lOQ The Aihtients of Horses. 



' The exciting cause seems to be hard 

 work. 



Treatment. — Irrigation with cold water 

 for a quarter of an hour each day, followed 

 by a good rubbing with iodine ointment. 



Firing produces the best results. 



Withers, fistulous. — It is not at all 

 uncommon to hnd the horse suffering 

 from fistulous sores upon the withers, and 

 we must confess that, once the disease 

 becomes thoroughly established, it is 

 usually extremely difficult to cure. 



This shows the importance of taking 

 steps to check the complaint at the very 

 outset. 



Some horses are, through defective 

 conformation of their withers, predisposed 

 to suffer. 



Commonly an ill-titting saddle is the 

 '' exciting '' cause, but a blow will cause 

 it. It is not necessarily confined to 

 saddle-horses, though they may suffer 

 more often than others. 



At the beginning the disease appears 

 to be a mere bruising and inflammation 

 of the tissues beneath the skin of the 

 withers and lubricating pocket (bursa), 

 on the upper surface of the lower bones 

 of the neck, producing a form of abscess 

 (serous abscess) containing a watery 

 fluid. 



It is the bursting (or opening) and 

 subsequent infection of this which leads 

 up to the formation of a running (sup- 

 purating) sore or sores. 



Treatment. — Tlie swelling requires 

 opening, but care is necessary in order to 



