51 



not advisable to repeat the bleeding, nor to apply mustard or other irritants 

 to the sides, as these measures merely annoy the animal, and thus increase the 

 difficulty of breathing-. Cloths, however, wrung out from hot water may be 

 applied closely to the chest. After being well wrung out from hot A\ater and 

 applied, a dr)^ rug should be placed over them, the whole being fastened with 

 a surcingle. These hot cloths should be renewed at intervals of one hour 

 and a half, or two hours. In order to guard against inflammation of the lungs, 

 which sometimes succeeds acute congestion, as well as to prevent a 

 recurrence of the congestion itself, careful management is required for some 

 time after the abaten:ent of the acute S)-mptoms. The diet should be light 

 and nutritious, and water may be allowed freely from the first onset of the 

 disease. The box in which the horse is placed should be well ventilated, but 

 not draught)^, and the body must be kept warm with clothing. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 



Lnflammation of the lungs or pneumonia, rarely occurs alone in the horse, 

 but is mostly associated with bronchitis and pleurisy. We have already 

 mentioned that it not unfrequently follo^^s congestion of the lungs. The 

 usual exciting causes of this affection are sudden chills,' exposure to wet and 

 cold, especially after severe exertion or fatigue, and confinement in draughty 

 ■or foul and badly-ventilated stables. It is especially prevalent during spring 

 and autumn, when sudden changes in the atmospheric condition are of 

 frequent occurrence. It may complicate specific fevers, such as influenza and 

 anthrax. 



Pneumonia is frequently u'shered in by a severe shivering fit. The horse 

 becomes dull and dejected, and the pulse, though variable, is generally 

 accelerated, and often reaches 90 — 100 beats per minute. The breathing also 

 is Cjuickened and shallow, sometimes reaching as high as 50 or 60 per. 

 minute, and if pleurisy be also present, it is painful, and though the chest 

 walls move but little, the belly heaves Cjuickly to and fro. The temperature 

 is raised, and may be from 103° to 106° F. The skin and extremities are 

 cold, and the membrane lining the nostrils is red and injected. The bowels 

 are constipated, the horse loses his appetite, and wanders to and fro in his 

 box in a dull, dejected manner, showing no inclination to lie down. There 

 may be a dull, dry cough, not of that suppressed and painful character so 

 noticeable in pleurisy. There is seldom much expectoration, though rusty 

 or blood-stained, more or less viscid, tenacious matter is sometimes 

 discharged through the nostrils; whereas in bronchitis it is more or less 

 purulent and yellowish. As the disease, progresses, the respirations, which 

 at the outset are not much accelerated, become more rapid until the crisis, 

 when they are, as mentioned abo\e, much quickened and shallow. The 

 breathing is also sometimes much accelerated in paroxysms, which are not 

 infrequent during the progress of the malady. The febrile symptoms extend 

 -over a period of several days, or even longer. In favourable cases they then 

 subside, and the cough, which beccmes moister and more easy, gradually 

 ^ceases. 



