DANGER OF RALAPSB. ^ 



a cnterion for jud^ng and acting promptly. He will evince languor and dul> 

 ness, with half closed eyes, and a small discharge from them, as if tears es 

 raped ; sometimes, this last will happen in cases of mere debility or starvation 

 also, when it is not too much to suppose the animal may be deploring his hard 

 fate. Consulting the pulse, however, vvill settle any doubt as to which ail- 

 ment the animal labours under; for this main characteristic of health will, in 

 the latter case, partake of his debility, and strike now hard and then soft, a 

 few beats each : in this case a feed of corn or water gruel, would probably re- 

 store a more healthful even pulse, whereas bleeding would go to destroy the 

 patient. It has l>een termed low fever, though not very properly; and lentor 

 or more justly lenteur (slowness, dulness, heaviness) by the French veterina- 

 rians; yet, having no better name for it than "low fever," under that head, 1 

 shall shortly bestow a few lines on this s[)ecies of systematic debility. 



The dung and urine are always good indications of the state of the body; 

 if the former fail, fever is the cause, it subtracts also from the quantity of urine,, 

 and if he stale small quantities at short intervals, some internal inflammation 

 has taken place. See Inflammation of the Kidneys. In fever, the mouth and 

 tongue become drier than ordinary; and if any saliva be secreted, it is tough 

 and ropy. If the animal be in condition, upon lifting the eyelid an uncommon 

 redness appears; if he be out of condition, or in a low state, this does not al- 

 ways happen ; so this indication may be reckened among the uncertain 

 symptoms. 



If the remedy and the symptoms of fever are thus pressed forward together 

 upon the reader's notice, as exemplifying the assiduity he should display in 

 repeUing the attack, let him know that his work is but half completed when 

 he finds the heat and acceleration of the pulse reduced by his endeavours to 

 the ordinary standard. The tone of the patient's stomach and the whole di- 

 gestive process require restoration, and this with a careful hand, that the bow- 

 els may not again get overloaded; because why, a second attack of this sort 

 would be more difficult to surmount than at first ; for the bowels have partly 

 lost their function of expelling their contents, through the violence of the dis- 

 ease, if not by the harsh action of the remedies employed. Hardy working 

 horses, of course, recover their appetite as soon as the fever abates; and no 

 further care is required for such than an occasional laxative or purgative, ac- 

 cording to the amount of obstruction. The ball prescribed at page 63 may be 

 given at intervals with the fever powders ; and subsequently, the fever drink 

 prescribed below for all other descriptions of the horse recovering from fever. 



Fever Powder. No. I. 



Powdered nitre, 1 ounce. 

 Emetic tartar, 2 drachms. 

 Mix for (me dose. 



No. 2. 

 Powdered nitre, 6 drachms. 

 Camphor, 2 drachms. 

 Calx of antimony, 1^ drachms. 



If either be deemed more desirable in the form of a ball, this may be eflected 

 by mixing the powder with mucilage and meal; but in the form of powdef 

 mixed with his corn is most eligible, as the medicine then acts earlier, wher»' 

 ^ the ball presently descends into the great gut. 

 Fever Drink. 

 Cream of tartar, I ounce. 

 Turmeric, 1 ounce. 

 Diapente, 1 ounce. 



