THE COMPLETE FARRIER. 27 



of the best yellow bark every day for some time. At otber times a 

 fever leaves a running at bis nose, of a thin yellow, glueish matter, 

 and small swellings below bis ears and chaps. 



When you find these symptoms, give one ounce of crocus metalo- 

 rum every day in a mash of bran, and rub the swellings with mercu- 

 rial ointment. 



In the year 1796, 1797, and 1798, a distemper prevailed among 

 horses, attended with a strong fever, which in a few days turned to a 

 putrid fever. Some horses had their eyes so much inflamed as to 

 stand goggling out of their sockets; they had also swellings all over 

 their bodies, and in two or three days dropped down dead. At that 

 time I observed that the horses which had camphor given them got 

 the best through. Some horses which have had this distemper, have 

 a relapse of it in the spring season; and it is difficult to eradicate. 



Care should be taken to keep the head and throat warmer than 

 common, as the kernels about the latter are swelled ; and also to pro- 

 mote a free perspiration, and to increase the running at the nose, 

 which has the same effect in horses as spitting has in the human spe- 

 cies ; but never syringe the nose, as is often done, to promote the 

 discharge, for it has an effect quite contrary, and lessens the quantity 

 of matter instead of increasing it; and checking the discharge of mat- 

 ter at the nostrils often causes swellings of the glands, and other bad 

 consequences. Let me once for all remind you that all such dis- 

 charges are critical, and thrown off by nature to free herself from the 

 load that oppresses her, and consequently should by all means be 

 promoted. 



A BROKEN WIND. 



Tins disorder may sometimes be p'revented, but cannot be cured ; 

 and it has hitherto been as little understood as any to which a horse is 

 subject. People have had various opinions respecting its cause, and 

 why some horses are more subject to it than others ; but of all the 

 opinions hitherto delivered, that of Mr. Gibson seems the best founded. 

 He thinks that it is frequently owing to the hasty or injudicious feed- 

 ing of young horses for sale ; by which means the growth of the lungs 

 is rapidly increased, and all the contents of the chest so much en- 

 larged, that in a few years the cavity of the chest is not sufficient to 

 contain them when they are expanded to perform their proper func- 

 tions. Nor is this opinion founded upon bare conjecture, for horses 

 that have died broken- winded have been opened, and the lungs and 

 other parts found too large for the chest. But although hasty feeding 

 is often the cause of this disorder, yet it is not always, for a narrow 

 chest may cause it. It has been observed that horses rising eight 

 years old are most subject to it. The reason of this is, because a 

 horse arrives at his full strength and maturity at that age. At six he 

 generally finishes his growth in height ; then he lets down his belly, 

 and spreads, and all his parts gain their full size; so that the pressure 

 on the lungs and the midriff is now increased. 



Also, when the horse catches cold and gets a dry cough, the lungs 



