FETEU.] 



MODERN VETERINARY PRACTICE. 



ri.VEB. 



as niakiiii; llie vt'ssi-ld cDiiLraL-L would probiibly 

 give case. 



In acklition to what liaa boon already ob- 

 servod, it seonis almost impossible to j,mvo any 

 useful practical advice, witli respect to tlioso 

 cases in which warm emollieut applications 

 should be used in preference to cold astringent 

 ones. The veterinary sur!:;eon, however, who 

 consults the feelinj;s and comfort of the animal 

 under his care, will seldom commit any serious 

 error. Hence, in all cases in which ths first 

 kind of topical applications seem not to pro- 

 duce the wonted degree of relief, let the 

 second sort be tried. From the opportunity 

 of comparison, a correct judgment may then 

 be easily formed. 



Seqardinq jwuUices, the linseed meal should 

 take the preference, and it is easily prepared. 

 Put as much hot water into a basin as the 

 size of the poultice requires ; previous to 

 which, mix the meal with cold water, so that 

 it does not clot in lumps when brought into 

 contact with the hot w ator ; then gradually 

 mix, till the mass is of a proper consistence. 

 Yery i'requently, a little sweet oil or hog's 

 lard is also added, to keep the application 

 soft and moist for a longer time. 



Fovientations are excellent ; and in most 

 cases of recent inflammation, as strains or 

 bruises, nothing can be better. The benefit 

 we have perceived from the application of 

 warm fomentations, has been surprising. 



Bv pursuing the treatment here recom- 

 mended, the resolution of the inflammation 

 will, in general, begin to take place, either in 

 the course of three or four days, or in a 

 shorter space of time. At all events, it may 

 usually be known, before the expiration of 

 this period, how the disorder will terminate. 



If the heat, |min, and other attendant nymp- 

 toms abate, and especially if the tumour begina 

 to decrease, it may tlien bo couHidered almost 

 a certainty, that, by a continuance of tho 

 same jjlan, a total resolution will, in timr. bo 

 eflocted. 



On the other hand, when all tin- ni'.. rent 

 symptoms increase, and particularly wlien tho 

 tumour becomes larger and comparativelv soft, 

 attended with a more violent throbbing pain, 

 it may then be concluded that tho case will 

 proceed to suppuration. Hence, an imine- 

 diate change of treatment suggests itself; and 

 such applications as were proper while resolu- 

 tion seemed practicable, are to be discon- 

 tinued, and others substituted. This remark 

 refers to the employment of cold astringent 

 remedies, which, when suppuration is inevit- 

 able, only do harm, by retarding what cannot 

 be avoided, and by affording no relief of tho 

 pain and other symptoms. If the inflam- 

 mation, however, should be already treated 

 with emollients, no alteration of the topical 

 applications is requisite, in consequence of the 

 inevitability of the formation of matter. In- 

 deed, emollient poultices and fomentations aro 

 the chief local means, both of promoting sup- 

 puration, and of diminishing pain, violent 

 throbbing, &c., which always precede this ter- 

 mination of inflammation. 



"When the system is too much reduced by 

 the injudicious continuance of the rigorous 

 a)iti])hIot/istic treatment, the progress of tho 

 ensuing suppuration is always retarded in a 

 disadvantageous manner, and the animal be- 

 comes too weak to support either a long- 

 continued, or a profuse discharge, which it 

 may not be possible to avoid ; but which should 

 be especially noticed. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



FEVERS.— FEVER IN GEKERAL ; INFLAMMATORY FEVER; COMMON FEVEIl ; BISTEMPEP, OH IXFI.UENZA ; 

 MALIGNANT FEVER; SYMPTOMATIC FEVER; CATARRH, OR COMMON COLD. 



Under the head of Fever in General, we can j the horse. It is particularly interesting to 

 only class inflammatory fever aa belonging to j veterinary surgeons, as being the frequent 



2G1 



