210 PNEUMONIA. INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 



nation of the vital current produced ; but experience teaches, that in pneumonia there 

 is so much sympathj' with the abdominal viscera, — there is such a fatal tendency in 

 the inflammation to spread over every mucous membrane, that purging is almost to a 

 certainty followed by inflammation, and that inflammation bids defiance to every 

 attempt to arrest it. It may be said with perfect confidence that, in the majority of 

 cases, a physic-ball woidd be a dose of poison to a horse labouring imder pneumonia. 



May we not relax the bowels ? Yes, if we can stop there. We may, after the 

 inflammation has evidently a little subsided, venture upon, yet verj' cautiously, small 

 doses of aloes in our fever medicine, and we may quicken their operation by frequent 

 injections of warm soap and water; omitting the purgative, however, the moment the 

 fasces are becoming pultaceous. We must, however, be assured that the inflamma- 

 tion is subsiding, and there must be considerable constipation, or the purgative had 

 better be let alone. 



If we must not give physic, we must endeavour to find some other auxiliary to the 

 bleeding, and we have it in the compound of dtgila/is, nitre, and trntlic fartar, which 

 has been so often recommended. 



The greatest care should be taken of the patient labouring under this complaint. 

 His leo-s should be well hand-rubbed, in order to restore, if possible, the circulation 

 to the extremities. Comfortable flannel rollers should encase the legs from the foot 

 to the knee. He should be covered up warm. There cannot be a doubt about this. 

 As for air, in warm weather he cannot have too much. In cold weather, his box must 

 be airy, but not chilly. We want to determine the blood to the extremities and the 

 skin, but not all the clothing in the world will keep our patient warm, if he is placed 

 in a cold and uncomfortable situation. 



As for food, we think not of it. In nine cases out of ten he will not touch any- 

 thing ; or if he is inclined to eat, we give him nothing but a bran-mash, or a little 

 green meat, or a few carrots. 



We now look about us for some counter-irritant. We wish to excite some power- 

 ful action in another part of the frame, and which shall divert the current of blood 

 from that which was first affected. We recognise it as a law of nature, and of which 

 we here eagerly avail ourselves, that if we have a morbid action in some vital organ 

 — an unusual determination of blood to it — we can abate, perhaps we can at once 

 arrest, that morbid action by exciting a similar or a greater disturbance in some con- 

 ticruous and not dangerous part. Therefore we blister the sides and the brisket, and 

 produce all the irritation we can on the integument; and in proportion as we do so, 

 we abate, or stand a chance of abating, the inflammation within. 



We have recourse to a blister in preference to a seton ; and decidedly so, for our 

 stimulus can be spread over a larger surface. — there is more chance of its being applied 

 to the immediate neighbourhood of the original inflammation — and, most assuredly, 

 from the extent of surface on which we can act, we can employ a qiiantity of stimulus 

 beyond comparison greater than a seton would permit us to do. Eotve/s aie frequently 

 excellent adjuvants to the blister, but should not be depended upon alone. 



In the loiter stage of disease the blister will not act, because the powers of nature 

 are exhausted. We must repeat it, — we must rouse the sinking energies of the frame, 

 if we can, although the efl'ort will generally be fruitless. The not rising of a blister, 

 in the latter stage of the disease, may, too often, be regarded as the precursor of death, 

 especially if it is accompanied by a livid or brown colour of the membrane of the nose. 



Pneumonia, like bronchitis, requires anxious watching. The first cbject is to sub- 

 due the inflammation, and our measures must be prompt and decisive. If the mouth 

 continues hot, and the extremities cold, and the nose red, we must bleed again and 

 again, and that in rapid succession. The good which we can do must be done at 

 first, or not at all. 



When we have obtained a little returning warmth to the extremities, we must con- 

 tinue to administer our sedative medicines without one grain of a carminative or a 

 tonic ; and the return of the deathy'-cojd foot will be a signal for farther depletion. 



The commencement of the state of convalescence requires the same guarded prac- 

 tice, as in bronchitis. As many horses are lost by impatience now, as by want of 

 decision at first. If we have subdued the disease, we should let well alone. We 

 ehould guard against the return of the foe bv the continued administration of our seda- 

 tives in smaller quantities ; but give no tonics unless del)ility is rapidly succeeding. 

 When we have apparently weathered the storm, we must still be cautious ; wo must 



