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THE INFLUENZA OF 183 (>. 
do. If the disease is not arrested by the first, it can hardly be 
expected that it will be arrested by the second, unless the second 
produce more effect. In repeating the operation, I have never 
regarded the debility of the horse, nor the quantity of blood pre- 
viously lost. 
In very many cases one full bleeding is sufficient ; many, how- 
ever, require two, some three, and occasionally I have bled the 
same patient four times in three days. I rely chiefly upon the 
bloodletting, but do not disregard aids, such as counter-irritants, 
laxatives, febrifuges, and stable comfort. Bloodletting is unne- 
cessary when the pulse softens, when the eye gets paler, or if the 
fever be not very great when its progress seems to be arrested. 
There are cases in which bleeding is forbidden ; however high 
the pulse, or red the eye, if the skin is considerably below T its 
natural temperature, bleeding merely hastens the approach of 
death. When the pulse is above ninety-five, the eye red, and 
the skin cool, the horse has little chance of recovery, and none if 
he suffer bleeding. Indeed, while in this state it is difficult to 
take blood from him ; the vein can hardly be seen, and the blood 
trickles as if from a scratch in the skin. It is almost foolish to 
attempt a cure in such a case. The loss of one or two quarts 
produces giddiness. If there be any remedy for a horse in the 
last stage of this disease, it is not known. No ordinary treat- 
ment can be of any service, and the practitioner merely hazards 
his reputation by attempting any. 
If purgation can be produced when the horse is in the febrile 
or in the prefebrile stage, he is all the better for it ; but it must 
be produced by only half a dose. In this disease, a half-dose 
usually produces as much effect as a full dose in health. A full 
dose is very dangerous, more dangerous than if a healthy horse 
were getting a double dose. Many horses that might have reco- 
vered have been destroyed by the groom’s dose of physic, or the 
blacksmith’s bottle of oil. Several, however, have withstood this 
improper treatment. Purgation is most hazardous when the 
fever is at its greatest altitude. Even a half dose occasionally 
operates too violently. While there is no abdominal pain, I sel- 
dom attempt to arrest the purgation. One horse purged four 
days, another six. The first had slight attacks of colic. He was 
closely watched, and whenever the pain made him lie down he 
had a ball of ginger and carbonated ammonia. On the fourth day, 
the eye being blanched, purgation was stopped by the acetate of 
lead. Opium is a dangerous restringent in these cases, particu- 
larly when the eye is red. The second horse lost flesh more 
rapidly, and he had more to spare ; there was pain, almost every 
night, of a severe kind. It was allayed by the stimulating ball ; 
