214 



DISEASES OP HORSES. 



occasioning no alarm for two or three days ; gradually, however, 

 the cough appears to give the horse pain ; he occasionally shivers 

 and his ears and feet feel colder than the rest of his body, he heaves 

 at the flanks, and the lining of his nose is inflamed, and his eyelids 

 also ; the appetite now becomes affected and although there is not 

 much apparent pain, except when the horse coughs ; yet there is 

 much anxiety of countenance present. The pulse is usually small, 

 but quick ; if in this state the horse be taken' 1 out and exercised 

 quickly, it is almost always fatal to him ; it likewise happens that 

 this complaint is sometimes mistaken for distemper, and from a fear 

 of profuse bleeding, the only remedy that is to be depended on, is 

 omitted, and the horse is lost. At the veterinary college, in these 

 cases, a small dose of aloes is given every six hours, and after being 

 bled and rowelled, the horse is turned out in the open air ; and it 

 is affirmed that many recover from this treatment. Certain it is, 

 that the stable in which a horse is placed in this disease can hardly 

 be too cool ; but when entirely turned out, his feet and legs cannot 

 conveniently be hand-rubbed, or bandaged up to promote circula- 

 tion ; neither can we blister a horse when turned out, so conve- 

 niently ; and on blistering we depend as the second source of cure. 



33. The treatment is to be commenced by attempts at lessening 

 the action of the arterial system by early and large bleedings, as 

 seven or eight quarts from a large horse, and which should be re- 

 peated in five or six hours if he be not relieved in his breathing. 

 Immediately rub into the brisket, on the chest, and behind the fore 

 legs, the blister. (Vet. Pha. 138, No. 1.) Give half a dose of physic, 

 and assist it by mashes and warm water, which if not readily taken, 

 horn down. Back-rake also, and throw up the laxative clyster. 

 (Vet. Pha. 143.) Avoid all exercise, clothe moderately, allow a free 

 circulation of cool air through the stable, and rub the legs frequently, 

 and when not under this process, keep them bandaged up to the 

 knees, with hay bands, or woollen cloths. The terminations of 

 this complaint are various. It is not uncommon for the horse to 

 appear better, to eat and to drink, and to excite every hope of a 

 perfect recovery ; but on some sudden exertion he falls down and 

 expires. On examination after death, it is found that effusion of a 

 large quantity of serous fluid has taken place in the chest. 



34. Thick wind is another termination of pneumonia by leaving 

 the bronchial passages charged with coagulated blood. Moderate 

 exercise and soiling in the stable with mild mercurial physic, form 

 the best modes of treatment, but it frequently happens that the 

 cough resists all these, and terminates in broken wind. 



