RHINITIS— NASAL CATARRH 19 



discharge may be quite copious, or, on the other hand, very 

 limited. As a rule, even in a giveh patient, the discharge 

 is greater at times (after a long drive and when the horse 

 is unreined). In character the discharge may be mucous 

 and yiscid, or purulent or even blood-streaked (glanders, 

 polypi). It is often fetid (teeth, necrosis of turbinated 

 bones, polypi). The discharge, if limited, may dry at the 

 . nostril openings, forming green to brownish crusts (glanders) 

 or it may flow over the upper lip depigmenting the skin 

 over which it passes. 



The mucous membrane assumes usually a leaden hue, 

 although it may appear brown. It is at times swollen, nodu- 

 lar and pitted with round erosions or superficial ulcers. The 

 swelling may interfere with breathing, causing nasal dyspnea 

 with sound, heard particularly at inspiration. From a filling 

 . and distention of the turbinal bones with exudate the 

 nasal septum may become atrophic and distorted through 

 pressure leading to partial occlusion of the nasal passages. 

 The submaxillary lymph glands become indurated and 

 enlarged but usually do not adhere to the jaw. 



Diagnosis. — While the diagnosis of chronic catarrhal rhi- 

 nitis is not difficult, to determine whether it is primary or 

 secondary often requires careful judgment. A thorough 

 inspection of the teeth should be made in all cases, especially 

 where the discharge is fetid and unilateral. Tumors may 

 often be felt with the aid of a urinary horse catheter or 

 nasal tube. A veterinary rhinolaryngoscope (Polonsky- 

 Schindelka) is useful in diagnosis. If the tumor is of con- 

 siderable size, the air current from the partially occluded 

 nostril will be less in volume. A sudden increase in the 

 discharge when the head is lowered after a drive speaks for 

 sinus empyema or more rarely filling of the guttural pouches. 

 Where glanders is suspected the complement-fixation, mal- 

 lein, agglutination, precipitin or guinea-pig tests may be 

 applied. (See Glanders.) 



Treatment. — The treatment of chronic nasal catarrh is 

 largely surgical (trephining sinuses, extraction of diseased 

 teeth, removal of tumor, etc.). At any rate it is governed 

 by the primary disease which the discharge accompanies. 



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