DISEASES OF THE HOliSE. 91 



when treated with acetic acid, but there are no microscopic tubular 

 casts, as in nephritis. If due to stone in the bladder, that will be 

 found on examination through rectum or vagina. 



Treatment implies, first, the removal of the cause, whether poisons 

 in food or as medicine, the removal of Spanish llies or other blistering 

 agents from the skin, or the extraction of stone or gravel. If the 

 urine has been retained and decomposed it must be completely evac- 

 uated through a clean catheter, and the bladder thoroughly washed 

 out with a solution of 1 dram of borax in a quart of water. This must 

 be repeated twice daily until the urine no longer decomposes, because 

 so long as ammonia is developed in the bladder the protecting layer 

 of epithelial cells will be dissolved and the surface kept raw and irri- 

 table. The diet must be light (bran mashes, roots, fresh grass), and 

 the drink impregnated with linseed tea, or solution of slippery elm or 

 marsh mallow. The same agents may be used to inject into the rectum, 

 or the}^ may even be used along -with borax and opium to inject into 

 bladder (gum arabic 1 dram, opium 1 dram, tepid water 1 pint). 

 Fomentations over the loins are often of great advantage, and these 

 may be followed or alternated w^ith the application of mustard, as in 

 paralysis- Or the mustard may be applied on the back part of the 

 abdomen below or between the thighs from the anus downward. 

 Finally, when the acute symptoms have subsided, a daily dose of buchu 

 1 dram and nux vomica one-half dram will serve to restore lost tone. 



IRRITABLE BLADDER. 



Some horses, and especially mares, show an irritabilit}^ of the blad- 

 der and nerve centers presiding over it by frequent urination in small 

 quantities, though the urine is not manifestly changed in character 

 and no more than the natural amount is passed in the twenty-four 

 hours. The disorder appears to have its source quite as frequently 

 in the generative or nervous system as in the urinary. A troublesome 

 and dangerous form is seen in mares, which dash oil and refuse all 

 control hj the rein if driven with a full bladder, but usually prove 

 docile if the bladder has been emptied before hitching. In other cases 

 the excitement connected with getting the tail over the reins is a pow- 

 erful determining cause. The condition is marked in many mares 

 during the period of '7ie«^." 



An oleaginous laxative (castor oil 1 pint) will serve to remove any 

 cause of irritation in the digestive organs, and a careful dieting will 

 avoid continued. irritation b}" acrid vegetable agents. The b<ladder 

 should be examined to see that there is no stone or other cause of irri- 

 tation, and the sheath and penis should be washed with soapsuds, any 

 sebaceous matter removed from the bilocular cavity at the end of the 

 penis, and the whole lubricated with sweet oil. Irritable mares should 

 be induced to urinate before they are harnessed, and those that clutch 



