DIABETES.] 



MODERN VETERINARY PRACTICE. 



[diabetls. 



at all necessary ; but we wouUl recomiiioiul i\\c 

 following : — 



Sulphate of Iron .... l-> .In.rl.ms. 



Cape Aloes 12 do. 



Juniper Berries ....<> «o. 



Myrrh do. 



Form into a mass with soft soap. 



Divide into six balls, and give one every morning. 

 Let the horse's legs be well rubbed and ban- 

 daged. Give him gentle exercise once or twice 

 a day; and these things being attended to, 

 with good grooming and nutritious diet, as 

 sweet oats, with a little chall' and bran, and 

 occasionally a few carrots and speared barley, 

 will restore him. Avoid, of all things, giving 

 beans, as, when a horse comes from grass, or 

 the straw-yard, and beans immediately given 

 to him to force him, as it is called, the heels 

 generally, after swelling, become cracked. 

 This leads us to consider those other causes 

 which occasion swelled legs, as heated and 

 foul atmosphere, standing long in dung and 

 urine, living high in the stable, and having 



little or no work. ]n coach-horHcs in particu- 

 lar, where their jounieya do not exceed ei^^htor 

 ten miles a ilay, which are genenilly performed 

 in an hour, or a trillo of time more, the diHeiwo 

 ia brought on by their titaiuling in the stablo 

 twenty-three hours out of the twenty- four. 

 Horses coming into hot stables with their 

 heels wet from having been in water, and 

 not immediately attended to — in most of tlieso 

 cases local debility is the cause ; but we 

 should not say general debility ; because it 

 occurs to horses high fed and exercised, as' 

 well as to plethoric animals, which sometimes 

 are neglected. In treating for swelled legs in 

 plethoric horses, bleeding will be highly neces- 

 sary, with a course of physic — according to 

 strength and constitution — of the purging- 

 balls. After this, administer a dozen of diuretic 

 balls, as prescribed in the list of medicines at 

 the end of this work ; and proceed as recom- 

 mended in the article Condition, to which we 

 beg to refer the reader ; and which will bo found 

 to contain all the directions necessary. 



CHAPTER XXII, 



DIABETES; BLOODY URINE ; STRANG UAKY ; URINARY ORGANS. 



DIABETES, OR PROFUSE STALING. 



Diabetes is not frequently found in the horse ; 

 but as it is occasionally, it deserves notice. 

 Its indications are great thirst, accompanied 

 with a voracious appetite, gradual emaciation 

 of the whole body, and a frequent discharge of 

 urine, containing a large proportion of saccha- 

 rine and other matter, voided even in a quan- 

 tity exceeding that of the aliment or fluid 

 introduced. These are the characteristics of 

 this disease. But it is always much milder 

 when symptomatic, than when it appears as a 

 primary affection. It may be occasioned by 

 the too frequent use of strong diuretic medi- 

 cines, severe evacuations, or by anything that 

 tends to produce an impoverisa-id state ot the 

 blood, or general debility; such as bad hay, 

 heated oats, or such as may have been long on 

 their passage, either from the Baltic or Ireland. 



It has, however, taken place, in many instances, 

 without an obvious cause. 



That which immediately gives rise to the 

 disease, has always been considered as obscure, 

 and various theories have been advanced to 

 account for it. It has been usual to consider 

 it as the effect of relaxation of the kidneys, or 

 as depending on a general coUiquation of the 

 fluids. The liver has been thought, by some, 

 to be its chief source ; but this organ is hardly 

 ever affected by it. 



The primary seat of the disease, although 

 not absolutely determined, is considered, by 

 the majority of practitioners, to be dependent 

 on a primary aHection of the kidneys. 



It sometimes comes on so slowly and imper- 

 ceptibly, without any previous disorder, that it, 

 now and then, attains to a considerable degree, 

 and subdiita long without being accompanied 



239 



