DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 493 



after treatment of inflammator}" troubles as well as into the acute 

 stages of them. They brace up weakened and torpid glands; the}'" 

 stimulate the secretion of the necessary fluids of the body, and hasten 

 the excretion of the waste material produced by the inflammatory 

 process; they regulate the action of a weakened heart; they promote 

 healthy vitality of diseased parts, and aid the chemical changes needed 

 for returning the altered tissues to their normal condition. 



[Synonyms: Fehrls, Latin; pyrexia, Greek; fievrc, French; ficher, German; fehhre, 

 Italian; calcntura, Spanish.] 



The etymolog}^ of the word "fever," from the Ijntin fevere, to boil 

 or to burn, and of injrexla^ from the Greek word nvp^ fire, defines in a 

 general way the meaning of the term. 



Fever is a general condition of the animal bod}^ in which there is an 

 elevation of the animal body temperature, which maj^ be only a degree 

 or two or may be 10° F. The elevation of the body temperature, 

 which represents tissue change or combustion, is accompanied b}^ an 

 acceleration of the heart's action, a quickening of the respiration, and 

 an aberration in the functional activity of the various organs of the 

 body. These organs may be stimulated to the performance of exces- 

 sive work, or they ma}^ be incapacitated from carrying out their 

 allotted tasks, or, in the course of a fever, the two conditions may both 

 exist, the one succeeding the other. Fever as a disease is usuallv pre- 

 ceded by chills as an essential symptom. 



Fevers are divided into ess.ential fevei^s and symptomatic fevers. In 

 symptomatic fever some local disease, usually of an inflammatory char- 

 acter, develops first, and the constitutional febrile phenomena are the 

 result of the primary point of combustion, irritating the whole body, 

 either through the nervous s}' stem or directly by means of the waste 

 material which is carried into the circulation and through the blood ves- 

 sels, and is distributed to distal parts. Essential fevers are those in 

 which there is from the outset a general disturbance of the whole 

 economy. This may consist of an elementary alteration in the blood 

 or a general change in the constitution of the tissues. Fevers of the 

 latter class are usually due to some infecting agent and belong, there- 

 fore, to the class of infectious diseases. 



Essential fevers are subdivided \\A,o epliemerali^xox^., which last but 

 a short time and terminate b}^ critical phenomena; intermittent i^\Q.v^., 

 in which there are alterations of exacerbations of the febrile symptoms 

 and remissions, in which the bod}^ returns to its normal condition or 

 sometimes to a depressed condition, in which the functions of life are 

 but badly performed; and continued iQYQVs, which include contagious 

 diseases, such as glanders, influenza, etc., the septic diseases, such as 

 pyemia, septicemia, etc., and the eruptive fevers, such as variola, etc. 



Whether the cause of the fever has been an injurj^ to the tissues, 



