THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 217 



appear upon the limbs, particularly around the joints ; these 

 vesicles burst, and discharge a bright amber-colored fluid, which 

 is very corrosive in its effects on the adjoining skin. In other 

 cases again, some extreme portion of the organism, such as the 

 ears, for example, will suddenly present a blanched appearance, 

 the skin of these organs will shrink, and become hard and dry, 

 as though frozen, and in the course of a day or two these 

 blanched portions snap off, leaving a raw surface, which speedily 

 suppurates. The appetite entirely disappears, and the secretion 

 from the bowels becomes checked, and what is denominated con- 

 stipation ensues ; the urine is scanty, and of a thick, yellow, or 

 brown color. In the course of twenty or twenty-four hours from 

 the commencement, (and in many cases even less,) the scarlet 

 spots on the membrane of the nose enlarge and pass into the 

 purple-colored patches, and these patches slough, and leave a 

 raw surface, from which is secreted an abundance of purulent 

 matter ; at the same time, a similar sloughing goes on around 

 the joints, where the blisters or vesicles first appeared. If the 

 animal does well, the fever will generally abate (in the milder 

 states at least) about the fourth or fifth day from the commence- 

 ment of the more acute stage, while in the more malignant kinds 

 it is seldom that a change for the better occurs before the seventh 

 or eighth day." 



Treatment. — The medicines must be of a stimulating, anti- 

 septic, and laxative character — stimulants, of a permanent char- 

 acter, to arouse vital action, and carry on the various functions 

 of the body ; antiseptics, to arrest decomposition, and ward off 

 the typhoid state ; laxatives, to carry off the morbid products, 

 as fast as they accumulate within the digestive surface. The 

 disease is now supposed to have invaded all the tissues, to a 

 greater or less extent, and requires to be promptly met with 

 medicines of this description, aided by a nutritious diet easily 

 digested, such as coarse oatmeal, dry, or in the form of thick 

 gruel ; equal parts of flour and fine feed may also be used in 

 this view, with an allowance of boiled roots — carrots, potatoes, 

 parsnips, or beets. Every means that the urgency of the case 

 demands must be put in force to make the animal as comfortable 

 as possible. The rectum must be occasionally emptied, by means 

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