ON THE DISTEMPER. 85 



remedies by any means injudicious. But in his 

 constitutional treatment of the disease, I should advise 

 his dispensing with the use of sweet spirits of nitre, 

 and to give, in lieu thereof, medicines which will 

 gently relax the bowels ; and when the horse appears 

 to be in a convalescent state, he may then give the 

 spirits of nitre, morning and evening, with considerable 

 advantage. 



The symptoms attending the distemper will, of 

 course, occasionally vary in different horses, depending 

 much on the violence of the attack. Those symptoms 

 first mentioned will most of them be present, but in 

 a more violent degree ; the respiration and pulse is 

 much increased, the latter often from sixty to seventy ; 

 the eyes sometimes appear inflamed and watery ; the 

 parotid and maxillary glands, or in other words, the 

 glands about the throat and under the jaws, are 

 inflamed and enlarged ; the membranes of the nostrils, 

 throat, and wind-pipe, are also highly inflamed. The 

 throat being very sore, the horse has great difficulty in 

 swallowing his food and water, but more particularly 

 the latter, if given cold ; he sips and slavers in the pail, 

 and coughs repeatedly ; added to the above symptoms, 

 great debility often»ensues in the course of a few days. 

 The horse sometimes becomes so weak, that in 

 moving in his stall or box, he is near falling. I 

 have known some horses so well aware of their de- 

 bilitated state, as to place their quarters against 

 the wall of the box, in order to support themselves 

 while standing. 



