EVEKY MAN 



HIS OWN FARRIER. 



CHAPTER I. 



ON INFLAMMATION. 



A very great proportion of the diseases of the horse 

 are connected with Inflammation ; for the heart and 

 arteries are large, the arterial system is strong, and 

 the animal is exposed to many causes of irritation. 

 Inflammation is an increased flow of blood, inducing 

 an unnatural secretion ; the heart or the vessels act 

 with too much energy, and the blood is driven along 

 too rapidly, or in too great a quantity. Inflammation 

 may be either local or general. We may have inflam- 

 mation of the eye, of the lungs, or of the foot, and 

 in each of these the constitution may not be much 

 affected : the inflammation is then said to be local : 

 but, after a while, the vessels of the whole frame will 

 take on the same action as those of the diseased part, 

 and symptomatic fever, or a general inflammatory 

 state is produced. In some cases the action will be 

 general from the beginning, or rather, we are unable 

 to ascertain the part which was first affected: this 

 defused form of inflammation is termed fever. All 

 these will in turn pass in review before us. 



