THE HORSE IN SICKNESS AND DISEASE 433 



the abscesses are usually smaller, and lie in the course of 

 the absorbents, which are enlarged, whilst in oedema the 

 abscesses are larger and more independent in their position. 

 These abscesses, being opened, usually heal with little 

 difficulty ; but it* the skin should slough, as it sometimes 

 does, the cure is much more tedious. There is, however, a 

 difference in this respect between the human and the equine 

 subject ; for w^hilst, in the former, the cure of ulcers is 

 tedious and protracted, in the horse it is generally speedily 

 accomplished. 



GREASE. 



This offensive disease is consequent on a morbid alteration 

 of the quantity and quality of the fatty matter secreted by 

 the sebaceous glands of the heels. Its sign is a white 

 discharge from the skin of the heels, sometimes extending 

 as high as nearly to the hock or knee. There is usually 

 dropsical enlargement of the legs, the skin is red, and the 

 hair staring, with })ain and stiffness of the part. Horses 

 with much hair on the leg are most subject to grease. Dr. 

 Jenner supposed grease to be a specific disease, communi- 

 cable by inoculation ; but the idea has not been confirmed 

 by experience. 



In the simple form of grease, the stiffness and pain of the 

 limb go off after a while ; but if the disease is neglected, the 

 discharge increases in quantity, the skin becomes thickened, 

 and large excrescences — called from their shape " grapes " — 

 cover the heels and back of the legs, while ulcerations form 

 about the heels, and slough large portions away. Mayhew 

 says, with proper indignation : " Grease is a filthy disorder, 

 and a disgrace to every person concerned with the stable in 

 which it prevails ; it proves neglect in the proprietor, want 

 of fitness or positive idleness in the groom, and culpable 

 ignorance or the absence of the slightest moral courage in 

 all people entering the doors of the stable. It is one of 

 those disorders which it is easier to prevent than to cure. 

 By an ordinary regard to cleanliness, and by an average 

 attention to the necessities of the animal, this taint may 

 be avoided ; whenever it is witnessed, it not only argues 

 the human being to whom the building belongs to be in 

 the lowest stage of degradation, but it also testifies to 



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