STRANGLES. 269 
spot. Upon this place the surgeon makes an incision. A pint or more 
of pus escapes, and the animal quickly recovers. 
Such is the history of a case of strangles, as the disorder generally 
develops itself. Of course it will vary in degree, though in every instance 
a sufficient similarity will be apparent to guide the student. 
With regard to treatment: never purge or bleed a colt when it ex- 
hibits a dubious sickness. It may be ‘breeding strangles,” and the 
strength then will be needed to cast off the disease. Give all the nour- 
ishment the animal can imbibe. If food should be rejected, whitened 
water, or boiling water into which some flour has been stirred, or thin 
gruel, is useful for that purpose. A little green-meat is generally rel- 
ished. But, if the colt is not frightened at the approach of a stranger, 
the food should be offered, little at a time, by the hand—not forked into 
the rack or cast upon the ground, for the animal to breathe upon and 
then turn from with disgust. Corn, crushed and scalded, may be allowed, 
if it can be eaten. No grooming must annoy the feverish body; the 
clothing must be light; the bed should be ample, and scrupulously clean ; 
the loose box ought to be large, perfectly well drained, with every door 
and window open during the day, and only partly closed at night. 
Some persons blister the abscess, and then apply a poultice over the 
blistered part: to this practice the author objects. In the first place, 
sufficient friction cannot be employed to insure the effects of a blister. 
In the second place, a blister is said to be endowed with the properties 
of bringing forward or of dispersing a tumor. In strangles, one of these 
processes alone is desirable, the dispersion being much to be dreaded. 
In the third place, though oil and water are in their natures antagonistic, 
yet water will creep through a coating of oil, and warm water, especially, 
thickens the cuticle. This action may possibly prevent the vesicatory 
from reaching the cutis, should the emollient be applied immediately 
after the blister. In the last place, the weight of the poultice is likely 
to stretch the cloth in which it is applied; when, being removed from the 
skin, the cold air of course finds its way between the poultice and the 
tumor. Cold is not desirable where we seek to promote suppuration ; 
but cold is increased by damping a surface, and allowing it to be swept 
by a current of air. Evaporation then takes place, and the warmth is 
decreased by many degrees. 
The writer prefers gently stimulating with the following mixture :— 
Spirits of turpentine . . . . . ~~... « . Two parts. 
Laudanum . . . 1. . + + e+ 6 © we @ es One part. 
Spirits of camphor . . . . . - . - «~~ « One part. 
This may be applied, by means of what cooks term a “paste brush,” 
