INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 631 



results of neglect of this precaution. If the fever is excessive, the 

 horse may receive small quantities of Glauber's salt (handful three 

 times a day) as a laxative, bicarbonate of soda or niter in one-dram 

 doses every few hours, and small doses of antimony, iodid of potash, 

 aconite, or quinin. Steaming the head with the vapor of warm 

 water poured over a bucket of bran and hay, in which belladonna 

 leaves or tar have been placed, will allay the inflammation of the 

 mucous membranes and greatly ease the cough. 



The swelling of the glands should be promptly treated by flaxseed 

 poultices and bathing with warm water, and as soon as there is any 

 evidence of the formation of matter it should be opened. Prompt 

 action in this will often save serious complications. Blisters and irri- 

 tating liniments should Tiot be applied to the throat. When lung 

 complications show themselves the horse should have mustard ap- 

 plied to the belly and to the sides of the chest. When convalescence 

 begins great care must be taken not to expose the animal to cold, 

 which may bring on relapses, and while exercise is of great advan- 

 tage it must not be turned into work until the animal has entirely 

 regained its strength. 



Bacterial vaccines are now being extensively used for the preven- 

 tion and treatment of this disease. They are prepared from the 

 specific germ of the disease and frequently exert a very beneficial in- 

 fluence. A serum is also being prepared from horses, which is in- 

 jected with gradually increasing doses of this germ. This serum pos- 

 sesses considerable curative value and may prove especially valuable 

 in cases in which the animals have failed to respond to other forms 

 of treatment, or when valuable animals are affected with the disease. 



PURPURA HEMORRHAGICA. 



Synonyms. — ^Anasarca ; petechial fever ; morbus maculosus. 



Deprdtion. — ^This disease is a septic bacterial intoxication, acute 

 and infectious in character, and is manifested by edematous swell- 

 ings of the subcutaneous connective tissue, and hemorrhages on the 

 mucous membrane and in the internal organs. 



A previous attack of influenza is a common predisposing cause of 

 this disease, which appears most frequently a few weeks after con- 

 valescence is established. It occurs more frequently in those animals 

 which have made a rapid convalescence and are apparently per- 

 fectly well than it does in those which have made a slower recovery. 



Anasarca commences by symptoms which are excessively variable. 

 The local lesions may be confined to a small portion of the animal's 

 body and the constitutional phenomena be nil. The appearance and 

 gravity of the local lesions may be so unlike, from difference of loca- 

 tion, that they seem to belong to a separate disease, and complica- 

 tions may completely mask the original trouble. 



