THE HORSE, SKIN DISEASES, ETC. 275 



Two to four applications will generally be found sufficient, even m 

 obstinate cases, if care is taken as to food and drink. The following 

 alterative will be found beneficial : 



No. 13. 1 Oz. tartarized antimony, 



2 Drs. muriate of quicksilver, 



3 Oz. powdered ginger. 



3 Oz. powdered anise seeds. 



Mix with mucilage so as to form a consistent mass ; divide into six 

 balls, and give one every morning till the eruption disappears. 



Care must be taken that the patient is not exposed to rain or heavy 

 dews while under this course of treatment. 



Vin. Bingworm. 



Causes. — ^There are two kinds of ringworm ; one simple, of sponta- 

 neous origin, and non-contagious. The other contagious. The first 

 is usually the result of indigestion or confinement in close and foul 

 apartments, as in filthy and ill-aired stables, railroad cars or ship holds. 

 The latter, or contagous kind, is found on horses of good condition, as 

 well as on diseased and neglected ones, and is produced by vegetable 

 parasites in the hairs and hair-glands. 



How to know It. — ^It is especially common in Winter and Spring, and 

 appears on the face, neck, shoulders, sides, and sometimes elsewhere. 



When non-contagious, it may usually be known by its appearing as an 

 eruption of small blisters, about the size of a wheat grain, on inflamed 

 patches of skin. These assume a circular form ; and if not seasonably 

 attended to, the circle enlarges and covers fresh portions of skin. 



The contagious type appears in round, bald spots, covered with white 

 scales, and surrounded by a ring of bristly, broken, or split hairs, with 

 scabs around the roots, and some eruption on the skin. These broken 

 hau's soon drop out, and a wider ring is formed. The most marked 

 characteristic of the contagious or parasitical ringworm is the splitting of 

 the hairs in the ring, and the perfect baldness of the central part. 



Occasionally the patches, in either form of the disease, assume an 

 iiregular rather than a really circular form. 



Any attack of this sort is usually marked also by the horse's rubbing 

 *nd scratching himself against the sides of his stable, or convenient 

 objects outside ; but this is not to be depended upon as a marked symp- 

 tom, since it likewise indicates surfeit and mangre. 



What to do — If a simple, non-contagious case, shave the hairs p< 

 closely as possible from the affected part, and paint with tincture Of 

 iodine ; or, if scratches or little ulcers have appeared on the patch, rub it 

 with the folloAving stimulating and healing ointment : 

 IF 



