rEVTJiis.] 



MODERN VETERINARY PRACTICE 



[fevkhb. 



After tins feed tho horao ns usinil. IIo will 

 be lit for work in two days' time. 



Tlie distompiT, or intluenza in liorsoa, at- 

 taoka tlioin at all seasons of the year, and 

 under almost any circun)stances ; bnt it is in- 

 finitely more prevalent at some times, and 

 under some eireumstan'ces, than at others. 

 This is especially the case in the spring, near 

 the sea-coast, and when the wind is blowing oif 

 the sea from the south-east. This has been 

 demonstrably proved. No age is exempt from 

 this disease. In large towns, horses are 

 very liable to it, particularly if their heads 

 are fastened in a south-east direction, and 

 the rack at the top left completely open. 

 Occasionally, however, it rages in a truly 

 epidemic form, when the liability to its attack 

 is almost uniform among all varieties, with the 

 exception that, even under this state, young 

 animals, and those newly brought into stable 

 management, are more liable to it than older 

 ones. Tlie spring appears to be the time of 

 year when they are most subject to this disease, 

 the prevalence of which is materially increased 

 by the variable state of the atmosphere, as 

 in great and sudden changes from dry to wet, 

 and from heat to cold, and still more certainly 

 if these are accompanied with an easterly wind. 

 Now and then it is found to occur in wet 

 autumns also. It has been disputed whether 

 it is contagious ; but on this point we do not 

 think it difficult to decide, for we have seen a 

 number of horses stabled together, and some 

 of them not the least affected, while others, 

 standing near them, have suffered greatly from 

 an attack. This can only be attributed to the 

 susceptibility of the constitutiou of some to 

 be afiected by the disease more readily than 

 others, though it may appear to exhibit all the 

 characteristics of contagion. 



Many foreign writers have fallen into the same 

 error with some of our English veterinarians, 

 and confounded this disease with percemonia, 

 and other diseases of the chest. This mistake 

 is not to be wondered at in practitioners of 

 moderate experience, from the circumstance of 

 these diseases possessing some symptoms in 

 common, and, in fact, from itself frequently 

 terminating in that complaint ; but this is 

 to be attributed more to unskilful treatment 

 than to a disposition of the disease, in itself, 

 to such a result ; for, in a sea-coast practice, 

 2 M 



wo could count, in one year, three humlred 

 cases in which not a single patient was lost. 



The first indication of tlio disenHo ia a loss 

 of appetite. The horse loi)ka dull and heavy ; 

 his legs and ears are cold ; his mouth warm 

 and dry; and he fncpiently attempts to blow 

 his nose, from which comes a purulent dis- 

 charge, aiul he breathes rather hard. The pa- 

 rotid glaiids under his ear, and extending to 

 the angle of the jaw, are much swollen. Some- 

 times the suhmaxillary glarid, between the 

 jaws, become swollen, but not frequently. His 

 ears continue cold, and he cougiis dreadfully ; 

 the violence would almost lead to the belief 

 that some important organ would be ruptured. 

 This continues sometimes for three or four 

 minutes, with such distressing violence to the 

 horse, that it pains the observer. Sore throat 

 is always an attendant on inflammation of the 

 tonsils. The animal cannot swallow his driidc 

 but with such difficulty as ratlier to resemble 

 sucking than swallowing; if he is inclined to 

 eat, the hay is quidded, and returned again, 

 from an incapability of passing it over the 

 glottis. Sometimes the inflammation proceeds 

 down the windpipe, and then the cough is ex- 

 treme. It is also sore to the touch on the 

 outside of the throat. Indeed, in some cases, 

 the horse evinces great restiveness when the 

 hand is laid on his throat, on tlie enlarged 

 glands, or the windpipe. In some cases the dis- 

 charge from the nostrils becomes of a mucous 

 character ; but this is a favourable omen. 



The causes of this disease, as before de- 

 scribed, are principally dependent on a vari- 

 able atmosphere, acting upon a peculuir apti- 

 tude in the constitution of the horse to be- 

 come affected. In some years, this aptitude is 

 more general than in others; and if an 

 unusually variable temperature takes place in 

 the climate, with atmospheric moisture, the 

 disease assumes a more epidemic type. 



In treating for it, the animal must never bo 

 bled ; for, what is this distemper ? — nothing 

 more than sore throat, which may extend as 

 before described; but, then, bleeding is bad, 

 because no vital organ is aflected. Remove 

 the soreness from the throat, and the animal 

 gets well. The very fact of the horse having a 

 difficulty of swallowing, proves that the dis- 

 temper extends little or no farther than the 

 rima and epiglottis, the membranes of which 



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