444 DISEASES OF THE HORSE.’ 
way peculiar outside the imperfectly understood exciting cause. The 
practitioner who allows the acute symptoms of the laminitis to mis- 
lead him, simply because their severity has overshadowed those of the 
primary disease, may lose his case through unguarded subsequent 
treatment. This form of laminitis is by no means commonly met 
with. It may be found in conjunction with pneumonia, according to 
Youatt with inflammation of the bowels and eyes, and according to 
Law and Williams sometimes with bronchitis. : 
Symptoms.—Laminitis is characterized by a congregation of symp- 
toms so well marked as scarcely to be misinterpreted by the most 
casual observer. They are nearly constant in their manifestations, 
modified by the number of feet affected, the cause which has induced 
the disease, the previous condition of the patient, and the various 
other influences which to some extent operate'in all diseases. They 
may be divided into general symptoms, which are concomitants of all 
cases of the disease, subject to variations in degree only, and special 
symptoms, or those which serve to determine tne feet affected and the 
complications which may arise. 
General symptoms—Usually, the first symptom is the interfer- 
ence with lomomotion. Occasionally the other symptoms are pre- 
sented first. As the lameness develops the pulse becomes accelerated, 
full, hard, and strikes the finger strongly; the temperature soon rises 
several degrees above the normal, reaching sometimes 106° F.; it 
generally ranges between 102.5° and 105° F. The respirations are 
rapid and panting in character, the nostrils widely dilated, and the 
mucous membranes highly injected. The facial expression is anxious 
and indicative of the most acute suffering, while the body 1s more or 
less bedewed with sweat. At first there may be a tendency to diar- 
rhea, or it may appear later as the result of the medicines used. The 
urine is high colored, scant in quantity, and of increased specific 
gravity, owing to the water being eliminated by the skin instead of 
the kidneys. The appetite is impaired, sometimes entirely lost, but 
thirst is greatly increased. The affected feet are hot and dry, and 
as much as possible are relieved from bearing weight. Rapping them 
with a hammer, or compelling the animal to stand upon one affected 
member, causes intense pain. The artery at the fetlock throbs 
beneath the finger. 
Special symptoms.—Liability to affection varies in the different 
feet according to the exciting cause. Any one or more of the feet 
may become the subject of this disease, although. it appears more 
often in the fore feet than in the hind ones. This is due to the 
difference of the function, i. e., that the fore feet are the bases of 
the columns of support, receiving nearly all the body weight during 
progression and consequently most of the concussion, while the hind 
