HORSE. 



medicine administered ; but (he sen- 

 sibility of the mouth sliould never be 

 destroyed by tiie apphcation of the 

 heated iron. Canker and u-ounds tn 

 the mouth, from various causes, will 

 be best remedied by diluted tincture 

 of myrrh, or a weak solution of alum. 

 Foreign bodies 211 the gullet may gen- 

 erally be removed by means of the 

 probang used in the hoove of cattle : 

 or the cEsophagus may be opened, 

 and the obstructing body taken out. 

 It is on the mucous membranes that 

 poisons principally exert their influ- 

 ence. The %jciv is the most frequent 

 vegetable poison. The horse may be 

 saved by timely recourse to equal 

 parts of vinegar and water injected 

 into the stomach, after the poison has 

 been, as much as possible, removed by 

 means of the stomach-pump. For 

 arsenic, hydrated peroxide of iron ; 

 corrosive sublimate, white of eggs. 

 Spasmodic colic is too frequently pro- 

 duced by exposure to cold, or the 

 drinking of cold water, or the use 

 of too much green meat. The horse 

 should be walked about ; strong fric- 

 tion used over the belly, and spirit of 

 turpentine given in doses of two oun- 

 ces, with an ounce each of laudanum 

 and spirit of nitrous ajther, in warm 

 water or ale. If the spasm is not 

 soon relieved, the animal should be 

 bled, an aloetic ball administered, and 

 injections of warm water with a so- 

 lution of aloes thrown up. This spas- 

 modic action of the bowels, when 

 long continued, is liable to produce in- 

 trosiisception, or entanglement, of them, 

 and the case is then hopeless. .SV 

 perpurgation often follows the admin- 

 istration of a too strong or improper 

 dose of physic. The torture which 

 it produces will be evident by the ag- 

 onized expression of the countenance, 

 and the frequent looking at the flanks. 

 Plenty of thin starch or arrow-root 

 should be given both by the mouth 

 and by injection ; and twelve hours 

 having passed without relief being 

 experienced, chalk, catechu, and opi- 

 um should be added to the gruel. 

 Worms in the intestines are not often 

 productive of much mischief, except 

 they exist in very great quantities. 

 30 G 



Small doses (two drachms) of emetic 

 tartar, with a little ginger, may be giv- 

 en to the horse half an hour before 

 his first meal, in order to expel the 

 round white worm ; and injections of 

 linseed oil or aloes will remove the 

 ascarides, or needle-worms. 



" The respiratory passages arc all 

 lined by the mucous membrane. Ca- 

 tarrh, or cold, inflammations of the 

 upper air passages, should never be 

 long neglected. A few mashes or 

 a little medicine will usually remove 

 it. If it is neglected, and, occasion- 

 ally, in defiance of all treatment, it 

 will degenerate into other diseases. 

 The larynx may become the princi- 

 pal seat of inflammation. Laryngitis 

 will be shown by extreme diflicultyof 

 breathing, accompanied by a strange, 

 roaring noise, and an evident enlarge- 

 ment and great tenderness of the lar- 

 ynx when felt externally. The wind- 

 pipe must be opened in such case, 

 and the best advice will be necessa- 

 ry. Sometimes the subdivisions of 

 the trachea, before or when it first 

 enters the lungs, will be the part af- 

 fected, and we have bronchitis. This 

 is characterized by a quick and hard 

 breathing, and a peculiar W'heezing 

 sound, with the coughing up of mu- 

 cus. Herfe, too, decisive measures 

 must be adopted, and a skilful prac- 

 titioner employed. So should lie in 

 distemper, influenza, and epidemic ca- 

 tarrh, names indicating the same dis- 

 ease, and produced by atmospheric 

 influence, varying to a certain degree 

 in every season, but in all character- 

 ized by intense inflammation of the 

 mucous surfaces, and by rapid and 

 utter prostration of strength, and in 

 all demanding the abatement of that 

 inflammation, and yet no expenditure 

 of vital power. 



" Cough may degenerate into in- 

 flammations of the lungs ; or this fear- 

 ful malady may be developed without 

 a single premonitory symptom, and 

 may, prove fatal in twenty-four, or 

 even in twelve hours. It is mostly 

 characterized by deadly coldness of 

 the extremities, expansion of the nos- 

 tril, redness of its lining membrane, 

 singularly anxious countenance, con- 



