364 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



the form of a serous abscess of considerable size, the fluid may be removed 

 by means of an aspirator or by subcutaneous puncture. 



FILLED LEGS (EDEMA 



(Edema is a state of disease in which the tissues of a part become 

 infiltrated or saturated with the watery constituents of the blood, causing 

 more or less swelling of a soft, doughy character. It frequently occurs in 

 the legs of horses, when they are said to " fill ". This form of swelling, 

 although sometimes considerable, is rarely attended with pain, and for the 

 most part is soon dispersed, although liable to recur so long as the cause 

 continues in existence. 



Causes. Filling of the legs is brought about by many and various in- 

 fluences, but of these general weakness and want of condition are by far the 

 most common. Hence it is noticed in animals after an attack of sickness, 

 and especially if attended with long standing and want of rest, as in pneu- 

 monia, pleurisy, and some other disorders and accidents. 



Heart-disease, by enfeebling the circulation, invariably gives rise to 

 more or less swelling of the limbs, as do also occasionally functional 

 derangements of the liver, the results of over-feeding and idleness. And 

 the same may be said of functional and structural impairment of the 

 kidneys, tending to the suppression of urine. Horses when first stabled 

 after a run at grass are peculiarly liable to oedema, and it is very commonly 

 associated with certain forms of influenza and fever. Horses which inherit 

 a disposition to inflammatory oedema, or, as it is called, " Monday morning 

 disease", are commonly the subjects of these less serious attacks of "filling 

 of the legs ". Severe work over hard ground also provokes it in hunters 

 and racers. 



Symptoms. Ordinary filling of the legs presents itself as an enlarge- 

 ment between the pasterns and the knees in front, and the hocks behind. 

 To the feeling, the swelling is doughy and " pits on pressure ", i.e. a pit is 

 left wherever the pressure of the fingers is applied. There is no consider- 

 able rise of temperature or pain in the part, and beyond slight stiffness the 

 action is not interfered with. 



The hind-legs, being farthest from the centre of circulation, are more 

 subject to oedema than the fore ones, but it commonly occurs that all the 

 extremities are more or less affected. 



Treatment. In a disease having its origin in so many and such 

 diverse causes, it would be impossible to lay down any single course of 

 treatment capable of meeting all its requirements. In those cases resulting 

 from debility the aim and object should be to build up the system by a 



