334 



DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICLNE AND SURGEfiY. 



tnres, or faschia of muscles, and the inter-articular cartilages of 

 the joints, and, finally, the articulating surfaces of the bones be- 

 come involved. The disease is always characterized by gL*ea 



pain, and sometimes swelling in the re- 

 gion of joint. It is accompanied by s 

 quick and wiry pulse, and by other symp- 

 toms, denominated febrile. It occurs 

 among men and horses at all seasons 

 of the year, yet at the period of sud- 

 den transitions from heat to cold it is 

 most prevalent. Animals when heated 

 bv exercise, and then sufi'ered to "cool 

 off," without ordinary care, are very apt 

 to become the subjects ol this malady, so 

 that prevention, to a certain extent, is 

 within our power, and, in the exercise 

 of preventive measures, we may, n com- 

 mon parlance, "stave off," for a time, 

 this disease, although it may be latent in 

 the system as an hereditary affection. 

 Mr. F. Dun, who is good authority on 

 the subject, says : 

 "Rheumatism is neither so common, nor are its symptoms so 

 well marked, in horses as in cattle. When, however, it does occur 

 in the horse, it manifests the same well-known appearances which 

 characterize it in all animals. It affects the fibrous tissues of 

 joints, the coverings of muscles, tendons, valves about the heart, 

 and larger vessels, and manifests a peculiar tendency to shift from 

 one part of the body to another, often affecting, in succession, all 

 the larger joints — at one time chielly in the neck, at another, in 

 the back and loins, while, in many of its more acute attacks, it 

 appears to involve almost every portion of fibrous and fibro-serous 

 tissues throughout the body. In ali its varied types it exhibits a 

 full, strong, hard, and unyielding pulse, caused by the inflamma- 

 tion involving the serous and fibro-serous tissues of the heart and 

 circulating vessels. During its existence, various excreraentitious 

 matters accumulate i-n the blood, and the fibrinous constituents 

 of the same exceed their normal proportions, as indicated by the 

 production of the buSy coat on the blood. In severe or badly- 

 treated rases, the inflammation \i very apt to be <^ransformed from 



AITBSHAL HTTSCLF.S AND TENDOHS 

 or THE OFF-HIND LEO. 



