THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 211 



inflammation either of the mucous or serous membranes, or both ; 

 in other words, fever may be of the catarrhal kind, as in the 

 epidemic catarrh, or the violent influenzas which sometimes pre- 

 vail in the spring or beginning of summer. Fever may affect 

 the mucous surface of the stomach and bowels, when it causes 

 great languor and debility." 



The day is not far distant, when a practitioner will as soon 

 think of confining his treatment to scraping off a patient's coaled 

 tongue, when suffering from a bilious attack, as to think of treating 

 the febrile manifestations of a local disease in the horse, in view 

 of curing the latter. 



Our own definition of fever is, that it is a symptom of disease 

 arising in consequence of sympathy of the system with disease in 

 some particular part. Pleurisy, for example, consists in inflam- 

 mation of the serous membranes within the thorax ; and at the 

 commencement, and indeed during the various phases of the 

 malady, fever may be present, manifesting itself in the usual 

 manner ; but are we to treat the fever, the mere manifestation of 

 the disease — pleurisy? or shall we not find it .more in accord- 

 ance with the principles of reason to endeavor to cure the 

 latter? Fever is present in all cases of an inflammatory charac- 

 ter; therefore we would warn our readers not to let fever in the 

 horse so engross their attention as to overlook the real malady. 

 Next to inflammation, fever is the great scarecrow of the em- 

 pyric, when, in fact, there is nothing very alarming about tile 

 fever itself; yet it leads us into the by-paths of ignorance; for 

 if there were not previous disease, there could be no fever, so that 

 he who merely treats fever is playing the part of mountebank to 

 the disease then present. A few illustrations will serve to ex- 

 plain : A man, for example, manifests paroxysms of cold, hot, 

 and sweating stages ; these phenomena may prevail in different 

 degrees, and their mode of succession vary ; but if the three differ- 

 ent stages are evident, the case is called intermittent fever. Now, 

 " dissections of those who have died of intermittent fever show 

 a morbid state of many of the viscera of the thorax and abdo- 

 men ; but the liver, and organs concerned in the formation of 

 bile, as likewise the mesentery, are those which are usually most 

 affected." — Hooper. Why, then, should men trifle with the lives 



