180 FEELING THE PULSE. [BOOK II*. 



index of health, while the animal is still free from 

 disease, goes to prove over again the propriety of 

 our plan of teaching the curative art in animals, by 

 closely examining the indications of health, and 

 setting down in one's mind every deviation there- 

 from as the approach of illness, that ought to be 

 met and combated at the threshold. 



In this view of its utility, why might not the 

 attendant groom, or horse-keeper in more humble 

 establishments, keep a register of the state of every 

 horse's pulse, when it comes first under his care, 

 and renew the same examination at intervals of a 

 week or ten days ? This practice alone would ren- 

 der him expert in all cases of imminent danger ; 

 to say nothing of those other indications, the dung- 

 ings and the water voided. On this latter point 

 the reader will turn back to what is said of " Urine" 

 in page 156. 



As the fever increases in violence, likewise, 

 when the animal is in great pain from inflammation 

 of the intestines, &c. the pulse beats still higher, 

 and reaches to 100 in a minute, or more. The 

 danger is then great, and less than three or four 

 quarts, drawn from a large orifice, would do harm 

 rather than good, by increasing the action of the 

 blood, and the hardness of the artery would also 

 be increased. To ascertain either state, the attend- 

 ant should apply the points of his fingers gently 

 to the artery which lies nearest the surface. Some 

 prefer consulting the temporal artery, which is 

 situated about an inch and a half backward from 



