326 THE HORSE. 



He will seldom attempt to do this, on account of the pain occa- 

 sioned in bending the knee, but some animals will disregard this 

 when tired, and will go down somehow. When the cotton is 

 reapplied, if there are granulations above the level of the skin, 

 they must be kept down as recommended in the last paragraph, 

 and the subsequent treatment by blister may be exactly the same. 

 By these means a very extensive wound of the knee may be often 

 speedily cured, and the blemish will be comparatively trifling. 



The knee is sometimes punctured by a thorn in hunting, 

 causing great pain and lameness. If it can be felt externally, it 

 is well to cut down upon it and remove it; but groping in the dark 

 with the knife among important tendons in front of the knee is 

 not on any account to be attempted. The knee should be well 

 fomented, five or six times a day, until the swelling, if there is 

 any, subsides, and, in process of time, the thorn will either shew 

 its base, or it will gradually free itself from its attachments and lie 

 beneath the skin, from which position it may be safely extracted 

 with the knife. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

 DISEASES OF THE THORACIC ORGANS AND THEIR APPENDAGES. 



General Remarks — Catarrh — Influenza or Distemper — Bronchitis 

 — Chronic Cough — Laryngitis — Roaring, Whistling, Etc. — 

 Pneumonia and Congestion oj the Lungs — Pleurisy — Pleuro- 

 dynia — Phthisis — Broken Wind — Thick Wind — Spasm oj the 

 Diaphragm — Diseases of the Heart — Diseases of the Blood Ves- 

 sels in the Chest and Nose. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



The IMPORTANCE OF SOUNDNESS in the respiratory apparatus 

 is so fully recognised, that in common parZo wee it is put before the 

 organs of locomotion, a popular expression being "sound, wind and 

 limb." It is true that good wind is useless without legs; but the 

 diseases of the latter are known to be more under control than 

 those of the chest, and hence it is, perhaps, that the wind is so 

 carefully scrutinized by all purchasers of horses. There is, also, 

 much greater difficulty in ascertaining the condition of the lungs 

 and their appendages, and the ordinary observer can only judge 

 of them by an absolute trial ; while the state of the legs may be 

 seen and felt, and that of the feet can be tolerably well ascertained 

 by a very short run upon hard ground. So, also, with the acute 

 diseases of these parts; while the legs and feet manifest the 



