DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 441 



NERYOUS IRRITATIOX OF THE SKIN, OR TRURITUS. 



This is seen in horses fed to excess on grain and hay, kept in close 

 stables, and worked irreg-ularl}'. Though most common in summer 

 it is often severe in hot, close stables in winter. Pimples, vesicles, 

 and abrasions maj^ result, but as the itching is quite as severe on other 

 parts of the skin, these may be the result of scratching mereh\ It is 

 especially' common and inveterate about the roots of the mane and tail. 



Ti-eatment consists in a purgative (Glauber's salts, 1 pound), restricted, 

 laxative diet, and a wash of water slightly soured with oil of vitriol 

 and rendered sweet by carbolic acid. If obstinate, give dail}^ 1 ounce 

 of sulphur and 20 grains nux vomica. If the acid lotion fails, 2 drams 

 carbonate of potash and 2 grains of cyanide of potassium in a quart of 

 water will sometimes benefit. If due to pinworms in the rectum, the 

 itching of the tail may be remedied by an occasional injection of a quart 

 of water in which chips of quassia wood have been steeped for tA^elve 

 hours. 



HERPES. 



This name has been applied to a disease in which there is an erup- 

 tion of minute vesicles in circular groups or clusters, with little tend- 

 ency to burst but rather to dry up into fine scabs. If the vesicles 

 break they exude a slight gummy discharge which concretes into a 

 small, hard scab. It is apparently noncontagious and not appreciably 

 connected with any disorder of internal organs. It sometimes accom- 

 panies or follows specific fevers, and is, on the whole, most frequent at 

 the seasons of changing the coat — spring and autumn. It is seen on 

 the lips and pastern, but may appear on an}' part of the hody. The 

 duration of the eruption is two weeks or even more, the tendency 

 being to spontaneous recover3^ The affected part is very irritable, 

 causing a sensitiveness and a disposition to rub out of proportion to 

 the extent of the eruption. 



Treatment. — It may be treated b}' oxide of zinc ointment, and to 

 relieve the irritation a solution of opium or belladonna in water, or of 

 sugar of lead or oil of peppermint. A course of bitters (one-half an 

 ounce Peruvian bark daih' for a week) may be serviceable in ])raeing 

 the sj'stem and producing an indisposition to the eruption. 



BLEEDING SKIN ERUrTIONS, OR DERMATORRHAOIA RAKASITICA. 



In China, Hungary, Spain, and other countries horses frequently 

 suffer from the presence of a threadworm {Filar ia hmmorrhagica, 

 Railliet: F. multijmjyillosa.^ Condamine & Drouilly) in the subcuta- 

 neous connective tissue, causing effusions of blood under the scurf 

 skin and incrustations of dried blood on the surface. The eruptions, 

 which appear mainly on the sides of the trunk, but ma}- cover any 



