STEANGLES. 467 



applied to a contagious form of chest disease, in which the symp- 

 toms of pleurisy are, generally, well marked, and are preceded by 

 a fevered state of the system, as indicated by a rise in the internal 

 temperature. Ordinary influenza is essentially an epizootic, in that 

 it spreads on all sides. This affection is characterised by its en- 

 zootic nature, that is to say, by its tendency to rage in certain 

 localities. It shows a marked preference for certain stables, which 

 are generally badly drained and insufficiently ventilated. Although 

 it is contagious, and appears to spread only by contagion ; a fair 

 proportion of horses — probably more than 50 per cent, on an 

 average — resist its invasion. The fact of so many horses escaping 

 may be due to their having acquired immunity from a previous 

 attack, which may have been so mild that it did not attract par- 

 ticular notice. The better a horse's health and condition is, the 

 greater chance will he have to escape. " This disease may be con- 

 tracted by a short stay in an infected place. Convalescent subjects 

 are particularly dangerous; for they remain for several weeks 

 capable of spreading the contagion" {Friedherger and Frohner). 



The SYMPTOMS at first are those of fever, which lasts about 

 six days, rather than of chest trouble; the pulse and respiration 

 being hm^ied, and the temperature raised. The lining membrane 

 of the eyelids assumes a brick-red or yellowish-red colour. By 

 the symptoms we may recognise three forms of this disease : (1) 

 an attack resembling the fever to which young horses recently 

 taken up from grass are liable (p. 450) ; (2) uncomplicated pleuro- 

 pneumonia, in which the well-marked pleurisy and pneumonia run 

 a regular and fairly mild course; and (3) when complications of 

 the heart, digestion, kidneys, or brain, and when purpura, or blood 

 poisoning sets in. 



TREATMENT.— The general treatment described on p. 356, et 

 seq., should be followed here. We may safely and with benefit 

 give, at first, a dose of quinine, say, J oz. in a ball, and continue it 

 in quantities of not less than two drachms daily. If expense be 

 an object, or if drenching distresses the auimal, arsenic (p. 601) 

 may be substituted for quinine. The earlier cases are taken in 

 hand, the more successful will be the result. 



Strangles 



is an infective disease which is peculiar to the horse-family, and 

 which manifests itself locally by catarrhal symptoms and usually 

 by suppuration of the lymphatic glands that lie between the 

 angles of the lower jaw, and consequently by swelling of that 



30* 



