10 THE DISEASES OF HORSES, 



stimulant ; or it may arise from the presence of calculus or stone in the 

 bladder ; or it may be the result of a blow cruelly inflicted with the toe of a 

 heavy boot; it may also exist as sympathetic with inflammation of the kid- 

 neys. The symptoms are irritability of the bladder shown by the frequent 

 passing of urine in small quantities, and with considerable straining, 

 and pain is evidenced by the animal often looking anxiously round towards 

 its hind quarters. The horse should receive a dose of linseed oil suf- 

 ficient to purge— a pint and a half, or two pints, and he should be well 

 supplied with water, linseed tea, or thin gruel, and also with mashes of 

 linseed and bran, the linseed being boiled or thoroughly scalded with 

 boiling water so as to extract the mucilage ; this treatment with rest will 

 generally be all sufficient, but if the case is very severe, one of the following 

 balls may be given every four hours : 



Balls for Inflammation of the Bladder —Take opium, l£dr. ; extract of 

 belladonna, Jdr. ; camphor, l^dr. ; made into a convenient sized ball with 

 linseed meal and treacle. 



Bladders.— See Barbs. 



Bleeding.— So long as the Veterinary art was entirely in the hands of 

 the farrier and the blacksmith, letting blood was the grand panacea for all 

 the ills horseflesh is heir to ; it was also held to be the great prophylactio 

 or preventive of horse diseases, and with this idea the animals wereregu- 

 larly bled, spring and fall, and sometimes as often as four times a year, 

 and to some extent the vicious system still prevails, and is held by 

 many— at least their actions lead one to think so— as the universal remedy. 

 Let a farrier be called in to see a horse, and no matter what ails him, if 

 he is at all puzzled— which, as a matter of course, he generally is— the 

 chances are a hundred to one that he will bleed him ; this makes a show, 

 has a palpable effect on the horse, covers the man's ignorance, and 

 should the animal recover he gets great credit ; whereas, should the 

 horse die, how convenient it is to debit Providence with it, or, " Ah, if 

 you had but sent for me sooner." No doubt there are urgent cases as 

 in strong inflammation, when the prompt use of the fleam or the lancet is 

 not merely of great benefit, but offers the only chance of saving life ; 

 but to open a vein and take away so much of the life of an animal 

 should not be undertaken without due consideration, and those who in this 

 matter plead the excuse that if it does no good it can do no harm are 

 greatly mistaken. Periodical bleeding of healthy animals is not only 

 uncalled for and useless, but, when persisted in, it begets a habit of 

 body which makes the continued repetition of it imperative, and 

 instead of warding off disease, as it is supposed to do, it but weakens 

 the animal, laying him more open to the attacks of disease, and less able 

 to resist their effects. 



The instruments used in bleeding horses are the lancet, the fleam and 

 the blood stick used for striking the fleam. The most usual place to bleed, 

 when the general system is to be affected by the operation, is the jugular 

 vein in the upper part of the neck, 4in. or 5in. from the fork where it 



