505 



• 

 and is a useful stimulant to the heart and digestive system, if given 

 ■with care in small doses. It must be remembered that this remedy is 

 not a food. It is a hydrocarbon which is not burnt, but is eliminated 

 in the urine and in the expired air. If given in too large quantities it 

 becomes a depressant, and lowers the vitality of all of the tissues of the 

 body, as can too frequently be seen in the mental and physical condi- 

 tion of the drunkard. It is an antiputrid, and is especially indicated when 

 septic complications and gangrene are present. The aromatics and bit- 

 ter tonics are useful; gentian, tannin, and English breakfast tea in 

 warm decoction from a useful menstruum for other remedies. The vari- 

 ous preparations of iron are astringents and excitants to the digestive 

 system. Carbolic acid is an antiputrid, which is of marked benefit in 

 (edematous pneumonia; it should be given iu small doses diluted in 

 alcohol. 



Salicylic acid may be given in 1 or 2 dram doses every few hours. It 

 is a specific for troubles of the serous membranes, lowers the tempera- 

 ture, and is of value in this disease in preventing the exudation into 

 the tissue of the lungs. The alkalines, as the sulphate and bicarbonate 

 of soda, the nitrate of potash, and very small doses of the iodide of pot- 

 ash should be employed to regulate the digestive tract, the kidneys, 

 and the other excreting glands, and to stimulate absorption of the waste 



matter. 



The diet demands the strictest attention from the outset. In many 

 of the fevers the food has to be diminished in quantity and regulated in 

 the quality of its heat-producing components during-the acute part of 

 the disease, so as to lessen the material for combustion in the inflamed 

 organs. In (Edematous pneumonia, on the contrary, all the food that 

 can possibly be digested and assimilated must be given. Choice must 

 be made of the richest material which can be handled by the weakened 

 stomach and intestines without fatiguing them. Good, sound hay 

 should be chopped short and dampened or partly boiled ; in the latter 

 case the hay tea can be reserved to use as a drink. Oats may be pre- 

 ferred dry or in other cases will be taken better scalded ; in most cases, 

 however, it is better to give slops of oatmeal, to which can be added a 

 little bran, barley flour, or boiled milk and wheat flour. Pure cow's 

 milk, not too rich in fatty matter, can be given alone or with beaten 

 eggs ; frequently the horse will have to be coaxed with the milk diluted 

 with several parts of water at first, but will soon learn to drink the pure 

 milk. Apples and carrots cut up raw or boiled are useful, and fresh 

 clover in small quantities will frequently stimulate the appetite. 

 Throughout the course of the disease and during convalescence the 

 greatest attention must be taken to cleaning the coat thoroughly so as 

 to keep the glands of the skin in working order, and light, warm cov- 

 ering must be used to protect the animal from cold or draughts of air. 



