18 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



Treatment. At the outset of the seizure the horse should be brought 

 to a stand-still at once and allowed to remain in a state of quiet until 

 the paroxysm abates, when he may be removed to the nearest stable. 

 The body should now be well rubbed down and plenty of fresh air pro- 

 vided for. A draught, consisting of 2 ounces of tincture of opium in 

 water, or, what is better, a subcutaneous injection of morphia, is to be 

 administered and repeated in two hours if the symptoms do not abate. 

 Hot bandages to the throat after an application of glycerine and bella- 

 donna will be found useful, with inhalations of warm vapour, and a dose 

 of physic should be administered when the spasm has disappeared. 



An animal having suffered one attack is frequently the victim of a 

 second, and sometimes a succession of seizures may follow the first at 

 varying intervals of days, weeks, or months. Where this is the case 

 the greatest care should be observed to guard against overfeeding, severe 

 exertion, and, as far as possible, against the inhalation of dust and irritat- 

 ing gases, and to avoid exposure to such sudden and extreme changes 

 of temperature as are met with in passing from hot, foul stables into 

 the cold air. 



COUGH 



A cough is a more or less violent expiratory effort, indicating irritation 

 of some part of the breathing organs. The act is commenced by a deep 

 inspiration, during which the lungs are distended with air. The larynx or 

 entrance to the windpipe is then momentarily closed, after which it is 

 forcibly opened by the contraction of the muscles of the chest and 

 abdomen, when the contained air is expelled, carrying with it any offend- 

 ing matter to which the cough may be due. 



The irritation by which coughing is induced may be direct or sym- 

 pathetic, i.e. it may result from something brought into direct contact 

 with some part of the respiratory tube, as cold air, dust, irritating gases, or 

 it may be a sense of irritation transmitted by nervous influence from some 

 other organ, as in the case of cough arising out of stomach derangement, 

 worms in the bowels, teething, &c., &c. The sensibility of the respira- 

 tory passages is greatly enhanced when any part of them suffers from 

 active disease, hence coughing is always present in such ailments as laryn- 

 gitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia. Cough, moreover, is frequently associated 

 with heart disease, especially with those forms that interfere with the pul- 

 monary circulation and keep up a certain degree of congestion of the lungs. 



As a means of diagnosis, much importance is to be attached to the 

 character of the cough: (l) as to whether it is short and hacking, as in 

 stomach and intestinal derangements, or long drawn out, as in chronic lung 



