thickening of the connective tissues beneath the skin. The horse may 

 continue to do slow work on the farm, feeding and doing well, but the 

 leg is very unsightly. I have had best results from applying a cold- 

 water hay bandage to the leg every night, while tarring the limb, and 

 giving a winter's run at grass, have also a wonderfully good effect. 

 Liniments of a slightly stimulating nature may also be used, but I 

 have tried blisters, setons, &c., without any avail. 



452. Inflammation of the Lymphatics is a corded, painful 

 enlargement of the vessel, and is frequently induced in the limbs by 

 injuries, such as wounds, thorn pricks, bruised ankles, and cracked 

 heels. In some cases, the vessel is enlarged to such an extent that 

 the gland at the top and inner part of the leg becomes so much inflamed 

 that, often, an abscess is formed, which, if it does not burst of its own 

 accord, has to be opened and the matter liberated. Treatment : 

 The leg should be dressed with an antiseptic mixture, and alterative 

 tonic medicine ought to be given night and morning {see Appendix). 



453. Swelled Legs and Sheath. — During the winter months, 

 when horses are stall-fed, and have thick coats of hair, they are 

 frequently seen with thick legs, and, occasionally, the sheath becomes 

 swollen, and pendulous. This is generally due to want of condition, or to 

 giving them too much boiled food of a " slushy " nature, such as boiled 

 turnips or potatoes, and cut corn sheaves. Soft unconditioned hay, 

 or oats, will have a similar effect. If the food be at fault, it should be 

 changed at once, and the sheath well washed out with soap and water ; 

 then the administeration of iron tonics, combined with suitable 

 diuretics, will soon remedy the mischief {see Appendix). The best 

 treatment, however, is to clip the hair off the animal, and feed witli 

 well-conditioned corn and hay. 



454. Nearly all epidemic or epizootic diseases are more or less 

 affections of the blood, caused by small solid bodies, called microbes, 

 bacteria, or bacilli, which grow and multiply with great rapidity in the 

 blood, and produce characteristic diseases, just as turnip seed and 

 clover seed produce turnips and clover respectivel}' — plants that are 

 very distinctive from one another. 



