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posture. In very bad cases, the horse will slowly rear on his hind legs 

 when made to move. The pulse is quick and sharp, and the breathing is 

 hurried and distressed. If the hind feet are alone affected, the fore feet are 

 directed backwards underneath the body. When all four feet are affected, 

 the patient usually prefers the recumbent posture. The hoofs when felt are 

 noticed to be much hotter than in health ; and some observers have 

 recorded that they have seen blood ooze from the coronets. Distinct 

 throbbing of the arteries of the pastern may also sometimes be felt. The 

 action of a horse affected in the hind feet only, somewhat resembles that of 

 stringhalt. If the hoof be tapped sharply, the horse manifests considerable 

 uneasiness. Sometimes in his agony, a horse will perspire profusely and 

 gasp for breath. 



The symptoms presented by a horse suffering from acute laminitis, 

 sometimes lead to the supposition on the part of the unskilled, that it is 

 inflammation of the lungs, which the animal is affected with. We hav-e often 

 been called to bad cases of so-called inflammation of the lungs, which we 

 have found to be in reality, pure and uncomplicated attacks of " fever in the 

 feet." In this connection, however, it may be mentioned that horses affected 

 with this disease, sometimes suddenly develop inflammation of the lungs 

 or bowels, or pleurisy, or first one and then another. In pathological 

 language, this kind of rapid change in the seat of a disease is called 

 "metastasis." 



During the year 1883, we were called to attend a five-year old valuable 

 dark brown hunter, the property of a dealer resident in a town in 

 Lincolnshire. The number of respirations per minute was 74, the 

 temperature 105° F., and the pulse 96. The disease was confined to the 

 fore feet. As the horse was very plethoric, four quarts of blood were 

 abstracted from the jugular vein. The animal was bled locally at the 

 coronets. The feet were afterwards placed in a tub of hot water for over 

 twenty-four hours. 



On the following day, the animal was much better, and hot bran 

 poultices were substituted for the hot water. The pulse was now 82, and the 

 respirations 54. On the third day, although the feet were better, the pulse 

 was 84, and the breathing numbered 68 per minute. At this juncture, as 

 frequently happens in acute laminitis, the horse developed all the symptoms 

 of acute pleurisy. This complication was treated by the application of the 

 hot pack to the chest, the internal remedies not being altered. On the 

 fourth day, the pulse remained the same, but on the fifth and sixth days it 

 gradually fell to 52. After this time the patient improved rapidly. On the 

 seventh day, towards evening, the owner came in a hurry to announce that 

 the animal was colicked. W^e found him to be suffering from acute 

 inflammation of the bowels, and the pulse again rose to 80. This new 

 complication was treated with morphia, and mustard poultices were applied 

 to the belly. On the eighth day, there was not much alteration in the 

 condition of the patient, but on the ninth, the pain ceased, and the pulse 

 fell. Then, until the twelfth, the animal continued to improve. On the 



