230 thB horsB.' 



Nettlerasli, Surfeit or Urticaria. This is an eruption in the 

 form of cutaneous nodules, in size from a hazel nut to a hickory nut, 

 transient, with little disposition to the formation of either blister or pos- 

 tule, and usually connected with shedding of the coat, sudden changes 

 of weather, and unwholesomeness or sudden change in the food. It is 

 most frequent in the spring and in young and vigorous animals (good 

 feeders). The swelling embraces the entire thickness of the skin and 

 terminates by an abrupt margin in place of shading off into surrounding 

 parts. When the individual swellings run together there are formed ex- 

 tensive patches of thickened integument. These may appear on any 

 part of the body, and may be general; the eyelids may be closed, the lips 

 rendered immovable, or the nostrils so thickened that breathing becomes 

 difficult and snuffiing. It may be attended by constipation or diarrhea, 

 or by colicky pains. The eruption is sudden, the whole skin being 

 sometimes covered in a few hours, and it may disappear with equal 

 rapidity or persist for six or eight days. 



Treatment. This con.sists in clearing out the bow^els by five drams 

 Barbadoes aloes, or one pound Glauber's salts, and follow the operation 

 of these by daily doses of one-half ounce powdered gentian and one ounce 

 Glauber's salts. A weak solution of alum may be applied to the 

 swellings. 



Horny Sloughs or Sitfasts These are circumscribed sloughs of 

 limited portions of the skin, the result of pressure by badly- fitting har- 

 ness, or by irritating masses of dirt, sweat, and hairs under the harness. 

 They are most common under the saddle, but may be found under collar 

 or breeching as well. The sitfast is a piece of dead tissue which would 

 be thrown off but that it has formed firm connections with the fibrous 

 skin beneath, or even deeper with the fibrous layers (fascia) of the mus- 

 cles, or with the bones, and is thus bound in its place as a persistent 

 source of irritation. The horn-like .slough may thus involve the super- 

 ficial part of the skin only, or the whole thickness of the skin, and even 

 of more of the structures beneath. The first object is to remove the 

 dead irritant by dissecting it off with a sharp knife, after which the sore 

 may be treated with simple wet cloths or a weak carbolic acid lotion, 

 like a common wound. If the outline of the dead mass is too indefinite, 

 a linseed-meal poultice will make its outline more evident to the oper- 

 ator. If the fascia or bone has become gangrenous the dead portion 

 must be removed with the horn-like skin. During and after treatment 

 the horse must be kept at rest or the harness must be so adjusted that 

 no pressure can come near the affected parts. 



