326 DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



few hours afterward, be found stiff and lame. But the symptoms- 

 are not the same as those just recorded. The pathology is proba- 

 bly identical ; it is the same disease, only it has a different locality. 

 It i« myositis of the pectoral muscles, involving, also, the muscles 

 of the shoulder-blades. And the intelligent owner of the afflicted 

 animal will notice that the fore extremities are unnaturally ad- 

 vanced ; the foreparts of the body are unnaturally hot and tender j 

 the fore-feet are feverish, and the hoofs are hotter still. The ad- 

 \ anced position of the fore extremities and shoulders gives a very 

 marked hollowness to the forepart of the chest, and many men, 

 on seeing such a case, would declare that the animal was chest- 

 foundered, this being the name which is sometimes given to such 

 a condition ; but it is really owing to myalgia (muscular pain and 

 stiffness). 



It is well-known that all muscles are subject to inflammatory 

 action and muscular pain from work disproportionate to their 

 strength. For example, let any man undertake to saw wood, 

 practice with heavy dumb-bells, or ride on a horse — feats that he 

 has never been accustomed to — and, whether the labor be excessive 

 or not, the individual will shortly complain of more or less mus- 

 cular pain ; and if he be a weak man, the more excessive will be 

 that pain. Now, the muscles of the horse, being just as suscepti- 

 ble to pain as those of man, are just as easily operated on through 

 the well-known exciting causes. 



Symptoms. — In the case of a horse, when the work has been ex- 

 cessive, and of a character to bring the muscles of the shoulders, 

 their tendons and coverings, into a state of over-exertion, it will 

 often be found that some of the muscular fibers in the region of the 

 shoulder are fractured, small blood-vessels are ruptured, and other 

 pathological changes take place. This is followed by inflammation 

 ^myositis) . Suppose, therefore, a horse shows symptoms of myo- 

 sitis after excessive work, and, in the course of a few days, it is 

 noticed that the muscles of his shoulders are wasting away, and 

 continue to waste, so that all persons who examine the animal 

 pronounce him sweenied, we may then infer that the wasting 

 (sweeny) is not symptomatic, but is the result of myositis. 



Treatment. — The principal treatment is rest ; afterward diminish 

 the work, and, by proper diet and tonics, increase the power to do 

 it. The muscular parts affected should be bathed, morning an J 

 evening, with a portion of the following: 



