PLEURISY. 21? 



Nothing further than this ? We may try, but very cautiously, those ronics which 

 stimulate the dig'estive system, yet comparatively little aiF'^ct the circulatory one 

 Small closes of chamomile and gentian may be given, but carefully watched and o'mittec 

 if the flanks should heave more, or the cough be aggravated. 



The treatment of plitbisis is a most unsatisfactory subject of consideration as it 

 regards the practice of the veterinarian. If, after the human being has been subjected 

 to medical treatment for a long course of time and at very considerable expense, he so 

 far recovers that life is rendered tolerably comfortable to him, he and his connexions 

 are thankful and satisfied, and he will submit to many a privation in order to ward off 

 the return of a disease, to which he is conscious tliere will ever be a strong: predispo- 

 sition : but the case is different with the horse; and this, the scope and bound of the 

 human practitioner's hope, is worthless to the veterinarian. His patient must not 

 only live, but must be sound again. Every energy, every capability must be restored. 

 Can we cause the tubercles of the lungs to be absorbed ] Can we disperse or dispel 

 the hepatization ] Can we remodel the disorganised structure of the luno-s! Our 

 consideration, then, will be chiefly directed to the detection of the disease in its earliest 

 state, and the allaying of the irritation which causes or accompanies the o^rowth of the 

 tubercles. This must be the scope and bound of the veterinarian's practice — always 

 remembering that the owner should be forewarned of the general hopelessness of the 

 case, and that the continuance of his efforts should be regulated by the wish of the 

 proprietor and the value of the patient. 



PLEURISY. 



The investing membrane of the lungs, and of the thoracic cavity, namely, the pleura, 

 now demands consideration. We are indebted to Mr. .lohii Field, one of the noblest 

 ornaments of the veterinarj' profession — but cut off in the prime of his days — for the 

 greater part of our knowledge of this disease, and for the power of distinguishing 

 between it and pneumonia, as readily and as surely as we do between pneumonia and 

 bronchitis and epidemic catarrh. 



The prevailing causes of pleurisy are the same as those which produce pneumonia 

 — exposure to wet and cold, sudden alterations of temperature, partial exposure to 

 cold, riding against a keen wind, immersion as high as the chest in cold water, drink- 

 ing cold water, and extra work of the respiratory machine. To these may be added, 

 wounds penetrating in o the thorax and lacerating the pleura, fracture of the ribs, or 

 violent contusions on the side, the inflammation produced by which is propagated 

 through the parietes of the chest. 



It is sometimes confined to one side, or to one of the pleura en either side, or even 

 to patches on that pleura, whether pulmonary or costal. The inflammation of the 

 lungs which occasionally accompanies rabies is characterised by a singular patchy 

 appearance. That produced on the costal pleura, arising from violence or other causes, 

 rarely reaches the pulmonary covering ; and that which is communicated to the tnnic 

 of the lungs, by means of the intensity of the action within, does not often involv9 

 the costal pleura. In some cases, however, it affects both pleurae and both sides, and 

 spreads rapidly from one to the other. 



The first symptom is rigor, followed by increased heat and partial sweats : to these 

 succeed loss of appetite aad spirits, and a low and painful cough. The inspiration is 

 a short, sudden eflbrt, and broken off before it is fully accomplished, indicating the 

 pain felt from the distention of the irritable, because inflamed, membrane. This symp- 

 tom is exceedingly characteristic. In the human being it is well expressed by the 

 term stilch, and an exceedingly painful feeling it is. The expiration is retarded as 

 much as possible, by the use of all the auxiliary muscles which the animal can press 

 into the service; but it at length finishes abruptly in a kind of spasm. This pecu- 

 liarity of breathing, once carefully observed, cannot be forgotten. The next character 

 is found in the tenderness of the sides when the costal pleura is affected. Tliis ten- 

 derness often exists to a degrree scarcely credible. If the side is pressed upon, the 

 horse will recede with a low painful grunt; he will tremble, and try to get out of the 

 way before the hand touches him again. Then comes another indication, both of pain 

 and the region of that pain, — the intercostal muscles, affected by the. contiguous 

 pleura, and in their turn affecting the panniculus carnosus, or subcutaneous muscular 

 expansion without — there are twitchings of the skin on the side — corrugations- 

 waves creeping over the integument. This is never seen in pneumonia. There is 

 19 2 c 



