220 VETEBLNAEY MEDICINE AND SUKGEEY. 



Or, 



Nitrate of potassium 3 ij. 



Dissolve in water and give twice a day 



and should the fever be very high, the pulse hard, and the animal sliow- 

 ing signs of much pain and restlessness, tincture of aconite is to be re- 

 peatedly adniinistei'cd. Some practitioners are in the habit of giving a 

 small cathartic, and sending the horse to ordinary work whilst suffering 

 from this malady. Such practice is irrational, and defeats its own ob- 

 ject; for exercise, though carefully regulated, if given early in the disease, 

 causes the swelling to assume a permanency of character which it is dif- 

 ficult to remove. Exercise certainly dissipates the swelling at the time; 

 but after the patient has stood for a few iiours, the swelling returns, and 

 it is no less curious than true, that each fresh exudation tends more and 

 more to become organized. 



As a powerful stimulant to the vessels of the skin inducing a general 

 warmth over the surface of the body, tincture of arnica, in doses varying 

 from one to two ounces, can be given with advantage. 



ELEPHANTIASIS. 



Definition. — This is a condition of excess of development of the cu- 

 taneous and subcutaneous tissues of a diffuse character, usually involving 

 the larger proportion of these structures of an entire limb. 



Etiology. — This condition of steady hypertrophy of skin and other 

 associated structures appears in all instances directly dependent on lym- 

 phangitis, the extent and rapidity of the changes being in direct relation 

 to the severity of the inflammation. Although the hyperplastic cutaneous 

 activities are only set in motion by the inflammatory affection of the lym- 

 phatics, and while every fresh attack may give a renewed impetus to the 

 development of particular tissue-elements, the hyperplastic changes, 

 when once started, seem to go on even between these repeated onsets of 

 lymphangitis, only receiving a fresh and more powerful impetus on the 

 occasion of each attack. 



Symptoms.— The first appearance of the disease is a swelling of the 

 subcutaneous tissue, the true skin becoming involved secondarily. When 



