BRONCHITIS. 129 
ae 
added to each dose of the ethereal drink; which ought to be resumed, 
should amendment ensue upon the administration of the aconite draught. 
Let the food consist entirely of thick gruel. The appetite occasionally 
is unaffected during bronchitis; but, however pleasant it may be to 
behold a horse masticate, all solids should be withheld, especially during 
the acute stage. Nothing is so injurious to respiration as a loaded 
stomach, and a single meal (if permitted) would speedily aggravate the 
symptoms of this disease. When the disorder has subsided, food must 
be carefully introduced ; the water should be, as grooms say, “chilled,” 
or, in ordinary language, should have the chill removed. Boiled roots 
or crushed and scalded oats should constitute the earliest approach to 
natural diet. Hay should be given with extreme caution, the desire 
being to nourish the body, not to load the stomach. A bundle of grass 
each day may be allowed upon recovery being assured; and when hay is 
at length presented, mind that for the first month it is thoroughly damped; 
for nothing more retards recovery after bronchitis than the inhalation of 
those dusty particles with which hay too often abounds. 
THE COUGH OF INCURABLE BRONCHITIS. 
When the disorder is to terminate fatally, the proprietor, in the 
majority of instances, speedily learns the fact. The pulse continues 
unamended at first, but soon grows very quick and tremulous; the breath- 
ing becomes more painful even to the spectator. Every inhalation ap- 
pears to shake the body; yet, so eager is the desire for air, that the 
haste and violence of the respiration evidently defeat their object. The 
nasal membrane assumes a bluish tint, a foul, bloody froth hangs about 
the nostrils; the eyes are dull and fixed. The cough is the most dis- 
tressing symptom. It occurs in fits, and during the paroxysms the 
wretched animal reels about. The noise cannot now be restrained ; the 
horse has no strength to struggle with disease. The sound which shakes 
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