12 INTRODUCTION. 



salivary gland may secrete too much fluid, as in the case 

 of horses eating second crop clover. We call this sali- 

 vation. 



Increased Secretion. — In health, serum is only supplied 

 in sufficient quantity to keep the surfaces moist, the ab- 

 sorbent vessels preventing accumulations. In the cavi- 

 ties of joints this secretion is often too large, causing en- 

 largements, of which a good example is seen in swellings 

 of the hock-joint, called bog spavin, and in thorough-pin. 



The Pulse. 



The pulse of the horse and the ox is felt on the inner 

 angle of the lower jaw, as being the most convenient place. 

 The state of the pulse tells the condition of the heart, 

 whether the disease is of an exalted or depressed charac- 

 ter, or whether sickness is at all present. The pulse is 

 more frequent in young than in old animals. In the full- 

 grown and healthy horse it beats from thirty-two to thirty- 

 eight in the minute; in the ox or cow, thirty -five to forty- 

 two; in the sheep, seventy to seventy-five; and in the 

 dog, from ninety to ninety-eight. In inflammations and 

 fevers the frequency of the pulse is increased. In debi- 

 lity and depression it is slower, but sometimes quicker 

 than natural. There are the quick pulse, the strong, the 

 sharp, the regular, the intermittent, and many other va- 

 rieties, both fanciful and real, which few persons can ap- 

 preciate. The pulse of inflammation and fever numbers 

 from seventy-five to eighty beats in the minute ; and in 

 great debility, as in the last stage of glanders, accompa- 

 nied with tubercles of the lungs, the pulse will number 

 one hundred beats per minute. 



