200 THE HORSE. 



been known to be distended with air, but there are no characteristic symp- 

 toms by which this may be distinguished from distension by food, and 

 the treatment would be the same. 



Of inflammation of the stomach in the horse, except from poisonous 

 herbs or drugs, we know little. It very rarely occurs, and then can with 

 difficulty be distinguished from inflammation of the bowels, and in both 

 diseases the assistance of a skilful veterinary surgeon is required. 



Few horses are destroyed by the poisonous plants in our meadows. 

 Natural instinct teaches them to avoid those which would be injurious. 

 More are destroyed by the leaves of the yew than by &ny other vegetable 

 poison. A sleepiness, from which the animal can scarcely be roused, steals 

 over him, and he dies without any symptom of pain.— Ten grains of the 

 farina of the croton nut should be given, as soon as the poisoning is sus- 

 pected ; he should be drenched largely with equal parts of vinegar and thin 

 gruel, and the croton repeated in six hours, if it has not previously 

 operated. 



The IVater Dropwort, common in ditches and marshy places, is gene- 

 rally refused by horses ; but brood-mares, with appetite somewhat vitiated 

 from their being in foal, have been destroyed by it. The antidote would 

 be vinegar and gruel, and bleeding if there be inflammation. 



The ^Water Parsley deserves not all the bad reputation it has acquired, 

 although, when eaten in too great quantities, it has produced palsy in the 

 horse, *and which has been strangely attributed to a harmless beetle that 

 inhabits the stem. 



Of the Common Hemlock and the PTater Hemlock we know no harm, so 

 far as the horse is concerned. We have repeatedly seen him eat the latter 

 without bad effects, but cows have been poisoned by it. 



Of the mineral poisons we will mention only two. Arsenic was formerly 

 celebrated as a tonic and a destroyer of worms in the horse ; and doses 

 sufficient to kill three or four men used to be daily administered, and 

 generally with impunity ; the dose has, however, in some cases been too 

 strong, and the animal has died. There are better tonics and vermifuges, 

 and the drug will probably soon be discarded from veterinary practice. 

 Corrosive sublimate is given internally, and often with advantage in farcy. 

 It is used externally to destroy vermin, to cure mange, and to dispose 

 deep and fistulous ulcers to heal. The symptoms of an over-dose of either 

 are loss of appetite, discharge of saliva from the mouth, pawing, looking 

 eagerly at the flanks, rolling, profuse perspiration, thready pulse, rapid 

 weakness, violent purging and straining, convulsions, and death. 



The stomach will be found intensely inflamed, with patches of yet greater 

 inflammation. The whole course of the intestine will be inflamed, with 

 particular parts black and gangrenous. 



The antidote, if it be not too late to administer it, would be, for arsenic, 

 lime water, or chalk and water, or soap and water, given in great quan- 

 tities with the stomach-pump ; and for corrosive sublimate, the white of 

 eggs mixed with water, or thick starch, or arrow-root. If the poisoning be 

 malicious, arsenic may be most readily detected by mixing a little of the fluid 

 taken from the intestines witli a weak solution of blue vitriol, to which a little 

 hartshorn has been added — the mixture will gradually become green ; or, if 

 a little of the more solid contents of the stomach or small intestines be 

 thrown on a red-hot iron, a smell of garlic will be perceived. 



For corrosive sublimate there is a simpler test. Place a drop of the sus- 

 pected fluid on a sovereign, let the stem of a small key touch the sovereign 

 while the handle is brought into contact with the drop, and the gold 



