VETERINARY SURGEON COMES. 483 



acute congestion of the lungs or disease of the heart. The horse 

 must be kept perfectly quiet, and cold water, acidulated with vin- 

 egar or sulphuric acid, given in plenty to drink. The stable or 

 loose box should be well ventilated and cool, and the body warmly 

 clothed. If the limbs are cold, then rub them well, and bandage 

 them. If the bleeding is due to congestion of the lungs — as it is 

 after severe exertion, and especially when the animal is not in con- 

 dition — then a strong dose of brandy-and-water should be given. 

 A dose of opium should also be administered, if it is at hand. 



Palpitation of the Heart. — The horse, dog, and cow are 

 liable to attacks of palpitation of the heart, but especially the first- 

 mentioned animal. If there is no actual disease of the heart, pal- 

 pitation — though alarming — is not of much moment, though at the 

 time it may inconvenience or distress the animal. The excessive 

 convulsive beating or thumping of the heart may be due, when 

 disease is not present, to fear, or nervousness, or ovei'-exertion when 

 out of condition or weakly. The beating or palpitation is so loud 

 that it can be distinctly heard as a series of dull, thumping, inter- 

 mittent sounds, commencing abruptly, and continuing for a variable 

 period, the body jerking at the same time as the thump. When 

 this palpitation begins during severe exertion, as in galloping, the 

 animal should be stopped, and kept quiet, with the head to the 

 wind, until the sounds have diminished and the jerking of the body 

 has ceased Or it may be walked quietly home, receiving some ale 

 and gruel, if convenient, and the journey happens to be a long one. 

 As debility is generally present, and perhaps the heart may be dis- 

 eased, the veterinary surgeon should be consulted. 



Acute Congestion of the Lungs. — Acute congestion of the 

 lungs is most frequent in horses, and if not promptly removed it 

 may quickly cause death, or lead to inflammation of the lungs — 

 pneumonia. Various causes will produce this congestion, but per- 

 haps the commonest is severe exertion when out of condition, or 

 bringing in a heated and exhausted horse from a cold atmosphere 

 to a hot and badly-ventilated stable. 



When it occurs during exertion, the animal looks distressed; 

 the nostrils are widely dilated, the breathing is greatly hurried and 

 labored, the nose thrust out, the eyes staring and red, the gait un- 

 steady, the ears and limbs cold, the body bedewed with a clammy 

 perspiration, and the heart's beats — felt behind the elbow — are 

 irregular and disordered. If movement is continued the animal 

 will soon fall. 



The horse should be pulled up before becoming so distressed — 

 the wheezing, hurried, and labored breathing, slackening speed, 

 heaviness in hand, and staggering gait, are warnings — girths slack- 

 ened, or saddle altogether removed^ or if in harness, the collar, 



