238 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



tend much above the hock, we may make some punctures with 

 a lancet, which will produce great relief, particularly if the leg 

 be afterwards fomented with warm water. Care, however, must 

 be taken to rub the leg dry afterwards. 



Walking exercise should be given twice or three times a day. 

 It will be necessary to repeat the diuretic medicine every alter- 

 nate day ; and if the animal is debilitated, we should give in 

 addition a tonic : such as the following. 



Powdered ginger 2 dr. 



Sulphate of iron 3 dr. 



Either as a powder or in a ball. 



If in the course of two days the leg is not so materially reduced 

 in size, as to lead us to infer its speedy restoration to a normal 

 state, we may insert a rowel in the thigh. If abscesses should 

 form in the thigh or leg, we must take care to distinguish the 

 case from farcy, to which it then bears some resemblance ; but 

 in the latter disease the abscesses are usually smaller, and in the 

 course of the absorbents, which are enlarged, whilst in oedema 

 they are larger and more independent in their position. These 

 abscesses being opened, usually heal with little difficulty ; but if 

 the skin should slough, as it sometimes does, the cure is much 

 more tedious. There is, however, a difference in this respect 

 between the human and the equine subject ; for Avhilst in the 

 former the cure of ulcers is tedious and protracted, in the horse 

 it is generally accomplished with speed and safety. 



TJ^eed. — There is a disease very similar to oedema, or humour, 

 as it is commonly termed ; but, though usually confounded with it, 

 it is yet different in its nature, — in Scotland it is termed Weed. 

 The horse is found in great pain in one of the hind legs, but 

 the swelling is considerably less than in oedema, and is situated 

 above the hock at first, from whence it extends downwards. 

 On examination, we find a swelling in the course of the thigh 

 vein, extending nearly from the hock to the groin, very hot, 

 and extremely tender to the touch. It is, in fact, a local in- 

 flammation of the lymphatic vessels. 



The treatment consists in venesection, purgatives, and diu- 

 retics, together with warm fomentations to the affected part. 



Chapped Heels. — Some horses are so predisposed to this com- 

 plaint, that they prove a source of great annoyance to their 

 owners during the winter months. They have frequently white 

 legs, and the texture of the skin gives way from the least ex- 

 citing cause, and a crack takes place, which, from the motion of 

 the limb, becomes widened and deepened, and from this circum- 

 stance is often exceedingly difficult to heal. It is usually pre- 



