374 EPIZOOTIC AND ENZOOTIC DISEASES. 



last induced to abandon it altogether, and tlie result has been 

 most satisfactory. 



Irritation of the sides and breast is injurious in all instances 

 of chest disease in the horse, except in a condition presently to 

 be described, and for the following reasons : — 



1st. It cannot and does not remove the internal inflammation. 

 Many post morttm examinations have convinced me of this. 

 During the summer of 1873 I had a good opportunity of demon- 

 strating this fact to my students. A horse newly bought by a 

 dealer died from pleurisy, and its value was in dispute between 

 buyer and seller. On view^ing the carcase, both myself and 

 students were struck with the violence of the inflammation of 

 the skin upon the sides, induced by the repeated applications of 

 irritants. Some of the students, having been pupils of gentle- 

 men wdio advocated the " counter-irritation " theory, were under 

 the firm belief that no internal inflammation could exist where 

 the external was so very marked. The result, however, proved 

 the fallacy of the hypothesis, for the pleura was intensely 

 inflamed. 



The internal inflammation being an effect, until it can be 

 proved that an external irritant can remove the cause which 

 has produced such effect, it is quite as reasonable to suppose 

 that a blister on the palm wdll remove or prevent the effects of 

 another on the back of the hand, as it is to think that a blister on 

 the outside of the chest, no matter how soon applied, can remove 

 an irritant, or prevent it from affecting the internal structures. 



2d. Another arguipent which tells against blisters is the fact 

 tliat their advocates differ as to the stage at which they ought to 

 be applied. One party says they cannot be applied too soon, in 

 order to counteract the internal inflammation, " by drawing the 

 morbid action and the blood to the surface ;" whilst another says 

 that external irritants do harm whilst there is any fever present, 

 and that they should always be applied after the pulse has fallen 

 and when convalescence has commenced, in order to stimulate 

 the removal of the products of the inflammation. I, however, 

 fail to see the necessity of doing this ; for the removal of the 

 exudates is a physiological process, best accomplished when 

 uninterfered with, and counter-irritation at this period can only 

 retard the recovery, or, by again setting up the febrile condition, 

 bring about a fatal termination. 



