PNEUMOXIA. — INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 28.') 



muscle that can be brouglit to bear upon the part is called into action. 

 Hence the horse ^\^ll not lie dowTi, for he can use the muscles of the spine 

 and the shoulder wdth most advantage as he stands ; hence, too, the very 

 peculiar stiffness of position — the disinclination to move. The horse with 

 decided pneumonia can scarcely be induced to move at all ; he cannot spare 

 for a moment the assistance which he derives from certain muscles, and he 

 will continue obstinately to stand until he falls exhausted or dying. How 

 eagerly does the veterinarian ask when he goes into the stable — ' Was he 

 down last night ?' And he concludes that much progress has not been 

 made towards amendment in the case when the answer is in the negative. 

 \Vh.en the patient, wearied out, lies down, it is only for a moment ; for if 

 the inflammation is not subdued, he cannot dispense with the auxiliary 

 muscles. He frequently, and Avith doleful expression, looks at his sides — 

 at one side or at both, accordingly as one or both are involved. There ig 

 not, however, the decidedly haggard countenance of bronchitis ; and in 

 bronchitis the horse rarely or never gazes at his flanks. His is a dread of 

 sufibcation more than a feeling of pain. The head is protruded, and the 

 nostrils distended, and the mouth and the breath intensely hot. The nose 

 is injected from the earhest period ; and soon afterwards there is not 

 merely injection, but the membrane is uniformly and intensely red. The 

 variation in this intensity is anxiously marked by the observant practi- 

 tioner; and he regards with fear and with despair the livid or dirty 

 brownish hue that gradually creeps on. Pneumonia very rarely runs its 

 course as a pure disease ; the pleura very early becomes impHcated, and 

 pleuro-pneumonia more frequently attacks the horse than is generally 

 imagined. 



The unfavourable symptoms are, increased coldness of the ears and legs, 

 if that be possible ; partial sweats, evident weakness, staggering, the animal 

 not l^Txig down. The pulse becomes quicker, and weak and fluttering ; 

 the membrane of the nose paler, but of a dirty hue ; the animal gro'u-ing 

 stupid, comatose. At length he falls, but he gets up immediately. For 

 a while he is up and do"\vn almost every minute, until he is no longer able 

 to rise ; he struggles severely ; the pulse becomes more rapid, fainter, and 

 he dies of sufibcation. The disease sometimes runs its course with strange 

 rapidity. A horse has been destroj^ed by pure pneumonia in twelve hou.rs. 

 The vessels ramifying over the cells have pelded to the fearful impulse of 

 the blood, and the lungs have presented one mass of congestion. 



The favourable symptoms are, the return of warmth to the extremities 

 — ^the cii'culation beginning again to assume its natural character, and, 

 next to this, the lying down quietly and mthout uneasiness ; showing us 

 that he is beginning to do A\ithout the auxiliary muscles. These are 

 good symptoms, and they will rarely deceive. 



Congestion is a frequent termination of pneumonia. Not only are the 

 vessels gorged — the congestion which accompanies common inflammation 

 — but their parietes are necessarily so thin, in order that the change in 

 the blood may take place although they are interposed, that they are easily 

 ruptured, and the cells are filled with blood. This efi'used blood soon 

 coagulates, and the lung, when cut into, presents a black, softened, pulpy 

 kind of appearance, termed, by the farrier and the groom, rottenness, and 

 being supposed by them to indicate an old disease. It proves only the 

 violence of the disease, the rupture of many a vessel surcharged with 

 blood ; and it also proves that the disease is of recent date, for in no great 

 length of time, the serous portion of the blood becomes absorbed, the more 

 soHd one becomes organised, the cells are obliterated, and the lungs are 

 hepatised, or bear considerable resemblance to liver. 



in every case of pneumonia early and anxious I'ecoui'se should be had to 



