CHAPTER XIV. 
INJURIES—THEIR NATURE AND THEIR TREATMENT. 
POLL EVIL. 
Poll evil consists of a deep abscess, ending in an ulcerous sore which 
has numerous sinuses. The situation of the affection is the most for- 
ward portion of the neck, near the top of the head, which part is pecu- 
liarly liable to injury, especially in agricultural horses. 
The gentlemen who superintend the laying down of stable floors always 
make the pavements of the stalls to slant from the manger to the gang- 
THE POSITION OF THE HEAD BEFORE AN ENLARGEMENT ANNOUNCES THE EXISTENCE OF AN ABSCESS ON 
THE POLL. 
way. They either know nothing about the habits of the horse, or they 
disdain to think about so trivial a matter as the convenience of an ani- 
mal. Their stables are built for men; and it is sufficient if the places 
will hold whatsoever man chooses to put into such out-buildings. 
The horse is most at ease when the position takes the strain off the 
flexor tendons. That end is accomplished when the hind legs are the 
higher portion of the body, or when. the ground slants in precisely the 
opposite direction to which the flooring of all present stables incline. 
The animal, finding the slope which is most convenient for the builder’s 
purposes adverse to its comfort, endeavors to compound the matter by 
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