CONGESTION OF THE LUNGS. 363 



Congestion of the Lungs. 



This is usually caused by over-exertion ; by chill after prolonged, 

 hard work ; and by defective ventilation in the stable. The fact of 

 an animal being out of condition greatly increases his liability to 

 congestion of the lungs from exertion. The distress is due to the 

 lungs having become gorged with more blood thaji they caji purify 

 and return back to the heart. Death, in this disease, occurs from 

 suffocation. More or less congestion always precedes inflamma- 

 tion of the lungs, and is, then, a transitory condition, and not a 

 distinct disease in itself. 



Congestion of the lungs from exertion occurs either directly or 

 indirectly. The direct form may occur when a gross hunter has 

 been ridden to a " stand-stiU " by an ignorant or brutal rider. 

 Not infrequently hunters exhibit the indirect form after (say, a 

 couple of hours or more) they have returned, seemingly all right 

 to their stable. Other horses, under similar conditions of work, 

 are, of course, as apt to get an attack as hunters. The first 

 symptom of the. indirect form usually noticed is tha,t the animal 

 begins, without any apparent cause, to " blow " — that is, to breathe 

 quickly with distended nostrils. It appears, in these cases, that 

 the sudden cessation of active exercise causes a large amount of 

 blood to leave the blood-vessels of the limbs, and, consequently, 

 produces more or less congestion in the vessels of tlie internal 

 organs, which are liable to injury on this account proportionately 

 to the extent they have been weakened by continued exertion or 

 other causes. It is evident that the adoption of healthy means by 

 which the rapidity of this return of blood can be checked, will act 

 as a valuable preventive to this disease. Bear in mind also that 

 the more the system has been depleted of water, the less able will 

 the blood be to circulate through its vessels. Hehce,»the liability 

 to indirect congestion of the lungs will be proportionate, chiefly, 

 to the unfitness of the animal ; the duration and severity of the 

 work ; the length of time the animal has been deprived of water ; 

 the heated condition of the body at the time wlien the animal is 

 stabled ; the chilling influences to which the surface of the body 

 is exposed after work, in or out of the stable ; an-d want of ventila- 

 tion and existence of draughts in the stable. The good effect of 

 a drink of water in facilitating the circulation, especially of. the 

 surface of the body, when the system is in a heated state from 

 severe exertion, and has been for a long time deprived of water, 

 is well shown in our own cases, under similar circumstances, by the 



