188 INJURIES. 



under our notice : to the credit, however, of horse-pro- 

 prietors, and perhaps owing to the diffusion of veterinary 

 knowledge, cases of it are now of comparative rarity. From 

 the army, and from all well-conducted horse- establishments, 

 it seems banished, never to return. These observations 

 lead us to believe that poll-evil must originate in neglect or 

 abuse. 



Causes. — Mechanical injuries, in the form of blows, 

 bruises, pressure, friction, &c., are the ordinary exciting 

 causes of this disease. Cart-horses, are the common subjects 

 of it. Their stiff and hard head-collars, first chafe their 

 polls, and cause them to be continually rubbing the part. 

 It not unfrequently happens that the halter provoking 

 friction, begets a sort of mangy affection about the nape of 

 the neck, the annoyance of which causes the animal to rub 

 his poll against the manger, and occasions that part to 

 inflame and swell. - It ultimately excoriates and ulcerates ; 

 in either way, poll-evil may be produced. Or, the roof of 

 the stable, or the threshold of the door, may be so low, that 

 the horses are daily hitting their heads against them. Or 

 the man who drives the team may be fond of exercising the 

 butt-end of his cart-whip in preference to the lash. From 

 some of these causes, or from others of similar nature, the 

 poll becomes injured — contused, abraded, wounded : the 

 consequence of which is, the disease under consideration is 

 established. 



Poll-evil consists in inflammation — in tumour, with or 

 without tenderness — either of the part properly called the 

 poll, below or on one side of it. In the more advanced 

 stages of the disease, the crouching manner in which the 

 animal carries the head, will indicate the presence of 

 the disorder. What symptoms or appearances may be 

 present, will depend on the stage and state in which we 

 meet the inflammation. It may exist in the form of a solid 

 tumour ; it may prove a matured abscess ;^ or it may have 

 advanced to t>he ulcerative stage, and exhibit chasms and 

 sinuses, frightful to behold. In the case of abscess, matter 

 may be lodged undei- the skin ; or it may have a deeper seat 



