ACITES. 179 
mouth is dry; pressure upon the abdomen elicits a groan, and turning 
in the stall always calls forth a grunt. 
When such symptoms are observed, the food should be small in bulk, 
but nutritious in quality; no work should be imposed; the medicine 
should be tonic and alterative. 
Strychnia . . . . . . <A quarter of a grain, worked gradually up to one 
grain. 
Iodide of iron. . . . . Half a drachm, worked gradually up to one 
drachm and a half. 
Extract of belladonna . . One scruple. 
Extract of gentian . . . <A sufficiency. 
Powdered quassia a A sufficiency. 
Make into a ball; give one at night and at morning. 
Small blisters should succeed each other upon the abdomen; but as 
these cases are always tedious and very much depends upon the consti- 
tution of the animal, charity alone should propose such a disease for 
treatment, as the general termination of the malady is incurable dropsy 
of the abdomen. 
Acites offers a good illustration of the loss inhumanity brings down 
upon man, and of the gain which would attend a loftier conduct. Chronic 
peritonitis attacks aged animals; such horses are used only for harness 
purposes. Few masters inquire what propels the carriage, so the vehicle 
gets over the ground. The affected quadruped cannot drag its own 
body; thus more than double duty is cast upon the sound steed. The 
single horse has not only to draw the entire carriage and its load, but it 
also has to pull along its disabled companion. Servants frequently hide 
defects, hoping that time will remedy them, or dreading the reception 
proverbially given to the bearer of bad tidings; thus the sound horse 
ultimately fails, while the sick animal is rendered worse by violent 
exercise. 
However, with the honesty which seems to prevail in and around the 
stable, the diseased horse is often sent to the nearest market. The pro- 
prietor, under some strange quibble of conscience, sells to another that 
which he is convinced is worthless. A rich master vends and a poor 
man buys; the cheatery of such a bargain is obvious, but to such results 
always tend a violated contract. The natural contract between man and 
horse is outraged; a conditional gift is construed to imply an uncondi- 
tional bestowal. The terms are warped according to the convenience 
of the receiver; the possibility of any obligation being implied is never 
suspected. A few, and very few good people, from feeling only fulfill 
the conditions of the bond; but kindness, when bestowed upon the horse, 
is regarded as a weakness and a gratuity. From the highest to the 
