356 VETERINARY: SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS. 
by stallions with dense tissues. They ought to be used to breed mules. 
Subjects born of parents affected with hydarthrosis ought to emigrate 
towards dry localities. For them aqueous food is contra-indicated. 
Feeding with oats, beans and the like is often sufficient to bring on the 
disappearance of these affections. But it demands six months and some- 
times years to reach this modification.” ’ 
The treatment varies according to the age and the degree of the 
dropsy, the modifications of the synovial and of the tissues surrounding 
it. ‘Against recent hydarthrosis, a number of means are recommended. 
Rest of the joint is always beneficial; it stops the effusion and favors. 
the absorption of the synovia. Complete immobilization is impossible in 
animals, and it is not necessary; the subject is turned loose in a box or 
in the field. Compressions, much used in stables of the rich, helps rest 
with advantage. The joint is wrapped with linen or flannel roller from 
below upwards with quite strong compression; this is increased by 
wetting the roller before its application. To-day, especially for race-. 
horses, rubber stockings of various shapes are used. Some, passed 
over the hoof, come to envelop exactly the diseased joint; others are 
laced with strings; all have the advantage of resisting in a permanent. 
manner the dilatation of the synovial. 
To compression astringents are frequently added : white lotions, styptic 
solution, alcohol, tincture of camphor, poultices of clay, paste of come. 
mon chalk diluted in vinegar. Cold water is yet, with immobilization, 
massage and compression, the treatment par excellence of recent hydar- 
throsis. Douches and baths in running water may be utilized. After 
each seating of hydrotherapy the joint may be massed and enveloped 
with a roller or a rubber stocking. Against hydarthrosis, aloes, sulphate: 
of soda, squill, colchicum, nitre, and all the series of diuretics have been 
administered internally. These remedies have no action upon the 
affected synovial serous. 
When hydarthrosis have reached a certain size, these treatments are 
no longer sufficient. More active measures are necessary. Blistering” 
applications are then indicated : tincture of cantharides, blister ointment, 
English and French strong liniments, those of Geneau, Boyer, the topic: 
of, James, the ointment of Lebas, that of Méré, those of biodide of 
mercury or bichromate of potassa, and a mass of other preparations with: 
known or concealed composition, all have been recommended. 
Even tincture of iodine, in frictions, has had its advocates. Delrée 
has praised it: ‘The treatment that I use has given me complete re-- 
coveries, without relapse, loss of hair, even in well-bred horses, with- 
1J,, Lafosse, Pathol. vét. t. II, p. 616. 
