144 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



of exercise will not be severely felt for some time; but as soon as it is safe 

 for the animal to be moved out of the stable, walking exercise once or 

 twice a day, beginning of course with a very short time and gradually 

 increasing, will be an important aid towards the restoration of the animal's 

 health and condition. 



SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE 



The two terms, sign and symptom, are constantly used to express the 

 same idea. There is, however, in reality a well-marked difference between 

 them. A symptom is one of the characters of a disease, just as a cough is 

 a symptom of an ordinary cold; it is also a symptom of acute bronchitis 

 and laryngitis, as well as a symptom of what is known as broken wind; 

 while a sign is a definite indication of a particular disease, as the presence 

 of the tubercle bacillus is a sign of the existence of tuberculosis. 



Notwithstanding the admitted difference between the signification of 

 the two terms, they always have been, and probably always will be, used 

 interchangeably. Strictly speaking, however, this is only justifiable when 

 symptoms are diagnostic, in which case the term signs may be properly 

 applied to them. 



Symptoms may be described as local and general, according to 

 whether they are limited to the diseased part or relate to the whole of the 

 organism. They are also described as idiopathic when they arise directly 

 from the diseased part, and sympathetic or secondary when they are due to 

 secondary disorder. They are also premonitory and precursory when they 

 are of a nature to suggest the advent of a disease, the indications of which 

 are not yet defined. Thus it may occur to an attendant or to the owner 

 of a horse that the animal has something the matter with it, but the most 

 careful inspection and enquiry may fail to lead to the discovery of any 

 precise morbid condition. Neither the pulse nor the breathing exhibits any 

 special characters, and all that can be gathered from the animal's condition 

 is the impression that it is sickening for something; and if it should be 

 the case that influenza is prevalent in the district, the suspicion is at once 

 aroused of the infection having attacked the animal. 



Symptoms are diagnostic when they indicate the precise nature of the 

 disorder from which the animal is suffering; for example, an attack of 

 violent but intermittent abdominal pain is a diagnostic symptom of spas- 

 modic colic. Prognostic symptoms include all those indications of disease 

 which suggest the probable termir ation, as a failing pulse and coldness of 

 the surface are warnings of a iatal ending to the disorder. Therapeutic 

 symptoms are those which indicate a particular line of treatment, as high 



