HAEMORRHAGE FROM THE NOSE. 
69 
frozen, without the slightest avail. I have injected solutions of 
alum and sulphate of zinc and catechu with no better result. 
The structure of the velum palati renders it impossible to fix a 
compress in the upper part of the nostril by means of any string 
passed into the back part of the mouth ; and the impossibility of 
preventing a horse from sneezing when he feels the inconvenience 
of a tent lower down, cuts us off from these mechanical means of 
plugging up the passage, and forming a coagulum on the orifice 
of the ruptured vessel. Generally speaking, therefore, we are 
passive spectators • and, if the horse is in good condition, we en¬ 
tertain no immediate fear, for the discharge may be beneficial 
rather than otherwise. The principal apprehension is with regard 
to the formation of the habit. A horse that was subject to these 
periodical discharges, and which neither bleeding from the jugu¬ 
lar nor physic could prevent, was, one morning, found dead in 
his stall, and his blood covered the floor of the stable. 
Repeated haemorrhage from the nose has preceded glanders ; 
the chronic or half-healed ulcer has taken on a chancrous cha¬ 
racter. Somewhat low diet, mashes, diuretic or slightly aperient 
medicine, so as not to interfere with the work of the animal, are 
indicated when there is this tendency to spontaneous haemor¬ 
rhage ; and, more particularly, it is necessary that the horse shall 
not be too tightly reined, and that the collar shall not press upon 
the jugular at the lower part of the neck. 
Spo?itaneous Hemorrhage in the Ox. —Oxen, and especially 
those that are worked, and that are in tolerably high condition, 
are also subject to epistaxis. An ox too long and too hardly 
worked during the heat of a summer’s day, will frequently bleed 
from the nose ; but I fear that the haemorrhage is too often occa¬ 
sioned by blows on the nasals or on the muzzle, inflicted by a 
brutal drover or ploughman. The bleeding has gradually stop¬ 
ped, and I am not aware of any case in which unpleasant conse¬ 
quences have ensued. 
Leeches producing Hemorrhage from the Nose. —I have heard 
of leeches having fastened on the muzzle, and thence crept into 
the nostril of the ox and the horse, and particularly of the latter, 
when drinking from a stagnant pond. These blood-suckers shift¬ 
ing from place to place in the nostril, and biting here and there, 
a considerable haemorrhage has been produced. If the leech can 
be seen when the nostril is examined in a good light, or if its 
presence is strongly suspected, some salt and water should be in¬ 
jected into the nose, for by this the intruder will be speedily de¬ 
tached. The bleeding from the slight wounds of a leech-bite 
will soon be stayed. 
VOL. V. L 
