DISEASES OF HORSES AND CATTLE. 101 



smallness of the pulse beat in the artery of the jaw. 

 There is a high fever; the breathing is not much al- 

 tered in the first stage of the disease. On applying 

 the ear to the left side or root of the neck you will 

 hear a loud metallic sound at each heart beat, and 

 there will be a marked venous pulse caused by the 

 action of the disease on the valves of the heart. If 

 the inflammation is not checked, the inner lining 

 swells, narrowing the opening with which the 

 valves are connected, so that only a small quantity 

 of blood will pass through, suffocation, with quick, 

 short breathing and great distress; and if not re- 

 lieved, the animal soon dies. 



Treatment: I give a dose of aloes, and follow 

 this by giving half-ounce doses of nitrate of potass, 

 and chlorate of potassium. Also give tincture of 

 aconite, twenty to thirty drops, combined with the 

 same quantity of fluid extract of digitalis three or 

 four times a day in a pint of water. Mustard poul- 

 tices should be applied to the left side, and blank- 

 ets be put on, and the legs hand-rubbed and ban- 

 daged. 



Dilatation of the Heart. — I have seen several 

 well-marked cases, and they all presented the same 

 symptoms, namely, inability to work; as long as 

 the animal was allowed to keep quiet, it seemed as 

 if nothing was wrong with it; but as soon as it was 

 driven fast or made to pull a load or plow, it w T ould 

 breathe fast and show signs of suffocation, and if 

 forced to move on would fal] over, and lie on its 

 side with its* mouth open. After a few minutes the 

 animal would recover its breath and rise in an ex- 



