66 VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SIJRGERT. 



If, however, bronchitis supervenes on a previous attack of catarrh or 

 sore throat, the larynx and trachea will necessarily be involved. 



Williams says, " In no case of pure bronchitis is the breathing pain- 

 ful, but short and quick, the thoracic as well as the abdominal muscles 

 being brought into play; this distinguishes it from the breathing charac- 

 teristic of pleurisy, in which the ribs are more or less fixed, and the res- 

 piration abdominal. In ordinary cases of bronchitis, the animal is dull, 

 listless, sometimes semi-comatose; hangs its head; is generally thirsty; 

 ropy saliva fills its mouth, which is hot and moist. The visible mucous 

 membranes are affected, and present a varying degree of lividity, due to 

 non-oxidation of the blood. The animal stands in a coma, or moves list- 

 lessly about. If in a box, and the door be open, it stands with its head 

 to the open air, from which it evidently obtains relief. The bowels are 

 generally somewhat constipated, the faeces covered with mucus; but they 

 easily respond to purgatives." The urine is high-colored. As the disease 

 advances, if it be toward a favorable termination, the discharge from the 

 nostrils will become more profuse, the cough more loose, and gradually 

 the discharge changes to a more clear and thinner mucus. 



Treatment. — As it is not possible to cut the disease short after its very 

 earliest stages, the treatment should be directed to leading it to an early 

 and favorable termination. Nearly all authorities agree that blood-letting 

 should be avoided; cough mixtures or expectorants are of no value; and 

 if the bowels are costive, on no account give aloetic purgatives, but 

 endeavor to secure proper movements by feeding, as directed hereafter. 

 Grive plenty of water to drink. At the very earliest symptom the patient 

 should be removed to a well-ventilated loose box, warmly clothed, band- 

 ages applied to his legs, and his food wholly restricted to grass, carrots, 

 or bran mash. 



Some sedative medicines will be needed, such as from five to ten drops 

 of Fleming's tincture of aconite, every four hours (drop it into a 

 teaspoon and rub it on the tongue); but this medicine must not be 

 continued after the pulse has become soft, which in favorable cases 

 is usually in about twenty-four hours. It may be given in another 

 way. Add ten drops of Fleming's tincture to a tea-cup of water, and of 

 this give a teaspoonful every fifteen minutes until the animal sweats 

 freely. If aconite does not produce the desired effect in that time, its 

 use should be discontinued. Its action on the system is too lowering to 

 admit of prolonged use. 



