56 



can hear the rushing or flooding of water. If the case is an advanced 

 one the horse is pot-bellied to the extreme, and dropsical swellings are 

 seen under the belly and upon the legs. 



Treatment is, as a rule, unsatisfactory. Saline cathartics, as Epsom 

 or Glauber salts, and diuretics, ounce doses of saltpeter, are to be 

 given. If a veterinarian is at hand he should withdraw the accumu- 

 lation of water by tapping and should then endeavor to i)revent its 

 recurrence (though this is almost sure to follow) l)y giving three 

 times a day saltpeter, 1 ounce, and iodide of i^otash, 1 dram, and by 

 the application of mustard or blisters over the abdominal walls. 

 Tonics, mineral and vegetable, are also indicated. Probably the best 

 tonic is one consisting of powdered sulphate of iron, gentian, and 

 ginger in equal parts. A heaping tablespoonful of the mixture is to 

 be given as a drench or mixed with the feed, twice a day. Good 

 nutritious foods and gentle exercise complete the treatment. 



DISEASES OF THE LIVER. 



This organ in the horse is but rarely the seat of disease, and when 

 we consider how frequently the liver of man is affected, this can not 

 , but appear strange to all. There is a difference of the anatomical 

 arrangement of the liver of the horse from that of man that may to 

 some extent account for this rarity of disease in the former. It is 

 very common to hear the would-be veterinarian assert that a horse 

 "has disease of his gall-bladder." He thus displays his ignorance, 

 as the horse has no such biliary reservoir. This absence of the gall- 

 bladder may account to a certain extent for his freedom from liver 

 diseases; as over-distension of this and the presence in it of calculi 

 (stones) in man is a frequent source of trouble. In domestic animals, 

 as in man, hot climates tend to produce diseases of the liver, just as 

 in cold climates lung diseases prevail. Not only are diseases of the 

 liver rare in horses, but they are also A'ery obscure, and in many 

 cases i^ass totally unobserved until after death. There are some 

 symptoms, however, which, when jDresent, should make us examine 

 the liver as carefully as jiossible. These are jaundice (yellowness of 

 the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, and ej^es) and the condi- 

 tion of the dung, it being light in color and j)asty in appearance. 



Hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, maybe general or local and may 

 assume an acute or chronic form. The symptoms of acute hepatitis 

 are: Dulless; the horse is sufi'ering from some internal pain, but not 

 of a severe type; constipated and clay-colored dung balls, scanty and 

 high-colored urine, and general febrile symptoms. If lying down he 

 is mostly found on the left side; looks occasionally toward the right 

 side, which, upon close inspection, may be found to be slightly 

 enlarged over the posterior ribs, where pain upon pressure is also 

 evinced. Obscure lameness in front, of the right leg mostly, is said 

 by some of the best veterinary writers to be a symptom of hepatitis. 



