372 DISEASES OF BEEATHING. 



TKEATMENT. — Give green food, and bran and linseed mashes. 

 Carrots " are beneficial in all chronic oases of the organs connected 

 with breathing, and have a marked influence upon chronic cough 

 and broken wind '' (Stewart's " Stable Eoonomy "). Blister the 

 throat with biniodide of mercury, and if the camphor and bella- 

 donna electuary (p. 370) does not give relief, try a course of iodide 

 of potassium as recommended for sore throat (p. 369). Referring 

 to arsenic, Finlay Dun remarks : " I find it useful amongst horses in 

 relieving chronic irritable cough, especially when remaining after 

 attacks of influenza and sore throat. In such oases, with an ounce 

 of Fowler's solution (liquor arsenicalis) is advantageously united an 

 ounce of potassium chlorate, and a drachm of belladonna extract, 

 made into a draught with water or gruel." 



As an " all-round " cough mixture, Ave may give three or four 

 times a day the following drench : — 



C.'hloiodj^iie ... ... ... ... 2 draclims. 



Dilute hydrocyanic acid ... ... ^ „ 



Water ... ... ... ... ^ pint. 



LEGAL ASPECT OF COUGH.— As a "cough" invariably 

 diminishes the natural usefulness of a horse at the time, it must 

 in all cases be regarded as an unsoundness (Coates v. Stephens. 

 Moody & Robinson's Reports, vol. 2, p. 158). It is also liable 

 to be followed by permanent impairment of the animal's 

 '' wind." A cough is not a disease in itself, but is a symptom 

 of the existence of some irritation to the air-passages, or to the nerves 

 which supply them. If the irritation is of such a temporary character, 

 as to be entirely removed then and there by the act of coughing, as for 

 instance, in the case of a particle of dust going " the wrong way," this 

 act of coughing should be regarded as the performance of a natural 

 function, and not as an unsoundnesi. But if the irritation remains to 

 an extent sufficient to cause the animal to cough more or less continu- 

 ously, such a horse would be unsound ; the persistence of tlie irrita- 

 tion being the cause of the unsoundness. Although t}»e irritation, as 

 in teething, may be a symptom of a healthy and natural ])rocess, it is 

 not the less, on that account, detrimental to the animal's usefulness. 



Bleeding from the Nose. 



The only form of bleeding from the nose which I shall here con- 

 sider is that which occurs suddenly during work in the otherwise 

 healthy horse. It is generally induced by the severe exertion of 

 galloping, and may be copious or may consist only of a few drops. 

 If it is not frothy, we may conclude that it does not proceed from 



