Diseases of the Horse. 145 



colour ; the bowels, restrained by the same cause, are 

 slow to act, and the evacuations are small, hard, dry, and 

 glazed with mucus. The mouth is dry and hot, and the 

 tongue covered with a thick slimy secretion, and the 

 internal part of the rectum, or posterior gut, partakes of 

 the same characters. The ears, skin, and legs are also 

 hot, and often the sufferer breaks out in violent perspira- 

 tion which may somewhat relieve the state of the internal 

 organs. From this stage the disease, if unrelieved, 

 assumes more serious characters. The coat becomes 

 harsh, lining mucous membranes are reddened, and the 

 countenance exhibits an expression of anxiety as pain 

 increases ; and external parts, removed far from the 

 centre of circulation, fail to maintain a normal tempera- 

 ture : it may vary from abnormal heat to surprising cold, 

 finally meriting the description " cold as clay." On a 

 post mortem examination the cause is quickly ascertained. 

 The irritation arising from the original cause has produced 

 a general and widespread disturbance, in which the blood 

 especially has suffered constitutionally, and no longer 

 flows as in health. It fails to nourish the body, and, 

 moreover, acts as a morbid poison upon the nervous 

 system, which, by failure of function, seriously complicates 

 the disturbance. The lungs are congested, an additional 

 arrest upon blood purification being established, and from 

 this time further complications are superadded which end 

 in speedy death, the result of congestion or stoppage of 

 blood in the lungs. 



We have refrained from a detail of the usual order of 

 symptoms marking the stages from the commencement of 

 the original injury or disease, to the setting in and ter- 

 mination of the secondary complaint, as being uncalled 

 for. The veterinary practitioner alone is able to com- 

 prehend them. By him they are known as collective 

 signs of the most vital importance, and, as he proceeds 

 with his analysis, during the life of the sufferer, they point 

 to conditions which he may accurately describe, and, 

 after death, establish his conclusions with equal clearness 

 and precision. Such signs are viewed as a whole, and in 

 scientific language they are comprehended under the 



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