142 FEVERS. 



than idiopathic ; is much more resistful^ and we therefore 

 use the fleam more cautiously; andj instead of purging, 

 make use of simple laxatives. It would be useless to pursue 

 the treatment further, as everything must depend on the 

 nature of the case before us. 



SPECIFIC FEVERS 



Are such as arise from some unknown cause ; and mani- 

 fest symptoms similar to common fever ; at the same time 

 each has its peculiar characteristic by which it is distinguished. 

 There however exists no other identity between these dis- 

 orders, save the fever which becomes their leading symptom ; 

 each of them is possessed of totally distinct natures — being, 

 in fact, a disease by itself. 



INFLUENZA. 



- Such is the Protean character of this disorder, that one 

 finds it very difficult — nay, next to impossible — to assign 

 any particular set of symptoms to it. In one year it takes 

 the form — and this is the one it oftenest assumes — of a 

 febrile or malignant catarrh; at another time, fever is 

 accompanied by extreme dejection, and utter loathing of all 

 kinds of food ; at some future season the brain will show 

 most derangement ; there will be vertigo ; weakness, or sink- 

 ing of the loins ; and paralysis. I have known the complaint 

 so slight, as to consist in nothing more than swelled parotid 

 glands, or a sore throat ; in other cases so violent as to 

 swell the legs and sheath to a prodigious bulk, and take on 

 the appearance of farcy. 



Any subject, organ, or part that has from any cause 

 become debilitated, or ill-conditioned, is especially liable to 

 imbibe influenza. A horse that is out of condition or in 

 an unthrifty state will be exposed ; an organ or part already 

 diseased or in an irritable state, will render the animal 

 liable to be attacked. For this reason, all kinds of operations, 

 firing, and blistering, are extremely likely to be followed 

 by an attack of influenza, and therefore by experienced 



