78 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



that the drying of a cloth is much more rapidly effected in a 

 warm, dry atmosphere, than in a cold, moist one ; more quickly, 

 too, in a draught of air, than in a situation where there is no cur- 

 rent, and where the air is consequently soon charged with moisture. 

 As an illustration, we were once treating a case of pleurisy in an 

 unventilated, damp stable, and observed that our patient sweated 

 profusely ; it was a clear day, the wind westerly, our patient was 

 placed under a shed in the open air : soon, the surface became 

 dry and hot ; after remaining there for the space of five hours, 

 the hair and skin had an unpleasant, feverish feel, although the 

 general feature, aside from this, remained the same. After being 

 led to his old quarters, the surface soon became moist again. 

 Therefore atmospheric influences must always be considered. 

 The membranes of the eye are generally injected with arterial 

 blood ; the pulse is quick and wiry ; mouth hot and dry ; a slight 

 hacking cough is sometimes observed, and pressure between the 

 ribs always elicits pain. The disease, if not arrested, generally 

 terminates in effusion — dropsy of the chest. 



Treatment. — As in all other inflammatory diseases, the prin- 

 cipal object will be to equalize the circulation, thus lessening the 

 determination of blood to the pleura ; to effect which, it will be 

 necessary to keep the horse under the exhibition of nauseants — 

 lobelia or ipecac. English surgeons use hellebore in this view, 

 but we prefer a compound in the following form : — 



is poured forth are peculiar to the living body alone, and entirely different from 

 those under which simple evaporation takes place. The purpose of this watery 

 exhalation, and of its increase under a high temperature, is evidently to keep 

 the heat of the body as near as possible to a uniform standard. By the evapo- 

 ration of fluid from the surface of the skin, a considerable quantity of heat is 

 withdrawn from it, becoming latent in the change from fluid to vapor ; of this 

 we make use in applying cooling lotions to inflamed parts. The more rapid the 

 evaporation, the greater is the amount of heat withdrawn in a given time. 

 Hence, if we pour on separate parts a small quantity of ether, alcohol, and 

 water, we shall find that the spot from which the ether is evaporating feels the 

 coldest, and that which is covered by the alcohol less so, whilst the part 

 moistened with water is comparatively but little chilled. The greater the 

 amount of heat, then, applied to the body, the more fluid is poured out by the 

 perspiratory glands ; and as the air can carry it off more readily in proportion 

 to its own heat, the evaporation becomes more rapid, and its cooling effect 

 more powerful. — Carpenter's Physiology. 



