49 



if the parts are hot, tender, and painful. If an abscess is likely 

 to form, poultices of linseed meal may be applied, and the abcess, 

 ■when ready, ahonld be opened, but never with a knife. Cut 

 through the skin only and then insert a blunt instrument, or the 

 finger, and -allow the pus to escape. 



If the animal breathes with great difficulty, manifested by 

 making a loud, wheezing sound, an opening should be made in his 

 windpipe, the edges of the opening held apart by inserting a suture 

 in both sides, and tied up over the neck, or a tube may be inserted 

 in the opening. 



Tlie patient should never he drenched. 



Fever may be combatted by cold-water injections into the rec- 

 tum, 1 to 3 gallons at a time. 



STRANGLES, COMMONLY CALLED "DISTEMPER." 



Strangles of the horse is an acute, infectious disease. It usually 

 attacks young horses. 



Symptoms. — The disease begins with a high fever, ranging from 

 104° to 106'; a disoharga from the nosg, at first watery, rapidly 

 bscoming thicker, and later assuming a whitish-gray or greenish- 

 yellow color. The glands below the lower jaw become swollen, 

 hot, and painful; loss of appetite, depression, great muscular 

 weakness, and swelling of the hind legs follow. Sometimes a 

 swelling may be found on some portion of the windpipe. 



Treatment. — Separate the sick animal from the well ones and 

 place him in a well-ventUated stall, free from drafts; clean the 

 nostrils frequently; clothe the body according to the season of 

 the year; open the abscess as soon as pus is formed and wash it 

 twice daily. 



Give easily digested food, green fodder, roots, or slops made of 

 bran or steamed oats, and in his drinking water }4 ounce of salt- 

 peter, but do not drench, as the throat in many cases is sore, and 

 if the horse should cough while taking medicine in that way it 

 might entar the lungs and cause pneumonia. 



PNEUMONIA (lung FEVER) . 



Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lung structure, and runs 

 a course of from seven to ten days. 



Causes. — Among the external causes of the disease we must par- 

 ticularly mention excessive exertion and cold; also carelessness 

 in giving a drench, particularly if the animal has a sore throat. 



6829 4 



