EPIDEMIC AMONG HORSES. 
()69 
ran from the animal. Few could bear the loss of more than three 
quarts without falling. I must candidly own, that when I saw 
these fatal effects, I attributed them to having bled too late ; 
but 1 tried venesection in all ways, and I invariably found it 
highly injurious, and generally fatal. 
I now adopted another plan: I had opened several' of the 
horses, and had seen that the contents of the stomach and bowels 
were always fluid, but that these viscera seemed to have lost 
their natural contractile powers — they were paralysed. I now 
gave as much purgative medicine at once as I conceived ought 
to act in ordinary cases ; and then administered large quantities 
of stimulants, with slight doses of calomel, in the hope that if 
the contractile power of the stomach and bowels could once 
be restored, the purgative might assist in causing the evacu- 
ation of this fluid. 1 blistered the region of the liver on both 
sides most extensively ; and I may mention, that I never saw a 
case recover in which the blister did not act well. Warm clothing 
was applied to the body, and bandages and hand-rubbing to the 
legs. Clysters were thrown up three or four times a-dav, and 
the animal supported by giving plenty of gruel, or any thing that 
he could be induced to eat. All the horses that recovered were 
treated in this manner. There were some with regard to whom 
I had abandoned all hope : but suddenly an evident change took 
place for the better, the natural action of the bowels returned, 
and the animal did well. 
I come now t to consider the milder form of the epidemic, which 
appeared three weeks after the more fatal one had passed away. 
Its treatment was perfectly analogous to the foregoing. Imme- 
diately on its commencement I gave two ounces of spirits of sweet 
nitre, and two ounces of tincture of opium, in one pint of com- 
mon oil, and repeated it in two hours, if necessary ; adding 
warm clothing to the body, stimulating embrocations and hand- 
rubbing to the legs, and warm clysters thrown up repeatedly. 
The severity of the attack usually went off in half an hour, and 
the appetite returned, when a hot bran mash was given; but it 
always left great debility, and generally a cough ; and it was 
necessary to give strong tonics daily, for some time, before the 
animal fully recovered its strength. A horse, after one of those 
attacks, was left much more likely to have a second or third. 
I may here remark, that bleeding, whenever resorted to in these 
cases, seemed to be highly injurious. 
The post-mortem appearances were as follow : — the brain and 
spinal marrow I have examined carefully, but must own that in 
the majority of cases I could not discover any disease in them. 
I thought the substance of the brain looked paler than usual. 
VOL. IX. 4 u 
