CIRCULATORY AND LYMPHATIC SYSTEMS 287 



well stall-fed, and have too little work or exercise. It is more parti- 

 cularly met with after a spell of frost, during which time the animals 

 have had a term of enforced idleness, without the necessary care and 

 attention having been paid to their dieting. Mares are even more 

 acutely affected than horses. Symptoms. — On the animal being taken 

 out of the stable, it seems to be possessed of more life and high 

 spirits than usual, and rushes oft on its journey in great form, but 

 does not proceed far — generally from half a mile to two miles — 

 before it begins to flag, wants to stop, and breaks out into a most 

 profuse perspiration, the back becomes arched, and the hind-legs 

 stiffen, etc. Though the difficulty is great, the animal should be got 

 into a stable, when, if a mare, it may throw itself down, and com- 

 mence to strain, as if in the act of foaling, ejecting from its bladder 

 large quantities of dark-brown, coffee-coloured urine. A horse, on 

 the other hand, generally stands leaning against the stall or wall, 

 pressing its head in the manger, perspiring freely, breathing quickly, 

 with a full, strong, corded pulse, while the eyelids and other visible 

 mucous membranes are highly injected. Quantities of the same 

 peculiar coffee-coloured urine are passed at intervals with great 

 straining. Treatment. — Owing to the sudden onset and severity of 

 the attack, I know of no other complaint affecting the horse for 

 which bleeding answers so well or has such a decided beneficial 

 action, unloading, as it does, the overcrowded system sooner than 

 anything else. From 6 to 10 quarts of blood may be taken, accord- 

 ing to the size of the animal, at the same time 4 to 7 drachms of 

 aloes made into a ball, or from 1 to ij pints of linseed oil can be 

 administered, followed up by 4-drachm doses of bicarbonate of potash 

 in drinking-water every eight hours. Hypodermic injections of 

 adrenalin has in some cases had a beneficial effect. If the attack is 

 allowed to run its course, the animal, as a rule, dies, or if by chance 

 it recovers, it is worthless for a very long time, the muscles of the 

 loins being infiltrated with blood from the rupturing of the muscular 

 tissue and bloodvessels, caused by the excessive straining. To 

 prevent the occurrence of this troublesome disorder, animals should 

 be regularly exercised daily ; if this is not practicable, they must be 

 put into a loose-box and lightly fed as long as their period of idle- 

 ness lasts. 



