSE. 



The pulse of a medium-sized, healthy horse beats 

 about forty per minute. The pulse of a small horse 

 may be a few more, or of a larger one a beat or two 

 less. Age decreases the pulse slightly. Any consider- 

 able increase of the pulse over forty pe'r minute indi- 

 cates fever or inflammation, and other symptoms must 

 be looked for to determine the particular locality of 

 the disease. When great weakness ensues, the pulse 

 becomes fluttering. 



