the Animals of the Farm. 
257 
if the patient is kept from exposure to cold or wet, properly 
housed and clothed, and fed on soft non-exciting food, to which, 
or to the drinking-water, a little nitre is added, and has a 
dose of an electuary (see end of this paper) from time to time, 
very little more can be done. 
Stimulating liniment may be rubbed into the skin of the 
throat and front of the chest when the cough is trouble- 
some ; but blisters and setons should never be used without 
the advice of a veterinary surgeon, and under no circumstance 
should the farmer be tempted to give any of the advertised 
cough-balls, or other specifics. If the cold resists the simple 
measures which have been advised, it is a sign that something 
more than appears to the inexperienced eye is wrong, and 
further advice should be sought. 
Influenza is a peculiar form of catarrhal disease which occurs 
periodically among horses, generally in the summer and autumn, 
and, under certain unfavourable conditions, results in serious 
loss. Under the names of " Horse Distemper " and " Pink Eye," 
the affection has of late years excited special attention in this 
country, chiefly on account of the presumption that it was 
imported from America. There is nothing, however, in any 
phase of the influenza of recent date which distinguishes it from 
the affection of a quarter of a century ago. 
One special feature of influenza, as compared with ordinary 
cold, is the remarkable prostration which occurs early in the 
course of the disease. Complications also occur during the 
progress of the affection, and from the simple catarrhal form it 
may pass to the organs of the chest (thoracic form), or to the 
intestines, inducing enteritis : or it may become associated with 
disturbance of the brain and spinal cord, and present the 
characters of the very fatal disorder which is known by the 
pretentious title of " cerebrospinal meningitis ; " and finally, it 
may be combined with acute rheumatism. 
Treatment of influenza will necessarily be regulated by the 
nature of the attack, and, in regard to the domestic veterinary 
treatment of the disease, it may be remarked that the simple 
remedies which are at the disposal of the farmer will, if promptly 
and judiciously applied, materially modify the severity of the 
affection, and especially at its commencement. As soon as signs 
of influenza are evident in the animal's drooping gait, watery 
and perhaps swollen eyelids, work should be stopped. The 
neglect of this essential precaution led to the loss of a vast 
number of horses of the Tramway Companies in America 
a few years ago. 
Good nursing is all-important in influenza as in all forms of 
catarrhal affections. A sick horse should be placed, if possible, 
VOL. XX. — S. S. S 
