THE EXAMINATION OF A SICK HORSE. 13 
Wounds of the skin may be of importance in the diagnosis of 
internal disease. Wounds over the bony prominence, as the point 
of the hip, the point of the shoulder, and the greatest convexity of 
the ribs, occur when a horse is unable to stand for a long time and, 
through continually lying upon his side, has shut off the circulation 
to the portion of the skin that covers parts of the body that carry 
the greatest weight, and in this way has caused them to mortify. 
Little, round, soft, doughlike swellings occur on the skin and may be 
scattered freely over the surface of the body when the horse is 
afflicted with urticaria. Similar eruptions, but distributed less gen- 
erally, about the size of a silver dollar, may occur as a symptom of 
dourine, or colt distemper. Hard lumps, from which radiate welt- 
like swellings of the lymphatics, occur in glanders, and blisterlike 
eruptions occur around the mouth and pasterns in horsepox. 
THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION. 
The first item in this portion of the examination consists in taking 
the pulse. The pulse may be counted and its character may be de- 
termined at any point where a large artery occupies a situation 
close to the skin and above a hard tissue, such as a bone, cartilage, or 
tendon. _The most convenient place for taking the pulse of the horse 
is at the jaw. The external maxillary artery runs from between the 
jaws, around the lower border of the jawbone, and up on the outside 
of the jawbone to the face. It is located immediately in front of the 
heavy muscles of the cheek. Its throb can be felt most distinctly 
just before it turns around the lower border of the jawbone. The 
balls of the first and second or of the second and third fingers should 
be pressed lightly on the skin over this artery when its pulsations are 
to be studied. 
The normal pulse of the healthy horse varies in frequency ‘as 
follows: 
Stallion 28 to 32 beats per minute. 
Gelding 33 to 38 beats per minute. 
Mare_ oe 34 to 40 beats per minute. 
Foal 2 to 3 years old 40 to 50 beats per minute. 
Foal 6 to 12 months old_________-______ 45 to 60 beats per minute. 
Foal 2 to 4 weeks old-____-_----__-__- 70 to 90 beats per minute. 
The pulse is accelerated by the digestion of rich food, by hot 
weather, exercise, excitement, and alarm. It is slightly more rapid 
in the evening than it is in the morning. Well-bred horses have a 
slightly more rapid pulse than sluggish, cold-blooded horses. The 
pulse should be regular; that is, the separate beats should follow each 
other after intervals of equal length, and the beats should be of equal 
fullness, or volume. 
