THEIR PATHOLOGY, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT. 59 



At the same time alterative tonic3 should be given ; the following 

 powders would be suitable : 



Alterative Tonic Powders. — Sulphate of iron 4oz., black sulphuret of. 

 antimony and powdered nitre each 3oz., flowers of sulphur Goz., ground 

 carraway seeds ^lb. 



Give a tablespoonful in the corn and chaff night and morning. In 

 obstinate cases give in addition 2 drachms of Fowler's solution of arsenic, 

 added to a little water, and sprinkled over the food, and substitute for the 

 lead and oil liniment the following ointment : 



3Iercurial Ointment. — Powdered camphor 2 drachms, strong mercurial 

 ointment ioz., lard 2oz , mix and rub in a little three times a day. 



When the skin has cracked, and a discharge from the sores is going on, 

 poultices are useful before applying the ointment, which should then be 

 made weaker by the addition of another ounce of lard. 



Mange.— Mange is a term applied to several skin diseases in the 

 lower animals, accompanied with excessive itching. In the horse true 

 mange is caused by the presence of an insect too small to be seen by 

 the naked eye, except in the strongest light, when the living specks can 

 be detected by their motion. Under the microscope they are revealed in 

 all their native ugliness, and, as May hew puts it, " resembling a deformed 

 crab" in their repnlsiveness. "Stonehenge" suggests that some forms 

 of mange are dependent on a vegetable parasite of fungoid character, and 

 supports this by the following argument : — "No disease being more con- 

 tagious than this, nor more difficult to eradicate from a stable when once 

 ib has broken out, rather favours its vegetable origin, the seeds of all 

 kinds of fungus being most difficult to destroy." Whether mange is 

 ever developed spontaneously I am unable to discuss, but there can be 

 no doubt that dirt and neglect are a direct encouragement to it, but the 

 very large majority of cases can bo directly traced to contagion from 

 contact with diseased animals, and in those comparatively few cases where 

 the origin cannot be clearly traced it can be shrewdly guessed at. The 

 most likely places to contract the disease are bait stables of the lower 

 class, grazing fields where the animals are taken in promiscuously, or from 

 the visits of a diseased horse to the home stable. The disease is so 

 " catching " that all harness, shafts of vehicles, stalls, and posts with 

 which a suspected animal has been in contact should be thoroughly 

 cleansed and disinfected before a sound horse is allowed to go near them. 

 Mange almost invariably first appears in the mane, the first symptom to 

 attract attention being the intense itching, proved by the horse constantly 

 rubbing himself. If the mane is closely examined it will be found scurfy, 

 a slight discharge oozes from the skin and dries on the hair, which is 

 easily pulled out, and as the disease proceeds it falls off or gets rubbed 

 off in the animal's endeavours to relieve the itching ; the skin ultimately 

 becomes puckered and furrowed, a discharge more or less exuding from the 

 furrows. It rapidly spreads along the head, neck, and back, and the poor 

 animal, getting no rest, loses condition. Anyono may determine by 



