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DIPSOSIS AVENS IN THE HORSE. 
The next morning I was up early, that I might see what quan- 
tity he would drink. Having called the coachman, we proceeded 
to the stable, when the horse immediately began pawing, and 
looking round with the greatest anxiety for his water. We gave 
him four pailfuls — about ten gallons — which he drank in an 
incredibly short time, and he seemed to relish the fourth as much 
as the first. I called again in a couple of hours, when he had 
two more pailfuls. We gave him no more at that time, as he 
was going out in the carriage. On his return, and in the course 
of the day, he had four or five pailfuls more, in all about twenty- 
five or twenty-six gallons, and then his thirst seemed slaked 
only for a short time. He was continually staling, but evinced 
not the least tenderness when pressed over the region of the 
kidneys. 
This continued seven or eight days. He ate the green meat, 
but seemed to be losing all relish for corn ; he got thinner, but 
still worked with his usual spirit. His work, however, was only 
short runs, rarely extending beyond ten or fifteen minutes : had 
it been otherwise, he must have failed, as he staled enormously 
every time he stopped. 
I now commenced giving him a ball containing two drachms 
of ginger and three of gentian, daily. On the second day, he 
began to eat more and drink less ; and by the time we had 
administered six balls, he had lost his morbid appetite for water, 
ate as usual, and has since been sold for £90. 
To have seen him in the stable, without knowing any thing of 
the case, or the accompanying symptoms, the disease might have 
been mistaken for inflammation of the kidneys or bladder ; for he 
was either staling, or endeavouring to stale, the whole time he 
was in the stable, more particularly just after he had drunk ; 
and I am inclined to think, that if there was no predisposition to 
disease in the kidneys, they would not so readily have adapted 
themselves to the great demand made on them by the enormous 
influx into the system ; not only carrying off easily all the water 
he drank, but also the aqueous portion of the blood which had 
formed a dropsical deposit in the hind legs. On the other hand, 
if it were the tonics that aided the cure, it implies a morbid state 
of the stomach, producing preternatural thirst. I have, however, 
stated the case as it occurred, and should like to have or hear of 
another of the same kind, the treatment of which would, perhaps, 
throw some light on the nature of the malady. 
