HIDEBOUND— MANGE. 389 



HIDEBOUND. 



This is essentially a disorder of the skin produced by sym- 

 pathy with the stomach. It rarely occurs in any horse but one 

 sadly out of health from a deficiency either in the quantity or 

 quality of the food. Sometimes it comes on in the latter stages of 

 consumption or dysentery, without any previous mismanagement ; 

 but in the vast majority of cases the cause may be laid to the 

 food. The skin of a horse in health feels supple, and on his sides 

 it may readily be gathered up by the hand into a large fold, but 

 in hidebound it is as if it were glued to the ribs, and were also too-* 

 tight for the carcase which it invests. The name, indeed, is 

 expressive of this state, and the disease can scarcely be mistaken 

 when once seen, or rather felt. Coincident with this condition of 

 the skin, there is also, generally, either a distended state of the 

 abdomen from flatulence, or a contracted and " tucked up" appear- 

 ance from diarrhoea. The treatment should be addressed to the 

 digestive organs, the state of which must be carefully examined, 

 and if possible rectified. A pint of linseed, scalded, and mixed 

 with a bran mash every night, or scalded malt given in equal 

 quantities with the corn ; or in the spring time, vetches, clover, or 

 lucerne, will do more than any medicine ; but when there is a 

 deficient appetite, or the bowels or stomach, or either ' of them, 

 are evidently much weakened and disordered, a stomachic ball 

 once or twice a week will do good. The remedies appropriate to 

 these several conditions will be found under their respective heads 

 at pages 354, and 363, 364. 



MANGE. 



Mange corresponds with the itch of the human subject in 

 being produced by a parasitic insect, which is an acarus, but of a 

 different species to that of man, and of a much larger size, so as to 

 be readily visible to the naked eye. It is generally produced by 

 contact with horses previously affected with the same disease, but 

 it appears highly probable that a poor, half-starved animal, allowed 

 to accumulate all kinds of dirt on his "skin, will develop the para- 

 site, though how this is done is not clearly made out. The whole 

 subject of parasites is wrapped in mystery, which modern researches 

 appear likely to fathom, but hitherto little progress has been made 

 except in the history of the metamorphoses of the tape-worm, 

 from the analogy of which some idea may be formed of the prob- 

 able modes of production of other parasites. When caused by 

 contagion, as certainly happens in the vast majority of cases, the 

 first symptoms noticed will be an excessive itching of the skin, 

 which is soon followed by a bareness of the hair in patches, partly 

 caused by constant friction. The disease usually shows itself on 

 33* 



