474 



most easily examiued iu the conjuuctiva of the eyes and inside of the 

 luoLitb, change color if the fever is an acnte one ; without alteration of 

 blood the mucous membranes become of a rosy or deep red color at the 

 outset ; if the fever is attended with, distinct alteration of the blood, as 

 iu iufluenza, and at the end of two or three days in severe cases of 

 l^neumonia or other extensive inflammatory troubles, the mucous mem- 

 branes are tinged with yellow, which may even become a deep ochre in 

 color, the result of the decomi)osition of the blood corpuscles and the 

 freeing of their coloriug matter, which acts as a stain. At the outset of 

 a fever the various glands are checked in their secretions, the salivary 

 glauds fail to secrete the saliva, and we find the surface of the tongue 

 and inside of the cheeks dry and covered with a brownish, bad-smelling 

 deposit. The excretion from the liver and intestinal glands is dimin- 

 ished and produces an inactivity of the digestive organs which causes 

 a constipation. If this is not remedied at an earl}' period the undigested 

 material acts as an irritant, and later we may have it followed by an 

 inflammatory i)rocess, i)roducing a severe diarrhea. 



The excretion from the kidneys is sometimes at first entirely sup- 

 pressed. It is always considerably diminished, and what urine is passed 

 is dark in color, undergoes ammoniacal change rapidly, and dei)osits 

 quantities of salts. At a later period the diminished excretion may 

 be replaced by an excessive excretion, which aid^ in carryiug off waste 

 products and usually indicates an amelioration of the fever. 



While the cars, cannons, and hoofs of a horse sufferiug from fever are 

 usually found hot, they may frequently alternate from hot to cold iu 

 their temperature, or be much cooler than they normally are. This lat- 

 ter condition usually indicates great weakness on the part of the circu- 

 latory system. It is of the greatest importance as an aid in diagnosing 

 the gravity of an attack of fever and as an indic.ition in the selection of 

 its mode of treatment, to recognize the exact cause of a febrile condi- 

 tion in the horse. In certaiu cases, in very nervous animals in which 

 fever is the result of nerve influence, a simple anodyne, or even only 

 quiet with continued cire and nursing, will sometimes be sufficient to 

 diminish it. When fever is the result of local injury the cure of the 

 cause produces a cessation in the constitutional symptoms ; when fever 

 is the result of a pneumonia or other severe parenchymatous inflamma- 

 tion, it usually lasts for a definite time, and subsides with the first im- 

 provemeut of the local trouble, but iu these cases we constantly have 

 exaccerbations of fever due to secondary inflammatory i^rocesses, such as 

 the formation of small abscesses, the development of secondary bron- 

 chitis;, or the death of a limited amount of tissue (gangrene). 



In specific cases, such as influenza, strangles, and septicaemia, there 

 is a definite poison contained in the blood-vessel system, and carried to 

 the heart and to the nervous system, which produces a peculiar irrita- 

 tion, usually lasting for a specific period, during which the temperature 

 can be but slightly diminished by any remedy. 



