148 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



and the food should consist of bran and linseed mashes, 

 carrots, and hay, attending strictly to the free ventila- 

 tion of the stable ; and if mustard poultices be applied 

 to the sides, they will considerably lessen the poor ani- 

 mal's sufferings. 



If the symptoms gradually subside, and the horse's 

 appetite appear to be good, danger may be considered 

 to have passed off. 



But if continual reactions take place, and the colour 

 of the nostrils change to a fixed leaden hue, with a cold 

 chilly breath, and convulsive flutterings of the heart, 

 death may be speedily apprehended, which is usually 

 immediately preceded by the horse walking round and 

 round his box in a delirious and vacant manner. 



Horses rarely recover a severe attack of inflammation 

 of the lungs, however skilfully the disease may be 

 managed, for it leaves the system in so debilitated a 

 state that a recurrence of the attack is more than pro- 

 bable within a few months, or congestion may take 

 place, and, what is more to be dreaded, suppuration. 

 Therefore, for weeks and months all exciting causes 

 must be guarded against most sedulously. 



A cool, roomy box, with cooling and nourishing food, 

 combined with some active tonic, such as bark, aniseed, 

 and emetic tartar, given on alternate weeks, must alone 

 be depended on for a cure. 



The horse, however, will be utterly unfit for any 

 sort of work, exceeding mere exercise, for many 

 months. It will, nevertheless, be unwise to turn him 

 out to grass for fear of broken wind or roaring being 



