26 DADDS VETERINARY SURGERY AND MEDICIXE. 



in reference to some of the exciting causes whicli in general pro- 

 duce those diseases to which the horse, by virtue of his constitu- 

 tion, is liable. The following quotation, brief and pointed, will 

 be found pertinent : 



" By far the easiest and best mode of curing diseases of animals 

 is to keep the diseases and the cattle separate. With cattle, as 

 with ourselves, disease is caused, in most instances, by an excess 

 of carefulness or of carelessness. Too much and too rich food is 

 as injurious as too little and too j)Oor. Perhaps fewer diseases, 

 in proportion to the numbers treated in each way, spring from 

 privation than from surfeit. Too little as Avell as too great 

 exposure to extremes of heat and cold has a tendency to create 

 disease; in the one case it causes disease, in the other it renders 

 man or animal more liable to it. Let a wealthy and a warm- 

 hearted man own and take charge of a favorite animal, and the 

 chances are that it will be 'killed with kindness;' if it is tended, 

 in part, by a hireling, the equilibrium may be restored. In our 

 experience — no very limited one, by the way — care is more needed 

 among cattle than cures ; and all the diseases which came under 

 our treatment sprang from the want of judicious care. Has a 

 cow a cough, has she the hoven, has she the red-water, or the 

 puerperal fever? it is from overcare — too much w^armth or too 

 much feed. Is she mangy, lousy, hide-bound, or aifected with 

 horn-ail ? the chances are that she has been neglected. Of course 

 there are very many exceptions to this and to every other general 

 rule. But this is our experience. Let few farmers, however, 

 feed their animals less than they now do, or give them more airy 

 lodgings than they now do, because the greater number of the 

 cattle in this country suffer from privation and exposure to the 

 inclemencies of the weather rather than from pampering. But 

 animals, as well as men, will, with the best care we can bestow 

 on them, become sick at times. Our judgment is often at fault 

 when our intentions are tne best. Sometimes our back is turned, 

 or our eyes are not opened sufficiently wide. At all events, our 

 stock will become sick, some of them ; and recourse must be had 

 to medical remedies." 



It is usual to classify causes ; yet, for all practical purposes, it is 

 only necessary for us to know that exciting causes are those from 

 which disease most directly springs. For example, suppose that in 

 the act of shoeing a horse a nail is driven in a wrong direction, 



