COLD AND HEAT 71] 



is distinctly grateful and comforting. In the latter two dis- 

 eases, it should be arranged so that the animal can reach it 

 without bending the neck. The mouth can be rinsed out 

 continually, removing decomposing food and mucus, the 

 thirst be slaked and heat and inflammation relieved. 



Cold Enemata are valuable antipyretic agencies. From 

 five to fifteen quarts of cold water may be thrown up through 

 a flexible rubber tube, six feet long, far into the bowel of 

 the horse. 



Evaporating Solutions. — Ethyl chloride or ether 

 spray may be applied for a short time by means of an 

 atomizer, to induce local anaesthesia of a part, through the 

 powerful refrigeration produced in their evaporation, and is 

 most satisfactorily employed in conjunction with cocaine 

 injections. One turn of a cotton or linen bandage, or a 

 single thickness of similar stuff, put about a part and wet 

 continuously with cold water, forms a good evaporating 

 medium in allaying superficial inflammation and pain. A 

 mixfure of clay, and equal parts of water, vinegar and diluted 

 solution of lead acetate, make a cheap and efficient cooling 

 application for external use in the treatment of bruises and 

 sprains. The paste should be removed as quickly as it 

 dries. 



Refrigerants. — Certain medicines either produce a sub- 

 jective feeling of coolness or actually cause it, applied exter- 

 nally or given internally. The subjective sensation is due 

 to some inexplicable action on the local nerve supply. Some 

 are stimulants and astringents, and diminish the circulation 

 in the part. Externally, acetate of lead, chloride of am- 

 monium, nitrate of potash, and vinegar, are used most 

 frequently as refrigerants. 



The mineral acids and salts of potassium and sodium, 

 especially potassium nitrate, are administered more com- 

 monly, internally, both for their cooling effect and to allay 

 thirst. 



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