644 SPOEADIC DISEASES. 



with camphor may be given in the form of a ball, in addition 

 to the potash salt. Wi. If the bowels be constipated they are 

 to be carefully regulated by a moderate dose of oil, and by 

 enemas, %th. During resolution of the inflammation care 

 must be taken that nothing be done to check the action of 

 the excretory organs. Should moderate diarrhcea or increased 

 diuresis come on, they are on no account to be checked, as they 

 are merely critical discharges, whereby the effete materials in 

 the blood are eliminated from the economy, ^ith. In the earlier 

 stages the food is to be simple, laxative, cooling, and nutritious. 

 Bran and boiled linseed mashes, a moderate allowance of good 

 hay, roots if in winter, or grass if in summer. During the later 

 stages strong food, as oats, beans, with grass or roots, are to 

 be allowed in moderation; and should the appetite be bad, 

 stomachic stimulants, as spirits of nitrous ether, with gentian or 

 nux vomica, are useful adjuncts ; but should the patient refuse 

 to feed, milk and eggs are to be freely supplied. This it will 

 drink if stinted in its water ; it should never be forced upon 

 it by horning, nor should gruels, hay tea, large doses of ale, 

 porter, &c., be forced upon it, 



I may state, in conclusion, that in all cases where depression 

 and debility are prominent symptoms, with a small, feeble, 

 rapid pulse, stimulants should be cautiously used, and if after a 

 few doses they appear to do no good, they are to be discontinued, 

 and the case left without much meddling or interference ; and 

 that bleeding is but rarely called for, and only in cases where 

 the dyspnoea is great, and the danger to life imminent. Even 

 then it is not to be pushed to the extreme recommended by some 

 wiiters and teachers. 



It must be borne in mind, as already pointed out in the 

 chapter on Degenerations, that pneumonia, pleurisy, bronchitis, 

 and other diseases, even of a mild type, are apt to terminate 

 fatally in overfed and pampered animals, such as those kept for 

 show purposes, no matter how discreetly they are treated ; for in 

 such animals the vital organs — heart, liver, kidneys, &c. — will 

 be found in such a state of degeneration as to prevent the per- 

 formance of their functions under the altered conditions of 

 induced disease. So long as the animals are not subjected to 

 any trivial cause of disease, function seems to be performed ; 

 but whenever the system is subjected to any trial, such as a 

 chill, fatigue, parturition, &c., the powers of the altered organs 

 are wholly or partially lost, and death is the result. 



