Specific Contagious Diseases. 95 



STEANGLES. DISTEMPEK IST YOUNG HORSES. 



A specific fever of joung solipeds, usually attended with 

 swellings and formations of matter between the bones of 

 the lower jaw, or elsewhere in groups of lymphatic glands. 



Causes. Early age, change from field to stable, from 

 grass to dry feeding, from idleness to exciting work, the ir- 

 ritation of teething, and, above all, change of locality and 

 climate. Repeated attacks will occur in the same horse 

 under the influence of the last-named cause. Exposure to 

 cold and wet, impm-e air, sudden thaws, etc., contribute to 

 hasten its development. Lastly, contagion is a common 

 cause, and, in some cases, the malady may even be conveyed 

 to man. 



Symptoms. The disease is often preceded by a period of 

 imthriftiness, staring coat, loss of condition, dullness, and 

 languor. Then there appear cough, redness of the nasal 

 membrane, and watery flow from the nose and eyes, slaver- 

 ing, accelerated breathing and pulse, costiveness, scanty 

 high-colored urine, and increased thirst. Soon a swelling 

 rises between the bones of the lower jaw, hot, tender, and 

 uniformly rounded and smooth, at first hard with soft, 

 doughy margins, later soft and fluctuating in the centre 

 from the formation of matter. Water is often returned 

 from the nose in drinking and food dropped after chewing. 

 The throat may even be closed so as to make breathing 

 laborious, diflicult, and noisy, or quite impossible. With 

 rupture of the abscess and escape of the matter, relief is ob- 

 tained and a steady recovery may usually be counted on. 



Irregular Forins. The swelling may harden in place of 

 softening, and maintain the disease for an indefinite time, 

 or it may disappear and be followed by the formation of 

 matter in other and more vital organs. Thus matter may 

 form in the groiips of lymphatic glands about the shoulder. 



