INFL.iMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 289 



706. — The only rational treatment in any disease of the 

 respiratory organs is to get the skia to work as actively and 

 eflBciently as possible (G86), and to put the lungs in free commu- 

 nication with the purest possible air. As Miss Nightingale found 

 that her patients recovered under the hedges at Sebastopol, whilst 

 they died in the foul air of the "comfortable" hospitals, so your 

 horse is more likely to recover turned out in a snow storm — bad 

 as that would be for him — than in a " comfortable" stable full 

 of foul air. Clothe him warmly, especially his legs, but let him 

 breathe fresh, pure, air, wherever he may have to go for it. 



SYMPTOMS. 



707. — In all diseases of the respiratory organs the horse 

 refuses to lie down. This will always distinguish them from 

 diseases of the digestive organs. In inflammation of the lungs 

 the horse stands with his fore legs stiffly fixed and sloping 

 outwards like the legs of a rough stool. He is unwilling to 

 move, and though evidently weak, determined not to be down. 

 He stretches out his neck and head so as to keep the windpipe 

 as straight as possible, and lets the head drop low enough to put 

 the weight on the strong ligament or cord, called the pack wax, 

 and relieve the muscles from any exertion in supporting the 

 head. His nostrils open wide, and their lining is a livid 

 red, turning purple as the disease progresses. The breathing is 

 quick, but not deep. As the blood cannot get through the 

 gorged lungs the circulation is impeded, the heart is struggling 

 on arteries that have no outlet, so that the pulse is felt, if felt at 

 all, as a mere feeble fruitless vibration. The ears and legs are 

 very cold. 



708. — Long before the disease has reached this stage, the 

 pack (686) should have been applied, keeping the blood at work 

 on the surface. The legs should also have been packed in the 

 same way, with wet and dry bandages, but more frequently 

 changed, with water as hot as possible. If you have thus relieved 

 the first symptoms of distressed breathing, by treatment that 

 would be right and beneficial in any case, and could never do 

 any harm, you have saved your horse. But if the lungs are once 



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