196 DISEASES OF THE HOKSE. 



Diabetes 



Consists in an excessive discharge of urine, attended with great 

 thirst, and sometimes with a gradual loss of flesh- and great 

 debility. The urine is sometimes limpid and transparent like 

 water ; at others high-coloured, and of a very offensive smell. 



It is generally produced by improper provender, such as oats 

 that have been bleached and greatly kiln-dried, by new oats and 

 mowburnt or new hay. 



This disense has frequently appeared amongst cavalry horses 

 when on foreign service, and subjected to bad and rotten forage. 



The following ball should be given : — 



Opium from \ drachm to 1 drachm. 



Catechu 2 drachms. 



Sulphate of iron 2 drachms. 



Ginger 1 drachm. 



Gentian 2 drachms. 



To be made into a ball with treacle, and given once a day for 

 three or four days ; then leaving off for a day or two, and con- 

 tinuing as before, if necessary. 



The body should be warmly clothed, and gruel made Avith 

 flour should be given to drink instead of water. A moderate 

 portion of beans should be given, and the oats diminished in 

 jiroportion, which, together with the hay, must be of the best 

 quality. 



CHAP. XXXIX. 



DISEASES OF THE MOUTH. 



[In a state of nature, and with grass for the only diet, the parts 

 concerned in mastication and deglutition would be rarely if ever 

 diseased. But when the horse is brought into the stable, and 

 forced to subsist on hay and corn, subjected to irregulai'ities in 

 feeding, and the mouth exposed to the pressure of the iron bit, 

 we find it subjected to various injuries and diseases, some serious, 

 others trivial, though inconvenient. — Ed.] 



Lampas, Bags, Ulcers in the Mouth, lacerated Tongue, Quidding, 

 Obstructions in the (Esophagus. 



This disease consists in a swelling of the roof of the mouth, 

 near tlie front teeth, and is sometimes higher than the teeth. It 

 happens generally between the third and fifth year, and is sup- 

 posed to prevent a colt from gathering his food with ease, so that 



