390 COMPENDIUM OF THE VEI FKINARY ART 



no farther attention, except a. bran mash now 

 and then, with nitre. By continiiino his work, 

 and bting occasionally exposed to wet and 

 cold, there ig constantly an undue detenni- 

 niition of bioc)d to the membranes of the throat, 

 windpipe, Sue; or, in other words, the ca- 

 tarrhal infianunation is kept up by these means, 

 till at length the membranes become thickened 

 and irritable to sitch a degree, that the 

 cold air, or the vapours ar.d dust of the stable, 

 irritate the membraiie of the windpipe, so as 

 to excite coughing almost continually,- When 

 the inflammation has been but moderate, tlse 

 irratibility of these membranes will not be so 

 considerable, and the horse will only coii"h 

 now and then; or when the membrane is irri- 

 tated by the food or water, or by the dust 

 of his hay or corn, or perhaps by too great a 

 secretion of mucus*. 



* All these membranes are lubricated by a mucous fluid, which 

 is constantly forming on their surface. When perspiration is 

 checked by exposure to cold, an unusual quantity of blood is 

 thrown upon these membranes; which causes a larger quant'ty of 

 the mucous fluid to be formed. Hence the discharge from the 

 nose in catarrh : for as the horse breathes only through the nos- 

 trils, the mucus discharged from the lungs by coughing docs not 

 pass into the mouth as in man, but into the nostrils. It is 

 probable, that the mucus formed upon the membranes, when af- 



