DISEASES OF THE CHEST AND LUNOS. 305 



work, he is easily tired, sweating on the least exertion, and 

 the sweat most profuse about the chest and sides ; his appe- 

 tite is not restored, or, perhaps, never has been good, and 

 the slightest exertion puts him completely off his feed." 



PLEURISY. 



This is a disease of the pleura, the membrane which in- 

 vests the lungs and lines the entire cavity of the chest. It 

 may be the follower of bronchitis, and the adjunct of pneu- 

 monia, and is generally the offspring of exposure and bad 

 treatment. It may affect both sides or only one of them. 

 Fortunately, the farmer's practice does not often include the 

 treatment of. this disease in our country, and probably not 

 more than one in five hundred of our readers will ever be 

 called upon to undertake a case of this kind. 



By the masses of farmers and horse-owners generally, 

 pleurisy will be very likely to be mistaken for pneumonia, 

 or, perhaps, even for bronchitis. It has a number of quite 

 distinctive symptoms, however, most of which may be recog- 

 nized without much difficulty by any ordinarily careful ob- 

 server. One of the most characteristic of these is the peculiar 

 respiration, the inspiration being short and very painful, from 

 the extremely irritable condition of the pleura, consequent 

 upon inflammation, while the expiration is affected by allow- 

 ing the chest to fall slowly, and affords an interval of very 

 great relief. The feeling is that which the human patient 

 calls the stitch. Still, the breathing is somewhat quickened, 

 raising to forty or fifty respirations per minute. The pulse is 

 considerably accelerated, but, though small toward the last, 

 is strong and wiry throughout ; whereas, in pneumonia, it is 

 oppressed and sometimes hardly appreciable. The nostrils 

 and eyes are of a natural color, or nearly so, and the former 

 are not dilated. The legs, instead of being extended, as in 

 pneumonia and bronchitis, are rather drawn together. The 

 head is protruded rather than drooped ; the expression anx- 

 ious, but brightening at times, at least in the earlier stages ; 

 and when the sufferer turns to look at his flanks, his move- 

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