280 DISEASES OF HORSES AND CATTLE. 



and in the majority of cases they will disappear. 

 The bearing rein should not be used on a horse so 

 afflicted; in fact, it should not be used on any. It 

 is cruel to keep a horse for hours with its head ele- 

 vated in the air, and if the poor brute is driven fac- 

 ing the sun it suffers greatly and it destroys the 

 sight to a certain extent. I hope the day is not 

 far distant when no right minded man will allow 

 a bearing rein on his horse. When the matter 

 forms, the lumps ought to be opened and the parts 

 cleaned out with water and the same manner of 

 treatment used as for fistula of the withers. Some- 

 times stiffness of the neck is the result of poll-evil, 

 and may in some cases be benefited by repeated 

 blistering with cantharides. 



FISTULA. 



A fistula may form in any part of the body, and 

 is the result of an injury caused by the lodgment 

 of some foreign substance such as a piece of wood 

 or a nail in the muscle or the bone, and the tissue 

 may become diseased, which causes the formation 

 of matter, keeping up the discharge. A horse was 

 brought to me which had a discharge of matter 

 from a small opening in its hip for over two years. 

 On examiningitwiththeprobelfound at thedepth 

 of four inches a hard substance. I had the horse 

 cast and I cut down on this hard substance and 

 found it to be a piece of wood imbedded in the mus- 

 cle, surrounded by a tough membrane with a small 

 opening in it through which the matter that ac- 

 cumulated passed out to the surface, forming a 



