Special report on diseases of the horse

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TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

3 9090 013 413 865

Webster Family Librai^ of Veterinary Medicine
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at
Ms Ltniv&rsity
200 vVestboro Road
North Grafton. MA 01536

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

BUREAU OF ANIMAIv INDUSTRY.

SPECIAL REPORT

DISEASES OF THE HORSE.

VREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF

Dr. D. K. S^LIMON,

CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY.

Drs. Michener, Law, Harbaugh, Trumbower, Liautard,
holcombe, huidekoper, and dickson.

REI^RINTED BY ORDER OK CONGRESS.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1896.

si

5

TABLE OF CONTENTS,

Lcftcv of trajismittul.

By Dr. D. E. Salmon, Chief of Biireau ~

Methods of administering medicines,

ByCH. B. MiCHENER, V. S --- 9

Diseases of the digestive organs.

By Ch. B. MiCHENER, V. S 15

Diseases of the urinary organs.

By James Law, F. R. C. V. S . --- «1

Diseases of the respirator}] organs.

By W. H. Harbaugh, V. S. - -- 89

Diseases of the generative organs,

By James Law, F. R. C. V. S 139

Diseases of the nervous systent,

ByM. R. Trumbower, V. S --- 187

Diseases of the lieart and. blood vessels,

ByM. R. Trumbower, V. S 225

Diseases of the eye.

By James Law, F. R. C. V. S - - . - 255

Lameness,

By A. Liautard, M. D.. V. S _.-.. 279

Diseases of the fetlock-, anlde, and foot,

By A. A. HoLCOMBE, D. V. S 369

Diseases of the skin,

By James Law, F. R. C. V. S 433

Wounds and their trecdment ,

By Ch. B. Michener, V. S 4G1

General diseases.

By Rush Shippen Huidekoper, M. D. , Vet. 475

Shoeing,

By William Dickson, V. S , . . 545

3

LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

Plate I. Digestive apparatus . 59

II. Bots 59

III. Intestinal worms 59

IV. Longitudinal section through kidney 88

V. Microscopic anatomy of kidney _ . . 88

VI. Microscopic anatomy of kidney 88

VII. Calculi and instrument for removal 88

VIII. Instruments used in difficult labor. 18o

IX. Normal presentations 185

X. Abnormal presentations 185

XI. Abnormal presentations 185

XII. Abnormal presentations 185

XIII. Abnormal presentations 185

XIV. Anterior presentations 185

XV. Position of the left lung 138

XVI. The nervous system 223

XVII. Interior of chest, showing jiosition of heart and diaphragm 253

XVIII. Circulatory apparatus 253

XIX. Theoretical section of the horse's ej-e 277

XX. Skeleton of the horse 368

XXI. Superficial layer of muscles 368

XXII. Splint 368

XXIII. Ring-bone 368

XXIV. Various types of spavin 368

XXV. Bone-spavin 368

XXVI. Bone-spavin 368

XXVII. Dislocation of shoulder and elbow, Bourgelafs apparatus 368

XXVIII. The sling in use . 368

XXIX. Anatomy of foot 432

XXX. Anatomy of foot 432

XXXI. Foundered feet 432

XXXII. Ring-bone and navicular disease 432

XXXIII. Quarter crack and remedies 432

XXXIV. Sound and contracted feet 432

XXXV. Diseases of the skin 459

XXXVI. Mites that infest the horse 459

XXXVII. General diseases. Inflamnuxtion 544

XXXVIII. General diseases. Inflammation 544

XXXIX. Glanders, nasal septum of horse, right side, showing acute lesions, 544

XXXX. Glanders, middle region of nasal septum, left side, showing ulcers. 544
XXXXI. Glanders, j^osterior half of nasal septum, right side, showing

cicatrices 544

XXXXII. Shoeing 557

XXXXIII. Shoeing 557

XXXXIV. Shoeing : 557

LETTER OE TRANSMITTAL

Sir: I have the honor to siil)mit herewith a report upon diseases of
the horse, whicli has been prepared with great care by a nnniber of the
most eminent members of the veterinary profession in the United
States. The production of a Avork of this character is a task of such
mag:nitude that it could not be undertaken by any one man with a
prospect of its early completion. It was deemed best, therefore, to
divide the subject into sections and to place the preparation of each
section in the hands of a veterinarian whose practical experience and
reputation Avould insure a valuable contribution. Bj^ adoj)ting this
plan the contents of the volume have been made ready for the printer
within a year from the time the work was begun, While, on account
of this method of preparation, there may not be quite the same uni-
formitj' of style and treatment which would be expected in a volume
written by a single author, it is hoped that this will not be found
objectionable, and the speedy completion and the co-operation of
authors Avho have given special attention to their subjects will prove
of great advantage.

The need of a work on the diseases of the horse, which could be dis-
tributed to farmers as a safe and scientific guide in the treatment of
this species of our domesticated animals, either when affected with
slight disorders or serious illness, has long been felt. This obvious
want has led to the preparation of the present volume, which is designed
as the first of a series to cover the diseases of all varieties of farm ani-
mals. The writer would not advise the farmer in ordinary circum-
stances to dispense with his veterinarian, any more than he would
advise him to treat the diseases of his own family, to manufacture his
own furniture, or to be his own blacksmith. There are, however,
only too many cases in which the veterinarian can not be i^rocured in
time f<n' success, if at all; and, consequently, the farmer who knows
or has the means of learning the nature of the disease and the proper
treatment will be able to save an animal when otherwise he would
lose one. It is common for intelligent people to laugh at the idea of
attempting to make every man his own doctor, his own veterinarian,
or his own carpenter, and in an ideal condition of society no doubt
this would be absurd. But under the conditions which actually obtain
on our farms, the farmer Avho can use tools, if but awkwardly, often
finds it extremely convenient to temx)orarily usurp the functions of

8 LETTEE OF TRANSMITTAL.

the carpenter; and he also finds that in many cases he must treat liis
ailing animals or allow them to suffer without treatment. Knowing
this to be the case, is it not far better for the stock-owner to have at
his command the advice of veterinarians eminent in their profession
than for him to follow the absurd, often barbarous methods of treat-
ment which have been handed down by tradition from the empiricism
and ignorance of long-past ages?

It is an extremely difficult matter to divest medical literature of
technical terms and expressions more or less incomprehensible to the
general reader. This has made scientific medicine a sealed book to
the masses of our people, and there is no subject of which they are
more ignorant. An attempt has been made in this work to present
the matter in as simple language as possible, and while some of the
authors have been more happy than others in this respect, it is be-
lieved that no great difficulty will be met with in any of the articles.

AVhile the subject has been treated in language of a more or less
popular style and the book is intended as a guide to the farmer, its
intrinsic scientific value should not be entirely lost sight of. In
many respects it is a notable contribution to existing knowledge, and
it will be prized by the veterinarian not less than by the farmer. No
doubt there are some defects in this first edition which the experience
of the future will enable us to remedy, but as a whole the book is one
which can not fail to be of immense service in educating horse-owners
and in hastening the adoption of humane and scientific treatment in
the disorders which afflict man's most patient and faithful servant.

The illustrations have been very carefully drawn by Mr. Haines,
the greater part of the subjects being selected by Dr. Cooper Curtice.
In cases where they have been copied due credit has been given on
the plates, but it should be stated here that Ave are indebted to
Dr. John S. Billings, of the Army Medical Museum, for the use of
the Auzoux models and a number of specimens of diseased feet from
which drawings were made.

Very respectfully, D. E. Salmon,

Chief of Bureau of An imal Induslrij.

Hon. J. M. Rusk,

Secretary of Agriculture.

SPECIAL REPORT

ox

DISEASES OF THE HORSE

METHODS OF ADMINISTERING MEDICINES.

By CH. B. MICHENER, V. S.,

Professor of Cattle Pathology and Obstetrics at the New York College of Veterinary
Surgeons, Inspector of the Bureau of Animal Industry, etc.

Medicine may enter tlie body through any of the following designated
channels: First, by the mouth; second, by the lungs and upper air-
passages; third, by the skin; fourth, under the skin (hypodermic
methods) ; fifth, by the rectum; and, sixth, by intra-venous injections.

(1) By the mouth. — Medicines can be given by the mouth in the
form of powders, balls, drenches, and electuaries.

Powders. — These should be as finely iDulverized as possible, in order
to secure a rapid solution and absorption. Their action is in this way
facilitated and intensified. Powders must be free from any irritant or
caustic action ux^on the mouth. Those that are without any disagree-
able taste or smell are readily eaten on the feed or taken in the drink-
ing water. When placed on the feed they should first be dissolved or
suspended in water and thus sjjrinkled on the feed. If mixed dry the
horse will often leave the medicine in the bottom of his manger.

Balls. — When jjroperly made these are cylindrical in shape, 2 inches
in length and about three-fourths of an inch in diameter. They should
be fresh, but, if necessary to keep them some time, they should be made
up with glycerin, or some such agent, to prevent them from becoming
too hard. Very old, hard balls are sometimes passed whole with the
manure, without being acted upon at all. Paper is to be wraj^ped
around balls when given ; it should be thin but firm ; toilet paper is the
best. Balls are preferred to drenches when the medicine is extremely
disagreeable or nauseating; when the dose is not too large; when the
horse is ugly to drench; when the medicine is intended to act slowly.
5961— HOR 1* 9

10

Certain medicines can not, or sliould not, be made into balls — medicines
reqnii'ing to be given in large doses, oils, caustic substances, unless
diluted and tlioroughh' mixed with the vehicle, deliquescent or efflores-
cent salts. Substances suitable for balls can be made up b}^ the
addition of honey, sirup, soap, etc., when required for immediate use.
Gelatin capsules of different sizes are now obtainalilo and are a con-
venient means of giving medicines in ball form.

Drenches are to be given when the medicine is liquid, when the dose
is large, and when we desire speedy action.

Electuaries are medicines mixed mostly with licorice-root powder,
molasses, or sirup to the consistency of honey, or a "soft-solid."
They are intended, chiefl}^ to act locally upon the mouth and throat.
They are given with a wooden paddle or strong long-handled spoon.

When balls are to be given we should observe the following direc-
tions : In shape they should be cylindrical, of the size above mentioned,
and soft enough to be easily compressed by the fingers. If made round
or egg-shaped, if too long or too hard, thej^ are liable to become fixed
in the gullet and cause choking. Balls may be given with the "ball-
ing gun " (obtainable at any veterinarj'- instrument maker's) or by the
hand. If given b}" the hand a mouth speculum or gag should l)e used
to prevent the animal from biting the hand or crushing the ball.
Always loosen the horse before attempting to give a ball ; if tied he
ma}^ break his halter and injure himself or the one giving the ball.
With a little ijractice it is much easier to give a ball without the
mouth-gag, as the liorse always fights more or less against having his
mouth forced o[)en. The tongue must be firmly grasped with the left
liand and gentl;)' luilled forward; the ball, slightly moistened, is then
to be placed with the tips of the fingers of the right hand as far back
into the mouth as i)ossi])le; as the tongue is loosened it is drawn back
into the mouth and carries the ball backward with it. The mouth
should be kept closed for a minute or two. We should always have a
l)ail of water at hand to offer the horse after balling. This precaution
will often prevent him from coughing out the ball or its becoming
lodged in the gullet.

It is very often impossible to get balls properly made or to induce
owners or attendants to attempt to give them, and for these reasons
medicines by the mouth are mostly given in the form of drenches.
When medicine is to be given as a drench Ave must be careful to use
enough water or oil to thoroughly dissolve or dilute it ; more than this
makes the drench bulky and is unnecessary. Insoluble medicines, if
not irritant or corrosive, maybe given simply suspended in water; the
bottle to T)e well shaken immediately before giving the drench. The
bottle used for drenching purposes should be clean, strong, and smooth
about its neck; it should be without shoulders, tapering, and of a size
to suit the amount to be given. A horn or tin bottle maybe better, in
that they arc not so easily broken by the teeth. If the dose is a small

11

one the liorse\s Lead luay be lield up by the left huiul ^vhile the medi-
cine is poured into the mouth by the right. The left thumb is to be
placed in the angle of the lower jaw, and the fingers spread out in
such a manner as to suj)port the lower lip. Sliould the dose be large,
the horse ugly, or the attendant unable to support the head as directed
above, the head is then to be held u]) by running the tines of a long-
handled wooden fork under the nose-band of the halter; the halter-
strap or a roi^e may be fastened to the nose-band and thrown over a
limb, beam, or through a pulley suspended from the ceiling. Another
way of supporting the head is to jilace a loop in the end of a roj^e, and
introduce this loop into the mouth just behind the upx)er front teeth
or tusli;s, the free end to be run through a pulley, as before described,
and lield by an assistant. It is never to be fastened, as the horse
might do himself serious injury if made fast. The head is to be ele-
vated just enough to prevent the horse from throwing the liquid out
of his mouth. The line of the face should be horizontal, or only the
least particle higher. If the head is drawn too high tlie animal can
not swallow with ease, or even with safetj". (If this is doubtful, just
fill your mouth with w'ater, throw back the head as far as possible,
and then trj^ to swallow.) The person giving the drench should stand
on some object in order to reach the horse's mouth, on a level, or a
little above it. The bottle or horn is then to be introduced at the side
of the mouth, in front of the molar teeth, in an upward direction.
This will cause the horse to open his mouth, when the base of the bot-
tle is to be suddenly elevated, and about 4 ounces of the liquid allowed
to escape on the tongue as far back as possible, care being used not to
get tlic neck of the bottle between the back teetli. The bottle is to be
immediately removed, and if the horse does not swallow this can be
encouraged by rubbing the fingers or neck of the bottle against the
roof of the mouth, occasionally removing them. As soon as this is
swallowed repeat the operation until he has taken all tlie drench. If
coughing occurs, or if, by any mishap, the bottle should be crushed
in the mouth, lower the head immediately.

Do not rub, pincli, or X)ound the throat, nor draw out the tongue
when giving a drench. These in no wa}^ aid the horse to swallow and
oftener do harm.

Drenches must never he (jlcen through the )wse: they are liable to
strangle the animal, or, if the medicine is irritating, it sets np an inflam-
mation of the nose, fauces, windpipe, and sometimes the lungs. Cattle
are easily drenched by simply holding them by the nose with the left
hand, while the medicine is j)oured into the niouth with the right.
Balls are not to be given to cattle; they often become imbedded in the
great mass of food in the stomach and act tardily or not at all.

(2) Medicines are administered to the lungs and upjjer air passages
by insuiflation, inlialation, and nasal douche. Insufflation, consists of
blowing an impalpable powder directly into the nose. It is but rarely

12

resorted to. Gaseous and volatile medicines are given by inhalation,
as is also medicated steam or vapor. Of the gases used we may men-
tion, as the chief ones, sulphurous acid gas, and occasionally chlorine.
The animal or animals are to be placed in a tight building, where these
gases are generated, until the atmosphere is sufficiently impregnated
with them. Volatile medicines, as the anaesthetics (ether, chloro-
form, etc.), are only to be given by the attending surgeon. Medicated
vapors are to be inhaled by placing a bucket containing hot water,
vinegar and water, scalded hay or bran, to which carbolic acid, iodine,
or other medicines have been added, in the bottom of a long grain bag.
The horse's nose is to be inserted into the top of the bag, and he thus
inhales the " medicated steam." Care must be taken not to have this
hot enough to scald the animal. Scalding bran or hay is often thus
inhaled to favor discharges in sore throat or "distemper."

The nasal douclie is employed by the veterinarian in treating some
local diseases of the nasal chambers. Special appliances and profes-
sional knowledge are necessary Avhen using liquid medicines by this
method. It is not often resorted to, even by veterinary surgeons, since
the horse, as a rule, objects very strongly to this mode of medication.

(3) By the Skin. — Medicines are often administered to our hair-
covered animals by the skin, yet care must be taken in applying some
medicines, as tobacco- water, carbolic acid solutions, etc. , over the entire
body, as poisoning and death follow in some instances from absorption
through the skin. AVe must also exercise care, and not apply poisonous
medicines over very large raw or abraded surfaces, for the same rea-
sons. For domestic animals medicines are only to be applied by the
skin for local i)i^rposes or diseases, as laudanum, chloroform liniment,
etc. , for neuralgia.

(4) Under the Skin — Hypodermic Method. — Medicines are fre-
quently given by the hj^podermic sjainge, under the skin. It will not
be safe for any but medical or veterinary practitioners to use this form
of medication, since the medicines thus given are powerful poisons.
There are many jH'ecautions to be observed ; a knowledge of anatomy
is indisi^ensable.

(5) By the Rectum. — Medicines may be given by the rectum when
we can not give or retain them by the mouth ; when we want a local
action on the last gut; to destroy the small worms infesting the large
bowels; to stimulate the peristaltic motion of the intestines and cause
evacuation ; and to nourish the bodj^ Medicines are here given in the
form of suppositories, or as liquid injections — enemas.

Suppositories are conical bodies made up of oil of theobroma and
opium (or whatever medicine is indicated in special cases), and are
introduced into the rectum or vagina to allay irritation and pain of
these X)arts. Thej are not mucli used in A'eterinary practice.

Enemas, when given for absorption, should be small in quantity,
neutral or slightly acid in reaction, and of a temperature of from 90°

13

to 100° F. These, like foods given by the rectum, should only be
introduced after the last bowel has been emptied by the hand, or by
copious enemas of tepid water. Enemas or clj'sters are mostly given
to aid the action of physics, and should then be in quantities sufficient
to distend the bowel and cause the animal to eject them. Simple
water, salt and water, or soap and water, in quantities of a gallon or
more, may be given every half hour. It is best that the horse retain
them for some little time, as the liquid serves to moisten the dung and
favor a passage. Stimxilcding enemas (turpentine 2 ounces, in linseed
oil 6 ounces) should be administered after those already mentioned
have emptied the last bowel, with the purpose of still further increas-
ing the natural worm-like movement of the intestines and aiding the
purging medicine.

Liquids may be thrown into the rectum by the means of a large syr-
inge, or diiferent kinds of complicated pumjis. A very good "injec-
tion pipe " can be made \)y any tinsmith at a trifling cost, and should
be constantly on hand at every stock-farm. It consists of a funnel,
about G inches deej) and 7 inches in diameter, which is to be furnished
with a pipe-like prolongation, placed at right angles to it, from 14 to 16
inches in length, and carefully rounded and soldered at the ends. This
pipe must hQ perfectly smooth, in order to x)reventinjurj^ to the rectum.
Introduce this pipe to its full extent, after thoroughly oiling it, and pour
the liquid into the funnel rapidly. The pressure of the atmosphere
will force the liquid into the bowels. For all ordinary purposes this
instrument is quite as good as the more complicated and expensive
ones.

Ordinary cold water, or even ice-cold water, is highly recommended
by many as a rectal injection for horses overcome by the excessive heat
of summer, and may be given by this simple pipe.

(6) Intra- Venous Injections. — Injections directly into veins are
to be practiced by medical or veterinary i)ractitioners only, as are
Ijrobably some other means of giving medicines — intra-trachael injec-
tions, etc.

DISEASES OF THE. I)I(;ESTIVE ORGANS.

By CH. B. MICHENER, V. S.,

Professor of Cattle Pathology and Obstetrics at the Neir York College of Veferinarjj
Suyyeons, Inspector Bureau of Animal Industry, etc.

It will not. prove an easy task to write "a jjlaiu account of tlie com-
mon diseases, with directions for preventive measures, hygienic care,
and the simpler forms of medical treatment" of the digestive organs
of the liorse. This study includes a careful consideration of the food
and drink of our animals, their quality, quantity, analyses, etc.
This, of itself, is material for a book. Being limited as to simce, one
must endeavor to give simply an outline; to state the mostimijortant
facts, leaving many gaps, and continually checking the disposition to
write anything like a full description as to cause, prevention, and
modes of treatment of disease.

These article are addressed entirely' to farmers and stock-owners,
and I must ask my professional brethren to bear this in mind, when
disposed to complain of a want of scientific treatment of the subjects.

Water. — It is generally held, at least in practice, that any water that
stock can be induced to drink is sufficiently pure for their use. This
practice occasions losses that would startle us if statistics were at
hand. Water that is impure from the presence of decomposing organic
matter, such as is found in wells and ponds in close proximity to
manure heaps and cess-j)ools, is frequently the cause of diarrhea, dys-
enter}-, and many other diseases of stock, while water that is impreg-
nated with different poisons, and contaminated with specific media of
contagion, j^roduces death in very many instances.

Considering first the quant it}' of water required by the horse, it may
be stated that when our animals have access to water continually they
never drink to excess. Were the horse subjected to ship-voyages, or
ain^ other circumstances where he must depend upon his attendant for
the supply of water, it maybe roughly stated that each horse requires
a daily average of about 8 gallons of water. This will vary soraeAvhat
upon the character of his food; if upon green food, less water will be
needed than when fed upon dry hay and grain.

15

16

The time of giving water sliould be carefully studied. At rest, the
horse should receive water at least three times a day; wiien at work,
more frequently. The rule here should be to give in small quantities
and often. There is a popular fallacy that if a horse is w^arm he
should not be allowed to drink, many claiming that the first swalloAv
of water ' ' founders " the animal, or j^roduces colic. This is erroneous.
No matter how warm ahorse maybe, it is always entirely safe to allow
him from six to ten swallows of water. If this is given on going into
the stable, he should be given at once a pound or tAvo of haj' and
allowed to rest about an hour before feeding. If water be now offered
him it will in many cases be refused, or at least he will drink but spar-
ingly. The danger, then, is not in the "first swallow" of water, but
is due to the excessive quantity that the animal will take when warm
if not restrained.

"Water should never be given to horses when it is ice-cold. It may
not be necessary to add hot water, but we should be careful in placing
water-troughs about our barns to have them in such position that the
sun may shine ujion the water during the winter mornings. 'VV'ater,
even though it be thus cold, seldom i^roduces serious trouble if the
horse has not been deprived for a too great length of time.

In reference to the purify of water Smith, in his "Veterinary Hy-
giene," classes spring, deep-well water, and uj^land surface-water as
wliolesomie; stored rain-water and surface-water from cultivated land
as suspicious; river water to which sewage gains access and shallow-
well water as dangerous. The water that is used for drinking jjurposes
for stock so largel}^ throughout some States can not but be impure. I
refer to those sections where there is an impervious clay subsoil. It
is the custom to scoop or hollow out a large basin in the different pas-
tures. During rains these basins become filled with water. The clay
subsoil being almost impervious acts as a jug, and there is no escape
for the water except by evaporation. Such water is stagnant, but
would be kept comparatively fresh by subsequent rains were it not for
the fact that much organic matter is carried into these ponds by sur-
face drainage during each succeeding storm. This organic matter
soon undergoes decomposition, and as the result we find diseases of
different kinds much more prevalent where this water is drunk than
where the water-supply is wholesome. Again, it must not be lost sight
of that stagnant surface-water is much more certainly contaminated
than is running water by one diseased animal of the herd, thus
endangering the remainder.

The chief impurities of water may be classed as organic and ijior-
ganic. The organic imi)urities are either animal or vegetable sub-
stances. The salts of the metals are the inorganic impurities. Lime
causes hardness of water, and occasion will be taken to speak of this
when describing intestinal concretions. Salts of lead, iron, and copper
are also frequently found in water, and will be referred to hereafter.

17

About the only examination of water that can be made by the aver-
age stock-raiser is to observe its taste, color, smell, and clearness.
Pure water is clear and is without taste or smell. It should jjossess a
slight bluish tint.

Chemical and microscopic examination will frequently be necessary
in order to detect the presence of certain i)oisons, bacteria, etc., and
can of course only be conducted by experts.

Foods and feeding. — In this place one can jiot attempt anything
like a comjirehensive discussion of the subject, and I must content
myself with merely giving a few facts as to the different kinds of food,
preparation, digestibility, proper time of feeding, quality, and quan-
tity. Improi^er feeding and watering will doubtless account for over
one-half of the digestive disorders met with in the horse, and hence
the reader can not fail to see how very important it is to have some
proper ideas concerning these subjects.

Kinds of food. — In this country horses are fed chiefly upon hay,
grass, roots, oats, corn, wheat, and rye. Many think that they could
be fed on nothing else. Stewart, in "The Stable Book," gives the
following extract from Loudon's Encj^clopedia of Agriculture, which
is of interest at this point:

In some sterile countries they (liorses) are forced to subsist on dried fish, and
even on vegetable mold; in Arabia, on milk, flesh-balls, eggs, broth. In India
horses are variously fed. The native grasses are judged very nutritious. Few,
perhaps no oats are grown; barley is rare, and not commonly given to horses. In
Bengal a vetch, something like the tare, is used. On the western side of India a
sort of pigeon-i^ea, called gram {Cicer arietinum) forms the ordinary food, with
grass while in season, and hay all the year round. Indian corn or rice is seldom
given. In the West Indies maize, gtiinea corn, sugar corn tops, and sometimes
molasses, are given. In the Mahratta country salt, i^epper, and other spices are
made into balls, with flour and butter, and these are supposed to produce anima-
tion and to fine the coat. Broth made from sheep's head is sometimes given. In
France. Spain, and Italy, besides the grasses, the leaves of limes, vines, the tops
of acacia, and the seeds of the carob-tree are given to horses.

For information as to the nutritive value, chemistry, and classifica-
tion of the different kinds of food, I will refer the reader again to
Smith's Veterinary Hygiene.

We can not, however, leave aside entirely here a consideration of
the digestibility of foods; and by this we mean the readiness with
which foods undergo those changes in the digestive canal that fit them
for absorption and deposition as integral parts of the animal economy.

The age and health of the animal will, of course, modify tlie diges-
tibility of foods, as will also the manner and time of harvesting, pre-
serving, and preparing the foods.

In the horse digestion takes place principally in the intestines, and
here, as in all other animals and with all foods, we find that a certain
part only of the provender is digested; another portion is indigested.
This proportion of digested and indigested food must claim passing

18

notice at least, for if tlie horse receives too much food a hirge i^ortion
of digestible food must pass out unacted ui^on, entailing not only the
loss of this unused food, but also calling for an unnecessarj'^ expendi-
ture of Adtal force on the i)art of the digestive organs of the horse. It
is thus that, in fact, too much food may make an animal poor.

In selecting food for the horse we should remember the anatomical
arrangement of the digestive organs, as well as the physiological func-
tions performed by each organ. Foods must be wholesome, clean, and
sweet; the hours of feeding regular; the mode of preparation found
by practical experience to be the best must be adhered to, and clean-
liness in preparation and administration must be observed.

The length of time occupied by stomach digestion in the horse varies
with the different foods. Hay and straw jjass out of the stomach more
rapidly than oats. It would seem to follow, then, that oats should be
given after hay, for if reversed the hay would cause the oats to be sent
onward into the intestines before being full}- acted u^jon by the stom-
ach, and as a result produce indigestion. Experience confirms this.
There is another good reason why hay should be given first, particu-
larly if the horse is very hungry or if exhausted from overwork,
namely, it requires more time in mastication (insuring proper admix-
ture of saliva) and can not be bolted as are the grains. In either
instance Avater must not be given soon after feeding, as it waslies or
sluices the food from the stomach before it is fitted for intestinal
digestion.

The stomach begins to enii:>ty itself very soon after the commence-
ment of feeding, and continues rapidly while eating. Afterwards the
passage is slower, and several hours are required before the stomach
is entirely emjjty. The natui-e of the work required of the horse must
guide us in the selection of his food. Rapid or severe labor can not
be performed on a full stomach. For such horses food must be given
in small quantitj- and fed to them about two hours before going to their
work. Even liorses intended for slow work must never l)e engorged
with bulky, innutritions food immediately before going to labor. The
small stomach of the horse would seem to lead us to the conclusion
that this animal should be fed in small quantities and often, which, in
reality, should be done. The disproportion between the size of the
stomach and the amount of water drank tells us plainly that the liorse
should always be watered before feeding. One of the common errors
of feeding, and the one that x^i'oduces more digestive disorders than
any other, is to feed too soon after a hard daifs worlc. This must never
be done. If a liorse is completely jaded it will be found beneficial to
give him an alcoholic stimulant on going into the stable. A small
quantity of hay may then be given, but his grain should be withheld
for one or two hours. These same remarks will apply with equal force
to the horse that for any reason has been fasting for a long time. After
a fast feed less than the horse would eat; for if allowed too much the

stomach becomes engorged, its walls paralyzed, and ''colic" is almost
sure to follow. The horse should be fed three or four times a day ; nor
will it answer to feed liim entirely ui)on concentrated food. Bulky
food must be given to detain the grains in their passage through the
intestinal tract; bulk also favors distention, and thus mechanically
aids absorption. To horses that do slow work for the greater part of
the time, chopped or cut hay fed with crushed oats, ground corn, etc.,
is the best manner of feeding, as it gives the required bulk, saves time,
and half the labor of feeding.

Sudden changes of diet are always dangerous. — "When desirous of
changing the food, do so ver}'^ gradually. If a horse is accustomed to
oats a sudden change to a full meal of corn will almost always sicken
him. If we merel}' intend to increase the cjuantity of the usual feed,
this again must be done gradually. The quantity of food given must
always be in proportion to the amount of labor to be performed. If a
horse is to do less work, or rest entirely from work for a few days, see
that he receives less feed. If this was observed even on Saturday night
and Sunday there would be fewer cases of " Monday morning sickness,"
such as colics and lymphangitis. Foods should also be of a more laxa-
tive nature w' hen the horse is to stand for some days. Above all things
we should avoid feeding musty or moldy foods. These are very fre-
quent causes of disease of different kinds. Lung trouble, as bron-
chitis and "heaves," often follows the use of such food. The digest-
ive organs always suffer from moldy or musty foods. Musty hay is
generally considered to i)roduce disorder of the kidneys; and all know
of the danger to pregnant animals from feeding upon ergotized grasses
or grains.

Leaving these somewhat general considerations, I will refer briefly
to the different kinds of foods :

Haij. — The best hay for horses is timothy. It should be about one
year old, of a greenish color, crisp, clean, fresh, andpo-ssessinga sweet,
pleasant aroma. Even this good hay, if kept for too great a length of
time, loses part of its nourishment, and while it VL\B,y not be positively
injurious, it is hard, dry, and indigestible. New hay is difficult to
digest, i^roduces much salivation (slobbering) and occasionally purg-
ing and irritation of the skin. If fed at all it should be mixed with
old hay.

Second crop or afiennalh. — This is not considered good hay for
horses, but it is prized by some farmers as a good food for milch cows,
they claiming that it increases the flow of milk. The value of hay
depends upon the time of cutting, as well as care in curing. Hay
should be cut when in full flower, but before the seeds fall; if left
longer, it becomes dry and woody and lacks in nutrition. An essential
point in making hay is that when the crop is cut it should remain as
short a time as iwssible in the field. If left too long in the sun it loses
color, flavor, and dries or wastes. Smith asserts that one hour more

20

than is necessary in the sun causes a hjss of 15 to 20 per cent in the
feeding value of hay. It is impossible to state any fixed time that hay
must have to cure, this depending, of course, upon tlie weather, thick-
ness of the crop, and many other circumstances ; but it is well known
that in order to preserve the color and aroma of hay it should be turned
or tedded frequent!}" and cured as quiclx'hj os possible. On the other
hand, hay spoils in the mow if harvested too green or when not suffi-
ciently dried. Mow-burnt hay produces disorders of the kidneys and
bowels and causes the horse to fall off in condition. Musty or moldy
hay has often been said to produce that peculiar disease known variously
as cerebro-spinal meningitis, putrid sore throat, or choking distemper.

The average horse, getting grain, should be allowed from 10 to 12
pounds of good hay a day. It is a mistake of manj^ to think that horses
at light work can be kept entirely on hay. Such horses soon become
pot-bellied, fall off in flesh, and do not thrive. The same is true of
colts; unless the latter are fed with some grain they grow up to be
long, lean, gawky creatures, and never make as good horses as those
accustomed to grain, with or in addition to their hay.

Sfraiv. — The straws are not extensively fed in this country, and when
used at all they should be cut and mixed with hay and ground or
crushed grain. Wheat, rye, and oats straw are the ones most used,
and of these oats straw is most easily digested and contains the most
nourishment. Pea and bean straw are occasionally fed to horses, the
pea being preferable according to most writers.

Chaff. — Wheat and rye chaff should never be used as a food for
horses. The beards frequently become lodged in the mouth or throat
and are productive of more or less serious trouble. In the stomach
and intestines they often serve as the nucleus of the "soft concre-
tions " which are to be described when treating of obstructions of the
digestive tract.

Oat chaff, if fed in small quantities and mixed with cut hay or corn-
fodder, is very much relished by horses. It is not to be given in large
quantities, as I have repeatedlj^ witnessed a troublesome and some-
times fatal diarrhea to follow the practice of ^dlowing horses or cattle
free access to a pile of oat chaff.

Grains. — Oats take precedence of all grains as a food for horses, as
the ingredients necessary for the complete nutrition of the body exist
in them in the best i)roportions. Oats are besides more easily digested
and a larger proportion absorbed and converted into the various tis-
sues of the body. Care must be taken in selecting oats. According
to Stewart the best oats are one year old, x^li^mp, short, hard, clean,
bright, and sweet. New oats are indigestible. Kiln-dried oats are to
be refused as a rule, for even though originallj^ good this drjdng i^roc-
ess injures them. Oats that have si^routed or fermented are injurious
and should never be fed. Oats are to be given either whole or
crushed ; whole in the majority of instances, crushed to old horses

21

and those having defective teeth. Horses, also, that "bolt their feed
are best fed upon crushed oats and out of a manger large enough to
permit of s^jreading the grain in a thin layer.

The average horse requires, in addition to the allowance of hay
above spoken of, about 12 quarts of good oats daily. The best oats are
those cut about one week before being fully rijie. Not only is the
grain richer at this time in nutritive materials, but there is also less
waste from ' ' scattering " than if left to become dead ripe. Moldy oats,
like hay and straw, not only xn'oduce serious digestive disorders, but
have been the undoubted cause of outbreaks of that dread disease in
horses, already referred to, characterized by inability to eat or drink,
sudden paralysis, and death.

Wheat and rye. — These grains are not to be used as food for horses
except in small quantities, bruised or crushed, and fed mixed with
other grains or haj'. If fed alone, in any considerable quantities, they
are almost certain to produce digestive disorders, laminitis (founder),
and similar troubles. They should never constitute more than one-
fourth of the grain allowance, and should always be ground or crushed.

Bran. — The bran of wheat is the one most used, and its value as a
feeding stuff is A'ariouslj^ estimated. It is not to be dei^ended upon if
given alone, but may be fed with other grains. It serves to keep the
bowels ox)en. Sour bran is not to be given. It disorders the stomach
and intestines and may even produce serious results.

Maize — Corn. — This grain is not suitable as an exclusive food for
young horses, as it is deficient in salts. It is fed whole or ground.
Corn on the cob is commonly used as the food for horses affected with
" lami^as." If the corn is old and is to be fed in this manner it should
be soaked in pure, clean water for ten or twelve hours. Corn is better
given ground, and fed in quantities of from 1 to 2 quarts at a meal
mixed with crushed oats or wheat bran. We must be very particular
in giving corn to a horse that is not accustomed to its use. It must
be commenced in small quantities and verj^ gradually increased. I
know of no grain more likely to produce what is called acute indiges-
tion than corn if these directions are not observed.

Linseed. — Ground linseed is occasionally fed with other foods to
keep the bowels open and to improve the condition of the skin. It is
of i3articular service during convalescence, when the bowels are slug-
gish in their action. Linseed tea is very often given in irritable or
inflamed conditions of the digestive organs.

Boots — Botatoes. — These are used as an article of food for the horse
in many sections. If fed raw and in large quantities they often pro-
duce indigestion. Their digestibility is favored by steaming or boiling.
They possess, in common with other roots, slight laxative properties.

Beets. — These are not much used as food for horses.

Carrots. — These make a most excellent food, particularly during
sickness. They improve the appetite and slightly increase the action

22

of tlie bowels and kidneys. They i)ossess also certain alterative
properties. The coat becomes smooth and glossy Avhen carrots are
fed. Some veterinary writers claim that chronic congh is cured by
giving carrots for some time. The roots may be considered then as an
adjunct to the ]'egular regime, and if fed in small (iuan titles are
highly beneficial.

Grasses. — Grass is the natural food of horses. It is composed of a
great variety of plants, differing widely as to the amount of nourish-
ment contained, some being almost entirely without value as foods
and only eaten when there is nothing elseo btainable; others are posi-
tively injurious or even poisonous. None of the grasses are sufficient
to keep the horse in condition for work. Horses thus fed are "soft,"
sweat easily, purge, and soon tire on the road or when at hard work.
To growing stock grass is indispensable, and there is little or no doubt
but that it acts as an alterative when given to horses accustomed to
grain and hay. It must be given to such subjects in small quantities
at first. The stomach and intestines undergo rest and recuperate if
the horse is turned to grass for a time each year. It is also certain
that during febrile diseases grass acts almost as a medicine, lessening
the fever and favoring recovery; wounds heal more rapidly than
when the horse is on grain, and some chronic disorders (chronic cough
for instance) disappear entirely when at grass. In my experience
grass does more good when the horse crops it himself. This may be
due to the sense of freedom he enjoys at pasture, to the rest to his
feet and limbs, and for many similar reasons. When cut for him it
should be fed fresh or when but slightly wilted.

PREPARATION OF FOODS.

Foods are prepared for feeding for any of the following reasons: To
render the food more easily eaten; to make it more digestible; to
economize in amount; to give it some new property, and to preserve
it. We have already spoken of the preparation of dr^ang, and need
not revert to this again, as it only serves to preserve the different
foods. Drying does, however, change some of the properties of food,
i. e., removes the laxative tendency of most of them.

The different grains are more easily eaten when ground, crushed, or
even boiled. Rye or wheat should never be given whole, and even of
corn it is found that there is less waste when ground, and, in common
with all grains, it is more easily digested than when fed whole.

Hay and fodder are economized when cut in short pieces. Not only
will the horse eat the necessary amount in a shorter time, but it will be
found that tiicre is less waste, and the mastication of the grains (whole
or crushed) fed with them is insured.

Reference has already been made to those horses that bolt their
food, and we need only remark here that the consequences of such
ravenous eating may be prevented if the grains ai-e fed with cut hay,

23

straw, or fodder. Long or uncut haj should also be fed, even though
a certain amount of hay or straw is cut and fed mixed with grain.

One objection to feeding cut ha}^ mixed with ground or crushed
grains, and wetted, must not be overlooked during the hot months.
Such food is apt to undergo fermentation if not fed directly after it is
mixed, and the mixing-trough even, vinless frequently scalded and
cleaned, becomes sour and enough of its scrapings are given with the
food to produce flatulent (wind) colic. A small amount of salt should
always be mixed with such food.

Bad hay should never be cut simply because it insures a greater con-
sumption of it; bad foods are dear at any price and should never be
fed. We have before spoken of the advantage of boiling roots. Not
only does this render them less liable to produce digestive disorders,
but it also makes them clean. Boiling or steaming grains is to be
recommended when the teeth are poor, or when the digestive organs
are weak. Of ensilage as a food for horses I have no experience, but
am inclined to think that (and tliis opinion is based upon the imper-
fect manner in which the crop is often stored) disordered digestion
would be more frequent were it extensively fed.

DISEASES OF THE TEETH.

Dentition. — This covers the period during which the J'oung horse is
cutting his teeth, from birth to the age of five years. With the horse
more difliculty is experienced in cutting the second or permanent teeth
than with the first or milk teeth. There is a tendency among farmers
and many veterinarians to pay too little attention to the teeth of young
horses. Percivall relates an instance illustrative of this, that is best
told in his own words:

I was requested to give my opinion concerning a horse, then in his fifth year,
who had fed so sparingly for the last fortnight, and so rapidlj- declined in condi-
tion in consequence, that his owner, a veterinary surgeon, was under no light
apprehensions about his life. He had himself examined his mouth, \A-ithout hav-
ing discovered any defect or disease; thougli another veterinary surgeon was of
opinion that the difficulty or inability manifested in mastication, and the conse-
quent cudding, arose from preternatural bluntness of the surfaces of the molar
teeth, which were, in consequence filed, but without beneficial result. It was
after this that I saw the horse; and I confess I was, at mj first examination, qiTite
as much at a loss to offer any satisfactory interpretation as others had been.
While meditating, however, after my insi)ection, on the apparently extraordinarj-
nature of the case, it struck me that I had not seen the tusks. I went back into
the stable and discovered two little tumors, red and hard, in the situation of the
inferior tusks, which, when pressed, gave the animal insufferable pain. I instantly
took out my pocket-knife and made crucial incisions through them both, down to
the coming teeth, from which moment the horse recovered his appetite and by
degrees his wonted condition.

The mouths of young horses should also bo frequently examined
to see if one or more of the milk teeth are not remaining too long,

24

causing the second teeth to grow in crooked, in which case the first
teeth should be removed by the forceps.

Irregidarities of teeth. — There is quite a fashion of late years, espe-
cially in large cities, to have horses' teeth regularly "floated" or
"rasped" by "veterinary dentists." In some instances this is very
beneficial, while in most cases it is entirel}^ unnecessar3\ From the
character of the food, the rubbing or grinding surface of the horse's
teeth should be rough. Still we must remember that the upper jaw
is somewhat wider than the lower, and that from the fact of the teeth
not being i^erf ectly apposed, a sharp ridge is left unworn on the inside
of the lower molars and on the outside of the upper, which may exco-
riate the tongue or lips to a considerable extent. This condition can
readil}^ be felt by the hand, and these sharp ridges when found should
be rasped down by a guarded rasp. Anyone can do this without the
aid of the veterinarian. In some instances the first or last molar tooth
is unnaturally long, owing to the absence of its fellow on the opposite
jaw. Should it be the last molar that is thus elongated it will require
the aid of the veterinary surgeon, who has the necessary forceps or
chisel for cutting it. The front molar maj" be rasped down, if much
patience is taken. In decay of the teeth it is quite common to find
the tooth corresponding to the decayed one on the opposite jaw very
much elongated, sometimes to that extent that the mouth can not be
perfectly closed. Such teeth must also be shortened by the bone for-
ceps, chisel, bone-saw, or rasp. In all instances where horses "quid"
their food, where they are slobbering, or where they evince pain in
mastication, shown by holding their head to one side while chewing,
the teeth should be carefully examined. If, as is mostly the case, all
these symptoms are referable to sharp corners or projections of the
teeth, these must be removed by the rasp. If decayed teeth are found,
or other serious difficulty detected, an expert should be called.

Toothache. — This is rare in the horse, and is mostly witnessed where
there is decay of a tooth. I have observed it only in the molar teeth.
Toothache is to be discovered in the horse by the i^ain expressed by
him while feeding or drinking cold water. I have seen horses affected
with toothache that would suddenly stop chewing, throw the head to
one side, and slightly open the mouth. They behave as though some
sharp body had punctured the mouth. If upon examination there is
no foreign body found we must then carefully examine each tooth.
If this can not be done with the hand in the mouth we can, in most
instances, discover the aching tooth bj^ pressing each tooth from with-
out. The horse will flinch when the sore tooth is pressed upon. In
most cases there is nothing to be done but the extraction of the
decayed tooth, and this, of course, is only to be attempted by the
veterinarian.

There is a (leforinitij, known as parrot-mouth, that interferes with
prehension, mastication, and, indirectly, with digestion. The upper

25

incisors project in front of and beyond the lower ones. Tlie teeth of
both jaws become nnusually long, as they are not worn down by fric-
tion. Such horses exi^erience much difficulty in grazing. Little can
be done exceiDt to occasionally examine the teeth, and if those of the
lower jaw become so long that they bruise the "bars" of the upper
jaw, they must be shortened by the rasj) or saw. Horses with this
deformity should never bo left entirel}' at pasture.

DISEASES OF THE MOUTH.

Ldinpas is the name given to a swelling of the mucous membrane
covering the hard palate and projecting in a more or less XDrominent
ridge immediately behind the upper incisors. There is no doubt but
that in some rare instances, and i^articularly while teething, there is a
congestion and swelling of this part of the roof of the mouth which
may interfere with feeding. In one instance in my practice I found the
swelling so extensive that the mucous membrane was caught between
the front teeth when the horse attempted to eat. Should this exist the
swollen parts are to scarified, being careful not to cut deeply into the
structures. An astringent wash of alum water may also be beneficial.
Burning of the lampas is cruel and unnecessary, and should never be
permitted, as it often causes serious results to follow.

It is quite a common ojiinion among owners of horses and stablemen
that lampas is a disease that very frequentlj' exists. In fact whenever
a horse fails to eat, and if he does not exhibit very marked symptoms
of a severe illness, they say at once "he has the lampas." It is almost
impossible to convince them to the contrary, yet in a practice extend-
ing over fifteen j^ears I have never seen but two or three cases of what
is called lampas that gave rise to the least trouble or that called for
any treatment whatever. It may be put down, then, as more a disease
of the stableman's imagination than of the horse's mouth.

Sfomatitis. — This is an inflammation of the mucous membrane lining
the mouth and is produced by irritating medicines, foods, or other sub-
stances. In cities it frequently follows from eating out of ash-barrels.
The symptoms are swelling of the mouth, which is also hot and pain-
ful to the touch; there is a coj)ious discharge of saliva; the mucous
membrane is reddened, and in some cases there are observed vesicles
or ulcers in the mouth. Tlie treatment is simple, soft feed alone often
being all that is necessary. In some instances it may be advisable to
use a wash of chlorate of potash, borax, or alum, about one-half ounce
to a pint of water. Ilaj', sti-aw, or oats should not be fed unless
steamed or boiled.

Glossitis, or inflammation of the tongue, is very similar to the above,
and mostly exists Avith it and is due to the same causes. Injuries to
the tongue may produce this simple inflammation of its covering mem-
brane, or, if severe, may produce lesions much more extensive, such
as lacerations, abscesses, etc. These latter would require surgical

26

treatment, btit for the simpler forms ol inflammation of the tongue
the ti'eatmeut recommended for stomatitis should be followed.

PtyaUsiii or salivation consists in an abnormal and excessive secre-
tion of saliva. This is often seen as a sj'-mptom of irregular teeth, in-
flammation of the mouth or tongue, or of the use of such medicines as
lobelia, mercu ry , and many others. Some foods produce this, as clover,
and particularly second crop ; foreign bodies, as nails, Avheat-chaff , and
corn-cobs becoming lodged in the mouth. If the cause is removed,
as a rule no further attention is necessary. Astringent washes may
be applied to the mouth as a gargle or by means of a sponge.

Pharyngitis is an inflammation of the mucous membrane lining of
the pharynx (back part of the mouth). It rarely exists unless accom-
panied by stomatitis, glossitis, or laryngitis. In those instances where
the inflammation is mostlj^ confined to the pharynx we notice febrile
S3'mptoms — difficulty of swallowing either liquids or solids; there is
but little cough except when trying to swallow; there is no soreness
on i^ressure over larynx (large ring of the windpipe). Increased flow
of saliva, difficulty of swallowing liquids in particular, and cough
only when attempting to swallow, are the symptoms best marked in
pharjmgitis. For treatment, chlorate of potash in half-ounce doses
three or four times a day is the best. This may be given suspended
in warm water as a gargle, or may be mixed with licorice-root jjowder
and honey and given with a strong spoon or w^ooden paddle. Borax or
alum water maybe substituted for chlorate of potash in the same-sized
doses. Soft food should be given, but I have seen some cases where
the animal would eat corn from the cob better than anj'thing else.

Paralysis of the ^^liarijnx, or, as it is commonly called, "x^aralj'sis
of the throat," is one of the most stubborn diseases of the horse that
we are ever called to treat. A horse is suddenly noticed to be unable
to eat, and his manger is found to contain much saliva and frothy
food that has been returned through his nose. The sympfoms which
enable us to tell that paralysis of the pharynx exists are as follows:
The owner says he has a horse that "can't eat." That is all he knows.
We find the animal with a somewhat anxious countenance; manger, as
above described; pulse, respiration, and temperature, at first, about
the same as in health ; tlie horse will constantly try to eat or drink,
but is unable to do so ; if water be offered him from a pail he will
apparently drink with avidity, but, if we notice, the quantity of
water in the pail remains about the same; he will continue trying to
drink by the hour; if he can succeed in getting ixny fluid into the
back part of the mouth it comes out at once through the nose. Foods
also return through the nose, or are dropped from the mouth, quidded.
An examination of the mouth by inserting the hand fails to find any
obstruction or any abnormal condition, except, perhaps, that the
parts are too flabby to the touch. These cases go on from bad to
worse; the horse constantly and rapidlj^ loses in condition, becomes

27

very much emaciated, the eyes are llollo^^' and lustreless, and death
soon occurs from inanition.

Treatment is very unsatisfactory. Severe blisters should he applied
behind and under the jaw; the mouth is to be frequently swabbed
out with alum or chlorate of potash, 1 ounce to a pint of water, by
means of a sponge fastened to the end of a stick. Strychnia is the
best agent to be used to overcome this paralysis, and should be given
in 1-grain doses three or four times a day. If the services of a veter-
inarian can be obtained he should give this medicine by means of a
h3'i)odermic s\ringe, injecting it deeply into the pharynx. In my
experience the blister externally, the freciuent swabbing of the mouth,
as above described, and the use of a nerve stimulant are all that can
be done. This disease may be mistaken at times for foreign bodies in
the mouth or for the so-called cerebro-spinal meningitis. It is to be
distinguished from the former by a careful examination of the mouth,
the absence of any offending body, and by the flabby feel of the
mouth ; from the latter by the animal appearing in perfect health in
every i)articular except this inability to eat or drink.

Abscesses sometimes form in the pharynx and give rise to symptoms
resembling those of laryngitis or distemper. Interference with breath-
ing, that is of recent origin, and i^rogression, without any observable
swelling or soreness about the throat, will make us suspect the for-
mation of an abscess in this location. But little can be done in the
waj^ of treatment, save to hurry the ripening of the abscess and its
discharge, by steaming with hops, hay, or similar substances. If
the abscess can be felt through the mouth it must be opened by the
attending veterinary surgeon.

DISEASES OF THE CESOPHAGUS OR GULLET.

It is rare to lind disease of this organ, except as a result of the in-
troduction of foreign bodies too large to pass, or the exhibition of
irritating medicines. Great care should be taken in the administra-
tion of irritant or caustic medicines that they be thoroughly diluted.
If this is not done erosions and ulcerations of the tljroat ensue, and
this again is prone to be followed 'by constriction — narrowing — of the
gullet. The mechanical trouble of choking is quite common. It fre-
quently occurs when the animal is suddenly startled while eating
apples or roots, and we should be careful never to suddenly approach
or put a dog after horses or cows that are feeding upon such sub-
stances. If left alone they \Qvy rarely attempt to swallow the object
until it is sufficiently masticated.

Choking also arises from feeding oats in a deep, narrow manger to
such horses as eat very greedily, or bolt their food. Wheat chaff
is also a frequent source of choke. This accident may result from
the attempts to force eggs down without breaking or from gi-vdng balls
that are too large or not of the proper shape.

28

Whatever object causes the choking, it may lodge in the upper
part of the oesophagus, at its middle portion, or close to the stomach,
giviiTg rise to the designations of pliaryngeal, cervicaJ, and ihoracic
choke. In some cases where the original obstruction is low we find
all that part of the gullet abov^ it to be distended with food.

The symptoms will vary according to the position of the body caus-
ing choke. In 2'>^^<^^^'yngeal cliolxe the object is lodged in the upper
p)oriion of oesophagus. The horse will present symptoms of great
distress, hurried breathing, frequent cough, excessive flow of saliva,
sweating, trembling, or stamping with the fore feet. The abdomen
rapidly distends with gas. The diagnosis is completed by manipulat-
ing t*Iie upper part of the throat from without and by the introduction
of the hand into the back part of the mouth, finding the body lodged
here. In cervical choke (where the obstruction is situated at any
point between the throat-latch and the shoulder) the object can both
be seen and felt. The symptons here are not so severe; the horse
will be seen to occasionally draw himself up, arch his neck, and some-
times utter a loud shriek; the expression becomes anxious, and
attempts at vomiting are made. The abdomen is mostly full and
tynii^anitic. Should there be any question as to the trouble a decided
conclusion may mostly be reached by pouring water into the throat
from a bottle. If the obstruction is complete you can see the gullet
become distended with each bottle of water by standing on the left
side of the horse and watching the course of the oesophagus, just above
the windi:)ipe. This is not always a sure test, as the obstruction
may be an angular body, in which case liquids would pass it. Solids
taken would show in these cases; but solids should not, however, be
given, as they serve to increase the trouble by rendering the removal
of the body more difficult. In cervical choke one can always, with a
little care, feel the imprisoned object.

In thoracic choke the symptoms are still less severe. Our attention
will be directed to this part of the oesophagus by food or water being
ejected through the nose or mouth after the animal has taken a few
swallows. There Avill be some symptoms of distress, fullness of the
abdomen, cough, and occasionally the crying or shrieking as heard
in cervical choke. The diagnosis is complete if, upon passing the
probang (a hollow, flexible tube made for this j^urpose), an obstruction
is encountered.

Treaiment. — If the choke is at the beginning of the gullet {pharyn-
geal) we must endeavor to remove the obstacle through the mouth.
A mouth-gag or si)eculum is to be introduced into the mouth to pro-
tect the hand and arm of the operator. Then while an assistant, Avith
his hands grasped tightly 'behind the object, presses it upward and
forward with all his force, the operator must pass his hand into the
mouth until he can seize the obstruction and draw it outward. This
mode of procedure must not be abandoned Avith the first failure, as Ave

29

may get the obstacle farther toward the moiitli by continued efforts.
If we fail with the hand, forceps may be introduced through the mouth
and the object seized when it is just beyond the reach of the fingers.
Should our efforts entirely fail we must then endeavor to force the
obstruction downward by means of the probang. This instrument,
which is of such signal service in removing choke in cattle, is decidedly
more dangerous to use for the horse, and I can not pass this point
without a word of caution to those who have been known to introduce
into the horse's throat such objects as whip-stalks, shovel-handles, etc.
These are always dangerous, and I have seen more than one horse die
from this barbarous treatment.

Cervical clioT^e. — In this, as well as in thoracic choke, we must first
of all endeavor to soften or lubricate the obstruction by pouring oil or
mucilaginous drinks down the gullet. After this has been done we are
to endeavor to move the object by gentle manipulations with the hands.
If choked with oats or chaff (and these are the objects that most fre-
quently produce choke in the horse), we should begin by gently squeez-
ing the lower portion of the impacted mass, and endeavoring to work
it loose a little at a time. This is greatly favored at times if we apply
hot fomentations immediately about the obstructions. We should
persist in these efforts for at least an hour before deciding to resort
to other and more dangerous modes of treatment. Should we fail,
hoAvever, the probang may be used. In the absence of the regular
instrument, which must always be flexible and finished with a smooth
cup-shaped extremity, we may use a long piece of inch hose. The
mouth is to be kept open by a gag of wood or iron and the head
slightly raised and extended. The iDrobang is then to be carefully
guided by the hand into the upjier part of the gullet and gently forced
doMTiward until the obstruction is reached. Pressure must then be
gradual and firm. Do not, at first, attemj^t too much force, or the
oesophagus will be ruptured. Simply keep up this firm, gentle pres-
sure until you feel the object moving, after which you are to rapidly
follow it to the stomach. If, again, this mode of treatment is unsuc-
cessful, a veterinarian or medical doctor is to be called in, who can
remove the object by cutting down upon the gullet, opening it, and
removing the offending body. This should scarcely be attempted by
a noAace, as a knowledge of the anatomj^ of the parts is essential to
avoid cutting the large arter}-, vein, and nerve that are closely related
to the oesophagus in its cervical j^ortion.

Thoracic clioke can only be treated by means of the introduction of
oils and mucilaginous drinks and the careful use of the probang.
Some practitioners speak very highly of the value of thick soap-suds,
generously horned down the animal's throat.

Stricture of the oesopJiagus is mostly due to corrosive medicines, pre-
vious choking (accompanied by lacerations, which, in healing, narrow
the passage), and pressure on the gullet by tumors. In the majority

30

of cases of stricture wo soou have dilatation of the gullet iu front of the
constricted portion. This dilatation is due to the frequent accumula-
tion of solid food above the constriction. Little can be done in either
of these instances except to feed on sloppy or liquid food.

Sacular dilatcdion of tJie cesophagus. — ^This niostl}^ foUoAvs chokinp:,
and is due to rupture of the muscular coat of the gullet, allowing the
internal or mucous coat to hernia or pouch through the lacerated
muscular walls. This sac or pouch gi-adually enlarges, from the fre-
quent imprisonment of food, until it presses upon the gullet and pre-
vents swallowing. When liquids are taken the solid materials are
partially washed out of the pouch. The symptoms presenting them-
seh'os ai"e as follows: The horse is able to swallow a few mouthfuls of
food without apparent distress; then he will suddenly stoj) feeding,
paw, contract the muscles of his neck, and eject a portion of the food
through his nose or mouth. As the dilatation thus emjjties itself the
symptoms gradually subside, only to reappear when he has again
taken solid food. Liquids pass without any, or but little, inconven-
ience. Should this dilatation exist in the cervical region, surgical
interference may sometimes prove eifectual; if in tlio thoracic portion,
nothing can be don^, and the jDatient rapidly i)asses from hand to
hand by " swapping, " until, at no distant date, the contents of the
sac become too firm to be dislodged as heretofore, and the animal
succumbs.

DISEASES OF THE STOMACH.

Imj^cictioii — Stoniach staggers, or gorged stomach. — These are terms
given to the stomach when it is so enormously distended with food
that it loses all power of contracting upon its contents. It occurs
most frequently in those horses that after a long fast are given a large
feed, or in those that have gained access to the grain-bin and eaten
ravenously. The jiroportionally small stomach of the horse, as well
as his inability to vomit, will account for the frequency of stomach
staggers. I have witnessed this trouble most frequently in t^eamstei's'
horses and those that are not fed as often as they should be. After a
long fast it is the custom to feed abundantly. The horse bolts his
food, and the stomach not having time to empty itself becomes dis-
tended and paralyzed. To prevent this condition it is sufficient to
feed at shorter intervals, to give small quantities at a time, and to
seciire the feed-bins so that if a horse gets loose he can not "stuff
himself to bursting. "

Symptoms. — Percivall says that "a stomach simplj^ surcharged with
food, without any accompanying tympanitic distention, does not
appear to occasion local pain, but to operate rather that kind of
influence upon the brain which gives rise to symptoms, not stomachic,
but cerebral. Hence the analogy between this disease and staggers,
and hence the appellation for it of ' stomach staggers.' " The horse
soon after eating becomes dull and heavy, or drowsy; slight colicky

31

symptoms are obsei'ved, and are eoutinnoiis; lie rareiy lies down, Ijut
carries his liead extemled and low, nearly toucliing tlie ground.
Dullness rai)idly increases, tlie eyes are partially closed, vision is
imi)aired, he presses or thusts his head against the manger or sides of
the stall, and paws or even climbs with his fore feet. Respirations
are less frequent than in health, tlie pulse slow and sluggish. All
these symptoms rajjidly increase in severity; he becomes delirious;
cold sweats bedew the bod}'; he trembles violently, slobbers or vomits
a sour, fermenting mass, staggers from side to side, or plunges madly
about until he drops dead. Usually the bowels are constipated,
although (and especially if the engorgement is due to eating wheat or
rye) diarrhea has been observed. These symptoms resemble in some
particulars those of "blind " or " mad " staggers, but if Ave are careful
to get the history of the case, /. e., ravenous eating after a long fast,
or gaining access to grain-bins, wc shoidd not l)e in much danger of
confounding them. Posi-mortein examinations sometimes reveal rup-
ture of the stomach, owing to its enormous distension, and to the vio-
len,ce with Avhich he throws himself in his delirium. If not ruptured
the stomach will be distended to its utmost.

Trecdment for these cases is verj- unsatisfactory. A purgative of
Barbadoes aloes, 1 ounce, should be given at once. We should then
try to stimulate the walls of the stomach to contraction by giving cay-
enne pepper, one-half ounce, or half-ounce doses of Jamaica ginger.
Injections into the rectum, last gut, of turpentine 2 ounces, in 8 ounces
of linseed oil, may stimulate the bowels to act, and thus, in a meas-
ure, relieve the stomach. Cold applications applied to the head may
in some cases relieve the cerebral symptoms already referred to, and
some recommend bleeding for the same purpose.

Tympanik's of the stomach. — This is of somewhat frequent occur-
rence, according to my observation, but is not, I believe, as a rule,
separatel}' treated of by works on veterinary medicine. It is similar
in cause and symiitoms to the above, yet distinct enough to enable
the careful observer to readily differentiate between them. In tym-
panites of the stomach we find this organ to be greath' distended as
before, but in this case its contents are gaseous, or probably a mix-
ture of food and gases, like fermenting yeast. This disease of the
horse corresponds exactly with "hoven" or "blown" in cattle, and
may be due to overloading the stomach with young, succulent, grow-
ing herbage, clover in particular, from whose subsequent fermenta-
tion gas is liberated in quantities sufficient to enormously distend the
stomach. Growing wheat or lye are also fertile causes of this disten-
tion if eaten in any considerable amounts. Another very frequent
cause of stomach-bloat is overfeeding, particularly if given immedi-
ately before hard work. Many people, if the}^ expect to make a long
journey, think to fit their horses for the fatigue consequent tliereto
by giving an extra allowance of oats or other food just before starting.

32

This is most injudicious. The horse starts to his work feeling full
and oppressed; he soon grows dull and listless, and fails to respond
to the whip; sweats profusely; attempts to lie down; his head is car-
ried forward and doAvnward, and if checked up is heavy on the reins,
stumbles or blunders forward, and often falls. If looked at carefully
you can not fail to observe that he is unusuallj^ full over the posterior
ribs. The flanks may also be distended with gas, and sound like a
drum on being struck, though I have seen cases where the gases were
entii'ely confined to the stomach. With this condition the pain and
distress are constant; the swelling referred to plainly appreciable;
head extended and low, retching or even vomiting of fermented food.
On placing the ear to tlie horse's windpipe a distinct metallic sound
can be heard, as of air rushing through the windpipe. Such cases
are rapid in their course and often fatal.

Treaiment must be prompt and energetic. An antacid should be
given, and, as these cases mostly occur on the road awaj^, i^robably,
from all drug-stores, you should hasten to the first house. Get com-
mon baking soda, and administer 2 to 4 ounces of it as quickly as pos-
sible. One-half ounce of cayenne pepper may be added to this with
advantage, as it serves to aid the stomach to contract upon its con-
tents, and expel the gas. Charcoal, in any amount; chloride of lime,
one-half ounce; carbonate of ammonia, one-half ounce; or any -medi-
cine that will check or stop fermentation, or absorb the gases, may be
given. A jDhj^sic of 1 ounce of aloes, or 1 pint of linseed oil, should
be given to unload the stomach and bowels. Cold water, dashed with
force over the stomach, is thought hy some to favor condensation of
the gas. This lesson should be learned from one of these attacks —
and doubtless will be if, as is often the case, the horse dies — that when
a horse or any other animal is expected to do an unusual amount of
work in a short time he will best do it upon a spare feed. Curb j^our gen-
erosity and humanity (?) for the brute until the journey's end, and
even then wait until the horse is thoroughly rested before giving the
usual feed.

Rupture of the stomach. — This mostly occurs as a result of engorged
or tympanitic stomach, and from the horse violently throwing himself
when so affected. It may result from disease of the coats of the stom-
ach, gastritis, stones or calculi, tumors, or anything that closes the
opening of the stomach ijito the intestines, and very violent pulling
or jumping immediately after the animal has eaten heartily of bulky
food. These or similar causes may lead to this accident.

The symptoms of rupture of the stomach are not constant, nor
always reliable. We should always make inquiry as to what and how
much the horse has been fed at the last meal. Vomiting has, pretty
generally, been declared to be a symptom of ru^jture of this organ. I
wish to preface what I may say concerning this with the statement that
I have observed vomiting when the post-mortem examination revealed

33

rupture; that I have found mixture of the stomacli where vomiting
had not occurred ; that I have Avitnessed vomiting where the horse
soon after made a rapid recover}', /. e. , when the stomach was not
ruptured. In spite of this contradictory evidence, I am of the opinion
that, taken in connection with other symptoms, this sign is of value as
pointing toward rupture of tlie stomach. This accident has occurred
in my practice mostly in lieavy draught horses. A lu'ominent symp-
tom observed (though I have also seen it in diaphragmatic hernia)
is where the horse, if possible, gets the front feet on higher ground
tlian the hind ones, or sits on his haunches, like a dog. This position
affords relief to some extent, and it will be maintained for some min-
utes; it is also quickly regained when the horse has changed it for
some other. Colicky symptoms, of course, are present, and these will
vary much, and present no diagnostic value. As the case progresses
" tlie horse will often stretch forward the fore legs, lean backwards
and downwards until the belly nearly touches the ground, and then
rise up again with a groan, after which the fluid from his nostrils is
issued in increased quantity." The pulse is fast and weak, breathing
hurried, body bathed in a clammy sweat, limbs tremble violently, the
horse reels or staggers from side to side, and death quickly ends the
scene.

In the absence of any pathognomonic symptom Percivall says we
must take into account the history of the case; the subject of it; the
circumstances attending it ; the swollen condition of the abdomen ; tlie
symi^toms of colic that cease suddenly and are succeeded by cold
sweats and tremors; the pulse from being quick and small and thready,
growing Aveak and more frequent, and at length running down and
becoming altogether imperceptible; the countenance donating gloom
and despondency of the heaviest character, looking back at the flank
and groaning, sometimes crouching with the hind quarters, with or
without eructation, and vomiting.

There is no freatmeni that can be of any use whatever. Could we
be sure of our diagnosis it would be better to destroy the animal a-t
once. Since, however, there is alwaj's the possibility of a mistake in
diagnosis, we may give powdered opium in 1-drachm doses every two or
three hours, with the object of keeping the stomach as quiet as j)0ssible.

Gasffifis is an inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the
stomach. As an idiopathic disease it very rarely exists; but is mostly
seen to be due to mechanical irritation, or to giving irritant and corro-
sive i)oisons in too large doses or without sufficient dilution. Tlie
sijtiqyfoins are not well marked; there is a febrile condition, colicky
pains, and, mostly, intense thirst. When poisons have produced gas-
tritis there will be other symptoms referable to the action of the par-
ticular poison swallowed. If, for instance, the gastritis is due to a
salt of lead, we must exiDect to find difficult or labored breathing,
5901 — HOR 2

34

abdominal i^ains, partial iiaralysis of extensor mnscles primarily, tot-
tering gait, convulsions, and death. Where the poisoning by lead is
gradual the symptoms differ somewhat. There is a general appear-
ance of unthriftiness, loss of appetite, staring coat, constii^ation,
watery swellings under the jaws, a gray or blue line along the margin
of the gums, and a progressive i^aralysis, noted often at first in the
anterior extremities. Colicky symptoms are also observed. Abortion
is often noticed during chronic lead-poisoning. In all cases of lead-
l^oisoning the stomach, and often intestines, show erosions of its lin-
ing membrane, which in other parts is darker in color, and the mucous
membrane is easily stripped off. Chronic poisoning by lead is to be
expected near paint works, about newly-painted buildings, where
paint kegs are left in the fields, where horses take small particles
of lead with their food, where soft water runs through new lead
l^ipes, and where the drinking Avater is draAvn from wells or cisterns
containing lead. Lead can be detected in almost all parts of the
body at the post-mortem examination of chronic poisoning.

Treatment. — In acute gastritis, due to the careless or accidental
administration of large quantities of this poison, we must give sul-
phuric acid, oO to GO drops well diluted with water, milk, white of
eggs, oils, and demulcent drinks, as linseed gruel or tea. If the gas-
tritis is chronic, due to the long ingestion of small j)articles of lead,
we must administer from one-half to 1 pound of Epsom salts. Iodide
of potassium in 1-drachm doses, twice or thrice daily, are here of
mucli service. If much pain exists it ma30)e relieved by giving mor-
l)hia in 3 to 5 grain doses, repeated two or three times a daj'.

Where arsenic is the poison producing gastritis or gastro-euteritis
(inflammation of the stomach and bowels), we have symptoms of
abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting, purging that is accompanied by
an offensive odor, staggering gait, quickened breathing, jiaralysis of
the hind extremities, and death. On opening a horse that has died
of arsenical j^oison we are struck l)y the escape of large quantities of
offensive gas. There are patches of inflammation and extravasation
of blood in the stomach, and often hi the intestines. Chemical tests
should be resorted to before giving a decided opinion that death is
due to arsenic. Poisoning from this agent is most common where
sheep have been dipped in arsenical preparations for the "scab" and
then allowed to run on pasture without first drying their wool.
Arsenic is thus deposited upon the grass and is eaten by horses graz-
ing thereon, producing the sjnnptoms of gastritis and death. Gas-
tritis may also occur from poisoning by copper, the mercurials, and
some vegetable drugs. Gastritis produced l)y anj'- of the irritant poi-
sons is to be treated with oils and demulcent diinks. Opium may l)e
given to allay pain and inflammation. Care should bo observed in
feeding for a time, being careful to give only soft and easily digested
foods.

35

BOTS — LARV.^. OF THE GAD-FIA'.

There are such erronooiis opinious extant concerning the Ijot and
the depredations it is supposed to commit upon the horse that a some-
what careful study should be made of it.

Of the many insect parasites and tormentors of solipeds the gad-
flies (G^stridae) are of the most importance. Cobbold, who is the best
autlioritj^ on the subject, says:

The common gad-fly (Gastrojih Has equi) attacks the anim^al while grazing late
in the summer, its object being, not to derive sustenance, but to deposit its eggs.
This is accomplished by means of a glutinous excretion, causing the ova (eggs)
to adhere to the hairs. Tlie parts selected are chiefly those of the shoulder, base
of the neck, and inner part of the fore legs, especially about the knees, for in these
situations the horse will have no difficulty in reaching the ova with its tongue.
When the animal licks those parts of the coat where the eggs have been placed
the moisture of the tongue, aided by warmth, hatches the ova, and in something
less than three weeks from the time of the deposition of the eggs the larvae have
made their escape. As maggots they are next transferred to the mouth and
ultiuiatel}- to the stomach along with food and drink. A great many larvae i^erish
during this passive mode of immigration, some being dropped from the mouth
and others being crushed in the fodder during mastication. It has been calcu-
lated that out of the many hundreds of eggs deposited on a single horse scarcely
one out of fifty of the larvse arrives within the stomach. Notwithstanding
this waste the interior of the stomach may become completely covered (cuticular
portion) with bots. Whether there be few or many they are anchored in this
situation chiefly by means of two large cephalic hooks. After the bots have
attained perfect growth they vohmtarily loosen their hold and allow themselves
to be carried along the alimentary canal until they escape with the feces. In all
cases they sooner or later fall to the ground and when transferred to the soil they
bury themselves beneath the surface in order to undergo transformation into the
pupa condition. Having remained in the earth for a period of six or seven weeks
they finally emerge from their pupal-cocoons as perfect dipterous (winged) insects —
the gad-fly. It thus appears that bots ordinarily pass about eight months of their
lifetime in the digestive organs of the horse.

The si^ecies just described infest chiefl}' the stomach and duode-
num— small gut leading from the stomach.

Another species of oestrus affecting the horse is the O'strus hcemor-
rhoidalis. These are found fastened to the mucous membrane of the
rectum (last gut), or even outside upon the anus, and occasion mucli
irritation and annoyance, and, at times, require to be removed by the
fingers or forcejjs.

The opinion, almost universally entertained, that bots frequentlj"
cause colicky- i)ains, is erroneous. It is very common to liear bystand-
ers declare that almost every horse with abdominal pains "has the
bots," and their suggested treatment is always varied and heroic.

Almost all horses in the country, as well as horses in the cities dur-
ing their first jear there, have " the bots." It is in exceptionally rare
instances that they produce any appreciable symptoms or disturb-
ances. In my own practice I have never known bots to be tlie cause

36

of any serious ailment of tlie hoi-se; and only once lias my father, in
a practice extending over fifty years, known bots to be the cause of
death. In this instance the bots seemed to have simultaneously
loosened their hold xv^on the mucous lining of the stomach, and were
forced as an impermeable wedge into the pjdoric orifice, or outlet, of
the stomach, and thus, preventing the i)assage of food or medicine,
produced death. Were the bots to attempt to fasten themselves to
the sensitive lining of the bowels in their outward passage they might
cause irritation and expressions of pain in the foi*m of colicky symp-
toms, but this they seldom or never do. The opinion frequently
expressed at post-mortem examinations, when the stomach is found to
be ruptured, that "the bots have eaten through the stomach," is
again a mistake. Bots never do this; the rupture is due to overdis-
tention of the viscus with food or gases. Some writers on veterinary
medicine have even urged that bots, by their presence, stimulated
the stomach secretions, and were thus actually an aid to digestion.
This opinion is as far from the truth as the more general one referred
to above, concerning the harm they do.

Bots may, and probably do, when in large enough numbers to be
fastened to the true digestive jjortion of the stomach, slightly inter-
fere with digestion; the animal may not thrive, the coat stares, and
emaciation may follow; but beyond this, with the exception already
noted, tliey are harmless. Even were they the cause of trouble, there
are no medicines that affect them ; neither acids, nor alkalies, anthel-
mintics (worm medicines), nor anodynes cause them to become loose
and to pass out of the body. To i^revent them it is necessary to
watch for their eggs on the legs and different parts of the body in the
late summer and autumn. These eggs are to be carefully scraped off
and burned. Horses should not be watered from stagnant ponds, as
they frequently swallow the ripening eggs with such water. It is
entirely useless to attempt any treatment to rid the horse of bots;
they go at their appointed time, and can not be dislodged before this.
We should remember that in following their natural course or stages
of existence the bots loosen their hold during May and June mostly.
They are then expelled in great numbers, and horse-owners, noticing
them in the manure, hasten to us saying "my horse has the bots."
If we are honest we tell him tliat, in the natural course of events,
nature is doing for him that which we can not do. We may say in
conclusion, then, that bots seldom produce miy evil effects whatever;
that not more than once in ten thousand times are they the cause of
colicky symptoms, and that thej'' require no medicine to eject them.

INDIGESTION.

Indigestion is a term api3lied to all those conditions where, from any
cause, digestion is imperfectly performed. It is not at all uncommon
to witness in the horse symptoms similar to those of dyspepsia in man.

37

The disturbances of digestion included under this head are not so ])yo-
nounced as to jiroduee colic, yet our consideration of diseases of the
digestive organs would bo incomplete if we failed to mention this, the
most frequent of all digestive disorders. The seat and causes of indi-
gestion are found to vary in different horses, or even in the same horse
at different times. Apart from tlie indigestibility of the food itself
there are many causes productive of indigestion. The teeth are often
at fault. Where these are sharp, irregular, or decayed the food is
imperfectly masticated and swallowed before there is a proper admix-
ture with the saliva. Bolting of the food; the bile — secretion of the
liver — may be defective in quality or quantity; there may be lack of
secretion of the i^ancreatic juice, or there may be simjily want of per-
istaltic movement of the stomach and intestines, thereby causing an
interrui)tion of the passage of the ingesta. The lorincipal seat of indi-
gestion, however, is in the stomach or small intestines. Whenever,
from any cause, the secretions from these i^arts arc excessive or defi-
cient, dyspepsia or indigestion must invariably follow. Indigestion
is often due to keex^ing horses on low, marshy j)astures, and i^articu-
larly during cold weather; wintering an hard, dry hay or corn-stalks,
and other bulky and innutritive food; irregular feeding or overfeed-
ing (though this latter is more likely to produce engorged stomach, or
tympanites of the stomach, which have been described by some as
"acute indigestion").

Sy)nptoins. — Indigestion is characterized by irregular appetite; re-
fusing all food at times, and at others eating ravenously; the appetite
is not only irregular, but is often depraved; there is a disposition on
the part of the horse to eat unusual substances, as wood, soiled bed-
ding, or even his own feces; the bowels are irregular, to-day loose
and bad smelling, to-morrow bound; grain often passed whole in the
feces, and the hayi^assed in balls or imi^acted masses undergoing but
little change; the horse frequently passes considerable quantities of
wind that has a sour odor. The animal loses flesh, the skin presents
a hard, dry appearance, and seems verj^ tight (hide-bound). If these
symi)toms occur in a single horse in a stable where others are kept we
must look not to the feed, but to the animal himself, for the cause of
his trouble.

Treatment. — It is evident, from the many causes of indigestion and
from its protean forms, that we must be exceedingly careful in our
examinations of the subject of this disorder. We must commence
with the food, i^s quality, quantit}^ and time of feeding; examine the
water supply, and see, besides, that it is given before feeding; then
we must carefully observe the condition of the mouth and teeth; and,
continuing our observations as best we may, endeavor to locate the
seat of trouble — whether it is in the stomach, intestines, or annexed
organs of digestion, as the liver and pancreas. If the teeth are sharp
or irregular they must be rasped down; if any are decayed they must

38

be extracted; if indigestion is due to ravenous eating or bolting the
food, "Nve must tben feed from a large manager where the grain can
be si)read and the horse compelled to eat slowlj'.

In the great majority- of cases I have found a cathartic, aloes 1
ounce, or linseed oil 1 pint, to be of much serAdce if given at the out-
set. Any irritation, such as worms, undigested food, etc., that are
operating as "causes," are thus remoA'ed, and in many instances no
further treatment is required. There is mostly a tendency to disten-
sion of the stomach and bowels with gas during indigestion, and I
have never found any treatment so effective as the following alkaline
tonic: Baking soda, powdered ginger, and powdered gentian, equal
parts. These are to be thoroughly mixed and given in heaping table-
spoonful doses, twice a day, Ijefore feeding. This powder is best
given by dissolving the above quantity in a half pint of water, and
given as a drench.

INTESTINAL WORMS.

Although there are several species of worms found in the intestines
of horses, it will be sufficient, in an article like this, to refer only to
three or four of the most common ones. Worms are most frequently
seen in young horses, and in those that are weak and debilitated.
They commonly exist in horses that are on low, wet, or marshy pas-
tures and in those that drink stagnant water.

The intestinal worm most commonly seen is known as the Lnin-
hrk-oid worm. In form it is much like the common earth-worm. It
is white or I'eddish in color, and measures from 4 to 12 inches in
length, thougli some have been seen that were nearly 30 inclies long.
In thickness they vary from the size of a rj-e straw to that of a lady's
little finger, being thickest at the middle, and tapering at both ends.
They are found singly or in groups or masses, and infest chiefly the
small intestines.

Another common variety of intestinal worm is called i\\.Q pi}\-irorm,
and is found mosth* in the large intestines. These are semi-trans-
parent, thread-like worms, measuring in length from 1 to 2 inches.

The tape-worm, once seen, is easily recognized. It is white, flat,
thin, broad, and jointed. The head is found at the smaller end of the
worm. Tape-worms of the horse sonjetimes jneasure from 20 to 30
feet in length.

Symptoms of intestinal ivorms. — Slight colicky pains arc noticed at
times, or there may only be switching of the tail, frequent passages
of manure, and some slight straining, itching of the anus, and rub-
bing of the tail or rump against the stall or fences; the horse is in
poor condition; does not shed his coat; is hide-bound and pot-bellied;
the appetite is depraved, licdcing the walls, biting the wooden work of
the stalls, licking parts of his body, eating earth, and being particu-
larlv fond of salt; the bowels are irregular, constipation or diarrhea

39

being noticed. Some place much dependence upon llic symptom of
itching of the upper lip, as sho^vn by the horse frequently turning it
up and rubbing it upon the wall or stalls. Others again declare that
whenever Ave see the adherence of a dried whitish .substance about
the anus worms are i)resent. The one sympton, however, that we
should always look for, and certainty the only one that may not
deceive us, is seeing the horse pass the worms in his dung.

Treatment. — Remedies to destroy intestinal worms are much more
efficient if given after a long fast, and then the worm medicine must
be supplemented hy a physic to carry out the Avorms. Among the
best worm medicines may be mentioned santonine, turpentine, tartar
emetic, infusion of tobacco, and bitter tonics. To destroy tape-Avorms,
areca nut, male-fern, and i)umpkin seeds are the best. If a horse is
passing the long round worms, for instance, the plan of treatment is
to give tAvice daily for three or four days a drench composed of tur-
pentine, 1 ounce, and linseed oil 2 or 3 ounces, to be foUoAAed on
the fourth day by a physic of Barbadoes aloes, 1 ounce. If the pin-
worms are present (the ones that infest the large boAvels), injections
into the rectum of infusions of tobacco, infusions of quassia chips,
one-half pound to a gallon of Avater, once or twice daily for a few
days, and followed by a physic, are most beneficial. It should be
borne in mind that intestinal Avorms are mostly seen in horses that
are in poor condition; and an essential part of our treatment then is
to improA^e the appetite and j^oAvers of digestion. This is best done
by giA^ing the A'cgetable tonics. One-half ounce of PeruA'ian bark,
gentian, ginger, quassia, etc., is to be giA'en twice a day in the feed
or as a drench. Unless some such medicine.s and good food and pure
water are given to tone up the digestiA'^e organs the worms will rapidly
acciTmulato again, even though they may haAc all been expelled by the
worm medicines proper.

DISEASES OF THE IXTESTINES.

Spasmodic or cramp colic. — This is the name giA'en to that form of
colic produced by contraction, or spasm, of a jjortion of the small
intestines. It is i:>roduced by indigestible food; foreign bodies, as
nails and stones in the boAvels; large drinks of cold Avater Avhen the
animal isAvarm; diiA'iug a heapted horse through deep streams, cold
rains, draughts of cold air, etc. Unequal distribution of or interfer-
ence Avith the nerA'ous supply here i)roduces cramj) of the boAvels, the
same as external cramps are produced. Spasmodic colic is much more
frequently met Avith in high-l)red, round-l)arreled, nervous horses than
in coarse, lymphatic ones.

Symj^ton}.^. — These should be carefully studied in order to diagnose
this from other forms of colic requiring q-uite different treatment.
Spasmodic colic abvays begins suddenly. If feeding, the horse is seen
to stop aln-uptly, stamp impatiently, and prol^ably look backwards.

40

He soon evinces more acute pain, and this is shown bj^ pawing, sud-
denly lying down, rolling, and getting up. There is then an interval
of ease; he will resume feeding, and api^ear to be entirely well. In a
little while, however, the pains return and are increased in severity,
only to again i^ass off for a time. As the attack i)rogresses these
intervals of ease become shorter and shorter, and pain may be con-
tinuous, though even now there are exacerbations of pain. Animals
suffering from this form of colic evince the most intense j^ain; they
throw themselves down, roll over and over, jumj) up, whirl about,
drop down again, paw, or strike, rather, with the front feet, steam and
sweat, make frequent attempts to pass their urine, and the penis is
partially erected. Only a small amount of water is passed at a time,
and this is due to the bladder being so frequently emptied, i. e., fliere
is hut little water to pass. These attemi)ts to urinate are almost alwaj^s
regarded as sure symptoms of trouble of the kidneys or bladder. In
reality they are only one of the many ways in which the horse expresses
the presence of pain. Allow me to digress slightly, and to assure the
reader that diseases of the bladder or kidneys of the horse ar^e exceed-
ing! ij rare. The stomach and bowels are affected in a thousand
instances where the kidneys or bladder are once. Attempts to pass
water and failure to do so are not enough to warrant us in joronounc-
ing the case one of "trouble with his water," nor should we, if a horse
jields or sinks when pinched over the loins, declare that kidney
disease exists. Try this pressure on any horse, and the great majority
will be seen to thus yield; in fact, this is rather a sign or sj'mptom of
health than of disease.

To recapitulate the symptoms of spasmodic colic: Keep in mind the
history of the case, the type of horse, the suddenness of the attack, the
intervals of ease (which become of shorter duration as the case pro-
gresses), the violent pain, the normal temperature and pulse during
the intervals of ease, the frequent attempts to urinate, the erection of
the penis, etc., and there is but little danger of confounding this with
other forms of colic.

Treatment. — Since the pain is due to spasm or cramj) of the bowels,
medicines that overcome spasms — anti-spasmodics — are the ones indi-
cated. Probably there is no medicine better than chloral hj^drate.
This is to be given in a dose of 1 ouiK?e in a half pint of water as a
drench. A very common and good remedy is sulphuric ether and lau-
danum; of each 2 ounces in half pint of linseed oil. Another drench
may be composed of 2 ounces each of sulphuric ether and alcohol in 8
ounces of water. If nothing else is at hand we may give whisky; one-
half pint in hot water. If relief is not obtained in one hour from any
of the above doses, they may then be repeated. The bodj^ should be
warmly clothed and persi^iration induced. Blankets dipped in very
hot water to which a small quantity of turpentine has been added
should be placed around the belly and covered with dry blankets, or

41

the abdomen may be rubbed with stimulating liniments or mustard-
Avater. The diificulty, however, of api^ljing hot blankets and keeping
them in place forces us in most instances to dispense with them. If
the crami:> is due to irritants in the bowels a cure is not complete until
we have given a cathartic of 1 ounce of aloes or 1 pint of linseed-oil.
Injections into the rectum of warm, soapy water, or salt and water, aid
the cure.

One word here about injections, or enemas, as they are called. These,
as a rule, should be lukewarm and from 3 to G quarts are to be given
at a time. They may be repeated every half hour if necessary. Great
care is to be taken not to injure the rectum in giving rectal injections.
A large syringe is the best means by which to give them. If tins is
not to be had, take a large elder, from which the pith has been
removed, or a piece of hose. A large hog's bladder is to be filled with
the fluid to be injected and tied about one end of the elder or hose.
The point to be introduced into the rectum must be blunt, rounded,
and smooth. It is to be thoroughly oiled and then carefully pushed
through the anus in a slightly ui)ward direction. Pressure upon the
bladder will force its contents into the bowel. Much force must be
avoided, for the rectum may be lacerated and serious complications or
even death result. Exercise will aid the action of the bowels in this
and similar colicky troubles, but severe galloping or trotting is to be
condemned. If the horse can have a loose box or paddock it is the
best, as he will then take what exercise he wants. If the patient be
extremely violent it is often wise to restrain him, since rupture of the
stomach or displacement of the bowels may result and complicate the
troubles.

Flatulent colic — Tympanites — Wind colic — Bloat. — Among the most
frequent causes of this form of colic are to be mentioned sudden
changes of food, too long fasting and food then given while the animal
is exhausted, new hay or grain, large quantities of green food, food
that has lain in the manger for some time and become sour, indigesti-
ble food, irregular teeth, crib-biting, and in fact anything that produces
indigestion may produce flatulent colic.

The symptoms of wind colic are not so suddenly developed, nor so
severe as those of cramp colic. At first the horse is noticed to be dull,
paws slightly, may or may not lie down. The pains from the start are
continuous. The belly enlarges, and by striking it in front of the
haunches a drum-like sound is elicited. If not soon relieved the above
symptoms are aggravated, and in addition we notice difficult breath-
ing, profuse perspiration, trembling of anterior limbs, sighing respira-
tion, staggering from side to side, and, finally, jilunging forward dead.
The diagnostic symptom of flatulent colic is the distention of the bow-
els with gas, detected by the bloated appearance and resonance on per-
cussion.

5961— HOR 2*

42

The treatment for "wind colic differs very materially from that of
cramp colic. Alkaliues neutralize the gases formed, and must be
promptly given. Probablj' as good a domestic remedy as can be had
is baking-soda, in doses of from 2 to 4 ounces. If this fails, give chlo-
ride of lime in half-ounce doses, or the same quantity of carbonate of
ammonia everj- half hour until relieved. Absorbents are also of serv-
ice, and we may give charcoal in any quantity. Relaxants and anti-
S23asmodics are also beneficial in this form of colic. Chloral hydrate
not only possesses these qualities, but it also is an anti-ferment and a
pain-reliever. It is then i)articularly well adapted in the treatment of
wind colic, and should be given in the same sized doses and in the
manner directed for spasmodic colic.

A physic should always be given in flatulent colic as early as possi-
ble, the best being Barbadoes aloes in the dose alreadj' mentioned.
Injections, per rectum, of turpentine 1 to 2 ounces, linseed-oil 8 ounces,
may be given frequently to stimulate the peristaltic motion of the bow-
els and favor the escape of wind. Blankets Avrung out of hot water
do much to afford relief; they should be renewed every 5 or 10 min-
utes and covered with a dry woolen blanket. This form of colic is
much more fatal than cramp colic, and requires prompt and persistent
treatment. It is entirely unsafe to i)redict the result, some apparenth'
mild attacks going on to speedy death, while others that appear at tlxe
onset to be very severe yielding rapidly to treatment. Do not cease
your efforts until you are sure the animal is dead. I v>-as called, in
one instance, and on reaching mj' patient the owner informed me that
*' the horse had just died." The heart, however, was still beating,
and bj- energetic measures (tapping, etc. ) I " brought him back to lif e, "
as the onlookers asserted. In these severe eases puncturing of the
bowels in the most prominent (distended) part by means of a small
trocar and canula, or with the needle of a hypodemic syringe, thus
allowing the escape of gas, has often saved life, and such jiunctures
are not followed by any bad results in the majority of instances.

Impaction of the large intestines. — This is a very common bowel
trouble and one which, if not promptly recognized and proper!}^
treated, results in death. It is caused mostly by overfeeding, espe-
cially of grain, and I have noticed that it is much more common where
lye is fed alone, or with other grains; old, dry, hard hay, or stalks
when largely fed; deficiency of secretions of the intestinal tract, lack
of water, want of exercise, paralysis of nerve endings, medicines, etc.

Symptoms. — Impaction of the large boAvels is to be diagnosed by a
slight abdominal pain, which may disappear for a day or two to reap-
pear with more violence. The feces is passed somewhat more fre-
quently, but in smaller quantities and more dry; the abdomen is full,
but not distended with gas; the horse at first is noticed to paw and
soon begins to look back at his sides. Probably one of the most char-
acteristic symptoms is the position assumed when down. He lies flat

43

on his side, bead and legs extended, oceasionalh' raising liis head to
look toward his flank; he remains on his side for from five to fifteen
minutes at a time. Evidently this position is the one giving the most
freedom from pain. He rises at times, walks about the stall, paws,
looks at his sides, backs up against the stall, which he presses Avithhis
tail, and soon lies do\\ii again, assuming his favored position. The
bowels have ceased entirely to move. The pulse is but little changed
at first, being full and sluggish; later, if this condition is not over-
come, it becomes rapid and feeble. I have known horses to suffer
from impaction of the boAvels for a week, jet eventually recover, and
others have reported cases extending two or even three weeks which
ended favorably. As a rule, however, they seldom last over four or
five days, many, in fact, dying sooner than this.

The irecdment consists of efforts to produce movement of the bowels,
and to prevent inflammation of the same from arising. A large cathar-
tic is to be given as early as possible; either of the following are
recommended : Powdered Barbadoes aloes 1 ounce, calomel 2 drams,
and powdered nux vomica 1 dram; or linseed oil 1 pint, and croton
oil 15 droxDS. Some favor the administration of Epsom salts, 1 pound,
with one-quarter pound of common salt, claiming that this causes the
horse to drink largely of water, and thus mechanically softening the
impacted mass and favoring its expulsion. Whichever physic is
selected it is Cvssential that you give a full dose. This is much better
than small and relocated doses. It must be borne in mind that horses
require about twenty-four hours in which to respond to a phj'sic, and
under no circumstances are physics to be repeated sooner than this.
If aloes has been given and has failed to operate at the projier time,
oil or some different cathartic should then be administered. Allow
the hoi-se all the water he will drink. The action of the physic may
be aided by giving, every three or four hours, one-half ounce of tinc-
ture of belladonna, or one-half dram of powdered nux vomica. Copious
enemas are to be given every hour, and should be varied; giving first
soapy water, then salt and water, or the emulsions of turpentine
already alluded to in describing other diseases of the bowels. Enemas
of glycerine, 2 to 4 ounces, are often l)eneficial. Rubbing or knead-
ing of the abdominal walls, the application of stimulating liniments
or strong mustard water will also, at times, favor the expulsion of this
mass. Walking exei-cise must occasionally be given. If this treat-
ment is faithfully carried out from the start the majority of cases will
terminate favorably. Where relief is not obtained inflammation of
the bowels may ensue, and death follow from this cause.

Constipation or costiveness is often witnessed in the horse, and par-
ticularly in the foal. Many colts die every year from failure on the
part of the attendant to note the condition of the bowels soon after
birth. Whenever the foal fails to pass anj^ feces, and in i^articular if
it presents any signs of colicky pains — straining, etc. — hnmediate

44

attention must be given it. As a rule, it will only be necessary to give
a few injections of soapy water in the rectum and to introduce the
finger through the anus to break down any hardened mass of dung
found there. If this is not effective, a purgative must be given. Oils
are the best for these 3'oung animals, and I mostly select castor oil,
giving from 2 to 4 ounces. The foal should always get the first of the
mother's milk, as this milk, for a few days, j)ossesses decided laxative
properties. If a mare, while suckling, is taking laudanum or similar
medicines, the foal should be fed during this time by hand and the
mare milked upon the ground. Constipation in adult horses is mostly
the result of long feeding on dry, innutritions food, deficiency of intes-
tinal secretions, scanty water supply, or lack of exercise. If the case
is not complicated with colicky symptoms, a change to light, sloppy
diet, linseed gruel or tea, with x^lenty of exercise, is all that is required.
If colic exists a cathartic is needed. In very many instances the con-
stipated condition of the bowels is due to lack of intestinal secretions,
and when so due, must be treated by giving fluid extract of belladonna
three times a day in 2-dram doses, and handful doses daily of Epsom
salts in the feed.

ALIMENTARY CONCRETIONS — GASTRIC AND INTESTINAL.

Gastric concretions, calculi {stones) i)i the stomach. — There are jjrob-
ably but few symptoms exhibited by the horse that will lead us to sus-
pect the presence of gastric calculi, and possibly none by which we can
unmistakably assert their presence. Stones in the stomach have been
most frequently found in millers' horses. A small i)iece of the mill-stone
or other foreign body may serve as a nucleus around which is deposited
in layers the calcareous substances which abound in their feed (the
sweepings of the mill floor, mixed with good food). I have noticed, and
it is generall}^ recorded by veterinary writers, that a depraved and
capricious aj^petite is common in horses that have a stone forming in
their stomach. There is a disposition to eat the Avood-work of the sta-
ble, earth, and, in fact, almost any substance within their reach. This
symptom must not, however, be considered as pathognomonic, since it
is observed when calculi are not present. Occasional colics may result
from these "stomach stones," and when these lodge at the outlet of the
stomach they maj' give rise to symi^toms of engorged stomach, already
described. I remember one instance in which I found a stone that
weighed nearly 4 iiounds in the stomach of a horse.

The position that seems to afford the most relief to the afflicted ani-
mal is sitting upon the haunches. Constipation may or may not be
l^resent. From all this we may conclude that there is reason to sus-
pect the i^resence of stone in the stomach, if there is a history of
depraved appetite; repeated attacks of colic (and particularly if these
have recovered ahruptly) ; and the position sought by the horse while
suffering — sitting on the haunches, or standing with the front feet

45

upon some elevation. Dnrini^ the fatal attack the symptoms are sim-
ply those of obstruction, followed by those of inflammation and gan-
grene, and are not diagnostic. There is, of course, no freatment that
will prove effective. AVe can simpl j' give remedies to move the bowels,
to relieve pain, and to combat inflammation.

Intestinal concretions, calculi {stones) in tlie intestines. — These con-
cretions are found mostly in the large bowels, though they are occa-
sionally met with in the small intestines. They are of various sizes,
weighing from 1 ounce to 25 pounds; they may be single or multiple,
and differ in composition and appearance, some being soft (composed
mostly of animal or vegetable matter), while others are porous or
honey-combed (consisting of animal and mineral matter), and others
again that are entirely hard and stone-like. The hair-balls, so com-
mon to the stomach and intestines of cattle, are very rare in the horse.
Intestinal calculi form around some foreign body as a rule, mostly a
nail, piece of wood, or something of this description, whose shape they
assume to a certain extent. Layers are arranged concentrically around
such nucleus until the sizes above spoken of are formed. These stones
are also often found in millers' horses, as Avell also as horses in lime-
stone districts where the water is hard. When the calculi attain a
sufficient size and become lodged or blocked in some part of the intes-
tines, they cause obstruction, inflammation of the bowels, colicky
symi)toms, and death. Some veterinarians pretend to diagnose the
presence of these bodies during life, but I know of no certain signs or
symptoms that reveal tiiem. Recurring colics and character of food
and water may enable us to make a good guess at times, but nothing
more.

The symptoms will be those of obstruction of the bowels. Upon
lyost-mortem examinations we will discover these stones, mostly in the
large bowels; the intestines will be inflamed or gangrenous about
the point of obstruction. Sometimes calculi have been expelled by the
action of a physic, or they may be removed by tlie hand when found
to occux^y the last gut.

Treatment. — As in concretions of the stomach, thei-e can be but
little done more than to overcome spasm (if any exists), and to give
physics with the hope of dislodging the stone or stones and carrying
them on and outward.

Intussusception or Invagination is the slipping of a portion of the
intestine into another portion immediately adjoining, like a jjartially
turned glove finger. This may occur at anj' i)art of the bowels, but is
most frequent in the small guts. The invaginated portion may be
slight — 2 or 3 inches only — or extensive, measuring as many feet.
Treves, who has written a most valuable work on intestinal obstruc-
tion in man, maybe quoted in substance, to some extent. He cautions
us not to confound what he classes as ' ' obstructive intussusception "
with intussusception of the djdng. This latter is often seen upon

46

post-moriem examination of cliildren, or with us in young eolts. These
invaginations occur shortly before death, and are due to irreguhir con-
tractions of the bowels that take place during the act of dying. Mus-
cular actions are, at this time, iri-egular and tumultuous, and it is not
surprising that intussusception is i^roduced. "Intussusceptions of
the dying" are characterized by the following peculiarities: They are
small, fi'co from any trace of congestion, inflammation, or adhesion,
and can very easily be reduced by slight traction; the}' are ax)t to l>e
miiltiple, and are most frequently directed forward. In obstructive
intussusception, on the other hand, the inturned bowel is in the direc-
tion of the anus. There are adhesions of the intestines at this point,
congestion, inflammation, or even gangrene.

Causes of invagination. — This accident is most likely to occur in
horses that are suffering from spasm of the bowel or in those where a
small portion of the gut is paralyzed. The natural worm or ring-like
contraction of the gut favors the passage of the contracted or par-
alyzed portion into that immediately behind it. It may occur during
the existence of almost Rnj abdominal trouble, as diarrhea, inflamma-
tion of the bowels, or from injuries, exposure to cold, etc.

Symptoms. — Unless the invaginated portion of the gut becomes
strangulated, prol)abl3'' no sj^mptoms will be appreciable, except con-
stipation. Strangulation of the bowel may take place suddenly, and
the horse die within twenty- four hours, or it may occur after several
days, a week even, and death follow at this time. There are no
symptoms. positivel.y diagnostic. Colicky i^ains, more or less severe,
are observed, and there are no, or but few, passages of dung. I have
observed severe straining in some instances of intussusception, and
this should l>e given due credit when it occurs. As death approaches
the horse sweats profusely, sighs, presents an anxious countenance,
the legs and ears become cold, and there is often freedom from pain
immediately before death. In some rare instances the horse recovers,
even though the invaginated portion of the gut has become strangu-
lated. The imprisoned portion here sloughs away so gradually that a
union has taken place between the intestines at the ix)int where one
portion has slipped into that behind it. The piece sloughing off is
found passed Avith the manure. Such cases are exceedingly rai-e, but
their possibility should guide us in our treatment. Cathartic medi-
cines are more calculated to do harm than good. AVe should treat
with anodj'nes and anti-si)asmodics, chloral hydrate, laudanum, and
sulphuric ether, and medicines to prevent inflammation. Some prac-
titioners favor the administration of powdered opium, 1 to 2 drams,
every three or four hours. Injections of salt and water or emulsions
of turpentine are given with the somewhat fanciful idea of producing
l^eristalsis of the intestines in a direction opposite to the normal one,
■i. e., contraction from the anus forward. If this can be j) rod need l)y
these or any other means, it will prove a A'aluable adjunct to other

47

treatment. Soft feed and mucilaginous and nourishing di-inks are to
l)e gi^•en during these attacks.

li^olvuhis, Gut-tie or Twisting of the Boirels. — These are the terms
applied to tlie boAvels when twisted or knotted. This accident is I'ather
a conimon one, and frequently results from the violent manner in
which A horse throws himself about when attacked by spasmodic colic.
The symptoms are the same as those of intussusception and obstruc-
tions of the bow'els; the same directions as to treatment are therefore
to be observed.

Diarrltea is due to eating moldy or musty food, drinking stagnant
water, diseased condition of the teeth, eating irritating suljstances, to
being kejit on low, marshy pastures, and exposure during cold nights,
low, darnj) stables, or to some morbid or inflammatory condition of the
intestinal canal or some of its annexed organs. It is more frequently
a synijjtom of functional disorder than an organic disease. >Some
horses are predisposed t<i scour and are called ''washy " by horsemen;
they are those of long bodies, long legs, and nari-ow, flat sides. Horses
of this build are almost sure to scour if fed or v,atered immediately
before being put to work. Fast or road work, of course, aggravates
this trouble. Diarrhea may exist as a complication of other diseases,
as pneumonia and influenza for instance, and again during the dis-
eases of the liver.

The synqjtoms are the frequent evacuations of liquid stools, with or
without pronounced abdominal pain, loss of appetite, emaciation, etc.

Treatment is at times very simple, but requires the utmost care and
judgment. If due to faulty food or water it is sufficient to change these.
If it results from some irritant in the intestines, this is best gotten rid
of by the administration of an oleaginous purge, the diarrhea mostly
disapipearing with the cessation of the o]3eration of the medicine. If,
however, jjurging continues, it may be checked by gi^nng wheat flour
in water, starch water, white-oak bark tea, chalk, opium, or half -dram
doses of sulphuric acid in one-half i^int of water twice or thrice daily.
I have good results from i)OM'dered opium, '1 drams, and subnitrate of
bismuth, 1 ounce, repeated three times a day. One-quarter pound
doses of the "Thompsonian composition,'' to which maybe added 1
ounce of baking soda, given two or three times a day, are frequently
effective. It should be remembered in all cases to look to the water
and feed the horse is receiving. If either of these is at fault they are
at once to be discontinued. We should feed sparingly of good, easily
digested foods. In tliat peculiar build of nervous horses that scour on
the road but little can be done, as a rule. They should be watered
and fed as long as possible before going on a drive. If there is much
flatulencj' accompanying diarrhea, baking soda or other alkaline med-
icines often produce a cui-e, while if the discharges have a very dis-
agreeable odor, this can be corrected by 1 ounce of sulphite of soda or
half-dram doses of carljolic acid in water, repeated twice a day. Be

48

slow to resort to either the vegetable or mineral astringents, sinoe the
majorit}^ of cases will yield to change of food and water, or the admin-
istration of oils. Afterwards feed upon wheat-flour gruel or other
light foods. The body should he warmly clothed.

Superpurgcdlon. — This is the designation of that diarrhea or flux
from the bowels that at times is induced by and follows the action of
a physic. It is accompanied by much irritation or even inflammation
of the bowels, and is always of a serious character. Although in rare
instances it follows from a usual dose of physic and where every pre-
caution has been taken, it is most likelj^ to result under the following
circumstances : Too large a dose of physic ; to giving physics to horses
suffering from pneumonia, influenza, or other debilitating diseases;
to riding or driving a horse when purging; to exposure or draughts
of cold air, or giving large quantities of cold water while the physic
is operating. There is always danger of superpurgation if a physic is
given to a horse suffering from diseases of the respiratory organs.
Small and often-repeated physics are also to be avoided, as they pro-
duce debility and great depression of the sj'stem and j^redispose to
this disorder. When a jjli^'sic is to be given we should give the horse
sloppy food until the medicine begins to operate; we must clothe the
body with a warm blanket; keej) out of draughts; give only chilled
water in small quantities. After a horse has iDurged from twelve to
twenty-four hours it can mostly be stopped or " set," as horsemen say,
by feeding on dry oats and liaj'. Should the purging continue, how-
ever, it is best treated by giving demulcent drinks — linseed tea, oat-
meal or wheat-flour gruel. After this the astringents spoken of for
diarrhea may be given. Besides this the horse is to receive brandy in
doses of from 2 to 4 ounces, with milk and eggs, four or five times a da3^

Laminitis "founder" is a frequent sequelae of superpurgation and
is to be guarded against by removing the shoes and standing the horse
on moist sawdust or some similar bedding.

Dysentery. — Williams defines dysentery, or blood}' flux, as an intes-
tinal inflammatory action of a peculiar or specific character, attended
with fever, occasional abdominal iiain, and fluid alvine discharges,
mingled witli blood or albuminous materials ; the tissue changes, which
are usually regarded as special, being situated chiefly in the minute
gland structures and inter-connective tissue of the large intestine, and
of an ulcerative or gangrenous character. To be plainer, dysentery is
characterized by coffee-colored or bloody discharges, liquid, and very
offensive in odor, and passed with much tenesmus (straining). It is
very rare in tlie horse.

Causes. — Probably tlie most common cause is keeping j^oung horses
in particular for a long time on low, wet, marshj^ pastures, without
other feed (a diarrhea of long standing sometimes terminates in dysen-
tery); exposure during cold, wet weather; decomposed foods; stag-
nant water that contains large quantities of decomposing vegetable

49

matter; low, damp, and dark stables, particularly if crowded; the
existence of some disease, as tuberculosis of the abdominal form.

Symptoms. — The initial symptom is a chill, which probably escapes
notice in the majority of instances. The discharges are offensive and
for the most part liquid, although it is common to find lumps of solid
fecal matter floating in this liquid portion ; shreds of mucous mem-
brane and blood are passed, or the evacuations may be muco-purulent;
there is much straining, and, rarely, sjTuptoms of abdominal pain; the
horse lies down a great deal ; the pulse is quickened and the tempera-
ture elevated. The appetite may remain fair, but in spite of this the
horse rai)idly loses flesh and becomes a sorry-looking object. Death
rarely follows under two to three weeks. Thirst is a prominent
symptom.

Treatment. — This is most unsatisfactory, and I am inclined to place
more dependence ujjon the care and feed than any medication that
may be adopted. First of all the horse must be placed in a dry, warm,
yet well- ventilated stable ; the skin is to receive attention by frequent
rubbings of the surface of the body, with lilankets, and bandages to
the legs. The water must be pure and given in small quantities; the
food, that which is light and easily digested. Medicinally, we must
give at first a light dose of castor oil, about one-half pint, to which has
been added 2 ounces of laudanum. The vegetable or mineral astrin-
gents are also to be given. Starch injections containing laudanum
often afford great relief. The strength must be kept uji by milk
punches, eggs, beef tea, oat-meal gruel, etc. In spite of the best care
and treatment, however, dysentery mostly proves fatal.

Hcemorrlioids — PiJes. — These are rare in horses, although more fre-
quently met with than most people suppose. Thej^ are diagnosed by
the appearance of bright-red irregular tumors after defecation, which
may remain visible at all times or be seen only when the horse is doAvn
or after passing his manure. They are mostly due to constipation,
to irritation or injuries, o'r follow from the severe straining during
dysentery. I have observed them to follow from severe labor pains
in the mare.

Treatment. — Attention must be i^aid to tlie condition of the bowels;
they should be soft, but inirging is to be avoided. The tumors should
be washed in warm water and thoroughly cleansed, after which we
must scarify them and gently but firmly squeeze out the liquid that
will be seen to follow the shallow incisions. While this treatment
maybe considered as heroic, to say the least, by medical practitioners,
yet it has invariably proven successful in my experience, no bad
results following. After thus squeezing these tumors and before
replacing through the anus, bathe the parts with some anodyne wash.
I prefer for this purpose the glycerite of tannin and laudanum in
equal parts. Mucilaginous injections into the rectum may be of
service for a few davs.

50

Enteritis is an inflammation of the mneous membrane lining the
bowels. This inflammation may extend and involve the mnsculai- or
even serous coats. From my observations enteritis is exceedingly
rare in the horse imless caused by irritants or corrosive i>oisons, or
following from inAagination, twisting of the bowels, etc. In fact,
I can not remember ever to have seen but one case of enteritis apart
from these or similar causes. It is claimed, however, by some that
enteritis may be x)roduced bj' drinking when warm large quantities of
cold water, driving through deep streams when the animal is heated,
washing the entire surface of the lx)d3" at such a time, and bj' feeding
moldy or musty foods, or keej)iug the horse in damp cellar stables.

Symptoms. — Febrile symptoms, from the onset, mark all attacks of
idiopathic enteritis. The membranes of the nose, mouth, and eyes
are congested and reddened, the mouth is hot and dry, respirations
are increased, the pulse is hard and rapid, temperature is elevated to
103° or 105° Fall. Colicky pains are continuous. The horse walks
about the stall, paws, lies down carefully, and most frequentlj- tui-ns
himself uj)on his back by the side of the stall and remains in this posi-
tion for some time. Thii*st is present. As a rule, the bowels are
sluggish oj" even entirely inactive, but "when this disease is due to
irritant foods or medicines i^urging and tymxianites may be present.
The inflammatory pulse, high temperature, continuous pain, which is
increased upon pressure, position of the horse when down, coldness
of ears and legs, etc., will enable us to dignose a case of enteritis.
Where enteritis follows as a complication of diseases before described,
the symptoms will depend upon the character of the original intestinal
disorder.

Treatment. — We must rely almost wholly upon opium iuternally.
Give 1 or 2 drams of powdered opium every three or four hours. One
dram of extract of belladonna should be added to the above doses of
opium. Calomel in 1-dram doses twice a day is also recommended.
As a rule, purgatives and enemas are not to be given; our object is to
keep the bowels as quiet as possible. Hot blankets applied to the
l)elly, or counter-irritants to abdominal walls, are ad\isable. Give
mucilaginous drinks, as linseed tea, oatmeal gruel, and starch water.
Avoid all solid foods that are in the least hard, dry, and indigestible.
If, when the sj'mjitoms of inflammation subside, tlie bowels do not act,
try to encourage this l)y means of walking exercise and iujections per
rectum. Should tliese fail a mild cathartic is indicated.

Another form of disease, described by some as enteritis, by others
us nnico-enteritis and '''■ (ipopJexij <^>f the large h on-' els," in much uiorc
common. It is perhaps the most raj)idly fatal of all l)owel diseases,
and is seen most frequentlj' in heavy draught horses. Its causes are
hard to determine, but it may follow exposure to cold storms, immers-
ing llie body in cold water, and in fact about the same causes that j)ro-
duce true enteritis. In this disease we And in the large bowels mostly

51

au extensive effusion or extravasation of blood between tlie mucous
and muscular coats, giving a bluish or black color. The intestinal
■walls are thickened by this effusion and sometimes measure from 2 to
3 inches in thickness.

The s>jiiipfo)}i.s are severe and i^ersistent x)ain, lalx>red resi)ii*ation,
rapid and ireali: pulse, profuse pei"spiration, and paleness of the visi-
ble mucous membranes. A peculiar, anxious exi^ression exists that,
once seen, is almost diagnostic. Toward the last the horse sighs,
breathes stertoroush', staggers and pitches about, and dies in a state
of delirium. The}' rarely live more than ten or twelve hours, and
often die inside of six hours.

Treatment. — This is of but little avail, since the case has mostly
made great progress before being seen. Probably the best domestic
remedy is white-oak bark tea given in large and frequently repeated
doses. Tannic acid, 1 dram, or fluid extract of ergot, 1 ounce, are
preferable, if at hand, and can be given everj* half hour until four or
five doses have been taken. Hot applicatious to the body — blankets
wrung out of hot water and sprinkled with turpentine — are to be ap-
plied frequently. Mustard water should be applied with smart fric-
tion to the legs. Could we see these cases at their inception general
blood-letting might j)rove of service.

Her)! la. — There are several different kinds of hernia? that require
notice at this j)oint, not all of which, however, produce any serious
symptoms or results. Abdominal hernije or ruptures are divided into
reducihie, irreducible, and strangidated, according to condition; and
into inguincd, scrotal, rentral, umhilicalySind diapliragmatic, according
to their situation. A hernia is reducU)Je when it can be easily
returned into the aMomen. It consists of a soft swelling, without
heat, pain, or any uneasiness, generally larger after a full meal, and
decreases in size as the bowels become empty. An irreducible hernia
is one that can not be returned into the abdomen, and j'et does not
cause any pain or uneasiness. Strangidated hernia is one where the
contents of the sac are greatly distended, or whej-e from pressure upon
the blood-vessels of the imprisoned portion the venous circulation is
checked or stopped, thereby causing extensiA'e congestion, swelling,
inflammation, and, if not relieved, gangrene of the part and death of
the animal. Hernia may be congenital and accidental or acquired.

Congenital scrotal hernia. — Not a few foals are noticed from birth
to have an enliirged scrotum, which gradually increases in size up to
about the sixth month, sometimes longer. In some instances I have
noticed the scrotum of a six-months old colt to be as large as that of
an adult stallion, and have been repeatedly asked to prescribe treat-
ment for it. This is entirely unnecessary in ninety-nine out of every
hundred cases, as this enlargement entirel}' disappears by the time
the colt has reached his second year. Any interference, medicinal or
surgical, is worse than useless. If the intestine contained within the

52

scrotum slioiild at any time become strangulated., it must then be
treated the same as in an adult horse.

Scrotal hernia is caused by dilatation of the sheath of the testicle,
combined with relaxation of the fibrous tissue surrounding the ingui-
nal ring, thus allowing the intestine to descend to the scrotum. At
first this is intermittent, appearing during work and returning when
the horse is at rest. For a long time this form of hernia may not
cause the least uneasiness or distress. In course of time, however, the
imprisoned gut becomes filled with feces, its return into the abdominal
cavity is i)revented, and it soon becomes strangulated. While the
gut is thus filling the horse often appears dull, is disinclined to move,
appetite is impaired, and there is rumbling and obstruction of the
bowels. Colicky symptoms now suiiervene. I do not wish to imply
that strangulation and its consequent train of symptoms always fol-
low in scrotal hernia, as I know of an old horse where the scrotum,
by weight of the contained gut, forms a pendulous tumor reaching
half way to the hock, and yet he has never experienced any serious
inconvenience.

Inguinal hernia is but an incomplete scrotal hernia, and, like the
latter, may exist and cause no signs of distress, or again it may become
strangulated and cause the death of the animal. Inguinal hernia is
seen mostly in stallions, next in geldings, and very rarely in the mare.
Bearing in mind that scrotal hernia is seen onlj^ in horses, we can pro-
ceed to detail the synq^torns of both strangulated, inguinal, and scrotal
hernia at the same time. When, during the existence of colicky
symptoms, we find a horse kicking with his hind feet Avliile standing,
or lying upon his back, we should look to the inguinal region and
scrotum. If scrotal hernia exists the scrotum will be enlarged and
lobulated ; by pressure we may force a portion of the contents of the
gut back into the abdomen, eliciting a gurgling sound. If we take a
gentle but firm hold upon the enlarged scrotum and then have an
assistant cause the horse to cough, the swelling will be felt to expand
and as quickly contract again.

The history of these cases will materially aid us, as the owner can
often assure us of preceding attacks of "colic," more or less severe,
that have been instantaneously relieved in some (to him) unaccount-
able manner. The colicky symptoms of these herni?e are "not diag-
nostic, but, x)robably, more closelj' resemble those of enteritis than
any other bowel diseases. Cold sweats, particularly of the scrotum
and thighs, are held by some writers to be liathognomonic.

The diagnosis can, in many cases, onl}' be made by a veterinarian,
when he has recourse to a rectal examination ; the bowels can here
be felt entering the internal al^dominal ring. If the reader can be
sure of the existence of these hernipp, he should secure the horse ujpon
its back, and, with a hand in the rectum, endeavor to catch hold of
tlie wandering bowel and pull it gently back into the cavity of the

53

abdomen. Pressure should be made upon the scrotum during this
time. I once succeeded in reducing a strangulated scrotal hernia,
after having cast the animal, l)y keeping a bag of cracked ice ui3on
the scrotum, thus condensing the imprisoned gases and causing con-
traction of the swelling. If these means fail a veterinarian must be
called to reduce the hernia by means of incising the inguinal ring,
replacing the intestines, and castrate, using clamps and performing
the "covered operation."

Ventral hernia. — In this form of hernia the protrusion is through
some accidental ox)ening or rujiture of some of the abdominal coats or
coverings. It may occur at any part of the belly except at the umbili-
cus, and is caused by kicks, blows, hooks, severe jumping or pulling,
etc. Ventral hernia is most common in i^regnant mares, and is here
due to the weight of the foetus or some degenerative changes taking
place in the abdominal coats. It is recognized by the appearance of
a swelling, at the base of which can be felt the opening or rent in the
abdominal tunics, and from the fact that the swelling containing the
intestines can be made to disappear when the animal is placed in a
favorable position.

Treatment. — In many instances there is no occasion for treatment,
and again, where the hernial sac is extensive, treatment is of no avail.
If the hernia is small we may attempt a cure by the methods to be
described in treating of umliilical hernia. If we are fortunate enough
to be jiresent when the hernia occurs, and particularly if it is not too
large, we may, by the j)roper application of a i)ad and broad bandage,
effect a perfect cure.

Umjjilical hernia is the passing of any portion of the bowel or omen-
tum through the navel, forming a "tumor" at this jioint. This is
often congenital in our animals, and is due to the imperfect closure
of the umbilicus and to the ijosition of the body. Many cases of
umbilical hernia, like inguinal and scrotal of the congenital kind, dis-
appear entirely by the time the animal reaches its second or third
year. Advancing age favors cure in these cases from the fact that
the omentum (swinging suj)port of tlie bowels) is proportionally shorter
in adults than in foals, thus lifting the intestines out of the hernial
sac and allowing the opening in the walls to close. Probably one of
the most fre(|uent causes of umbilical hernia in foals is the practice
of keeping tliem too long from their dams, causing them to fret and
worry, and to neigh or cry by the hour. The contraction of the abdom-
inat muscles and pressure of the intestines during neighing seem to
open the umbilicus and induce hernia. Accidents may cause umbil-
ical hernia in adults in the same manner as ventral hernia is produced,
though this is very rare.

Treatment. — The treatment of umbilical hernia varies much with
different practitioners. We should remember the fact that congenital
hernise are often removed with age, but probabh^ congenital umbilical

54

hernia? less frequently tliau others. Among tlie many jjlans of treat-
ment are to be mentioned the application of a pad over the tumoi-, the
pad being held in place by a l)road, tiglit bandage placed around tlie
animal's bodj'. Tlie chief objection to this is the difficulty in keeping
the pad in its place. Blisters are often applied over the swelling, and
as the skin hardens and contracts by tlie formation of scabs an artifi-
cial bandage or i^ressure is produced that at times is successful.
Another treatment that has gained considerable repute of late years
consists in first clipping off the hair over the swelling. Nitric acid is
tlien applied by a small brush, using only enough to moisten the skin.
This sets up a deep-seated adhesive inflammation, which, in veiy
many cases, closes the oj)ening in the navel. Still another plan is to
inject a solution of common salt by means of the hypodermic syringe
at three or four i)oints about the base of the swelling. This acts in
the same manner as the preceding, but in my experience is not as
effectual.

Others again, after keeping the animal fasting for a few hours, cast
and secure it upon its back; the bowel is then carefullj^ returned into
the abdomen. The skin over the opening is to be pinched up and one
or two skewers are to be run tlirough the skin from side to side as
close as j)ossible to the umbilical opening. The skewers are kept in
place by j)assing a cord around the skin between them and the abdo-
men and securely tied. Great care must be taken not to draw these
cords ioo fiylii, as this would cause a speedy slough of the skin, the
intestines would extrude, and death result. If properly applied an
adhesion is established between the skin and the umbilicus which
effectually closes the orifice.

Diaphragmatic hernia. — This consists of the passage of any of the
abdominal viscera through a rent in the diaphragm (midriff) into the
cavity of the tliorax. It is rather a rare accident and one often impos-
sible to diagnose during life. Colicky symjitoms, accompanied by
great difficulty in breathing, and the peculiar position so often
assumed (that of sitting upon the haunches), are somewhat character-
istic of this trouble, though those symptoms, as we have already seen,
may be i^resent during diseases of the stomach or anterior j)orti()n of
the bowels. Even could we pronounce, with certainty, this form of
hernia, there is little or nothing that can Ix^ done. Leading the horse
uj) a very steep gangway or causing liim to I'oar up may possibly
cause the hernial i)ortion to return to its natural position. Tliis is
not enough, however; it must be kept there.

Peritonitis is an inflammation of the serous membrane lining the
cavity of and covering the viscera contained within the abdomen. It
is very rare to see a case of idiopathic peritonitis. It is, however,
somewhat common from extension of the inflammatory action involv-
ing organs covei-ed by the peritoneum. I*eritonitis is often caused by
injuries, as iiunctured wounds of tlie abdomen, severe blows or kicks,

55

or, as is still more common, foUoAving the operation of castration. It
follows frequently from strangulated hernise, invagination, rupture
of the stomach, intestines, liver, or womb.

Sijnipto)ns. — Peritonitis is mostly preceded bj' a chill; the horse is
not disposed to move, and if comj)elled to do so moves with a stiff or
sore gait ; he paws with the front feet, and probablj' strikes at hisbelh*
with the hind ones; lies down very carefully, and as the pain is
increased while down he maintains during most of the time the stand-
ing position; he walks uneasily- about the stall. Constipation is usu-
ally present. Pressure on the belly causes acute pain, and the horse
will bite, strike, or kick at you if so disturbed; the abdomen is tucked
up; the extremities tine and cold. The temperature is higher than
normal, reaching from 102° to KM"" Fall. The pulse in peritonitis is
almost, of itself, diagnostic; it is quickened, beating from seventy to
ninety beats jyev minute, and is Jiard and icinj. This peculiarity of
the puise is characteristic of inflammation of the serous membrane,
and if occurring with colicky sjnnptoms, and, in particular, if follow-
ing any injuries, accidental or surgical, of the jperitoneum, we may
rest assured that peritonitis is present. Peritonitis in the horse is
mostly fatal when it is at all extensive. If death does not occur in a
short time, the inflammation assumes a chronic form, in which there
is an extensive effusion of water in the cavity of the belly, consti-
tuting what is known as ascites, and which, as a rule, results in death.

The iveatment of peritonitis is to be somewhat like that of enteritis.
Opium in powder, 1 to 2 drams, with calomel, one-half dram, is to be
given ever}- two, three, or four hours, and constitutes our main depend-
ence in this disease. Extensive counter-irritants over the belly, con-
sisting of mustard-plasters, turpentine stupes, or even mild blisters,
are highly recommended. Purgatives must never be given during
this complaint. Should we desire to move the bowels it can be done
by gentle enemas, though it is seldom necessary to resort even to this.

Ascites, or droi)sy of the abdomen, is mostly seen as a result of sul)-
acute or chronic peritonitis, but may be due to diseases of the liver,
kidneys, heart, or lungs. There will be found, on opening the cavity
of the belly, a large collection of yelloAvish or reddish licxuid; from a
few quarts to several gallons may be present. It may be clear in color,
though generally it is yellowish or of a red tint, and contains numer-
ous hjose flakes of coagulable h'mph.

Symptoms. — There is a slight tenderness on pressure; awkward gait
of the hind legs; the horse is dull, and may have occasional xevy slight
colicky j)ains, shown by looking back and striking at the belly with
the hind feet, Oftener, however, these colicky symptoms are absent.
Diarrhea often j)recedes death, but during the progress of the disease
the bowels are alternately constipated and loose. On percussing the
abdominal walls we find that dullness exists /o the same lieighf on both
sides of the belly; bj'" suddenly pushing or striking the abdomen Ave

56

can hear the rushing or flooding of water. If the case is an advanced
one the horse is pot-bellied to the extreme, and dropsical swellings are
seen under the belly and upon the legs.

Treatment is, as a rule, unsatisfactory. Saline cathartics, as Epsom
or Glauber salts, and diuretics, ounce doses of saltpeter, are to be
given. If a veterinarian is at hand he should withdraw the accumu-
lation of water by tapping and should then endeavor to i)revent its
recurrence (though this is almost sure to follow) l)y giving three
times a day saltpeter, 1 ounce, and iodide of i^otash, 1 dram, and by
the application of mustard or blisters over the abdominal walls.
Tonics, mineral and vegetable, are also indicated. Probably the best
tonic is one consisting of powdered sulphate of iron, gentian, and
ginger in equal parts. A heaping tablespoonful of the mixture is to
be given as a drench or mixed with the feed, twice a day. Good
nutritious foods and gentle exercise complete the treatment.

DISEASES OF THE LIVER.

This organ in the horse is but rarely the seat of disease, and when
we consider how frequently the liver of man is affected, this can not
, but appear strange to all. There is a difference of the anatomical
arrangement of the liver of the horse from that of man that may to
some extent account for this rarity of disease in the former. It is
very common to hear the would-be veterinarian assert that a horse
"has disease of his gall-bladder." He thus displays his ignorance,
as the horse has no such biliary reservoir. This absence of the gall-
bladder may account to a certain extent for his freedom from liver
diseases; as over-distension of this and the presence in it of calculi
(stones) in man is a frequent source of trouble. In domestic animals,
as in man, hot climates tend to produce diseases of the liver, just as
in cold climates lung diseases prevail. Not only are diseases of the
liver rare in horses, but they are also A'ery obscure, and in many
cases i^ass totally unobserved until after death. There are some
symptoms, however, which, when jDresent, should make us examine
the liver as carefully as jiossible. These are jaundice (yellowness of
the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, and ej^es) and the condi-
tion of the dung, it being light in color and j)asty in appearance.

Hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, maybe general or local and may
assume an acute or chronic form. The symptoms of acute hepatitis
are: Dulless; the horse is sufi'ering from some internal pain, but not
of a severe type; constipated and clay-colored dung balls, scanty and
high-colored urine, and general febrile symptoms. If lying down he
is mostly found on the left side; looks occasionally toward the right
side, which, upon close inspection, may be found to be slightly
enlarged over the posterior ribs, where pain upon pressure is also
evinced. Obscure lameness in front, of the right leg mostly, is said
by some of the best veterinary writers to be a symptom of hepatitis.

57

The horse, toward tlie last, reels or staggers in his gait and falls
backward in a fainting fit, dnring one of which he finally succninbs.
Death is sometimes due to rupture of the enveloping coat of the liver
or of some of its blood-vessels.

Among the causes that lead to this disease we must mention first the
stimulating effect of overfeeding, particularly during hot Aveather.
Those horses that are well fed and receive but little exercise — old
favorites that are being liberally fed and have passed the time of
service, pensioned heroes of years of faithful toil — these are the best
subjects for diseases of this organ. We must add to these causes the
more mechanical ones, as injuries on the right side over the liver,
worms in the liver, gall-stones in the biliary ducts, foreign bodies, as
needles or nails that have been swallowed and in their wanderings
have entered the liver, and, lastly, in some instances, the extension
of inflammation from neighboring i^arts, thus involving this organ.
Acute hepatitis may terminate in chronic inflammation, abscesses,
rupture of the liver, or may disappear, leaving behind no trace of
disease whatever.

Treatment. — This should consist, at first, of the administration of 1
ounce of Barbadoes aloes or other i^hysic. A large blister is to be
applied to the right side, letting it extend from a little behind the
girth backward to the last rib and in width about 12 to 14 inches mid-
way between the si^ine above and the middle of the belly below.
General blood-letting, if had recourse to early, must prove of much
benefit in acute inflammation of the liver. The vein in the neck —
jugular — must be opened, and from 4 to G quarts of blood may be
drawn. Saline medicines, to act on the kidneys, should follow this
treatment ; 1-ounce doses of saltpeter or muriate of ammonia, repeated
three or four times a day, are jirobably as good as any. The horse is
to be fed sx)aringly on soft food, bran-mashes chiefly. If we prove
successful and recovery takes place, see to it that the horse afterwards
gets regular exercise and that his food is not of a highly nutritious
character, or excessive.

It will, I think, be useless to attempt much of a description of
chronic Jiepatitis, the sj-mptoms of this trouble being so obscure that
the veterinary surgeon, in most cases, can scarcely hope to do more
than diagnose it by exclusion. True, if a horse has had acute hepati-
tis and remains dull for too great a length of time, with occasional
slight colicky symptoms, yellow membranes, etc., we may not fear of
being far wrong in saying that this disease has passed to the chronic
form ; but to diagnose this form of hepatitis, without any such pre-
vious knowledge of the case, is, to tell the truth, very often " guess-
work " with us.

Jaundice — Icterus — llie Yellou-s. — This is a condition caused by
the retention and absorption of bile into the blood. It was formerly
considered to be a disease of itself, but can not, I think, be accepted

58

as more thau a symptom, or at most as expressing the existence of
functional disorder of the liver. "The Yellows" is observed by look-
ing at the eyes, nose, and month, wlien it will be seen that these parts
are yellowish instead of the pale-pink color of health. In white or
light-colored horses the skin even may show this yellow tint. The
nrine is saffron-colored, the dung is of a dirty gray color, and consti-
pation is mostly present. Jaundice may be present as a sjnnptom of
almost any inflammatorj- disease. AVe know that when an animal is
"fevered" the secretions are checked, the bile is retained and
absorbed throughout the system, and yellowness of the mucous mem-
branes follows. Jaundice may also exist during the presence of sim-
ple constiiiation, liepatitis, biliary calculi, abscesses, hardening of the
liver, etc.

Treafmerif. — When jaundice exists we must endeavor to rid the
system of the excess of bile, and this is best accomplished by giving
purgatives that act \x])o\\ the liver. Calomel, 2 drams, with aloes, 7
drams, should be given. Glauber salts in handful doses once or tAvice
a day for a week is also effective. May-apple, rhubarb, castor oil,
and other cathartics that act upon the first or small bowels, may be
selected. We must be careful to see that the l)owels are kept open
by avoiding hard, dry, bulky foods.

Eupiure of the liver. — This is known to occur at times in the horse,
most frequently in old, fat horses and those that get but little exer-
cise. Horses that have suffered from chronic liver disease for years
eventually present symptoms of colic and die quite suddenly. Upon
posf-morfem examination Ave discover that the liver had ruptured.
The cicatrices or scars that are often found upon the liver lead me to
think that that organ may suffer smdJl rui)ture and yet the horse
recover from it. This result can not obtain, however, if the rent or
tear is extensive, since in sucli cases death must quickly follow from
hemorrhage, or, later, from peritonitis. Enlarged liver is particularly
liable to rupture, and it is not surprising that, when we read of this
organ weighing 55 to GO pounds, this accident occurs. The immediate
causes of ruj)ture appear to be excessive muscular exertion, sudden
distention of the abdomen with gas, or some accident, as falling or
being kicked by another horse.

The synipioms of rupture Avill dei)end upon the extent of the lacer-
ation. If slight there will be simplj' the symptoms of abdominal i^ain,
looking back to tlie sides, lying down, etc. ; if extensive the horse is
dull and dejected, has no appetite, l)reathing becomes short and
catching; he sighs or sobs, visible mucous membranes are pale, extrem-
ities cold, pulse fast, small, and Aveak or running down. Countenance
noAv shoAvs much distress, he SAveats i)rofusely, totters in his gait,
props liis legs Avide apart, reels, staggers, and falls. He may get up
again, but soon falls dead. The rapid running-doAvn pulse, paleness
of the eyes, nose, and mouth, sighing, stertorous breathing, tottering

< .-V .->: St- •': ^ K ^ >> i; ^ V, Ni iT v; :§ t^

PLATE n

The adult.

A Hoen jCo LitbocausticBaltimon

13 c) ^r s .

1 Bots in tiie stomach .

2 Bots in Mie duodenum .

OxuuT^is ciiriuda..

PI. ATE m.
SderostomcL armatum^.

Haines,del.

^scfiris TnegaLocepftjalo^.

A Hoen SCo bth, Baltimore.

59

gait, etc., are the symi)toms by Avhich we kiioAv that the animal is
dying from internal hemorrhage.

Treaimeui. — But little can be done. Opium in povrder, in doses of
2 drams every two or three hours, maj' be given, with the idea of pre-
venting as much as possible all movements of internal organs. If we
have reason to suspect internal bleeding we should give large and
frequent doses of white-oak bark tea, dram doses of tannic or gallic
acid, or the same quantity of sugar of lead, everj' half hour or hour.
Fluid extract of ergot or tincture of the chloride of iron, in ounce
doses, maj' be selected. Cold water dashed upon the right side or
injected into the rectum is highly spoken of as a means of checking
the hemorrhage.

Biliary calculi — Gall-stone.^. — These are rarely found in the horse,
but may occupy the hei^atic ducts, giving rise to jaundice and to
colicky pains. There are no absolutely diagnostic symptoms, but
should we find a horse that suffers from repeated attacks of colic,
accompanied by symptoms of violent pain, and that during or follow-
ing these attacks the animal is jaundiced, we may liazard the conjec-
ture that gall-stones are present. There is little or nothing to be done
excex)t to give medicines to overcome pain, trusting that these concre-
tions may pass on to the bowels, where, from their small size, they
will not occasion any inconvenience.

Diseases of the pancreas and spleen are so rare, or their symi^toms
so little understood, that it is impossible to write anj-thing concerning
either of these organs and their simple diseases that will convey to
the reader information from a worthy stand-point, i. e. , that of experi-
ence and observation. It is sometimes well, even for the veterinarian,
to know that he does not know. This knowledge has saved my readers
an infliction.

DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS.

By JAMES LAW, F. R. C. V. S.,
Professor of Veterinary Science, etc., in Cornell University.

The iirinaiy organs constitute the main channel through which are
excreted the nitrogenous or albuminoid iDrinciples, whether derived
directly from the food or from the muscular and other nitrogenized
tissues of the body. They constitute, besides, the channel through
which are thrown out most of the poisons, whether taken in by the
moutli or skin or develoxDcd in connection with faulty or natural
digestion, blood-forming, nutrition, or tissue destruction; or, finally,
poisons that are developed within the bod}" as the result of normal
cell-life or of the life of bacteria or other germs that have entered the
body from Vv-ithout. To a large extent, therefore, these organs are
the sanitary scavengers and purifiers of the system, and when their
functions are impaired or arrested the retained poisons quickly show
their presence in resulting disorders of the skin and connective tissue
beneath it, of the nervous system, or other organs. Nor is this influ-
ence one-sided. Scarcely an important organ of the body can suffer
derangement without entailing a corresponding disorder of the urinary
system. Nothing can be more striking than the mutual balance
maintained between the liquid secretions of the skin and kidneys dur-
ing hot and cold weather. In summer, when so much liquid exhales
through the skin as sweat, comparatively' little urine is passed,
whereas in winter, when the skin is inactive, the urine is correspond-
ingly increased. This vicarious action of skin and kidneys is usually
kept within the limits of health, but at times the draining ofC of the
water by the skin leaves too little to keej) the solids of the urine safely
in solution, and these are liable to crj'stallize out and form stone and
gravel. Similarly the passage in the sweat of some of the solids that
normally leave the bod}', dissolved in the urine, serves to irritate the
skin and produce troublesome eruptions. A disordered liver contrib-
utes to the i)roduction, under different circumstances, of an excess of
biliary coloring-matter, which stains the urine; of an excess of hip-
puric acid and allied products, which, being less soluble than urea

61

62

(tlie uorinal protluct of tissue cliango), favor the formation of stone,
of taurocliolic acid, and otlier bodies that tend, when in excess, to
destroy the blood globules and to cause irritation of the kidneys by
the resulting- haemoglobin excreted in the urine, and of glycogen too
abundant to be burned up in the system, which induces saccharine
urine (diabetes). Any disorder leading to impaired functional activ-
ity of the lungs is causative of an excess of hippurie acid and allied
bodies, of oxalic acid, of sugar, etc. , in the urine, which irritate the
kidneys even if they do not produce solid deposits in the urinary pas-
sages. Diseases of the nervous system, and notably of the base of
the brain and of the spinal cord, induce various urinary disorders,
prominent among which are diabetes, chylous urine, and albuminuria.
Certain affections, with imperfect nutrition or destructive waste of
the bony tissues, tend to charge the urine with iihosphates of lime and
magnesia, and endanger the formation of stone and gravel. In all
extensive inflammations and acute fevers the liquids of the urine are
diminished, while the solids (waste products), which should form the
urinary secretion, are increased, and the surcharged urine proves
irritant to the urinary organs or the retained waste products poison
the system at large.

Diseases of the heart and lungs, by interfering with the free onward
flow of the blood from the right side of the heart, tend to throw that
liquid back on the veins, and this backward pressure of venous blood
strongh- tends to disorders of the kidneys. Certain poisons taken with
the food and water, notably that found in magnesian limestone and
those found in irritant diuretic plants, are especially injurious to the
kidneys, as are also various cryptogams, vrhether i^resent in musty hay
or oats. The kidney's may be irritated by feeding green vegetables
covered with hoar-frost or by furnishing an excess of food rich in phos-
phates (wheat bran, beans, pease, vetches, lentils, rape-cake, cotton-
seed cake) or bj^ a privation of water which entails a concentrated
condition and high density of the urine. Exposure in cold rain or
snow storms, cold draughts of air, and damp beds are liable to fur-
ther disorder an already overworked or irrital)lo kidney. Finally,
sprains of the back and loins may cause bleeding from the kidneys
or inflammation.

The right kidnej^, weighing 23^ ounces, is shaped like a French bean,
and extends from the loins forward to beneath the heads of the last
two ribs. The left kidnej- (Plate lY) resembles a heart of cards, and
extends from the loins forward beneath the head of the last rib only.
Each consists of three distinct i^arts, («)the external (cortical) or vas-
cular part, in which the blood-vessels form elaborate capillar}^ networks
within the dilated globular sacs which form the beginnings of the secret-
ing (uriniferous) tubes and on the surface of the sinuous secreting
tubes leading from the sacs inward toward the second or medullary
l^art of the organ; (?>) the internal (medullary) part, made up in the

main of blood- vessels, lympluilu-s, aud nerves extending Ix'tween tlie
notch on the inner border of the kidney to and from the oviter vascular
portion, in which the secretion of urine is almost exclusively carried
on; and ((/) a large saccular reservoir in the center of the kidney, into
which all uriniferous tubes pour their secretions and from which the
urine is carried away through a tube y (ureter), which passes out of
thenotcli at the inner 1)order of the kidney and which opens by a valve-
closed orifice into the roof of the bladder just in front of its neck. The
bladder is a dilatable reservoir for the retention of the urine until the
discomfort of its presence causes its voluntary discharge. It is kept
closed by circular muscular fibers surrounding its neck or orifice, and
is emptied by looped muscular fibers extending in all directions for-
ward from the neck around the blind anterior end of the sac. From the
bladder the urine escapes through a dilatable tube (urethra) which
extends from the neck of the bladder backward on the floor of the pel-
vis, and in the male through the penis to its free end, where it oi)ens
through a pink conical papilla. In the mare the urethra is not more
than an inch in length, and is surrounded by the circular muscular
fibers closing the neck of the bladder. Its opening may be found
directly in the median line of the fl(X)r of the vulva, about 4i inches
from its external opening.

General symptoms. — These apjjly especially to acute inflammations
and the irritation caused l>y stone. The animal moves stiifly on the
hind limbs, straddles, and makes frequent attempts to -pass urine,
which may be in excess, deficient in amount, liable to sudden arrest
in spite of the straining, passed in driblets, or entirely suppressed.
Again, it may be modified in density or constituents. Difficulty in
making a sharp turn, or in lying down and rising with or without
groaning, dropping the back when mounted or when pinched on the
loins is suggestive of kidney disease, and so to a less extent are
swelled legs, dropsy, and diseases of the skin and nervous system.
The oiled hand introduced through the rectum may feel the bladder
beneath and detect any over-distension, swelling, tenderness, or stone.
In ponies the kidneys even may be reached.

Examinaiion of the urine. — In some cases the changes in the urine
are the sole sign of disease. In health the horse's urine is of a deep
amber color and has a strong odor. On a feed of grain and hay it may
show a uniform transparency, while on a green ration there is an
abundant white deposit of carbonate of lime. Of its morbid changes
the following are to be looked for: (1) CoJor: White from deposited
salts of lime ; bro-rni or red from blood clots or coloring matter; yellow
or orange from bile or blood-pigment; pale from excess of water, or
variously colored from vegetable ingredients (santonin makes it red,
rhubarb or senna, brown; tar or carbolic acid, green). (2) Density:
The horse's urine maybe 1.030 to 1.050, but it may greatly exceed this
in diabetes and may sink to 1.007 in diuresis. (3) Chemical re-action,

64

as ascertained by blue litmus or red test papers. The horse on vege-
table diet has alkaline urine turning red test papers blue, while in the
sucking-colt and the horse fed on flesh or on his own tissues (in star-
vation or abstinence during disease) it is acid, turning blue litmus red.
(4) Organic constituents, as when glairy from albumen coagulableby
strong nitric acid and boiling, when charged with microscopic casts of
the uriniferous tubes, with the eggs or bodies of worms, with sugar,
blood, or bile. (5) In its salts, which may crystallize out spontaneously,
or on boiling, or on the addition of chemical re-agents.

Albuminous urine in the horse is usually glairy, so that it may be
drawn out in threads, but its presence can always be tested as fol-
lows: If the liquid is opaque, it may be first passed through filter
paper; if very dense and already precipitating its salts, it may be
diluted with distilled water; add to the suspected liquid acetic acid
drop by drop until it reddens the blue litmus paper; then boil gently
in a test tube; if a precipitate is thrown down, set the tube aside to
cool and then add strong nitric acid. If the j^recipitate is not dis-
solved it is albumen; if dissolved it was probably urate or hii)i)urate
of ammonia. Albumen is normally present in advanced gestation;
abnormally it is seen in diseases in which there occurs destruction of
blood globules (anthrax, low fevers, watery states of the blood, drop-
sies), in diseases of the heart and liver which prevent the free escape
of blood from the veins and throw back venous pressure on the kid-
neys, in inflammation of the lungs and jjleurpe, and even tympany
(bloating), doubtless from the same cause, and in all congestive or
inflammatory diseases of the kidneys, acute or chronic.

Casts of the uriniferous tubes can only be seen by placing the sus-
pected urine under the microscope. They are usually very elastic
and mobile, waving about in the liquid when the cover-glass is
touched, and showing a uniform clear transparency (waxy) or entan-
gled circular epithelial cells or opaque granules or flattened red blood
globules or clear refrangent oil globules. They may be even densely
opaque from crystals of earthy salts.

Pus cells may be found in the urine associated with albumen, and
are recognized by clearing ui), when treated with acetic acid, so that
each cell shows two or three nuclei.

DIURESIS — POLYURIA — DIABETES INSIPIDUS — EXCESSIVE SECRETION

OF URINE.

This consists in an excessive secretion of a clear, watery urine of a
low speciflc gravity (1.007) with a correspondingly ardent thirst, a
rapidly advancing emaciation, and great loss of strength and spirit.

Its causes may be any agent, medicinal, alimentary, or j)oisonous,
which unduly stimulates the kidneys; the reckless administration of
diuretics, which form such a common constituent of quack horse-
powders; acrid diuretic plants in grass or hay; new oats still imper-
fectly cured; an excess of roots or other very waterj^ food; a full

65

allowance of salt to animals that have become inordinately fond of
it; but, above all, feeding on hay, grain, or bran which has not been
properly dried and has become musty and permeated by fungi. Thus
hay, straw, or oats secured in wet seasons and heating in the rick or
stack is esi^ecially injurious. Hence this malady, like coma somno-
lentum (sleepy staggers), is widespread in wet seasons, and especially
in rainy districts.

Sijmpfoms. — The horse drinks deep at every oj)portunity and passes
urine on every occasion when stopped, the discharge being x^ale,
watery, of a low density, and inodorous; in short, it contains a great
excess of water and a deficiency of the solid excretions. So great is
the quantity passed, however, that the small amount of solids in any
given specimen amounts in twenty-four hours to far more than the
normal, a fact in keeping with the rapid wasting of the tissues and
extreme emaciation. The flanks become tucked up, the fat disap-
pears, the bones and muscles stand out prominently, the skin becomes
tense and hidebound, and the hair erect, scurfy, and deficient in
luster. The eye becomes dull and sunken, the sj^irits are depressed,
the animal is weak and sluggish, sweats on the slightest exertion, and
can endure little. The subject may survive for months, or he may
die early of exhaustion. In the slighter cases, or when the cause
ceases to operate, he may make a somewhat tardy recovery.

Treatment. — This consists in stopping the ingestion of the faulty
drugs, poisons, or food, and supplying sound hay and grain free from
all taint of heating or mustiness. A liberal supply of boiled flaxseed
in the drinking water at once serves to eliminate the poison and to
sheath and protect the irritated kidneys. Tonics like sulphate or
phosphate of iron (2 drams morning and evening) and powdered gen-
tian or Peruvian bark (4 drams) help greatly by bracing the sj^stem
and hastening repair. To these may be added agents calculated to
destro}^ the fungus and eliminate its poisonous products. In that
form w^hich depends on musty food nothing acts better than large
doses of iodide of potassium (2 drams), while in other cases ci-eosote,
carbolic acid (1 dram), or oil of turpentine (4 drams) i^roperly diluted,
may be resorted to.

SACCHARINE DIABETES — DIABETES MELLITUS — GLYCOSURIA —

INOSURIA.

This is primarily a disease of the nervous system or liver rather
than of the kidneys, j^et, as the most prominent symptom is the
sweet urine, it may be treated here. Its causes are varied, but resolve
themselves largely into disorder of the liver or disorder of the brain.
Ono of the most prominent functions of the liver is the formation of
glycogen, a principle allied to grape-sugar, and passing into it by
further oxidation in the blood. This is a constant function of the
5961— HOR 3

6G

liver, but in liealtli the resulting sugar is burneu up m the circula-
tion and does not apx3ear in the urine. On the contrary, when the
sui^ply of oxygen is defective, as in certain diseases of the lungs, the
whole of the sugar does not undergo combustion and the excess is
excreted by the kidneys. Also in certain forms of enlarged liver
the amount of sugar x^roduced is more than can l>e disj^osed of in the
natural way, and it appears in tlie urine. A temporary sweetness of
the urine often occurs after a hearty meal on starchy food, but this
is due altogether to the su]oerabundant sux)ply of the sugar-forming
food, lasts for a few hours only, and has no ^pathological significance.
In many cases of fatal glycosuria the liver is found to be enlarged, or
at least congested, and it is found that the disorder can be produced
experimentally by agencies which j)roduce an increased circulation
through the liver. Thus Bernard produced glycosuria by pricking
the oblong medulla at the base of the brain close to the roots of the
pneumogastric nerve, which happens to be also the nerve center
(vaso-motor) which presides over the contractions of the minute blood-
vessels. The x)ricking and irritation of this center leads to congestion
of the liver and the excessive production of sugar. Irritation carried
to this point through the pneumogastric nerve causes saccharine
urine, and, in keeping with this, disease of the pancreas has been
found in this malady, the irritation being conveyed thence to the brain
through the i)neumogastric nerve and reflected to the liver through
the vaso-motor nerves. The same result follows the reflection of irri-
tation from other sources, as from different ganglia (corpora striata,
optic tlialami, x>ons, cerebellum, cerebrum) of the brain. Similarly
it is induced by interruption of the nervous control along the A'aso-
motor tracts, as in destruction of the upper or lower cervical sym-
pathetic ganglion, by cutting the nervous branch connecting these
two, in injury to the spinal marrow in the interval between the brain
and the second or fourth dorsal vertebra, or in disease of the coeliac
plexus, which direclt}^ iDresides over the liver. Certain chemical poi-
sons also cause saccharine urine, notably woorara, strychnia, morphia,
phosphoric acid, alcohol, ether, chloroform, quinia, ammonia, and
arsenic.

The sympfoms are ardent thirst and profuse secretion of a pale urine
of a high density (LOGO and upward), rapid loss of condition, scurfy,
unthrifty skin, costiveness or irregularity of the bowels, indigestion,
and the presence in the urine of a sweet principle, grape-sugar or ino-
site, or both. This maj^ be most i^romptly detected by touching the
tip of the tongue with a drop. Sugar may be detected simply by
adding a teaspoonf ul of liquid yeast to 4 ounces of the urine and keep-
ing it lightly stopped at a temperature of 70° to 80° F., for twelve
hours, whe)i the sugar will be found to have been changed into alco-
hol and carbon dioxide. The loss of density will give indication of
the amount of sugar transformed; thus a density of 1,035 in a urine

67

wliicli was fonuerly LOGO would indicate about 15 grains of sugar to
the fluid ounce.

Inosite or muscle-sugar, frequently present in the horse's urine, and
even replacing the glucose, is not fermentable. Its i)resence may be
indicated by its sweetness and the absence of fermentation, or by Gal-
lois' test. Evaporate the suspected urine at a gentle heat almost to
drj'uess, then add a droj) of a solution of mercuric nitrate and evapo-
rate carefully to dryness, when a 3'ellowish residue is left that is
changed on further cautious heating to a deep rose-color, which dis-
appears on cooling and reapi^ears on heating.

In advanced diabetes, dropsies in the limbs and under the chest and
bell}^, puffy, swollen eyelids, cataracts, catarrhal inflammation of the
lungs, weak, uncertain gait, and drowsiness may be noted.

Treatment is most satisfactory in cases dependent on some curable
disease of liver, pancreas, lungs, or brain. Thus, in liver diseases, a
run at j)asture in Avarm weather, or in winter a warm, sunn}^ well-
aired stable, with sufficient clothing and laxatives (sulxDhate of soda,
1 ounce daily) and alkalies (carbonate of potassium, one-fourth ounce)
may benefit. To this may be added mild blistering, cupping, or even
leeching over the last ribs. Diseases of the brain or pancreas may be
treated according to their indications. The diet should be mainly
albuminous, such as wheat-bran or middlings, pease, beans, vetches,
and milk. Indeed, an exclusive milk diet is one of the very best
remedial agencies. It may be given as skim milk or butter-milk, and
in the last case combines an anti-diabetic remedy in the lactic acid.
Under such an exclusive diet recent and mild cases are often entirely
restored, though at the exi)ense of an attack of rheumatism. Codeia,
one of the alkaloids of opium, is stronglj^-ecommended by Dr. Tj^son.
The dose for the horse would be 3 grains thrice daily. In cases in
wiiich there is manifest irritation of the brain bromide of potassium,
4 drams, or ergot, one-half ounce, may be resorted to. Salicylic acid
and salicylate of sodium have proved useful in certain cases; also
l)hosphate of sodium. Bitter tonics (especially nux vomica, one-half
dram) are useful in imj)roving the disgestion and general health.

BLOODY URINE — HEMATURIA.

As seen in the horse bloody urine is usually the direct result of
mechanical injuries, as sprains and fractures of tne loins, lacerations
of the sub-lumbar muscles (psoas), irritation caused by stone in the
kidney, ureter, bladder, or urethra. It may, however, occur with
acute congestion of the kidney, with tumors in its substance, or with
papilloma or other diseased growth in the bladder. Acrid diuretic
plants i)resent in the food may also lead to the escape of blood from
the kidney. The predisposition to this affection is, however, incom-
parably less than in the case of the ox or sheep, the difference being

68

attributed to tlie greater plasticity of the horse's blood in connection
■with the larger quantity of fibrine.

The blood may be present in small clots or in more or less intimate
admixture with the urine. Its condition may furnish some indication
as to its source ; thus, if from the kidnej^s it is more likely to be uni-
formly diffused through the urine, while as furnished b}^ the bladder
or passages clots are more likely to be present. Again, in bleeding
from the kidney, minute cylindrical clots inclosing blood globules and
formed in the uriniferous tubes can be detected under the micro-
scope. Precision also may be approximated by observing whether
there is coexisting fracture, sprain of the loins, stone or tumor in the
bladder or urethra.

The disease being mainlj^ due to direct injury, freatmentvrUl consist
first in removing such cause whenever possible, and then in applying
general and local styptics. Irritants in food must be avoided, sprains
appropriately treated, and stone in bladder or urethra removed. Then
give mucilaginous drinks (slippery elm, linseed tea) freely, and styp-
tics (tincture of chloride of iron, 3 drams; acetate of lead, one-half
dram; tannic acid, one-half dram; or oil of turpentine, 1 ounce). If
the discharge is abundant apply cold water to the loins and keep the
animal perfectly still.

HEMOGLOBINURIA — AZOTURIA — AZOTAEMIA — POISONING BY

ALBUMINOIDS.

Like diabetes, this is rather a disease of the liver and blood-forming
functions than of the kidney, but as prominent symptoms are loss of
control over the hind limbs and the passage of ropy and dark-colored
urine, the vulgar idea is that it is a disorder of the urinary organs. It
in a complex adeetion directly connected with a plethora in the blood
of nitrogenized constituents, Avith extreme nervous and muscular dis-
order and the excretion of a dense reddish or brownish urine. It is
directly connected with high feeding, especially on highly nitrogenized
food (oats, beans, pease, vetches, cotton-seed meal), and with a period
of idleness in the stall under full rations. The disease is never seen
at pasture, rarely under constant daily work, even though the feeding
be high, and the attack is usually precipitated by taking the horse
from the stable and subjecting it to exercise or work. The poisoning
is not present when taken from the stable, as the horse is likely to be
noticeably lively and spirited, but he will usually succumb under the
first hundred yards or half mile of exercise. It seems as if the aspira-
tory power of the chest under the sudden exertion and accelerated
breathing speedily drew from the gorged liver and abdominal veins
(portal) the accumulated store of nitrogenous matter in an imperfectly
oxidized or elaborated condition, and as if the blood, surcharged
with these materials, was unable to maintain the healthy functions of

69

the nerve centers and muscles. A peculiar anatomical feature of the
horse's liver doubtless contributes to this, namely, the persistence,
throughout life, of several considerable veins leading directly from the
veins of the stomach and intestines (portal veins) into the posterior
vena cava and heart.

This condition, common to foetal mammals, persists through life in
the solipeds only, among our domestic animals. In all others the
portal vein has no communication with the vena cava except through
the capillaries of the liver. With the direct channel the rich, crude
blood coming from the intestines is drawn at once into the general cir-
culation unchanged bj' the secretion in the liver and the chemical
changes therein effected. Hence this disease is peculiar to solipeds.
It has been noticed rather more frequently in mares than horses,
attributable, perhaps, to the nervous excitement attendant on heat,
and to the fact that the unmutilated mare is naturally more excitable
than the docile gelding.

Syviptoms. — ^In the milder forms this affection may appear as a lame-
ness in one limb, from indefinite cause, succeeding to some sudden
exertion and attended by a dusky-brown color of the membranes of the
eye and nose and some wincing when the last ribs are struck. The
severe forms come on after one or two days of rest on a full ration, when
the animal has been taken out and driven one hundred jjaces or more.
The fire and life with which he had left the stable suddenly give place
to dullness and oppression, as shown in hea^ang flanks, dilated nostrils,
pinched face, perspiring skin, and trembling body. The muscles of the
loins or haunch become swelled and rigid, the subject moves stififl}' or
unsteadily, crouches behind, the limbs being carried semi-flexed, and he
soon drops, unable to support himself. A\Tien down, the body and limbs
are moved convulsively, but there is no power of co-ordination of move-
ment in the muscles. The pulse and breathing are accelerated, the
eyes red with a tinge of brown, and the urine, if passed, is seen to be
highly colored, dark bi'own, red, or black, but it contains neither blood
clots nor globules. The color is mainly due to haemoglobin and other
imperfectly elaborated constituents of the blood.

It may end fatally in a few hours or days, or a recovery may ensue,
which is usually more sj^eedy and perfect if it has set in at an early
stage. In the late and tardy recoveries a partial paralysis of the hind
limbs may last for months. A frequent sequel of these tardy cases is
an extensive wasting of the muscles leading up from the front of the
stifle (those supplied by the crural nerve), and a complete inability to
stand.

The prevention of this serious affection lies in restricting the diet and
giving daily exercise when the animal is not at work. A horse that
has had one attack should never be left idle for a single day in the stall
or barn -yard. When a horse has been condemned to absolute repose
on good feeding he may have a laxative (one-half to 1 pound Glauber

70

salts), and liave graduated exercise, beginning witli a short walk and
increasing day by da3\

The treatment of the mild cases may consist in a laxative, graduated
dailj" exercise, and a daily dose of saltpeter (1 ounce). Sudden attacks
will sometimes promj)tly subside if taken on the instant and the sub-
ject kept still and calmed by a dose of bromide of potassium (4
drams) and sweet spirits of niter (1 ounce). The latter has the advan-
tage of increasing the secretion of the kidneys. In severe cases, as
a rule, it is desirable to begin treatment by a full dose of aloes (4 to 6
drams) with the above-named dose of bromide of potassium, and this
latter may be continued at intervals of four or six hours, as may be
requisite to calm the nervous excitement. Fomentations with warm
water over the loins are always useful in calming the excitable condi-
tion of the spinal cord, muscles, liver, and kidneys, and also in favor-
ing secretion from the two latter. On the second day diuretics ma}" be
resorted to, such as saltpeter, one-half ounce, and]3owdered eolchicum,
one-half dram, to be repeated twice daily. A laxative may be repeated
in three or four days should the bowels seem to demand it, and as the
nervous excitement disappears any remaining muscular weakness or
paralj'sis may be treated by one-half dram doses of n»ux vomica twice
a day and a stimulating liniment (aqua ammonia and sweet-oil in
equal proportions) rubbed on the torj)id muscles.

During the course of the disease friction to the limbs is useful, and
in the advanced xDaralytic stage the application of electricity along the
line of the affected muscles. When the i^atient can not stand he must
have a thick, soft bed, and should be turned from side to side at least
everj' twelve hours. As soon as he can be made to stand he may be
helloed ux) and even supported in a sling.

ACUTE INFLAMMATIOX OF THE KIDNEYS — ACUTE NEPHRITIS.

Inflammations of the kidneys have been differentiated widel}', accord-
ing as they were acute or chronic, parenchymatous or tubal, sui^pura-
tive or not, with increased or shrunken kidney, etc., but in a work like
the present, utility will be consulted by classing all under acute or
chronic inflamiiiaUon.

The causes of inflammation of the kidnej'S are extremely varied.
Congestion occurs from the altered and irritant products passed
through these organs during recovery from inflammations of other
organs and during fevers. This may last only during the existence of
its cause, or may jjcrsist and become aggravated. Heart disease, throw-
ing tlie blood pressure back on the veins and kidneys, is another cause.
Disease of the ureter or bladder, jjreventing the escape of urine from
the kidney and causing increased fullness and tension in its ]3elvis and
tubes, will determine inflammation. Decomposition of the detained
urine in such cases, and the ijroduction of ammonia and other irri-
tants, must also be named. The advance of bacteria upward from the

71

bladder to the kidneys is anotlier cause. The consumption in hay or
other fodder of acrid or irritant plants, including- fungi, the absorj)tion
of cantharidine from a surface blistered by Spanish flies, the reckless
administration of diuretics, the presence of stones in the kidnej^
exposure of the surface to cold and "svet, and the infliction of blows or
sprains on the loins, may contribute to its production. Liver disor-
ders which throw on the kidneys the work of excreting irritant prod-
ucts, diseases of the lungs and heart from which clots are carried, to
be arrested in the small blood-vessels of the kidnej', and injuries and
paralysis of the spinal cord, are additional causes.

The symptoms are more or less fever, manifest stiffness of the back
and straddling gait with the hind limbs, difiiculty in Ij'ing down and
rising, or in walking in a circle, the animal sometimes groaning under
the effort, arching of the loins and tucking up of the flank, looking
back at the abdomen as if from colicky i^ain, and tenderness of the
loins to pinching, especially just beneath the bony j)rocesses G inches
to one side of the median line. Urine is passed frequently, a small
quantity at a time, of a high color, and sometimes mixed with blood
or even x)us. Under the microscope it shows the microscopic casts
referred to under general symptoms. If treated by acetic acid, boil-
ing, and subsequent addition of strong nitric acid, the resulting and
persistent precixjitate indicates the amount of albumen. The legs tend
to swell from the foot up, also the dependent iDarts beneath the belly
and chest, and effusions of liquid ma}^ occur within the chest or abdo-
men. In the male animal the alternate drawing up and relaxation of
the testicles in the scrotum are suggestive, and in small horses the
oiled hand introduced into the rectum may reach the kidney and
ascertain its sensitiveness.

Treatment demands, first, the removal of any recognized cause.
Then, if the suffering and fever are high, 2 to 4 quarts of blood may
be abstracted from the jugular vein; in weak subjects or unless in
high fever this should be omitted. Next relieve the kidneys as far
as i^ossible by throwing their work on the bowels and skin. A pint
of castor oil is less likely than either aloes or salts to act on the kid-
neys. To affect the skin a warm stall and heavy clothing may be
sui)plemented by dram doses of Dover's powder. Boiled flaxseed
may be added to the drinking water, and also thrown into the rectum
as an injection, and blankets saturated with hot water should be per-
sistently applied to the loins. This may be followed by a very thin
X:)ulp of the best ground mustard made with tepid Avater, rubbed in
against the direction of the hair, and covered up with paper and a
blanket. This may be kept on for an hour, or until the skin thickens
and the hair stands erect. It maj then be rubbed or sponged off and
the blanket reaisplied. When the action of the bowels has been
started it may be kept up by a daily dose of 2 or 3 ounces of Glauber
salts.

72

During recovery a course of bitter tonics (nux vomica 1 scruple,
ground gentian root 4 drams) should be given. The patient should
also be guarded against cold, wet, and any active exertion for some
time after all active symptoms have subsided.

CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.

Chronic inflammation of the kidneys is more commonl}^ associated
with albumen and casts in the urine than the acute form, and in some
instances these conditions of the urine may be the only jjrominent
symptoms of the disease. Though it may supervene on blows, injuries,
and exposures, it is much more commonly connected with faulty con-
ditions of the sj'Stem — as indigestion, heart disease, lung or liver dis-
ease, imperfect blood formation or assimilation. In short, it is rather
the attendant on a constitutional infirmity than on a simple local
injury.

It may be associated with various forms of diseased kidney, as
shrinkage (atrophy), increase (hypertrophy), softening, red congestion,
white enlargement, etc., so that it forms a group of diseases rather
than a disease by itself.

The symptoms may include stiffness, weakness, and increased sensi-
bility of the loins, and modified secretion of urine (increase or sup-
pression), or the flow may be natural. Usually it contains albumen,
the amount furnishing a fair criterion of the gravity of the affection,
and microscopic casts, also most abundant in bad cases. Droj)sy,
manifested in swelled legs, is a significant symptom, and if the effusion
takes place along the lower line of the body, or in chest or abdomen,
the significance is increased. A scurfy, unthrifty skin, lack-luster
hair, inability to sustain severe or coutinued exertion, i)oor or irregular
appetite, loss of fat and flesh, softness of the muscles, and pallor of
the eyes and nose are equally suggestive. So are skin eruptions of
various kinds. Anyone or more of these symptoms would warrant an
examination of the urine for albumen and casts, the finding of Avhicli
signifies renal inflammation.

TreatTnent of these cases is not always satisfactory^, as the cause is
liable to be maintained in the disorders of important organs elsewhere.
If any such coincident disease of another organ or function can be
detected, that should be treated first or simultaneously with this affec-
tion of the kidneys. In all cases the building up of the general health
is important. Hence a course of tonics may be given (phosphate of
iron, 2 drams; nux vomica, 20 grains; powdered gentian root, 4 drams,
daily), or 60 drops of sulphuric acid or nitro-muriatic acid may be
given daily in the drinking water. If there is any elevated tempera-
ture of the body and tenderness of the loins, fomentations may be
applied, followed by a mustard pulp, as for acute inflammation, and
even in the absence of these indications the mustard may be resorted
to with advantage at intervals of a few days. In suppression of urine,

73

fomentations with warm water or witli infusion of digitalis leaves is a
safer resort than diuretics, and cupping over the loins may also benefit.
To apply a cup shave the skin and oil it; then take a narrow-mouthed
glass, rarefy the air within it by introducing a taper in full flame for
a second, withdraw the taper and instantly apply the mouth of the
glass to the skin and hold it closely applied till the cooling tends to
form a A^acuum in the glass and to draw up the skin, like a sucker.

As in the acute inflammation, every attention must be given to secure
warm clothing, a warm stall, and pure air.

TUMORS OF THE KIDNEYS — PARASITES.

Tumors, whether malignant or simple, would give rise to sjnnptoms
resembling some form of inflammation, and are not likely to be recog-
nized during life. To parasites of the kidney belong the eehinococcus,
the larval or bladder- worm stage of the small eehinococcus tape-woimi
of the dog; also the Cysticercus fistularis, another bladder- Avorm of an
unknown tape- worm ; but in these there is the possibility of the pas-
sage with the urine of a detached head of the bladder-worm or of'some
of its microscopic booklets, which might be found in the sediment of
the urine. So with Strongylus gigas (giant strongle), the largest of
round worms, which has been found in the kidney of the horse, and
the presence of which could only be certified by the i^assage of its
microscopic eggs or of the entire worm.

SPASM OF THE NECK OF THE BLADDER.

This affection consists in spasmodic closure of the outlet from the
bladder by tonic contraction of the circular muscular fibers. It may
be accompanied by a painful contraction of the muscles on the body
of the bladder, or if the organ is already undulj^ distended these will
be affected with temi^orary j)aral3' sis. It is most frequent in the horse,
but by no means unknown in the mare.

The causes are usually hard and continuous driving without opi)or-
tunity for passing urine, cold rain-storms, draughts of cold air when
perspiring and fatigued, the administration of Spanish fly or the appli-
cation of extensive blisters of the same, abuse of diuretics, the pres-
ence of acrid diuretic plants in the fodder, and the presence of stone
in the bladder. As most mares refuse to urinate wliile in harness,
they should be unhitched at sui talkie times for urination. Spasms
of the bowels are always attended by spasm of the bladder, hence
the free passage of water is usually a symptom of relief.

The symptoms are frequent stretching and straining to urinate,
with no result or a slight dribbling only. These vain efforts are
attended by pain and groaning. On resuming his natural position the
animal is not freed from the pain, but moves uneasily, paws, shakes
the tail, kicks at the abdomen with his hind feet, looks back to the
5961— HOR 3*

74

flank, lies down and rises, arclies the back, and attempts to urinate
as before. If the oiled hand is introduced into the rectum the greatly
distended bladder may be felt beneath, and the patient ^Yill often
shrink when it is handled.

It is important to notice that irritation of the urinar}' organs is
often present in impaction of the colon with solid matters, because
the impacted intestine under the straining of the patient is forced
backAvard into the pelvis and presses upon and irritates the bladder.
In such case*s the horse stands with his fore limbs advanced and the
hind ones stretched back beyond the natural posture, and makes fre-
quent eiforts to urinate with varying success. Unpracticed observers
naturally conclude that the secondary urinary trouble is the main and
only one, and the intestinal impaction and obstruction is too often
neglected until it is irremediable. In cases w^here the irritation has
caused spasm of the neck of the bladder and overdistention of that
organ, the mistake is still more easily made, hence it is imj)ortant in
all cases to examine for the impacted bowel, forming a bend or looj)
at the entrance of the pebds and usuall}^ toward the left side. The
impacted intestine feels soft and doughj-, and is easily indented with
the knuckles, forming a marked contrast with the tense, elastic, resil-
ient ovcrdistended bladder.

It remains to be noted that similar symptoms may be determined by
a stone, or sebaceous mass, or stricture obstructing the urethra, or in
the new-born by thickened mucus in that duct and the pressure of
hardened impacted feces in the rectum. In obstruction, the hard ini
pacted body can usually be felt hj tracing the urethra along the lower
and posterior surface of the penis and forward to the median line of
the floor of the i^elvis to the neck of the bladder. That part of tlie
urethra between the seat of obstruction and the bladder is usually
distended with urine, and feels enlarged, elastic, and fluctuating.

Treatment may be begun by taking the animal out of harness. This
failing, spread clean litter beneath the belty or turn the patient out
on the dung-heai). Some seek to establish sj'mpathetic action by
l^ouring water from one vessel into another with dribbling noise.
Others soothe and distract the attention by slow whistling. Friction
of the abdomen with wisps of straw may succeed, or it may be rubbed
with ammonia and oil. These failing, an injection of 2 ounces of
laudanum or of an infusion of 1 ounce of tobacco in water may be
tried. -In the mare the neck of the bladder is easily dilated by insert-
ing two oiled fingers and slightl}^ parting them. In the horse the oiled
hand introduced into the rectum maj^ press from before backward on
the anterior or blind end of the bladder. Finally a well-oiled gum-
elastic catheter may be entered into the urethra through the papilla
at the end of the i)enis and i)ushed on carefully until it has entered
the bladder. To effect this the penis must first be withdrawn from
its sheath, and when the advancing end of the catheter has reached

75

the bend of the urethra beueatli the anus ii must be guided forward
hy pressure with the hand, which guidance must be continued onward
into the bhidder, the oiled hand being introduced into the rectum for
this iDurxDOse. The horse catlieter, 3|- feet long and one-third inch in
diameter, may be bought of a surgical-instrument maker.

PARALYSIS OF THE BLADDER.

Parah^sis of the body of the bladder with spasm of the neck has
been described under the last heading, and may occur in the same waj^
from overdistension in tetanus, acute rheumatism, paraplegia, and
hemiplegia, in which the animal can not stretch himself to stale, and
in cystitis, affecting the body of the bladder but not the neck. In all
these cases the urine is suppressed. It also occurs as a result of
disease of the posterior end of the spinal marrow and with broken
back, and is then associated mth palsy of the tail, and it may be of
the hind limbs.

The symjjtoms are a constant dribbling of urine when the neck is
involved, the liciuid running down the inside of the thighs and irritat-
ing the skin. When the neck is unaffected the urine is retained
until the bladder is greatly overdistended, when it may be exjjelled
in a gush by the active contraction of the muscular walls of the abdo-
men; but this never empties the bladder, and the oiled hand intro-
duced through the rectum ma}' feel the soft, flabby organ still half
full of urine. This retained urine is liable to decompose and give off
ammonia, which dissolves the epithelial cells, exposing the raw
mucous membrane, and causing the worst type of cystitis. Suppres-
sion and incontinence of urine are common also to obstruction of the
urethra by stone or otherwise ; hence this source of fallacy should be
excluded by manual examination along the whole course of that duct.

Treatment is only applicable in cases in which the determining cause
can be abated. In remedial si^rains of the back or disease of the
spinal cord these must have appropriate treatment, and the urine must
be drawn off frequently with a catheter to prevent overdistension and
injury to the bladder. If the paralysis i^ersists after recovery of the
sjnnal cord, or if it continues after relief of spasm of the neck of
the bladder, apply a pulp of mustard and water over the back part
of the bellj' in front of the udder, and cover with a rug until the hair
stands erect. In the male the mustard may be applied between the
thighs from near the anus downward. Daily doses of 2 drams extract
of belladonna, or of 2 grains powdered Sijanish fly, may serve to rouse
the lost tone. These failing, a mild current of electricity^ daily may
succeed.

INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER — CYSTITIS — UROCYSTITIS.

Cystitis may be slight or severe, acute or chronic, i)artial or general.
It may be caused by abuse of diuretics, especially such as are irritat-
ing (cantharides, turpentine, copaiba, resin, etc.), by the presence of

76

a stone or gravel in the bladder, tlie irritation of a catheter or other
foreign body introduced from without, the septic ferment (bacterium)
introduced on a filthy catheter, the overdistension of the bladder by
retained urine, the extrication of ammonia from retained decomj^osing
urine, resulting in destruction of the epithelial cells and irritation of
the raw surface, and a too-concentrated and irritating urine. Tlie
application of Spanish flies or turpentine over a too-extensive surface,
sudden exposure of a perspiring and tired horse to cold or wet, and
the presence of acrid plants in the fodder may cause cj'stitis, as they
inp^y nephritis. Finally, inflammation may extend from a diseased
vagina or urethra to the bladder.

The symptoms are slight or severe colicky pains ; the animal moves
his hind feet imeasily or even kicks at the abdomen, looks around at
his flank, and may even lie down and rise frequently". More char-
acteristic are frequently repeated efforts to urinate, resulting in the
discharge of a little clear, or red, or more commonly flocculent urine,
always in jets, and accompanied by signs of pain, which persist after
the discharge, as shown in continued straining, groaning, and perhaps
in movements of the feet and tail. The penis hangs from the sheath,
or in the mare the vulva is frequently opened and closed, as after uri-
nation. The animal winces when the abdomen is pressed in the region
of the sheath or udder, and the bladder is found to be sensitive and
tender when pressed with the oiled hand introduced through the rec-
tum or vagina. In the mare the thickening of the walls of the blad-
der may be felt by introducing one finger through the urethra. The
discharged urine, which may be turbid or even oily, contains an excess
of mucus, with flat shreds of membrane, with scaly epithelial cells,
and pus corpuscles, each showing two or more nuclei when treated
with acetic acid, but there are no microscopic tubular casts, as in
nephritis. If due to stone in the bladder, that will be found on
examination through rectum or vagina.

Treatment implies, first, the removal of the cause, whether poisons
in food or as medicine, the removal of Spanish flies or other blistering
agents from the skin, or the extraction of stone or gravel. If the
urine "has been retained and decomposed it must be completely evac-
uated through a clean catheter, and the bladder thoroughly washed
out with a solution of 1 dram of borax in a quart of water. Tliis
must be repeated twice daily until the urine no longer decomposes,
because as long as ammonia is developed in the bladder the protecting
layer of epithelial cells will be dissolved and the surface kept raw
and irritable. The diet must be light (bran mashes, roots, fresh
grass), and the drink impregnated with linseed tea, or solution of
slippery-elm or marsli-mallow. The same agents may be used to
inject into the rectum, or they may even be used along with borax
and opium to inject into bladder (gum arable, 1 dram; opium, 1
dram; tepid water, 1 pint). Fomentations over the loins are often

77

of great advantage, and these may be followed or alternated with
the ai)plication of mustard, as in paralj'sis. Or the mustard maj^ be
ai)i)lied on the back j)art of the abdomen below, or between the
thighs from the anus downward. Finally, when the acute symptoms
have subsided, a daily dose of buchu 1 dram, and nux vomica one-
half dram, will serve to restore lost tone.

IRRITABLE BLADDER.

Some horses, and especially juares, show an irritability of the blad-
der and nerve centers presiding over it b}^ frequent urination in
small quantities, though the urine is not manifestly changed in char-
acter and no more than the natural amount is i)asscd in the twenty-
four hours. The disorder appears to have its source quite as fre-
quently in the generative or nervous system as in the urinary. A
troublesome and dangerous form is seen in mares, which dash off and
refuse all control bj' the rein if driven with a full bladder, but usually
13rove docile if the bladder has been emptied before hitching. In
other cases the excitement connected with getting the tail over the
reins is a powerful determining cause. The condition is marked in
many mares during the period of heat.

An oleaginous laxative (castor oil, 1 pint) will serve to remove any
cause of irritation in the digestive organs, and a careful dieting will
avoid continued irritation by acrid vegetable agents. The bladder
should be examined to see that there is no stone or other cause of irri-
tation, and the sheath and penis shovild be washed with soap-suds, any
sebaceous matter removed from the bilocular cavity at the end of the
penis, and the whole lubricated with sweet oil. Irritable mares should
be induced to urinate before they are harnessed, and those that clutch
the lines under the tail may have the tail set high by cutting the cords
on its lower surface, or it may be prevented getting over the reins \)y
having a strap carried from its free end to the breeching. Those prov-
ing troublesome when in heat may have 4-dram doses of bromide of
potassium, or they may be served by the male or castrated. Some-
times irritability may be lessened by daily doses of belladonna extract
(1 dram), or a better tone may be given to the parts by balsam copaiba
(1 dram).

DISEASED GROWTHS IN THE BLADDER.

These may be of various kinds, malignant or simi)le. In the horse
I have found villous growths from the mucous membrane especially
troublesome. They maj' be attached to the mucous membrane by a
narrow neck or by a broad base covering a great part of the organ.
The syinijtoms are frequent straining, i^assing of urine and blood Avith
occasionally gravel. An examination of the bladder with the hand in
the rectum will detect the new growth, Avhicli may be distinguished
from a hard resistant stone. In mares, in which the finger can be

78

inserted into tli3 bladder, the recognition is still more satisfactory.
The polypi attached by narrow necks may be removed by surgical
operation, but for those Avith broad attachments treatment is emi-
nently unsatisfactory.

DISCHARGE OF URINE BY THE NAVEL — PERSISTENT URACHUS.

This occurs onl}- in the new-born, and consists in the non-closure of
the natural channel (urachus), through which the urine is discharged
into the outer water-bag (allantois) in foetal life. At that early stage
of the animal existence the bladder resembles a long tube, which is
prolonged through the navel string and opens into the outermost of
the two water-bags in which the foetus floats. In this way the urine
is prevented from entering the inner water-bag (amnios), where it
v/ould mingle with the liquids, bathing the skin of the foetus and cause
irritation. At birth this channel closes up, and the urine takes the
course normal to extra-uterijie life. Imperfect closure is more fre-
quent in males than in females, because of the great length and small
caliber of the male urethra and its consequent tendencj' to obstruc-
tion. In the female there may be a discharge of a few drops only at
a time, while in the male the urine will be expelled in strong jets coin-
cidently with the contractions of the bladder and walls of the abdomen.

The first care is to ascertain if the urethra is pervious by passing a
human catheter. This determined, the open urachus may be firmly
closed by a stout waxed thread, carried witli a needle through the tis-
sues back of the opening and tied in front of it so as to inclose as little
skin as i^ossible. If a ]3ortion of the navel string remains, the tying
of tliat may be all suf&cient. It is important to tie as early as possible
so as to avoid inflammation of the navel from contact with the urine.
In summer a little carbolic acid water or tar water may be applied to
keep off the flies.

EVERSION OF THE BLADDER.

Tliis can only occur in the female. It consists in the turning of the
organ outside in through the channel of tlie urethra, so that it appears
as a red, pear-shap)ed mass hanging from the floor of the vulva and
l^rotruding externally between its lips. It may be a mass like the fist,
or it may swell up to the size of an infant's head. On examining its
upper surface the orifices of the urethra may be seen, one on each
side, a short distance behind the neck, with the urine oozing from
them drop by drop.

This displacement usually supervenes on a flaccid condition of the
bladder, the result of paralysis, over distention, or severe compression
during a difficult parturition.

The protruding organ may be washed with a solution of 1 ounce of
laudanum and a teaspoonful of carbolic acid in a quart of water, and
returned by i^ressing a smooth, rounded object into the fundus and

79

directiug it into the uretlirti, while careful X)ressure is made on the sur-
rounding liarts with the other hand. If too large and resistant it may
be wound tightly in a strip of bandage about two inches broad so as
to express the great mass of blood, and exudate and diminish the bulk
of the protruded organ so that it can be easily pushed back. This
method has the additional advantage of protecting the organ against
bruises and lacerations in the eifort made to return it. After the
return straining may be kept in check by giving laudanum (1 to 3
ounces), and by applying a truss to press upon the lips of the vulva
(see eversion of the womb). The patient should be kept in a stall a
few inches lower in front than behind, so that the action of gravity
will favor retention.

IXFLAMMATIOX OF THE URETHRA — URETHRITIS — GLEET.

This affection belongs quite as much to the generative organs, yet
it can not be entirely overlooked in a treatise on urinarj- disorders.
It maj' be induced by the same causes as cystitis (which see), bj" the
passage and temiDorarj- arrest of small sfo7ies, or gravel, by the irrita-
tion caused by foreign bodies introduced from without, b}^ blows on
the penis by sticks, stones, or by the feet of a mare which kicks while
being served, by an infecting inflammation contracted from a mare
served in the first few days after parturition, or one suffering from
leucorrhoea, by infecting matter introduced on a dirtj^ catheter, or by
the extension of inflammation from an irritated bilocular cavity filled
with hardened sebaceous matter, or from an uncleansed sheath.

The symptoms are SArelling, heat, and tenderness of the sheath and
penis, difficulty, pain, and groaning in passing urine, which is liable
to sudden temx3orary arrests in the course of a micturition, and later
a wliitish muco-i^urulent oozing from the papilla on the end of the
penis. There is a tendencj^ to erection of the penis, and in cases con-
tracted from a mare the outer surface of that organ will show more
or less extensive sores and idcers. Stallions suffering in this way will
refuse to mount, or having mounted will fail to complete the act of
coition. If an entrance is effected infection of the mare is liable to
follow.

Treatment in the early stages consists in a dose of i^hysic (aloes, 6
drams), and fomentations of warm water to the sheath and x^enis. If
there is reason to susiaect the presence of infection, inject the urethra
twice daily with borax 1 draui, water 1 quart, using it tepid. Where
the muco-purulent discharge indicates the supervention of the second
stage, a more astringent injection may be employed (nitrate of silver
20 grains, water 1 quart), and the same may be applied to the sur-
face of the penis and inside the sheath. Balsam of copaiba (1 dram
daih^) may also be given with advantage after the purulent discharge
has appeared.

Every stallion suffering from urethritis should be withheld from
service, as should mares with leucorrhoea.

80

STRICTURE OF THE URETHRA.

This is a permanent narrowing of the urethra at a given point, the
result of i^revious inflammation, caused by the passage or arrest of a
stone or gravel, by strong astringent injections in the early non-secret-
ing stages of urethritis, or by contraction of the lining membrane
occurring during the healing of ulcers in neglected inflammations of
that canal. The trouble is shown by the passage of urine in a fine
stream with straining, pain, and groahing, and by frequent painful
erections. It must be remedied bj^ mechanical dilatation, with cathe-
ters just large enough to pass with gentle force, to be inserted once a
day, and to be used of larger size as the passage will admit them.
The catheter should be kept perfectly clean, and washed in a borax
solution and well oiled before it is introduced.

URINARY CALCULI — STONE — GRAVEL.

These consist in some of the solids of the urine that have been pre-
cipitated from the urine in the form of crystals, which remain apart
as a fine powdery mass or magma, or aggregate into calculi or stones
of varying size. Their composition is therefore determined in differ-
ent animals by the salts and other constituents found dissolved in the
healthy urine, and by the additional constituents which may be thrown
off in solution in the urine in disease. In this connection it is impor-
tant to observe the following analysis of the horse's urine in health :

Water 918.5

Urea - 13.4

Uric acid and urates - _ _ 0. 1

Hippuric acid 26. 4

Lactic acid and lactates 1.0

Mucus and organic matter 23. 0

Siilpbates (alkaline) r 1.2

Phosphates (lime and soda) 0.2

Chlorides (sodium) 1.0

Carbonates (potash, magnesia, lime) 16. 0

1000. 0

The carbonate of lime, which is present in large amount in the urine
of horses fed on green fodder, is practically insoluble, and therefore
forms in the j)assages after secretion, and its microscopic rounded
crystals give the urine of such horses a milky whiteness. It is this
material which constitutes the soft, white, pultaccous mass that some-
times fills the bladder to repletion and requires to be washed out. In
liay-fed horses carbonates are still abundant, while in those mainlj'-
grain-fed they are replaced by hippurates and phosphates — the prod-
ucts of the wear of tissues — the carbonates being the result of oxida-
tion of the vegetable acids in the food. Carbonate of lime, therefore,
is a very common constituent of urinary calculi in lierbivora, and in
many cases is the most abundant constituent.

81

Oxalate of lime, like carbonate of lime, is derived from the burning
nj) of the carbonaceous matter of the food in the system, one impor-
tant factor being the less perfect oxidation of the carbon. Indeed,
Fiirstenberg and Schmidt have demonstrated on man, horse, ox, and
rabbit, that under the full play of the breathing (oxidizing) forces,
oxalic, like other organic acids, is resolved into carbonic acid. In
keei)ing with this is the observation of Lehmann that in all cases in
which man suffered from interference with the breathing, oxalate of
lime appeared in the urine. An excess of oxalate of lime in the urine
may, however, claim a different origin. Uric and hippuric acids are
found in the urine of carnivora and herbivora, respectivel}^ as the
result of the healthy wear (disassimilation) of nitrogenous tissues.
But if these products are fully oxidized they are thrown out in the
form of the more soluble urea rather than as these acids. When uric
acid out of the body is treated with peroxide of lead it is resolved into
urea, allantoine, and oxalic acid, and AYoehler and Frerrichs found
that the administration of uric acid not onlj^ increased the excretion
of urea, but also of oxalic acid. It may therefore be inferred that
oxalic acid is not produced from the carbonaceous food alone, but also
from the disintegration of the nitrogenous tissues of the body. An
important element of its j)roduction is, however, the imi^erfect pev-
formance of the breathing functions, and hence it is liable to result
from diseases of the chest (heaves, chronic bronchitis, etc.). This
is above all likely to prove the case if the subject is fed to excess
on highly carbonaceous foods (grass and green food generally, pota-
toes, etc.).

Carbonate of magnesia, another almost constant ingredient of the
urinary calculi of the horse, is formed in the same way as the car-
bonate of lime, from the excess of carbonaceous food (organic acids)
becoming oxidized into carbon dioxide, which unites with the mag-
nesia derived from the food.

The phosphates of lime and magnesia are not abundant in urinary
calculi of the horse, the phosphates being onlj^ present to excess in
the urine in two conditions: (a) when the ration is excessive and
specially rich in phosphorus (wheat bran, beans, pease, vetches, rape
cake, oil cake, cotton-seed cake); and (b) when through the morbid
destructive changes in the living tissues, and especially of the bones,
a great amount of phosphorus is given off as a waste product. Under
these conditions, hoAvever, the phosphates may contribute to the for-
mation of calculi, and this is, above all, likely if the urine is retained
in the bladder until it has undergone decomposition and given off
ammonia. The ammonia at once unites with the phosphate of mag-
nesia to form a double salt, j)hosphate of ammonia and magnesia,
which, being insoluble, is at once precipitated. The precipitation of
this salt is, however, rare in the urine of the horse, though much
more frequent in that of man and sheep.

82

These are the chief mineral constitvients of the urine which form
ingredients in tlio liorse's calculi, for though iron and manganese are
usually present it is only in minute quantities.

The excess of mineral matters in a specimen of urine unquestion-
ably contributes to tlie formation of calculi, just as a solution of such
matters out of the body is increasingly disposed to throw them down in
the form of crj'stals as it becomes more concentrated and approaches
nearer to the condition of saturation. Hence, in considering tlie
causes of calculi we can not ignore the factor of an excessive ration,
rich in mineral matters and in carbonaceous matters (the source of
carbonates and much of the oxalates), nor can we overlook the con-
centration of the urine that comes from dry food and privation of
v>^ater, or from the existence of fever which causes suspension of the
secretion of water. In these cases, at least the usual amount of solids
arc thrown off by the kidneys, and as the water is diminished there
is danger of its approaching the point of supersaturation, when the
dissolved solids must necessarily be thrown down. Hence, calculi
are more common in stabled horses fed on dry grain and hay, in those
denied a sufficiency of water or that have water supplied irregularly,
in those subjected to profuse iDerspiration (as in summer), and in
those suffering from a watery diarrhea. On the whole, calculi are
most commonly found in winter, because the horses are then on dry
feeding, but such dr}^ feeding is even more conducive to them in
summer v,dien the condition is aggravated by the abundant loss of
water by the skin.

In the same way the extreme hardness of the vv^ater in certain dis-
tricts must be looked upon as contributing to the concentration of the
urine and correspondingly to the production of stone. The carbonates,
sulphates, etc., of lime and magnesia taken in the Avater must be again
thrown out, and just in proportion as these add to the solids of the
urine they disiiose it to precipitate its least soluble constituents. Thus
the horse is very obnoxious to calculi on certain limestone soils, as
over the calcareous formations of central and western New York,
Pennsylvania, and Ohio, in America; of Norfolk, Suffolk, Derbyshire,
Shropshire, and Gloucestershire, in England; of Poitou and Landes,
in France; and Munich, in Bavaria.

But the saturation of the urine from any or all of these conditions
can only be looked on as an auxiliary cause, and not as in itself an
efficient one, except on the rarest occasions. For a more direct and
immediate cause we must look to the organic matter which forms a
large proportion of all urinary calculi. This consists of mucus, albu-
men, pus, hyaline casts of the urTniferous tubes, epithelial cells, blood,
etc., mainly agents that belong to the class of colloid or noncrystalline
bodies. A horse may live for months and years with the urine habit-
ually of a high density, and having tlie mineral constituents in excess,
without the formation of stone or gi-avel; and again one with dilute
urine of low specific gravity will have a calculus.

83

Rainey, Orel, and others furnish the exphmation. They not only
show that a colloid bodj*, like nmcus, albumen, pus, or blood, deter-
mined the i^recipitation or the ciystalline salts in tlie solution, but
they determined the precij)itation in the form of globules or spheres,
capable of developing by further deposits into calculi. Heat intensi-
fies this action of the colloids, and a colloid in a state of decomposition
is speciallj^ active. The presence, therefore, of developing fungi and
bacteria must be looked upon as active factors in causing calculi.

In looking, therefore, for the immediate causes of calculi we must
consider esx)ecially all those conditions which determine the i^resence
of albumen, blood, and excess of mucus, pus, etc., in the urine. Thus
diseases of distant organs leading to albuminuria, diseases of the kid-
neys and urinary passages causing the escape of blood or the forma-
tion of mucus or pus, become direct causes of calculi. Foreign bodies
of all kinds in the bladder or kidney have long been known as deter-
mining causes of calculi, and as forming the central nucleus. This is
now explained b}' the fact that these bodies are liable to carry bacte-
ria into the passages and thus determine decomj)ositiou, and they are
further liable to irritate the mucous membrane and become enveloped
in ji coating of mucus, x)us, and perhaps blood.

The fact that horses appear to suffer from calculi, especially on tlie
nmgnesian limestones, the same districts in which they suffer from
goiter, may be similarly explained. The unknown poison whicli jiro-
duces goiter iDresumabl}^ leads to such changes in the blood and urine
as will furnish the colloid necessary for precipitation of the urinary
salts in the form of calculi.

Classification of Urinary Calculi. — These have been named accord-
ing to the place where they are found, renal (kidney), uretral (ureter),
vesical (bladder), urethral (urethra), n^xid preputial (sheath or prepuce).
They have been otherwise named according to their most abundant
chemical constituent, carhonate of lime, oxalate of lime, and phosp)hate
of lime calculi. The stones formed of carbonates or phosphates are
usually smooth on the surface, though they may be molded into the
shape of the cavity in which they have been formed ; thus those in
the pelvis of the kidne}^ may have two or three sliort branch-like pro-
longations, while those in the bladder are round, oval, or slightly flat-
tened upon each other. Calculi containing oxalate of lime, on the
other hand, have a rough, open, cr3'stalline surface, which has gained
for them the name of mulberry calculi, from a supposed resemblance
to that fruit. These are usually covered with more or less mucus or
blood, produced by the irritation of the mucous membrane b}' their
rough surfaces. The color of calculi varies from white to yellow and
deep brown, the shades depending mainlj^ on the amount of the color-
ing matter of blood, bile, or urine Avhich they may contain.

Bcnal Calculi. — These may consist of minute, almost microscoijic,
deposits in the urinifei-ous tubes in the substance of tlie kidney, but

84

more commonly thoy are large masses and lodged in the pelvis. The
larger calculi, sometimes weighing 12 to 24 ounces, are molded in the
pelvis of the kidney into a oylindroid mass, with irregular rounded
swellings at intervals. Some have a deep brown, rough, crystalline
surface of oxalate of lime, while others have a smooth, pearly white
asiDect from carbonate of lime. A smaller calculus, which has been
called coralline, is also cylindroid, with a number of brown, rough,
crj^stalline oxalate of lime branches and whitish depressions of carbo-
nate. These vary in size from 15 grains to nearly 2 ounces. Less
frequently are found masses of very hard, brownish white, rounded,
pea-like calculi. These are smoother, but on the surface crystals of
oxalate of lime may be detected with a lens. Some renal calculi are
formed of more distinct layers, more loosely adherent to each other,
and contain an excess of "mucus but no oxalate of lime. Finally a
loose aggregation of small masses, forming a very friable calculus, is
found of all sizes within i\ie limits of the pelvis of the kidne}'. These,
too, are in the main carbonate of lime (84 to 88 per cent), and without
oxalate.

Symptoms of renal calculi are violent colicky pains appearing sud-
denly, very often in connection with exhausting work or the drawing
of speciall}^ heavy loads, and in certain cases disappearing with equal
suddenness. The nature of the colic becomes more manifest if it is
associated with stiffness of the back and hind limbs, frequent passage
of urine, and above all the passage of gravel Avith the urine, especially
at the time of the access of relief. The passage of blood and i)us in
the urine is equally significant. If the irritation of the kidney goes
on to active inflammation then the symptoms of nei^hritis are added.

Uretral Calculi. — These are so called because they are found in the
passage leading from the kidney to the bladder. They are simply
small renal calculi which have escaped from the i^elvis of the kidney
and have become arrested in the ureter. They give rise to symptoms
almost identical with those of renal calculi, with this difference, that
the colicky pains, caused by the obstruction of the ureter by the
impacted calculus, are more violent, and if the calculus passes on
into the bladder the relief is instantaneous and complet-e. If the
ureter is completely blocked for a length of time the retained urine
may give rise to destructive inflammation in the kidney, which may
end in the entire absorption of that organ, leaving only a fibrous cap-
sule containing an urinous fluid. If both the ureters are similarly
blocked the animal will die of ura^mic poisoning.

Treatment of Renal and Uretral Calculi. — This is unsatisfactory, as
it is only the small calculi that can pass through the ureters and
escape into the bladder. This may be favored by agents which will
relax the walls of the ureters by counteracting their spasm and even
lessening their tone, and by a liberal use of water and waterj^ fluids
to increase the urine and the pressure upon the calculus from behind.

85

One or two ounces of laudanum, or two drams of extract of bella-
donna, may be given and repeated as it may be necessary, the relief
of the pain being a fair criterion of the abating of the spasm. To
the same end use warm fomentations across the loins, and these
should be kept up persistently until relief is obtained. These act not
alone by soothing and relieving the spasm and inflammation, but
they also favor the freer secretion of a more Avatery urine, and thus
tend to cany off the smaller calculi. To further secure this object
give cool water freelj', and let the food be only such as contains a
large proportion of liquid, gruels, mashes, turnips, beets, apples,
pumpkins, ensilage, succulent grasses, etc. If the acute stage has
passed and the presence of the calculus is manifested only by the
frequent passage of urine with gritty particles, by stiffness of. the
loins and hind limbs and by tenderness to pressure, the most prom-
ising resort is a long run at pasture where the grasses are fresh and
succulent. The long-continued secretion of a watery urine will some-
times cause the breaking down of a calculus, as the imbibition of the
less dense fluid by the organic sponge-like framework of the calculus
causes it to swell and thus lessens its cohesion. The same end is
sought by the long-continued use of alkalies (carbonate of i^otas-
sium), and of acids (muriatic), each acting in a different way to alter
the density and cohesion of the stone. But it is only exceptionallj^
that any of these methods is entirely satisfactoiy. If inflammation
of the kidneys develops, treat as advised under that head.

Stone in the bladder. — Vesical calculus. — Cystic ccdculus. — These
may be of any size up to over a pound weight. One variety is rough
and crystalline and has a yellowish white or deep brown color. These
contain about 87 per cent carbonate of lime, the remainder being
carbonate of magnesia, oxalate of lime, and organic matter. The
phosphatic calculi are smooth and white and formed of thin concen-
tric layers of great hardness extending from the nucleus outward.
Besides the phosphate of lime these contain the carbonates of lime and
magnesia and organic matter. In some cases the bladder contains
and may be even distended by a soft pultaceous mass made up of
minute round granules of carbonates of lime and magnesia. This,
when removed and dried, makes a firm, white, and stony mass.
Sometimes this magma is condensed into a solid mass in the bladder
by reason of the binding action of the mucus and other organic mat-
ter, and then forms a conglomerate stone of nearly uniform consist-
ency and without stratification.

The symptoms of stone in the bladder are more obvious than those
of renal calculus. The rough mulberry calculi especially lead to irri-
tation of the mucous membrane and frequent passing of urine in
small quantities and often mingled with mucus or blood, or contain-
ing minute gritty particles. At times the flow is suddenly arrested,
though the animal continues to strain and the bladder is not quite

8G

emi)tied. In tlie smootli phosi^liatic variety tlie irritation is mueli
less marked, and may even be altogether absent. With the pulla-
ceous deposit in the bladder there is incontinence of nrine, Avhich
dribbles away continually and keeps the hair on the inner side of the
thighs matted with soft magma. In all cases alike the calculus may
be felt by the examination of the bladder with the oiled hand in the
rectum. The i^ear-shaped outline of the bladder can be felt beneatli,
and within it the solid oval body. It is most easily recognized if the
organ is half full of liquid, as then it is not grasped b}' the contract-
ing walls of the bladder, l)ut majO^e made to move from j)lace to place
in the liquid. If a pultaceous mass is present it has a soft, doughy
feeling, and when pressed an indentation is left.

In the mare the hard stone may be touched by the finger intro-
duced through the short urethra.

Tlie treatment of stone in the bladder consists in the removal of the
offending body. In the mare this is easily affected with the lithot-
omy forceps. These are slightlj^ warmed and oiled, and carried
forward along the floor of the passage of the vulva for 4 inches, when
the orifice of the urethra will be felt exactly in the median line.
Through this the forcejjs are gradually pushed with gentle oscillating
movement until they enter the l)ladder and strike against the hard
surface of the stone. Tlie stone is now grasped between the blades,
care being taken to include no loose fold of the mucous membrane,
and it is gradualh' withdrawn with the same careful oscillating
motions as before. Facility and safety in seizing the stone will be
greatly favored by having the bladder half full of liquid, and if nec-
essarj^ one oiled hand may be introduced into the rectum or vagina
to assist. The resulting irritation may be treated by an injection of
laudanum, 1 ounce, in a x^int of tepid water.

The removal of the stone in the horse is a inucli more difficult i^ro-
ceeding. It consists in cutting into the uretlira, just beneath the anus
and introducing the lithotomy forceps from this forward into the blad-
der, as in the mare. It is needful to distend the ui^ethra with tepid
water or to insert a sound or catheter to furnish a guide upon which
the incision maybe made, and in case of a large stone it maybe need-
ful to enlarge the x)assage by cutting in a direction upward and out-
ward with a probe-pointed knife, the back of which is slid along in
the groove of a director until it enters the bladder.

The horse may be operated upon in the standing position, being
simi)ly i)ressed against a wall by a pole passed from before backward
along the other side of the body. The tepid Avater is injected into the
end of the penis uniil it is felt to fluctuate under the j^ressure of the
flnger, in the median line over the bone just beneath the anus. The
incision is then made into the center of the fluctuating canal, and from
above downward. AVhen a sound or catheter is used as a guide it is
inserted througli tlie penis until it can be felt through the skin at the

87

point wliere the incision is to be made beneatli the anus. The skin is
then rendered tense by the thumb and fingers of the left hand i)ress-
ing on the two sides of the sound, while the right hand, armed with a
scalpel, cuts downward on to the catheter. This vertical incision into
tlie canal should escape w^ounding any important blood-vessel. It is
in making the obliquely lateral incision in the subsequent dilatation
of the urethra and neck of the bladder that sucli danger is to be
apprehended.

If the stone is too large to be extracted through the urethra it may
be broken down with the lithotrite and extracted x^iecemeal with the
forceps. The lithotrite is an instrument composed of a straight stem
bent for an inch or more to one side at its free end so as to form an
obtuse angle, and having on the same side a sliding bar moving in a
groove in the stem and oijerated by a scrcAV so that the stone may be
seized between the two blades at its free extremity and crushed again
and again into pieces small enough to extract. Extra care is required
to avoid injury to the urethra in the extraction of the angular frag-
ments, and the gravel or jjowder that can not be removed in this way
must be washed out as advised below.

When a j)ultaceous magma of carbonate of lime accumulates in the
bladder it must be washed out by injecting water tlirough a catheter
by means of a force T)ump or a funnel, shaking it uf) with the hand
introduced through the rectum and allowing the mudd}^ liquid to flow
out through the tube. This is to be rex^eated until the bladder is
empty and the water comes away clear. A catheter with a double
tube is sometimes used, the injection passing in through the one tube
and escaiDing through the other. But the advantage is more apparent
than real, as the retention of the water until the magma has been
shaken up and mixed with it hastens greatly its complete evacuation.
To prevent the formation of a new deposit any fault in feeding {dvj
grain and hay with privation of water, excess of beans, peas, wheat
bran, etc.) and disorders of stomach, liver, and lungs must be cor-
rected. Give abundance of soft drinking water, encouraging the
aninml to drink by a handful of salt dailj^; let the food be laxative,
consisting largelj^ of roots, apples, pumiDkins, ensilage, and give daily
in the drinking water a dram of carbonate of potash or soda. Pow-
dered gentian root (3 drams daily) will also serve to restore the tone
of the stomach and sj^stem at large.

Urethral calculus. — Stone in the urethra. — This is less frequent than
in cattle and sheep, owing to the larger size of the urethra in the horse
and the absence of the S -shaped curve and vermiform appendix. Tlie
calculi arrested in the urethra are never formed there, but consist of
cystic calculi Avhich have been small enough to pass through the neck
of the bladder, but too large to pass through the whole length of tlie
urethra and escape. Such calculi therefore are primarilj'- formed eitlier
in the bladder or kidney, and have the chemical composition of the

other calculi found in those organs. They may be arrested at any
jioint of the urethra, from the neck of the bladder back to the bend
of the tul>e beneath the anus, and from that point down to the extrem-
ity of the penis. I have found them most frequently in the i^apilla
on the extreme end of the penis, and immediately behind this.

The symptoms are violent straining to urinate, but without any dis-
charge, or with the escape of water in drops only. Examination of
the end of the penis will detect the swelling of the papilla or the urethra
behind it, and the presence of a hard mass in the center. A probe
inserted into the urethra will strike against the gritty calculus. If
the stone has been arrested higher up its position maj'^ be detected as
a small, hard, sensitive knot on the line of the urethra, in the median
line of the lower surface of the penis, or on the floor of the pelvis in
the median line from the neck of the bladder back t-o the bend of the
urethra beneath the anus. In any case the urethra between the neck
of the bladder and the point of obstruction is likely to be filled with
fluid, and to feel like a distended tube fluctuating on pressure.

Treatment may be begun by an attempt to extract the calculi by
manipulation of the papilla on the end of the penis. This failing, the
calculus may be seized with a pair of fine-pointed forceps and with-
drawn from the urethra; or, if necessary, a probe-pointed knife may
be inserted and the urethra slightly dilated, or even laid open, and
the stone removed. If the stone has been arrested higher up it must
be extracted by a direct incision through the walls of the urethra and
down upon the nodule. If in the free (protractile) portion of the penis,
that organ is to be withdrawn from its sheath until the nodule is exposed
and can be incised. If behind the scrotum, the incision must be made
in the median line between the thighs and directly over the nodule,
the skin having been rendered tense by the fingers and thumb of the
left hand. If the stone has been arrested in the intra-pelvic portion
of the urethra, the incision must be made beneath the anus and the
calculus extracted with forceps, as in stone in the bladder. The
wound in the urethra may be stitched up, and usually heals slowly
but satisfactorily. Healing will be favored by washing two or three
times daily with a solution of a teaspoonf ul of carbolic acid in a pint
of water.

Preputial calculus. — Calculus in the sheath or hilocular cavity. —
These are concretions in the sheath, though the term has been also
applied to the nodule of sebaceous matter which accumulates in the
blind pouches (bilocular cavity) by the sides of the papilla on the end
of the penis. Within the sheath the concretion may be a soft, cheesy-
like sebaceous matter, or a genuine calculus of carbonate, oxalate,
phosphate and sulphate of lime, carbonate of magnesia and organic
matter. These are easily removed with the fingers, after which the
sheath should be washed out with castile soap and warm water, and
smeared Avith sweet-oil.

^' \

"" m.

IT.ATK IV

^^ ^ '>^^ \^^\ ^

,t'"^

a Jbrfifyi/ for I'ri.fCJiJn/l por-h/)ri ; h,. Ifrflnlhuy /r>r- hihitltif ) ))or-tioii
f.l'pjiphi'/nJ porfimi ofthr latter- rl , /ntf/ior- of tfie pflii.s ; if',(J',
Ar-nifi offfif ppt7'i\s\ p , Bm-fteT offhp rrf.tf ■ f'fn/iinflifjiilnfn : t/f^vtpr-.

Geo Marx .ipl afler 0 Aiboval. p.669.

A Haen &Co Lithi.Baltimore

LOXOITiniNAI, SPUmoX THKOrCH KIDXKY,

PLATE V

Structure of the IGdney. Diagrammatir .
a ..Mf^dji Urny fat/er,- hBoundrn-i' xo/tf; r,C'ortical kwer, J,Kiy7ffo7i/ fi7hf:^'.f)f)ai
i/igontiie mi/nmit ofTennl papilla ;.'i,Fir.'it hrrmrh othifiur-friian . ~'t.Sem7iff 7nxnir7i
ofhif7ij'r(ifimt;.xTfiUff hrnjirji ofh7/}irratioTi.;f>.SPrtiyhtc-oUjerfing tnhp: 7,r/nrir
finnal hihvJf ; (H^sre/ifliru/ /}orfif>ri of /fpnip's loop; fj. De-sfe/ifJi'Ti// porfinii of /fen If 's
loof)/ JO.Lnop offff-n/e; U/'oni 'olutrt/ tahiilf , Ji",. MiilpifflikiJi rm-pn.sr/f, /.'iHf/u/l ar
fPT-ir;14,Br-a7tr7> .siipplpiti/; t/ir fj/onif/y)/i ; J,5ylff'f'rf7ii rcs.seJ nfthf (/lo77i4Tiih ; J^> ,
R/7i/tr/i (joi7i(/ r//rerfli ' It} f?if rap///firif's, //^Sirrfif/ht arfenjo/es cxjrning f/ii-p/tly
irinii thf rr/itiJ firtfri,-; /''i.strajf/hi a/ft>/-ioie ctnniTu/ frorrt the afferent > 'psspJ /ff' ihe
gh>/iipniTi(s^- J.9, Sfra/i/ht a7tf'7in7(' ro/ni/itj fiymi tfw fiif/i/lar-i' p7e.v//s; '^0,]?7sc//lnr
loop of ff If jjp/rinn'rls s'/Ti'ffrr-fnt rrssf-/ of'thf f//imif7-i//iis //o/'/ig fn t/7f r/i/>iff7i/-p
ple.T/7s,<''-^/'af)i/t/iTi' plf.m.s of'ffif (j7/>/itf>/-i//aj pa7t of the (•i)7-f7rnf sirhstn/ue ;
23,Cn/rina/i/ p/p.r/is oftfie ptjrfuin'dM nfFfrrein ,- ^4/,fyyr-fitYt/ jtlf. v//s oftttf A-iflriPf:
?S,Vf77/if f^tcU/tfnp, ?0'Jp/7i r/j7/imr/ fioni thornpff/n/'ifsoftfip portf.v; 'J7;Jfitfj-
/ohu/ari'piri,- ?i'i,Tp7/i T-pffifuiff t7ip I'Pmif rffffir ,- '.'!l\'e7i(ip 7fr/np.

. 1 ofp : 77if s/ta/i/-(/ pi Iff n/ 'fhp iu-i/i/i7-i/ tliirM- rpf/TPsPut tfip pfirf iff H'/u'r/t ffif
ppif/ir//iifn is fod/lpfl a7ir/ ofn g/-7i7}iihi7- itppp7i7-ti/ifjp .

Tieo Maj-x, after DArbovai p.37Z.

A Hoen&Co Lith. Baltimore

MICR OSCOPIC AXATOivIY OF KIDNE^^

PI. ATP. VI

^^ \

R.enai Glomerulus.
a,Arteri,' ofthe glorneruliMS; b.Brafic?t siipplx/iru/ thf uJfe/-e/if
i/esseL ofthe^ glom^rtdus, QAfferent i 'essel oftfie gloTnervCLp ,
(Z,^/ttery going dfrectli/ to the ccipilZar^iJ plecajs of the cortJ/'ril
svLbstftrtce.; e.CapiUary pleazi-s,- f Glomprabis .

Renal Glomerulus Avifhits afferent vessels and efferents .
a^-anx-h of'T-nuU ai-tK/vj^ b.Affi'jvTif I'essp/ ofthr
gJameruhi^, c. GUfrrtf/vjIvs, d^fferejit / 'cssp/ go
utg ircto a corpuscle; e, of'.l^/xifjigTu .

lieo Marx del. after D Arboval. p 373

A Moen&Co Lith BaHimore

MICROSCOPIC ANATOMY' OF KIDN'E^'

PLATE Vn.

PhospTijotic calculus, uric add nurZeiJS.

X 215

(mIcuIos of oocaltzte of Urn p .

©

5-\ m

'•£'/ Q

HeTvod, casts. Some deprived of
epttheUum, lU'o are d^efja^ cxjlored,
-frorrv the presence of urate, of soda, .

Straight forceps used
trvTemoving calculi,..

Haiaes del after Hurtrel D'Arboval.

A Hoen&Co bth.Bahimore

CAI.CULI AND IXST11UME^;T FOR. REMOV.VJ. ,

DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS.

By W. H. HARBAUGH, V. S., Richmond, Virginia.

Tlie organs pertaining to the respiratory function may be popularly
classed as follows: The nasal openings, or nostrils; the nasal cham-
bers, through which the air passes in the head; the sinuses in the
head, communicating with the nasal chambers; the i^harynx, common
to the functions of respiration and alimentation ; the lar^-nx, a com-
plicated structure situated at the top of the wind-pipe; the trachea,
or wind-pipe; the bronchi (into which the wind-pipe divides), two
tubes leading from the wind-pipe to the right and left lung, respec-
tively; the bronchial tubes, which penetrate and convey air to all
parts of the lungs; the lungs.

The pleurals a thin membrane that envelops the lung and is reflected
against the walls of the thoracic cavitj^ The diaphragm is a mus-
cular structure, completely separating the contents of the thoracic
cavity from those of the abdominal cavity. It is essentially a muscle
of inspiration, and the principal one. Other muscles aid in the
mechanism of respiration, but the diseases or injuries of them have
nothing to do with the class under consideration.

Just within the nasal openings the skin becomes gradually but per-
ceptibly finer, until it is succeeded by the mucous membrane; the
lino of demarkation is not always well defined. Near about the junc-
tion of the skin and membrane is a small hole, presenting the appear-
ance of having been made with a punch; this is the opening of the
nasal duct, a canal that conveys the tears from the eyes. Within
and above the nasal openings are the cavities or fissures called the
false nostrils; if the finger is inserted up into them it will be demon-
strated that the superior extremity is blind; just in this situation
there is often found a little tumor, to be described hereafter. The
nasal chambers are completely separated, the right from the left, by
a cartilaginous partition. Each nasal chamber is divided into three
continuous compartments by the two turbinated bones.

The mucous membrane lining the nasal chambers, and in fact the
entire respiratory tract, is much more delicate and more frequently
diseased than the mucous membrane of any other part of the body.

89

90

Tlie sinuses of the head are compartments which communicate with
tlie nasal chambers and are lined with a continuation of the same
membrane that lines the nasal chambers; their presence increases
the volume and modifies the form of tlie head without increasing its
weight.

The horse, in a normal condition, breathes exclusively through tlie
nostrils; no air passes through the mouth in respiration. This is
one reason why horses probably are affected oftener with colds than
other animals. The organs of respiration are more liable to dis-
ease than the organs connected with anj' other function of the animal,
and, as many of the causes can be prevented, it is both important and
I)rofitable to know and study the causes. The respiratory surface in
the lungs of the horse is estimated to be from 200 to 500 square feet.

The cause of many of the diseases of these organs may be given
under a common head, because even a simple cold, if neglected or
badl}^ treated, may run into the most complicated lung disease and
terminate fatally. In the spring and fall, when the animals are
changing their coats, there is a marked predisposition to contract
disease, and consequently care should be taken at those periods to
prevent other exciting causes.

Badly ventilated stables are a frequent source of disease. It is a
great mistake to think that country stables necessarily have purer air
than city stables. Stables on some farms are so faultily constructed
that it is almost impossible for the foul air to gain an exit. All
stables should have an unlimited supply of pure air, and be so arranged
that strong draughts can not blow directly on the animals. Hot
stables are almost always illy ventilated, and the hot stable is a cause
of disease on account of the extreme change of temperature a horse
is liable to when taken out, and extreme changes of temperature are
to be avoided as certain causes of disease. A horse taken from i)as-
ture and kept in a hot stable is almost sure to contract a cold; the
stable should be thrown open and the temperature gradually increased
in such cases, when practicable, to avoid the sudden change.

A cold, close stable is invariably damp, and is to be avoided as
much as the hot, close, and foul stable. Horses changed from a cold
to a Avarm stable are more liable to contract cold than when changed
from a warm to a cold stable. Pure air is more essential than warmth,
and this fact should be especially remembered when the stable is made
close and foul to gain the warmth. It is more economical to keep the
horse warm with blankets than to prevent the ingress of pure air in
order to make the stable warm.

Stables should be well drained and kept clean. Some farmers allow
dung to accumulate in the stalls until tliere is hardlj' sufficient room
for the liorses. This is a pernicious i)ractice, as the decomposing
organic matter evolves poisonous gases that are predisposing or excit-
ing causes of disease. When a horse is overheated it is not safe to

91

allow him to dry bj' evaijoration ; rubbing liiin dry and gradually
cooling him out is the wisest treatment. When a horse is hot — cov-
ered with sweat — it is dangerous to allow him to stand in a draught;
it is the best i)lan to walk him until his temperature moderates. In
such cases a light blanket thrown over the animal may prevent a cold.
Overwork or overexertion often causes the most fatal cases of conges-
tion of the lungs. Avoid j)rolonged or fast work when the horse is
out of condition or unaccustomed to it. Animals that have been
working out in cold rains should be dried and cooled out, and not left
to dry by evaporation. "When the temperature of the weather is at
the extreme, either of heat or cold, diseases of the organs of respira-
tion are most frequent.

It is not to be suj)posed tliat farmers can give their horses the par-
ticular attention given to valuable racing and pleasure horses, but
they can most assuredly give them common-sense care, and this will
often save the life of a valuable or useful animal. Xegiect on the j)art
of the owner is as often (x^erhai^s oftener) the cause of disease in the
horse as neglect on the part of the servant. If the owner properly
considers his interests he will study the welfare of his horses so that
he may be able to instruct the servant in details of stable manage-
ment, as it often hapi^ens that the fault on the i)art of the servant is
due to want of knowledge more than to willful neglect.

WOUNDS ABOUT THE NOSTRILS.

Wounds in this neighborhood are common, and are generally caused
by getting snagged on a nail or splinter, or by the bite of another
horse; or by getting "run. into," or b}^ running against something.
Occasionally the nostril is so badly torn and lacerated that it is impos-
sible to effect a cure without leaving the animal blemished for life,
but in the majority of instances the blemish or scar is due to the want
of conservative treatment on the x)art of the owner or attendant. As
soon as possible after the accident the parts should be brought
together and held there by stitches. If too much time is allowed to
elapse the swelling of the parts will cousiderabl}^ interfere. The skin
in this neighborhood is thin and delicate, and therefore it is easy to
insert sutures. Never cut awa}' an}" skin that may be loose and hang-
ing, or else a scar will certainly remain. Bring the parts in direct
aijposition and x)lace the stitches from a quarter to a half inch apart,
as circumstances may demand. It is not necessary- to have special
surgeons' silk and needles for this operation; good linen thread or
ordinary silk thread will answer. The wound afterwards only re-
quires to be kept clean. For this purpose it should be cleansed and
discharges washed away daily witli a solution made of carbolic acid
1 part, in water 40 parts. If the horse is inclined to rub the w'ound
against some object on account of the irritabilit^^.his head should be

92

tied by moans of two halter ropes to prevent him rubbing the wound
open. The head should be so tied about ten days, except when at
work or eating.

TUMORS WITHIN THE NOSTRILS.

As before mentioned, a small globular tumor is sometimes found
within the false nostril, under that part of the skin that is seen to puff
or rise and fall when a horse is exerted and breathing hard. These
tumors contain matter of a cheesy consistency, and are simple. If the
tumor is well opened and the matter squeezed out nature will do
the rest to perform a perfect cure. If the opening is made from the out-
side through the skin it should be at the most dependent part, but
much the best way to open the tumor is from the inside. Quiet the
animal, gently insert your finger uj) in the direction of the tumor, and
you will soon discover that it is much larger inside than it appears
to be on the outside. If necessary put a twitch on the ear of the
horse to quiet him; run the index finger of your lef thand against
the tumor; now, with the right hand, carefully insert the knife by run-
ning the back of the blade along the index finger of the left hand until
the tumor is reached; with the left index finger guide the point of the
blade quickly and surely into the tumor ; make the opening large ; there
is no danger; a little blood may flow out for awhile, but it is of no
consequence. Squeeze out the matter and keep the part clean.

COLD IN THE HEAD — CATARRH.

Catarrh means a discharge of fluid from the mucous membrane. The
form of catarrh under present consideration is at first a congestion,
followed by inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nasal
chambers — the Schneiderian or pituitary membrane, as it is specifically
termed. The inflammation usually extends to, the membrane of the
sinuses of the head and often to the membrane of the larjmx and
l)harynx, causing the complication of sore throat. Quite frequently the
membrane of the eyes is also affected, as evidenced by its congested
condition and the flow of tears down over the cheeks; the nasal duct
(spoken of before) is lined with a continuation of the same membrane^
and hence the inflammation of the membrane of the eyes is only an
extension of the disease over a continuous tract, and not a specific
disease as often supposed. The membrane of the nasal duct being
swollen, the effect of the congestion or inflammation, tlie tears can not
flow freely through it, therefore they escape from the eyes and flow
over the cheeks.

Symptoms. — The membrane at the beginning of the attack is dry,
congested and irritable; it is of a much deeper hue than natural, pink-
ish-red or red. Soon a watery discharge from the nostrils makes its
appearance; the eyes may also be more or less affected, and tears flow

93

over the cheeks. The animal has some fever, which may be easily
detected by placing the finger in the mouth, as the feeling of heat con-
veyed to the finger will be greater than natural.

To become somewhat expert in ascertaining the changes of temiDera-
ture in the horse, it is only necessary to place the finger often in the
mouths of horses known to be healthy. After you have become accus-
tomed to the warmth of the mouth of the healthy animal you will have
no difficulty in detecting a marked increase of the temi^erature. Some
veterinarians become so expert in this method of examination that
they trust to it in preference to the use of thermometers.

The animal may be dull ; he frequently emits a sort of sneezing snort,
but does not cough unless the throat is affected; he expels the air
forcibly through his nostrils very often in a manner that may be aptly
called "blowing his nose." A few days after the attack begins the
discharge from the nostrils changes from a watery to that of a thick
mvicilaginous state, of a yellowish-white color, and may be more
or less profuse. Often the appetite is lost, and the animal becomes
debilitated.

Treatment. — This disease is not serious, but inasmuch as neglect or
bad treatment may cause it to run into a dangerous complication, it
should receive proper attention. The animal should not be worked
for a few days. A few days of quiet rest, with pure air and good food,
will be of greater benefit than medication administered while the horse
is excited and exposed to draughts and changes of temperature. The
benefit derived from the inhalation of steam can not be overestimated.
This is effected by holding the horse's head over a bucketful of boil-
ing water so that the animal will be compelled to inhale steam with
every inhalation of air. Stirring the hot water with a wisp of hay
causes the steam to arise in greater abundance. By no means adopt
the pernicious method of steaming — advised by some authors and prac-
ticed by many people — by putting the head in a bag with hot water or
scalded bran. Common sense would be sufficient to condemn the
method, if those who practice it would only think. With the head so
closely confined in the bag the horse is compelled to inhale over and
over the foul air expelled from the lungs. This is malpractice on a
healthy horse, and much worse when the animal is ill, for then it has
a greater necessity for pure air.

The horse should be made to inhale steam four or five times a day,
about fifteen or tAventy minutes each time.

Particular attention should be paid to the diet. Give bran mashes,
scalded oats, linseed gruel, and grass if in season. If the horse evinces
no desii'e for this soft diet, it is well to allow any kind of food he will
eat, such as hay, oats, corn, etc.

If the animal is constipated, relieve this symptom by injections
(enemas) of warm water into the rectum (last gut) three or four times
a day, but under no circumstances administer purgative medicines.

94

For simple cases tlie foregoing is all that is required, but if the appe-
tite is lost, aud the animal appears debilitated and dull, give 3 ounces
of the solution of acetate of ammonia and 2 drams of powdered chlo-
rate of potassium diluted with a pint of water three times a day as a
drench. Be careful when giving the drench; do not pound the horse
on the gullet to make him swallow; be x)atient, and take time, and do
it right.

If the weather be cold, blanket the animal and keep him in a com-
fortable stall. If the throat is sore, treat as advised for that ailment,
to be described hereafter.

When the inflammatory symptoms subside and the appetite is not
regained, give 2 ounces each of the tincture of gentian and spirits of
nitrous ether in a pint of water, as a drench, every night and morning
for several days. If, after ten days or two weeks, the discharge from
the nostrils continues, give 1 dram of i)owdered sulphate of iron three
times a day. This may be mixed with bran and oats, if the horse
will eat it, but if he will not eat the food with the iron in it, give the
iron as a drench, dissolved in a pint of water.

It may be objected that rather more space than necessary is devoted
to this simple affection ; but when it is known that there is a ten-
dency to the extension of the trouble, and that serious complications
may ensue, the fact should be appreciated that there is every reason
why the common cold should be thoroughly understood and intelli-
gently treated in order to i^revent the more dangerous diseases.

CHRONIC CATARRH — XASAL GLEET.

This is a subacute or chronic inflammation of some part of the
membrane affected in common cold, the disease just described. It is
manifested by a persistent discharge of a thick, white, or yellowish-
white matter from one or both nostrils. The sinuses of the head are
the usual seat of the disease. The commonest cause is a neglected
or badly treated cold, and it usually follows those cases where the
horse has suffered exposure, been overworked, or has not received
proper food, and, as a consequence, has become debilitated.

Other but less frequent causes for this affection are : Fractures of
the bones that involve the membrane of the sinuses; and even blows
on the head over the sinuses, of sufficient force to rujiture blood-
vessels within. The blood thus escaping into the sinus acts as an
irritant, and sets up an inflamination. Diseased teeth often involve
a sinus, and cause a fetid discharge from the nostril. Violent cough-
ing is said to have forced particles of food into the sinus, which acted
as a cause of the disease. Tumors growing in the sinuses are known
to have caused it. It is also attributed to matter from disease of
the turbinated bones. Absorption of the bones forming the walls
of the sinuses has been caused by the pressure of pus collecting in
them, and by tumors filling up the cavity.

95

Symptoms. — The long-continued discharge, which varies in quantity
according to the attendant circumstances — the cause of the trouble
and the part affected — will invariably indicate the disease. Great
caution must be exercised when examining these cases, as horses have
been condemned as glandered when really there was nothing more
ailing them than nasal gleet. This affection is not contagious, nor is
it dangerous, although difficult to cure in some instances. In most
cases the discharge is from one nostril onl}'^, which signifies that the
sinuses on that side of the head are affected. The discharge may be
intermittent, that is, quantities may be discharged at times, and again
little or none for a day or so. The glands under and between the
bones of the lower jaw may be enlarged. The peculiar ragged-edged
ulcer of glanders is not to be found on the membrane within the nos-
trils, but occasionally sores are to be seen there. If there is any
doubt about it, you should study well the sj'mptoms of glanders to
enable you to be at least competent to form a safe opinion.

The eye on the side of the discharging nostril may have a peculiar
appearance and look smaller than its fellow. There may be an enlarge-
ment, having the appearance of a bulging out of the bone over the
part affected, between or below the eyes. The breath may be offensive,
which indicates decomi)Osition of the matter or bones, or, especially,
disease of the teeth. A diseased tooth is further indicated by the
horse holding its head to one side when eating, or dropping the food
from the mouth after partly chewing it. When you tap on the bones
between the eyes, below the ej'es and above the back teeth of the
upper jaw, a hollow drum-like sound is emitted, but if the sinus is
filled with pus or contains a large tumor the sound emitted will be the
same as if a solid substance were struck; by this means the sinus
affected may be located in some instances. The hair may be rough
over the affected i)art, or even the bone may be soft to the touch and
the i)art give somewhat to pressure, or leave an impression where it is
l^ressed uj)on with the finger.

Treatment. — The cause of the trouble must be' ascertained before
treatment is commenced. In the many cases where the animal is in
poor condition (in fact, in all cases), he should have the most nutritive
food and regular exercise. The food, or box containing it, should be
l)laced on the ground, as the dependent position of the head favors the
discharge.

The cases that do not require a surgical ox^eration must, as a rule,
have x^ersistent medical treatment. Mineral tonics are of the most
value. For eight days give the following mixture : Sulphate of iron,
3 ounces ; i)owdered nux vomica, 1 ounce ; mix and make into sixteen
powders. Give one powder mixed with the food twice a day. When
all of the foregoing has been administered the following may be tried
for eight days: Sulphate of copper, 4 ounces; powdered gentian, 6
ounces; mix and di\ide into sixteen powders. Give one on the food

96

twice a day. If the animal will not eat tlie powder on the food, put
the medicine in a pint of water in a bottle, shake well and give as a
drench. After this substitute the following: One dram of iodide of
iwtassium, dissolved in a bucketful of drinking water, one hour before
each meal. Much benefit is often derived from the effect of a blister
over the face. The ordinary fly blister plaster of the drug store mixed
with one-third its weight of lard is efi&cient. Sulphur burnt in the
stable while the animal is there to inhale its fumes is also a valuable
adjunct. Care should be taken that the fumes of the burning sulphur
are sufficiently diluted with air, so as not to suffocate the horse.
Chloride of lime sprinkled around the stall is good. Also keep a
quantity of the chloride under the hay in the manger so that the
gases will be inhaled as the horse holds his head over the hay while
eating. Keep the nostrils washed; the discharges may be washed
away for appearance sake, but squirting solutions up the nose is worse
than useless, as they do not come in contact with the diseased part.

If the nasal gleet is the result of a diseased tooth the tooth must be
removed, and the subsequent treatment will be according to indica-
tions. The operation of trephining is the best possible way to remove
the tooth in such cases, as it immediately oiDens the cavitj^ Avhich can
be attended to direct.

In all those cases of nasal gleet where sinuses contain either collec-
tions of pus or tumors, the only relief is by the trephine; and it is a
fact that, no matter how thoroughly described, this is an operation
that will be very seldom attempted by the non-professional, although
the operation is simple and attended in the majority of instances with
success. It would therefore be a useless waste of time to give the
modus operandi.

An abscess involving the turbinated bones is similar to the collec-
tion of pus in the sinuses, and must be relieved by trephining.

THICKENING OP THE MEMBRANE.

This is sometimes denoted by a chronic discharge, a snuffling in the
breathing and a contraction of the nostril. It is a result of common
cold and requires the same treatment as prescribed for nasal gleet,
viz., the sulphate of iron, sulphate of copper, iodide of potassium, etc.
The membranes of both sides may be affected, but one side only is
the rule; and the affected side may be easily detected by holding the
hand tightly over one nostril at a time. When the healthy side is
closed in this manner, the breathing through the affected side will
demonstrate a decreased caliber or an obstruction.

NASAL POLYPUS.

Tumors with narrow bases (somewhat pear-shaped) are occasion-
ally found attached to the membrane of the nasal chambers, and are

97

obstructions to breathing through the side in which they are located.
They vary much in size ; some are so small that their presence is not
manifested, while others almost completely fill up the chamber, thereby
causing a serious obstruction to the passage of air. The pedicel of the
tumor is generally attached high up in the chamber, and usually the
tumor can not be seen, but occasionally it increases in size until it pan
be observed within the nostril. Sometimes, instead of hanging down
towards the nasal opening, it falls back into the pharynx. It causes a
discharge from the nostril, a more or less noisy snuffling sound in
breathing, according to its size, a discharge of blood (if it is injured),
and sneezing.

The side that it occupies can be detected in the same way as de-
scribed for the detection of the affected side when the breathing is
obstructed by a thickened membrane.

The only relief is the removal of the polypus, which, like all other
operations, should be done by an expert when it is i^ossible to secure
one. The operation is jjerformed by grasping the base of the tumor
with suitable forceps and t^visting it round and round until it is torn
from its attachment. The resulting hemorrhage is checked by the use
of an astringent lotion, such as a solution of the tincture of iron, etc.

PHARYNGEAL POLYPUS.

This is exactly the same kind of tumor described as nasal polypus,
the only difference being in the situation. Indeed, the pedicel of the
tumor may be attached to the membrane of the nasal chamber as
before explained, or it may be attached in the fauces (opening of the
back part of the mouth), which is often the case, and by the body of
the tumor falling into the pharnyx it gets the name of pharj^ngeal
polypus. In this situation it may seriously interfere with breathing.
Sometimes it drops into the larnyx, causing the most alarming symp-
toms. The animal coughs or tries to cough, saliva flows from the
mouth, the breathing is performed with the greatest difficulty and
accompanied b}^ a loud noise ; the animal appears as if strangled and
often falls exhausted. When the tumor is coughed out of the larnyx
the animal regains quickly and soon appears as if nothing was ailing.
These sudden attacks and quick recoveries should lead to the detec-
tion of the trouble. The examination must be made by holding the
animal's mouth open with a balling iron or speculum and running
the hand back into the mouth. If the tumor is within reach it must
be removed with forceps by torsion, and the hemorrhage controlled
as before advised.

BLEEDING FROM THE NOSE.

Tliis often occurs during the course of certain diseases, viz.,
influenza, bronchitis, purpura hemorrhagica, glanders, etc. But it
5961— HOR 4

98

also occurs independent of other affections; and, as before mentioned,
is a symptom of polypus or tumor in the nose.

Injuries to the head, exertion, violent sneezing — causing a rupture
of a small blood-vessel — also induce it. Tlie bleeding is almost inva-
riably from one nostril only, and is never very serious. The blood
escapes in drops (very seldom in a stream), and is never frothy as when
the hemorrhage is from the lungs. (See "Bleeding from Lungs.")
In most cases, bathing the head and wasliing out the nostrils with cold
water are all that is necessary. If the cause is known you will be
guided according to circumstances. If the bleeding continues, pour
ice-cold water over the face, between the eyes and down over the nasal
chambers. A bag containing ice in small pieces applied to the head
is often efficient. If in spite of these measures the hemorrhage con-
tinues, try plugging the nostrils with cotton, tow, or oakum. Tie a
string around the plug before it is pushed up into the nostril, so that
it can be safely withdrawn after four or five hours. If both nostrils
are bleeding plug only one nostril at a time. If the hemorrhage is pro-
fuse and persistent give a drench composed of 1 dram of acetate of
lead dissolved in a pint of water; or 1 dram gallic acid dissolved in a
pint of water may be tried.

INFLAMMATION OP THE PHAKYNX.

As alread}^ stated, the pharynx is common to the functions of both
respiration and alimentation. From this organ the air passes into the
larynx and thence onward to the lungs. In the posterior part of
the pharynx is the superior extremitj^ of the gullet, the canal through
which the food and water pass to the stomach. Inflammation of the
pharynx is a complication of other diseases, viz. , influenza, strangles,
etc., and is probably always, more or less, complicated with inflamma-
tion of the larynx. That it may exist as an independent affection there
is no reason to doubt, but so closely do the symptoms resemble those
of laryngitis, and as the treatment is the same as for the latter disease,
it is unnecessary to give it further consideration in a separate article.

SORE THROAT — LARYNGITIS.

The larynx is situated in the space between the lower jaw bones just
back of the root of the tongue, and is retained in this position by the
windpipe, muscles, and bones to which it is attached. It may be con-
sidered as a box (somewhat depressed on each side), composed princi-
pally of cartilages and small muscles, and lined on the inside with a
continuation of the respiratory mucous membrane. Posteriorly it
opens into and is continuous with the windpipe. It is the organ of the
voice, the vocal cords being situated within it; but in the horse this
function is of little or no consequence. It dilates and contracts to a
certain extent like the nostrils, thus regulating the volume of air pass-
ing through it. The mucous membrane lining it internally is so highly

99

sensitive that if the smallest particle of food happens to drop into it
from the ijharynx the muscles instantly contract and violent coughing
ensues, which is continued until the source of irritation is ejected.
This is a wise provision of nature to prevent foreign substances gain-
ing access to the lungs. That iirojection called Adam's apple in the
neck of man is the prominent part of one of the cartilages forming
the larynx.

Inflammation of the larynx is a serious and sometimes a fatal dis-
ease, and, as before stated, is usually complicated with inflammation
of the pharynx, constituting what is i)oi)ularly known as ''sore
throat."

Symptoms. — About the first symptom noticed is the cough, followed
by a difficulty in swallowing, which ma}'^ be due to the soreness of the
membrane of the pharynx, over which the food or water must pass,
or to the pain caused by the contraction of the muscles necessary to
impel the food or water onward to the gullet ; or this same contraction
of the muscles may cause a pressure on the larynx and produce the
pain. In manj^ instances the difficulty in swallowing is so great that
the water, and in some cases the food, is returned through the nose.
The mouth is hot, and saliva dribbles from it. The glands between
the lower jaw bones and below the ears may be swollen. Pressure
on the larynx induces a violent fit of coughing. The cough is very
characteristic ; it is easilj^ seen that the animal is ' ' coughing at his
throat." The head is more or less "poked out," and has the apx)sar-
ance of being stiffly carried. The membrane in the nose becomes
red. A discharge from the nostrils soon appears. As the disease
advances, the breathing may assume a more or less noisy character;
sometimes a harsh rasping snore is emitted with every respiration,
the breathing becomes hurried, and occasionally' the animal seems
threatened with suffocation.

Treatment. — In all cases steam the nostrils as advised for cold in the
head. In bad cases cause the steam to be inhaled continuously for
hours, until relief is afforded. Have a fresh bucketful of boiling water
every fifteen or twenty minutes. In each bucketful of water put a
tablespoonful of oil of turpentine, which will be carried along -svith
the steam to the affected parts and have a beneficial effect. In mild
cases steaming the nostrils five, six, or seven times a day will suffice.

The animal should be placed in a comfortable, dry stall (a box-stall
preferred), but should have a pure atmosphere to breathe. The body
should be blanketed, and bandages applied to the legs. The diet
should consist of soft food — bran mashes, scalded oats, linseed gruel,
and, best of all, grass, if in season, which should be carried to him
as soon as cut, and a fresh supply offered often. The manger or
trough should not be too higli nor too low, but a temporary one should
be constructed at about the height ho carries his head. Having to
reach too high or too low may cause so much pain that the animal

100

would rather forego satisfying what little appetite he might have
than inflict pain by craning his head for food or water. A supply of
fresh water should be before him all the time ; he will not drink too
much, nor will the cold water hurt him. Constipation (if present)
must be relieved by enemas of warm water, administered three or
four times during the twenty-four hours.

A liniment composed of 2 ounces of olive oil and 1 ounce each of
solution of ammonia and tincture of cantharides, well shaken together,
should be thoroughly rubbed in about the throat from ear to ear, and
about 6 inches down over the windpipe and in the space between the
lower jaws. This liniment should be applied once a day for two or
three da,js.

When the animal can swallow without much difficulty, give the fol-
lowing preparation: Fluid extract hyoscyamus 1 dram, jjowdered
chlorate potassium 2 drams, simple sirup or molasses 2 ounces. Mix
all together and drench very carefully. Repeat the dose every six
hours.

If the animal is breathing with great difficulty do not attempt to
drench him, but persevere in steaming the nostrils, and dissolve 2
drams of chlorate of jDotassium in every gallon of water he will drink;
even if he can not swallow much of it (and even if it is returned through
the nostrils), it will be of some benefit as a gargle to the pharynx.

When the breathing begins to be loud great relief is afforded in
some cases by giving a drench composed of 2 drams of fluid extract
of jaborandi in half a pint of water. If benefit is derived, this
drench may be repeated four or five hours after the first dose is
given. It will cause a free flow of saliva from the mouth within
thirtj^ minutes.

In urgent cases, when sufi'ocation seems inevitable, the operation of
tracheotomy must be ijerformed. It must be admitted that this oper-
ation appears to be (to the non-professional) a very formidable one,
but as it is certainly a means of saving life where all other measures
have failed, it is the duty of the writer to describe it. To describe
this operation in words that would make it comprehensible to the
general reader is a much more difficult task than performing the oper-
ation, Avhich in the hands of the expert is one of the simplest, and
attended with less danger (from the operation itself) than any of the
special operations on organs.

The operator should be provided with a tracheotomy tube (to be
purchased from any veterinary instrument maker) and a sharp knife,
a sponge, and a bucket of clean cold water. The place to be selected
for opening the windpipe is that i^art which is found, uj^ou examina-
tion, to be least covered with muscles. Run your hand down the front
part of the windi)ipe and you maj^ easily detect the rings of cartilage
of which it is composed ; about 5 or 6 inches below the tliroat it will be
the most plainly felt. Right here, then, is the place to cut through.

101

Have an assistant liold tne animal's head still ; no necessity of putting
a twitch on the nose. Grasp your knife firmlj'^in the right hand, select
the spot to cut, and cut. Make the cut from above to below dii'cctly
on the median line on the anterior surface of the mndpipe. Do not
attempt to dissect your way in, that is too slow, it annoys the horse
and makes him restless, besides it gives a novice time to become
nervous. Make the cut about 2 inches long in the windpipe; this
necessitates cutting three or four rings. One bold, nervy stroke is
usually sufficient, but if it is necessarj^ to make several other cuts to
finish the oj)eration do not hesitate. Your intention must be to make
a hole in the windpipe sufficiently large to admit the tracheotomy' tube,
and you have not accomplished your purpose until you have done so.
It is quickly manifested when the windpiiDc is severed, the hot air
rushes out, and when air is taken in it is sucked in with a noise. A
slight hemorrhage may result (it never amounts to much), which is
easily conti*olled by washing the wound with a sponge and cold v.ater;
do not get any of the water in the windpii^e. Do not neglect to instruct
your assistant to hold the head down immediately after the Oi^era-
tion, so that the neck will be in a horizontal line. This will prevent
the blood getting into the windpipe and allow it to drop directly on the
ground. If you have the self-adjustable tube, it retains its i^lace in
the wound without further trouble after it is inserted. The other kind
requires to be secured in position hy means of two tapes or strings
tied around the neck. After the hemorrhage is somewhat abated
sponge the blood away and see that the tube is thoroughly clean, then
insert it, directing the tube downwards towards the lungs. To insure
the tube being clean, it is best to keep it immersed in a solution of 1
ounce of carbolic acid in 20 ounces of water for about thirty minutes
previous to inserting it in the windpipe.

The immediate relief this operation affords is wonderful to behold.
The animal, a few minutes before on the verge of death from suffoca-
tion, emitting a loud wheezing sound with every breath; with haggard
countenance, body swaying, i)awing, gasping, fighting for breath, is
now breathing tranquilly, and ten to one is nosing about the stall in
search of something to eat.

The tube should be removed once a day and cleaned with the carbonc
acid solution (1 to 20), and the discharge washed away from the wound
with a solution of carbolic acid, 1 part to 40 j)arts water. Several
times a day the hand should be held over the opening in the tube to
test the animal's ability to breathe through the nostrils, and as soon
as it is demonstrated that breathing can be performed in the natural
way the tube should be removed, the wound thoroughlj^ cleansed with
the carbolic acid solution (1 to 40), and closed by inserting four or five
stitches through the skin and muscle. Do not include the cartilages
of the windpipe in the stitches. Apply the carbolic acid solution to
the wound three or four times a day until healed. When the tube

102

is removed to clean it tlie lips of tlie wound may be pressed together
to ascertain whetlier or not the horse can breath through the larynx.
The use of the tube should be discontinued as soon as possible.

It is true that tracheotomy tubes are seldom to be found on farms,
and especiallj^ when most urgently required. In such instances there
is nothing left to be done but, with a strong needle, pass a wax end
or other strong string through each side of the wound, including
the cartilage of the wind-pipe, and keep the wound open by tying the
strings over the neck. The operation of tracheotomy is not always
successful in saving the animal's life, and the principal reason of this
is that it is deferred too long and the animal is beyond recovery before
it is attempted.

During the time the tube is used the other treatment advised must
not be neglected. After a few days the discharge from the nostrils
becomes thicker and more profuse. This is a good symptom and sig-
nifies that the acute stage has x)assed. At any time during the attack,
if the hoi'se becomes weak, give the following drench every four or
five hours : Spirits of nitrous ether, 2 ounces ; rectified spirits, 2 ounces ;
water, 1 pint. When the i)Ower of swallowing is regained and the i)ro-
fuse discharge of thick, yellowish-white matter from the nostrils
announces the fact of the convalescing stage, administer the follow-
ing: Tincture of the iDerchloride of iron, 1 ounce; tincture of gentian,
2 ounces; water, 1 pint. This should be given every morning and
evening for about a week or ten days. Good nutritive food must now
be given — hay, oats, and corn. Do not be in a hurry to put the ani-
mal back to work, but give plenty of time for a complete recovery.
Gentle and gradually increasing exercise may be given as soon as the
horse is able to stand it.

If abscesses form in connection with the disease they must be opened
to allow the escape of pus, but do not rashl}- plunge a knife into
swollen glands; wait until j^ou are certain the swelling contains pus.
The formation of pus may be encouraged by the constant application
of poultices for hours at a time. The best iwultice for the purpose is
made of linseed meal, with sufficient hot water to make a thick paste.
If the glands remain swollen for some time after the attack, rub well
over them an application of the following: Biniodido of mercurj^, 1
dram; lard, 1 ounce; mix well. This may be applied once every day
until the part is blistered.

Sore throat is also a symptom of other diseases, such as influenza,
strangles, purpura hemorrhagica, etc., which diseases may be consulted
under their proper headings.

After a severe attack of inflammation of the larynx the mucous
membrane may be left in a thickened condition, or an ulceration of
the part may ensue, either of which are liable to produce a chronic
cough. For the ulceration it is useless to prescribe, because it can
neither be diagnosed nor topically treated by the non-professional.

103

If a chronic cougli reniam.s after all tlie other symptoms have disap-
peared, it is advisable to give 1 dram of iodide of potassium dissolved
in a bucketful of drinking water one hour before feeding, three times a
day, for a month if necessary. Also rub in well the preparation of
iodide of mercury (as advised for the swollen glands) about the throat,
from ear to ear, and in the space betvreen the lower jaw bones. The
application may be repeated every third day until the part is blistered.

SPASM OF THE LARYNX.

This has been described by some authorities. The symptoms given
are : Sudden seizure by a violent fit of coughing ; the horse may reel
and fall, and after a few minutes recover, and be as well as ever. The
treatment recommended is: Give a pint of linseed oil and after it has
operated administer 3 drams of bromide of potassium three times a day,
dissolved in the drinking water, or give as a drench in about a half
pint of water, for a week. Then give a dram of powdered nux vomica
(either on the food or shaken with water as a drench) once a day for a
few weeks.

CROUP AND DIPHTHERIA.

Both of these diseases, it is claimed, afEect the horse. But such
cases must be rare, as veterinarians of extended exi)erience have failed
to recognize a single ease in their i)ractice. The sjnnptoms are so
much like those of inflammation of the larynx that it would be impos-
sible for the general reader to discriminate between them.

ROARING.

Horses that are affected with a chronic disease that causes a loud
unnatural noise in breathing are called "roarers." This class does
not include those affected with severe sore throat, as in these cases
the breathing is noisj^ only during the attack of the acute disease.

Roaring is caused by an obstruction to the free passage of the air
in some part of the respiratorj"^ tract. Nasal polypi, thickening of the
membrane, pharyngeal polypi, deformed bones, paralysis of the wing
of the nostril, etc., are occasional causes. The noisy breathing of
horses after having been idle and put to sudden exertion is not due to
any disease, and is onlj^ temporary. Very often a nervous, excitable
horse will make a noise for a short time when started off, generally
caused bj-^the cramped position in which the head and neck are forced,
in order to hold him back.

Many other causes may occasion temporary, intermitting, or per-
manent noisy respiration, but after all other causes are enumerated
it will be found that more than nine out of ten cases of chronic roar-
ing are caused by paralysis of the muscles of the larynx; and almost
invariably it is the muscles of the left side of the larynx that are
affected.

104

In chronic roaring the noise is made wneu the air is drawn .nto the
lungs; and only when the disease is far advanced is a sound produced
when the air is expelled, and even then it is not near so loud as during
inspiration.

In a normal condition the muscles dilate the aperture of the larynx
by moving outward the cartilage and vocal cord, allowing a sufficient
volume of air to rush through. But when the muscles are paralyzed
the cartilage and vocal cord that are nominally controlled by the
affected muscles remain stationary; therefore when the air rushes in
it meets this obstruction, and the noise is produced. When the air is
expelled from the lungs its very force pushes the cartilage and vocal
cords out, and consequently noise is not always produced in the expi-
ratory act.

The paralysis of the muscles is due to derangement of the nerve that
supplies them with energy. The muscles of both sides are not sup-
plied by the same nerve; there is a right and a left nerve, each supply-
ing its respective side. The reason why the muscles on the left side
are the ones usually paralyzed is owing to the difference in the ana-
tomical arrangement of the nerves. The left nerve is much longer
and more exposed to interference than the right nerve. This pair of
nerves is given off from its parent trunks (the pneumogastrics) after
the latter enter the chest, and consequently they are called the recur-
rent larjmgeal nerves, on account of having to recur to the larynx.

In chronic roaring there is no evidence of any disease of the larynx,
other than the wasted condition of the muscles in question. The
disease of the nerve is generally located far from the larynx. Disease
of parts contiguous to the nerve along any part of its course vasiy
interfere with its proper function. It is not really necessary for the
nerve itself to be the seat of disease; pressure upon it is sufficient;
the pressure of a tumor on the nerve is a common cause. Disease of
lymphatic glands within the chest through which the nerve passes on
its way back to the larynx is the most frequent interruption of nerv-
ous supply, and consequently roaring. When roaring becomes con-
firmed medical treatment is entirely useless, as it is impossible to
restore the wasted muscle and at the same time remove the cause of
the interruption of the nervous supply. Before the disease becomes
permanent it may be benefited by a course of iodide of potassium,
when it is caused by disease of the lymphatic glands. Electricity has
been used with indifferent success. Blistering or firing over the
larynx is of course not worthy of trial if the disease is due to inter-
ference with the nerve supply. The administration of strychnia (nux
vomica) on the ground that it is a nerve tonic, with the view of stimu-
lating the affected muscles, is treating only the result of the disease
without considering the cause, and is therefore useless. The opera-
tion of extirpating the collapsed cartilage and vocal cord is believed
to be the only relief, and as this operation is critical and can only be
performed by the skillful veterinarian, it will not be described here.

105

From the foregoing description of the disease it A\dll be seen tliat
the name "roaring," by which the disease is generally known, is only
a symptom and not the disease. Chronic roaring is also in many cases
accomj)anied by a cough. The best way to test Avhether a horse is a
" roarer " is to either make him pull a load rapidly up a hill or over
a sandy road or soft ground; or if he is a saddle horse gallop him up
a hill. The object is to make him exert himself. Some horses
require a great deal more exertion than others before the characteris-
tic sound is emitted. The greater the distance he is forced the more
he will appear exhausted if he is a roarer; in bad cases the animal
becomes utterly exhausted, the breathing is rapid and difficult, the
nostrils dilate to the fullest extent, and the animal ajjpears as if
suffocation is imminent.

An animal that is a roarer should not be used for breeding purposes,
no matter how valuable the stock. The taint is transmissible in many
instances, and there is not the least doubt in the minds of those Avho
know best that the offsj^ring whose sire or dam is a roarer is born with
an hereditary predisposition to the affection.

Grunting. — A common test used by veterinarians when examining
"the wind" of a horse is to see if he is a "grunter." This is a sound
emitted during expiration when the animal is suddenly moved, or
startled, or struck at. If he grunts he is further tested for roaring.
Grunter s are not always roarers, but as it is a common thing for a
roarer to grunt such an animal must be looked upon with suspicion
until he is thoroughly tried by pulling a load or galloped up a hill.
The test should be a severe one. Horses suffering with pleurisy, i)leu-
rodynia, or rheumatism, and other affections accompanied vnXh much
pain, will grunt when moved, or when the pain is aggravated, but
grunting under these circumstances does not justifj^ the term of
"grunter" being applied to the horse, as the grunting ceases when the
animal recovers from the disease that causes the i)ain.

I-Ii(jli hlowing. — This term is applied to a noisy breathing made by
some horses. It is distinctlj^ a nasal sound, and must not be con-
founded Avith ' ' roaring. " The sound is produced by the action of the
nostrils. It is a habit and not an unsoundness. Contrary to roaring,
when tlie animal is put to severe exertion the sound ceases. An ani-
mal that emits this sound is called a "high-blower." Some horses
have, naturally, very narrow nasal openings, and they may emit
sounds louder than usual in their breathing when exercised.

TlliisUifig is only one of the variations of the sound emitted by a
horse called a ' ' roarer, " and therefore needs no further notice, except
to remind the reader that a whistling sound may be produced during
an attack of severe sore throat or inflammation of the larynx, which
passes away with the disease that causes it.

Thick tuind. — This is another superfluous term applied to a symp-
tom. The great majority of horses called " thick- winded " belong
5961— HOR 4*

106

eitlier in tlie class called "roarers," or are affected with "lieaves,"
and therefore no separate classification is needed. Mares heavy with
foal, horses excessively fat, and those that have not been exercised
for so long that the muscular system has become unfit for work ; horses
with large bellies, and, especially, when the stomach is loaded with
coarse, fibrous, or bulky food, emit a louder sound than natural in
their breathing, and are called "thick-winded." The treatment in
such cases is obvious: "Remove the cause and the effect will cease."
AVhile it must be admitted that "thickening of the mucous mem-
brane of the finer bronchial tubes and air cells may cause the breath-
ing called "thick- winded," it must at the same time be admitted that
there is no symptom by which the condition can be distinguished
from what will hereafter be described as "heaves," by the general
reader, at least.

THE WINDPIPE.

The windpipe, or trachea, as it is technically called, is the flexible
tube that extends from the larynx, which it succeeds at the throat,
to above the base of the heart in the chest, where it terminates by
dividing into the right and left bronchi, the tubes going to the right
and left lung respectively. The windpipe is composed of about fifty
incomplete rings of cartilage united by ligaments. A muscular layer
is situated on the superior surface of the rings. Internally the tube is
lined with a continuation of the mucous membrane that lines the entire
respiratory tract, which here has ver}^ little sensibility in contrast
to that lining the larjnix, which is endowed with exc^uisite sensitiveness.

The windpipe is not subject to any si^ecial disease, but is more or
less affected during laryngitis (sore throat), influenza, bronchitis, etc.,
and requires no special treatment. The membrane may be left in a
thickened condition after these attacks. One or more of the rings
may be accidentallj^ fractured, or the tube maj^ be distorted or mal-
formed, the result of violent injury. After the operation of trache-
otomj'" it is not uncommon to find a tumor or malformation as a result
or sequel of the operation. In i^assing over this section attention is
merely called to those defects, as they require no particular attention
in the way of treatment. However, it may be stated that any one of
the before-mentioned conditions may constitute one of the causes of
noisy respiration described as "roai'ing."

GUTTURAL POUCHES.

These two sacs are not included in the organs of respiration, but
sometimes pus collects in them to an extent that considerably inter-
feres AA'ith resi^iration. They are in close x^roximity to the pharynx
and larynx, and when filled with matter the functions of the last-
named organs can not be prox)erly performed. They are situated
above the throat, and communicate with the jiharynx, as well as with

107

the cavity of the tympanum of the ear. They are peculiar to solii^eds.
Tliey contain air, except when filled Avitli pus. Their function is
unknown.

One or both guttural pouches may contain pus. The symptoms are :
Swelling on the side below the ear and an intermittent discharge of
matter from one or both nostrils, especially when the head is depressed.

The swelling is soft, and, if i:)ressed upon, matter will escape
from the nose if the head is dei^ressed. As before mentioned, these
pouches communicate with the i3harynx, and through this small ojjen-
ing matter may escape. A recovery is probable if the animal is turned
out to graze, or if he is fed from the ground, as the dependent i^osition
of the head favors the escape of matter from the i)Ouches. In addi-
tion to this, give the tonics recommended for nasal gleet. If this
treatment fails an operation must be i^erformed, which should not be
attemi)ted by anj'oue unacquainted with the anatomy of the part.

METHODS OF EXAMINATION FOR DISEASES HAVING THEIR SEAT
WITHIN THE CHEST.

To lay down a set of rules for the guidance of the general reader in
discriminating between the diiferent affections of the organs of res-
piration situated in the thoracic cavity, is a task hard to accomi)lish.
In the first place, it is presumed that the reader has no knowledge
whatever of the anatomical arrangement, and i^robably but a meager
idea of the jjhysiology of the organs, therefore the use of technical
language, which would make the task a simple one, is out of the ques-
tion. And, to one who scarcely understands the signs and laws of
health, it is difScult to convey in comprehensive language, in an arti-
cle like this, an adequate idea of the great importance attached to
signs or symptoms of disease. Then, again, the methods used for the
detection of symptoms not visible are such as require special culti-
vation of the particular senses brought into play. It will be the
endeavor of the winter, when describing the symptoms of each partic-
ular disease, to do so in such manner that a serious mistake should
not be made; but for the benefit of those who may desire a more
thorough understanding of the subject a brief review of the various
methods employed and an explanation of certain symptoms "vWll be
given here.

Pulse. — By the pulse is meant the beating of the arteries, which fol-
lows each contraction of the heart. Tlie artery usually selected in
the horse for "taking the ijulse" is the submaxillary where it winds
around the lower jaw-bone. On the inner side of the jaw-bone the
artery may be readily felt and pressed against the bone, hence its
adaptability for the purpose of detecting each peculiarity. The num-
ber of beats in a minute, the regularity, the irregularity, the strength
or feebleness, and other peculiarities are principally due to the action
of the heart.

108

In the healthy horse the average number of beats in a minute is
about forty; but in different horses the number may vary from thirt}-
five to forty-five and still be consistent with health. The breed and
temperament of an animal have mvich to do with the number of pulsa-
tions. In a thoroughbred the number of beats in a given time is gen-
erally greater than in a coarse-bred horse. The pulse is less frequent
in a dull plethoric animal than in an excitable one. The state of the
pulse should be taken when the animal is quiet and at rest. Work,
exercise, and excitement increase the number of pulsations. If the
pulse of a horse be taken while standing quietly in the stable it will
be found less frequent than when he is at pasture.

It is not within the scope of a work of this kind to give all the j)ecul-
iarities of the pulse; only a few of the most important will be noticed.
It should, however, be stated that if the reader would learn something
of the i)ulse in disease he must first become acquainted with the pulse
in health ; he must know the natural peculiarities before he can detect
the deviations caused by disease.

By a frequent pulse is meant an increased number of beats in a
given time. An infrequent pulse means the reverse. A quich pulse
refers to the time occupied by the indi^adual pulsation. The beat
may strike the finger either quicMy or slowly. Hence the pulse may
beat forty quick pulsations or forty slow pulsations in a minute.

The i)ulse is called intermitting when the beat now and then is
omitted. The omission of the beat vnsij be at the end of a given num-
ber of i)ulsations, when it is termed regularly intermittent, or it may
be irregularly intermittent.

A large pulse means that the volume is larger than usual, and a
small pulse means the opi^osite. When the artery is easily com-
pressed and conveys the feeling of emptiness it is called & feeble pulse.
When a feeling of hardness and resistance is conveyed to the finger
it is termed a hard pulse. A double pulse is when the beat seems to
give two rapid beats at once. Besides other peculiarities the pulse
may include the character of two or more of the foregoing classes.

In fever the pulse is modified, both as regards frequency and other
deviations from the normal standard. When a horse is quietly stand-
ing at rest, if the i)ulse beats fifty-five or more in a minute, fever is
present.

Temperature. — The temperature of the healthy horse ranges from
about 99i° to 101i° F. The average may be placed at about 100° F.
The temperature is subject to slight alterations by certain influences.
A high surrounding temj)erature increases the animal temperature,
and cold tlie reverse. Exercise increases it. Mares have a higher
temperature than males. Drinking cold water lowers the animal
temi^erature. It is higher in the young than in the old. The process
of digestion increases the temperature.

The most accurate method of taking the temperature is by intro-
ducing a registered clinical thermometer into the rectum. This

109

instrument can be piircliased from any dealer in surgical instruments.
Even the best made may vary somewhat from being exact, but one
sufficiently true for the i3urpose is easily obtained. It should be self-
registering. The thermometer should remain in the gut for about
three or four minutes. Before inserting it you should be sure the
mercurj^ is below the minimum temperature. The end containing
the mercury should be pushed in gently, leaving only sufficient out-
side to take hold of when you desire to withdraw it.

In describing the symptoms of "cold in the head" the method of
ascertaining an increase of temperature by placing the finger in the
mouth is referred to. The method requires considerable practice and
a delicac}^ of touch to become expert, but, when a thermometer is not
at hand, a little practice will enable a person of ordinary intelligence
to detect the existence or absence of fever.

Respiration. — In health, standing still, the horse breathes from
twelve to fifteen times a minute; work or excitement increases the
number of respirations.

The character of the breathing is changed by disease. Quick breath-
ing refers to an increased number of resi)irations, which may be due
to disease or to simple exercise. Difficult hreathing is always asso-
ciated with something abnormal, and is often a perfect guide to the
trouble. Stertorous hreatliing must not be confounded with the diffi-
cult breathing or noisy respiration of sore throat, roaring, etc. By
stertorous breathing is meant what, in the human being, is called
snoring, which is due to a relaxation of the palate and not to disease
of the part. In the horse it is generally associated with brain disease,
Avhen the consequent derangement of the nervous functions causes
the relaxation of the soft palate. Abdominal breathing is when the
ribs are kept as nearlj^ stationary as possible, and the abdominal
muscles assist to a much greater extent than natural in respiration;
the abdomen is seen to work like a bellows. In pleurisy, owing to
the pain caused by moving the ribs, this kind of breathing is always
present. Thoracic breathing is the opposite of abdominal breath-
ing— that is, the ribs rise and fall more than usual, while the abdom-
inal muscles remain fixed; this is due to abdominal pain, such as
peritonitis, etc. Irregular breathing is exemplified in "heaves,"
and often during the critical stages of acute diseases.

Secretions. — In the first stages of inflammatory disease these func-
tions are noticed with benefit. For instance, in the common cold at
the beginning of the attack the membrane mthin the nostrils is dry
and congested, which state gradually gives way to a watery discharge,
soon followed by a thick mucus. In pleurisy the surfaces are at first
dry, which can be easily ascertained by ijlacing the ear against the
chest over the affected part, when the dry surfaces of the pleural will
be heard rubbing against each other, producing a sound likened to
that of rubbing two pieces of paper one against the other. In dis-
eases of the respiratory organs the bowels are usually constipated,

110

and tlie urine becomes less in ciuautity and of a liigiier color. Tke
skin is usually hot and drj'^, buttliere are instances when perspiration
is X) refuse. At the beginning- of the attack there is generally a chill
(in most instances unnoticed by the attendant), caused by the con-
traction of the blood-vessels in the skin driving the blood internally.

Cough. — This is usually a violent effort to remove some source of
irritation in the respirator}^ tract. The dry co?/(/7i is heard during the
first stages of disease of the respiratory^ organs. In x>leurisy the
cougli is a dry one. The cough in x^leurisy is noticeable on account
of the apparent effort of the animal to supj)ress it. The moist cough
is heard when the secretions (following a dry stage) are re-established.
Cough is but a sjnnptom — the effect of a disease. Roaring, heaves,
XDleurisy, iDueumonia, etc., have a cough x^eculiar to each affection.

AuscuUaiion. — This term is applied to the method of detecting dis-
eases of the organs within the chest by listening to the sounds. Gen-
erally the ear is placed directly against tlie part, but occasionally an
instrument called the stethoscox)e is emxjloyed. The former is the
best mode for horses. In order to gain any satisfaction or knowledge
by the practice of this method the reader must first become familiar
with the sounds in a healthy horse, wliich can only be learned by prac-
tice. Much more x)ractice and knowledge are then required to discrim-
inate i^roperly between abnormal sounds and their significance.

Percussion. — As api)lied to the x)racticeof medicine this term refers
to the act of striking on some x)art of the bod}^ to determine the condi-
tion of the internal organs by the sound elicited. If a wall of a cavity
is struck the sound is easily distinguished from that emitted when a
solid substance is knocked on. When x)ercussing the chest, the ribs
are struck with the tips of the fingers and thumb held together, or with
the knuckles. An instrument called the pleximeter is sometimes laid
against the part, to strike on. If the surface is soft over the part to
be percussed, the left hand is pressed against it firml}-, and the middle
finger of it struck with tlie ends of the fingers of the right hand to
bring out the sound. This method of examination also requires much
practice on the healthy as well as the unhealthy animal.

BRONCHITIS.

As previousl}^ described, the windpipe terminates by dividing into
the right and left bronchi, running to the right and left lung, respec-
tively. After reaching the lungs these tubes divide into innumerable
branches, gradually decreasing in size, which xienetrate all parts of
the lungs, ultimately terminating in the air-cells. The bronchial tubes
are formed much the same as the windpixjc, consisting of a base of car-
tilaginous rings Avith a lajev of fibrous and muscular tissue, and lined
internally with a continuation of the resxjiralory mucous membrane.

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes. The mucous
membrane alone maybe affected, or the inflammation may involve the

Ill

Avliole tube. Broucliitis affecting tlie larger tubes is less serious tliau
when the smaller are involved. The disease may be either acute or
chronic. The causes are generally much the same as for other dis-
eases of the respirator}^ organs, noticed in the beginning of this article.
The special causes are: The inhalation of iiTitating gases and smoke,
and fluids or solids gaining access to the parts. Bronchitis is occa-
sionally associated with influenza and other specific fevers. It also
supervenes on common cold or sore throat.

Symptoms. — The animal appears dull; the apiDctite is partiall}^ or
wholly lost; the head hangs; the breathing is ver}' much CLuickened;
the cough, at first dry, and having somewhat the character of a "bark-
ing cough," is succeeded in a few daj's by a moist rattling cough; the
mouth is hot; the visible membranes in the nose are red; the i)ulseis
frecLuent, and during the first stage is hard and quick, but as the dis-
ease advances becomes smaller and more frequent. iVf ter a few days
a whitish discharge from the nostrils ensues ; sometimes this discharge
is tinged with blood, and occasionally it may be of a brownisli or
rusty color. By auscultation or placing the ear to the sides of the
chest unnatural sounds can now be lieai*d. The air j)assing over
the inflamed surface causes a hissing or wheezing sound v>-hen the
small tubes are affected, and a hoarse, cooing, or snoring sound when
the larger tubes are involved. After one or two days the dry stage of
the disease is succeeded by a moist stage of the membrane. The ear
now detects a different sound, caused by the bursting of the bubbles
as the air passes through the fluid, which is the exudate of inflamma-
tion and the augmented mucous secretions of the membrane. The
mucus may be secreted in great abundance, which, by blocking up
the tubes, may cause a collapse of a large extent of breathing surface.
Usually the mucus is expectorated, that is, discharged through the
nose. The matter is coughed up, and when it reaches the larynx
much of it may be swallowetl, or, as the case may be, discharged from
the nostrils. The horse can not spit like the human being, nor does
the matter coughed uj) gain access to the mouth. In serious cases all
the symi)toms become aggravated. The breathing is labored, short,
quick, \)\\t not painful. It is both thoracic and abdominal. Tlie
ribs rise and fall much more than natural. This fact alone is enough
to exclude the idea that the animal may be affected with j)leurisy,
because, in x)leuris3% the ribs are as nearly fixed as in the power of
the animal to do so, and the breathing accomplished to a great extent
by aid of the abdominal muscles. The horse persists in standing
throughout the attack. He prefers to stand witli head to a door or
window to gain all the fresh air possible, but may occasionally wan-
der listlessly about the stall if not tied. The bowels most likely are
constipated; the dung is covered with slimy inucus. This apjjear-
ance of the dung is usually defined by stablemen to be "cold on the
bowels," or "dung covered with cold." The urine is decreased in

112

qnautity and darker in color than usual. The animal shows more or
less thirst; in some cases the mouth is full of saliva. The discharge
from the nose increases in quantitj^ as the disease advances and
inflammation subsides. This is rather a good symptom, as it shows
one stage has passed. The discharge then gradually decreases, the
cougli becomes less rasping but of more frequent occurrence until it
gradually disappears with the return of health.

Bronchitis, affecting the smaller tubes, is one of the most fatal dis-
eases, while that of the larger tubes is never very serious. It must
be stated, however, that it is an exceedingly difficult matter for a
non-expert to discriminate between the two forms, and further, it
may as well be said here that the non-exjiert will have difficulty in
discriminating between bronchitis and pneumonia. Therefore the
writer will endeavor to point out a course of treatment in each dis-
ease that will positively benefit either affection if the reader happens
to be mistaken in his diagnosis. The critic may say that this plan is
not a truly scientific method of treating disease. The only reply
necessary to be made is that this series of articles is intended to be
of practical value to the horse-o^^^^ing public, and is in no manner
intended as a text-book for experts and those already acquainted
with the technical literature on the subject. Scientific terms which
would make the work easy for the author would only tend to make it
valueless to the general reader. Likewise a different prescription
for each form and stage of the affection would only confuse a person
who is unable to appreciate the various phases of the disease.

Treatment. — Of first importance is to insure a pure atmosphere to
breathe, and next to make the patient's quarters as comfortable as
possible. A well-ventilated box-stall serves best for all purposes.
Cover the body with a blanket, light or heavy as the season of the
year demands. Hand rub the legs until they are Avarm, then apply
flannel or Derby bandages from the hoofs to the knees and hocks.
If the legs can not be made warm with hand rubbing alone, apply the
liniment recommended in the treatment of sore throat. Rub in
thoroughly and .then put on the bandages. Also, rub the same lini-
ment well over the side of the chest, behind the elbow and shoulder-
blade, covering the space beginning immediately behind the elbow
and shoulder-blade and running back about 18 inches, and from the
elbow below to within 5 or 6 inches of the ridge of the backbone
above. Repeat the application to the side of the chest about five
days after the first one is applied.

Compel the animal to inhale steam as advised for cold in the liead.
In each bucketful of boiling water put a tablespoonful of oil of tur-
X^entinc. This medicated vapor coming in direct contact with the
inflamed bronchial tubes is of much greater benefit than can be
imagined by one who has not experienced its good effect. In serious
cases the steam should be inhaled every hour, and in any case the

113

oftener it is done the greater will be the beneficial results. Three
times a ddy admii ister the following drench: Solution of tlie acetate
of ammonia, 3 oun..'es; spirits of nitrous ether, 2 ounces; bicarbonate
of potassium, one-half ounce; water, 1 pint. Care must be used in
drenching. If it greatly excites the horse it is best not to push it.
If you see that it does harm do not persist in making the animal
worse. Be satisfied with dissolving one-half ounce of bicarbonate of
potassium in everj" bucketful of water the animal will drink. It is
well to keep a bucketful of cold water before the animal all the time.
If the horse is prostrated and has no appetite give the following drench:
Spirits of nitrous ether, 2 ounces; rectified spirits, 3 ounces; water,
1 i)int. Repeat the dose every four or five hours if it appears to
benefit. When the horse is hard to drench, and if you have some
one about who is expert in administering balls, give the following:
Pulverized carbonate of ammonia, 3 drams; linseed meal and molasses
sufiicient to make the whole into a stiff mass; wrap it with a small
piece of tissue paper and it is ready to administer. This ball may be
repeated every four or five hours. When giving the ball care should
be taken to prevent its breaking in the mouth, as in case of such
accident it will make the mouth sore, which may prevent the animal
from eating. If the bowels are constipated give enemas of warm
water. Do not give purgative medicines. Do not bleed the animal.
Depressing treatment onlj" helps to bring on a fatal termination.

If the animal retains an appetite a soft diet is preferable, such as
scalded oats, bran mashes, and grass if in season. If he refuses
cooked food allow in small quantities anything he will eat. Hay, corn,
oats, bread, apples, carrots may all be tried in turn. Some horses
will drink sweet milk when they refuse all other kinds of food, and
especiall}^ is this the case if the drinking water is withheld for awhile.
One or two gallons at a time, four or five times a day, will suj)port life.
Bear in mind that when the disease is established it will run its course,
which may be from two to three weeks, or even longer. Good nursing
and iiatience are required.

When the sj^mptoms have abated and nothing remains of the disease
except the cough and a white discharge from the nostrils, all other
medicines should be discontinued and a course of tonic treatment pur-
sued. Give the following mixture: Pulverized sulphate of iron, 3
ounces; powdered gentian, 8 ounces; mix w-ell together and divide
into sixteen powders. GiA^e a powder every night and morning mixed
with bran and oats, if the animal will eat it, or shaken with about a
pint of water and administered as a drench.

If the cough remains for a length of time that leads you to think it
will become chronic, saj^ three or four weeks after the horse is appar-
ently well, apply the liniment to the throat and down over the mnd-
pipe and over the breast. Rub it in thoroughly once a day until
three or four applications are made. Also give 1 dram of iodide of

114

23otassium dissolved in a bucketful of drinking water, one nour before
eaeli meal for two or tliree weeks if necessary. Do not put tlie animal
at work too soon after recovery. Allow ample time to regain strength.
This disease is prone to become chronic and maj' run into an incurable
case of thick wind.

It has been stated that it will be a difficult matter for the non-i3ro-
fessional to discriminate between bronchitis and pneumonia. In fact
the two diseases are often associated, constituting broncho-pneumonia;
therefore, the reader should carefully studj^ the symi)toms and treat-
ment of x^ueumonia.

CHRONIC BRONCHITIS.

This maj' be due to the same causes as acute bronchitis, or it may
follow the latter disease. An attack of the chronic form is liable to be
converted into acute bronchitis by a very slight cause. This chronic
affection in most instances is associated with thickening of the
walls of the tubes. Its course is slower, it is less severe, and is not
accompanied with as much fever as the acute form. If the animal is
exerted the breathing becomes quickened and he soon shows signs of
exhaustion. In many instances the animal keeps up strength and
appearances moderately well, but in other cases the appetite is lost,
flesh gradually disappears, and the horse becomes emaciated and
debilitated. It is accompanied by a cough, which in some cases is a
husky, smothered, or muffled excuse for a cough, while in other cases
the cough is hard and clear. A whitish matter is discharged from
the nose, which may be curdled in some instances. If the ear is
placed against the chest behind the shoulder-blade, the rattle of the
air passing through the mucus can be heard within. It is stated that
the right side of the heart may become enlarged to such an extent
that it is easily felt beating by placing the hand against the chest
behind the right elbow.

Treatment. — Generally the horse is kept at work when he is affected
with this form of bronchial trouble, as the owner says "he has only a
deep cold." It is true that some authorities express the ox3inion that
work does no harm, but they arc mistaken. Rest is necessary, if a
cure is desired, as even under the most favorable circumstances, a cure
is difficult to effect. The animal can not stand exertion, and should
not be compelled to undergo it. Besides, there is a great x)i*obability
of acute bronchitis supervening at any time.

The animal should have much the same general care and medical
treatment prescribed for the acute form; if material benefit has not
been derived give the following: Powdered nux vomica, 3 ounces;
powdered arsenic, 70 grains; iiowdered sulphate of copper, 3 ounces;
mix together and divide into thirty-four powders. Give a i)owder
mixed Avith l)ran and oats every night and morning. An application
of mustard ai^plied to the breast is a beneficial adjunct. If all other

115

treatment fails, try the following combination, recommended by a
good authority: Hydrocyanic acid (Sclieele's strength), 20 minims;
nitrate of x)otassium, 3 drams; bicarbonate of soda, 1 ounce; water,
1 pint. This dose should be given every morning and evening for one
or two weeks, if necessary.

The diet should be the most nourishing. Bad food is harmfid at
any time, but especially in this disease. Avoid bulky food. Linseed
mashes, scalded oats, grass and green-blade fodder, if in season, is
the best diet.

THE LUNGS.

The lungs are the essential organs of respiration. They consist of
two (right and left) spongy masses, commonly called the "lights,"
situated entirely within the thoracic cavity. On account of the space
taken uj) by the heart, the left lung is the smaller. Externally, they
are completely covered by the pleura. The structure of the lung con-
sists of a light, soft, but very strong and remarkably elastic tissue,
which can only be torn with difficulty. The lung of the fostus v,iiich
has never respired will sink if placed in water, but after the lung has
been inflated with air it will float on water so long as healthy. This
fact is made useful in deciding whether or not an animal was born
dead or died after its birth. Each lung is divided into a certain num-
ber of lobes, which are subdivided into numberless lobules (little
lobes). A little bronchial tube terminates in every one of these small
lobules. The little tube then divides into minute branches which
open into the air-cells (pulmonarj'^ vesicles) of the lungs. The air-
cells are little sacs having a diameter varj^ing from one-seventieth to
one-two-hundredth of an inch; they have but one Oliening, the com-
munication with the branches of the little bronchial tubes. Small
blood-vessels ramify in the walls of the air-ceUs. The walls of the air-
cells are extremely thin and consist of two layers; the blood-vessels,
being between the laj'ers, thus expose a surface to the air in two
different cells. The air-cells are the consummation of the intricate
structures forming the respiratory apparatus. They are of prime
imjiortance, all the rest being complementary. It is within these cells
that is accomplished all that constitutes the ultimate result of the
function of respiration. It is here the exchange of gases takes place.
As before stated, the walls of the cells are very thin; so, also, are
the walls of the blood-vessels. Through these walls escapes from the
blood the carbonic-acid gas that has been absorbed by the blood in
its circulation through the different parts of the body; and through
these walls is absorbed by the blood, from the air in the air-cells, the
oxj'^gen gas, which is the life-giving element of the atmosphere.

Throughout the substance of the lungs the bronchial tubes terminate
in the air-cells. Blood-vessels are in every part; likewise lymphatic
vessels and nerves, which require no more than mention in this pax)er.

116

To give a rude idea of the arrangement of the respiratory apparatus
as a whole, we may profitably compare it to a tree, for the want of a
better illustration. Say that all the respiratory tract from the nasal
openings back to the pharynx are the roots in the ground; the larynx
may be compared to the large part of the trunk just above the earth;
the windpipe will represent the body or the bole of the tree; the right
and left bronchi may be considered the first two or largest limbs ; the
bronchial tubes are then comparable to all the rest of the limbs,
branches and twigs, gradually becoming smaller and. branching out
more frequently, until the smallest twigs terminate by having a leaf
appended; and to complete the comparison we may as well say the
leaf will do to represent the air-cells. Now, imagine all parts in and
around the limbs, branches, twigs, and leaves filled in with some mate-
rial (say cotton or tow) and the whole covered over with silk or satin
to about the beginning of the branches on each of the first two large
limbs. The cotton or tow represents the lung-tissue and the silk or
satin covering will represent the pleura. It must be admitted that
this is rather a rough Avay to handle such delicate structures, but if
the reader is possessed of a good imagination he may gain, at least, a
comprehension of the subject that will suffice for the purpose of being
better able to locate the various diseases and appreciate the mechan-
ism of the resiairatory organs in their relations to each other.

CONGESTION OF THE LUNGS.

Inflammation of the lungs is always preceded by congestion, or, to
make it plainer, congestion may be considered as the first stage of
inflammation. Congestion is essentially an excess of blood in the
A'essels of the parts affected. Congestion of the lungs in the horse,
v.iien it exists as an independent affection, is generall}^ caused by
overexertion when the animal is not in a fit condition to undergo more
than moderate exercise.

The methods practiced by the trainers of running and trotting
horses will give an idea of what is termed " putting a horse in condi-
tion" to stand severe exertion. The animal at first gets walking
exercises, then after some time he is made to go faster and farther
each day; the amount of work is daily increased until the horse is
said to be "in condition." An animal so prei)ared runs no risk of
being affected Avith congestion of the lungs if he is otherwise healthy.
On the other hand, if the horse is kept in the stable for the i)urpose
of laying on fat or for want of something to do, the muscular system
becomes soft, and the horse is not in condition to stand the severe
exertion of going fast or far, no matter hoAv healthy he may be in
other respects. If such a horse be given a hard ride or drive, he may
start off in high spirits, but soon becomes exhausted, and if he is
pushed he will slacken his pace, show a desire to stop, and may stag-
ger or even fall. Examination will show the nostrils dilated, the

117

flanks heiving, the countenance haggard, and ever}' other appear-
ance of suffocation. IIow was this brought about? The heart and
muscles were not accustomed to the sudden and severe strain put
upon them; the heart became unable to perform its work; the blood
accumulated in the vessels of the lungs, which eventually became
engorged with the stagnated blood, constituting congestion of the
lungs.

The animal, after having undergone severe exertion, maj'^ not exhibit
SLTiy alarming symptoms until returned to the stable ; then he will be
noticed standing with his head down, legs spread out, the ej'es wildly
staring or dull and sunken. The breathing is very rapid and almost
gasping, the body is covered with perspiration in most cases, which,
however, may soon evaporate, leaving the surface of the body and
the legs and ears cold; the breathing is both abdominal and thoracic;
the chest rises and falls and the flanks are powerful!}' brought into
action. If the pulse can be felt at all it will be found beating verj'
frequently, one hundred or more to a minute. The heart may be felt
tumultuously thumping if the hand is placed against the chest behind
the left elbow, or it may be scarcely perceptible. The animal may
tremble all over the bod}'. If the ear is placed against the side of the
chest a loud murmur will be heard, and perhaps a fine crackling sound.

ISTo intelligent person should fail to recognize a case of congestion
of the lungs when brought on by overexertion, as the history of the
case is sufficient to point out the ailment. The disease may also arise
from want of sufficient pure air in stables that are badly ventilated.
In all cases of suffocation the lungs are congested. It is also seen in
connection with other diseases.

Treatment. — If the animal is attacked by the disease while on the
road stop him immediately. Do not attempt to return to the stables.
If he is in the stable make arrangements at once to insure an unlim-
ited supply of pure air. If the weather is warm, out in the open air
is the best place, but if too cold let him stand with, head to the door.
By no means have him walked, as is sometimes done. Let him stand
still; he has all he can do if he obtains sufficient pure air to sustain
life. If he is encumbered with harness or saddle remove it at once
and begin rubbing the body with cloths or wisps of hay or straw.
This stimulates the circulation in the skin, and thus aids in relie\'ing
the lungs of the extra quantity of blood that is stagnated there. If
you have three or four assistants let them go to work with enthusiasm,
rub the body and legs well, until the skin feels natural; rub the legs
until they are warm, if possible; rub in over the cold part of the legs
an application of the liniment recommended for the same purpose in
the treatment of bronchitis, but do not apply it to the chest. When
the circulation is reestablished, i)ut bandages on the legs from the
hoofs up as far as possible. Throw a blanket over the body and let
the rubbiner be done under the blanket. Diffusible stimulants are the

118

medicines indicated. Brandy, whisky (or even ale or beer if nothing
else is at hand), ether, and tincture of arnica are "all useful. Two
ounces each of spirits of nitrous ether and alcohol, given as a drench,
diluted with a pint of water, every hour until relief is afforded, is
among the best of remedies. But if it takes too long to obtain this
mixture, give a quarter of a i)int of whisky in a pint of water every
hour, or the same quantity of brandy as often, or a quart of ale every
hour, or an ounce of tincture of arnica in a pint of water every liour
until five or six doses have been given. K none of these remedies are
at hand, 2 ounces of oil of turj^entine, shaken with a half pint of milk,
may be given. This will have a beneficial effect until more applicable
remedies are obtained. A tablespoonful of aqua ammonia (harts-
horn), diluted with a pint of water and given as a drench every hour,
has undoubtedly^ been of great service in saving life when nothing else
could be obtained in time to be used with benefit. If the foregoing
treatment fails to be followed by a marked improvement after seven
or eight hours' perseverance, the p*nimal may be bled from the jugu-
lar vein. Do not take more than 5 or 6, quarts from the vein, and do
not repeat the bleeding. The blood thus drawn will have a tarry
appearance.

When the alarming symptoms have subsided active measures may
be stopped, but care must be used in the general treatment of the ani-
mal for several days, for it must be remembered that congestion may
be followed by pneumonia. The animal should have a comfortable
stall, where he will not be subjected to draughts or sudden changes
of temj)erature ; he should be blanketed and the legs kept bandaged.
The air should be i)ure, a plentiful supply of fresh cold water always
before him, and a diet composed i)rincipally of bran mashes, scalded
oats, and grass, if in season. When ready for use again he should at
first receive moderate exercise only, which may be daily increased
until he may safely be put at regular work.

APOPLEXY OF THE LUNGS.

This is but another term for congestion of the lungs, and for prac-
tical liurposes needs no special description, except to remark that when
a hemorrhage occurs during the congested state of the lungs the blood
escai)es from the ruptui-ed vessels and extravasates into the lung tis-
sue. Such cases are called pulmonary apoi^lexy, and usuallj' occui'
during the course of some specific disease.

PNEUMONIA — LUNG FEVEE.

Pneumonia may attack both lungs, but as a general rule one lung
only is affected, and in the great majority of cases it is the right
lung. The air-cells are the i^arts affected jprincipally, but the minute
branches of the bronchial tubes always, to a greater or less extent,
are iuA'^olved in the inflammation. Inflammation of the lungs occurs

119

in three principal varieties, but in a Avork of this kind there is no
necessity to discriminate, and therefore the disease will be described
under a common head. It already lias been mentioned that pneumonia
may be complicated with bronchitis, and it will hereafter be pointed
out that it is very commonly complicated with i3lem'is3\ In this arti-
cle the disease will be considered mainlj^ as an independent affection,
and its complications will be more fully described under separate heads.

The inflammation usually begins in the lower part of the lung and
extends upwards. The first stage of the disease consists of congestion
or engorgement of the blood- vessels, and if tliis condition continues
the blood exudes from the vessels into the adjacent lung tissue; if
rupture of small blood-vessels occurs there will be extravasations of
blood in the contiguous j)arts. The fluids thus escaping collect in the
air-cells and in the minute branches of the little bronchial tubes, and,
becoming coagulated there, completely block up the cells and exclude
the air.

In this condition the lung is increased in volume and is much heavier,
and will sink in water. The pleura covering the affected x^arts is alwaj^s
more or less inflamed. A continuance of the foregoing phenomena Ls
marked by a further escape of the constituents of the blood, and a
change in the membrane of the cells, which become swollen. The
exudate that fills the air-cells and minute bronchial branches under-
goes disintegration, and is converted into a fatty material. The Avails
of the cells almost invariablj^ remain unaltered.

It must not be imagined, that the foregoing changes take place in
a uniform manner. While one portion is onlj^ congested another
part maj' be undergoing disintegration, while still another part may
be involved in the exudative stage.

The usual termination of x)iieumonia is in resolution, that is, a res-
toration to health. This is gradually brought about by the exuded
material contained in the air-cells and lung tissues becoming degen-
erated into fatty and a mucus-like substance Avhich are removed by
absorption. The blood-vessels return to their natural state and the
blood circulates in them as before. Much material, the result of
the inflammatory process, is also gotten rid of by expectoration, or
rather (in the horse) by discharge from the nostrils. In the cases
that do not terminate so happily the lung may become gangrenous
(or mortified), or an abscess may form, or the disease may be merged
into the chronic variety.

Pneumonia may be directly induced by any of the influences named
as general causes for diseases of the organs of respiration, but in
many instances it is due to eitlier Avillful neglect or ignorance. A
common cold or sore throat may run into a fatal case of pneumonia
if neglected or improi^erly treated. An animal may be debilitated
by a cold, and when in this weakened state ma}'- be compelled to
undergo exertion beyond his strength; or he may be kept in bad

120

quarters, such as a badly ventilated stable, where the foul gases are
shut in and the pure air is shut out; or the stable may be so open
that i)arts of the body are exposed to draughts of cold air. Either
of the foregoing causes may induce congestion of the lungs in an ani-
mal predisposed to it on account of having already a disease of the
respiratory organs. The congestion is soon followed by the other
stages of inflammation, and a case of i^neumonia is established with
a tendency to a fatal termination, as it is altogether likelj'^ the animal
will be so much reduced in constitution as to be unable to fight off a
collapse. An animal is predisposed to pneumonia when debilitated
by any constitutional disease, and especially during convalescence if
exj)osed to any of the exciting causes. Foreign bodies, such as food,
accidentally getting in the lungs by way of the mndpipe, as well as
the inhalation of irritating gases and smoke, ofttimes produce fatal
attacks of inflammation of the lung and bronchial tubes. Pneumo-
nia is frequently seen in connection with other diseases, such as influ-
enza, purjDura hemorrhagica, strangles, glanders, etc. An abnormal
state of the blood j)redisposes to it. Pneumonia and pleurisy are
most common during cold, damp weather, and especiallj^ during the
prevalence of the cold north and northeasterly winds. Wounds punc-
turing the thoracic cavity may induce it.

Symptoms. — Pneumonia, when a primary disease, is ushered in by
a chill, more or less prolonged, which in most cases is seen neither
by the owner nor the attendant, but is overlooked. The breathing
becomes accelerated, and the animal hangs its head and has a very
dull appearance. The mouth is hot and has a sticky feeling to the
touch ; the heat conveyed to the finger in the mouth demonstrates a
fever; if the thermometer is placed in the rectum the temperature
will be found to have risen to 103° F., or higher. The pulse is verj^
frequent, beating from seventy or eighty to one hundred or more a
minute; the character of the pulse varies very much; it may be hard
or feeble, large or small, intermitting, etc. There is usually a dry
cough from the beginning, which, however, changes in character as
the disease advances; for instance, it may become moist, or if pleu-
risy sets in the cough will be peculiar to the latter affection, that is,
cut short in the endeavor to suppress it. In some cases the discharge
from the nostrils is tinged with blood, while in other cases it has the
appearance of matter. The appetite is lost to a greater or less extent,
but the desire for water is increased, particularly during the onset of
the fever. The membrane within the nostrils is red and at first dry,
but sooner or later becomes moist. The legs are cold. The bowels
are more or less constipated, and what dung is passed is usually cov-
ered Avith a slimy mucus. The urine is passed in smaller quantities
than usual and is of a darker color.

The animal prefers to have the head where the freshest air can be
obtained. When affected with pneumonia a horse does not lie down.

121

but persists in standing from the beginning of the attack. How e\ er,
if pneiinic nia is complicated with pleurisy the horse may appear rest-
less and lie down for a few moments to gain relief from the ijleuritic
pains, but he soon rises. In pneumonia the breathing is verj^ rapid,
and sometimes even the most negligent observer will notice that it is
difficult, but wlien the i^neumonia is complicated with pleurisy the
ribs are kept as still as possible and the breathing is abdominal, that
is, the abdominal muscles are now made to do as much of the work as
they can perform. Remember if pleurisy is not present thei*e is no
pain. To the ordinary observer the animal may not appear danger-
ously ill, as he does not show the seriousness of the ailment by vio-
lence, as in colic, but a careful observer will discover at a glance that
the trouble is something more serious than a cold.

If the reader has practiced auscultation and percussion sufficiently
to discriminate the sounds, or absence of sounds, of the diseased lung
from the sounds of the normal lung, he may still further satisfy him-
self in diagnosing the ailment. When the lung is healthy, if the
chest is knocked on, a more or less resonant sound is emitted, accord-
ing to the part struck ; but when the air cells are filled with the exu-
date of inflammation, and the surrounding lung tissue contains the
exudate and extravasated blood, the air is excluded, and the part of
the lung thus affected is solidified; now, if the chest is struck over
this solidified part, a dull sound is obtained. Therefore, percussion
not onlj' shows that the lung is affected with pneumonia, but it points
to the spot affected. Moreover, if pleurisj^ exists in conjunction with
pneumonia, and the walls of the chest are knocked on with a view of
gaining information from the sounds elicited, when that part imme-
diately over the affected pleura is struck, the animal flinches, as the
blows, even if thej'^ are but moderate, cause severe pain.

By auscultation, listening to the sounds within the chest, we gain
much information. When the ear is placed against the chest of a
healthy horse the respiratory murmur is heard more or less distinctlj",
according to the part of the chest that is beneath the ear. In the
very first stage of pneumonia this murmur is louder and hoarser;
and, also, there is heard a fine crackling sound something similar to
that produced when salt is thrown in a fire. After the affected part
becomes solid there is an absence of sound over that particular
part. After absorption begins, you mil again hear sounds, which
gradually change until the natural sound is heard announ.cing the
return of health.

When a fatal termination is approaching all the symptoms become
intensified. The breathing becomes still more rapid and difficult; the
flanks heave; the j)oor animal stares wildly about as if imiDloring aid
to drive off the terrible feeling of suffocation ; the body is bathed with
the sweat of death ; he staggers, but quickly recovers his balance ; he
may now, for the first time during the attack, lie down; he does so,

122

however, in the hope of relief, which he fails to find, and with difQ-
culty struggles to his feet; he pants; he heaves; the nostrils flap; he
staggers and sways from side to side and backwards and forwards, but
still tries to retain the standing position, even by propping himself
against the stall. It is no use, as after a fearful and agonizing fight
for breath, he goes down ; still instinct with the desire to live he makes
a few ineffectual efforts to breathe, which only result in a horrible
wheezing, gasping noise ; the limbs stretch out and become rigid, and —
he rises no more. A bystander breaks the silence with the remark,
"He died hard. " Such is the usual death scene when caused by pneu-
monia. It amounts to a veritable struggle against suffocation. Death
ensues usually in from ten to twenty days after the beginning of the
attack. On the other hand when the disease is terminating favorably
the signs are obvious. When the fever abates the animal gradually
improves in appetite ; he takes more notice of things around him ; his
spirits improve; he has a general appearance of returning health, and
he lies down and rests easy. In the great majority of cases pneu-
monia, if properlj^ treated, is by no means a fatal disease.

Treatment. — The general outline of the treatment is much the same
as advised for bronchitis. The comfort and siTrroundings of the
patient must be attended to first. The cxuarters should be the best
that can be provided. Pure air is essential. Avoid placing the ani-
mal in a stall where he ma}' be exposed to draughts of cold air and
sudden changes of temperature. Some authorities state that such
exposure is not harmful after pneumonia has set in, but nevertheless
the reader is advised to pursue the conservative course and not to
experiment. When making the stable comfortably^ warm do not pre-
vent the access of pure air. It is much better for the animal if the
air is cold and pure than if it is warm and foul. It is better to make
the animal comfortable with warm clothing than to make the stable
warm by shutting off the ventilatioji. The animal should have an
unlimited supply of fresh cold drinking water from the start. Blanket
the body. Rub the legs until they are warm and then i^ut bandages
on them from the hoofs up as far as thej^ are cold. If warmth can not
be re-established in the legs by hand-rubbing alone, apply the lini-
ment as recommended in the treatment of bronchitis.

The bandages should be removed once or twice every day, the legs
well rubbed, and the bandages reapplied. Rub well over the affected
side an application of the liniment mentioned in the treatment of sore
throat. The application may be repeated in four or five days. Do
not use mustard; no doubt about its acting, and acting quicklj', too,
but experience teaches that it is not so good as something less irritat-
ing and more prolonged in its beneficial effects. Much harm is often
done by clipping off hair and rubbing in powerful escharotic blister-
ing compounds. They do positive injury and retard recovery, and
should not be allowed. Much benefit }nay be derived from hot appli-
cations to the sides of the chest if the facilities are at hand to apply

123

them. If the weather be not too cold, and if the animal is in a com-
fortable stable, the following method may be tried: Have a tub of hot
water handy to the stable door; soak a woolen blanket in the water,
then quickly wring as much water as possible out of it and wrap it
around the chest. See that it fits closely to the skin; do not allow it
to sag down so that air maj' get between it and the skin. Now wraj)
a dry blanket over the wet hot one. The hot blanket should be
renewed evevy half hour, and while it is off being wetted and wrung,
the dry one should remain over the wet part of the chest to prevent
reaction. The hot applications should be kept up for three or four
hours, and when stopped, the skin should be quickly rubbed as dry
as possible, an application of liniment rubbed over the wet j)art, and
a dr}' blanket snuglj' fitted over the animal; and especial care should
be taken to cover with it the wet i^art of the skin. If the hot appli-
cations appear to benefit, they may be tried on three or four consecu-
tive days. Unless every facility and circumstance favors the applica-
tion of heat in the foregoing manner do not attemiit it. If the weather
is very cold, or any of the details are omitted, more harm than good
may result. In the majority of cases, warm clothing to the body,
bandages to the legs, and the liniment applied to legs and chest Avill
suffice.

It is xjossible that cases occur that may be slightly benefited by
bleeding, but the non-exj)ert is certainly unable to discriminate in
such instances, and therefore blood-letting should never be practiced.
Indeed, many veterinary i)ractitioners of great experience wholly con-
demn the practice of bleeding in pneumonia as positively hurtful.
"When pneumonia follows another disease the system is always more
or less debilitated, and requires the careful use of stimulants from the
beginning; to still further weaken the animal by tapping him (if the
expression may be used), and letting escape in a stream the very
source of remaining strength, is one of the most effectual methods of
retarding recovery, even if it does not hasten a fatal termination.

Another and oftentimes a fatal mistake made by the non-j)rofes-
sional is the indiscriminate and reckless use of aconite. This drug is
one of the most active poisons, and should not be handled b}' anyone
who does not thoroughly understand its action and uses. It is only
less active than prussic acid in its i)oisonous effects. It is a common
opinion, often expressed hy non-jDrofessionals, that aconite is a stimu-
lant; nothing could be more erroneous. In fact, it is just the reverse;
it is one of the most powerful sedatives used in the iDractice of medi-
cine. In fatal doses it kills bj^ paralyzing the A'crj- muscles used in
breathing; it weakens the action of the heart, and should not be used
in anj'- but strong or sthenic tj'pes of inflammation, and then only by
the expert. After an extensive experience in the treatment of pneu-
monia in various sections, from the cold northern regions of Canadca
to the temperate climate of Virginia and North Carolina, the writer

124

has discarded aconite entirely from the list of medicines he uses m the
treatment of this affection. Do not give purgative medicines. If con-
stijiation exists, overcome it by an allowance of laxative diet, such as
scalded oats, bran and linseed mashes, and grass if in season.

A careful observer will notice that the dung jjassed by the animal is
coated with mucus; this is an indication that the bowels are in an irri-
table condition; in fact they are affected to a small extent by the dis-
ease. Now, if a purgative dose is administered the irritable state is
aggravated; they become inordinately active and a diarrhea or super-
purgation is established that proves a most difficult matter to check.
It must be remembered that the animal is already weakened b}^ an
exhaustive disease, and the "running off at the bowels" not only still
further weakens the animal, but may caiise the bowels to become
inflamed, and thus insure a fatal termination. It is a common practice
among non-prcTfessionals to give aloes and oil to a horse with pneu-
monia, and, considering this fact, it is no wonder that it proves such
a fatal disease in their hands. If the costiveness is not relieved by
the laxative diet, give an enema of about a quart of warm water three
or four times a day.

A diet consisting principally of bran mashes, scalded oats, grass or
blade fodder, when in season, is preferable if the animal retains an
api)ctite; but if no desire is evinced for food of this particular descrip-
tion, then the animal must be allowed to eat anj^thing that will be
taken spontaneously. Hay tea, made b}^ pouring boiling water over
good hay in a large bucket, and allowing it to stand until cool, then
straining off the liquid, Avill sometimes create a desire for food. The
animal may be allowed to drink as much of it as he desires. Corn on
the cob is often eaten when everything else is refused. Bread vAny
be tried, also apples or carrots. If the animal can be persuaded to
drink milk it may be sujjported by it for days. Three or four gallons
of sweet milk may be given during the day, in which may be stirred
three or four fresh eggs to each gallon of milk. Some horses will drink
milk, while others will refuse to touch it. It should be borne in mind
that all food must be taken by the horse as he desires it. No food
should be forced down him. If the animal will not eat, you will
only have to wait until a desire is shown for food. All kinds may
be offered, first one thing and then another, but food should not be
allowed to remain long in trough or manger; the very fact of it con-
stantly being before him will cause him to loathe it. When the animal
has no appetite for anything, the stomach is not in a proper state to
digest food, and if it is poured or drenched into him it will onl}^ cause
indigestion and aggravate the case. It is a good practice to do nothing
when there is nothing to be done that will benefit. This refers to
medicine as well as food. Nothing is well done that is over done. The
following drench should be administered every six hours: Solution of
the acetate of ammonia, 3 ounces; spirits of nitrous ether, i ounce;

125

bicarbonate of potassium, 3 drams; water, 1 pint. Care should be
used in drenching; no reclclessness such as filling the mouth with
medicines, then holding the hand tightly over the nostrils and pound-
ing on the throat and windiiipe, kicking the horse in the belly or ribs,
or other like conduct, should be practiced. If the animal coughs or
attempts to cough Avhile the head is up, let the head down immediately.
Better to lose the medicine than to cause it to get into the lungs.

There are many valuable medicines used for tlie different stages
and different tj^pes of pneumonia, but in the opinion of the writer it
is useless to refer to them here, as this work is intended for the use of
those who are not sufficiently acquainted with the disease to recognize
its various tyx^es and stages; therefore they would only confuse. If
you can administer a ball or capsule, or have any one at hand who
is capable of doing it, a dram of sulphate of quinine in a capsule, or
made into a ball, with sufficient linseed meal and molasses, given
every three hours during the height of the fever, will do good in many
cases. The ball of carbonate of ammonia, as advised in the treatment
of bronchitis, may be tried if the animal is hard to drench.

If the horse becomes very much debilitated, stimulants of a more
pronounced character are required. The following drench is useful:
Rectified spirits, 3 ounces; spirits of nitrous ether, 2 ounces; water,
1 pint. This maj^ be reijeated every four or five hours if it seems to
benefit. Or 6 ounces of good whisky, diluted with a pint of water,
may be given as often, instead of the foregoing.

There are cases where sedatives are undoubtedly beneficial, but a
knowledge both of disease and medicine is required to discriminate in
such cases; therefore the only rational course to pursue in a work of
this kind is to map out a line of treatment that will do good in all
cases and harm in none, and at the same time be within the under-
standing of those who have not made a special study of disease.

During the period of convalescence good nutritive food should be
allowed in a moderate qviantity. Tonic medicines should be substi-
tuted for those used during the fever. The same medicines advised
for the c<yaivalescing period of bronchitis are equally efficient in this
case. Likewise, the same general instructions apph'' here.

Death Tnay occur during the first stage of the disease, owing to the
severity of the fever, or it may occur during the period when the lungs
are solidified bj^ the exudate of the inflammation filling up the air
cells and broncliial tubes, or it may take place later, when the exudate
fails to liquefy and undergo absorption, and is then due to suppura-
tion, the formation of an abscess, or gangrene or mortification. As a
matter of course pneumonia is most often fatal when both lungs are
involved in the inflammation.

In concluding, it ma}^ be well to remind you that if pneumonia is
properly treated the great majority of cases will terminate in a com-
plete restoration to health. In all cases much will depend on the good

126

judgment of the i3ersoii directing tlio treatment of the case. If it is
seen that any one thing is doing harm, then that particular thing
shonkl be omitted. For instance, if drenching the animal is attended
with harm, that is, if it nnnecessarily excites him, or if he obstinately
refuses to swallow the medicine, then do not further annoy him by
persistently trying to do what you are able to see only makes matters
worse. Omit the drenching, and dissolve 3 drams of bicarbonate of
potassium in every bucketful of water he will drink of his own free
will. Give the quinine in capsules or balls, and also the carbonate
of ammonia balls. A balling iron (or mouth speculum) may be
obtained from any veterinar}^ instrument dealer. A little practice
with it will enable joxi to become somewhat expert in giving medi-
cines in the latter form. Do not give quinine and ammonia together;
let at least an hour intervene between the administration of the two
different medicines.

PLEURISY.

The thoracic cavity is divided into two lateral compartments, each
containing one lung, besides other organs. Each lung has its sepa-
rate pleural membrane or covering. The anatomical arrangement of
the i^leura is simple to the anatomist, but a detailed description of it
would be bej' ond the comprehension of the average reader. Suffice it
to say that the i)lenra is the thin, glistening membrane that covers
the lung, and also completely covers the internal walls of the chest.
It is very thin, and to tlie ordinar}^ observer appears to be x^art of the
lung, which, in fact, it is for all practical purposes. The smooth,
shiny surface of the lung, as well as the smooth, shin}^ surface so
familiar on tlie rib, is the pleura. In health this surface is always
moist. A fluid (called serum) is thrown off (secreted) by the pleura,
which causes the surface to be constantl}' moist. This is to prevent
the effects of friction between the lungs and the walls of the chest and
other contiguous i^arts which come in contact. It must be remem-
bered the lungs are constant!}' dilating each time a breath is taken in,
and contracting each time a breatli of air is expelled. It maj^ be
readily seen that if it were not for the moistened state of the surface
of the pleura the continual dilation and contraction and the conse-
quent rubbing of the iDarts against each other would cause a serious
friction. This, then, is the office of the pleura — to secrete or moisten
its surface with a fluid to prevent the ill effects of friction.

Inflammation of this membrane is called pleui'isy. Being so closely
united Avith the lung, it can not always escape participation in the
disease when the latter is inflamed. Pleurisy may be due to the same
predisposing and exciting causes as mentioned in the beginning of this
work as general causes for diseases of the organs of respiration, such
as exposure to sudden changes of temperature, confinement in damp
stables, etc. It may be caused by wounds that penetrate the chest, for

127

it must be remembered that such wounds must necessarily pierce the
pleura. A fractured rib may involve the pleura. The inflammation
following such wounds may be circumscribed, that is, confined to a
small area surrounding the wound, or it may spread from the wound
and involve a large portion of the iDleura. The i^leura may be involved
secondarily when the heart or its membrane is the x>rim.ary seat of the
disease. It may occur in conjunction with bronchitis, influenza, and
other diseases. It is commonly seen in connection with rheumatism.
Diseased growths that interfere with the i^leura may induce j)leurisy,
but it is most frecjuently met with in connection with pneumonia, for
the reason given heretofore. Pleurisy will be described here as an
independent afCection, although it should be remembered that it is very
often associated with the foregoing diseases.

When the animal is affected with pleurisy an ordinary observer
should have no diflBculty in detecting the disease, i)rovided the diag-
nostic sj-mptoms are studied beforehand. The very first stage is a
congested state of the blood vessels in the parts affected ; the surface
of the membrane becomes dry and roughened (this fact will be again
referred to when the sj'mi^toms are described). This dry condition is
followed, after a certain period, by an effusion of fluid, that is, more
fluid than usual is thrown off by the membrane when in a diseased
condition. This fluid accumulates in the space between the lungs and
the walls of the chest, constituting hj'dro-thorax, or dropsy of the
chest. This fluid may undergo certain changes ; in it float coagulated
masses called- fibrin. The surface of the lung may adhere to the
internal surface of the ribs. The quantity of exuded fluid varies to
a great extent. In some cases the chest contains an enormous amount,
and when it is not absorbed pus may be generated to a greater or less
extent.

Symptoms. — When the disease exists as an independent affection it
is ushered in by a chill, but this is usually overlooked. About the
first thing noticed is the disinclination of the animal to move or turn
round. "When made to d6 so he grunts or groans with pain. He
stands stiff, the ribs are fixed, that is, the ribs move very little in the
act of breathing, but the abdomen works more than natural; both the
fore feet and elbows may be turned out; during the onset of the attack
the animal may be restless, and acts as if he had a slight colic ; he may
even lie down, but does not remain long down, for when he finds no
relief he soon gets up. After effusion begins these signs of restless-
ness disappear. If the observer looks for it, a furrow will be found
running along the lower part of the chest fi'om behind the elbow back
to the flank; this is due to the endeavor of the animal to keep the ribs
fixed in as near as possible an immovable j)osition. Every movement
of the chest causes excruciating x^ain, therefore the cough is peculiar;
it is short and suppressed, and comes as near being no cough as the
animal can make it in his desire to suppress it. The breathing is

128

hurried, the mouth is hot, the temperature being elevated from 102^
or 103° to 105° F. The usual symi^toms that accompany fever are
present, such as costiveness, scanty, dark-colored urine, etc. The
pulse is frequent, perhaps seventy or more a minute, and is hard and
wiry. The legs and eai s are cold.

Percussion is of valuable service in this affection. The ribs may
be struck with the knuckles. By striking different parts you will
come to a spot of greater or less extent where the blows cause much
pain to be evinced. The animal ma}^ grunt or groan every time it is
struck. Another method of detecting the affected part is to press the
fingers between the ribs, each space in succession, beginning behind
the elbow, until you arrive at a place where the pressure causes more
flinching than at any other part. Auscultation is also useful. In the
first stage, when the surfaces are dry and rough, if the ear is placed
against different parts of the chest you will eventually come to the
affected part, which will be readily manifested by a friction sound
very much like that produced by rubbing two pieces of coarse paper
together. The sound appears immediately under the ear, and is dis-
tinct. No such friction sound occurs when the membrane is healthy,
as the natural moisture, heretofore mentioned, prevents the friction.
In many cases this friction is so pronounced that it may be felt by
placing the hand over the affected jDart. When the dry stage is suc-
ceeded by the exudation of fluid, this friction sound disappears. After
the effusion into the cavity takes place there sometimes is heard a
tinkling or metallic sound, due to dropping of the exudate from above
into the collected fluid in the bottom of the cavity, as the collected
fluid more or less separates the lung from the chest walls.

Within two or three days the urgent symptoms are abated, owing
to the exudation of the fluid and the subsidence of the pain. The
fluid may now undergo absorption, and the case terminate favorably
within a week on ten days.

If tlie quantity of the effusion is large, its own volume retards the
process of absorption to a great extent, and consequently^ convales-
cence is delayed. In some cases the symptoms manifest a serious
state. The pulse becomes more frequent, the breathing more hurried
and labored, the flanks work like bellows, the nostrils flap, the eyes
stare wildly, the countenance expresses much anxiety, and general
signs of dissolution are plain. After a time swellings appear under
the chest and abdomen and down the legs. These swellings are due
to transfusion of the fluid from within the chest into the surround-
ing tissues. The accumulation in the chest is called hj'dro-thorax
or dropsy of the chest. When this fluid contains pus the case usu-
ally proves fatal. The condition of pus within the ca\dty is called
empysema.

Pleurisy may affect only a small area of one side, or it may affect
both sides. It is oftener confined to the right side.

129

Treatme7it.— This varies very little from the treatment of bron-
chitis and pneumonia, but as frequently stated lieretofore, pleurisy
is so liable to be complicated with either of the diseases named, the
variation in the treatment may be considered as merely adjunct
treatment of the pleuritic complication.

The instructions in regard to the general management of bronchitis
and pneumonia must be adhered to in the treatment of pleurisy.
Comfortable quarters, pure air, warm clothing to the body and band-
ages to the legs, a plentiful supply of pure cold water, the laxative
food, etc., in this case are equally necessary and efficacious. The
hot applications applied to the chest as directed in the treatment of
pneumonia are very beneficial in pleurisy, and should be kept up
while the symptoms show the animal to be in pain.

During the first few days, when pain is manifested by restlessness,
do not apply the liniment to the sides of the chest, as it ^^n\l not only
irritate the animal and increase the restlessness but will heighten the
fever as well. After four or five days, when the symptoms show that
the acute stage has somewhat subsided, the liniment may be well
rubbed over the affected part with benefit, as it will greatly promote
the absorption of the effusion. The application may be repeated on
alternate days until several applications have been made. From the
beginning the following drench should be given every six hours:
Solution of the acetate of ammonia, 3 ounces; spirits of nitrous ether,'
1 ounce; bicarbonate of potassium, 3 drains; water, 1 pint.

If the patient becomes debilitated the stimulants as prescribed for
pneumonia should be used according to the same directions. The
same attention should be given to the diet. If the animal will par-
take of the bran mashes, scalded oats, and grass, it is the best, but
]f he refuses the laxative diet then he should be tried with different
kinds of food, and allowed whichever kind he desires.

In the beginning of the attack, if the pain is severe, causing the
animal to lie down or paw, the following drench should be given:
Tincture of opium, 2 ounces; raw linseed oil, 13 ounces. If the pain
continues, the tincture of opium may be repeated within four or five
hours.

If the case is not progressing favorably in ten or twelve days after
the beginning of the attack, convalescence is delayed by the fluid in
the chest failing to be absorbed. The animal becomes dull and weak
and evinces little or no desire for food. The breathing becomes still
more rapid and difficult. An effort must now be made to excite the
absorption of the effusion. An application of the liniment should be
rubbed over the lower part of both sides and the bottom of the chest.
The following drench should be given three times a day, for seven or
eight days if it is necessary and appears to benefit: Tincture of the
perchloride of iron, 1 ounce; tincture of gentian, 2 ounces; water, 1
5961 — HOR 0

130

pint. Also give 1 dram of iodide of potassium dissolved in the drink-
ing-water an lio\ir before feeding, every night and morning for a week
or two.

Hydro-thorax is sometimes difficult to overcome by means of the
use of medicines alone, when an operation called paracentesis thoracis
is performed. In i)lain language this means tapping the chest to
allow an escape for the accumulated fluid. The operation is per-
formed with a combined instrument called tlie trocar and canula.
The puncture is made in the lower part of the chest, in the space
between the eighth and ninth ribs. Wounding of the intercostal
arteiy is avoided by inserting the instrument as near as possible to
the anterior edge of the rib. If the operation is of benefit it is only
so when performed before the strength is lowered beyond recovery.
The operation merely receives a passing notice here, as it is not pre-
sumed that the non-professional will attempt it, although it is attended
with little danger or difficulty in the hands of the exj)ert.

We have described bronchitis, pneumonia, and x^leuris}' mainly as
thej' occur as independent diseases, and have treated them in a way
that an intelligent i:)erson can not possibly do harm. While it is true
much more might have been said in regard to the different stages and
tyi^es of the affections, and also in regard to the treatment of each
stage and each particular type, the jilan adopted is considered the
wisest on account of simplifying as much as possible a subject of
which the reader is supi^osed to know very little, if anjiihing.

A few words will now be devoted to these affections as thej' occur,
when two or more exist at the same time and in the same animal.

PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

The disease is so called when the animal is affected with pleurisy
and pneumonia combined, which is most frequently the case. At the
beginning of the attack only one of the affections maj^ be present, but
the other soon follows. It has already been stated that the pleura is
closely adherent to the lung. The pleura on this account is fre-
quently more or less affected by the spreading of the inflammation
from the lung tissue. There is a combination of the symptoms of
both diseases, but to the ordinary- observer the symptoms of pleurisy
are the most obvious. The course of treatment to be pursued differs
in no manner from that given for the affections when they occur inde-
X)endently. The symj^toms will be your guide as to the advisability
of giving oil and laudanum for the pain if the pleurisy is very severe.
Do not resort to it unless it is necessary to allay the pain.

BROXCHO-PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

This Is the term or terms applied when bronchitis, pleurisy, and
pneumonia all exist at once. This is bj' no means a common occur-
rence. However, it is impossible for one who is not an expert to diag-
nose the state with certainty. The apparent symptoms are the same
as when the animal is affected with pleuro-imeumonia.

131

BRONCHO-PNEUMONIA.

This is also a common comx^lication. Either one or the other may
be first in oi)eration. When bronchitis affects the smaller bronchial
tubes the inflammation readily extends to the air-cells and thence to
the lung- tissue, constituting pneumonia. Or the bronchial lube may
be secondarih" involved by the extension of the inflammation from the
air-cells. Nothing in regard to the treatment of this condition requires
to be said here, as it has been fullj" described when speaking of bron-
chitis and ijneumonia as separate diseases. A brief review of some
of the unfavorable results of i^leurisy and pneumonia will not be out
of place here:

SUPPURATION AND ABSCESS IN THE LUNG.

There are instances, and especially when the surroundings of the
patient have been bad, when the inflammation terminates in an abscess
in the lung. Sometimes, when the inflammation has been extreme,
sui)i3uration in a large portion of the lung takes j)lace. Impure air,
the result of improper ventilation, is the most frecxuent cause of this
termination. The sjnnptoms of suppuration in the lung are an exceed-
ingly offensive smell of the breath, and the discharge of the matter
from the nostrils.

MORTIFICATION.

Gangrene or mortiflcation means a death of the i:)art affected. Occa-
sionally, owing to the intensity of the inflammation or bad treatment,
pneumonia and pleuro-pneumonia terminate in mortification, which is
soon followed by the death of the animal.

ABSCESS IN THE SPACES BETWEEN THE RIBS,

Abscess of the intercostal sj)aces has been recorded as a result of
pleurisy. Following the attack of lileurisj^ an enlargement appears
on some part of the chest, which may burst of its own accord. When
it makes its appearance it is advisable to apph^ poultices of linseed
meal and hot water, or bathe it continuously for hours at a time with
water as hot as can be comfortably borne. This treatment will hasten
the formation of matter. When it is soft in the center it should be
lanced and the matter allowed to escape. The course of tonic treat-
ment and nutritive food advised in the treatment of pleurisy should
be kept up.

HEMOPTYSIS — BLEEDING FROM THE LUNGS.

Bleeding from the lungs maj' occur during the course of congestion
of the lungs, bronchitis, pneumonia, influenza, purpura hemorrhagica,
or glanders. An accident or exertion may cause a rupture of a vessel.
Plethora predisposes to it. Following the rupture of a vessel the

132

blood may escape into the lung tissue and cause a serious attack of
pneumonia, or it may fill uj) the bronchial tubes and prove fatal by
suffocating the animal. When the hemorrhage is from the lungs it is
accompanied by coughing; the blood is frothy and comes from both
nostrils. "Whereas when the bleeding is merely from a rupture of a
vessel in some part of the head (heretofore described as bleeding from
the nose) the blood is most likely to issue from one nostril only, and
the discharge is not accompanied by coughing. The ear may be placed
against the windpipe along its course, and if the blood is from the
lungs a gurgling or rattling sound will be heard. When it occurs in
connection with another disease it seldom requires special treatment.
When caused by accident or overexertion the animal should be kept
quiet. If the cough is frequent or paroxysmal a dose composed of 2
ounces of tincture of opium in 8 ounces of raw linseed oil may be given
to allay the irritability, which may stop the hemorrhage by checking
the cough. If the hemorrhage is profuse and continues for several
hours 1 dram of the acetate of lead dissolved in a pint of water may
be given as a drench, or 1 ounce of the tincture of the perchloride of
iron, diluted with a pint of water, may be given instead of the lead.
It is rare that the hemorrhage is so profuse as to require internal reme-
dies. But hemorrhage into the lung may occur and cause death by
suffocation without the least manifestation of it by the discharge of
blood from the nose.

CONSUMPTION.

Pulmonary consumi^tion, "the same as phthisis or consumption in
man," has been described by European authors as affecting the horse.
It is mentioned here merely to give the writer an opportunity to say
that he never saw a case of it, and never conversed with a veterinarian
on the subject who has met with a case in the horse. This fact does
not prove that the horse is exempt from the disease, but it at least
]3roves that it must be rare indeed.

DROPSY OP THE LUNG.

This condition has been noticed as a result of heart disease, and as
it is said almost invariably to terminate fatally, no further notice of it
is necessary here.

HEAVES — BROKEN WIND — ASTHMA.

Much confusion exists in the popular mind in regard to the nature
of broken wind. Many horsemen apply tlie term to all ailments where
the breathing is difficult or noisy. Scientific veterinarians are well
acquainted with the phenomena and locality of the affection, but there
is a great diversity of oi)inion as regards the exact cause. Asthma is
generally thought to be due to spasm of the small circular muscles
that surround the bronchial tubes. The continued existence of this

133

affection of the muscles leads to a paralysis of them, ana is considered
one of the primary stages of broken wind.

Some eminent veterinarians maintain that the exciting cause of
broken ^rind is due to a lesion of the i^neumogastric nerve. That there
is good foundation for this opinion there can be no doubt. The pneu-
mogastric nerves send branches to the bronchial tubes, lungs, heart,
stomach, etc. All the organs just mentioned may sooner or later be-
come involved in connection with broken wind. It may be said that
broken wind is always associated with disorder of the function of
digestion. It is claimed that coarse or indigestible food irritates the
branches of the pneumogastric nerves which supply the walls of the
stomach, and this irritation is reflected or extended to the branches
of the same nerve which sujjply the lungs, when the lesions consti-
tuting broken wind follow.

In itself broken wind is not a fatal disease, but death is generally
caused by an affection closely connected with it. After death, if the
organs are examined, the lesions found depend much upon the length
of time broken wind has affected the animal. In recent cases very
few changes are noticeable, but in animals that have been broken-
winded for a long time the changes are well marked. The lungs are
paler than natural, and of much less weight in x^roportion to the vol-
ume, as evidenced by floating them in water. The walls of the small
bronchial tubes and the membrane of the larger tubes are thickened.
The right side of the heart is enlarged and its cavities dilated. The
stomach is enlarged and its walls stretched. And in many old cases
the intestinal walls undergo the same changes. The important change
found in the lungs is a condition technically called pulmonary emphy-
sema. This is of two varieties: First, what is termed vesicular
emphysema, which consists of an enlargement of the capacity of the
air-cells (air vesicles) by dilation of their walls ; the Avails after a time
degenerate, and finally give way, and thus form a communication
with other air-cells. The second form is called interlobular emphy-
sema, and follows the first. In this variety the air finds its way into
the lung tissue between the air-cells, or, as its name indicates, in the
tissue between the small lobules.

Symptoms. — Almost every experienced horseman is able to detect
"heaves." The peculiar movement of the flanks and abdomen point
out the ailment at once. But in recent cases the affected animal does
not always exhibit the characteristic breathing unless exerted to a
certain extent. The cough which accompanies this disease is peculiar
to it. It is difficult to describe, but the sound is short, and something
like a grunt.

When air is inspired, that is, taken in, it ai)i)ears to be done in the
same manner as in health; it maj" possibly be done a little quicker
than natural, but not enough to attract anj' notice. It is when the
act of expiration (or expelling the air from the lungs) is perfoi'med

134

tnat tne great change in the breathing is i^erceptible. It must now
be remembered that the lungs have lost much of their power of con-
tracting on account of the degeneration of the Avails of the air-cells,
and also on account of the paralysis of muscular t issue before men-
tioned. The air j)asses into them freely, but the power to expel it is
lost to a great extent by the lungs; therefore the abdominal muscles
are brought into play. These muscles, especially in the region of the
flank, are seen to contract, then pause for a moment, then comjjlete
the act of contracting, thus making a double bellows-like movement
at each expiration, a sort of jerkj" motion with every breath. When
the animal is exerted a wheezing noise accompanies the breathing.
This noise may be heard to a less extent when the animal is at rest if
the ear be applied to the chest.

As before remarked, indigestion is always present in these cases.
The animal has a depraved appetite, as shown by a desire to eat dirt
and soiled bedding, which he often devours in preference to the clean
food in the trough or manger. The stomach is liable to be overloaded
with indigestible food. The abdomen may assume that form called
"pot-bellied." The animal f requentlj' i)asses wind, Avhich is of fi A'ery
offensive odor. Attacks of colic may occur, which in some cases are
fatal. When first put to work dung is j)assed freciuently; the bowels
are often loose. The animal can not stand much work, as the mus-
cular system is soft. Round-chested horses are said to be predis-
posed to the disease, and it is certain that in cases of long standing
the chest usually becomes rounder than natural.

Certain "smart" individuals become very expert in managing a
horse affected with "heaves" in suppressing the sjnni^toms for a
short time. Thej" take advantage of the fact that the breathing is
much easier when the stomach and intestines are empty. They also
resort to the use of medicines that have a depressing eft'ect. When
the veterinarian is examining a horse for soundness, and he suspects
that the animal has been " fixed," he usually gives tlie horse as much
water as he will drink and then lias him ridden or driven rapidly up
a hill or on a heavy road. This will bring out the characteristic
breathing of "heaves." All broken-winded horses have the cough
peculiar to the affection, but it is not regular. A considerable time
may elax)se before it is heard and then it may come on in paroxysms,
especially when first brought out of the stable into the cold air, or
when excited by work, or after a drink of cold water. The cough is
usually the first symptom of the disease.

Treatment. — When tlie di.sease is established there is no cure for it.
Proi^er attention j^aid to the diet will relieve the distressing symptoms
to a certain extent, but they will undoubtedly reapjiear in their inten-
sitj^ the first time the animal overloads the stomach or is allowed food
of bad quality. Putting aside all theories in regard to the primary
cause of tlie affection, it is generally admitted that it is closely allied

135

to derangement of the digestive organs, most particularly the stoi.i,.c'ii.
This l)eing the fact, it is but reasonable to infer that if the animal is
allo^ved nothing but food of the best quality the predisposition lo
" heaves " is lessened. Clover hay and bulky food generally, which,
as a rule, contains biit little nutriment, have much to do with the
cause of the disease, and therefore should be entirely omitted when
the animal is affected, as well as before. A high authority asserts
that the disease is unknown where clover hay is never used. The
diet should be confined to food of the best quality and in the smallest
qnantit}-. The bad effect of moldy or dusty hay, fodder, or food of
anj" kind can not be overestimated. A small quantity of the best hay
once ii day is sufficient. The animal should invariably be watered
before feeding; never directly after a meal. It is a good plan to
slightly dampen the. food to allaj^ the dust. The animal should nat
be worked immediately after a meal. Exertion, Avhen the stomach is
full, invariablj' aggravates the sjnnptoms. Turning on pasture gives
relief. Carrots, iDotatoes, or turnips chopped and mixed with oats or
corn are a good diet.

Many different medicines have been tried, but not one has yet been
discovered that gives even partial satisfaction in the treatment of
broken wind. Arsenic, however, is about the only remedy that retains
any reputation of being efficacious in palliating the symptoms. It is
best administered in the form of the solution of arsenic in hydrochloric
acid (Liq. Acidi. Ars. ), which should be obtained from the drug store,
as it is then of a standard preparation. Each ounce of the solution
contains a little over 4+ grains of arsenic. A tablesi)oonful mixed
with bran and oats three times a da}" for about two weeks, then about
twice a daj' for about two vreeks longer, then once a day for several
weeks, is a good way to give this remedy. If the bowels do not act
regularly, a i)int of raw linseed oil may be given once or twice a
month. It must, however, be borne in mind that all medical treat-
ment is of secondary consideration ; careful attention i^aid to the diet
is of greatest importance. Broken-winded animals should not be
used for breeding purposes. A iDredisposition to the disease is likely
to be inherited.

CHRONIC COUGH.

A chronic cough may succeed the acute diseases of the respiratory
organs, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, larj^ngitis, etc. It accompa-
nies chronic roaring, chronic bronchitis, broken wind. It may suc-
ceed influenza. As previouslj" stated, cough is but a symptom and
not a disease in itself. Chronic cough is occasionallj' associated with
diseases other than those of the organs of respiration. It may be a
symptom of chronic indigestion or of worms. In such cases it is
caused by a reflex nervous irritation. The i^roper treatment in all
cases of chronic coug-h is to ascertain the nature of the disease of

136

wliicli it is a symptom, and then cure tlie disease if possible, and the
cough will cease.

The treatment of the affections will be found under their appro-
priate heads, to which the reader is referred.

PLEURODYNIA.

This is a form of rheumatism that affects the intercostal muscles,
that is, the muscles between the ribs. The apparent symptoms are
very similar to those of pleurisy. The animal is stiff and not inclined
to turn around; the ribs are kept in a fixed state as much as possible.
If the head is pulled round suddenly, or the affected side struck with
the hand, or if the spaces between the ribs are pressed with the fingers
the animal will flinch and perhaps emit a grunt or groan expressive
of much pain. It is distinguished from pleurisy by the absence of
fever, cough, the friction-sound, the effusion into the chest, and by
the existence of rheumatism in other parts. The treatment for this
affection is the same as for rheumatism affecting other parts.

WOUNDS PENETRATING THE AVALLS OF THE CHEST.

According to the theory of some teachers of phj'-siology, Avhen an
opening is made in the wall of the chest sufficient for the admission
of air a collapse of the lung should occur. But in practice this is not
always found to be the case. The writer has attended several such
cases, and one in particular was not seen until about twelve hours
after the wound was inflicted. It is true the breathing was consider-
ably altered, but no bad effect followed the admission of air into the
thoracic cavity. The wound was closed and treated according to the
method of treating wounds generally, and a speedy and perfect recov-
ery was made. The Avound may not penetrate the pleura; in such
cases no great harm is done, but if the pleura is penetrated pleurisy
may follow, and even pneumonia if the wound involves the lung.

The condition called pneumo-thorax means air in the chest. This
may be due to a wound in the wall of the chest, or it may be due to a
broken rib, the sharp edge of which wounds the lung sufficiently to
allow air to escape into the space between the lung and ribs, which is
naturally a vacuum. Air gaining access to the thoracic cavity through
a wound may have a peculiar effect. The wound may be so made that
when the walls of the chest are dilating a little air is sucked in, but
during the contraction of the wall the contained air presses against
the torn part in such a manner as to entirely close the wound ; thus a
small quantity of air gains access with each inspiration, while none is
allowed to escape until the lung is pressed into a very small compass
and forced into the anterior part of the chest. The same thing may
occur from a broken rib inflicting a wound in the lung. In this form
the air gains access from the lung, and there may not even be an open-
ing in the walls of the chest. Decomposition of the fluid in hydro-
thorax, with consequent generation of gases, is said to have caused

137

the same condition. In such cases the air is generally absorbed, and
a spontaneous cure is the result. But when the symptoms are urgent
it is recommended that the air be removed by a trocar and canula or
by an asj)irator.

The treatment of wounds that penetrate the thoracic cavity should,
for the foregoing reason, be prompt. It should be quickly ascertained
whether or not a foreign body remains in the wound, then it should
be thoroughly cleaned with a solution of carbolic acid one part in water
forty parts. The Avound should then be closed immediately. If it is
an incised wound it should be closed with sutures; if torn or lacerated,
a bandage around the chest over the dressing is the best plan. At all
events, air must be prevented from getting into the chest, as soon and
as effectually as possible. The after treatment of the wound should
principalh^ consivSt in keeijing the parts clean with the solution of car-
bolic acid, and applying fresh dressing as often as required to keep
the wound in a healthy condition. Care should be taken that the dis-
charges from the vround have an outlet in the most dependent part.
(See Wounds.) If the wound causes much pain it should be allayed
with a dose of tincture of opium in raw linseed oil, as advised in the
treatment of pleurisy. If pleurisy supervenes, it should be treated as
advised under that head.

THUMPS — SPASM OF THE DIAPHRAGM.

"Thumps" is generally thought to be, b}^ the inexperienced, a pal-
pitation of the heart. While it is true that palpitation of the heart
is sometimes called "thumps," it must not be confounded with the
affection under consideration.

In the beginning of this article on the diseases of the organs of res-
piration the diaphragm was briefly referred to as the principal and
essential muscle of respiration. Spasmodic or irregular contractions
of it in man are manifested by what is familiarly known as hiccoughs.
Thumps in the horse is identical with hiccoughs in man, although the
peculiar noise is not made in the throat of the horse in all cases.

There should be no difficult}' in distinguishing this affection from
palpitation of the heart. The jerky motion affects the Avhole body,
and is not confined to the region of the heart. If one hand is placed
on the body at about the middle of the last rib, while the other hand
is placed over the heart behind the left elbow, it will be easily demon-
strated that there is no connection between the thumping or jerking
of the diaiihragm and the beating of the heart. If the ear is placed
against the body it will be discovered that the sound is made posterior
to the region of the heart. In fact, when the animal is affected with
spasms of the diaphragm the beating of the heart is usually much
weaker and less perceptible than natural. Thumps is produced by
the same causes which produce congestion of the lungs, and is often
oDGl— HOP 5*

138

seen in connection witli the latter disease. If not relieved, death
usually results from congestion of the lungs, as the breathing is inter-
fered with by the inordinate action of this the princii)al muscle of
inspiration so much that proper aeration of the blood can not take
place. The treatment should be precisely the same as prescribed for
congestion of the lungs.

RUPTURE OF THE DIAPHRAGM,

Post mortem examinations reveal a great many instances of rupture
of the diaphragm. It is the general opinion among veterinarians that
this takes place after death, and is due to the generation of gases in
the decomposing carcass, which distend the intestines so that the dia-
pliragm is ruptured by the great pressure against it. Of course it is
X)ossible for it to haiipen before death and by strangulating the
kriuckle of intestine that may be in the rupture cause death; but
there are no symptoms b}^ which it may be diagnosed.

DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORCxANS.

By Dr. JAMES LAW, F. R. C. V. S.,

Professor of Veterinary Science, etc., in Cornell University.

COXGESTIOX AND INFLAMMATION OF THE TESTICLES — ORCHITIS.

• lu the prime of life, in vigorous liealtli, and on stimulating food
stallions are subject to congestion of the testicles, which become
swollen, hot, and tender, but without any active inflammation. A
reduction of the grain in the feed, the administration of 1 or 2 ounces
of Glauber salts daily in the food, and the bathing of the affected
organs daily with tepid water or alum water will usually restore them
to a healthy condition.

When the factors producing congestion are extraordinarily potent,
when there has been frequent copulation and heavy grain feeding,
when the weather is warm and the animal has had little exercise, and
when the proximity of other horses or mares excite the generative
instinct without gratification, this congestion may grow to actual
inflammation. Among the other causes of orchitis are blows and pen-
etrating wounds implicating the testicles, abrasions of the scrotum by
a chain or rope passing inside the thigh, contusions and frictions on the
gland under rapid paces or heavy draught, compression of the blood-
vessels of the spermatic cord by the inguinal ring under the same cir-
cumstances, and finally, sympathetic disturbance in cases of disease
of the kidneys, bladder, or urethra. Stimulants of the generative
functions, like rue, savin, tansy, cantharides, and daniiana may also
be accessory causes of congestion and inflammation. Finally, certain
specific diseases like vial du coU, glanders, and tuberculosis, localized
in the testicles, will cause inflammation. Apart from actual wounds
of the parts the symptoms of orchitis are swelling, heat, and tender-
ness of the testicles, straddling with the hind legs alike in standing
and walking, stiffness and dragging of the hind limbs or of the limb
on the affected side, arching of the loins, abdominal pain, mani-
fested by glancing back at the flank, with more or less fever, ele-
vated body temperature, accelerated pulse and breathing, inappetence,

139

140

and dullness. In bad cases tlie scanty urine may be reddish and the
swelling may extend to the skin and envelopes of the testicle, which
may become thickened and doughy, pitting on pressure. The swelling
may be so much greater in the convoluted excretory duct along the
upper border of the testicle as to suggest the presence of a second stone.
Even in the more violent attacks the intense suffering abates some-
what on the second or third day. If it lasts longer it is likely to give
rise to the formation of matter (abscess). In exceptional cases the tes-
ticle is struck with gangrene or death. Improvement may go on slowly
to complete recovery, or the malady may subside into a subacute and
chronic form with induration. Matter (abscess) may be recognized
by the i^resence of a soft spot, where pressure with two fingers will
detect fluctuation from one to the other. When there is liquid exu-
dation into the scrotum, or sack, fluctuation may also be felt, but the
liquid can be made out to be around the testicle and can be pressed
up into the abdomen through the inguinal canal. When abscess occurs
in the cord the matter may escape into the scrotal sack and cavity of
the abdomen and pyaemia may follow.

Treatment consists in perfect rest and quietude, the administration
of a purgative (1 pound to 1^ pounds Glauber's salts), and the local
application of an astringent lotion (acetate of lead 2 drams, extract of
belladonna 2 drams, and water 1 quart) upon soft rags or cotton wool,
kept in contact with the j^art by a suspensory bandage. This bandage,
of great value for support, may be made nearly triangular and tied to
a girth around the loins and to the upper i^art of the same surcingle
by two bands carried backwai'd and upward between the thighs. In
severe cases scarifications one-fourth inch deej) serve to relieve vascu-
lar tension. When abscess is threatened its formation may be favored
by warm fomentations or poultices, and on the occurrence of fluctua-
tion the knife may be employed to give free escape to the pus. The
resulting cavity may be injected daily with a weak carbolic acid lotion,
or salol may be introduced. The same agents may be used on a gland
threatened with gangrene, but its promj)t removal by castration is to
be preferred, antiseptics being applied freely to the resulting cavity.

SARCOCELE.

This is an enlarged and indurated condition of the gland resulting
from chronic inflammation, though it is often associated with a specific
deposit like glanders. In this condition the natural structure of the
gland has given place to embryonal tissue (small, round cells, with a
few fibrous bundles), and its restoration to health is very improbable.
Apart from active inflammation, it may increase very slowly. The
diseased testicle is enlarged, firm, non-elastic, and comparatively in-
sensible. The skin of the scrotum is tense, and it may be cedematous
(pitting on pressure), as are the deeper envelopes and spermatic cord.
If liquid is present in the sack the symjitoms are masked somewhat.

141

As it incre^ises it causes awkward, straddling, dragging movement of
the hind limbs, or lameness on the affected side. The spermatic cord
often increases at the same time with the testicle, and the inguinal
ring being thereby stretched and enlarged, a portion of intestine may
escape into the sack, complicating the disease with hernia.

The only rational and effective treatment is castration, and even this
may not succeed when the disease is specific (glanders, tuberculosis).

HYDROCELE — DROPSY OF THE SCROTUM.

This may be merely an accompaniment of dropsy of the abdomen,
the cavity of which is continuous with that of the scrotum in horses.
It ma}^ be the result, however, of local disease in the testicle, spermatic
cord, or walls of the sack.

The symptoms are enlargement of the scrotum, and fluctuation
under the fingers, the testicle being recognized as floating in water.
Jiy jjressure the liquid is forced, in a slow stream, and with a percep-
tible thrill, into the abdomen. Sometimes the cord, or the scrotum,
is thickened and i)its on pressure.

Treatment may be the same as for ascites, yet when the effusion
has resulted from inflammation of the testicle or cord, astringent
applications (chalk and vinegar) may be applied to these. Then if
the liquid is not reabsorbed under diuretics and tonics, it may be
drawn off through the nozzle of a hypodermic syringe, which has
been first passed through carbolic acid. In geldings it is best to
dissect out the sacks.

VARICOCELE.

This is an enlargement of the venous network of the spermatic
cord, and gives rise to general thickening of the cord from the testicle
up to the ring. The same astringent dressings may be tried as in
hydrocele, and this failing castration may be resorted to.

ABNORMAL NUMBER OF TESTICLES.

Sometimes one or both testicles are wanting; in most such cases,
however, they are merely partially developed, and retained in the
inguinal canal, or abdomen (cryptorchid). In rare cases there may
be a third testicle, the animal becoming to this extent a double mon-
ster. Teeth, hair, and other indications of a second foetus have like-
wise been found in the testicle, or scrotum.

DEGENERATION OF THE TESTICLES.

The testicles may become the seat of fibrous, calcareous, fatty, carti-
laginous, or cystic degeneration, for all of which the appropriate treat-
ment is castration. They also become the seat of cancer, glanders,
or tuberculosis, and castration is requisite, though with less hope of
arresting the disease. Finally they may become infested with cystic
tape-worms, or the armed round worm {sclerostomum equinum).

142

WARTS ON THE PENIS.

These are best removed bj^ seizing them between the thumb and
forefinger and tAvisting them off. Or they may be cnt off with scis-
sors and the roots cauterized with nitrate of silver.

DEGENERATION OF PENIS — PAPILLOMA, EPITHELIOMA.

Tlie penis of tlie horse is subject to great cauliflower-like growths
on its free end, which extend back into the substance of the organ,
obstruct the passage of urine, and cause very fetid discharges. The
only resort is to cut them off, together with whatever portion of the
l)enis has become diseased and indurated. The operation, which
should be i)erformed by a veterinary surgeon, consists in cutting
through the organ from its upper to its lower aspect, twisting or tjing
the two dorsal arteries and leaving the urethra longer b}^ half an inch
to 1 inch than the adjacent structures.

EXTRAVASATION OF BLOOD IN THE PENIS.

As the result of kicks, blows, or of forcible striking of the yard on
the thighs of the mare which it has failed to enter, the penis may
become the seat of effusion of blood from one or more ruptured blood-
vessels. This gives rise to a more or less extensive swelling on one
or more sides, followed by some heat and inflammation, and on recov-
er}^ a serious curving of the organ. The treatment in the early stages
may be the api)lication of lotions, of alum, or other astringents, to
limit the amount of effusion and favor absorption. The penis should
be suspended in a sling.

PARALYSIS OF THE PENIS.

This results from l)lows and other injuries, and also in some cases
fi'om too frequent and exhausting service. The yard hangs from the
sheath, flaccid, pendulous, and often cold. The passage of urine
occurs with lessened force, and especially without the final jets. In
cases of local injurj^ the inflammation should first be subdued by
astringent and emollient lotions, and in all cases the system should
be invigorated bj^ nourishing diet, while 30-grain doses of nux vomica
are given twice a day. Finallj^, a weak current of electricity sent
through the penis from just beneath the anus to the'free portion of
the yard, continued for ten or fifteen minutes and repeated daily,
may prove successful.

SELF- ABUSE — MASTURBATION,

Some stallions acquire this vicious habit, stimulating the sexual
instinct to the discharge of semen, by rubbing the penis against the
helly or between the fore limbs. Tlie only remedy is a mechanical

143

one, the fixing of a net under the penis in such fashion as will pre-
vent the extension of the penis, or so prick the organ as to compel
the animal to desist through pain.

MAL DU COIT-^DOUEINE.

Til is is i)ropagated, like sj^philis, b}' the act of copulation and
affects stallions and mares. It has heen long known in Xorthern
Africa, Arabia, and Continental Europe. It was imported into Illi-
nois in 1882 in a Percheron horse.

From one to ten days after copulation, or in stallions it maj' be
after some weeks, there is irritation, swelling and a livid redness of
the external organs of generation, sometimes followed by the eruption
of small blisters one-fifth of an inch across, on the i^enis, the vulva,
clitoris, and vagina, and the consequent rupture of these vesicles and
the formation of ulcers or small open sores. Vesicles have not been
noticed in this disease in the dry climate of Illinois. In the mare
there is frequent contraction of the vulva, urination, and the dis-
charge of a watery and later a thick viscid liquid of a whitish, yel-
lovvdsh, or reddish color, which collects on and soils the tail. The
swelling of the vulva increases and decreases alternately, affecting
one part more than another and giving a distorted appearance to the
opening. The affection of the skin leads to the appearance of circu-
lar white spots, which may remain distinct or coalesce into extensive
patches which persist for months. This with the soiled tail, red,
swollen, puckered, and distorted vulva, and an increasing weakness
and paralysis of the hind limbs, serve to characterize the affection.
The mare rarely breeds, but ■^^^.ll take the male and thus pro^^agate
the disease. The disease winds up with great emaciation and stu-
pidit}', and death in four months to two years. In horses which serve
few mares there ma}^ be only swelling of the sheath for a j'ear, but
with frequent copulation the progress is more rapid. The penis may
be enlarged, shrunken, or distorted; the testicles are unusualh^ pen-
dent and may be enlarged or wasted and flabby; the skin, as in the
mare, shows white spots and patches. Later the i^enis becomes par-
tially paralyzed and hangs out of the sheath; swelling of the adjacent
Ij-mphatic glands (in the groin) and even of distant ones, and of the
skin, appear, and the hind limbs become weak and unsteady. In
some instances the glands under the jaw swell, and a discharge flows
from the nose as in glanders. In other cases the itcliing of the skin
leads to gnawing and extensive sores. Weakness, emaciation, and
stupidity increase until death, in fatal cases, yet the sexual desire
does not seem to fail. A stallion without sense to eat except when
food was put in his mouth, would still neigh and seek to follow
mares. In mild cases an apparent recovery may ensue, and through
such animals the disease is propagated to new localities to be
roused into activity and extension under the stimulus of service.

144

The diseased nerve centers are the seat of eryptogamic growths.
(Thannhoffer. )

Treatment of the maladj^ has i? roved eminently unsatisfactory. It
belongs to the purely contagious diseases, and should be stamped out
by the remorseless slaughter or castration of every horse or mare that
has had sexual congress with a diseased animal. A provision for
Government indemnity for the animals so destroyed or castrated, and
a severe penalty for putting any such animal to breeding, would serve
as effectual accessory resorts.

CASTRATION OF STALLIONS.

This is usually done at one year old, but may be accomplished at a
few weeks old, at the expense of an imperfect development of the
fore parts. The simplicity and safety of the operation are greatest in
the young. The delaj^ till two, three, or four years old Avill secure a
better development and carriage of the fore parts. The essential
part of castration is the safe removal or destruction of the testicle
and the arrest or prevention of bleeding from the spermatic artery
found in the anterior part of the cord. Into the many methods of
accomplishing this, limited space forbids us to enter here, so that the
method most commonly adopted, castration by clamps, will alone be
noticed. The animal having been thrown on his left side, and the
right hind foot drawn up on the shoulder, the exposed scrotum,
penis, and sheath are washed with soap and water, any concretion of
sebum being carefully removed from the biloeular cavity in the end
of the penis. The left spermatic cord, just above the testicle, is now
seized in the left hand, so as to render the skin tense over the stone,
and the right hand, armed with the knife, makes an incision from
before backward, about three-fourths of an inch from and parallel to
the median line between the thighs, deep enough to expose the testicle
and long enough to allow that organ to start out through the skin.
At the moment of making this incision the left hand must grasp the
cord very firmly, otherwise the sudden retraction of the testicle by
the cremaster muscle may draw it out of the hand and upwards
through the canal and even into the abdomen. In a few- seconds,
when the struggle and retraction have ceased, the knife is inserted
through the cord, between its anterior and jjosterior portions and the
latter, the one which the muscle retracts, is cut completely through.
The testicle will now hang limp and there is no longer any tendency
to retraction. It should be pulled down until it will no longer hang
loose below the wound and the clamps applied around the still attached
portion of the cord, close up to the skin. The clamps, Avhich may be
made of any tough wood, are grooved along the center of the surfaces
opposed to each other, thereby fulfilling two important indications,
(a) enabling the clamps to hold more securely and {h) providing for
the application of an antiseptic to the cord. For this purpose a dram

145

of sulphate of copper may be mixed with an ounce of lard and pressed
into the groove in the face of each clamp. In applying the clamp
over the cord it should be drawn so close with jjincers as to press out
all blood from the compressed cord and destroy its vitality-, and
the cord applied upon the comijressing clamps should be so hard-
twined that it will not stretch later and slacken the hold. When the
clamp has been fixed the testicle is cut off one-half to 1 inch below
it, and the clamp may be left thus for twenty-four hours; then, by
cutting the cord around one end of the clamp, the latter may be
opened and the stump liberated, without any danger of bleeding.
Should the stump hang out of the wound it should be pushed inside
with the finger and left there. The wound should begin to discharge
white matter on the second day in hot weather, or the third in cold,
and from that time a good recovery may be expected.

CONDITIOXS FAVORABLE TO SUCCESSFUL CASTRATION.

The young horse suffers less from castration than the old, and very
rarely perishes. Good health in the subject is all important. Castra-
tion should never be attemjited during the prevalence of strangles,
influenza, catarrhal fever, contagious pleurisy, bronchitis, pneumonia,
purpura hsemorrhagica, or other specific disease, nor on subjects that
have been kept in close, illy ventilated, filthy buildings, where the
system is liable to have been charged with putrid bacteria or other
products. Warm weather is to be preferred to cold, but the fly time
should be avoided or the flies kept at a distance by the apjilication of
a watery solution of tar, carbolic acid, or camphor to the wound.

CASTRATION OF CRYPTORCHIDS (RIDGLINGS).

This is the removal of a testicle or testicles that have failed to
descend into the scrotum, but have been detained in the inguinal
canal or inside the abdomen. The manipulation requires an accurate
anatomical knowledge of the parts, and special skill, experience, and
manual dexterity, and can not be made clear to the unprofessional
mind in a short notice. It consists, however, in the discovery and
removal of the missing gland by exploring through the natural chan-
nel (the inguinal canal), or, in case it is absent, through the inguinal
ring or through an artificial opening made in front and above that
channel between the abdominal muscles and the strong fascia on the
inner side of the thigh (Poupart's ligament). Whatever method is
used, the skin, hands, and instruments should be rendered aseptic
with a solution of mercuric chloride 1 part; Avater 2,000 parts (a car-
bolic acid lotion for the instruments), and the spermatic cord is best
torn through by the ecraseur. In many such cases, too, it is desirable
to sew uj) the external wound and keep the animal still, to favor
healing of the wound by adhesion.

146

PAIX AFTER CASTRATION.

Some horses are pained and very restless for some hours after cas-
tration, and this may extend to cramjis of tlie howels and violent colic.
This is best kept in check by carefully rubbing the patient dry when
he rises from the operation, and then leading him in hand for some
time. If the pain still persists a dose of laudanum (1 ounce for an
adult) may be given.

BLEEDING AFTER CASTRATION.

Bleeding from the wound in the scrotum and from the little artery
in the posterior portion of the spermatic cord always occurs, and in
warm weather may appear to be quite free. It scarcely ever lasts,
however, over fifteen minutes, and is easilj" checked by dashing cold
water against the part.

Bleeding from the spermatic artery in the anterior part of the cord
may be dangerous when due precaution has not been taken to prevent
it. In such case the stump of the cord should be sought for and
the artery twisted with artery forceps or tied Avith a silk thread.
If the stump can not be found, pledgets of tow wet with tincture of
muriate of iron may be stuffed into the canal to favor the formation
of clot and the closure of the artery.

STRANGULATED SPERMATIC CORD.

If in castration the cord is left too long, so as to hang out of the
wound, the skin wound in contracting grasps and strangles it, pre-
venting the free return of blood and causing a steadily advancing
swelling. In addition the cord becomes adherent to the lips of the
wound in the skin, whence it derives an increased supply of blood,
and is thereby stimulated to more rapid swelling. The subject walks
stiffly, with straddling gait, loses appetite, and has a rapid pulse and
high fever. Examination of the wound discloses the partial closure
of the skin wound, and the protrusion from its lips of the end of the
cord, red, tense, and varying in size from a hazel-nut upward. If
there is no material swelling and little protrusion the wound may be
enlarged with the knife and the end of the cord broken loose from any
connection with the skin, and pushed up inside. If the swelling is
larger the mass constitutes a tumor, and must be removed. (See
below. )

SWELLING OF THE SHEATH, PENIS, AND ABDOMEN.

This occurs in certain unhealthy states of the system, in unhealthy
seasons, as the result of operating without cleansing the sheath and
penis, or of keeping the subject in a filthy, impure building, as the
result of infecting the wound by hands or instruments bearing septic
bacteria, or as the-result of i^remature closure of the wound, and im-
prisonment of matter.

147

Pure air and cleanliness of groin and wound are to be secured.
Antiseptics, like the mercuric chloride lotion (li)art to 2,000) are to be
applied to the parts; the wound, if closed, is to be opened anew, any
accumulated matter or blood washed out, and the antiseptic liquid
freely applied. The most tense or dependent parts of the swelling in
sheath or penis, or beneath the belly, should be pricked at intervals
of 3 or 4 inches, and to a depth of half an inch, and antiseptics freely
used to the surface. Fomentations with warm water may also be used
to favor oozing from the incisions and to encourage the formation of
white matter in the original wounds, which must not be allowed to
close again at once. A free, cream-like discharge imi:)lies a healthy
action in the sore, and is the precursor of recovery.

PHYMOSIS AND PARAPHYMOSIS.

In cases of swelling, as above, the j)enis may be imprisoned within
the sheath (phjanosis) or protruded and swollen so that it can not be
retracted into it (paraphj-mosis). In these cases the treatment indi-
cated above, and especially tlie scarifications, will prove a useful j)re-
liminaiy resort. The use of astringent lotions is always desirable,
and in case of the protruded x)enis the application of an elastic or
simple linen bandage, so as to press out the blood and accumulated
fluid, vrill enable the operator to return it.

TUMORS ox THE SPERMATIC CORD.

These are due to rough handling or dragging upon the cord in cas-
tration, to strangulation of unduly long cords in the external wound,
to adhesion of the end of the cord to the skin, to inflammation of the
cord succeeding exjDosure to cold or wet, or to the presence of septic
or irritant matters. These tumors give rise to a stiff, straddling gait,
and may be felt as hard masses in the groin connected above with the
cord. They may continue to grow slowly for manj^ j'ears until they
reach a weight of 15 or 20 pounds, and contract adhesions to all sur-
rounding parts. If disconnected from the skin and inguinal canal
they may be removed in the same manner as the testicle, while if
larger and firmh' adherent to the skin and surrounding parts generally
they must be carefully dissected from the parts, the arteries being
tied as they are reached and the cord finally torn through with an
ecraseur. When the cord has become swollen and indurated uj) into
the abdomen such removal is impossible, though a partial destruction
of the mass may still be attempted by passing white hot pointed irons
upward toward the inguinal ring in the center of the thickened and
indurated cord.

CASTRATION BY THE COVERED OPERATION.

This is only required in case of hernia or protrusion of bowels or
omentum into the sack of the scrotum, and consists in the return of

148

the hernia and tlie application of the caustic clamps over the cord and
inner walls of the inguinal canal, so that the walls of the latter become
adherent above the clamps, the canal is obliterated, and further pro-
trusion is hindered. For the full description of this and of the oi^era-
tion for hernia in geldings, see article on hernia.

CASTRATION OF THE MARE.

Castration is a much more dangerous operation in the mare than in
the females of other domesticated quadrupeds, and should never be
resorted to except in animals that become unmanageable on the recur-
rence of heat, and that will not breed or that are utterly unsuited to
breeding. Formerly the operation was extensively practiced in
Europe, the incision being made through the flank, and a large pro-
portion of the subjects perishing. By operating through the vagina
the risk can be largely obviated, as the danger of unhealthy inflam-
mation in the wound is greatly lessened. The animal should be fixed
in a trevis, with each foot fixed to a post and a sling placed under the
body, or, better, it may be thrown and put under chloroform. The
manual operation demands special professional knowledge and skill,
but it consists essentially in making an opening through the roof of
the vagina just above the neck of the womb, then following with the
hand each horn of the womb' until the ovary on that side is reached
and grasped between the lips of forceps and twisted ofl". It might be
torn off by an ecraseur especially constructed for the purj)ose. The
straining that follows the operation may be checked by ounce doses
of laudanum, and any risk of j)rotrusion of the bowels may be obvi-
ated by appljang the truss advised to prevent e version of the womb.
To further prevent the pressure of the abdominal contents against the
vaginal wound the mare should be tied short and high for twenty-four
or forty-eight hours, after which I have found it best to remove the
truss and allow the privilege of lying down. Another important point
is to give bran mashes and other laxative diet only, and in moderate
quantity, for a fortnight, and to unload the rectum by copious injec-
tions of warm water in case it should threaten to become impacted,

STERILITY.

Sterility may be in the male or in the female. If due to the stallion,
then all the mares put to him remain barren; if due to the mare, she
alone fails to conceive.

In the stallion sterility may be due to the following causes: (a)
Imperfect development of the testicles, as in cases in which they are
retained within the abdomen ; (b) inflammation of the testicles, result-
ing in induration ; (c) fatty degeneration of the testicles, in stallions
liberally fed on starchy food and not sufficiently exercised; (d) fatty
degeneration of the excretory ducts of the testicles {vasa deferentia) ;
(e) inflammation or ulceration of these ducts; (/) inflammation or

149

ulceration of the mucous membrane covering the penis; {y) injuries
to the penis from blows (often causing paralysis) ; (h) warty growths,
on the end of the penis; (i) tumors of other kinds (largely pigmentary)
affecting the testicles or penis; (j) nervous diseases Avhich abolish the
sexual appetite, or that control over the muscles which is essential to
the act of coition ; (k) azoturia with resulting weakness or paralysis
of the muscles of the loins or the front of the thigh (above the stifle) ;
(/) ossification (anchylosis) of the joints of the back or loins, which
renders the animal unable to rear or mount; {m) spavins, ringbones,
or other i^ainf ul affections of the hind limbs, the pain of which in
mounting causes the animal to suddenly stop short in the act. In the
first three of these only (a, h, and c) is there real sterility in the sense
of the non-development or imperfect development of the male vivify-
ing element (spermatozoa). In the other examijles the secretion may
be i)erfect in kind and amount, but as copulation is prevented it can
not reach and imi)regnate the ovum.

In the mare barrenness is equally due to a variety of causes. In a
number of breeding studs the proportion of sterile mares has varied
from 20 to 40 per cent. It may be due to : (a) Imperfect development
of the ovary and non-maturation of ova; (&) cystic or other tumors
of the ovary; (c) fatty degeneration of the ovary in very obese, pam-
pered mares; (d) fatty degeneration of the excretory tubes of the
ovaries (fallopian tubes); (e) catarrh of the womb, Avith muco-
purulent discharge; (/) irritable condition of the womb, with profuse
secretion, straining, and ejection of the semen; {g) nervous irritabil-
ity, leading to the same expulsion of the male element; (h) high con-
dition (plethora) with profuse secretion and excitement; {i) low
condition with imperfect maturation of the ova and lack of sexual
desire ; (j) poor feeding, overwork, and chronic debilitating diseases,
as leading to the condition just named; (k) closure of the neck of
the womb, temporarily by spasm, or permanently by inflammation
and induration; (Z) closure of the entrance to the vagina through
imjierf orate hymen, a rare though not unknown condition in the mare;
(?//) acquired indisposition to breed, seen in old, hard-worked mares,
which are first put to the stallion when aged; {n) change of climate
has repeatedly been followed by barrenness; (o) hybridity, which in
male and female alike usually entails sterility.

The treatment of the majority of these conditions will be found dealt
with in other parts of this work, so that it is only necessary here to
name them as causes. Some, however, must be siDcciallj^ referred to
in this place. Stallions with undescended testicles are beyond the
reach of medicine, and should be castrated and devoted to other uses.
Indurated testicles may sometimes be remedied in the early stages
by smearing with a weak iodine ointment daily for a length of time,
and at the same time invigorating the system by liberal feeding and
judicious work. Fatty degeneration is best met by an albuminoid

150

diet (wheal bran, cotton-seed meal, rape cake) and constant well-regu-
lated work. Saccharine, starchy, and fatty food (potatoes, wheat,
corn, etc.) are to be specially avoided. In the mare one diseased and
irritable ovarj^ should be removed, to do away with the resulting
excitabilit}^ of the remainder of the generative organs. An irritable
womb, with frequent straining and the ejection of a profuse secretion,
may sometimes be corrected by a restricted diet and full but well-
regulated work. Even fatigue will act beneficially in some such
cases, hence the practice of the Arab riding his mare to exhaustion
just before service. The perspiration in such a case, like the action
of a purgative or the abstraction of blood just before service, benefits,
by rendering the blood-vessels less full, by lessening secretion in the
womb and elsewhere, and thus counteracting the tendency to the
ejection and loss of semen. If these means are ineffectual a full dose
of camphor (2 drams) or of salacin may at times assist. Low condi-
tion and anremia demand just the opT)osite kind of treatment — rich,
nourishing, albuminoid food, bitter tonics (gentian), sunshine, gentle
exercise, liberal grooming, and supj)orting treatment generally are
here in order. Spasmodic closure of the neck of the womb is com-
mon and is easih' remedied in the mare by dilatation with the fingers.
The hand, smeared ■s\ith belladonna ointment and with the fingers
drawn into the form of a cone, is introduced through the vagina until
the projecting, rounded neck of the womb is felt at its anterior end.
This is opened by the careful insertion of one finger at a time until
the fingers have been passed through the constricted neck into the
oj)en cavity of the womb. The introduction is made with a gentle,
rotary motion, and all precipitate violence is avoided, as abrasion,
laceration, or other cause of irritation is likely to interfere with the re-
tention of the semen and with impregnation. If the neck of the womb
is rigid and unyielding from the induration which follows inflamma-
tion— a rare condition in the mare, though common in the cow — more
force will be requisite, aiid it maj' even be needful to incise the neck
to the depth of one-sixth of an inch in four or more opposite direc-
tions, prior to forcible dilatation. The incision may be made with a
probe-pointed knife, and should be done hy a professional man if
possible. The subsequent dilatation may be best effected by the slow
expansion of si)onge or seaweed tents inserted into the narrow canal.
In such cases it is best to let the wounds of the neck heal before put-
ting to horse. An imperforate hymen may be freely incised in a
crucial manner until the passage will admit the human hand. An
ordinary knife may be used for this puri^ose, and after the operation
the stallion may be admitted at once or onlj^ after the wounds have
healed.

INDICATIOXS OF PREGNANCY.

As the mere fact of service by the stallion does not insure preg-
nancy, it is important that the result should be determined, to save

151

the mare from unnecessary and dangerous work or medication Avhen
actually in foal and to obviate wasteful and needless precautions when
she is not.

The cessation and non-recun-ence of the sj'mptomsof heat (horsing)
is a most signiticant though not infallible sign of conception. If the
sexual e?ccitement speedih' subsides and the mare persistently refuses
the stallion for a month, she is probabl}' pregnant. In verj- excep-
tional cases a mare will accept a second or third service after weeks
or months, though pregnant, and some mares will refuse tlie horse
persistenth", though conception has not taken place, and this in spite
of v.arm weather, good condition of the mare, and liberal feeding.
The recurrence of heat in the pregnant mare is most likely to take
place in hot weather. If heat merely persists an undue length of
time after service, or if it reappears shortly after, in warm weather
and in a comparatively idle mare, on good feeding, it is less signifi-
cant, while the persistent absence of heat under such conditions may
be usually accepted as proof of conception.

An unwonted gentleness and docilit}" on the part of a i)reviously
irritable or vicious mare, and supervening on service, is an excellent
indication of pregnancy, the generative instinct which caused the
excitement having been satisfied.

An increase of fat, with softness and flabbiness of muscle, a loss of
energy, indisposition for active work, a manifestation of laziness,
indeed, and of fatigue early and easilj^ induced, when preceded by
service", will usuallj^ imply conception.

Enlargement of the abdomen, especiall}' in its lower third, with
sliglit falling in beneath the loins and hollowness of the back are
significant symptoms, though they may be entirely absent. Swelling
and firmness of the udder, with the smoothing out of its wrinkles, is
a suggestive sign, even though it aT)pears only at intervals during
gestation.

A steady increase in weight (14 i)ounds daily) about the fourth or
fifth month is a useful indication of i^regnancy. So is a swollen and
red or bluish-red appearance of the vaginal mucous membrane.

From the seventh or eighth mouth onward the foal may be felt bj^
the hand (palm or knuckles) pressed into the abdomen in front of the
left stifle. The sudden push displaces the foal toAvard the opposite
side of the womb, and as it floats back its hard body is felt to strike
against the hand. If the pressure is maintained the movements of
the live foal are felt, and especially in the morning and after a drink
of cold water, or during feeding. A drink of cold water will often
stimulate the foetus to movements that may be seen by the eye, but
an excess of iced water may pi-ove injurious, even to the causing of
abortion. Cold water da.shed on the belh^ has a similar effect on the
foetus and equally endangers abortion.

Examination of the uterus with the oiled hand introduced into tlie
rectum is still more satisfactory, and if cautiously conducted no more

152

dangerous. The rectum must be first emptied and then the hand car-
ried forward until it reaches the front edge of the pelvic bones below,
and pressed downward to ascertain the size and outline of the womb.
In the unimpregnated state the vagina and womb can be felt as a sin-
gle rounded tube, dividing in front to two smaller tubes (the horns of
the womb). In the pregnant mare not only the bodj^ of the womb is
enlarged, but still more so one of the horns (right or left), and on com-
pression the latter is found to contain a hard, nodular body, floating
in a licjuid, which in the latter half of gestation may be stimulated by
gentle pressure to manifest spontaneous movements. By this method
the presence of the foetus may be determined as early as the third
month. If the complete natural outline of the virgin womb can not
be made out, careful examination should always be made on the right
and left side for the enlarged horn and its living contents. Should
there still be difficulty the mare should be placed on an inclined
plane, with her hind j)arts lowest, and two assistants, standing on
opposite sides of the body, should raise the lower part of the abdomen
by a sheet j^assed beneath it. Finally the ear or stethoscope applied
on the wall of the abdomen in front of the stifle may detect the beat-
ing of the foetal heart (one hundred and twenty-five per minute) and
a blowing sound (the uterine sough), much less rapid and correspond-
ing to the number of the j)ulse of the dam. It is heard most satis-
factorily after the sixth or eighth month and in the absence of active
rumbling of the bow^els of the dam.

DURATION OF PREGNANCY.

Mares usually go about eleven months with young, though first preg-
nancies often last a year. Foals have lived when born at the three
hundredth day, so with others carried till the four hundredth day.
With the longer pregnancies there is a greater probability of male
offspring.

HYGIENE OF THE PREGNANT MARE.

The pregnant mare should not be exposed to teasing by a young and
ardent stallion, nor should she be overworked or fatigued, particu-
larly under the saddle or on uneven ground. Yet exercise is benefi-
cial to both mother and offsjiring, and in the absence of moderate
work the breeding mare should be kept in a lot where she can take
exercise at vnll.

The food should be liberal, but not fattening, oats, bran, sound
hay, and other foods rich in the principles which form flesh and bone
being especially indicated. All ailments that tend to indigestion are
to be especially avoided. Thus rank, aqueous, rapidly groA\ai grass
and other green food, parti allj^ ripe rye grass, millet, Hungarian grass,
vetches, pease, beans, or maize are objectionable, as is over-ripe
fibrous, innutritions hay, or that which has been injured and ren-
dered musty by wet, or that ^diicli is infested with smut or ergot.

153

Food that tends to eostiveness should be avoided. "Water g-iven often,
and at a temperature considerably above freezing, Avill avoid the dan-
gers of indigestion and abortion which result from taking too much
ice-cold water at one time. Very cold or frozen food is objectionable
in the same sense. Severe surgical operations and medicines that act
violentlj^ on the womb, bowels, or kidneys are to be avoided as being
liable to cause abortion. Constipation should be corrected, if possi-
ble, by bran mashes, carrots, or beets, seconded by exercise, and if a
medicinal laxative is required it should be olive oil or other equally
bland agent.

The stall of the pregnant mare should not be too narrow so as to
cramp her Avhen lying doAvn, or to entail violent efforts in getting up,
and it should not slope too much from the front backward, as this
throws the weight of the uterus back on the pelvis and endangers pro-
trusions and even abortion. Violent mental impressions are to be
avoided, for though the majority of mares are not affected thereby,
yet a certain number are so profoundly impressed, that peculiarities
and distortions are entailed on the offspring. Hence, there is wisdom
shown in banishing i)arti-colored or objectionably tinted animals, and
those that show deformities or faulty conformation. Hence, too, the
importance of preventing prolonged acute suffering by the pregnant
mare, as certain troubles of the eyes, feet, and joints in the foals have
been clearly traced to the concentration of the mother's mind on cor-
responding injured organs in herself. Sire and dam alike tend to
reproduce their personal defects which predispose to disease, but the
dam is far more likely to jjerpetuate the evil in her progeny wdiich
w'as carried while she was personally enduring severe suffering caused
by such defects. Hence, an active bone spavin or ring-bone, causing
lameness, is more objectionable than that in which the inflammation
and lameness have both passed, and an active oj)hthalmia is more
to be feared than even an old cataract. For this reason all active dis-
eases in the breeding mare should be soothed and abated at as early
a moment as possible.

EXTRA-UTERINE GESTATION.

It is rare in the domestic animals to find the fcetus developed else-
wiiere than in the womb. The exceptional forms are those in which
the sperm of the male, making its Avay through the womb and Fallo-
pian tubes, impregnates the ovum prior to its escape, and in which the
now vitalized and growing ovum, by reason of its gradually increas-
ing size, becomes imprisoned and fails to escape into the womb. The
arrest of the ovum maybe in the substance of the ovary itself (ovarian
pregnancy), in the Fallopian tube (tubal pregnancy), or when by its
continuous enlargement it has ruptured its envelopes so that it escapes
into the cavity of the abdomen, it may become attached to any part
of the serious membrane and draw its nourishment directlv from that

154

(abdominal preg'iianey). In all siioh cases there is an increase and
enlargement of the capillar}^ blood-vessels at the i)oint to Avhich the
cmbrj^o has attached itself so as to furnish the needful nutriment for
the grov/ing offspring.

All appreciable symptoms are absent, imless from tlie death of the
fcEtus, or its interference with normal functions, general disorder and
indications of parturition supervene. If these occur later than the
natui'al time for i^arturition the}' are the more significant. There may
be general malaise, loss of appetite, elevated temperature, accelerated
15ulse, "with or without distinct lal)or pains. Examination with the
oiled hand in the rectum will reveal the womb of the natural unim-
pregnated size and shape and with both horns of one size. Further
exploration may detect an elastic mass apart from the womb and in
the interior of wiiich may be felt the characteristic solid body of the
foetus. If the latter is still alive and can be stimulated to move
the evidence is even more perfect. The foetus may die and be carried
for j^ears, its soft structures becoming absorbed so as to leave only the
bones, or by pressure it maj^ form a fistulous ox^ening through the ab-
dominal walls, or less frequently through the vagina or rectum. In
the latter cases the best course is to favor the expulsion of the foal
and to wash out the resulting cavity with a solution of carbolic acid 1
part to water 50 ]3arts. This may be repeated dail}^ Where there is
no spontaneous opening it is injudicious to interfere, as tlie danger
from the retention of the foetus is less than that from septic fermenta-
tions in the enormous foetal sack when tliat has been opened to the air.

MOLES — ANIDIAX MONSTERS.

These are evidently i^roduets of conception, in Avhich the impreg-
nated ovum has failed to develop naturally, and presents only a cha-
otic mass of skin, hair, bones, muscles, etc. , attached to the inner
surface of the womb by an umbilical cord, which is itself often shriv-
eled and wasted. They are usually accompanied hyn, well-developed
foetus, so that the mole may be looked upon as a twin which has under-
gone arrest and vitiation of development. They are expelled by the
ordinar}' iirocess of parturition, and usually, at the same time, with
the normally developed offspring.

CYSTIC DISEASE OF THE WALLS OF THE AVOMB — VESICULAR MOLE.

This condition apiiears to be due to hypertrophy (enlargement) of
the villi on tlie inner surface of the womb, which become greatly
increased in number and hollowed out internally into a series of cysts
or x^ouches containing liquid. Unlike the true mole, therefore, they
appear to be disease of the maternal structure of the womb rather
than of the product of conception. Rodet, in a case of this kind,
which luid x)roduced active labor x^ains, quieted the disorder witli ano-
dynes and secured a recovery. Where this is not available attempts

155

may be made to remove the mass with tlie ecraseur or ollierwise, fol-
lowing this up with antiseiitic injections, as advised under tlie last
heading.

DROPSY OF THE WOMB.

This appears as a result of some disease of the walls of tlie Avomb,
but has been frequently observed after sexual congress, and lias, there-
fore, been confounded with pregnane}*. The symptoms are tlioso of
l^regnancy, but Avithout any movements of the foetus and without the
detection of any solid body in the womb when examined with the oiled
hand in the rectum. At the end of four or eight months there are
signs of parturition or of frequent straining to pass urine, and after a
time the liquid is discharged clear and watery, or mudd^', thick, and
fetid. The hand introduced into the womb can detect neither foetus
nor foetal membrane. If the neck of the womb closes the liquid may
accumulate a second time, or even a third, if no means are taken to
correct the tendency. The best resort is to remove any diseased prod-
uct that may be found attached to the walls of the womb, and to inject
it daily with a, warm solution of carbolic acid 2 drams, chloride of zinc
one-half dram, water 1 quart. A course of bitter tonics, gentian 2
drams, sulphate of iron 2 drams, daily, should be given, and a nutri-
tious, easily digested and slightly laxative diet allowed.

DROPSY OF THE AMNIOS.

Tliis differs from simple dropsy of the womb iu that the lluid col-
lects in the inner of the two water bags (that in which the foal floats)
and not in the otherwise void cavity of the womb. This affection
can occur only in the pregnant animal, while drojDS}^ of the womb
occurs in the unimpregnated. The blood of the pregnant mare con-
tains an excess of water and a smaller proportion of albumen and red
globules, and vdien this is still further aggravated 1)}* ])ooy feeding,
and other unhj-gienic conditions, there is developed the tendency to
liquid transudation from the vessels and dropsy. As the watery con-
dition of the blood increases A\ith advancing pregnancy, so dropsy of
the amnios is a disease of the last four or five months of gestation.
The abdomen is large and pendulous, and the swelling fluctuates
under pressure, though the solid bodj^ of the foetus can still be felt to
strike against the hand j)ressed into the swelling. If the hand is
introduced into the vagina the womb is found to be tense and round,
with the projecting rounded ueck effaced, while the hand in the rec-
tum will detect the rounded SAVollen mass of the womb so firm and
tense that the body of the foetus can not be felt within it, Tlie mare
moves weakly and unsteadily on her limbs, having difficulty in sup-
porting the great weight, and in bad cases there may be loss of appe-
tite, stocking (dropsy) of the hind limbs, difficult breathing, and
colicky pains. The tension may lead to abortion, or a slow, laborious
parturition may occur at the usual time.

156

Treatment consists in relieving tlie tension and accumulation by
puncturing- the foetal membrane with a canula and trochar intro-
duced through the neck of the womb and the withdrawal of the tro-
char so as to leave the canula in situ. Or the membranes may be
punctured with the finger and the excess of liquid allowed to escape.
This may bring on abortion, or the Avound may close and gestation
continue to the full term. A course of tonics (gentian root 2 drams,
sulphate of iron 2 drams, daily) will do much to fortify the system
and counteract further excessive effusion.

DROPSY OF THE LIMBS, PERINEUM, AND ABDOMEN,

The disposition to dropsy often shows itself in the hind and even
in the fore limbs, around and beneath the vulva (perinseum) and
beneath the abdomen and chest. The affected parts are swollen and
pit on pressure, but are not especially tender, and subside more or
less perfectly under exercise, hand rubbing, and bandages. In obsti-
nate cases rubbing with the following liniment maj^ be resorted to :
Compound tincture of iodine, 2 ounces; tannic acid, one-half dram;
water, 10 ounces. It does not last over a day or two after i^arturition.

CRAMPS OF THE HIND LIMBS.

The pressure of the distended Avomb on the nerves and blood-vessels
of the pelvis, besides conducing to dropsy, occasionally causes cramps
of the hind limbs. The limb is raised Avithout flexing the joints, the
front of the hoof being directed toAvard the ground, or the spasms
occurring intermittently the foot is kicked Aiolentlj^ against the
ground seA^eral times in rapid succession. The muscles are felt to be
firm and rigid. The cramps may be i^romptly relieved by active rub-
bing, or by Avalking the animal about, and it does not reappear after
parturition.

CONSTIPATION.

This may result from compression by the graAdd AV'omb, and is best
corrected by a graduated alloAA^ance of boiled flaxseed.

PARALYSIS.

The pressure on the nerves of the pelvis is liable to cause paralysis
of the hind limbs, or in the mare of the nerve of sight. These are
obstinate until after parturition, A\^hen they recover spontaneously, or
under a course of nux A^omica and (locally) stimulating liniments.

PROLONGED RETENTION OF THE FGETUS (FOAL).

In the mare, though far less frequently than in the cow, parturition
ma}^ not be completed at term, and tlie foal may continue to be car-
ried in the Avomb for a number of months, to the serious, or even fatal,
injury of the niare. Hamon records one case in AA'^hich the mare died

157

after carrying the foetus for seventeen months, and Caillier a similar
result after it had been carried twenty-two months. In these cases
the fcjetus retained its natural form, but in one rei)orted by Gohier,
the bones only were left in the womb amid a mass of apparently
purulent matter.

Tlie cause may be any effective obstruction to the act of parturition,
such as lack of contractile i30wer in the womb, unduly strong (inflam-
matory) adhesions between the womb and the foetal membranes,
Avrong presentation of the foetus, contracted pelvis (from fracture, or
disease of the bones), or disease and induration of the neck of the
womb.

The mere prolongation of gestation does not necessarily entail the
death of the foal; hence the latter has been born alive at the four
hundredth day. Even when the foal has perished, putrefaction does
not set in unless the membranes (water bags) have been riTptured,
and septic bacteria have been admitted to the interior of the womb.
In the latter case a fetid decomposition advances rai^idly, and the
mare usually j)erishes from jDoisoning with the putrid matters absorbed.

At the natural period of parturition i3reparations are apparently
made for that act. The vulva swells and discharges much mucus, the
udder enlarges, the belly becomes more pendent, and the animal
strains more or less. No progress is made, however; there is not
even opening of the neck of the womb, and after a time the symptoms
subside. The mare usually refuses the male, j^et there are exceptions
to this rule. If the neck of the womb has been opened and putref jdng
changes have set in in its contents, the mare loses appetite and condi-
tion, i)ines, discharges an offensive matter from the generative pas-
sages, and dies of inflammation of the womb and putrid infection.
In other cases there is a slow wearing out of the strength and the mare
iinall}' dies of exhaustion.

The treatment is such as will facilitate the expulsion of the foetus
and its membranes, and the subsequent washing out of the womb
with disinfectants. So long as the mouth of the womb is closed, time
should be allowed for its natural dilatation, but if this does not come
about after a day or two of straining the opening maj" be smeared with
extract of belladonna, and the oiled hand, with the fingers and thumb
drawn into the form of a cone, may be inserted by slow oscillating
movements into the interior of the womb. The water bags may now
be ruptured, any malpresentation rectified (see "Difficult Parturi-
tion"), and delivery effected. After removal of the membranes wash
out the womb first with tepid water, and then with a solution of 2
ounces of borax in half a gallon of water.

This injection may have to be repeated if a discharge sets in. The
same course may be pursued even after j^rolonged retention. If the
soft parts of the foetus have been absorbed and the bones only left
these must be carefully sought for and removed, and subsequent

158

djiily injections will be required for some time. In such cases, too, a
course of iron tonics (sulphate of iron, 2 drams, dailj^) will be liigiily
beneficial in restoring liealtli and vigor.

ABORTION.

Abortion is, strictly speaking, the expulsion of the impregnated
ovum at any i)eriod from the date of impregnation until the foal can
survive out of the Avomb. If the foal is advanced enough to live it is
premature 'parturition, and in the mare this may occur as earlj' as the
tenth month (three hundredth day).

The mare may abort by reason of almost any cause that \evy pro-
foundly disturbs the system. Hence very violent inflammations of
important internal organs (bowels, kidneys, bladder, lungs) may
induce abortion. Profuse diarrhea, whether occurring from the reek-
less use of purgatives, the consumption of irritants In the food, or a
simple indigestion, is an effective cause. No less so is acute indiges-
tion with evolution of gas in the intestines (bloating). The presence
of stone in the kidnej^s, ureters, bladder, or urethra may induce so
much sympathetic disorder in the womb as to induce abortion. In
exceptional cases wherein mares come in heat during gestation service
by the stallion may cause abortion. ]>lows or pressure on the al^do-
men, rapid driving or riding of the pregnant mare, especially if she is
soft and out of condition from idleness; the brutal use of the spur or
Avhip, and the jolting and straining of travel by rail or boat are pro-
lific causes. Bleeding the pregnant mare, a painful surgical opera-
tion, and the throvfing and constraint resorted to for an operation are
other causes. Traveling on heavy, muddy roads, slips and falls on
ice, and jumping must be added. The stimulation of the abdominal
organs by a full drink of iced water may precipitate a miscarriage, as
ma}' exposure to a cold rain-storm or a very cold night after a Avarm
day. Irritant poisons that act on the urinary or generative organs,
such as Spanish flies, rue, savin, tansy, cotton-root bark, ergot of rye
or other grasses, the smut of maize and other grain, and various fungi
in musty fodder are additional causes. Frosted food, indigestible
food, and above all green succulent vegetables in a frozen state have
proved effective factors, and fiUhy, stagnant water is dangerous.
Low condition in the dam and plethora have in opposite ways caused
abortion, and hot relaxing stables and lack of exercise strongly con-
duce to it. The exhaustion of the sire by too frequent service, entail-
ing debility of the ofl'spring and disease of the foetus or of its envelopes,
must be recognized as a further cause.

The symptoms vary mainly according as the abortion is early or late
in pregnancy. In the first jnonth or two of pregnancy the mare may
miscarry without observable symptoms, and the fact only appears by
her coming in heat. If more closely observed a small clot of blood
may be found behind lier, in which a careful search reveals tha

159

rudiiuenlsof the foal. II" tlio oceiirreuee is soiucAvliat later in g-estalion
there will be some general disturbance, inappetence, neighing, and
straining, and tlie small bod}^ of the foetus is expelled, enveloped in
its membranes. Abortions during the later stages of pregnancy are
attended with greater constitutional disturbance, and the process
resembles normal i)arturition, with the aggravation that more effort
and straining is requisite to force the foetus through the comparatively
undilatable mouth of the womb. There is the swelling of the vulva,
witli mucus or even bloody discharge; the abdomen droops, the flanks
fall in, the udder fills, the mare looks at her flanks, jjaws with the fore
feet and kicks with the hind, switches the tail, moves around uneasily,
lies down and rises, strains, and, as in natural foaling, expels fii*st
mucus and blood, then the waters, and finally the foetus. This may
occupy an hour or two, or it may be j)rolonged for a day or more, the
symptoms subsiding for a time, only to reappear with renewed energy.
If there is lualiiresentation of the foetus it will hinder progress until
rectified, as in difficult parturition. Abortion may also be followed
by the same accidents, as flooding, retention of the placenta, and
leucorrhoea.

The most important object in an impending abortion is to recognize
it at as early a stage as possible, so that it may, if possible, be cut
siiort and i)revented. Any general indefinable illness in a pregnant
mare should lead to a close examination of the vulva as regards swell-
ing, vascularity^ of its mucous membrane, and profuse mucous secre-
tion, and above all anj^ streak or staining of blood; also the condition
of the udder, if that is congested and swollen. Any such indication,
with colicky pains, straining, hoAvever little, and active movement of
the foetus or entire absence of movement, are suggesti^'e symptoms
and should be duly counteracted.

The changes in the vulva and udder, with a soiled and bloodj' con-
dition of the tail, may suggest an abortion alread}^ accomplished, and
the examination v.-ith the hand in the vagina may detect the mouth
of the womb soft and dilatable, and the interior of the organ slightly
filled with a bloody liquid.

Treaiment should be preventive if possible, and would embrace the
avoidance of all causes mentioned, and particularly of such as may
seem to be i^articularh" operative in the particular case. Where abor-
tions have ali'eady occurred in a stud, the especial cause, in the mat-
ter of food, water, exposure to injuries, overwork, lack of exei-ciss,
etc., may often be identified and removed. A most important point
is to avoid all causes of constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, bloating,
violent purgatives, diuretics or other potent medicines, painful opei'a-
tions, and slippery roads, unless well frosted.

AVhen abortion is imminent the mare should be i)laced alone in a
roomy, dark, quiet stall, and have the straining checked \yy some seda-
tive. Laudanum is usually at hand and may be given in doses of 1

160

or 2 ounces, according to size, and repeated after tAvo or three hours,
and even dail}^ if necessary. Chloroform or chloral hydrate, 3 drams,
may be substituted if more convenient. These should be given in a
pint or quart of water, to avoid burning the mouth and throat. Or
viburnum prunifolium, 1 ounce, may be given and repeated if neces-
sary to prevent straining.

When all measures fail and miscarriage proceeds, all that can be
done is to assist in the removal of the foetus and its membranes, as in
ordinary j)arturition. As in the case of retention of the foetus, it may
be necessary after delivery to employ antispeptic injections into the
womb to counteract putrid fermentation. This, however, is less requi-
site in the mare than in the cow, in which the jDrevalent contagious
abortion must be counteracted by the peristent local use of antiseptics.
After abortion a careful hygiene is demanded, especially in the matter
of i3ure air and easily digestible food. The mai-e should not be served
again for a month or longer, and in no case until after all discharge
from the vulva has ceased.

SYMPTOMS OF PARTURITIOX.

As the period of parturition approaches the swelling of the udder
bespeaks the coming event, the engorgement in exceptional cases
extending forward on the lower surface of the abdomen and even into
the hind limbs. For about a week a serous fluid oozes from the teat
and concretes as a yellow, wax-like mass around its orifice. About
twenty-four hours before the birth this gives place to a whitish, milky
liquid, Avhieh falls upon and mats the hairs on the inner sides of the
legs. Another symi^tom is enlargement of the vulva, with redness of
its lining membrane, and the escape of glairy mucus. The belly
droops, the flanks fall in, and the loins ma}^ even become depressed.
Finally the mare becomes uneasy, stops feeding, looks anxious, whisks
her tail, and may lie down and rise again. In many mares this is not
repeated, but the mare remains down; violent contractions of the
abdominal muscles ensue; after two or three pains the AA^ater-bags
api^ear and burst, folloAA'ed by the fore feet of the foal, with the nose
betAveen the knees, and by a few more throes the foetus is expelled.
In other cases the act is accomplished standing. The Avliole act may
not occupy more than fiA^e or ten minutes. This, together Avith the
disposition of the mare to aA^oid obserA^ation, renders the act one that
is rarely seen by the attendants.

The naA^el-string, AA^hich connects the foal to the membranes, is
rui^tured AAdien the foetus falls to the ground, or Avlien the mare rises,
if she has been down, and the membranes are expelled a few minutes
later.

NATURAL PRESENTATION,

When there is a single foal the common and desirable presenta-
tion is Avitli the fore feet first, the nose betAveen the knees, and AA'ith

161

the front of the hoofs and knees and the forehead directed upward
toward the anus, tail, and croup (Plate IX, Fig. 1). In this way the
natural curvature of the body of the foetus corresponds to the curve
of the womb and genital passages, and particularly of the bony i>el-
vis, and the foal passes with much greater ease than if it were placed
with its back downward toward the udder. When there is a twin
birth the second foal usually comes with its hind feet first, and the
backs of the legs, the points of the hocks, and the tail and croup are
tui-ned upward toward the anus and tail of the mare (Plate IX, Fig. 2).
In this way, even with a jjosterior presentation, the curvature of the
l)od3' of the foal still corresponds to that of the passages, and its
expulsion may be quite as easy as in anterior presentation. Any
presentation aside from these two maj^ be said to be abnormal and
will be considered under "Difficult Parturition."

DIFFICULT PARTURITION.

With natural iDresentation this is a rare occurrence. The great
length of the fore limbs and face entail, in the anterior presentation,
the formation of a long cone, which dilates aiid glides through the
])assages with comparative ease. Even with the hind feet first a simi-
lar conical form is presented, and the process is rendered easy and
quick. Difficulty and danger arise mainly from the act being brought
on prematurel}'' before the passages are sufficiently dilated, from nar-
rowing of the pelvic bones or other mechanical obstruction in the pas-
sages, from monstrous distortions, or duplications in the foetus, or
from the turning back of one of the members so that the elongated
conical or wedge-shaped outline is done away with. But i)romptas is
tlie normal parturition in the mare, difficult and delayed parturitions
are surrounded by special dangers and require unusual i^recautions
and skill. From the proclivity of the mare to unhealthy inflamma-
tions of the peritoneum and other abdominal organs, i^enetrating
wounds of the womb or vagina are liable to prove fatal. The contrac-
tions of the womb and abdominal walls are so powerful as to exhaust
and ])enumb the arm of the assivStant, and to endanger penetrating
wounds of the genital organs. By reason of the looser connection of
the foetal membranes with the womb, as compared with those of rumi-
nants, the violent throes early detach these membranes throughout
their whole extent, and the foal, being thus separated from the mother
and thrown on its own resources, dies at an early stage of any jjro-
tracted parturition. The foal rarely survives four hours after the
onset of parturient throes. From the great length of the limbs and
neck of the foal it is extremely difficult to secure and bring up limb or
head which has been turned back when it should have been presented.
When assistance must be rendered the operator should don a thick
woolen undershirt with the sleeves cut out at the shoulders. This
51JG1 — HOR (J

162

protects the body and leaves tiie whoie arm free for manipulation.
Before inserting the arm it should be smeared with lard. This i)ro-
tects the skin against septic infection, and favors the introduction of
the hand and arm. The hand should be inserted with the thumb and
fingers draAvn together like a cone. "Whether standing or lying the
mare sliould be turned with head down liill and hind parts raised as
much as possible. The contents of the abdomen gravitating forward
leave much more room for manipulation. Whatever part of the foal
is presented (head, foot) should be secured with a cord and running
noose before it is pushed back to search for the other missing i)arts.
Even if a missing part is reached no attempt should be made to bring
it up during a labor pain. Pinching the back will sometimes check
the pains and allow the operator to secure and bring up the missing
member. In intractable cases a large dose of chloral hydrate (1 ounce
in a quart of water) or the inhalation of chloroform and air (equal
proportions) to insensibility may secure a respite, during which the
missing members may be replaced. If the waters have been discharged
and the mucus dried up, the genital jiassages and body of the foetus
should be lubricated with lard or oil before any attempt at extraction
is made. When the missing member has been brought up into ]30si-
tion, and presentation has been rendered natural, traction on the foetus
must be made only during a labor j)ain. If a mare is inclined to kick,
it may be necessary to apply hobbles to protect the operator.

PREMATURE LABOR PAIXS.

These may be brought on by any violent exertion, use under the
saddle, or in hea^n*' draught, or in rapid paces, or in travel by rail or
sea, blows, kicks, crushing by other animals in a doorway or gate.
Excessive action of purgative or diuretic ageuts, or of agents that
irritate the bowels or kidnej's, like arsenic, Paris green, all caustic
salts and acids, and acrid and narcotico-acrid vegetables, is equally
injurious. Finally, the ingestion of agents that stimulate the action
of the gravid womb {ergot of rye or of other grasses, smut, various
fungi of fodders, rue, savin, cotton-root, etc.) may bring on labor j^ains
l^rematurely.

Besides the knowledge that parturition is not j'et due, there will be
less enlargement, redness and swelling of the vulva, less mucous dis-
charge, less filling of the udder, and less appearances of wax and prob-
ably none of milk from the ends of the teats. The oiled hand intro-
duced into the vulva will not enter with the ease usual at full term,
and the neck of the womb will be felt not on\j closed, but with its pro-
jecting papilla?, thi'ough which it is perforated, not yet flattened down
and etfaced, as at full term. The symptoms are indeed those of
threatened abortion, but at such an advanced stage of gestation as is
co]ni)atible with the survival of the oifspring.

163

The ireafment consists in llic septirntioii of tlie mare from all oilier
animals in a quiet, dark, secluded place, and the free use of anti-
spasmodics and anodynes. Opium in dram doses every two hours, or
laudanum in ounce doses at similar intervals, "will often suffice. When
the more urgent symptoms have subsided these doses may be repeated
thrice a day till all excitement passes off or until the passages have
become relaxed and prepared for parturition. Viburnum prunifolium,
in ounce doses, may be added if necessary. Should parturition become
inevitable, it may be favored and any necessary assistance furnished.

DIFFICULT PARTUEITIOX FROM XARROW PELVIS.

A disprojjortion between the foetus got by a large stallion and tlie
jjelvis of a small dam is a serious obstacle to parturition, sometimes
seen in the mare. This is not the rule, however, as the foal up to
birth usually accommodates itself to the size of the dam, as illusti'ated
in the successful crossing of Percheron stallions on mustang mares.
If the disproportion is too great the only resort is < n^hryoiouiy.

FRACTURED HIP-BOXES.

More commonly the obstruction comes from distortion and narrow-
ing of the pelvis as the result of fractures. (Plates XIV, Fig. 2.)
Fractures at any point of the lateral wall or floor of the pelvis are
repaired v.ith the formation of an extensive bony deposit bulging into
the passage of the i)elvis. The displacement of the ends of the broken
bone is another cause of constriction and between the two conditions
the passage of the foetus may be rendered impossible without embry-
otomy. Fracture of the sacrum (the continuation of the back-bone
forming the croup) leads to the depression of the x)osterior part of that
bone in the roof of the pelvis and the narrowing of the pas.sage from
above downward liy a bony ridge presenting its sharj) edge forward.

In all cases in which there has l>een injury to the bones of the j)elvis
the obvious iirecaution is to withliold the marc from breeding and to
use her for work only.

If a mare with a pelvis thus narrovred has got in foal inach'ertently,
abortion may be induced in the early months of gestation by slowly
introducing the oiled finger through the neck of the v>'omb and follow-
ing this by the other fingers until the whole hand has been introduced.
Then the water-bags may be broken, and with the escape of the liquid
the womb will contract on the solid foetus and labor pains will ensue.
The fcetus being small it will pass easily.

TUMORS IX THE VAGIXA AXD PELVIS.

Tumors of various kinds may form in the vagina or elsewhere
within the pelvis, and when large enough will obstruct or prevent the
passage of the ftetus. Gray mares, which are so subject to black pig-
ment tumors {melanosis) on the tail, anus, and vulva, are the juost

164

likely to suffer from this. Still more rarely the wall of the vagina
becomes relaxed, aud being- pressed hf a mass of intestines will pro-
trude through the lips of the vulva as a hernial sac, containing a part
of the bowels. AVhere a tumor is small it ma}^ only retard and not
absolutel}^ prevent i)arturition. A hernial protrusion of the wall of
the vagina may be pressed back and emptied so that the body of the
ftjetus engaging in the passage may find no further obstacle. "When
a tumor is too large to allow delivery the onl}^ resort is to remove it,
but before proceeding it must be clearly made out that the obstruc-
tion is a mass of diseased tissue, and not a sac containing intestines.
If tlie tumor hangs bj^ a neck it can usually be most safel}^ removed
by the ecraseur, the chain being passed around tlie pedicel and
gradually tightened until that is torn through.

HERNIA OF THE WOMB.

The rupture of the musculo-fibrous floor of the bell}' and the escape
of the gravid womb into a sac formed by the peritoneum and skin
hanging towards the ground, is described by all veterinary obstetri-
cians, yet it is verj^ rarely seen in tlie mare. The form of the foetus
can be felt through the walls of the sac, so that it is easy to recognize
the condition. Its cause is usually external violence, though it may
start from an umbilical hernia. When the period of parturition
arrives, the first effort should be to return the foetus within the proper
abdominal cavity, and this can sometimes be accomplished with the
aid of a stout blanket gradually tightened around the bellj^ This
failing, the mare may be placed on her side or back and gravitation
brought to the aid of manipulation in securing the return. Even
after the hernia has been reduced the relaxed state of the womb and
abdominal walls may serve to hinder parturition, in Avhich case the
oiled hand must be introduced through the vagina, tlie foetus brought
into position, and traction coincident with the labor pains employed
to secure delivery.

TWISTING OF THE NECK OF THE WOMB.

This condition is veiy uncommon in the mare, though occasionally
seen in the cow, owing to the greater laxity of the broad ligaments of
the womb in that animal. It consists in a revolution of the Avonib on
its own axis, so that its right or left side will be turned upward
(quarter revolution), or the lower surface may be turned upward and
the upper surface downward (half revolution). The effect is to thi-ow
the narrow neck of the womb into a series of spiral folds, turning in
the direction in which the womb has revolved, closing the neck and
rendering distention and dilatation impossible.

The i^eriod and pains of parturition arrive, but in spite of con-
tinued efforts no progress is made, neither water-bags nor liquids
appearing. The oiled hand inti'oduced into the closed neclc of the

165

■\voml3 will readily delect the spiral dii'eotion of the folds on its inner
surface.

The method of relief -whicli I have successfully adopted in the cow
may be equall)^ happj'^ in the mare. The dam is placed (witli her
head uphill) on her rij?ht side if the upper folds of the spiral turn
toward the right, and on her left side if they turn toward the left,
and the oiled hand is introduced through the neck of the womb and a
limb or other part of the body of the foetus is seized and pressed
against the wall of the womb, while two or three assistants turn the
animal over her back toward the other side. The object is to keep
the womb stationary while the animal is rolling. If success attends
the effort, the constriction around the arm is suddenly relaxed, the
spiral folds ai'e effaced, and the water-bags and f(ptus press forward
into the passage. If the first attempt does not succeed it may be
repeated again and again until success crowns the effort. Among my
occasional causes of failure have been the prior death and decouiix)-
sition of the foetus, with the extrication of gas and overdistention of
the womb, and the supervention of inflammation and inflammatory
exudation around the neck of the womb, which hinders untwisting.
The first of these conditions occurs early in the horse from the detach-
ment of the fcfital membranes from the wall of the womb, and as the
mare is more subject to- fatal peritonitis than the cow, it may be con-
cluded that both these sources of failure are more probable in the
equine subject.

When the case is intractable, though the hand may l)e easih- intro-
duced, the instrument shown in Plate YIII, Fig. 7, may be used.
Each hole at the small end of the instrument has i^assed through it a
stout cord with a running noose, to be passed around two feet or
other portion of the foetus which it may be possible to reach. The
cords are then drawn tight and fixed around the handle of the instru-
ment, then by using the cross-handle as a lever the foetus and womb
may be rotated in a direction opposite to that causing the obstruction.
During this process the hand must be introduced to feel when the
twist has been undone. This method ma}^ be supplemented, if neces-
sarj% b}^ rolling the mare as described above.

EFFUSION OF BLOOD IX THE VAGINAL WALLS.

This is common as a result of diflficult parturition, but it may occur
from local injury before that act, and may seriously interfere with it.
This condition is easily recognized by the soft, doughy swelling so
characteristic of blood clots, and b}' the dark red color of the mucous
membrane. I have laid open such swellings witli the knife as late as
ten days before parturition, evacuated the clots, and di-essed the wound
daily with an astringent lotion (sulphate of zinc 1 dram, carbolic acid
1 dram, water 1 quart). A similar resort might be had, if necessary,
during parturition.

1G6

CALCULUS (stone) AND TUMOR IX THE BLADDER.

Tlic x)ressurc upon the bladder containing a stone or a tumor may
prove so painful that the mare will voluntarily suppress tlie labor
pains. Examination of the bladder with the finger introduced through
the urethra will detect the offending agent. A stone should be
extracted with forceps (see "Lithotomy"). The large papillary
tumors which I have met with in the mare's bladder have been inva-
riably delicate in texture and could be removed xjiecemeal by forcejis.
Fortunately, mares affected in this waj'" rarely breed.

IMPACTIOX OF THE RECTUM WITH F^CES.

In some animals, with more or less paralysis or weakness of the tail
and rectum, the i*ectum ma}' become so impacted with solid faeces that
the mare is unable to discharge them, and the accumulation both by
reason of the mechanical obstruction and the x)ain caused by pressure
uioon it will impel the animal to cut short all labor jjains. The
rounded swelling surrounding the anus will at once suggest the con-
dition, when the obstruction may be removed by the well-oiled or
soaped hand.

SPASM OF THE XECK OF THE WOMB.

This occurs in the mare of specially excitable temperament, or under
I)articular causes of irritation, local or general. Labor pains, though
continuing for some time, produce no dilatation of the neck of the
womb, which will be found firmlj'^ closed so as to admit but one or two
fingers, and this, althovigh the i^rojection at the mouth of the womb
may have been entirely effaced, so that a simple round opening is left
with rigid margins.

The simplest 'treaiinod consists in smearing this part with solid
extract of belladonna, and after an interval inserting the hand with
fingers and thumb drawn into the form of a cone, rupturing the
membranes and bringing the foetus into position for extraction, as
advised under '"Prolonged Retention of the Foetus." Another mode
is to insert through the neck of the womb an ovoid caoutchouc bag,
emi^t}-, and furnished with an elastic tube 12 feet long. Carry the
free end of this tube upward to a height of 8, 10, or 12 feet, insert a
filler into it, and proceed to distend the bag vt'ith tepid or warm
water.

FIBROUS BAX'DS COXSTRICTIX(4 OR CROSSING THE XECK OF THE \VOMB.

These occurring as the result of disease have been several times
observed in the mare. They may exist in tlie cavit}' of the abdomen
and compress and obstruct the neck of the womb, or they may extend
from side to side of the vagina across and just behind the neck of the
womb. In the latter position the)' may be felt and quickly remedied
by cutting them across. In the abdomen they can only be reached

167

by incision, and two alternatives are presented: (1) To perform
embryotomy and extract tlie fo?tns piecemeal; and (2) to make an
incision into the abdomen and extract by the Csesarian operation, or
simply to cnt the constricting- band and attempt deliveryby the usual
channel.

FIBROUS CONSTRICTION OF VAGINA OR VULVA.

This is i^robably always the result of direct mechanical injury and
the formation of rigid cicatrices which fail to dilate with the remainder
of the passages at the approach of parturition. The presentation of
the foetus in the natural Avay and the occurrence of successive and
active labor pains without any favorable result will direct attention
to the rigid and unyielding cicatrices Avhich may be incised at one,
two, or more points to a depth of half an inch or more, after which
the natural expulsive efforts will usuallj' prove effective. The result-
ing wounds may be washed frequently with a solution of 1 i)art of
carbolic acid to 50 parts of water, or of 1 part of mercuric chloride to
500 parts water.

FCETUS ADHERENT TO THE WALLS OF THE WOMB.

In inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the cavity of the
womb and implicating the foetal membranes, the resulting embryonic
tissue sometimes establishes a medium of direct continuity between
the womb and fcetal membranes; the blood vessels of the one com-
municate freely Avith those of the other and the fibers of the one are
l)rolonged into the other. This causes retention of the membranes
after birth, and a special risk of bleeding from the womb, and of sep-
tic poisojiing. In exceptional cases the adhesion is more extensive
and binds a portion of the body of the foal firmly to the womb. In
such cases it has repeatedly been found impossible to extract the foal
until such adhesions were broken dawn. If they can be reached with
the hand and recognized they may be torn through Avith the fingers
or with a blunt hook, after which delivery may l)e attempted with
hoi)f of success.

EXCESSIVE SIZE OF THE FCETUS.

It would seem that a small inare may usually be safely bred to a
large stallion, 3-et this is not always the case, and when the small size
is an individual rather than a racial characteristic or the result of
extreme youth, the rule can not be expected to hold. There is always
great danger in breeding the young, small, and undeveloped female,
and the dwarfed representative of a larger breed, as the offspring-
tend to partake of the large race characteristics and to show them
even prior to birth. AVhen impregnation has occurred in the very
young or in the dwarfed female, tliere are two alternatives — to induce
abortion, or to wait until there are attempts at parturition and to
extract by embryotomy if impracticable otherwise.

1G8

CONSTRICTION OF A MEMBER BY THE NAVEL STRING.

Ill man and animals alike the winding of the umbilical cord round
a member of the fa?tiis sometimes leads to the amputation of the lat-
ter. It is also known to get wound around the neck or a limb at
birth, but in the mare this does not seriously impede jiarturition, as
the loosely attached membranes are easily separated from the womb
and no strangulation or retarding occurs. The foal may, however,
die from the cessation of the placental circulation unless it is speedily
delivered.

WATER IN THE HEAD (HYDROCEPHALUS) OF THE FOAL.

This consists in the excessive accumulation of liquid in the ven-
tricles of the brain so that the cranial cavit}^ is enlarged and con-
stitutes a great projecting rounded mass occupying the space from
the eyes upward. (See Plate XIV, Fig. 3.) With an anterior pres-
entation (fore feet and nose) this presents an insuperable obstacle to
progress, as the diseased cranium is too large to enter the pelvis at
the same time with the fore-arms. With a posterior presentation
(hind feet) all goes well until the body and shoulders have passed
out, Avhen i^rogress is suddenly arrested by the great bulk of the head.
In the first case, the oiled hand introduced along the face detects the
enormous size of the head, which may be diminished by puncturing
it with a knife or trochar and cannula in the median line, evacuating
the water and pressing in the thin bony walls. With a jjosterior
presentation, the same course must be followed; the liand jsassed
along the neck will detect the cranial swelling, which nvdy be i^unc-
tured with a knife or trochar. Oftentimes with an anterior presen-
tation the great size of the head leads to its displacement backward
and thus the fore-limbs alone engage in the passages. Here the lirst
object is to seek and bring up the missing head, and then puncture
it as above suggested.

DROPSY OF THE ABDOMEN IN THE FOAL — ASCITES.

The accumulation of liquid in the abdominal cavity of the foetus is
less frequent, but when present it may arrest i^arturition as com-
pletelj' as will hydrocephalus. With an anterior presentation the foal
maj" pass as far as the shoulders, but behind this all efforts fail to
secure a further advance. With a posterior presentation the hind
legs as far as the thighs may be expelled, but at this point all progress
ceases. In either case the oiled hand passed inward by the side of
the foal will detect the enormous distention of the abdomen and its
soft, fluctuating contents. The only course is to puncture the cavity
and evacuate the li<iuid. With the anterior presentation this may
be done Avith a long trochar and cannula, introduced through the
chest and diaphragm; or with a knife an incision may be made

169

"between the first two ribs, and the lungs and hearr cut or lorn out,
when the diaphragm will be felt j)ro,jecting strongly foi'ward and may
be easily punctured. Should there not be room to introduce tlie hand
through the chest, the oiled hand may be passed along beneath the
breast bone and the abdomen punctured. With a posterior presenta-
tion the abdomen must be punctured in the same way, the hand,
armed with a knife protected in its palm, being passed along the side
of the flank or between the hind limbs. It should be added that mod-
erate drops}' of the abdomen is not incompatible Avitli natural deliv-
er}-, the liquid being at first crowded back into the portion of the
belly still engaged in the womb, and passing slowly from that into
the advanced portion as soon as that has cleared the narrow passage
of the pelvis, and passed out where it can expand.

GENERAL DROPSY OF THE FCETUS.

In this 6ase the tissues generally are distended with liquid, and the
skin is found at all points tense and rounded, and pitting on pressure
with the fingers. In some such cases delivery may be effected after
the skin has been punctured at narrow intervals to allow the escape
of the fluid and then liberally smeared with fresh lard. More com-
monly, however, it can not be reached at all points to be so punc-
tured, nor sufficiently reduced to be extracted whole, and resort must
be had to einbryotovnj.

SWELLING OF THE FCETUS WITH GAS — EMPHYSEMA.

This has been described as occurring in a living foetus, but I have
only met with it in the dead and decomposing foal, after futile efforts
have been made for several days to effect delivery. These cases are
very difficult ones, as the foal is inflated to such an extent that it is
impossible to advance it into the passages, and the skin of the foetus
and the walls of the womb and vagina have become so dry that it is
impracticable to cause the one to glide on the other. The hair comes
off any part that may be seized, and the case is rendered the more
offensive and dangerous by the very fetid liquids and gases. The
only resort is embrijofoniy, by which I have succeeded in saving a
valuable mare that had carried a colt in this condition for four days.

CONTRACTIONS OF MUSCLES.

The foal is not always developed symmetrically, but certain groups
of muscles are liable to remain short or to shorten because of jjersist-
ent spasmodic contraction, so that.even the bones become distorted and
twisted. This is most common in the neck. The bones of this part
and even of the face are drawn to one side and shortened, the head
being held firmly to the fiank and the jaws being twisted to the right
5961— HOR 6*

or left. Ill other'cases the flexor muscles of the fore-limbs are con-
tracted so that these members are strongly bent at the knee. In
neither of these cases can the distorted part be extended and straight-
ened, so that body or limbs must necessarily^ present double, and
natural deliver}- is rendered impossible. The bent neck may some-
times be straightened after the muscles have been cut on the side to
which it is turned, and the bent limbs after the tendons on the back
of the shank bone have been cut across. Failing to accomplisli this,
the next resort is to emhryoiov}]].

TUMORS OF THE FCETUS — INCLOSED OVUM.

Tumors or diseased growths may form on any part of the foal, in-
ternal or external, and by their size impede or hinder parturition. In
some cases what appears as a tumor is an imprisoned and undevel-
oped ovurn^ which has grafted itself on the foetus. These are usually
sacculated and may contain skin, hair, muscle, bone, and other
natural tissues. The only course to be pursued in such cases is to
excise the tumor, or, if this is not feasible, to perform emhryotoniy.

MONSTROSITIES.

Monstrositj- in the foal is an occasional cause of difficult joarturition,
especially such monsters as show excessive development of some part
of tlie body, a displacement or distortion of jDarts, or a redundancy
of parts, as in double monsters. Monsters may be divided into —

(1) Monsters with absence of parts — alisence of head, limb, or other
organ.

(2) Monsters with some part abnormally small — dwarfed iiead, limb,
trunk, etc.

(.3) Monsters through unnatural division of parts — cleft head, trunk,
limbs, etc.

(4) Monsters through absence of natural divisions — absence of
mouth, nose, eyes, anus, confluent digits, etc.

(5) IVfonsters through fusion of jjarts — one central eye, one nasal
opening, etc.

(0) Monsters through abnormal position or form of xiarts — curved
spine, face, limb, etc:

(7) Monsters through excess of formation — enormous head, super-
numerarj" digits, etc.

(8) Monsters tlirougli imperfect differentiation of sexual organs —
hermaphrodites.

(r») Double monsters — double-lieaded, double-bodied, extra limbs,
etc.

The Cannes of monstrosities appear to be very varied. Some mon-
strosities, like extra digits, absence of horns or tails, etc., run in fami-
lies and are produced almost as certaiuly as color or form. Others
are associated with too close breeding, the powers of symmetrical

171

development being interfered with, just as in other cases a sexnal
incompatibility is developed, near relatives failing to T)i'eed with each
other. Mere arrest of development of a part may arise from acci-
dental disease of the embryo ; lienee vital organs are left out, or por-
tions of organs, like the dividing walls of the heart, are omitted.
Sometimes an older foetus is inclosed in the body of another, each hav-
ing started independently from a separate ovum, but the one having
become embedded in the semi-fluid mass of the other and having
developed there simultaneously with it, but not so largely nor x^er-
fectly. In many cases of redundance of jparts, the extra i^art or mem-
ber has manifestly develojped from the same ovum and nutrient cen-
ter with the normal member to which it remains adherent, just as a
nev\' tail will grow out in a newt when the former has been cut off.
In the early embryo, v/ith its great powers of develoxjment, this factor
can operate to far greater x^urpose than in the adult animal. Its
influence is seen in the fact x^ointed out bj' St. Hilaire that such
redundant x^arts are nearly always connected vrith the corresx^onding
portions in the normal f cetus. Thus sux^erfluous legs or digits are
attached to the normal ones, double heads or tails are connected to a
common neck or rumxD, and double bodies are attached to each other
by corresponding points, navel to navel, breast to breast, back to
back. All this suggests the develox)mont of extra x>arts from the
same x^i'imary layer of the impregnated and develox^ing ovum. The
effect of disturbing conditions in giving such wrong directions to the
develoxomental forces is v/ell shown in the experiments of St. Hilaire
and Valentine in varnishing, shaking, and otherwise breaking up the
natural connections in eggs, and thereb}" determining the formation
of monstrosities at will. So, in the mammal, blows and other inju-
ries that -detach the foetal membranes from the walls of the womb or
that modify their circulation Iw inducing inflammation are at times
followed by the develox)ment of a monster. The excitement, mental
and x>hysical, attendant on fright occasion all}' acts in a similar way,
acting x^robably through the same channels.

The monstrous forms likely to interfere with x^ai'turition are such
as from contracted or twisted limbs or sx)ine, must be presented
double; where supernumerary limbs, head, or body must apx:)roach
the x^assages v\'ith tlie iiatural ones; where a head or other member
lias attained to an unnatural size ; Avhere the body of one foetus has
become inclosed in or attached to another, etc.

Extraction is sometimes possible by straightening the members and
securing such a x^resentation as will reduce the xJi'esenting mass to its
smallest and most wedge-like dimensions. To effect this it may be
needful to cut the flexor tendons of bent limbs or the muscles on the
side of a twisted neck or body; and one or more of the manipulations
necessary to secure and bring u]) a missing member may be requii-ed.
In most cases of monstrosity by excess, however, it is needful to

172

remove the superfluous parts, in Avhich case the general pi-incii3les
employed for einhryotoniy must be followed. The C?esarian section,
by which the f(etus is extracted through an incision in the walls of
the abdomen and womb, is inadmissible, as it practically entails the
sacrifice of the mare, Avhich should never be done for the sake of a
monster. See "Embryotomy."

ENTRANCE OF TWINS INTO THE PASSAGE AT ONCE.

Twins are rare in the mare, and still more rare is the impaction of
both at once into the pelvis. The condition would be easily recog-
nized by the fact that two fore limbs and two hind would occupy the
passage at once, the front of the hoofs of the fore feet being turned
upward and those of the hind feet downward. If both belonged to
one foal they would be turned in the same direction. Once recog-
nized, the condition is easily remedied by passing a rope with a run-
ning noose round each foot of the foal that is farthest advanced or
that promises to be most easily extracted, and to push the members
of the other foetus back into the depth of the womb. As soon as the
one foetus is fully engaged in the j)assage it will hold its place and its
delivery will i)roceed in the natural way.

TABLE OF WRONG PRESENTATIONS.

?^ cb S

Incompletely extended. Flexor tendons short-
ened.

Crossed over the neck.

Bent back at the knee.

Bent back from the shoulder.

Bent downward on the neck.

Head and neck turned back beneath the breast.

Turned to one side.

Turned upward and backward on the back.

Hind-limbs Hind feet engaged in the pelvis.

Transverse Back of foal to side of pelvis.

Inverted Back of foal to floor of pelvis.

TT- IT 1, ( Bent on itself at the hock.

Hmd-hmbs -j gg^^ .^^ ^i^g i^^jj

Transverse Back of foal to side of pelvis.

Inverted Back of foal to floor of pelvis.

\ With back and loins presented.

'/ With breast and belly presented.

Fore-limbs.

Head

Transverse presentation of body.

FORE-LIMBS INCOMPLETELY EXTENDED.

Incases of this kind, not only are the back tendons behind the knee
and shank-bone unduly short, but the sinew extending from the front
of the slioulder-blade over the front of the elbow and down to the head
of the shank-bone is also shortened. The result is that the fore-limb
is bent at the knee and the elbow is also rigidly bent. The condition
obstructs parturition by the feet becoming pressed against the floor of
the pelvis or by the elbow pressing on its anterior brinu Relief is to
be obtained by forcible extension. A rope with a running noose is
passed around each fetlock and a repeller (see Plate VIII), planted in

173

the breast is pressed in a direction uj)ward and backward while active
traction is made on the ropes. If the feet are not thereby raised from
the floor of the pelvis the palm of the hand may l)e placed beneath
them to protect the mucous membrane until they have advanced suf-
ficiently to obviate this danger. In the absence of a repeller, a smooth
rounded fork-handle maybe employed. If the shortening is too great
to allow of the extension of the limbs in this waj', the tense tendons
ma)^ be cut across behind the shank bone and in front of the elbow,
and the limb will be easily straightened out. This is most easily done
with an embryotomy' knife furnished with a ring for the middle fin-
ger, so that the blade maybe protected in the palm of the hand. (See
Plate XIV, Fig. 4.)

ONE PORE-LIMB CROSSED OVER THE BACK OF THE NECK.

With the long fore-limbs of the foal this readily occurs and the result-
ing increase in thickness, both at the head and shoulder, offers a seri-
ous obstacle to progress. (See Plate X, Fig. 2. ) The hand introduced
into the passage detects the head and one fore foot, and further back
on the same side of the head the second foot, from which the limb
may be traced obliquely across the back of the neck.

If parturition continues to make progress the displaced foot may
bruise and lacerate the vagina. By seizing the limb above the fetlock it
may be easily pushed over the head to the proper side, when parturition
will proceed normally.

FORE-LIMB BENT AT THE KNEE.

The nose and one fore foot x)resent, and on examination the knee of
the missing fore-limb is found farther back. (Plate X, Fig. 1.) First
place a noose each on the presenting pastern and lower jaw, and push
back the body of the foetus with a repeller, while the operator seizing
the shank of the bent limb extends it so as to press back the knee and
bring forward the fetlock and foot. As progress is made little by lit-
tle the hand is slid down from the region of the knee to the fetlock,
and finally that is secured and brought \\p into the passage, when
parturition will proceed without hindrance. If both fore-limbs are
bent back the head must be noosed and the limbs brought up as above,
one after the other. It is usually best to employ the left hand for the
right fore-limb, and the right hand for the left fore-limb.

FORE- LIMB TURNED BACK FROM THE SHOULDER.

In this case, on exploration by the side of the head and jiresenting
limb, the shoulder only can be reached at first. (Plate X, Fig. 4.) By
noosing the head and presenting fore-limb these may be drawn for-
ward into the pelvis, and the oiled hand being carried along the shoul-
dei' in the direction of the missing limb is enabled to reach and seize
the fore-arm just below the elbow. The bodj^ is now pushed back by

174

the assistants pressing on the liead and x^i'esenting limb or on a repel-
ler planted in the breast until the knee can be brought up into the
I)elvis, after -syhich the procedure is the same as described in the last
I)aragrai)h.

HEAD BENT DOWN BETWEEN THE FORE-LIMBS.

This ma}' be so that the poll or naj)o of the neck with the ears can
be felt far back between the fore-limbs, or so that only the upper
border of the neck can be reached, head and neck being bent back
beneath the body. AVith the head only bent on the neck, noose the
two j)resenting limbs, then introduce the hand between them until
the nose can be seized in the palm of the hand. Next have the assist-
ants push back the presenting limbs, while the nose is strongly lifted
upward over the lirim of the pelvis. This accomplished it assumes
the natural position and parturition is eas}'.

When both head and neck are bent downward it maj* be impossible
to reach the nose. If, however, the labor has only commenced, the
limbs may be drawn upon until the operator can reach the ear, l^y
dragging on which the head may be so far advanced that the fingers
may reach the orbit; traction upon this while the limbs are being-
pushed back may bring the head uj) so that it bends on the neck only,
and the further iDrocedure will be as described in the last paragraph.

If the labor has been long in progress and the foetus is jammed into
the pelvis, the womb emptied of the waters and firmly contracted on
its solid contents, the case is incomparably more difficult. The mare
may be chloroformed and turned on her back with hind parts elevated,
and the womb may bo injected with sweet-oil. Then, if the ear can
be reached, the correction of the mal-i^resentation may be attempted
as above described. Should this fail one or more sharp hooks may be
inserted in the neck as near the head as can be reached, and ropes
attached to these may be dragged on, while the body of the foal is
pushed back by the fore-limbs or hy a repeller. Such repulsion
should be made in a direction obliquely upward toward the loins of
the mother so as to rotate the fa^tus in such a waj' as to bring the
head up. As this is accomplished a hold should be secured nearer
and nearer to the nose, with hand or hook, until the head can be
straightened out on the neck.

All means failing, it becomes necessary- to remove the fore-limbs
{emhryoioinij) so as to make more space for bringing uj) the head. If,
even then, this can not be accomplished, it may be i)ossible to push
the body backward and ujaward with the repeller until the hind-limbs
are brought to the passage, when they may be noosed and delivery
effected with the jjosterior presentation.

HEAD TURNED BACK ON THE SHOULDER.

In this case, the fore-feet present, and the oiled hand passed along
the fore-arms in search of the missing head finds the side af the neck

175

turned to one side, the liead being perhaps entirely out of reach.
(Plate XIII, Fig. 1.) To bring forward the head it may be desirable
to lay the mare on the opposite side to that to which the head is
turned, and even to give chloroform or ether. Then the feet being
noosed, the body of the foetus is pushed by the hand or repeller for-
ward and to the side opposite to that occupied by the head until the
head comes within reaeh, near the entrance of the pehis. If such
displucement of the foetus is diflficnlt, it may be facilitated by a free
use of oil or lard. When the nose can be seized it can be brought into
the passage as when the head is turned down. If it can not be reached
the orbit may be availed of to draw the head forward unt^ the nose
can be seized or the lower jaw noosed. In very diificult cases a rope
maj- be passed around the neck by the hand, or with the aid of a curved
carrier (Plate VIII), and traction may be made upon this while the
body is being rotated to the other side. In the same way, in bad cases,
a hooli may be fixed in the orbit or even between the bones of the
lower jaw to assist in bringing the head up into i^osition. Should all
fail, the amputation of the fore-limbs may be resorted to as advised
under the last heading.

HEAD TURXED UPWAED OX THE BACK.

This differs from the last mal-presentation only in the direction of
the head, which has to be sought above rather than at one side, and is
to be secured and brought forward in a similar manner. (Plate XIII,
Fig. 2.) If a rope can be passed around the neck it will prove most
effectual, as it naturally slides nearer to the head as the neck is
straightened, and ends by bringing the head vrithin easy reach.

HIND FEET ENGAGED IN THE PELVIS.

In this case fore-limbs and head present naturally, but the hind-
limbs bent forward from the hip and the loins arched allow the hind
feet also to enter the x)assages, and the farther labor advances the
more firmly does the body of the foal become wedged into the pelvis.
(Plate XII, Fig. 2. ) The condition is to be recognized by introducing
the oiled hand along the bellj' of the foetus, when the hind feet will be
felt advancing. An attempt should at once be made to push them
back, one after the other, over the brim of the j)elvis. Failing in this,
the mare may be turned on her back, head down hill, and the attempt
renewed. If it is possible to introduce a straight rope carrier, a noose
passed through this may be jjut on the fetlock and the repulsion
therebj^ made more effective. In case of continued failure the ante-
rior presenting part of the body may be skinned and cut off as far
back toward the pelvis as possible (see "Embryotomy"); then nooses
are placed on the hind fetlocks and traction is made upon these while
the quarters are pushed back into the womb. Then the remaining
portion is brought away by the posterior pi-esentation.

176

ANTERIOR PRESENTATION WITH BACK TURNED TO ONE SIDE.

The greatest diameter of the axis of tlie foal, like that of the ijelvic
passages, is from above downward, and when the fcetns enters the
pelvis with this greatest diameter engaged transversely or in the nar-
row diameter of the pelvis, parturition is rendered difficult or impossi-
ble. In such a case the pasterns and head may be noosed, and the
passages and engaged portion of the foal freely lubricated with lard,
the limbs may be crossed over each other and the head, and a move-
ment of rotation effected in the foetus until its face and back are
turned up .toward the croup of the mother; then parturition becomes
natural.

BACK OP THE FOAL TURNED TO THE FLOOR OF THE PELVIS.

In a roomy mare this is not an insuperable obstacle to parturition,
yet it may seriously impede it, by reason of the curvature of the body
of the foal being opposite to that of the passages, and the head and
withers being liable to arrest against the border of the pelvis. Lubri-
cation of the passage with lard and traction of the limbs and head
will usually suffice with or without the turning of the mare on her
])ack. In obstinate cases two other resorts are open: (1) to turn the
foal, pushing back the fore-parts and bringing up the hind so as to
make a posterior presentation, and (2) the amputation of the fore-
limbs, after which extraction will usually l)e easy.

HIND PRESENTATION WITH LEG BENT AT HOCK.

In this form the quarters of the foal with the hind-legs bent up
])eneath them present, but can not advance through the pelvis by rea
son of their bulk. (Plate X, Fig. 3.) The oiled hand introduced can
recognize the outline of the buttocks, with the tail and anus in the
center and the sharp points of the hocks beneath. First pass a rope
around each limb at the hock, then with hand or repeller, push the
buttocks backward and upward, until the feet can be brought up into
the passages. The great length of the shank and pastern in the foal
is a serious obstacle to this, and in all cases the foot should be pro-
tected in the palm of the hand while being brought up over the brim
of the pelvis. Otherwise the womb may be torn. When the pains are
too violent and constant to allow effective manipulation, some respite
may be obtained by the use of chloroform or morphia, and l)y turning
the mare on her back, but too often the operator fails and the foal
must be sacrificed. Two courses are still open : first, to cut through
the cords behind and above the hock and extend the upper part of the
limb, leaving the hock bent, and extract in this way, and, second, to
amputate the hind-limbs at the hip joint and remove them separately,
after whicli tlie bodv mav l)e extracted.

177

HIND PRESENTATION WITH LEGS BENT FORWARD FROM THE HIP.

This is merely an aggravated form of the presentation last de-
scribed. (Plate XII, Fig. 1.) If the mare is roomy a rope maybe
passed around each thigh and the bod}- pushed up"\Yard and forward,
so as to bring the hocks and heels upward. If this can be accom-
plished, nooses are placed on the limb farther and farther down until
the fetlock is reached and brought into position. If failure is met
with, then amputation at the hips is the dernier ressort.

HIND PRESENTATIONS WITH THE BACK TURNED SIDEW^AYS OR

DOWNWARD.

These are the counterparts of similar anterior presentations and are
to be managed in the same way.

PRESENTATION OF THE BACK.

This is rare, yet not unknown, the foal being bent upon itself with
the back, recognizable by its sharp row of spines, presented at the en-
trance of the pelvis, and the head and all four feet turned back into the
womb. (Plate XI, Fig. 1.) The bodj- of the foetus may be extended
across the opening transversely so that the head corresponds to one
side (right or left), or it may be vertical with the head above or below.

In any such position the object should be to push the body of the
foetus forward and uj)ward or to one side, as may best promise to
bring up the fore or hind extremities, and bring the latter into the
passage so as to constitute a normal anterior or posterior presentation.
This turning of the foetus may be favored by a given position of the
mother, by the free use of oil or lard on the surface of the foetus, and
by the use of a propeller.

PRESENTATION OF BREAST AND ABDOMEN.

This is the reverse of the back presentation, the foal being extended
across in front of the pelvic opening, but with the l)elh^ turned toward
the passages and with all four feet engaged in the passage. (Plate XI,
Fig. 2. ) The most j^romising course is to secure the hind feet with
nooses and then j)ush the fore feet forward into the womb. As soon as
the fore feet are pushed forward clear of the brim of the pelvis, trac-
tion is made on the hind feet so as to bring the thighs into the pas-
sage and prevent the re-eutrance of the fore-limbs. If it prove diffi-
cult to push back the fore-limbs a noose may be passed around the
fetlock of eacli and the cord drawn through the eye of a rope carrier,
by means of which the members may be easily jjushed back.

EMBRYOTOMY.

This consists in the dissection of the fcetus so as to reduce its bulk
and allow of its exit through the pelvis. The indications for its

. 178

adoption have been f urnislied in tlie foregoing jpages. The o]3eration
will vary in different cases according to the necessity for the removal
of one or more i3arts in order to secnre the requisite reduction in size.
Thus it may he needful to remove head and neck, one fore-limh or
both, one hind-limb or both, to remove different parts of the trunk,
or to remove superfluous (monstrous) parts. Some of the simplest
operations of embryotomy (incision of the head in hydrocephalus,
incision of the belly in dropsy) have already been described. It
remains to notice the more difficult procedures which can be best
undertaken b}^ the skilled anatomist.

Ampidaiionojihefore-Jimhs. — This may usually bo begun on the
fetlock of the limb iDrojecting from the vulva. An embryotomy knife
is desirable. This knife consists of a blade with a sharp, slightly
hooked point, and one or two rings in the back of the blade large
enough to fit on the middle finger, while the blade is j^rotected in the
palm of the hand. (See Plato XIV, Fig. 4.) Another form has the
blade inserted in a mortise in the handle from which it is pushed out
by a movable button when wanted. First place a noose around the
fetlock of the limb to be anij)utated, cut the skin circularl}^ entirely
around the fetlock, then make an incision on the inner side of the
limb from the fetlock uj) to the breast bone. Next dissect the skin
from the limb, from the fetlock up to the breast bone on the inner
side, and as far uj) on the shoulder blade as possible on the outer side.
Finally, cut through the muscles attaching the limb to the breast bone,
and employ strong traction on the limb so as to drag out the whole
limb, shoulder blade included. The muscles around the upper part
of the shoulder blade are easily torn through and need not be cut,
even if that were possible. In no ease should the fore-limb be
removed unless the shoulder blade is taken with it, as that furnishes
the greatest obstruction to delivery, above all when it is no longer
advanced by the extension of the fore-limb, but is pressed back so as
to increase the already thickest posterior portion of the chest. The
preservation of the skin from the whole limb is advantageous in
various ways; it is easier to cut it circularly at the fetlock than at
the shoulder; it covers the hand and knife in making the needful
incisions, thus acting as a protection to the womb; and it affords a
means of traction on the body after the limb has been removed. In
dissecting the skin from the limb the knife is not needful at all j)oints;
much of it may be stripped off with the fingers or knuckles, or by a
blunt iron spud pushed up inside the hide, which is meanwhile held
tense to render the spud effective.

Amjmtation of the head. — This is easy Avlien both fore-limbs are
turned l)ack and the head alone has made its exit in part. It is more
difficult when the head is still retained in the passages or Avomb, as
in double-headed monsters. The head is secured by a hook in the
lower jaw, or in the orbit, or by a halter, and the skin is divided

179

circularly around the lower jjart of the face or at the front of the ears,
according to the amount of head protriiding. Then an incision is
made backward along the line of the throat, and tlie skin dissected
from the neck as far back as possible. Then the muscles and other
soft parts of the neck are cut across, and the bodies of two vertebrse
(neck bones) are severed by cutting completely across the cartilage
of the joint. The bulging of the ends of the bones will serve to indi-
cate the seat of the joint. The head and detached portion of the
neck may now be removed by steady pulling. If there is still an
obstacle the knife may be again used to sever any obstinate connec-
tions. In the ease of a double-headed monster, the whole of the
second neck must be removed with the head. When the head has
been detached a rope should be passed through the eye-holes, or
through an artificial opening in the skin, and tied firmly around the
skin, to be employed as a means of traction when the missing limbs
or the second head have been brought up into position.

Amputation of the hind-Jinih. — This maybe required when there
are extra hind-limbs, or when the hind-limbs are bent forward at hock
or hip joint. In the former condition the procedure resembles that
for removal of a fore-limb, but recxuires more anatomical knowledge.
Having noosed the i)astern, a circular incision is made through the
skin around the fetlock, and a longitudinal one from that uj) to the
groin, and the skin is dissected from the limb as high up as can be
reached, over the croup if possible. Then cut through the muscles
around the hip joint, and, if possible, the two interarticular ligaments
of the joint (pubio-femoral and round), and extract the limb by strong
dragging.

"In case the limb is bent forwarel at the hock, a rope is passed
round that and pulled so as to bring the point of the hock between
the lii)S of the vulva. The hamstring and the lateral ligaments of
the liock are now cut through, and the limbs extended by a rope tied
round the lower end of the long bone above (tibia). In case it is still
needful to remove the upper part of the limb, the further procedure
is the same as described in the last paragraph.

In case the limb is turned forward from the hip, and the foetus so
wedged into the passage that turning is impossible, the case is very
difficult, I have repeatedlj'^ succeeded by cutting in on the hip joint
and disarticulating it, then dissecting the muscles back from the
upper end of the thigh bone. A noose was placed around the neck
of the bone and j)ulled on forcibly, while any unduly resisting struc-
tures were cut with the knife.

Cartwright recommends to make free incisions round the hip joints
and tear through the muscles when they can not be cut; then Avith
cords round the pelvic bones, and hooks inserted in the openings in
the floor of the pelvis to drag out the pelvic bones; then put cords
around the heads of the thiuh bones and extract them: then remove

180

tho intestines; and finally, by means of the loose, detached skin,
draw out the body Avith the remainder of the hind-limbs bent forward
beneath it.

Renff cuts his way into the pelvis of the foal, and with a knife
separates the pelvic bones from the loins, then skinning the quarter
draws out these pelvic bones by means of ropes and hooks, and along
with them the hind-limbs.

The hind-limbs having been removed by one or the other of these
procedures, the loose skin detached from the pelvis is used as a means
of traction and delivery is effected. If it has been a monstrosity with
extra hind-limbs, it may be possible to bring these up into the passage
and utilize them for traction.

Beinoval of the ahdominal viscera. — In case where the belly is
unduly large, from decomposition, tumors, or otherwise, it may be
needful to lay it oj^en with the knife and cut or tear out the contents.

Removal of the thoracic viscera. — To diminish the bulk of the chest
it has been found advisable to cut out the breast-bone, remove the
heart and lungs, and allow the ribs to collapse with the lower free
ends overlaj)i)ing each other.

Dissection of the triinlc. — In ease it becomes necessa^-y to remove
other portions of the trunk, the general rule should be followed of
preserving the skin so that all manipulations can be made inside this
as a i^rotector, that it may remain available as a means of exercising
traction on the remaining parts of the body, and as a covering to
protect the vaginal walls against injuries from bones while such part
is passing.

FLOODING — BLEEDING FROM THE WOMB.

This is rare in the mare, but not unknown, in connection with a
failure of the womb to contract on itself after parturition, or with
eversion of the womb (casting the withers), and congestion or lacera-
tion. If the blood accumulates in the flaccid womb the condition
may only be suspected by reason of the rapidly advancing weakness,
swaying, unsteady gait, hanging head, paleness of the eyes and other
mucous membranes, and weak, small, failing pulse. The hand intro-
duced into the w^omb detects the presence of the blood partly clotted.
If the blood escapes 'by the vulva the condition is evident.

Treatment consists in evacuating the womb of its blood clots, giving
a large dose of powdei-ed ergot of rye, and in the application of cold
water or ice to tlie loins and external generative organs. Besides this
a sponge impregnated with a strong solution of alum, or, still better,
with tincture of muriate of iron, may be introduced into the womb and
squeezed so as to bring the liquid in contact with the w^alls generally.

EVERSION OF THE WOMB.

IL" llie womb fails to contract after difficult parturition, the after-
pains Avill sometimes lead to the fundus passing into the body of the

181

organ and jiassing through that and tlie ^'ag■ina until the wlioh> inverted
organ aj^pears externally and hangs down on tlie thighs. The result
is rapid engorgement and swelling of the organ, impaction of the rec-
tum with fteces, and distension of the bladder with urine, all of which
conditions seriously interfere with the return of the mass. In i-eturn-
ing the Avomb the standing is preferable to the recumbent position,
as the abdomen is more pendent and there is less obstruction to the
return. It may, hoAvever, be necessary to put hobbles on the hind
limbs to prevent the mare from kicking. A clean sheet should be
held beneath the Avomband all filth, straw, and foreign bodies washed
fi'om its surface. Then with a broad, elastic (india-rubber) band, or
in default of that a long strip of calico 4 or 5 inches Avide, Avind the
womb as tightly as possible, beginning at its most dependent i^art
(the extremity of the horn). This serves two good ends. It squeezes
out into the general circulation the enormous mass of blood Avhich
engorged and enlarged the organ, and it furnishes a strong j)rotectiA'e
covering for the now delicate friable organ, through which it may be
safely manipulated Avithout danger of laceration. The next step may
be the pressure on the general mass while those j^ortions next the
A'ulva are gradually pushed in Avith the hands; or the extreme loAvest
point (the end of the horn) may be turned Avithin itself and pu.shed
forward into the vagina by tlie closed fist, the return being assisted
by manipulations by the other hand, and CA^en by those of assistants.
By either mode the manipulations may be made Avitli almost perfect
safety so long as the organ is closely wrapped in the bandage. Once
a portion has been introduced into the Aagina the rest Avill usually
folloAV Avith increasing ease, and the operation should be comi^leted
Avitli the hand and arm extended the full length Avithin the Avomb and
moved from point to point so as to straighten out all parts of the organ
and insure that no i^ortion still remains iuA^erted Avithin another por-
tion. Should any such iDartial in Aversion he left it will giA^e rise to
straining, under the force of AAhich it Avill gradually increase until tlie
Avhole mass Avill be iirotruded as before. The next step is to apply a
truss as an effectual mechanical barrier to further escape of the Avomb
through the A^uh'a. The simplest is made with tAvo inch ropes, each
about 18 feet long. These are each doubled and interAvoA^en at the
bend, as seen in Plate VIIT, Fig. 4. The ring formed by the inter-
lacing of the two ropes is adjusted around the Aaih'a, the tAvo ends
of the one rope are carried up on the right and left of the tail and
along the spine, being Avound round each otlier in their course, and are
finally tied to the upiier part of the collar encircling the neck. The
remaining tAvo ends, belonging to the other roj)e, are carried doAvn-
ward and forAvard between the thighs and thence forAvard and upward
on the sides of the belly and chest to lie attached to tlie right and left
sides of the collar. These ropes are drawn tightly enough to keep
closely applied to the opening Avithout chafing, and ^viM fit still more

182

secureh^ when tiie mare raises lier back to strain. It is desirable to
tie the mare short so tliat she may be unable to lie down for a day or
two, and she should be kept in a stall with the hind parts higher than
the fore. Violent straining may be checked by full doses of opium
(one-half dram), and any costiveness or diarrhea should be obviated
by a suitable laxative or binding diet.

In some mares the contractions are too violent to allow of the return
of the womb, and full doses of opium (one-half dram), laudanum {2
ounces), or chloral hydrate (1 ounce) may be demanded, or the mare
must be rendered insensible \>y ether or chloroform.

RUPTURE OR LACERATIOX OF THE WOMB.

This may occur from the feet of the foal during parturition, or from
ill-directed efforts to assist, but it is especially liable to take place in
the everted, congested, and friable organ. The resultant dangers are
bleeding from the wound, escape of the bowels through the opening
and their fatal injury b}' the mare's feet or otherwise, and j)eritonitis
from the extension of inflammation from the vround and from the
poisonous action of the sei^tic liciuids of the womb escaping into the
abdominal cavity. The first object is to close the wound, but unless
in eversion of the womb this is practically impossible. In the last-
named condition the wound must be carefully and accurately sewed
up before the womb is returned. After its return, the womb must
be injected daily with an antiseiJtic solution (borax one-half ounce or
carbolic acid 3 drams to a fj[uart of tepid water). If inflammation
threatens, the abdomen may be bathed continuously with hot water
by means of a heavy woolen rag, and large doses of opium (one-half
dram) may be given twice or thrice daily.

RUPTURES OF THE VAGIXA.

These are attended ]iy dangers similar to those belonging to rupture
of the womb, and in addition by the risk of x3rotrusion of the bladder,
which appears through the lips of the vulva as a red pyriform mass.
Sometimes such lacerations extend downward into the bladder, and in
others ui3ward into the terminal gut (rectum). In still other cases
the anus is torn so that it forms one common orifice with the vulva.

Too often such cases prove fatal, or at least a recovery -is not
attained, and urine or fjeces or both escape freely into the vagina.
The simple laceration of the anus is easily sewed up, but the ends of
the muscular fibers do not reunite and the control over the lower bowel
is never fully reacquired. The successful stitching up of the wound
communicating v.ith the bladder or the rectum requires unusual skill
and care, and though I have succeeded in a case of the latter kind, I
can not advise the attempt by unprofessional persons.

183

BLOOD CLOTS IN" THE AVALLS OF THE VAGINA.

See "()l)structions to Parturition."

IXFLAMMATIOX OF THE AVOIIB AND PERITONEUM.

These may result from injuries sustained by tlie Avomb during or
after j)arturitLon, from exx^osure to cold or Avet, or from the irritant
action of putrid products within the Avomb. Under the inflammation
the Avomb remains dilated and flaccid, and decomposition of its secre-
tions almost alAvaj's occurs, so that the inflammation tends to assume
a putrid character and general septic infection is likely to occur.

Tlie symptoms are ushered in by shivering, staring coat, small rapid
j)ulse, eleA'ated temperature, accelerated breathing, inapx^etence, AAitli
arched back, stifi: moA'ement of the bodj^, looking back at the flanks,
and uneasy motions of the hiud limbs, discharge from the Auh^a of a
liquid at first AAatery, reddish, or yelloAvish, and later it maybe A^llitish
or glairy, and fetid or not in different cases. Tenderness of the abdo-
men shown on x^i'essure is especially characteristic of cases affecting
the x^eritoneum or liuingof thebelh', and is more marked lower down.
If the animal surviA^es, the inflammation tends to become chronic and
attended by a AAiiitish muco-x)urulent discharge. If, on the contrary,
it x^roA^es fatal, death is preceded by extreme prostration and Aveakness
from the general sex^tic x>oisoning.

In ireatment the first thing to be sought is the removal of all offen-
sive and irritant matters from the womb through a caoutchouc tube
introduced into the Avomb, and into AA^hieh a funnel is fitted. AVarm
Avater should be x^assed until it comes awaA^ clear. To insure that all
of the Avomb has been Avashed out, the oiled hand ma}- be introduced
to carry the end of the tube into the tAvo horns successiA^ely. When
the offensive contents liaA'e been thus remoA^ed, the Avomb should be
injected Avith a. quart of water holding in solution one-half ounce per-
manganate of x^otash, or, in the absence of the latter, tAvo teasx^oonfuls
of carbolic acid. Repeat twice da.ily. Fomentation of the abdomen,
or the apx)lication of a Avarm flax-seed x^oultice, may greatly relicA'e.
Acetanilid, in doses of half an ounce, repeated tAvice or thrice a day,
or sulx)hate of quinia in doses of one-third ounce, may be emx)loyed to
reduce the fcA^er. If the great x^ostration indicates sex^tic poisoning-
large doses (one-half ounce) bisulphite of soda, or salicylate of soda
may be resorted to.

LEUCORRHCEA.

This is a white, glutinous, chronic discharge, the result of a con-
tinued sub-acute inflammation of the mucous membrane of the Avomb.
Like the discharge of acute inflammation it contains many forms of
bacteria, by some of Avhieh it is manifestly inoculable on the penis of
the stallion, x^i'oducing ulcers and a specific gonorrhoeal discharge.

184

Treatment may consist in the internal use of tonics (sulphate of iron
3 drams, daily) and the washing out of the womb, as described under
the last heading, followed by an astringent antiseptic injection (car-
bolic acid 2 teaspoonfuls, tannic acid one-half dram, water 1 quart).
This may be repeated two or three times a day.

LAMINITIS OR FOUNDER FOLLOWING PARTURITION.

This sometimes follows on inflammation of the womb, as it fre-
quently does on disorder of the stomach. Its symptoms agree with
those of the common form of founder, and treatment need not differ.

DISEASES OP THE UDDER AND TEATS — CONGESTION AND INFLAMMA-
TION OF THE UDDER.

This is comparatively rare in the mare, though in some cases the
udder becomes painfully engorged before j)ai'turition, and a doughy
swelling, pitting on pressure, extends forward on the lower surface of
the abdomen. When this goes on to active inflammation one or both
of the glands become enlarged, hot, tense, and painful; the milk is
dried up or replaced by a watery or reddish serous fluid, which at
times becomes fetid; the animal walks lame, loses appetite, and shows
general disorder and fever. The condition may end in recovery, in
abscess, induration, or gangrene, and in some cases may lay the foun-
dation for a tumor of the gland.

The treatment is sim^^le so long as there is only congestion. Active
rubbing with lard or oil, or better, camphorated oil, and the frequent
drawing off of the milk, by the foal or with the hand, will usually
bring about a rapid improvement. When active inflammation is
present fomentation Avith warm water may be kept up for an hour
and followed by the application of the camphorated oil, to which has
been added some carbonate of soda and extract of belladonna. A
dose of laxative medicine (4 drams Barbadoes aloes) will be of service
in reducing fever, and one-half ounce saltpeter daily will serve a
similar end. In case the milk coagulates in the udder and can not
be withdrawn, or Avhen the liquid becomes fetid, a solution of 20 grains
carbonate of soda and 10 droits carbolic acid dissolved in an ounce of
water shouldibe injected into the teat. In doing this it must be noted
that the mare has three separate ducts opening on the summit of each
teat and each must be carefully injected. To draw off the fetid
product it may be needful to use a small milking tube, or spring teat-
dilator designed by the writer (Plate VIII, Figs. 2 and 3). When pus
forms and i^oints externally, and can not find a free escape by the
teat, the spot where it fluctuates must be opened freely with the knife
and the cavity injected daily with the carbolic acid lotion. When the
gland becomes hard and indolent it may be rubbed daily with iodine
ointment 1 part, vaseline 6 jiarts.

PLATE VTR

Haines.del.aftet Fleming. AHoen&Co Lith.Bahrmore

INSTRT^MENTS TL'SED IN DIFFICin.T LABOR.

PI.ATE IX.

attor rierain^

VertehTf) Sfirral pn'seidnljnn,.

Z.u/iiIjo-Sfirjyi7 pn'srjtiti/i/rn- .

Haines, del.

A.Hoen jCo Lith.BaltM'iore

NOr^^IAI. PRKSET^r TATIOiSrS.

PI.ATE XI

'/} ri/isi 'e/sc /)i ■fs('nt(r;tu)n - 1 'pper i ■ten ■

.Str/riii-ti/x/onii/ud pn:seriiiifit>ri Hrru/ tuu/ Fee/ rricfagetl .

Haines, aftm l-"li"iniiia

A Hoen &Co Lithocaustic Bahimor

AJ'. X( )HM.\1. 1 >l'vK.SKX'l\ATIC:»NS

PLATE Xn.

Thir//t art/7 rj-oup pT-e.scntrilion,

^ t/i/f'/-/ar//ft:'if///ff//f>/f . Hinf/ /I'nih drrifif-ifni

after Fleming.

A Hoen iCo Lith. Baltimore.

v\B NOR^IAL T'riK SEN 1V\ TIOXS .

PLATE Xm

^Tii&rior presejrtatijOJi^.Jfecut tiirnecL on side .

ylnfervxn- prest'niatwn. IJca/l Uu-tuicL on bcick

AHoen &Co Lith .Baltimore,

^B IKT C)r?^I^I^ F'PIK S K N '1VS.TI ON S

li:

i\,l0/(^

/

5 i^

"-J_

185

TUMORS OF THE UDDER.

As the result of inflammation of the udder it may become the seat of
an indurated diseased growth, which may go on growing and seriously
interfere with the movement of the hind limbs. If such swellings will
not give way in their early stages to treatment by iodine the only
resort is to cut them out with a knife. As the gland is often impli-
cated and has to be removed, such mares can not in the future suckle
their colts, and therefore should not be bred.

SORE TEATS, SCABS, CRACKS, WARTS.

By the act of sucking, especially in cold weather, the teats are sub-
ject to abrasions, cracks, and scabs, and as the result of such irrita-
tion, or independently, warts sometimes grow and jjrove troublesome.
The warts should be clipped off with sharp scissors and their roots
burned with a solid 2:)encil of lunar caustic. This is best done before
parturition to secure healing before suckling begins. For sore teats
use an ointment of vaseline 1 ounce, balsam of tolu o grains, and
sulphate of zinc 5 grains.

DISEASES OE THE. N1:R\T)US SYSTEM.

By M. R. TRUMBOWER, V. S.

THE AXATOilY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BRAIX AXD NERVOUS

SYSTEM.

The nervotis sj'stem may be regarded as consisting of two sets of
organs, peripheral and central, the function of one being to establish
a eomniunication between the centers and the different parts of the
body, and that of the other to generate nervous force. The whole
may be arranged under two divisions: First. The cerehi'G-spinal or
nervous sj^stem of animal life. Second. The sympathetic, ganglionic,
or nervous system of organic life. Each is possessed of its own cen-
tral and peripheral organs.

In the first, the center is made uj) of tv\'o portions, one large and
expanded — the brain — i)laced in the cranial cavity; the other elon-
gated— spinal cord — continuous with the brain, and lodged in the
canal of the vertebral column. The perij)heral portion of this sj'stem
consists of the cerebro-spinal nerves, which leave the axis in symmet-
rical pairs, and are distributed to the skin, the voluntary muscles,
and the organs of common and spinal sensation.

In the second, the central organ consists of a chain of ganglia con-
nected by nerve cords, which extends from the head to the rump of
each side of the spine. The nerves of this sj'stem are distributed to
the in voluntar}'- muscles, mucons membrane, viscera, and blood-vessels.

The two systems have free intercommunication, ganglia being at
tiic junctions.

Two substances, distinguishable by their color, enter into the for-
mation of nervous matter, viz. , the w^hite or medullary, and tlie gray
or cortical substance. Both are soft, fragile, and easil}' injured, in
consequence of wliich the principal nervous centers are always well
protected bj" bony coverings. The nervous substances present two
distinct forms — nerve fibers and nerve cells. An aggregation of nerve

cells constitutes a nerve ganglion.

" ^ 187

188

The nerve fibers represent a conducting apparatus, and serve to
place the central nervous organs in connection with peripheral end
organs. The nerve cells, however, l)esides transmitting impulses, act
as physiological centers for automatic or reflex movements, and also
for the sensory, perceptive, trophic, and secretory functions. A nerve
consists of a Inindle of tuljular fillers, held together by a dense areolar
tissue, and inclosed in a membranous sheath— the neurilemma. Nerve
fibers possess no elasticit}^, but are very strong. Divided nerves do
not retract.

Nerves are thrown into a state of excitement when stimulated, and
are, therefore, said to possess excitable or irritahJe propertiefi. The
stimuli may be applied to, or may act upon any part of the nerve.
Nerves may be paralyzed by continuous pressure being applied.
When the nerves divide into branches, there is never any splitting up
of their ultimate fibers, nor yet is there ever any coalescing of them;
they retain their individuality from their source to their termination.

Nerves which convey imi^ressionsto the centers are termed sonsory
or centripetal, and those which transmit stimulus from the centers to
organs of motion are termed motor or centrifugal.

The function of the nervous system may, therefore, be defined in
the simj)lest terms, as follows: It is intended to associate the different
parts of the hody insiadi a manner that sfinndus applied to one organ
may excite or depress the activity of another.

The brain is that portion of the cerebro-spinal axis within the cra-
nium, which may be divided into four parts — the medulla oblongata,
the cerebellum, the j)07?.s Varolii, and the cerebrum, and it is cov-
ered by three membranes called the meninges. The first of these
membranes, the dura mater, is a tMc'k, white, fibrous membrane which
lines tlie cavity of the cranium, forming the internal i3eriosteum of
the bones; it is continuous with the spinal cord to the extremity of the
canal. The second, the arachnoid, is a delicate serous membrane, and
loosel}^ envelops the l)rain and spinal cord; it forms two layers, leav-
ing between them the arachnoid space which contains tlife cerebro-
spinal fluid, the use of which is to protect the spinal cord and brain
from pressure. The third, the jji'a mcder, is closely adherent to the
entire surface of the brain, but is much thinner and more vascular
than when it reaches the spinal cord which it also envelops, and is
continued to form the sheaths of the spinal nerves.

The medulla oblongata is the prolongation of the spinal cord, ex-
tending to the pons Varolii. This portion of the brain is very large
in the horse; it is pyramidal in shape, the narrowest part joining the
cord.

The pons Varolii is the transverse projection on the base of the
brain, between the medulla oblongata and the peduncles of the cere-
brum.

The cerebellum is lodged in the posterior part of the cranial cavity,
immediately above the medulla oblongata; it is globular or elliptical

189

in shape, the transverse diameter being greatest. The body of the
cerebellum is composed of gray matter externally and white in the
center.

The cerebrum, or brain projier, occupies the anterior jiortion of the
cranial cavit^^ It is ovoid in shape, Avith an irregular flattened base,
and consists of lateral halves or hemispheres. The greater part of
the cerebrum is composed of white matter. The hemisjiheres of the
cerebrum are usually said to be the seat of all psj'^chical activities.
Only when they are intact are the ijrocesses of feeling, thinking, and
A\alling possible. After they are destroyed, the organism comes to be
like a complicated machine, and its activity is only the expression of
the internal and external stimuli which act upon it. The cerebellum
is the great and important central organ for the finer co-ordination
and integration of movements. Injuries to the cerebellum cause dis-
turbance of the equililjrium of the body, but do not interfere with the
l)S3'chical activities or the will or consciousness, neither does an injury
to these parts give rise to pain.

The spinal cord or spinal marrow is that j)art of the cerebro-spinal
system which is contained in the spinal canal of the backbone, and
extends from the medulla oblongata to a short distance behind the
loins. It is an irregularly cylindrical structure, divided into two lat-
eral symmetrical halves by fissures. The spinal cord terminates pos-
teriorly in a i)ointed extremit}^, which is continued hy a mass of
nervous trunks — ccmda equince. A transverse section of the cord
reveals that it is composed of white matter externally and of graj'^
internally. The spinal cord does not fill up the whole spinal canal.
The latter contains, besides, a large venous sinus, fatty matter, the
membranes of the cord, and the cerebro-spinal fluid.

The sijinal nerves, forty-two or forty-three in number, arise each
by tAvo roots, a suj)erior or sensorj^ and an inferior or motor. The
nerves originating from the brain are twenty-four in number, and
arranged in j)airs, which are named first, second, third, etc., counting
from before backward. They also receive special names, according
to their functions, or the parts to which they are distributed, viz :

1. Olfactory. 7. Facial.

2. Optic. 8. Auditory.

3. Oculo-motor. 9. Glosso-Pharyngeal.
•1. Pathetic. 10. Pneiimogastric.

5. Trifacial. 11. Spinal- Accessory.

C. Abducens. 12. Hjq^jogiossal.

INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN AND ITS MEMBRANES.

Inflammation may attack these membranes singly, or any of the
anatomical divisions of the nerve matter, or it may invade the whole
at once. Practical experience, however, teaches us that primar}" in-
flammation of the dura mater is of rare occurrence, except in direct
mechanical injuries to the head or diseases of the bones of the

190

cranium. Neither is the arachnoid often affected with acute inflam-
mation except as a secondary result. The pia mater is most com-
monly the seat of inflammation, acute and subacute, but from its
intimate relation with the surface of tlie bi-ain the latter very soon
becomes involved in the morbid changes. Practicallj', we can not
separate inflammation of the pia mater from that of the brain proper.
Inflammation may, however, exist in the center of the great nerve
masses, the cerebrum, cerebellum, pons A^arolii, or medulla at the
base of the brain, without involving the surface. AYhen, therefore,
inflammation invades the brain and its enveloping membranes it is
properlj^ called enceplialUisj when the membranes alone are affected
it is called meningitis; or the brain substance alone, cerebritis.

ENCEPHALITIS — INPLAMMATIOX OF THE BRAIN AND ITS MEMBRANES.

Causes. — Exposure to extreme heat and cold, excessive continued
cerebral excitement, direct injuries to the brain, such as concussion,
or from fracture of the cranium, sometimes as a sequela to influ-
enza, pj^seniia, poisons having a direct influence ni^on the encephalic
mass, etc.

Sijinptoms. — Acute encephalitis may be ushered in by an increased
sensibility to noises, with more or less nervous excitability, contrac-
tion of the pupils of the eyes, and a quick, hard pulse. In very
acute attacks these symptoms, however, are not always noted. This
condition will soon be followed by muscular twitchings, convulsive
or spasmodic movements, eyes wide open v,'itli shortness of sight.
The animal becomes afraid to have his head handled. Convulsions
and delirium may develop, with inability of muscular control, or
stupor and coma may supervene. Where the membranes are greatly
implicated convulsions and delirium with violence may be expected,
but where the brain substances are principally affected stupor and
coma will be the prominent symptoms. In the former condition the
pulse Avill be quick and hard, in the latter soft or depressed with
often a dilatation of the pupils, and deep, slow, stertorous breathing.
The symptoms may follow one another in rapid succession, and the
disease approach a fatal termination in less than twelve hours. In
subacute attacks the sj^mptoms are better defined, and the animal
seldom dies before the third daj^ Within three or four days gnulual
imjirovement may become manifest, or cerebral softening Avith par-
tial paralysis may occur. In all cases of encephalitis there is a
marked rise in temperature from the very onset of the disease, with
a tendency to increase until the most alarming symptoms develop,
succeeded by a decrease when coma becomes manifested. The vio-
lence and character of the symptoms greatly depend upon the extent
and location of the structures involved. Thus, in some cases we may
find marked paralysis of certain muscles, while in others we nmy have
spasmodic rigidity of muscles in a certain region. Very rarely the

191

animal becomes extremely violent early in tlie attack, and by rear-
ing up, striking witli the fore feet, or falling over, may do lumsalf
great injur}-. Usuallj', however, the animal maintains the stand-
ing i)osition, propping himself against the manger or wall until he
falls from inability of muscular control or unconsciousness. Occa-
sionally he may go through a series of automatic movements in his
delirium, such as trotting or walking, and if loose in a stall will
move around in a circle persistently. Early and persistent consti-
pation of the bowels is a marked symptom in nearly all acute affec-
tions of the brain; retention of the urine, also, is frequently observed.
Chronic encephalitis. — This may succeed the acute stage, or maybe
due to stable miasma, blood-poison, narcotism, lead-poisoning, etc.
Contrary to acute encephalitis, this form is not characterized in its
initial stages by excitability, quick and hard pulse, and high fever.
The animal appears at first stupid; eats slowly; the pupil of the e3"e
does not resi3ond to light quickh'; the animal often throws u^) his head
or shakes it as if suffering sudden twinges or pain. He is slow and
sluggish in his movements, or there may be partial paralysis of one
limb, one side of the face, neck, or body. These symptoms, with some
variations, mny be present for several days and then subside, or ihe
disease may pass into the acute stage and terminate fatall}'. Chronic
encephalitis maj- affect an animal for ten days or two weeks without
much variation in the symptoms before the crisis is reached. If
improvement commences the sj^m^jtoms usually disappear in the
reverse order in which they developed with the exception of the para-
l3'tic effects, which remain intractable or permaneu-t. Parah'sis of
certain sets of muscles is a very common result of chronic, subacute,
and acute encephalitis, and is due to softening of the brain, or to
exudation into the cavities of the brain or arachnoid space.

MENINGITIS — THE MAD STAGGERS OF THE OLD V\'RITER8 — INFLAMMA-
TION OF THE CEREBRAL ENVELOPES.

Causes. — Excess of heat or cold, wounds of the cranium and mem-
branes, rheumatism, influenza, rupture of meningeal blood-vessels, etc.

Symptoms. — In an attack of acute meningitis the symptoms appear
very suddenly- and are often extremeh* violent. The violent pain in
the head is indicated by the animal flj'ing back in the lialter, plung-
ing forward or running ahead, regardless of obstacles or obstructions
in the Avay. The pulse is very rapid, the breathing accelerated or
panting, the pupils of the eyes contracted, and the muscles of the bod}'-
quivering. All these sj'mptoms may develop Avithin a fcAV minutes or
in a few hours. If the animal does not obtain' relief , spasms or rigidity
of the muscles along one or both sides of the neck or back Avill become
manifest, the head Avill be held elevated, the eyeballs Avill retract into
their sockets, the eye-lids twitch, convulsions and furious delirium
Avill soon appear, folloAved by coma and death. Acute meningitis may

192 '

result fatally in a very few hours. During the whole course of the
disease the more violent symptoms occur in paroxysms, and the least
noise or disturbance serves to induce them. In the quiescent jjeriods
the animal appears dull and drowsy. The urine is frequently ejected
in spurts and strong efforts are made to pass manure. In subacide
meningitis the symptoms will develop more slowly and be less marked
by violence. The sensor}' functions may not be much interfered with
until the near approach of death. In such attacks the animal may
suffer for a week or longer and ultimately recover. In meningitis the
temperature varies from IDS'" to 107° F., according to the severity of
the attack.

The violent symptoms of this disease must not be confounded with
those of rabies. In the latter the violence is directed at some object or
ui)on the animal himself; in the former no malice is shown toward the
attendant or surrounding objecl^s, but is simply the manifestation
of excruciating jDain in the head. Meningitis may be distinguished
from encephalitis and cerebritis bj^ the absence of marked localized
paralytic sjnnptoms, or of coma, until the near aj^proach of death. It
is characterized by violence, increased sensibility, and delirium.

CEREBRITIS — INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN SUBSTANCE.

Causes. — The causes giving rise to this disease are very numerous.
Among them may be mentioned all those named heretofore as causing
encephalitis and meningitis, cystic and calcareous tumors, thrombi,
urpemic poisoning, metastatic abscesses, septic infection, etc.

Symptoms. — Cerebritis, when unaccompanied by other disease, is
seldom recognized as such during life. It is alwaj^s localized in extent,
and the symptoms manifested depend upon the location of the organic
change for their character. The symptoms, therefore, are as varied
as the causes; they are usually of slow development and persistent.
A'ertigo or giddiness ma}^ be regarded as a constant symptom. The
animal may stop on the road, shake his head, or stagger, api^arently
undecided in what direction to go. There may be contraction of the
pupils, cramp of the muscles on the side of the neck or face, ftulse
small and hard and variable in frequency, often, however, slower
than normal. The temperature is slightly increased, the respira-
tions may be slow and deep, the appetite capricious, bowels consti-
pated; rapid emaciation is a common symptom. Such conditions may
be apparent for a week or two Aveeks; then the horse may become
comatose. The pu^iils dilate, the jjulse becomes intermitting, swal-
lowing difficult, the muscles which were previousl}^ rigid become
i-elaxed and paralyzed, and the urine may either be retained or be dis-
charged involuntarily. In this way the animal may survive another
week and then die in a jjaralyzed and unconscious state. Not infre-
quently, however, few of those symptoms are manifested, for in some
cases the paralysis is sudden from extensive lesions of the brain, and
the animal may die within twenty-four hours. '

193

SOFTENING AND ABSCESS OF THE BRAIN.

This is one of the terminations of cerebritis. It may also be dne to
an insiiflicient supply of blood as a result of diseased cerebral arteries
and of apoplexy.

Sympioms. — Drowsiness, vertigo, or attacks of giddiness, increased
timidity, or fear of familiar objects, paralysis of one limb, hemiplegia,
imperfect control of the limbs, and usually a weak, intermittent pulse.
In some cases the symptoms are analogous to those of apoplexy. The
character of the symptoms depends upon the seat of the softening or
abscess within the brain.

CEREBRAL SCLEROSIS.

This is a result of an inflammation in the structure of the brain
affecting the connective tissues, which eventually become hypertro-
phied and press upon nerve cells and fibers, causing their ultimate
disappearance, leaving the parts hard and indurated.

Sijmpfoms. — This condition gives rise to a progressive paralysis,
and may extend along a certain bundle of fibers into the spinal cord.
Complete paralysis almost invariably supervenes and causes death.

PATHOLOGY OF ACUTE BRAIN AFFECTIONS.

On making post mortem examinations of horses which have died in
the first stages of either of those diseases, we will find an excessive
engorgement of the capillaries and small blood-vessels, with corre-
spondingly increased redn^ess and molecular changes in both contents
and the walls of the vessels. If the death has occurred at a later
period of the disease, in addition to the redness and engorgement we
will find that an exudation of the contents of the blood-vessels into
the tissues and upon the surfaces of the inflamed parts has super-
vened. If the case has been one of encephalitis we will usually find
more or less watery fluid in the ventricles (natural cavities in the
brain), in the sub-arachnoid space, and a serous exudation between
the convolutions and interstitial si^aces of the graj^ matter under the
membranes of the brain. The amount of fluid varies in difl'erent
cases. In some where the animal's l)lood was very plastic, exudations
of a membranous character may be present and are found attached
to the surface of the pia mater.

In meningitis, especially in chronic cases, iii addition to the serous
effusion, we find changes which may be regarded as characteristic in
the formation of a delicate and highly vascular laj'er or layers of
membrane or organized structure on the surface of the dura mater,
and also indications of hemorrhages in connection with tlio mem-
branous formations. Haematoma or blood tumors may be found
embedded in this membrane. In some cases the hemorrhages are
copious, causing paralysis or apoplexy, followed by sjjeedy death.
5961— HOR 7

194

In cerebritis, or inflammation of the interior of tlie brain, there is a
tendency to softening and suppuration and the formation of abscesses.
In some cases the abscesses are small and numerous, surrounded with
a softened condition of the brain matter, and sometimes we may And
one large abscess. In cases of recent development the walls of the
abscesses are fringed and ragged and have no lining membrane. In
older or chronic cases, the walls of the abscesses are generally lined
with a strong membrane, often having the appearance of a sac or
cyst, and the contents have a very ofl!ensive odor.

Treatment. — In all acute attacks of inflammation involving the mem-
branes or cerebral masses, it is the pressure from the distended and
engorged blood-vessels, and the rapid accumulation of inflammatory
products, that endanger the life of the animal in even the very early
stage of the disease. The earlier the treatment is commenced to lessen
the danger of fatal j^ressure from the engorged blood-vessels, the less
amount of inflammatory j)roducts and efl'usion we have to contend with
later on. The leading object then to be accomi)lished in the treatment
of the first stages of encephalitis, meningitis, or cerebritis is to relieve
the engorgement of the blood-vessels before a dangerous degree of effu-
sion or exudation has taken i)lace, and thereby lessen the irritation or
excitability of the affected structures. If we fully succeed in this
stage in the accomplishment of this object, we certainly j^revent a
second stage of the disease, and it will only be required to continue
a treatment which will tend to lessen irritability to prevent a second
engorgement from taking place. But if the attemiDt to relieve the
engoi'gement in the first stage has been only partially successful, and
the second stage with its inflammatory products and exudations,
whether serous or iDlastic, has set in, then the main objects in further
treatment are to keep up the strength of the animal and hasten tlie
absorption of the exudative products as much as possible. To obtain
these results, when the animal is found in the initial stage of the dis-
ease, vrhere there is unnatural excitability or stupor Avith increase of
temperature and quickened x^^ikse, Ave must rely upon the safest and
quickest acting remedj" at hand, AA^hich is coitions bleeding from the
jugular A'ein. Especially in acute meningitis, bleeding is imperatiA'cly
demanded. The finger should l)e kept on the pulse, and the blood
alloAA'ed to flow until there is a marked fluttering or softening of the
pulse. As soon as the animal recoA^ers somewhat fi-om the shock of
the bleeding, the folloAA'ing medicine shoidd be made into a ball or
dissoh'ed in a pint of AA'arm Avater, and be given at one dose: Barba-
does aloes, 7 drams; calomel, 2 drams; poAAclered ginger, 1 dram;
tincture of aconite, 20 drops.

The animal should be placed in a cool, dark place, as free from noise
as possible, and cloths Avrung out of hot AA'ater jilaced upon his head.
These should be reneAved frequently for at least twelve hours. "When
the animal becomes thirsty half an ounce of saltxieter may be dissoh'ed

195

in his drinking water every six hours. Injections of warm water into
the rectum may facilitate the action of tlie purgative. Norwood's
tincture of veratrum viride, in 20-drop doses, should he given every
hour, and 1 dram of solid extract of belladonna every four hours,
until the symptoms become modified and the pulse regular and full.

If this treatment fails to give relief tlie disease will pass into the
advanced stages, or if the animal has heen neglected in the earh*
stages the treatment must be supi)lanted with the hypodermic injection
of ergotin, in 5-grain doses, dissolved in a dram of water, every six
hours. The limbs may be i^oulticed above the fetlocks with mustard.
Cold water or ice-bags should now take the place of the hot-water
cloths on the head. Warm blanketing, to promote perspiration, is to
be observed in all cases in which there is no excessive perspiration.

If the disease becomes chronic — encephalitis or meningitis — we must
place our reliance upon alteratives and tonics, with such incidental
treatment as special symptoms may demand. Iodide of i)Otassium in
2-drani doses should be given twice a day, and 1 dram of calomel
once a day, to induce absorption of effusions or thickened membranes.
Tonics, in the form of iodide of iron in dram doses, to which is added
2 drams of powdered hydrastis, may also be given every six or eight
hours, as soon as the active fever has abated. In all cases, after the
disappearance of tlie acute symi)toms, blisters (cantharides ointment)
should be applied behind the poll. . When paralytic effects remain
after the disappearance of all other symptoms, sulphate of strychnia
in 2-grain doses, in combination Avith the other tonics, may be given
twice a day, and be continued until it produces muscular twitching.
In some cases of paralysis, as of the lips or throat, benefit may be
derived from the moderate use of the electric batter}-. Many of the
recoveries will, however, under the most active and early treatment,
be but partial, and in all cases the animals become predisposed to sub-
sequent attacks. A long period of time should be allowed to pass
before the animal is exposed to severe work or great heat. When the
disease depends ui3on mechanical injuries the}" have to be treated
and all causes of irritation to the brain removed. If it is due to
stable miasma, unemic poisoning, pyaemia, influenza, rheumatism,
toxic agents, etc., they should receive promjot attention for their
removal or mitigation.

Cerebral softening, abscess, or sclerosis, are practically inaccessible
to treatment, otherwise than such relief as may be afforded by the
administration of opiates and general tonics, and, in fact, the diag-
nosis is largely presumptive.

COXGESTIOX OF THE BRAIN — MEGRIMS.

Congestion of the brain consists in an accumulation of blood in the
vessels, also called hj^i^erpemia, or engorgement. It may be active or
passiN'e — active when there is an undue determination of blood or

196

diminished arterial resistance, and passive when it accumulates in
the vessels of the brain, owing to some obstacle to its return by the
veins.

Causes. — Active cerebral congestion may be due to hypertrophy of
the left ventricle of the heart, excessive exertion, the influence of
extreme heat, sudden and great excitement, artificial stimulants, etc.
Passive congestion may be produced by any mechanical obstruction
which prevents the proper return of blood through the veins to the
heart, such as small or ill-fitting collar, which often impedes the blood
current, tumors or absceSses pressing on the vein in its course, and
organic lesions of the heart with regurgitation.

Extremely fat animals with short thick necks are peculiarly subject
to attacks of cerebral congestion. Simple congestion, however, is
merely a functional affection, and in a slight or moderate degree
involves no immediate danger. Extreme engorgement, on the con-
trarj^ may be followed by rux)ture of previously weakened arteries
and capillaries and cause immediate death, designated then as a
stroke of apoplexy.

Symptoms. — Congestion of the brain is usually sudden in its mani-
festation and of short duration. The animal may stop very suddenly
and shake his head or stand quietly braced on his legs, then stagger,
make a plunge, and fall. The eyes *are staring, breathing hurried
and stertorous, and the nostrils widely dilated. This may be followed
by coma, violent convulsive movements, and death. Generally, how-
ever, the animal gains relief in a short time, but he may remain weak
and giddy for several days. If it is due to organic change of the
heart or to disease of the blood-vessels in the brain, then the s^'mp-
toms may be of slow development manifested by drowsiness, dimness
or imperfect vision, dif&culty in voluntary movements, diminished
sensibilitj'^ of the skin, loss of consciousness, delirium, and death. In
milder cases effusion may take j^lace in the arachnoid spaces and
ventricles of the brain followed by paralysis and other complications.

Pathology. — In congestion of the brain the cerebral vessels are
loaded with blood, and the venous sinuses distended to an extreme
degree, and the pressure exerted upon the brain constitutes actual
compression, giving rise to the symptoms just mentioned. On pos/-
rnortein examinations this engorgement is found universal through-
out the brain and its membranes, which serves to distinguisli it from
inflammations of these structures, in Avhich tlie engorgements are
confined more or less to circumscribed portions. A prolonged conges-
tion may, however, lead to active inflammation, and in that case we
will find serous and plastic exudations in the cavities of the brain.
In addition to the intensely engorged condition of the vessels we
find the gray matter of the brain redder in color than natural. In
cases where several attacks have occurred the blood-vessels are often
found permanently dilated.

197

Treaimenf. — Prompt removal of all meclianieal obstructions to the
circulation. If it is due to venous obstruction by too tight a collar,
the loosening of the collar will give immediate relief. If due to
tumors or abscesses, a surgical operation becomes necessary to afford
relief. To revive the animal if he become j)artially or totally uueon-
cious cold water should be dashed on the head, and if this does not
afford read}' relief recourse must be had to bleeding to lessen arterial
tension. Tincture of veratrum viride or of aconite root may be given
in twenty-droj) doses every hour until consciousness returns. If the
limbs are-cold tincture of capsicum or strong mustard water should
be applied to them. If symptoms of paralysis remain after two or
three days, an active cathartic and iodide of potassa will be indicated,
to be given as prescribed for inflammation of the brain.

Preveniion. — "Well adjusted collar, with strap running from the
collar to the girth, to hold down the collar when pulling \\\) grade;
regular feed and exercise, without allowing the animal to become
excessively' plethoric; moderate checking, allowing a free and easy
movement of the head; well ventilated stabling, proper cleanliness,
pure water, etc.

SUNSTROKE — HEAT EXHAUSTIOX.

The term sunstroke is applied to affections occasioned not exclu-
sively by exiDOSure to the sun's rays, as the word signifies, but by the
action of great heat combined generally Avith other causes, such as
dryness and rarefaction of the air and an unusual accumulation of
electricity. Exhaustion produced by a long continued heat is often
the essential factor, and is called heat exhaustion. Horses on the
race track undergoing protracted and severe work in hot weather often
succumb to heat exhaustion. Draught horses exposed to the direct
rays of the sun for many hours, which do not receive proper care in
watering, feeding, rest in shady places, suffer very frequently from
sunstroke.

Symptons. — Sunstroke is manifested suddenly. The animal stops,
drojDS his head, begins to stagger, and soon falls to the ground uncon-
scious. The breathing is marked with great stertor, the pulse is very
slow and irregular, cold sweats break out in patches on the surface of
the body, and the animal often dies without recovering consciousness.

In heat exhaustion the animal usually requires urging for some
time previous to the appearance of any other sj'mptoms, generally per-
spiration is checked, and then he becomes weak in his gait, the breath-
ing hurried or i^anting, ej'es watery and bloodshot, nostrils dilated
and highly reddened, assuming a dark, purple color; the pulse is
rapid and weak, the heart bounding, followed by unconsciousness
and death. If recovery takes place convalescence extends over a
long period of time, during which incoordination of movement may
persist.

198

Paihologij. — Sunstroke, virtually active congestion of the brain,
often accompanied by effusion and blood extravasation, characterizes
this condition, -with often rapid and fatal lowering of all the vital
functions. The death vtviiy be due in many instances to the complete
stagnation in the circulation of the brain, inducing ansemia or want
of nourishment of that organ. In otber cases it may be directly due
to the excessive compression of the nerve matter controlling the heart's
action, and cause paralysis of that organ.

Trecdmenf. — Under no circumstances is blood-letting permissible in
sunstroke. Ice or ver}^ cold water should be ai)plied to the head and
along the spine and half an ounce of carbonate of ammonia or G
ounces of whisky should be given in a pint of water. Injections, per
rectum, of moderately strong ginger tea or weak ammonia water may
be used with benefit. Brisk friction of the limbs and the application
of spirits of camphor often yield good results. The administration of
the stimulants should be repeated in one hour if the pulse has not
become stronger and slower. If the animal is suffering from heat
exhaustion similar treatment may l.)e used, with the exception of cold
to the head and spine, for in this case clothes wrung out in hot water
s'lould be applied. In either case, when reaction has occurred prepara-
tions of iron and general tonics may l)e given during convalescence:
Sulphate of iron 1 dram, gentian 3 drams, red cinchona bark 2 drams;
mix and giA'e in the feed morning and evening.

Prevention . — In very hot weather horses sliould have wet sponges
or light sun-shades on the head when at work, or the head may be
si)onged Avith cold water as many times a daj' as j^ossible. Proper
attention should be given to feeding and watering, never in excess.
During the warm months all stables should be cool and well A'enti-
lated, and if an animal is debilitated from exhaustive work or disease
he should receive such treatment as will tend to build up the system.

An animal which has been affected Avith sunstroke is \Qvy liable
to have subsequent attacks when exj^osed to tlie necessary exciting
causes.

APOPLEXY — CEREBRAL HEMORRHAGE.

Apoplexy is often confounded with cerebral congestion, but true
apoplex}- always consists in rupture of cerebral blood-vessels, with
blood extravasation and formation of blood clot.

Causes. — Two causes are involved in the production of apoplexy,
the 2n-e(lispos in (J -And \\\q exciting cause. The predisposing cause is
degeneration or disease which weakens the blood-vessel, the exciting
c;uise is any one which tends to induce cerebral congestion.

Symptoms. — Apoplexy is characterized by a sudden loss of sensa-
tion and motion, profound coma, and stertorous and difficult breath-
ing. The action of the heart is little disturbed at first, but soon
becomes sloAver, then quicker and feebler, and after a little time

199

ceases. If tlie rupture is one of a small artery and the extravasation
limited, sudden paralysis of some part of the bod}^ is the result. The
extent and location of the paralysis depend upon the location within
the l)rain vdiich is functionally deranged hy the j)ressure of the
extra vasated blood; hence these conditions are very variable.

In the absence of any premonitory symptoms or an increase of tem-
perature in the early stage of the attack we may be reasonably certain
in making the distinction between this disease and congestion of the
brain or sunstroke.

Pailiology. — In apoi^lexy we are generally able to find an atherom-
atous condition of the cerebral vessels with weakening and degener-
ation of their walls. When a large artery has been ruptured it is
usually followed by immediate death, and large rents may be found in
the cerebrum, with great destruction of brain tissue, induced by the
forcible j)ressure of the liberated blood. In small extravasations i^ro-
ducing local paralysis without marked general disturbance, the animal
may recover after a time; in such cases gradual absorption of the clot
takes X)lace. In large clots atroijhj' of the brain substance may follow,
or softening and abscess from want of nutrition may result, and render
the animal worthless, ultimately resulting in death.

Treatment. — Place the animal in a quiet, cool place, avoid all stimu-
lating food. Administer, in his drinking water or feed, 2 drams of the
iodide of potassa twice a day for several weeks if necessary. Medical
interference Avith sedatives or stimulants is more apt to be harmful
than of benefit, and blood-letting in an aj)oplectic fit is extremelj^ haz-
ardous. From the fact that cerebral apoplexj'- is due to diseased or
weakened blood-vessels, the animal remains subject to si:bsequent
attacks.

COMPRESSION OF THE BRAIX.

Causes. — In injuries from direct violence a piece of broken bone
may press uj)on the brain, and according to its size the brain is robbed
of its normal space within the cranium. It may also be due to an
extravasation of blood or to exudation in the subdural or arachnoid
spaces. Death from active cerebral congestion results through com-
pression. The occurrence may sometimes be traced to the direct cause,
which will give assurance for the correct diagnosis.

Symptoms. — Impairment of all the special senses and localized
paralysis. All the sj'mptoms of lessened functional activity of the
brain are manifested to some degree. The paral3^sis remains to be
our guide for the location of the cause, for it will be found that the
paralysis occurs on the opposite side of the bod}' from the location of
the injurj^^ and the parts suffering paralysis will denote, to an expert
veterinarian or physician, the part of the brain which is suffering
compression.

Treatment. — Trephining, hy a skillful operator, for the removal of
the cause when due to depressed bone or the presence of foreign bodies.

200

When the symptoms of compression follow other acute diseases of the
brain, apoplectic fits, etc., the treatment must be such as the exigen-
cies of the case demands.

CONCUSSION OP THE BRAIN.

Causes. — This is generally caused ])y an animal falling over back-
ward and striking his poll, or perhaps falling forward on his nose; by
a blow on the head, etc.

Symptoms. — Concussion of the brain is characterized b}' giddiness,
stupor, insensibility, or loss of muscular power, succeeding immedi-
ately upon a blow or severe injury involving the cranium. The ani-
mal may r&Wj quickly, or not for hours; death may occur on the spot
or after a few days. When there is onh^ slight concussion or stun-
ning the animal soon recovers from the shock. When more severe,
insensibility may be complete and continue for a considerable time;
the animal lies as if in a deep sleep; the pupils are insensible to light;
the pulse fluttering or feeble ; the surface of the body cold, muscles
relaxed, and the breathing scarcely x>erceptible. After a variable
interval partial recovery may take place, which is marked by paraly-
sis of some parts of the body, often of a limb, the lips, ear, etc. Con-
valescence is usually tedious, and frecxuently permanent impairment
of some organs remains.

Pathologi/. — Concussion produces laceration of the brain, or at least
a jarring of the nervous elements, which if not sufficiently severe to
produce sudden death may lead to softening or inflammation, with
their respective symptoms of functional derangement.

Treatment. — The first object in treatment will be to establish reac-
tion or to arouse the feeble and weakening heart. This can often be
accomplished by dashing cold water on the head and body of the ani-
mal; frequent injections of weak ammonia water, ginger tea, or oil
and turpentine should be given per rectum. In the majority of cases
this will soon bring the horse to a state of consciousness. In more
severe cases mustard i)oultices should be applied along the si^ine and
above the fetlocks. As soon as the animal gains partial consciousness
stimulants, in the form of whisky or capsicum tea, should be given.
Owing to severity of the structural injury to the brain or the possible
rupture of blood-vessels and blood extravasation, the reaction may
often be followed by encephalitis or cerebritis, and will then have to
be treated accordingly. For this reason the stimulants should not be
administered too freely, and they must be abandoned as soon as reac-
tion is established. There is no need for further treatment unless com-
plications develop as a secondary result. Bleeding, which is so often
practiced, proves almost invariably fatal in this form of brain affec-
tion. We should also remember that it is never safe to drench a
horse with large quantities of medicine when he is unconscious, for
he is very liable to draw the medicine into the lungs in inspiration.

201

Prevention. — Young horses, wlien harnessed or bitted, for the first
few times, should not have their heads checked up high, for it fre-
quently causes them to rear up, and, being unable to control their
balance, they are liable to fall over sideways or backwards, thus
causing brain concussion when thej^ strike the ground.

ANEMIA OF THE BRAIN.

This is a physiological condition in sleep.

Causes. — It is considered a disease or may give rise to disease when
the circulation and blood supijly of the brain are interfered with. In
some diseases of the heart the brain becomes ansemic, and fainting
fits occur, with temjjorary loss of consciousness. Tumors growing
within the cranium may i^ress upon one or more arteries and stop the
supply of blood to certain i)arts of the brain, thus inducing anaemia,
ultimately atrojihy, softening, or sujDpuration. Probably the most
frequent cause is found in plugging or occlusion of the arteries by a
blood-clot.

Symptoms. — Imperfect vision, constantly dilated pupils, frequently
a feeble and staggering gait, and occasionally cramps, convulsions,
or epileptic fits occur. «

Patliology. — The exact opposite of cerebral hyperaemia. The blood-
vessels are found emj)ty, the membranes blanched, and the brain
substance softened.

Treatment. — Removal of the remote cause when i^ossible. General
tonics, nutritious food, rest, and removal from all causes of nervous
excitement.

ATROPHY OF THE BRAIX.

This condition is i)roduced by a fault in nutrition, embracing the
causes which induce anaemia. Gradual absorj^tion and shrinking of
brain substance maj^ arise from the constant and increasing pressure
arising from the growth of tumors, degeneration in the arterial walls^
hydrocephalus, etc. Atrophy of the brain may be general or local-
ized. The cerebrum may waste away in a remarkable degree before
any indication of disease becomes manifest.

Symptoms. — It maj^ give rise to viciousness, paralysis, disorders of
special sensation, coma, etc. Treatment is of no avail.

HYDROCEPHALUS — BRAIN DROPSY.

This disease is most often seen in young foals and is manifested
by an unnaturall}^ large forehead. The forehead bulges out, and the
cranial bones may be separated from their connections, and a part of
the brain be covered by the skin only. Foals seldom survive this
affection, and treatment is useless. In horses hj-drocephalus is a
result of chronic meningitis, when an efi'usion of serum is i)oured out
59G1 — HOR 7*

202

into the ventricles and arachnoid spaces of the brain. The disease
is sometimes indicated by a difficulty in controlling voluntary move-
ments, coma, etc. When effusion as a result of meningitis is sus-
pected, iodide of potassa in 2-dram doses may be given twice a day
and a strong blister applied l>ehind the ears.

TUMORS WITHIN THE CRANIUM.

Tumors within the cranial cavity and the brain occur not infre-
quently, and give rise to a variety of symjitoms, imperfect control of
voluntary movement, local paralysis, epilepsj', etc.

Osseous tumors, growing from the walls of the cranium, are not
ver3" uncommon.

DenUgerous cysts, containing a formation identical to that of a
tooth, growing from the temjioral bone, sometimes are found lying
loose within the cranium.

Tumors of the clioro'nl plexus, known as hruin sand, are frequentl}^
met with on post-mortem examinations, but seldom give rise to any
appreciable symptoms during life. They are found in horses at all
ages, and are of slow development. They are found in one or both
of the lateral ventricles, enveloped in the folds of the choroid plexus.

Melanotic tumors have been found in the brain and meninges in
the form of small, black nodules, in gray horses, and in one instance
arc believed to have induced the condition known as string-halt.

Fibrous tumors may develop within or from the meningeal struc-
tures of the brain.

Oliomatous tumor is a variety of sarcoma very rarelj' found in the
structure of the cerebellum.

Treatment for tumors of the brain is beyond our ambition in the
present age.

SPASMS — CRAMPS.

Causes. — Spasm is a marked symptom in many diseases of the brain
and of the spinal cord. S^Dasms may result from irritation of the
motor nerves as conductors, or maj^ result from irritation of any part
of the sympathetic nervous system, and ih&y usually indicate an
excessive action of the reflex-motor centers. Spasms maj' be induced
by various medicinal agents given in iDoisonous doses, or by effete
materials in the circulation, such as nux vomica or its alkaloid
strychnia, lead preiaarations, or an excess of the urea products in the
circulation, etc. Spasms ma}' be divided into two classes: tonic
spasm, when tlie cramj) is continuous or results in persistent rigidity,
as in tetanus; clonic spasm, wlicn the cramping is of short duration,
or is alternated with relaxations. Cramps may be distinguished from
choleraic movements by the extreme pain or suffering which they
induce. Spasms may affect involuntary as well as the voluntary
muscles, the muscles of the glottis, intestines, and even the heart.
They are always sudden in their development.

203

SPASM OF THE GLOTTIS.

This is manifested by a strangling respiration; a wheezing noise is
produced in the act of inspiration; extreme anxiety and suffering
for want of air. The head is extended, the body profusely perspir-
ing; pulse verj' rapid; soon great exhaustion becomes manifest; the
mucous membranes become turgid and very dark-colored, and the
animal thus may suffocate in a short time.

SPASM OF THE INTESTINES.

(See "Cramp-colic")

SPASM OF THE NECK OF THE BLADDER.

This may be due to spinal irritation, or a reflex from intestinal
irritation, and is manifested by frequent but ineffectual attempts to
urinate.

SPASM OF THE DIAPHRAGM — THUMPS.

Spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm, the principal muscle used
in respiration, is generally occasioned by extreme and jirolonged speed-
ing on the race-track or road. The severe strain tlnis put upon this
muscle finally induces irritation of the nerves controlling it, and the
contractions become very forcible and violent, giving the jerking
character known among horsemen as thumps. This condition may
be distinguished from violent beating of the heart bj^ feeling the
pulse beat at the angle of the jaw, and at the same time watching
the jerking movement of the body, when it Avill be discovered that the
two bear no relation to each other. (See " Palpitation of the Heart.")

SPASM OP THE THIGH, OR CRAMP OF A HIND LIMB.

This is frequently witnessed in horses that stand on sloping plank
floors — generally in cold weather — or it may come on soon after severe
exercise. It is probably due to an irritation of the nerves of the thigh.
In cramps of the hind leg the limb becomes perfectly rigid, and
attempts to flex the leg are unsuccessful ; the animal stands on the
affected limb, but is unable to move it; it is unnaturally cold; it does
not, however, appear to cause much suffering unless attempts are
made to change position. This cramp may be of short duration — a
few minutes — or it may persist for several days. This condition is
often taken for a dislocation of tlie stifle-joint. In the latter the foot
is extended backward, and the horse is unable to advance it, but drags
the limb after him. An examination of the joint also reveals a change
in form. Sjiasms may affect the eye-lids, by closure or by retraction.
Spasm of the sterno-maxillaris muscle has been Avitnessed, and the
animal was unable to close the jaws until the muscle became relaxed.

Treatment. — An anodyne liniment, composed of chloroform 1 part
and soap liniment 4 parts, api^lied to cramped muscles will usually
cause relaxation. This may be used where single external muscles

204

are affected. In spasm of the glottis inhalation of suliDliuric ether will
give cxuick relief. In spasm of the diaphragm, rest and the adminis-
tration of half an ounce of chloroform in 3 ounces of whisky, with a
pint of water added, will generally sufiice to bring relief, or if tliis fails
give 5 grains of sulphate of morphia by hypodermic injection. If
spasms result from organic disease of the nervous system, the latter
should receive such treatment as its character demands. In cramp of
the leg comi)ulsor3Mnovement usually causes relaxation very quickly;
therefore, tlie animal should be led out of the stable and be forced to
run or trot. Sudden nervous excitement, caused by a crack of the
whip or smart blow, will often bring about immediate relief. Should
this fail, the anodyne liniment may be used along the inside of the
thigh, and chloroform, ether, or laudanum given internally. An ounce
of the chloral hydrate will certainly relieve the spasm when given inter-
nally, but the cranii) may return soon after the effect has passed off,
which in many cases it does very quickly.

ConvuIsio)}s. — Although there is no disease of the nervous system
which can be pro^jerly termed convulsive, or justify the use of the
word convulsion to indicate any particular disease, yet it is often such
a prominent symiitom that a few words may not be out of place. Gen-
eral, irregular muscular contractions of various parts of the body,
with unconsciousness, characterize what we regard as convulsions,
and like ordinary spasms are dependent upon some disease or irrita-
tion of the nervous structures, chiefly of the brain. No treatment is
required; in fact, a general convulsion must necessaril}^ be self-limited
in its duration. Suspending, as it does, respiratory movements, check-
ing the oxj'genation and decarbonization of the blood, the rapid accu-
mulation of carbonic acid gas in the blood and the exclusion of oxygen
quickly puts the blood in a condition to produce the most reliable and
speedy sedative effect upon the nerve excitability that could be found,
and consequently furnishes its own remedy, so far as the continuance
of the convulsive paroxysm is concerned. Whatever treatment is
instituted must be directed towards a removal of the cause of the con-
vulsive paroxysm.

CHOREA.

Chorea is characterized by involuntary contractions of voluntary
muscles. This disease is an obscure disorder, which may be due to
pressure upon a nerve, cerebral sclerosis, small aneurisms in the
brain, etc. Choreic symptoms have been produced by injecting
granules of starch into the arteries entering the brain. Epilejisj^ and
other forms of convulsions simulate chorea in appearance.

Sfringhalt is by some termed chorea. This is manifested by a sud-
den jerking-up of one or both hind legs when the animal is walking.
This symi^ton may be very slight in some horses, but has a tendency
to increase witli tlie age of the animal. In some the catching-up of the

205

affected leg is very violent, and when it is lowered to the ground
the motion is equally sudden and forcible, striking the foot to the
ground like a pile-driver. Very rarely chorea may be found to affect
one of the fore legs, or the muscles of one side of the neck or the
upper j)art of the neck. Involuntary jerking of the muscles of the hip
or thigh is seen occasionallj^, and is termed shivering by horsemen.

Chorea is often associated with a nervous disposition, and is not so
frequent in animals with a sluggish temperament. The involuntary
muscular contractions cause no pain, and do not appear to produce
much exhaustion of the affected muscles, although the jerking may
be regular and persistent whenever the animal is in motion.

Treatment. — In a few cases, early in the appearance of this affection,
general nerve tonics may be of benefit, viz., iodide of iron, 1 dram;
pulverized nux vomica, 1 dram; pulverized Scutellaria, 1 ounce. Mix,
and give in the feed once a day for two weeks. If the cause is con-
nected with organic brain lesions treatment is usually unsuccessful,

EPILEPSY — FALLING FITS.

The cause of epilepsy is seldom traceable to any special brain lesions.
In a few cases it accompanies disease of the pituitary bodj', which is
located in the under surface of the brain. Softening of the brain may
give rise to this affection. Attacks may occur only once or twice a
year, or they may be of frequent recurrence.

Synqjtoms. — No premonitory symptoms precede an epileptic fit.
The animal suddenly staggers; the muscles become cramped; the jaws
may be spasmodically oi^ened and closed, and the tongue become
lacerated between the teeth; he foams at the mouth and falls down
in a spasm. The urine flows away involuntarily, and the breath-
ing may be temporarily arrested. The paroxysm soon passes off, and
the animal gets on his feet in a few minutes after the return of con-
sciousness.

Treatment. — Dashing cold water on the head during the paroxysm.
After the recovery 1 dram of oxide of zinc may be given in his feed
twice a day for several weeks, or benefit may be derived from the tonic
prescribed for chorea.

COMA — SLEEPY STAGGERS.

This condition, like that of spasm and convulsion, is generally not
a disease, but merely a symptom manifested as a result of a variety
of brain affections, such as atrophj-, chronic meningitis, with effusion,
tumors in the lateral ventricles, etc. Another form of coma is that
which accompanies acute diseases of the brain, wherein the animal
may be unconscious, with sterterous breathing, difficult respiration,
etc. We meet, however, with a type of coma in horses whicli can not
easily be attributed to any special disease of the brain, unless it be
a modified form of congestion, which is sometimes ameimble to treat-

206

ment. This condition is termed immobiUte by the French, and sleepy
staggers \>j our stablemen. It is usually attributed to habitual over-
loading of the stomach with bulky food and want of exercise.

Sijinptoms. — Sleepy staggers is characterized by drowsiness, partial
insensibilit3% sluggish and often staggering gait. The animal is
inclined to drop his head in the manger and to go to sleep with a wad
of hay in his mouth, which he is apt to drop when he awakens. He
will stand for a long time Avith his legs placed in an}^ awkward j)osi-
tion in Avhich the owner may choose to put them. The bowels are
constipated, the pulse slow and soft, with no fever or pain, Tho ani-
mal may remain in this condition for many months without much
variation of S3'mi:)toms, or he may become entirely comotose, with
delirium or convulsions, and die. Chronic cases are always much
better in cold weather than in the summer.

Treatment. — Moderate bleeding from the jugular vein, 1 gallon from
a medium-sized horse, and 1^ or 2 gallons from a very large, heavy
horse. This should be immediately followed by a cathartic, com^josed
of aloes G drams, croton oil G drops, and 1 dram of capsicum, to be
made into a ball with hard soap, molasses, or Ijread soaked in water,
and given on an empty stomach. After tho cathartic has ceased to
oi^erate give one large tablespoonful or half an ounce of the following
mixture tAvice a day: Pulverized hydrastis, pulverized ginger, sodium
bicarbonate, of each 4 ounces; mix.

In some cases iodide of j)otassa in dram doses twice a day, alter-
nated each week with 1 dram of calomel twice a day, Avill prove suc-
cessful. In cases where there is a deeji coma or almost continuous
unconsciousness, ice bags or cold-water cloths vshould be applied to
the head — between the ears, dropping well down over the forehead
and extending backward from the ears for 4 or 5 inches.

PARALYSIS — PALSY.

Paral3"sis is a weakness or cessation of the muscular contraction, \>y
diminution of loss of the conducting j)ower or stimulation of the motor
nerves. Paralytic affections are of two kinds, the perfect and the
imi)erfect. The former includes those in Avhich both motion and sen-
sibility are affected; the latter those in Avhicli only one or the other is
lost or diminished. Paralysis may be general or partial. The latter
is diA'ided into hemiplegia and paraplegia. When only a small por-
tion of the body is affected, as the face, a limb, the tail, it is desig-
nated 'by the term local paralysis. When the irritation extends from
the periphery to the center it is termed reflex paralysis.

Causes. — They are very A^aried. Most of tlie acute affections of the
brain and spinal cord vasky lead to paralysis. Injuries, tumors, disease
of the blood-vessels of tho brain, etc., all haA^e a tendency to produce
suspension of the conducting motive power to the muscular structures.
Pressure upon, or the severing of, a nerA^e causes a paralysis of the

207

parts to AvhicTi such a nerve is distril)iited. Apoplexj' may be termed
a general i)aralysis, and in non-fatal attacks is a frequent cause of
the various forms of palsy.

GENERAT. PARALYSIS,

This can not take place without i)roduciug immediate death. The
term is, however, usuallj' applied to paralysis of the four extremities,
whether any other portions of the body are involved or not. This
form of palsy is due to comT)ression of the brain bj- congestion of its
vessels, large clot formation in apoplexj-, concussion or shock, or any
disease in which the whole brain structure is involved in functional
disturbance.

HEMIPLEGIA — PARALYSIS OF ONE SIDE OR HALF OF THE BODY.

Hemiplegia is frequently the result of a tumor in the lateral ventri-
cles of the brain, softening of one hemisiDhere of the cerebrum, pres-
sure from extravasated blood, fracture of the cranium, or it may be
due to jjoisons in the blood, or to reflex origin. When hemiplegia is
due to or the result of a prior disease of the brain, especially of an
inflammatory character, it is seldom complete; it may only affect one
limb and one side of the head, neck, or muscles along the back, and
may pass off in a few days after the disappearance of all the other
evidences of the i^rimarj^ affection. In the majority of cases, how-
ever, hemii^legia arises from emboli obstructing one or more blood-
vessels of the brain, or the rupture of some vessel the wall of Avhich
had become weakened by degeneration and the extravasation of blood.
Sensibility in most cases is not impaired, but in some there is a loss of
sensibility as well as of motion. In some cases the bladder and rectum
are involved in the paralysis.

Sijinptoins. — In hemiplegia the attack ma}* be verj' sudden, and the
animal fall down powerless to move one side of the body; one side of
the lips will be relaxed; the tongue may hang out on one side of the
moutlv; the tail curved around sidewaj's; an inability to swallow food
or water may be present, and often the urine dribbles away as fast as
it collects in the bladder. Sensibility of the affected side may ])e
entirely lost or only partial; the limbs may be cold, and sometimes
unnaturally warm. In cases wherein the attack is not so severe the
animal may be able to maintain the standing position, but will have
great difiiculty in moving tlie affected side. In such cases the animal
may recover from the disability. In the more severe, where there is
complete loss of the power of movement, recoveries are rare.

PARAPLEGIA — TRANSVERSE PARALYSIS OP THE HIXD EXTREMITIES.

Paralysis of the hind extremities is usually due to some injury, or
inflammation affecting the spinal cord. (See "Spinal Meningitis"
and " 313-elitis. "') It nuiy also be due to a reflex irritation from disease

208

of peripheral nerves, to spinal irritation or congestion caused b}^ blood
poisons, etc.

Sijmptoins. — When due to mechanical injury of the spinal cord,
from a broken back or spinal hemorrhage, it is generally progressive
in its character, although it may be sudden. When it is caused by
agents in the blood it may be intermittent or recurrent.

Paraplegia is not difficult to recognize, for it is characterized by a
weakness and imperfect control of the hind legs, and jjowerless tail.
The urine usually dribbles away as it is formed and the manure is
pushed out, ball l)y ball, witliout any voluntary effort, or the passages
may cease entirely. When paraplegia is complete, large and ill-con-
ditioned sores soon form on the hips and thighs from chafing and
bruising, Avhicli have a tendency to quickly weaken the animal and
necessitate his destruction.

LOCOMOTOR ATAXIA — INCOORDINATION OF MOVEMENT.

This is characterized by an inability to properly control the move-
ment of the limbs. The animal a^ipears usually perfectly health^'',
l)ut when he is led out of his stall his legs have a wabbly movement,
and he will stumble or stagger, especially in turning. When this is
confined to the hind parts it maj^ be termed a modified form of i)ara-
plegia, but often it may be seen to affect nearly all the voluntary
muscles Avhen they are called into play, and must be attributed to
some pressure exerted on the base of the brain.

LOCAL PARALYSIS.

This is frequently met with in horses. It may affect many parts of
the body, even vital organs, and it is very frequently overlooked in
diagnosis.

FACIA.L PARALYSIS.

^'his is a frequent type of local paralj-sis, and is due to impairment
of function of the motor nerve of the facial muscles, the x>ortio dura.
The cause may exist at the base of the brain, compression along its
course after it leaves the medulla oblongata, or to a bruise after it
spreads out on the great masseter muscle.

Symptoms. — A flaccid condition of the cheek muscles, pendulous
lips, inability to gi'asp the food, often a sIoav and weak movement in
chewing, and difficulty and slowness in drinking.

LARYNGISMUS PARALYTICUS — ROARING.

This condition is characterized by roaring, and is usually caused
bj an inflamed or hypertrophied bronchial gland i)ressing against the
left recurrent laryngeal nerve, which interferes Avith its conducting
power. A similar condition is occasionally induced in acute pleurisy,
where the recurrent nerve becomes involved in the diseased process
or compressed by plastic exudation.

209

PARALYSIS OF THE RECTUM AND TAIL.

This is generally the result of a blow or fall on the rump, which
causes a fracture of the sacrum bone and injury to the nerves supply-
ing the tail and part of the rectum and muscles belonging thereto.
This fracture would not be suspected, were it not for the loss of motion
of the tail.

INTESTINAL PARALYSIS.

Characterized by persistent constipation; frequently the strongest
purgatives have no effect whatever on the movement of the boAvels.
In tlie absence of symptoms of indigestion, or special diseases impli-
cating the intestinal canal, torpor of the bowels must be attributed to
deficient innervation. This condition may depend upon brain affec-
tions, or be due to reflex ijaralysis. Sudden checks of i)erspiration
may induce excessive action of the bowels or paralysis.

PARALYSIS OF THE BLADDER.

This usually affects the neck of the bladder, and is characterized by
incontinence of urine — the urine dribbles away as fast as it is secreted.

The cause may be of reflex origin, disease of the rectum, tumors
growing within the pelvic cavity, injury to the spinal cord, etc.

PARALY'SIS OF THE OPTIC NERVE^AMAUROSIS.

A paralysis of eyesight may occur very suddenlj- from rupture of a
blood vessel in the brain, acute local congestion of the brain, the admin-
istration of excessive doses of belladonna or its alkaloid atropia, etc.

Sijyn2:)toms. — In amaurosis the jDupil is dilated to its full extent, the
eye looks clear, but does not respond to light.

Paralysis of hearing, of the external ear, of the eyelid, partial paral-
ysis of the heart and organs of respiration, of the blood vessels from
injury to the vaso motor nerves of the oesophagus, or loss of degluti-
tion, palsy of the stomach, all may be manifested when the supply of
nervous influence is impaired or suspended.

Treatment. — In all paralytic affections there maj' be anesthesia or
impairment of sensibility in addition to the loss of motion, or there
may be liyperc£stliesia or increased sensibility in connection with the
loss of motion. These conditions may call for sj^ecial treatment in
addition to that for loss of motion. Where hypera^sthesia is well
marked local anodynes may be needed to relieve suffering. Chloro-
form liniment or hypodermic injections of from 3 to 5 grains of sul-
phate of morphia will allay local pain. If there is marked anaesthesia
or loss of sensibility it may become necessary to secure the animal in
such a way that he can not suffer serious injury from accidents which
he can not avoid or feel. In the treatment of any form of paralysis

210

■\ve iiinst always refer to the cause, and attempt its removal if it can
be discovered. In eases where the cause can not be determined we
have to rely solely upon a general external and internal treatment
Externally, fly-blisters or strong irritant liniments may be applied to
the paralyzed parts. In hemiplegia they should be applied along the
bony part of the side of the neck; in paraplegia, across the loins. In
some cases hot- water cloths will be benellcial. Internally, it is well
to administer 1 dram of j^owdered nux vomica or 2 grains of sulphate
of strychnia tv, ice a day until twitching of some of the voluntary
muscles occur; then discontinue it for several daj'S, and then com-
mence again with a smaller dose, gradually increasing it until twitch-
ing recurs. In some cases Fowler's solution of arsenic in teaspoonful
doses twice a day, in the drinking water, proves beneficial. Occasion-
ally benefit may be derived from the application of the electric cur-
rent, especially in eases of roaring, facial paralysis, paralysis of the
eyelid, etc. Nutritious but not too bulky food, good ventilation,
clean stabling, moderate exercise if the animal is capable of taking it,
good grooming, etc., should be observed in all cases.

SPINAL MENINGITIS — INFLAMMATION OF THE MEMBRANES ENVELOPING

THE SPINAL CORD.

Causes. — This may be induced by the irritant properties of blood-
poisons, exhaustion, and exposure, spinal concussion, all forms of
injui'}' to the spine, tumors, caries of the vertebrae, rheumatism, etc.

Sijnqytoms. — A chill may be the i^recursor, a rise in temperature, or
a general weakness and shifting of the legs. Soon a painful, convul-
sive twitching of the muscles sets in, followed by muscular rigidity
along the spine, in which condition the animal will move very stiffly
and evince great pain in turning. Evidences of paralj'sis or paraplegia
develop, retention or incontinence of urine, and oftentimes sexual
excitement is present. The i)resence of marked fever at the begin-
ning of the attack, associated with spinal sjinptoms, should lead us to
suspect spinal meningitis or mj^elitis. These two conditions usually
appear together, or myelitis follows inflammation of the meninges so
closely that it is almost imi)ossible to separate the two; practically it
does not matter much, for the treatment will be about the same in
both cases. Spinal meningitis generalh' becomes chronic, and is then
marked principallyby paralysis of that portion, or parts of it, posterior
to the seat of the disease.

Pathology. — In spinal meningitis we will find essentially the same
condition as in cerebral meningitis; there will be an effusion of serum
between the membranes, and often a plastic exudation firmly adherent
to the 2^ict mater serves to maintain a state of paralysis for a long time
after the acute symptoms have disappeared bj^ compressing the cord.
Finally, atrophy, softening, and even abscess may develop Avithinthe
cord. Unlike in man, it is usually found localized in horses.

211

■1
Trecdmeni. — Bags filled Avitli ice slioiild be api)lied aloiiu' the spine,
to be followed later ou by strong blisters. The fever should be con-
trolled as early as possible by giving 20 drops of Norwood's tincture of
veratrum viride every hour, iiutil the desired result is obtained. One
dram of the fluid extract of belladonna, to control pain and Avascular
excitement of the spinal cord, may be given everj^ five or six hours
imtil the puiDils of the eyes become pretty well dilated. If the pain
is very intense 5 grains of sulphate of morphia should be injected
hyijodermically. The animal must be kept as free from excitement
as x)ossible. If the urine is retained in the bladder it must be drawn
off every four or six hours. In very acute attacks the disease gener-
ally proves fatal in a few daj's. If, however, the animal grows better
some form of paralysis is ax)t to remain for a long time and the treat-
ment will have to be directed then toward a removal of the exudative
products and a strengthening of the system and stimulation of the
nervous functions. To induce absorption iodide of potassa in 2 dram
doses may be given dissolved in the drinking water twice a day. To
strengthen the system, iodide of iron 1 dram twice a day and 1 dram
of nux vomica once a day \r\ixj be given in the feed. Electricity to
the j)aral3'zed and weakened muscles is advisable; the current should
be Aveak, but be continued for half an hour two or three times daily.
If the disease is due to a broken back, caries of the vertebrse, or some
other irremediable cause, the anim;il should ])e destroyed at once.

MYELITIS — INFLAMMATION OF THE SUBSTANCE OF THE SPINAL COED.

This is a rare disease, except as a secondary result of spinal menin-
gitis or injuries to the spine. Poisoning, by lead, arsenic, mercury,
phosphorus, carbonic-acid gas, etc., has been known to produce it.
Myelitis may be confined to a small sj^ot in the cord or may involve
the whole for a variable distance. It may lead to softening, abscess,
or degeneration.

Symptoms. — The attack may begin with a chill ov convulsions; the
muscles twitch or become cramped very early in the disease, and the
bladder usually is affected in the outset, in which there may be either
retention or incontinence of urine. These conditions are followed by
complete or partial paralysis of the muscles posterior to the locality
of the inflamed cord, and the muscles begin to waste away rapidly.
The paralyzed limb becomes cold and dry, due to the suspension of
proper circulation; the joints may swell and become (edematous; A'esic-
ular eruptions appear on the skin, and frequently gangrenous sloughs
form on the paralyzed i^arts. It is exceedingly seldom that recovery
takes i)lace. In a few instances it may assume a chronic type, when
all the symptoms become mitigated, and thus continue foi- some time
nntil septicaemia, pj^semia, or exhaustion causes death.

Pathology. — The inflammation maj^ involve nearly the whole length
of the cord, but generally it is more intense in some places tlian others;

212

when due to mechanical injury the inflammation may remain con-
fined to a small section. The cord is swollen and congested, reddened,
often softened and infiltrated with pus cells, and the nerve elements
are degenerated.

Treatment. — Similar to that of spinal meningitis.

SPINAL SCLEROSIS.

This is the sequence of myelitis, when some mild form of the disease
has been existing. Thickening and hardening of the interstitial tis-
sues of the cord, the result of inflammatory products, constitute scle-
rosis. The affected section has a gray appearance, is firmer than the
surrounding tissue, sometimes j)resents a depressed surface and at
other times may be elevated above the general level of the cord.

Symptoms. — Paralysis of sensation or motion in local muscles, and
when located in the region of the neck may present the symptoms of
locomotor ataxia or inco-ordination of movement. Spinal sclerosis
may be suspected when these symptoms succeed an attack of myelitis.

Treatment. — The iodide of iron may be given in dram doses twice
a day for a week, alternating with two-grain doses of sulphate of
strychnia twice a day for a Aveek.

SPINAL CONGESTION AND SPINAL HYPERJEMIA.

The distinction between congestion and hyperjemia is one of degree
rather than kind. In both we find an excess of blood. In hypersemia
the current is unusually rapid, in congestion it is unusually slow.
The distinction between hypersemia and inflammation is also difficult
to make; one is only the forerunner of the other. As the blood ves-
sels of the pia mater are the x)rincipal source of supply to the spinal
cord, hyperemia of the cord and of the meninges usually go together.
The symptoms are, therefore, closely allied to those of spinal menin-
gitis and mj^elitis. When the pia mater is diseased the spinal cord
is almost invariably affected also.

Cause. — Sudden checking of the perspiration, violent exercise,
blows, and falls.

Symptoms. — The symptoms may vary somewhat with each case,
and closely resemble the first symptoms of spinal meningitis, spinal
tumors, and myelitis. First, some disturbance in movement, lower-
ing of the temperature, and partial loss of sensibility i:)Osterior to the
seat of the congestion. If in the cervical region it may cause inter-
ference in breathing and the action of the heart. When in the region
of the loins there may be loss of control of the bladder. When the
congestion is sufficient to produce compression of the cord, paraplegia
may be complete. Usually fever, spasms, muscular twitching, or
muscular rigidity arc absent, which will serve to distinguish spinal
congestion from spinal meningitis.

213

Treatment. — Hot-water applications to tlie spine, one-dram doses'
fluid extract of belladonna repeated every four hours, and tincture of
aconite root 20 drops every hour until the symptoms become amelio-
rated. If no inflammatory products occur the animal is likely to
recover.

SPINAL ANEMIA.

This may be caused by extreme cold, exhausting diseases, spinal
embolism or plugging of a spinal blood-vessel, an interference with the
circulation through the abdominal aorta, from compression, throm-
bosis, or aneurism of that vessel; tlie spinal vessels may be caused to
contract through vaso-motor influence, a result of ijeripheral irritation
of some nerve.

Symptoms. — Spinal anaemia causes paralysis of the muscles iised
in extending the limbs. When the bladder is affected it precedes
the weakness of motion, while in spinal congestion it follows, and
increased sensibility, in place of diminished sensibility, as in si)inal
congestion, is observed. Pressure along the spine causes excessive
pain.

Trecdrnent. — If the exciting cause can be removed the animal
recovers; if this fails, the spinal cord may undergo softening.

SPINAL COMPRESSION.

When caused by tumors or otherwise when pressure is slight, it
produces a paral3'Sis of the muscles used in extending a limb and con-
traction of those which flex it. When compression is great it causes
comiDlete loss of sensibility and motion posterior to the compressed
part of the cord.

Compression of a lateral half of the cord produces motor paralysis,
disturbance in the circulation, and difficulty of movement, an increased
sensibility on the side corres]3onding to the compressed section, and a
diminished sensibility and some paralysis on the opposite side.

Treatment. — When it occurs as a sequence of a j) receding inflam-
matory disease, iodide of potassa and general tonics are indicated.
When due to tumors growing Avithin the spinal canal, or to pressure
from displaced bone, no form of treatment will result in any benefit.

SPINAL HEMORRHAGE.

This may occur from changes in the wall of the blood-vessels, in
connection with tumors, acute myelitis, traumatic injuries, etc. The
blood may escape througli the pia mater into the sub-arachnoid cav-
ity, and large clots be formed.

Symptoms. — The s^nnptoms are largely dependent upon the seat
and extent of the hemorrhage, as they are principally due to the
compression of the cord. A large clot may j)rqduce sudden ijarajilegia
accompanied by severe pain along the spine; usually, however, the
paralysis of both motion and sensation is not very marked at first;

214

on the second or thij-tl day fever is apt to appear, and increased or
diminislied sensibility along the spine posterior to the seat of tlie
clot. "When the bladder and rectum are involved in the synqitonis
it indicates that the spinal cord is compressed.

Treaimerd. — In the occurrence of injuries to the back of ahorse,
whenever there is any evidence of paralysis, it is always advisable to
apply bags of ice along the spine to check or prevent hemorrhage or
congestion, and 2 drams of the fluid extract of ergot and 20 drops of
tincture of digitalis may be given every hour until three doses have
been taken. Subsequently tincture of belladonna in half-ounce doses
may be given three times a day. If there is much x^ain, 5 grains of
sulphate of morphia, injected under the skin, Avill atford relief and
lessen the excitability of the animal. In all cases the animal should
be kept perfectly quiet.

SPINAL CONCUSSION.

This is rarely observed in the horse, and unless it is sufficiently
severe to produce Avell-marked symptoms it would not be suspected.
It may occur in saddle-horses from jumping, or it may l>e produced by
falling over an embankment, or a violent fall upon the haunches may
produce it. Concussion may be followed by partial paralysis or spinal
hemorrhage; generally, however, it is confined to a jarring and some
disturbance of the nerve elements of the cord, and the paralytic effect
which ensues soon passes off. Treatmeut consists in rest nntil the
animal has comx>letely recovered from the shock. If secondary effects
folloAv from hemorrhage, or comx^ression, they have to be treated as
heretofore directed.

SPINAL TUMORS.

AVithin the substance of the chord glioma, or the mixed giiosarco-
mata, is found to be the most frequent, tumors may form from the
meninges and the vertebrae, being of a fibrous or bony nature, and affect
the sx)inal cord indirectly by comx>i'ession. In tlie meninges Ave may
find glioma, cancers, x^sammoma, fibromata; and aneurisms of the
spinal arteries have been discoA'ered in the spinal canal.

Sympfoms. — Tumors of the spinal canal cause symptoms of spinal
irritation, or compression of the cord. The gradual and slow devel-
opment of synn)toms of x^aralysis of one or both hind limbs or certain
muscles may lead to a susx^iciou of sx^inal tumors. The iiaralj'sis
induced is progressive, but not usually marked Avith atrophy of the
muscles, or increased sensibility along the spine. When the tumor
is Avithin the spinal cord itself all the symptoms of myelitis may be
present.

Treafmenf. — General tonics and dram doses of nux vomica may be
given; iodide of iron or.iodide of potassa in dram doses, three times
a day in feed, may, in a very fcAA^ cases, give some temx^orary benefit.
Usually the disease progresses steadily until it proves fatal.

215

NEURITIS — INFLAMMATION OF A NERVE.

This is caused by a bruise or wound of a nerve, or to strangulation
in a ligature when it is included in the ligation of an artery. The
changes in an inflamed nerve are an enlargement, reddening of the
nerve sheath, spots of extravasated blood, and sometimes an infiltra-
tion of serum mixed with pus.

Sijinptoms. — Acute pain of the parts supplied by the nerve, an
absence of swelling or increased heat of the i)art.

Treatment. — Hypodermic injections of from 3 to 5 grains of morphia
to i-elieve pain, hot fomentations, and rest. If it is due to an inclusion
of a ligature, the nerve should be divided above and l)elow the ligature.

NEUROMA — TUMOR OF A NERVE.

Neuroma may be from enlargement of the end of a divided nerve,
or due to fibrous degeneration of a nerve which lias been bruised or
wounded. Its most frequent occurrence is found after the operation
of neurotomy for foot lameness, and it may appear only after the
lapse of months, or even years. Neuroma usually develops within the
sheath of the nerve with or without imi^licating the nerve fibers.
They are oval, running lengthwise with the direction of the nerve.

Symptoms. — Pain of the affected limb or jiart is manifested, more
especially after resting awhile, and when i^ressure is made upon the
tumor it causes extreme suffering.

Treatment. — Excision of the tumor, including part of the nerve
above and below, and then treat it like any other simi)le wound.

IN.JURY TO NERVES.

These may consist in wounding, bruising, laceration, stretching,
compression, etc. The symptoms which are produced Avill dejiend
upon the extent, seat, and character of the injury. Recovery may
quickly take x>lace, or it may lead to neuritis, neuroma, or spinal or
cerebral irritation, which may result in tetanus, paralysis, and other
serious derangements. In all diseases, whether x>roduced by some
form of external violence or intrinsic causes, the nerves are neces-
sarilj' involved, and sometimes it is to a primaiy injury of them that
the principal fault in movement or change of nutrition of a part is
due. It is often difficult or imj)ossible to discover that an injury to
a nerve has been inflicted, but whenever this is possible it may enable
us to remedy that which otherwise would result in permanent evil.
Treatment should consist in relieving compression, in hot fomenta-
tions, the application of anodyne liniments, excision of the injured
part, and rest.

CEREBRO-SPINAL MENINGITIS.

I'his may occur sporadically as an encephalitis, with implications
of the spinal cord and its meninges. Usually, however, it appears as

216

an enzooty in a stable, city, or farming district, not infrequently
extending long distances in certain well-defined lines, along rivers,
valleys, or along ridges and mountains. For this reason the enzootic
cerebro-spinal meningitis has been attributed b}^ some veterinarians
to atmosj)heric influences. The first written history we have of this
disease was published about thirty years ago by Dr. Isaiah Michener,
of Carnersville, Pa., in a x)amphlet entitled "Paralysis of the Par-
Vagum." Several years later Prof. A. Large, of Brooklyn, N. Y., gave
it the name of " cerebro-spinal meningitis" on account of its simi-
larity to that disease in the human family. Dr. J. C. Michener, of
Colmar, Pa., in 1882, suggested the name of "Fungosus Toxicum
Paralyticus," in view of the exciting cause being found in foods
undergoing fermentation. In England a similar disease has been
called "grass staggers," due to eating rye grass when it is ripening
or when it is cut and eaten while it is heating and undergoing fer-
mentation. In eastern Pennsylvania it was formerly known by the
name of "putrid sore throat" and "choking distemper." A disease
similar in many respects, which is very prevalent in Virginia, espe-
cially along the eastern border, is commonly known by the name of
"blind staggers," and in many of the Southern States this has been
attributed to the consumption of worm-eaten corn. Professor Large
attributed the cause of the disease to a lack of sanitary conditions,
poisonous gases, or emanations depending upon defective sewerage
in cities, defective drainage on lands in the country, and deficient
stable ventilation.

These reputed causes, however, are inadequate to account for so-
called enzootic or ei)idemic cerebro-spinal meningitis. It frequently
proves as fatal on the hills and table-lands of Hunterdon County,
N. J., Bucks, Montgomery, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties, Pa., as
it does in the dark, damp, illy ventilated stables in New York or Phila-
delphia. It attacks animals which have been running at pasture,
where drainage has been perfect, as well as animals which have been
stabled and kept on dry food, regardless of variation in any appreci-
able sanitary condition. It affects horses of all ages and both sexes;
temperament or condition does not alter their susceptibility. Mules
are attacked as well au horses, and the mortality is equally as great.
There is, however, a variable severity of symptoms and degree of
fatality in different outbreaks.

That there is some specific cause which induces this disease is cer-
tain, for it is neither contagious nor infectious. Personally, I believe
the cause is connected with the food, either developed in it through
some fermentative process or upon it in the form of one of the many
parasitic fungi which grow on plants, grains, and vegetation. That
these, when they are consumed at certain stages of their development,
make a poisonous impression upon the brain and ultimately induce
structural changes is shown, I think, by the history of the outbreaks

217

wherever they can be traced. In many instances the outbreak of the
disease has been simultaneonsly witnessed where brewers' grains, oats,
and hay have been fed, which could be traced from place to place,
from one diseased center to another. That they were the carriers, if
not the ]3rime factors, can not be denied.

Syinptoms. — The symptoms which typify sporadic or ei)idemic
cerebro-spinal meningitis in man are seldom witnessed in equal dis-
tinctness among horses, viz: excessive j)ain, high fever, and earl}^
muscular rigidity'. In the recognition of the severity of the attack we
may divide the symptoms into three grades. In the most rapidly fatal
attacks, the animal may first indicate it by weak, staggering gait,
partial or total inability to swallow solids or liquids, impairment of
eyesight ; twitching of the uTUScles, and slight cramps may be observed.
This is soon followed by a paralysis of the whole body, inability to
stand, delirium in which the animal sometimes goes through a series
of automatic movements as if trotting or running; the delirium may
become very violent and the animal in his unconsciousness bruise his
head in his struggles very seriously, but usually a deep coma renders
him quiet until he expires. Death in these cases usuall}' takes place
in from four to twentj^-four hours from the time the first symptoms
became manifest. The pulse is variable during the progress of the
disease; it may be almost imperceptible at times, and then again
ver}' rapid and irregular; the resj)irations generally are quick and
catching. When attacked in this rai)idly fatal form we maj' be able
only to distinguish it from encephalitis when other animals in the
same stable or neighborhood are similarly affected. In the next form
in which it may develop, it first becomes manifest by a difficulty in
swallowing and slowness in mastication, and a weakness which may
be first noticed in the strength of the tail; the animal will be unable
to switch it or to offer resistance when we bend it up over the croup.
The pulse is often a little slower than normal. There is no evidence
of pain; the respirations are unchanged, and the temperature little
less than normal; the bowels may be somewhat constii^ated. These
symptoms may remain unchanged for two or three days and then grad-
ual improvement take place, or the power to swallow may become
entirely lost and the weakness and uncertainty in gait more and more
perceijtible; then sleepiness or coma may appear; the pulse becomes
depressed, slow and weak, the breathing stertorous, and paroxysms of
delirium develop, with inability to stand, and some rigidity of the
sijinal muscles or partial cramp of the neck and jaws. In such cases
death may occur in from six to ten days from the commencement of the
attack. In many cases there is no evidence of i^ain, spasm, or fever
at any time during the progress of the disease, and finally profound
coma develops and death follows, painless and without a struggle.

In the last or mildest form, the inability of voluntary control of the
limbs becomes but slightly marked, the power of swallo^^ing never

218

entirely lost, and the animal lias no fever, pain, or nneonscions move-
ments. Generally the animal v.ill hegin to improve ahont llie fonrth
day and recover.

In a few eases the spinal symptoms, manifested hy pai-aplet;ia, may
be the most prominent symptoms; in others the}' may he altogether
absent and the main sj'mptonis be difficnlty in mastication and swal-
lowing; rarely it maj" affect one limb only. In all cases where coma
remains absent for six or seven daj^s the animal is likely to recover.
When changes toward recovery take place, the symptoms nsually
leave in the reverse order in which they develoi^ed, bnt local paral3'sis
may remain for some time, rarelj^ persistent.

One attack does not give immnnity, for it may recur at some later
time and prove fatal. Horses have been known to i)ass through three
attacks, being aifected for a week or longer each time.

Treaimenf. — In the worst class of cases treatment is very seldom
successful, and it is dangerous to attemi^t the administration of medi-
cine by the mouth, on account of the inability of the animal to swal-
low. Cold shower baths may i)ossibly induce reviilsive action in
connection with stimulants per rectum, 4 to G ounces of whiskj^ in
2 pints of milk; the inhalation of ammonia vapor from a sponge
saturated with dilute acxua ammonia may arouse consciousness.

In the second class of cases the treatment recommended by Professor
Large consists in giving a cathartic composed of 1 ounce of aloes and
the administration of 1 to 2 drams of the solid extract of belladonna,
alternated eveiy three hours with 30 drops of tincture of aconite root,
and the aiDplication of blisters to the neck, spine, and tliroat. When
the animal is unable to swallow, one-fourth-grain doses of sulphate of
atroj)ia may be injected nnder the skin every four, six, or eight hours,
as the case may demand. The atropia is a heart stimulant, increases
capillar}^ circulation, and quiets pain and excitability. This treat-
ment has been followed by very gratifying results in the hands of Pro-
fessor Large and others. When the most prominent symptoms abate
give such food as they may be able to eat, keep fresh, cool water con-
stantly lief ore them, support them in slings if necessary ; clean stabling
and plenty of fresh air are of the utmost importance.

Paihohxjij. — Post mortem examination reveals more or less conges-
tion of the blood vessels at the base of the brain, effusion in the
ventricles and in the subarachnoid space both in the cranial and the
spinal cavities. Plastic exudation is often found adherent to the pia
mater of the brain, anterior part of the spinal cord, and in the region
of the loins. The brain and cord appear softened in some cases wiiere
the greatest evidence of inflammatory action existed.

Hygienic measures neeilfuJ. — Whenever this disease ajipears in a
stable all the animals should be removed as soon as possible. They
should be provided with clean, well-A^entilated, and well-drained
stables, and each animal should receive 1 dram of the extract or half

219

an ounce of the tincture of belladonna twice a day for .scxt'iiil days.
The abandoned stable should be thoroughly cleansed from all waste
matters, receive a coat of whitewash containing 4 ounces of carbolic
acid to the gallon, and should have time to drj^ thoroughly before the
horses are replaced. A complete change of food is of the very great-
est importance, on account of the belief lliat llie cause resides in
diseased grain, hay, and grass.

TETANUS — LOCK-JAW.

Tills disease is characterized by si)asms affecting the muscles of the
face, neck, body, and limbs, of all the muscles supplied by the cerebro-
spinal nerves. The spasms or muscular contractions are rigid and
persistent, yet mixed with occasional more intense contractions of
convulsive violence.

Causes. — The causes are classified under two heads, traumatic Avhere
it is the result of injury, and kliopatliic where it is due to other
causes than injuries, such as cold and damp, excessive fright, nervous
exhaustion from overwork, chronic irritation caused by worms in the
intestines, etc. In the majority of instances the cause of tetanus can
be traced to wounds, especially pricks or wounds of the feet or of
tendinous structures. It sometimes follows castration, docking, the
introduction of setons, inclusion of a nerve in a ligature, etc. It may
come on a long time after the wound is healed, three or four months.
In some countries where tetanus appears to be enzootic the presump-
tion is that it is due to a specific germ. Horses with a nervous, excit-
able disposition are more jiredisposed than those of a more sluggish
nature. Stallions are more subject to develop tetanus as tlie result
of wounds than geldings, and geldings more than mares.

Sijnrptoins. — The attacks may be acute or subacute. In an acute
attack the animal usually dies within four daj's. The first symptoms
which attract the attention of the owner is difficulty in chcAving and
swallowing, an extension of the head and i^rotrusion over the inner
part of the ej^e of the membrana nictitans or haw. An examination
of the mouth will reveal an inability to open the jaws to their full
extent, and the endeavor to do so w ill produce great nervous excita-
bility and increased sjDasm of tlie muscles of the jaw and neck. The
muscles of the neck and along the spine become rigid and the legs
are moved in a stitf manner. The slightest noise or disturbance
throws the animal into inci-eased spasm of all the affected muscles.
Tlie tail is usually elevated and held immovable; the bowels become
constipated early in tlie attack. The temperature and pulse are not
much changed. These sjniiptoms in the acute type l)ec()me rapidly
aggravated until all the muscles are rigid — in a stale of tonic si^asm —
with a continuous tremor running through them ; a cold jDcrspiration
breaks out on the body; the breathing l)ecomes painful from the

220

spasm of the muscles used in respiration; the jaws are completely set,
ej'e-balls retracted, lij)s drawn tightly over the teeth, nostrils dilated,
and the animal presents a picture of the most extreme agony until
death relieves him. The pulse, which at first was not much affected,
Avill become quick and hard, or small and thready when the spasm
affects the muscles of the heart. In the subacute cases the jaws
may never become entirely locked ; the nervous excitability and rig-
idity of muscles are not so great. There is, however, always some
stiffness of the neck or spine manifest in turning; the haw is turned
over the eye-ball when the nose is elevated. It is not uncommon for
owners to continue such animals at their work for several days after
the first symptoms have been observed. All the symptoms may grad-
ually increase in severity for a period of ten daj^s, and then gradually
diminish under judicious treatment, or they may reach the stage
wherein all the characters of acute tetanus become developed. In
some cases, however, we find the muscular cramps almost solely con-
fined to the head or face, perhaps involving those of the neck. In
such cases Ave have complete trismus — lock-jaw — and all the head
symptoms are acutely developed. On the contrary, we may find the
head almost exempt in some cases, and have the body and limbs
perfectly rigid and incapable of movement without falling.

Tetanus may possibly be confounded with spinal meningitis, but
the character of the spasm-locked jaw, retraction of the ej^eballs, the
difficulty in swallowing due to sjDasms of the muscles of the pharynx,
and, above all, the absence of paralysis, should serve to make the
distinction.

Treatment. — The animal should be placed in a box-stall without
bedding, as far away as possible from other horses. If in a country
district, the animal should be put into an outbuilding or shed, where
the noise of other animals will not reach him; if the place is moder-
ately dark it is all the better; in fly time he should be covered with a
light sheet. The attendant must be very careful and quiet about liim,
to prevent all unnecessary excitement and increase of spasm.

A cathartic, composed of Barbadoes aloes, G to 8 drams, with which
may be mixed 2 drams of the solid extract of belladonna, should be
given at once. This is best given in a ball form; if, however, the
animal is greatly excited by the attempt or can not swalloAv, the ball
may be disolved in 2 ounces of olive oil and thrown on the back of
the tongue with a syringe. If the jaw^s are set, or nearly so, an
attempt to administer medicine by the mouth should not be made.
In such cases one-quarter of a grain of atropia, with 5 grains of
sulphate of morjjhia, should be dissolved in 1 dram of pure water and
injected under the skin. This should be repeated sufficiently often
to keep the animal continually under its effect. This will usually
mitigate the severity of the spasmodic contraction of the affected
muscles and lessen sensibility to pain. Good results may be obtained

221

sometimes b}' the injection per rectum of tlie fluid extract of bella-
donna and of cannabis indica, of eacli 1 dram, every four or six
hours. This may be diluted "vvitli a quart of milk. "When the animal
is unable to swallow liquids, oat-meal gruel and milk should be given
by injection per rectum to sustain the strengtli of the animal. A
pailful of cool water should be constantly before him, placed high
enough for him to reach it without sj)ecial effort; even if he can not
drink, the laving of the mouth is refreshing. Excellent success fre-
quently may be obtained by clothing the upper i^art of the head, the
neck, and greater part of the body in woolen blankets kept saturated
with very warm water. This treatment should be continued for six
or eight hours at a time. It often relaxes the cramped muscles and
gives tliem rest and the animal almost entire freedom from pain; but
it should be used every day until the acute spasms have permanently
subsided in order to be of any lasting benefit.

If the cause is due to the inclusion of a nerve in a ligature, the
division of the nerve becomes necessary. When it is due to a wound
all foreign substances should be searched for and be removed; if from
a wound which has healed an excision of the cicatrix may be bene-
ficial. In all cases it is not uncommon to have a partial recovery fol-
lowed by relapse when the animal becomes excited from any cause.

RABIES — HYDROPHOBIA — MADNESS.

This disease does not arise spontaneouslj- among horses, but is tlie
result of a bite from a rabid animal — generally a dog or cat. The
development of the disease follows the bite in from three weeks to
three months — very rarely in twelve or fourteen days.

Symptoms. — The first manifestation of the development of this dis-
ease maybe an increased excitability and viciousness; very slight
noises or the approach of a person incites the animal to kick, strike,
or bite at any object near him. Very often the horse will l)itc his own
limbs or sides, lacerating the flesh and tearing the skin. The eyes
appear staring, bloodshot ; the ears are on the alert to catch all sounds;
tlie head is held erect. In some cases the animal will continually rub
and bite the locality of the wound inflicted by the rabid animal. This
symptom may precede all others. Generally the bowels become con-
stipated and he makes frequent attempts at urination, which is pain-
ful and the urine very dark colored. The furious symptoms appear
in paroxysms; at other times the animal may eat and drink, altliough
swallowing appears to become painful towards the latter stage of
the disease, and may cause renewed paroxysms. The muscles of the
limbs or back may be subject to intermittent spasms, or spasmodic
tremors; finally the hind limbs become paralyzed, breathing very
diflicult, and convulsions supervene, followed by death. The pulse
and respirations are increased in frequency from the outset of the
attack. Rabies may possibly be mistaken for tetanus. In the latter

222

disease we fliid tonic spasms of the iinisclesof the jaws, or stiffness of
tlie neck or back very early in the attack, and evidence of viciousness
is absent.

Treatment. — As soon as the true nature of the disease is ascertained
the animal should be killed.

Prevention. — When a horse is known to have been bitten by a rabid
animal immediate cauterization of the wound with a red-hot iron may
possibly destroy the virus before absorption of it takes place.

PLUMBISM — LEAD-POISONING.

This disease is not of frequent occurrence. It may be due to habitu-
ally drinking water which has been standing in leaden conductors or
in old i)aint barrels, etc. It has been met with in enzootic form near
smelting Avorks, where, by the fumes arising from such works, lead in
the form of oxide, carbonate, or sulphate was deposited on the grass
and herbage which the horses ate.

SijiniJioms. — Lead-poisoning produces derangement of the functions
of digestion and locomotion, or it may affect the lungs principally.
In whatever system of organs the lead is deposited mostly there will
we have the symptoms of nervous debilit}^ most manifest. If in tlie
lungs the breathing becomes difficult and the animal gets out of breath
A'cry quickly when he is compelled to run. Roaring also is very fre-
quently a symptom of lead-poisoning. When it affects the stomach
the animal gradually falls away in flesh, the hair becomes rougli, the
skin tight, and colicky symptoms develoj). When the deposit is prin-
cipally' in the muscles i^artial or comj)lete paralysis gradually develops.
When large quantities of lead have been taken in and absorbed, symp-
toms resembling epilepsy may result, or coma and delirium develop
and prove fatal. In lead-poisoning there is seldom any increase in
temperature. A blue line forms along the gums of the front teeth,
and the breath assumes a peculiar offensive odor. Lead can always
be detected in the urine b}' chemical tests.

Treatment. — The administration of 2-dram doses of iodide of potassa,
three times a day. This will form iodide of lead in the system, which
is rapidl}^ excreted by the kidneys. If much muscular weakness or
parah'sis is present, sulj)hate of iron in dram doses, and strychnia in
2-grain doses may be given twice a day. In all cases of suspected
lead-poisoning all utensils which have entered into the suj)ply of feed
or water should be examined for the jjresence of soluble lead. If it
occurs near lead works great care must be given to the supply of
uncontaminatcd fodder, etc.

UR.EMIA.

Urremic poisoning may affect the brain in nephritis, acute albumi-
nuria, or when, from any cause, the functions of the kidnej^s become
impaired or suppressed and urea (a natural product) is no longer

w

223

eliminated from these organs, causlno- it to aeeumulale in the system
and give rise to urajmic poisoning,

SymiJtoms. — Urtemic i^oisoning is usually preeeded by dropsy of the
limbs or abdomen; a peculiar fetid breath is often noticed; then
drowsiness, attacks of diarrhea, and general debility ensue. Sud-
denly extreme stupor or coma develops; the surface of the body
becomes cold; the pupils are insensible to light; the pulse slow and
intermitting; the breathing labored, and death supervenes. The tem-
perature throughout the disease is seldom increased, unless the dis-
ease becomes complicated with acute inflammatory disease of the
brain or respiratory organs, which often occur as a result of the urea
in the circulation. Albumen and tube casts may frequently be
found in the urine. The disease almost invariably pioves fatal.

Treatment. — This must be directed to a removal of the cause. (See
"Diseases of the Kidney.")

ELECTRIC SHOCK.

Electric shock, from coming in contact with electric wires, is becom-
ing a matter of rather frequent occurrence, and has a similar effect
upon the animal system to a shock from lightning. Two degrees of
electric or lightning shock maybe observed, one producing temporar}^
contraction of muscles and insensibility, from which recovery is pos-
sible, the other killing directly, by producing a condition of nervous
and general insensibility-. In shocks which are not immediately fatal
the animal is usuallj^ insensible, the respiration slow, labored or gasp-
ing, the pulse slow, feeble, and irregular, and the pupils dilated and
not sensitive, or they may be contracted and sensitive. The temper-
ature is lowered. There maybe a tendencj-to convulsions or spasms.
The predominating symptoms are extreme cardiac and respiratoiy
depression.

Treatment. — Sulphate of atropia should be given hypodermicallyin
one-quarter-grain doses every hour or two hours until the heart beats
are invigorated, the number and fullness of the respirations increased,
and consciousness returns. Stimulating injections per rectum may
also be useful in arousing the circulation; for this purpose whisky or
ammonia water mav be used.

DISEASES OF THE HEART AND BLOOD-VESSELS.

By M. R. TRUMBOWER, V. S., Sterling, 111.

REMARKS ON THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HEART AND

BLOOD-VESSELS.

The heart is a hollow, involuntary, muscular organ, situated as
nearly as possible in the center of the chest, though its impulse is felt
on the left side from the rotary movement of the organ in action. It
is cone-shai)ed, with the base upwards; the apex points downwards,
backwards, and to the left side. It extends from about the third to
the sixth ribs inclusive. The average weight is about Gw pounds. In
liorses used for speed the heart is relatively larger, according to the
weight of the animal, than in horses used for slow work. It is sus-
pended from the spine by the large blood-vessels, and held in position
beloAV by the attachment of the pericardium to the sternum. It is
inclosed in a sac, the pericardium, wliich is composed of a dense,
fibrous membrane, lined by a delicate serous membrane, which is
reflected over the heart; the inner layer is firmlj^ adherent to the
heart, the outer to the fibrous sac, and there is an intervening space
known as the pericardial space, in which a small amount of serum —
a thin translucent liquid — is present constantly.

The heart is divided by a shallow fissure into a right and left side;
each of tliese is again subdivided by a transverse partition into two
compartments, which communicate. Thus there are four cardiac
cavities, the superior or upper ones called the auricles, the inferior or
lower ones the ventricles. These divisions are marked on the outside
by grooves, which contain the cardiac blood-vessels, and are gener-
ally filled with fat.

The right side of the heart may be called the venous, the left the
arterial side, named from the kind of blood which passes through
them. The auricles are thin-walled cavities placed at the base, and
are connected with the great veins, the vena cav?e and pulmonary veins,
through which they receive blood from all parts of the body. The
auricles communicate with the ventricles each by a large aperture,
the aitriculo-venfricvlar orifice, which is furnished with a remarkable
59(31 — HOR 8 225

226

meehanisiu of Aalves, allowiiig tlie transmission of l)lood from the
auricles into the ventricles, l3nt pi-eventing a reverse course. The
ventricles are thiek-walled cavities, forming the more massive portion
of the heart tov.ards tlie apex. Thej' are separated by a iiartition,
and are connected with the great arteries, the pulmonary artery and
the aorta, b}' which they send blood to all parts of the body. At the
mouth of tlie aorta and at the mouth of the j)iilMionary artery is an
arrangement of valves in each case which prevents the reflux of blood
into the ventricles. The auriculo-ventricular valves in the left side
are comi)osed of two flaps, hence it is called the bicuspid valve.. In
the right side this valve has three flaps, and is called the tricuspid
valve. The flaps which form these valves are connected with a tendi-
nous ring between the auricles and ventricles; and each flap of the
auriculo-ventricular valves is supplied with tendinous cords, which
are attached to the free margin and under surface, so as to keep the
valves tense when closed ; a condition which is produced by the short-
ening of muscular pillars with which the cords are connected. The
arterial openings, both on the right and on the left side, are i^ro-
A'ided with three-flapped semi-lunar shaped valves, to prevent the
regurgitation of blood when the ventricles contract. The veins emp-
tying into tlie auricles are not capable of closure, liut the iiosterior
vena cava has an imperfect valve at its aperture.

The inner surface of the heart is lined by a serous membrane, the
endocardium, which is smooth and firmly adherent to the muscular
structure of the heart. This membrane is continuous with the lining
membrane of the blood vessels, and it enters into the formation of the
valves.

The circulation through the heart is as follows: The venous blood
is carried into the right auricle by the anterior and posterior ven?B
cavpp. It then passes through the right auriculo-ventricular opening
into the right ventricle, thence through the iiulmonary artery to the
lungs. It returns by the pulmonary veins to the left auricle, then is
forced through the auriculo-ventricular opening into the left ventricle,
which propels it through the aorta and its b]*anclies into the system,
the veins returning it again to the heart. The circulation, therefore,
is double, the pulmonary or lesser being performed by the right, and
the systemic or greater by the left side.

As the lilood is forced through the heart by forcible contractions
of its muscular walls it has the action of a force pump, and gives
the impulse at each beat, which we call the pulse — the dilatation of the
arteries throughout the system. The contraction of the auricles is
quickly followed by that of the ventricles, and then a slight pause
occurs; this takes place in regular rythmical order during health.

The action of the heart is governed and maintained by the pneumo-
gastric nerve (tenth pair of cranial nerves); it is the inhibitory nerve
of the heart, and regulates, slows, and governs its action. When the

227

nerve is cut the lieart-boats increase rapidly, and in fact tlie organ
works without control. When the nerve is unduly irritated the hold-
back or inhibitory I'orce is increased, and the heart slows nj) in the
same measure. The left cavities of the heart, the i)ulmonar3- veins,
and the aorta or systemic artery, contain red or florid blood, fit to
circulate through the body. The right cavities of the heart, with the
vena? cava» or systemic veins and pulmonary arterj-, contain dark
blood, which must be transmitted through the lungs for renovation.

The arteries, commencing in two great trunks, the aorta and the
pulmonary artery, undergo division as in the l)ranching of a tree.
Their branches mostly come off at acute angles, and are commonly of
uniform diameter in each case, but successively diminish after and in
consequence of division, and in this manner gradually merge into the
capillar}- system of blood-vessels. As a general rule, the combined
area of the branches is greater than that of the vessels from which
they emanate, and hence the collective capacity of the arterial sj's-
tem is greatest at the capillary vessels. The same rule applies to the
veins. The'effect of the division of the arteries is to make the blood
move more slowly along their branches to the capillary vessels, and
the effect of the union of the branches of the veins is to accelerate the
speed of the blood as it i-et urns from the capillary vessels to the venous
trunks.

In the smaller vessels a frequent riuining together or anastomosis
occurs. This admits of a free communication between the currents of
blood, and must tend to j^romote equability of distribution and of
Ijressure, and to obviate the effects of local interruption. The arte-
ries are highly elastic, being extensile and retractile both in length
and breadth. During life they are also contractile, being jn-ovided
with muscular tissue. When cut across they present, although empty,
an open orifice; the veins, on the other hand, collapse.

In most parts of the body the arteries are inclosed in a sheath
formed of connective tissue, but are connected so loosely that when
the vessel is cut across its ends readily- retract some distance within
the sheath. Independently of this sheath arteries are usuallj^ de-
scribed as being formed of three coats, named, from their i-elative
positions, external, middle, and internal. This applies to their struc-
ture so far as it is discernible bj-tlie naked eye. The internal, serous
or tunica intima is the thinnest, and continuous with the lining mem-
brane of the heart. It is made up of two layers, an inner, consisting
of a layer of epithelial scales, and an outer, transparent, whitish, highly
elastic, and perforated. The middle coat, tunica media, is elastic,
dense, and of a yellow color, consisting of non-striated muscuhir and
elastic fibers, thickest in the largest arteries and becoming thinner in
the smaller. In tlie smallest vessels it is almost entirely muscular.
The external coat, tunica adventitia, is composed mainly of fine and
closely woven bundles of white connective tissue, which chiefly run

228

diagonally or obliquely round the vessel. In this coat the nutrient
vessels, the vasa vasorum, form a capillary net-work, from which a
few penetrate as far as the muscular coat.

The veins differ from arteries in possessing thinner walls, less elas-
tic and muscular tissue, and for the most part a stronger tunica adven-
titia. Thej^ collapse when cut across or Avhen they are empty. The
majority of A^eins are provided with A^alves; these are folds of the lin-
ing membrane, strengthened by fibrous tissue. They favor the course
of the blood and jirevent its reflux. The nerves which supply both
the arteries and the veins come from the sympathetic system. The
smaller arteries terminate in the system of minute vessels, known as
the capillaries, which are interjjosed between the termination of the
arteries and the commencement of the veins. Their average diame-
ter is about one three-thousandth of an inch.

SOUNDS OF THE HEART.

By placing the ear behind the elbow against the left side of the
chest two distinct sounds can be heard at each heart-b<*at in health.
The first is rather mufiled and prolonged, the second is short and
sudden. The first is caused by the contraction of the A^entricles, the
closing of the auriculo-ventricular valves, and the forcible propulsion
of the blood into the arteries; the second follows immediately, and is
due to the reflux of the blood just forced into the arteries, and the
sudden closure of the valves Avhich prevent its return to the heart.
In disease of the heart or valves these sounds are generally modified,
or supplanted by others, which vary so much in character and are so
difficult to describe that we can not consider them here; long and
extensive experience is required to distinguish them i:>ractically.

CHARACTERS OF THE PULSE.

The circulation of the blood through the heart is constant, and is
maintained by the propelling activitj^ of this organ. In the horse the
heart beats from thirty-six to forty-six times a minute, varying with
the disposition, breed, and temperament of the animal. In the foal
the pulse is about three times as rapid as in the adult, from six months
to a year about twice as quick, and in the two-year-old about one-
quarter faster. The pulse is usually taken at the angle of the jaw,
where the artery crosses the bone, and its force or character is often
indicative of the nature of the disease from which an animal may be
suffering. The jiulse, therefore, is named in accordance with its char-
acter as slow, soft, small, full, weak, quick, hard, irregular, intermit-
tent, venous, etc.

Slow pulse is one where the number of beats is less than normal,
and is often found in certain diseases of the brain.

Soft or cornpressihJe pidse is one Avhere the beat is rather weak, but
not abnornuilly rapid. It is often found in debility due to want of

229

assimilation or proper nourishment. Wlien accompanied with fever
or loss of api>etite it is usually indicative of derangement of the
digestive organs.

S)tudl jiidse is one where the sensation conveyed to the finger is one
of lessened diameter of the artery; it may be normal in frequency
or slightly increased. Generall}" due to exhaustion from work or

disease.

Full or strong 2^ ^(^•'ic is one which imparts a bounding sensation as
if from over-distension of the artery at each heart-beat. It is usually
increased in frequency. This character may be felt immediately
succeeding fast work, or in very plethoric horses when slightly
excited. Often it may indicate a general systemic disturbance or
disease of the lungs.

TFeaA; ov feehJe pulse is one which is hardly i:>erceptible. This may
indicate organic disease of the heart, or denote general weakness
from loss of blood, prolonged sickness, starvation, etc.

Quick OY frequent puJse is one where the heart-beats are more rapid
than normal, without an}^ special change in its character. It is
found in the early stage of nearly all inflammatory diseases.

Hard or wiry pulse is one which is tense, incompressible, or vibrat-
ing, and is always increased in frequency. It usually denotes acute
disease of serous membranes, such as pleuritic, peritonitis, menin-
gitis, etc.

Irregular pulse is one in which several pulsations follow in quick
succession and then a pause ensues. This may indicate disease of
the heart, or of the nervous system, sometimes observed in lingering,
exhausting diseases.

Intermitient pulse is one where a beat is lost at regular intervals.
This is almost invariabl}^ an indication of disease of the heart.

Venous xndse may be seen along the side of the neck in the jugular
furrow, and has the appearance of blood regurgitating in the vein at
each beat of the heart. It usually denotes disease of the heart, or
an obstruction to the flow of blood within the chest, from the pres-
sure of a tumor, dropsy, etc.

DISEASES OF THE HEART AND BLOOD-VESSELS.

In considering diseases of the heart we meet with many difficulties,
depending much upon the position which this organ occupies in the
animal. The shoulders cover so much of the anterior portion of the
chest, and often in very heavy muscled horses the chest walls are so
thick, that a satisfactory examination of the heart cannot be made.
Diseases of the heai*t are not uncommon among horses; the heart and
its membranes are frequently involved in diseases of the respiratory
organs, diseases of the kidnej^s, rheumatism, influenza, etc. Some
of the diseases of this organ are never suspected by the ordinary
observer during life, and are so difficult to diagnose with any degree

230

of certainty that we Avill liave to confine ourselves to a general out-
line, giving attention to such symptoms as may serve to lead to a
knowledge of their existence, with directions for treatment, care, etc.

Nervous affections often i^roduce prominent heart sj'mptoms by
causing functional disturbance of that organ, Avhich, if removed, will
leave the heart restored to perfect vigor and normal action. Organic
changes involving the heart or valves, however, usually grow worse
and eventually prove fatal. Therefore it is necessary that we arriA-e
at an appreciation of the true nature and causes, so that we may
be able to form a true estimate of the possibilities for recovery or
encouragement for medical treatment.

Disease of the heart may occur at any age, but it is Avitnessed most
frequently in young horses, which, when being trained for fast work,
are often subjected to excessiA^e hardship and fatigue. NerA'ous or
timid animals also suffer from such diseases more frequently than
those of a sluggish disposition. Anj^ cause Avliich induces a Aiolent
or sudden change in the circulation may result in injury to the heart.
Sj-mptoms Avhich may frequently denote disease of the heart are dif-
ficult breathing or short-windedness, dropsies of the limbs, habitual
coldness of the extremities, giddiness or fainting attacks, inability to
stand Avork althougli tlie general appearance Avould indicate strength
and ability, etc.

INFLAMMATORY DISEASES OF THE HEART.

This Avill embrace myocarditis, endocarditis, and pericarditis.

MYOCARDITIS — INFLAMMATION OF THE MUSCULAR STRUCTURE OF THE HEART.

This is of rare occurrence Avithout imi)lication of the endocardium
or pericardium. That inflammation of the muscular Avails of the heart
may frequently exist to some slight degree, induced by excessive action,
can not be doubted. Post-moriem examinations occasionally reveal
abscess and degeneration within the Avails of this organ, Avhich were
not suspected during life. Myocarditis primarily involves the inter-
stitial muscular tissue and the blood vessels, and presents itself in a
sub-acute or chronic type, AAdiich often leads to induration or hyper-
trophy, occasionally to the formation of pus and abscess. It may also
lead to a dilatation of the heart and rupture.

Causes. — Over-exertion or heart strain, influenza, rheumatism, pyae-
mia, extension of endocarditis or pericarditis, etc. Myocarditis usu-
ally involves the endocardial membrane very early in the attack, and
develops all the symptoms of endocarditis. Hence Ave Avill con-
sider, as most distinctive of inflammation of the heart, endocarditis.

ENDOCARDITIS— INFLAMMATION OF THE LINING BIEMBRANE OF THE HEART, USUALLY
INVOLA^NG THE MUSCULAR STRUCTURE,

It is frequently found in gcnei-al rheumatism, iuA^olving the serous
membrane, some of the specific or zymotic fevers, septic poisoning, etc.

231

Endocarditis is a nineli luoro frequent disease among- horses than we
are generally' aware, and often gives rise to sj'mptons which, at first,
are obscure and unnoticed. Ihave witnessed two enzoiiticsof influenza
in which 20 per cent of the animals attacked develoiied symptoms of
either endocarditis or pericarditis. A certain number of these cases
subsequently developed the condition knowji as heaves, or gradually
failed in strength, with recurrence of attacks of heart failure upon the
slightest exertion, rendering main* of them valueless. In the rheumatic
type of influenza we may often find the heart becoming involved in
the disease, in consequence of the morbid material conveyed through
the heart in the blood-stream. In view of the fact that many affec-
tions, in even remote portions of the body, may be traced directly to a
primary endocardial disease, we shall feel justified in inviting special
attention to this disease.

Endocarditis ma}' be acute or assume various degrees of severity.
In acute inflammation we find a thickening and a roughened appear-
ance of the endocardium througliout the cavities of the heart. This
condition is soon followed by a coagulation of fibrine uijon the inflamed
surface, which adheres to it, and by attrition soon becomes worked up
into shreddy-like granular elevations; this may lead to the formation
of librinous clots in the heart and sudden death early in the disease,
the second or third day. This acute type of the disease, however, does
not always affect the whole interior of the heart, but is often conflned
to one ventricle or may be in patches; it may extend through the ven-
tricle into the aorta or the i^ulmonary vein; it may affect the valves
princii)ally, which are composed of but little else than the endocardium
folded U2:»on itself.

In acute endocarditis we invariablj' will find myocarditis develop
corresponding to the same space, which in intensity may produce seri-
ous results through the destruction of functional ability or lead to
weakness, abscess, or rupture. Immediately upon the swelling of this
membrane we will find an abnormal action and abnormal sounds of
the heart.

Subacute endocarditis, which is the most common form we meet,
may not l^eeome ai)preciable for several days after its commencement.
It is characterized b}' being confined to one or more anatomical divi-
sions of the heart, and all the successive morbid changes follow each
other in a comparatively slow process. Often we would not be led to
suspect heart affection were it not for the distress in breathing, which
it generally occasions when the animal is exercised, especially if the
valves are much involved. When the disease extends into the arte-
ries, atheromatous dei^osits usuallj' develop; when the inflammation
is severe at the origin of the tendinous cords they maj^ become softened
and ruptured. AYlien much fibrinous coagula or cellular vegetations
form upon the inflamed membi-ane, either in minute shreds or patches,
or when formation of fibrinous clots occurs in the cavity affected, some

232

of tliese materials may "be carried from tlie cavity of the heart by the
blood-current into remote organs, constituting emboli that are liable
to suddenly plug vessels and thereby interrupt important functions.
In the great majority of either acute or subacute grades of endocar-
ditis, whatever the exciting cause, the most alarming symptoms dis-
appear in a week or ten days, often leaving, however, such changes
in the interior lining or valvular structures as to cause impairment in
the circulation for a much longer period of time. These changes usu-
ally consist of thickening or induration of the inflamed structures.
But while the eifects of the inflammation in the membrane lining the
walls of the ventricles may subside to such a degree as to cause little
or no inconvenience, or even wholly disappear, yet after the valvular
structures have been involved, causing them to be thicker, less flexible
than normal, they usuall}^ remain, obstructing the free passage of the
blood through the openings of the heart, thereby inducing secondary
changes which take place slowly at first, but ultimately seriously
impair the animal's usefulness. AVhat was but a slight obstruction
to the circulation during the first few weeks after the subsidence of
the cardiac inflammatory attack becomes in process of time so much
increased as to induce increased growth in the muscular structure of
the heart, constituting hypertrophy of the walls of the ventricles, more
particularly of the left, with corresponding fullness of the left auricle
and i^ulmonary veins, thereby producing fullness of the capillaries
in the lungs, pressure uj)on the air cells, difficult or asthmatic breath-
ing— greatly increased in attemjits to work — until in a few months
many of these cases become entirely disabled for work. Sometimes,
too, droi)sieal effusions in the limbs or into the cavities of the body
result from the irregular and deficient circulation. Derangement of
the urinary secretion, with passive congestion of the kidneys, may
also appear.

Endocardial inflammation is seldom fatal in its early stages, but in
many cases the recovery is incomplete, for a large proportion are left
with some permanent thickening of the valves, which constitutes the
beginning of A^alvular disease.

Symptoms. — As already stated, myocarditis is seldom recognized
until pericarditis or endocarditis supervenes. Staggering gait with
j)ainful movement of the fore-limbs, a constant irregularity of the
heart's action, but equality of strength regardless of the rapidity of
the heart-beats, constitutute perhaps the most prominent sj^mptoms
which characterize myocarditis. When the disease is associated with
rheumatism, influenza, or other zymotic diseases, these symx^tomsmay
not be sufficiently well defined to attract the attention they deserve,
and medical treatment prescribed for the mitigation of such disease
often serves to aggravate the cardiac affection. In chronic myocar-
ditis we generally find a persistent i^alpitation with irregularity of
beat, which, upon exercise, becomes greatly intensified. Change in

233

the sounds of the heart does not occur unless x)ericarditis, endocarditis,
or disease of the valves is associated with myocarditis. When it
leads to hypertroj)hy we may find an abnormally increased area of
dullness on j)ercussion. In endocarditis, when the attack is sudden
and severe, we may find many of the symptoms which characterize
pericarditis and pleuritis, but a close examination will reveal notable
differences.

Endocarditis may be ushered in by a chill, with sudden and marked
rise in temperature. The pulse rapidly decreases in strength or may
become irregular, while the heart beats more or less tumultuously. In
the early stages soft blowing sounds may be heard Ijy placing the ear
over the heart on the left side, which correspond in number and
rhythm to the heart's action. Excessive pain, though not so great as in
acute pleuritis, is manifested when the animal is compelled to trot;
very often difficulty in breathing — shortness of breath — on the slight-
est exertion develops early in the attack. AVhen the valves are
involved in the inflammatory j)rocess the visible mucous membranes
become either very pale or verj^ dark colored, and fainting may occur
when the head is suddenly elevated. When the valves of the right
side are affected we may have a regurgitant pulsation in the jugular
vein. In some cases we find marked lameness of the left shoulder,
and when the animal is turned short to the left side he may groan with
pain, and the heart's action become violently excited, although pres-
sure against the chest-wall will not produce pain unless roughly
applied. The animal is not disposed to eat or drink much; the sur-
face of the body and legs are cold — rarely excessively hot — and fre-
quently the body of the animal is in a subdued tremor. In nearly all
cases there is i)artial suj^pression of the urinary secretion. The S3'mp-
toms may continue with verj^ little modification for three or four daj's,
sometimes seven days, without any marked changes. If fibrinous
clots form in the heart the change will be sudden and quickly prove
fatal unless iliey become loosened and are carried awaj^ in the circu-
lation; then apoplexy may result from the plugging of arteries too
small to give further transmission. If the animal manifests symp-
toms of improvement, the changes usually are slow and steady until
he feels apparentlj^ as well as ever, eats well, and moves freely in his
stall or 5'ard. When ho is taken out, however, the seeming strength
often proves deceptive, as he may quickly weaken if urged into a fast
gait, the breathing become quickened with a double flank movement
as in heaves, and all the former symjitoms reappear in a modified
degree. An examination at this stage may reveal valvular insufiici-
enc}', cardiac hypertrophy, or pulmonary engorgement.

In fatal cases of endocarditis death often occurs about the fourth
day, from the formation of heart clot or too great embarrassment of
the circulation. Endocarditis may be suspected in all cases where
59G1— HOR 8*

234

plain symptoinsof cardiac affection are manifested in animals affected
with influenza, rheumatism, or any disease in wliicli the blood may
convey septic matter.

Acute endocardial inflammation may be distinguished from i)leuritis
by the absence of any friction murmur, absence of pain when the chest
wall is percussed, and the absence of effusion in the cavitj^ of the chest.
It may be distinguished from pericarditis b}' the absence of the friction
sounds and vwant of an enlarged area of dullness on jpercussion.

Treaimeni. — The treatment will be similar in both myocarditis and
endocarditis. The objects to be attained Avillbe to remove or mitigate
as much as possible the cause inducing the disease; to find a medicine
which will lessen the irritability of the heart without weakening it;
and last, to maintain a free urinary secretion and prevent exudation and
hypertrophy. So long as there is an increase of temperature, with some
degree of scautinessof the nrine, it may be safe to believe that there is
some degree of inflammatory action existing in the cardiac structures,
and, as long as any evidence of inflammatory action remains, however
moderate in degree, there is a tendency to increase or hypertrophy of
the connective tissue of the heart or valves, thereby rendering it
almost certain that the structural changes will become permanent
unless counteracted by persistent treatment and complete rest.

The tincture of digitalis, in 20-drop doses, repeated every hour, is
perhaps the most reliable agent we know to control the irritability of
the heart, and this also has a decided influence upon the urinary secre-
tion. After the desired impression ui)on the heart is obtained the
dose may be repeated every two or three hours, or as the case may
demand. Fluid extract of convaJlaria majalis, in 2-dram doses, will
quiet the tumultuous action of the heart in some cases where the
digitalis fails. Some veterinarians recommend bleeding, others cold
packs around the chest or over the lieart. The former is decidedly
objectionable, because of its tendency to favor fibrinous exudation and
clot formation; the latter is too risky a proceeding in the majority of
cases to warrant its use, for we find this disease in wet and damp sta-
bles in the most aggravated and fatal forms. Blistering and stimulat-
ing applications to the chest should also be avoided. They serve to
irritate tlie animal and can do no possible good. Chlorate of ]3otassa,
in 2-dram doses, may be given in the drinking water everj^ four hours
for the first five or six days, and then l)e superseded by the nitrate of
potassa, in lialf-ounee doses, for the following week, or until the uri-
nary secretion becomes abnormally profuse. Where the disease is
associated with rheumatism 2-dram doses of salicylate of soda may be
substituted for the chlorate of potassa. To guard against chronic
induration of the valves the iodide of potassa, in 1 to 2 dram doses,
should be given early in the disease, and may be repeated two or three
times a day for several weeks. When chronic effects remain after the
acute stage has passed this drug becomes indisi)ensable.

235

Wlieu dropsy of tlie limbs develoi)s, it is dno to weakened eirculation
or f iiiietional impairment of the kidneys. "When there is much weak-
ness in the action of the heart, or general debilit}- is marked, the iodide
of ii-on, in 1-dram doses, combined with hydrastis, 3 drams, may be
given three times a day. Arsenic, in o-grain doses twice a day, will
give excellent resnlts in some cases of weak heart associated with diffi-
cult breathing. In all cases absojute rest and warm stabling, Avith
comfortable clothing, become necessary, and freedom from work
should be allowed for a long time after all syjp.ptoms have disappeared.

ABSCESS IX THE HEART.

This is a result of mj'ocarditis, or it may arise from localized pyae-
mic infection or embolism of a coronary' vessel, causing disintegra-
tion and death of a part. Such abscess may be single and large, or
multiple and small. They maj^ weaken the heart sufficiently to cause
rupture of its Avails, or may embarrass the circulation by i^ressure
upon the orifices or cavities sufficient to produce death.

Abscess of the heart cannot be diagnosed with any degree of certainty.

PERICARDITIS — INFLAMMATION OF THE SAC INCLOSING THE HEART.

Causes. — Pericarditis may be induced by cold and damp stabling,
exposure and fatigue, from wounds caused by broken ribs, etc. Gen-
erally, however, it is associated with an attack of influenza, rheumatism,
pleuritis, etc.

Sijinjjtoiiis. — Usually the disease manifests itself abruptly by a brief
stage of chills coincident AAith pain in moving, a short painful cougli,
rapid and short breathing, and high temi)erature, AA'ith a rapid and
hard pulse. The fever is highest, Avith corresponding jJulse, in the
evening and lowest in the morning. In the early stages of the disease
the pulse is regular in beat ; later, A\hen there is much exudation pres-
ent in the pericardial sac, the heart-beat becomes muffled, and may be
of a doubled or rebounding character. By placing the ear against the
left side of the chest behind the elboAv a rasx)ing sound may be heard,
corresponding to the frequency of the heart-beat. This is known as
the to-and-fro friction sound. BetAveen the second and fourth days this
sound may disappear, due to a distention of the pericardium by an exu-
date or serous effusion. As soon as this effusion i^artly fills the peri-
cardium, percussion aaIII reveal an abnormally increased area of
dullness over the region of the heart, the heart-beats become less
perceptible than in health, and in some cases a splashing or flapping
sound ma}' become audible.

If the effusion becomes absorbed, the to-and-fro friction sound usu-
ally recurs for a short time; this friction may often be felt by apply-
ing the hand to the side of the chest. In a few cases clonic spasms of
the muscles of the neck may be present. In acute pericarditis, when

236

the effusion is rapid and excessive, the animal may die in a few days,
or recovery may begin equally as early. In subacute or in chronic
cases the effusion may slowly become augmented until the pressure
upon the lungs and interference with the circulation become so great
that death will result. Whether the attack is acute, subacute, or
chronic, the characteristic symptoms which will guide us to a correct
diagnosis are the to-and-fro friction sound, whicli is always synchro-
nous with the heart's action, the high temperature with hard, irritable
pulse, and in cases of pericardial effusion the increased area of dull-
ness over the cardiac region. When the disease is associated with
influenza or rheumatism some of the sj'mptoms may be obscure, but
a careful examination will reveal sufficient upon which to base a diag-
nosis. When pericarditis develoi)s as a result of or in connection with
pleuritis, the distinction may not be very clearly definable, neither will
manj^ recover. When it results from a wound or broken rib it almost
invariabl}' proves fatal.

Pathology. — Pericarditis may at all times be regarded as a very seri-
ous affection. At first we will find an intense injection or accumula-
tion of blood in the vessels of the pericardium, giving it a red and
swollen appearance, during which we have the friction sound. In
twentj'-four or forty-eight hours this engorgement is followed b}^ an
exudation of sero-fibrinous fluid, the fibrinous jiortion of which may
soon form a coating over the internal surface of the pericardial sac,
and may ultimately form a union of the opposing surfaces. Generally
this adhesion will only be found to occuj)y a i^ortion of the surfaces.
As the serous or watery portion of this effusion is absorbed, the dis-
tinctness of the friction sound recurs, and may remain perceptible in
varied degree for a long time. When the serous effusion is very great,
the i^ressure exerted upon the heart Aveakens its action, and may pro-
duce death soon; when it is not so great, it may cause dropsies of other
portions of the body. When the adhesions of the pericardial sac to
the body of the heart are extensive, they generally lead to increased
growth or hj'pertrophy of the heart, witli or without dilatation of its
cavities; when they are but slight, tliey may not cause any incon-
venience.

Treatment. — In acute or subacute pericarditis the tincture of digi-
talis and tincture of aconite root may be mixed, taking equal quanti-
ties, and give 20 to 30 drop doses every hour until the pulse and
temi^crature become reduced. Bandages should be applied to the legs;
if they are verj- cold, tincture of capsicum should be first applied; the
bodj^ should be warmly clothed in blankets, to xiromote perspiration.
When the suffering from pain is very severe, 2 ounces of tincture of
opium ma}' bo given once or twice a day; nitrate of potassa, half an
ounce, in drinking water, every six hours; after the third day, iodide
of potassa, in 2-dram doses, may be substituted. Hot packs to the
vhest in the early stages of the disease may give marked relief, or

237

smart blisters may be applied to tlie sides of the chest with benefit.
If the disease becomes chronic, iodide of iron and gentian to support
the strength will be indicated, but the iodide of potassa, in 1 or 2
dram doses, two or three times a day, must not be abandoned so long
as there is an evidence of effusion or x^lastic exudate accumulating in
the pericardial sac. Where the effusion is great and threatens the
life of the patient, tapping, by an expert veterinarian, may save the
animal.

VALVULAR DISEASE OF THE HEART.

Acute valvular disease can not be distinguished from endocarditis,
and chronic valvular affections are generalh' the result of endocardial
inflammation. The valves of the left side are the most subject — the
bicuspid or mitral, and the aortic or semilunar. It may consist of
mere inflammation and swelling, or the edges of the valves may become
agglutinated by the organization of the exudation, thus narrowing the
passage. Valvular obstruction and adhesions may occur, or the tendi-
nous cords ma}^ be lengthened or shortened, thus obstructing the
orifices and i)ermitting the regurgitation of blood. In protracted
cases the fibrous tissue of the valves may be transformed into fibro-
cartilage or bone, or there may be deposits of salts of lime beneath
the serous membrane, which may terminate in ulceration, rupture, or
fissures. Sometimes the valves become covered by fibrinous, fleshy,
or cartilaginous vegetations or excrescences. In cases of considerable
dilatation of the heart there may be atrophy and shrinking of the
valves.

Si/mjjtoms. — Valvular disease may be indicated by a venous pulse,
jerking pulse, intermittent pulse, irregular pulse; palpitation; con-
stant abnormal fullness of the jugular veins; difficulty of breathing
when the animal becomes excited, or is urged out of a walk or into a
fast trot ; attacks of vertigo ; congestion of the brain ; dropsical swell-
ing of the limbs. A blowing, cooing, or bubbling murmur may some-
times be heard bj' placing the ear over the heart on the loft side of
the chest.

HjTDertrophy, or dilatation, or both, usually follows valvular dis-
ease.

Treatment. — When the pulse is irregular, or irritable, tonics, such
as preparations of iron, gentian, and ginger, may be given. When
the action of the heart is jerking or violent, 20 to 30 drop doses of
tincture of digitalis or of veratrum viride may be given until these
sjnnptoms abate. As the disease nearlj- alwaj's is the result of endo-
carditis, the iodide of potassa and general tonics, sometimes stimu-
lants, when general debility suiiervenes, may be of temporary 1)enefit.
Very few animals recover, or remain useful for any length of time,
after once marked organic changes have taken place in the valvular
structure of the heart.

238

ADVENTITIOUS GROWTHS IN THE HEART.

Fibrous, (■(.irtihujinous, and honij formations liave been observed in
some rare instances in the mnscnlar tissne. Isolated calcareons
masses have sometimes been imbedded in the cardiac walls. Fibri-
nous coagida and polypous concretions may be foniid in the cavities of
the heart. The former consist of coagulated fibrin, separated from
the mass of blood, of a whitish or yellowisli white color, translu-
cent, of a jellj'-like consistence, and having a nucleus in the center.
They may slightly adhere to the surface of the cavity, from Avhich
they can easily be separated without altering the structure of the
endocardium. They probably i-esult from an excess of coagulability
of fibrin, wliich is produced by an organization of the lymph during
exudation. They are usually found in the right auricle and ventricle.

Polypous concretions are firmer than the preceding, more opaque,
of a fibrous texture, and ma}^ be composed of successive layers. In
souie instances they are exceedingly minute, while in others they
almost fill one or more of the cavities. Their color is usually white,
but occasionally red from the presence of blood. They firmly adhere
to the endocardium, and when detached from it give it a torn appear-
ance. Occasionall}', a Avascular communication seems to exist between
them and the substance of the heart. They may be the result of
fibrinous exudation from inflammation of the inner surface of the
heart, or the coagulation of a portion of the blood Avhich afterwards
contracts adhesion with the heart. These concretions prove a source
of great inconvenience, and often danger, no matter how formed.
They cause a diminution in the cavity in which they are found, thus
narrowing the orifice through which the blood passes, or preventing a
proper coaptation of the valves, which may protluee most serious
valvular disease.

Si/niptoins. — These are fre<iuently uncertain; they may, however,
be suspected when the action of the heart suddenly becomes embar-
rassed with irregular and confused pulsations, gTeat difficulty of
breathing, and the usual signs dependent upoji the imperfect arteri-
alization of the blood.

Treatment. — Stimulauls, Avhisky, or carl)onate of ammonia, may be
of service.

FUNCTIONAL AND ORGANIC DISEASES OF THE HEART.

The distinction between f unci ional and organic diseases of the heart
is not easily made. We may accept as a guide that the character of
organic diseases of the heart is to ijrogress, and that of functional to
occur at regular intervals; active exercise almost invariably aggra-
vates organic but seldom increases the symptoms of functional dis-
ease, and that the physical signs generally are soon developed, and
remain permanent in organic, while they seldom exist in functional.

239

PALPITATION OF THE HEART.

This is a tumultuous and usually irregular beating of the heart.
It may be due to a A'ariety of causes, both functional and organic.
■\Vc will, however, exclude tlio organic causes which lead to irregular
action, and give it a more simple specification. It may occur as a
result of indigestion, fright, increased nervousness, sudden excite-
ment, excessive speeding, etc. (See "Thumps.")

Symptoms. — The heart may act with such violence that each beat
may jar the whole body of the animal ; very commonly it may be heard
at a short distance away from the animal. It can, usuallj^, be traced
A'cry readily to the exciting cause, which we may be able to avoid or
overcome in the future and thereby obviate subsequent attacks.
Rest, a mild stimulant, or a dose or two of tincture of digitalis or
opium ^xi\\ generally give prompt relief. AVlien it is due to organic
impairment of tlie heart it must be regarded as a symptom, not as a
matter for primarj^ specific treatment.

SYNCOPE — FAINTING.

Actual fainting rarelj' occurs among horses. It may, however, be
induced by a raind and great loss of blood, pain of great intensity, a
mechanical interference with the circulation of the brain, etc.

Symptoms. — S3'ncoj)e is characterized hy a decrease or temporary
suspension of the action of the heart and respiration, with partial or
total loss of consciousness. It generally occurs suddenly, though
there may be premonitory symptoms, as giddiness or vertigo, dilated
pupil, staggering, blanching of the visible mucous membranes, a
rapidly sinking jjulse, and dropping to the ground. The pulse is
feeble or ceases to beat; the surface of the body turns cold; breath-
ing is searcelj^ to be perceived, and the animal may be entirely uncon-
scious. This state is uncertain in duration; generally it lasts only a
few minutes; the circulation becomes restored, breathing becomes
more distinct, and consciousness and muscular strength return. In
cases attended with much hemorrhage or organic disease of the heart,
the fainting fit may be fatal; otherwise it will prove but a transient
occurrence. In j)aralysis of the heart tlie symptoms may be exactlj^
similar to syncope. Syncojie may be distinguished from apoplexy by
the absence of stertorous breathing, and lividitj^ of the visible mucous
membranes.

Treatment. — Dash cold water on the head; administer a stimulant,
4 ounces of whisky or half an ounce of carbonate of ammonia. Pre-
vent the animal from getting up too soon, or the attack may immedi-
ately recur. AfterAvards, if the attack was due to weakness from loss
of blood, impoverished blood, or associated with debility, general
tonics, rest, and nourishing food are indicated.

240

HYPERTROPHY OF THE HEART — CARDIAC ENLARGEMENT.

Ilypertroijliy of tlie lieart implies augmentation of bulk in its muscu-
lar substance, with or without dilatation or contraction of its cavities.
It may exist with or without other cardiac affections. In valvular
disease or valvular insufficiency hypertroi^hy frequently results as a
consequence of increased demand for propelling jDower. The difficul-
ties with which it is most frequently connected are dilatation and
ossification of the valves. It may also occur in connection with atro-
phied kidneys, weak heart, etc. It may be caused by an increased
determination of blood to the organ, or from a latent form of myo-
carditis, and it may arise from a long-continued increase of action
dependent upon nervous disease. All the cavities of the heart may
have their walls hypertrophied or the thickening may involve one or
more. AVhile the wall of a ventricle is thickened its cavity ma}^ retain
its normal size — simple liypeiiropliy — or be dilated — eccentric hyper-
iropliy — or it may be contracted — concentric liypertropliy. Hyper-
trophy of both ventricles increases the length and breadth of the
heart. Ilypertrophj" of the left ventricle alone increases its length;
of the right ventricle alone increases its breadth toward the right side.
Hypertrophy with dilatation may affect the chambers of the heart
conjointly or separately. This form is by far the most frequent
variety of cardiac enlargement. When the entire heart is affected it
assumes a globular appearance, the apex being almost obliterated,
and situated transversely in the chest. The bulk may become three
or four times greater than the average size of heart.

Symptoms. — In hypertroiDhy of the heart, in addition to the Tisual
symj^toms manifested in organic diseases of the heart, there is a pow-
erful and heaving impulse at each beat, which may be felt on the left
side, often also on the right. These i)ulsations are regular, and when
full and strong at the jaw there is a tendencj'^ to active congestion of
the capillary vessels, which frequently gives rise to local inflamma-
tion, active hemorrhage, etc. If the i^ulse is small and feeble at the
jaw we may conclude that there is some obstacle to the escape of the
blood from the left ventricle into the aorta, which has given rise to
the hypertrophy. In case of hypertrophy with dilatation, the impulse
is not only powerful and heaving, but it is diffused over the whole
region of the heart, and the normal sounds of the lieart are greatly
increased in intensity. Percussion reveals an enlarged area of dull-
ness, while the impulse is usually much stronger than normal.

Dropsy of the pericardium will give the same wide space of dull-
ness, but the imi5ulse and sound are lessened. An animal with a
moderate degree of enlargement may possibly live a number of j'ears
and be capable of ordinary work ; it depends largely uxDon concomi-
tant disease. As a rule, an animal affected with hypertrophy of the
heart will soon be incaj)acitated for work, and become useless and
incurable.

241

Treatment.— 11 the cause can be discovered and is removable it
should be done. The iodide of potassa, in cases of valvular thick-
ening, may be of some benefit if continued for a sufBcient length of
time; it may be given in 2-dram doses, twice a day, for a month or
more. Ilj'drocyanic acid, in 30-drox) doses twice a day, may relieve
abnormal muscular irritability. General tonics, freedom from excite-
ment or fatigue, avoidance of bulky food, good ventilation, etc., are
indicated.

DILATATIOX OF THE HEART.

This is an enlargement of the cavities of tlie heart, and may be
confined to one or extend to all. Two forms of dilatation may be men-
tioned— simple dilatation, where there is normal thickness of the walls,
and passive or attenuated dilatation, where the walls are simply dis-
tended or stretched out without any addition of substance.

Causes. — Any cause producing constant and excessive exertion of
the heart maj" lead to dilatation. Valvular disease is the most fre-
quent cause. General anaemia predisposes to it by i^roduciug relaxa-
tion of muscular fiber. Changes in the muscular tissue of the heart-
walls, serous infiltration from pericarditis, myocarditis, fatty degen-
eration and infiltration, atrophy of the muscular fibers, may lead to
dilatation.

Symptoms. — The movements of the heart are feeble and prolonged, a
disi^osition to staggering or vertigo, dropsy of the limbs, very pale or
very dark-colored membranes, and difficult breathing on the slightest
excitement.

Treatment. — General tonics, rich food, and rest.

FATTY DEGENERATION OF THE HEART.

Fatty degeneration may involve the whole organ or may be limited
to its walls, or even to circumscribed i)atches. The latter is situated
at the exterior, and gives it a mottled appearance. When generally
involved it is flabby or flaccid, and in extreme cases collapses when
emptied or cut. Upon dissection the interior of the ventricles is
observed to be covered with buff-colored spots of a singular zigzag-
form. This apx)earance maybe noticed beneath the pericardium, and
pervading the whole thickness of the ventricular walls, and in extreme
cases those of the fleshj^ columns in the interior of the heart. These
spots are found to be degenerated muscular fibers and colonies of oil-
globules. Fatty degeneration is often associated with other morbid
conditions of the heart, as obesity, dilatation, rupture, aneurism, etc.
It may be connected with fatty diseases of other organs, as the liver,
kidneys, etc. AVhen it exists alone its i^resence is seldom suspected
previous to death. It may be secondary to hypertrophy of the heart,
to myocarditis, or to pericarditis. It may be due to deteriorated con-
ditions of the blood in wasting diseases, excessive hemorrhages, etc.,
or to poisoning with arsenic and phosphorus.

242

Symptoms. — Tlie most prominent sjnnptoms of fatty degeneration
are a feeble action of the heart, a remarkably slow pnlse, general
debility, and attacks of vertigo. It may exist for a long time, but is
apt to suddenly terminate in death upon the occurrence of other dis-
eases, surgical operations, etc. It may involve a liabilitj^ to sudden
death from rupture of the ventricular walls.

Treatment. — Confinement in feed to oats, wheat or rye bran, and
timoth}' hay. Twenty drops of sulphni'ie acid may be given in drink-
ing-water three times a day, and hyi^ophosphite of iron in 2-dram doses,
mixed with the feed twice a day. (^ther tonics and stimulants as they
may be indicated.

ATROPHV OF THE HEART — WASTING.

A diminution of muscular substance of the heart and consiequent
accrease in bulk and weight. It is generally due to imperfect nutri-
tion from occlusion of the blood-vessels which supplj- it.

Symptoms. — The heart beat is weak and hardly perceptible; the
area of dullness over the region of the heart is lessened. Further than
this it furnishes no characteristic symptoms which distinguish it from
some other diseases of this organ. Treatment is of no avail.

RUPTURE OF THE HEART.

This may occur as the result of some lu'cvious disease, as fatty
degeneration, dilatation with weakness of the muscular walls, etc.
It may be caused by external violence, a crushing fall, pressure of
some great weight, etc. Usually, death follows a rupture verj^
quickly, though an animal may live for some time when the rent is
not Aery large.

AVEAKNESS OF THE HEART.

Tills niay arise from general debility, the j-esult of exhausting dis-
ease, overwork or heart strain, or loss of blood. It is indicated by a
small, feeble, but generally regular j)ulse, coldness of the bod}^, etc.

Treatment. — This should be directed to support and increase the
strength of the animal, by tonics, rest, and nutritious food. Carbon-
ate of ammonia may be given to stimulate the heart's action and to
prevent the formation of heart-clot.

CONGESTION OF THE HEART.

Congestion, or an accumulation of the blood in the cavities of the
heai-t, may occur in consequence of fibrinous deposits interfering with
the free movements of the valves, usually the product of endocarditis.

Symptoms. — Great difficulty of breathing, paleness of the visible
mucous membranes, great anxiet}^ frequently accompanied b}- a gen-
eral tremor and cold perspiration, followed by death. It usually
results in death very quickly.

243

CYANOSIS.

This is a condition sometimes found in foals immediateh* after birth,
and is due to non-closure of the foramen ovale, which allows a mix-
tuer of the venous with the arterial blood in the left cavities of the
heart. It is characterized by a dark purple or bluish color of the visi-
ble mucous membranes, shortness of breath, and general feebleness.
Foals thus affected generally live only a few hours after birth.

DISEASES OF ARTERIES — ARTERITIS AND ENDARTERITIS.

Inflammation of arteries is rarely observed in the horse as a pri-
marj' affection. Direct injuries, such as blows, may produce a con-
tusion and subsequent inflammation of the wall of an artery; severe
muscular sfjrain may involve an arterial trunk; hypertrophy of the
heart, by increasing arterial tension, may result in the iH'oduciJon of
a general endarteritis. Septic infection maj' affect the inner coat and
ultimately involve all three, or it may be the result of an inflamma-
tion in the A'icinity of the vessels, etc. Inflammation of arteries,
wliate;,'er the cause may be, often leads to very serious results in the
development of secondary changes in their walls. Arteritis may be
acute, subacute, or chronic; wlien the inner coat alone is affected it
is known as endarteritis.

Symptoms. — Arteritis is characterized by a painful swelling along
the inflamed vessel, throbbing pulse, coldness of the parts supplied
by the inflamed vessel, sometimes the formation of gangi-enous sloughs,
suppuration, abscess, etc. In an inflammation of the iliac arteries we
find coldness and excessive lameness or j)aralysis of one or both hind
limbs.

Patlwlogy. — In acute arteritis we find swelling along the vessel, loss
of elasticity, friabilit}-, and thickening of the walls; a roughness and
loss of gloss of the inner coat, with the formation of coagula or pus in
the vessel. Subacute or chronic arteritis may affect only the outer
coat — periarteritis; both the outer and middle coat, or the inner coat
alone — endarteritis; and by weakening the respective coats leads to
rupture, aneurism, or to degenerations, such as bony, calcareous,
fatty, atheromatous, etc. It may also lead to sclerosis or increase of
fibrous tissue, especially in the kidneys, when it may result in the
condition known as arterio-capiJlary fibrosis. Chronic endarteritis is
fruitful in the production of thrombus and atheroma. Arteritis may
be limited to single trunks, or it may affect, more or less, all the
arteries of the body. Arteries which are at the seat of chronic endar-
teritis are liable to suffer degenerative changes, consisting chiefly of
fatty degeneration, calcification, or the breaking down of the degen-
erated tissue, and the formation of erosions or ulcer-like openings in
the inner coat. These erosions are frequently called atheromatous
ulcers, and fragments of tissue from these ulcers mav be carried into

244

the circulation, forming emboli. Fibrinous thrombi are apt to form
upon the roughened surface of the inner coat, or upon the surface of
the erosions.

Fatty degeneration and calcification of the middle and outer coats
may occur, and large, hard, calcareous j^lates jDroject inward, upon
which thrombi may form or may exist in connection with atheroma
of the inner coat. When there is much thickening and increase of
new tissue in the wall of the affected artery, it ma}^ encroach upon
the capacity of the vessel, and even lead to obliteration. This is
often associated with interstitial inflammation of glandular organs.

Treatment. — Carbonate of potassa in dram doses, to be given in 4
ounces liquor acetate of ammonia every six hours. Scalded bran
sufficient to produce loosening of the bowels, and complete rest.
Externally, applications of hot water or hot hop infusion.

ATHEROMA.

Atheroma is a direct result of an existing chronic endarteritis, the
lining membrane of the vessels being invariably involved to a greater
or less degree. It is most frequently found in the arteries, altjiough
the veins may develop an atheromatous condition when exposed to any
source of prolonged irritation. Atheroma may affect arteries in any
part of the body; in some instances almost every vessel is diseased, in
others only a few, or even parts of one vessel. It is a very common
result of endocarditis extending into the aorta, which we find perhaps
the most frequent seat of atheroma. As a result of this condition the
affected vessel becomes impaired in its contractile power, loses it nat-
ural strength, and in consequence of its inabilitj- to sustain its accus-
tomed internal pressure, undergoes, in many cases, dilatation at the
seat of disease, constituting aneurism. In an atheromatous vessel,
calcareous deposits soon occur, which render it rigid, brittle, and sub-
ject to ulceration or rupture. In such vessels the contractility is
destroyed, the middle coat atrophied and bej'ond repair. Atheroma
in the vessels of the brain is a frequent cause of cerebral apoplexy.
No symptoms are manifested hy which we can recognize this condition
during life.

CONSTRICTION OF AN ARTERY.

This is usually the result of arteritis, and may partly or wholl}^ be
impervious to the flow of blood. AVhen this occurs in a large vessel it
may be followed by gangrene of the j)arts ; usually, however, collateral
circulation will be established to nourish the parts previously supplied
by the obliterated vessel. In a few instances constriction of the aorta
has produced death.

ANEURISM.

Aneurism is usually described as true and /a/w. True aneurism is
a dilatation of the coats of an artery over a larger or smaller part of

245

its course. Such dilatations arc usually due to chronic endarteritis
and atheroma. False aneurism is formed after a puncture of an
artery by a dilatation of the adhesive lymph by which the puncture
was united.

Sijinptouis. — If the aneurism is seated along the neck or a limb, it
appears as a tumor in the course of an artery, and pulsating with
it. The tumor is round, soft, and compressible, and yields a pecul-
iar fluctuation upon pressure. By applying the ear over it a peculiar
purring or hissing sound may sometimes be heard. Pulsation, syn-
chronous with the action of the heart, is the diagnostic symjDtom. It
is of a slow, expansive, and heavy character, as if the whole tumor
were enlarging under the hand. Aneurisms seated internally may
occupj'- the cavity of the cranium, chest, or abdomen. As regards the
first, little is known during life, for all the symptoms which they pro-
duce may arise from other causes. Aneurism of the anterior aorta
may be situated very closely to the heart or in the arch, and it is very
seldom that we can distinguish it from disease of the heart. The
tumor maj^ encroach upon the wind-pipe and produce difficulty in
breathing, or it may produce pressure upon the vente cavfe or the
thoracic duct, obstructing the flow of blood and lymph. In fact,
whatever parts the aneurism may reach or subject to its pressure
may have their functions suspended or disturbed. When the tumor
in the chest is large we generally find much irregularity in the action
of the heart; the superficial veins of the neck are distended, and there
is usually dropsical swelling under the breast and of the limbs. There
may be a very trouljjlesome cough "without any evidence of lung affec-
tion. Sometimes pulsation of the tumor may be felt at the lower part
of the neck where it joins the chest. AVlien the aneurism occurs in
the posterior aorta no diagnostic sj^mptoms are appreciable ; when it
occurs in the internal iliac arteries an examination per rectum will
reveal it.

There is one form of aneurism which is not unfrequently overlooked
affecting the anterior mesenteric artery, primarily induced by a worm —
the Strongylus armatus. This worm produces an arteritis with athe-
roma, degeneration, and dilatation of the mesenteric arteries, associ-
ated with thrombus and aneurism. The aneurism gives rise to colic,
which appears periodically in a verj^ violent and often i)ersistent type.
Ordinary colic remedies have no effect, and after a time the animal
succumbs to the disease. In all cases of animals which are habitually
subject to colicky attacks i^arasitic aneurism of the anterior mesen-
teric artery may be suspected.

Pathology. — Aneurisms may be diffuse or sacculated. The diffuse
consists in a uniform dilatation of all the coats of an arter}', so that it
assumes the shaj)e of a cylindrical swelling. The Avail of the aneurism
is atheromatous or calcified ; the middle coat may be atrophied. The
sacculated or circumscribed aneurism consists either in a dilatation of

246

the entire circumference of an artery over a short portion of its length,
or in a dilatation of only a small portion »f one side of the wall. Aneu-
rism may become very large ; as it increases in size it presses uj)on and
causes the destruction of neighboring tissues. The cavity of the aneu-
rismal sac is filled Avith fluid or clotted blood, or with layers of fibrin
which adhere closely to its wall. Death is produced usually by the
pressure and interference of the aneurism with adjoining organs, or
by rui)ture. In worm aneurism we usually find large thrombi within
the aneurismal dilatation of the artery, which sometimes plug the
whole vessel or extend into the aorta. Portions of this thrombus or
clot may be washed away and produce embolism of a smaller artery.
The effect in either case is to produce ana?mia of the intestinal canal,
serous or bloodj" exudation in its walls, which leads to paralysis of the
intestine and resultant colicky symptoms.

Treatment. — The only treatment advisable is to extirpate or ligate
the tumor above and below.

RUPTUKE OF AN ARTERY,

Endarteritis, with its subsequent changes in the walls of arteries, is
the primary cause of rupture in the majority of instances. The rup-
ture may be partial, involving only one or two coats, and will then
form an aneurism. If complete, it may produce death when it
involves a large vessel, especially if it is situated in one of the large
cavities, permitting an excessive escape of blood. Rupture may be
produced by mechanical violence or accident.

Symi^toms. — In fatal rupture associated witl^ profuse bleeding,
the animal becomes weak, the visible mucous membranes become
blanched, the breathing hurried or gasping, j)upils dilated, staggering
in gait, syncope, death. When the hemorrhage is limited, the symp-
toms may not become noticeable; if it is near the surface of the body
a round or diffuse swelling or tumor may form, constituting a 7i?/^roma.
If the rupture is associated with an external wound the bleeding artery
should be ligated, or where a bandage is applicable, pressure may be
applied by tight bandaging. As a secondary result of rupture of an
artery we may have formation of abscess, gangrene of a part, etc.

Treatment. — When rupture of a deep-seated artery is suspected,
large doses of fluid extract of ergot may be given to produce contrac-
tion of the blood-vessels. Tannin and ii'on are also useful. The
animal should be allowed to have as much water as he desires.
Afterwards stimulants and nourishing food are indicated.

THROMBUS AND EMBOLISM.

By thrombosis is generally undei'stood the partial or complete clo-
sure of a vessel by a morbid product dcAcloped at the site of the
obstruction. The coagulum, which is usually fibi-inous, is known as
a thrombus. The term embolism designates an obstruction caused

247

by auy body detaclied and transported from the interior of the heart,
or of some vessel. Thrombi occur as the result of an injury to the
wall of the vessel, or may follow its compression or dilatation ; they
may result from some alteration of the wall of the vessel by disease, or
by the retardation of the circulation. These formations may occur
during life, in the heart, arteries, veins, or in the portal sj'stem.
When a portion of fibrin coagulates in one of the arteries and is car-
ried along by the circulation, it will be arrested, of course, in the
capillaries, if not before; when in the veins it may not be stopped
until it reaches the lungs; and when in the portal sj-stcm the capilla-
ries of the liver will prevent its further progress. The formation of
tlirombi may act primarily by causing partial or complete obstruction,
and secondarily, either by larger or smaller fragments becoming-
detached from their end, and by being carried along by the circula-
tion of the blood to remote vessels, embolism; or b}' the coagulum
becoming softened and converted into pus, constituting suppurative
phlebitis. These substances occur most frequently in those affections
characterized by great exhaustion or debility, as j)neumonia, purpura
hemorrhagica, endocarditis, phlebitis, puerperal fever, hemorrhages,
etc. These concretions may form suddenly and produce instantane-
ous death byretai'^ing the blood current, or they may arise gradually,
in which case the thrombi maybe organized and attaclied to the walls
of the heart, or they may §often, and fragments of them (emboli) may
be carried awaj'. The small, wart-like excrescences, occurring some-
times in endocarditis, may occasionally form a foundation on which a
thrombi may develop.

Sipnptoms. — When heart clot or thrombus exists in the right side
the return of blood from the body and the aeration in the lungs are
impeded, and if death occurs it is owing to sjTicoiJe rather than to
strangulation in pulmonary respiration. There will be hurried and
gasping breathing, ijaleness and coldness of the surface of the bod}^
a feeble and intermittent or fluttering pulse, and fainting. When a
fibrinous coagulum is carried into the j)ulmonary arterj' from the right
side of the heart, the indications are a swelling and infiltration of the
lungs and pulmonary apoplexy. When the clot is situated in the left
canities of the heart or in the aorta, death, if it occurs, takes place
either suddenly or at the end of a few hours from coma.

Pathology. — When a coagulum is observed in the heart it may
become a question whether it was formed during life or after death.
The loose, dark coagula, so often found after death, are polypi. If
the dej)osition has taken i)lacc during the last moments of life, the
fibrin viill be isolated and soft, but not adherent to the walls; if it be
isohited, dense, and adherent or closely intertwined with the muscles
of the paiDillse and tendinous cords, the deposition has occurred more
or less remote from the act of dying. Occasionally the fibrin may be
seen lining one of the cavities of tlio heart, like a false endocardium,

248

or else forming an additional coat to the aorta or other large vessels
without producing much obstruction. Thrombi, in some instances,
soften in their centers, and are then observed to contain a pus-like
substance. If this softening has extended considerably an outer shell
or cyst only may remain. The sources of danger exist not only in the
interruiDtion of the circulation of the blood, but also in a morbid state
of the system, produced by the disturbed nutrition of a limb or organ,
as well as the mingling of purulent and gangrenous elements with the
blood.

Treatment. — The urgent symjjtoms should be relieved by rest, stim-
ulants, and the use of agents which will act as solvents to the fibri-
nous clots. Alkalies are si3ecially useful for this i^urpose. Carbonate
of ammonia may be administered in all cases of thrombus, and should
be continued for a long time in small doses several times a day. In
cases of great debility associated Avith a low grade of fever, stimulants
and tonics, and nitro-muriatic acid as an antiseptic, may be bene-
ficial.

DISEASES OF VEINS — PHLEBITIS.

Inflammation of veins may bo simj)le or diffuse. In simple phle-
bitis the disease of the vein is confined to a circumscribed or limited
portion of a vein ; in diffuse it involves the vein for a long distance ;
it may even extend from a limb or foot to the heart.

Causes. — Phlebitis may be induced hy contusions or direct injuries,
an extension of inflammation from surrounding tissue, as in abscess,
formation of tumor, or malignant growth. It is often due to embolism
of infective material, gangrenous matter, etc. Blood-letting from the
jugular vein is occasionally followed by dangerous phlebitis.

Symptoms.— T\\(i symptoms vary according to the extent and
severity of the inflammation. In most cases the vein is swollen,
thickened, and indurated to such a degree as to resemble an artery.
A diffused swelling, with great tenderness, may extend along the
affected vessel and the animal manifest all the symptoms connected
with acute fever and general functional distiirbance.

Pathology. — The disease is only serious when large veins are
affected. The coats undergo the same changes as in arteritis, clots of
blood and lymph plug the inflamed vessel, and if the inflammatory
process continues these are converted into pus, which ruptures the
vessel and produces a deej) abscess; or it may be carried away in the
circulation and produce metastatic abcess in the lungs or other remote
organs. In mild cases the clots may become absorbed and the vessel
restored to health. Phlebitis in the course of the veins of the limbs
frequentl}^ leads to numerous abscesses, which maj" be mistaken for
farcy ulcerations. A very common result of phlebitis is an oblitera-
tion of the affected portion of the vein, but as collateral circulation
is readilj^ established this is seldom of any material inconvenience.

249

Treatment. — Phlebitis should be treated by the application of a
smart blister along the course of the inflamed vessel; early opening
of any abscesses which may form; tlie animal should have complete
rest, and the bowels be kept loose with bran mashes. When the fever
runs high, half-ounce doses of nitrate of potassa may be given in the
drinking water, which may be changed in two or three days for dram
doses of the iodide of iwtassa. If the animal becomes debilitated,
carbonate of ammonia, 1 dram, and powdered gentian, 3 drams, may
bo given ever}- six hours.

VARICOSE VEINS — VARIX — DILATION OF VEINS.

This may be a result of weakening of the coats from inflanimatorj^
disease and degeneration. It may also be due to mechanical obstruc-
tion from internal or external sources. It is sometimes found in the
vein which lies sux)erficial over the inside of the hock- joint, and may
be due to the pressure of a spavin. Occasionally it may be observed
in stallions, which are more or less subject to varicocele or dilatation
of the veins of the testicular cord. Hemorrhoidal veins or piles are
occasionally met with, generally in horses which run at pasture.
Varicose veins ma}' ulcerate and form an abscess in the surrounding
tissues, or they may rujiture from internal blood pressure and the
blood form large tumors where the tissues are soft.

Treatment. — Stallions which manifest a tendency' to varicocele
should wear suspensory bags when thej' are exercised. Piles may
often be reduced by astringent washes — tea made from white oak
bark or a saturated solution of alum. The bowels should be kept
loose with bran mashes and the animal kept quiet in the stable.
When varicose veins exist suijerficially and threaten to produce
inconvenience, they may be ligated above and below and thus oblit-
erated. Sometimes absorption may be induced by constant bandages.

AIR IN VEINS — AIR EMBOLISM.

It was formerly supposed that the entrance of air into a vein at the
time of the infliction of a Avound or in blood-letting was extremely
dangerous and very often produced sudden death by interfering with
the circulation of the blood through the heart and lungs. Danger
from air embolism is exceedingly doubtful, unless great quantities
were forced into a large vein by artificial means.

PURPURA HEMORRHAGICA.

Purpura hemorrhagica usually occurs as a sequel to debilitating
diseases, such as strangles, influenza, etc. It may, however, arise in
the absence of any previous disease in badlj^ ventilated stables, among
poorly fed horses, and in animals subject to exhausting work and
extreme temperatures. It is apparently due to a primary deteriora-
tion of the blood, weakness of the capillary vessels, and general

2o0

debility or exliaustioii of tlie nervous system. Its gravity does not
depend so much upon the amount of l)k)od ext ravasated as it does
upon the disturbance or diminished action of the vasomotor centers.

Syntpfomt;. — This disease becomes manifested b}' the occurrence of
sudden swellings on various parts of the body, on the head or lips,
limbs, abdomen, etc. They may l)e diffused or very markedly cir-
cumscribed, though in the advanced stages they cover large areas.
They pit on jiressure and are but slightly i)ainful to the touch. The
limbs may swell to a verj' large size, the nostrils may become almost
closed, and the head and throat n\ay swell to the point of suffocation.
The swellings not infrequently disappear from one portion of the
body and develop on another, or may recede from the surface and
invade the intestinal mucous membrane. The mucous lining of the
nostrils and mouth is covered with dark red or purple spots, a bloody
colored serum ilows from the nostrils, the tongue may be swollen and
prevent eating or closing of the jaAvs. In twenty-four or forty-eight
hours bloody serum may exude through the skin over the swollen parts,
and finally large gangrenous sloughs may form. The temperature is
never very high, the pulse is frecxuent and compressible, and becomes
feebler as the animal loses strength. A cough is usually i^resent.
The urine is scanty and high colored, and when the intestines are
much affected a bloody diarrhea may set in, with colicky pains. Some
of the internal organs may become implicated in the disease, the lungs
may become cedematous, extravasation may occur in the intestinal
canal, or effusion of serum into the cavity of the chest or abdomen;
occasionally the brain becomes affected. A few cases run a mild
course and recovery niixy commence in .three or four days; generalh',
however, the outlook is unfavorable. In severe cases septic poison-
ing is liable to occur, which soon brings the case to a fatal issue.

PdHioloyy. — (^n section we find the capillaries dilated, the connect-
ive tissue filled with a coagulable or coagulated lymph, and frequentlj'^
we may discover gangrenous spots beneath the skin or involving the
skin. The lymphatic glands are swollen and inflamed. Extensive
extravasations of blood may be found imbedded between the coats of
the intestines, or excessive effusion into the substance of the lungs.

Treatment. — Diffusible stimulants and tonics should be given from
the very start, regardless of fever or frequency of the pulse. Car-
bonate of ammonia, 1 dram; fluid extract of red cinchona bark, 2
drams, and tincture of ginger half an ounce, with half a pint of water;
thin gruel or milk should be given every four or six hours. Sulj^hate
of iron in drjim doses may be dissolved in water and given every six
hours. Chlorate of i^otassa in 2-ounce doses may be given every eight
or twelve hours. When the discharges from the mouth and nose
become offensive to the smell, 10 drops of carbolic acid in two ounces
of water may be given in a drench, or thrown on the root of the tongue
with a syi'inge several times a day. Where the swelling is veiy gi-eat,

251

incisions half an inch in length penetrating the skin shonld be made
with a sharj) knife, to permit drainage. The application of liniments
or washes externall}^ is of no nse, and if injudicionsly used may do
harm. Complications, when they arise, must be treated with proper
circumspection.

DISEASES OF THE I.YMPHATIC SYSTEM.

The lymphatic or absorbent system is connected with tlie blcod vas-
cular system, and consists of a series of tubes which absorb and con-
vey to the blood certain fluids. These tubes lead to lymphatic glands,
through Avhich the fluids pass to reach the right lymphatic vein and
thoracic duct, both of which enter the venous system near the heart.
Through the excessively thin walls of the capillaries the fluid part of
the blood transudes, to nourish the tissues outside the capillaries; at
the same time fluid i)asses from the tissues into the blood. The fluid,
after it jDasses into the tissues, constitutes the lymph, and acts like a
stream irrigating the tissue elements. Much of the surplus of this
Ij'miih ijasses into the lymjfli vessels, which in their commencement
can hardly be treated as indei^endent structures, since their walls are
so closely joined with the tissues through which they pass, being
nothing more than spaces in the connective tissue until they reach the
larger lymph vessels, which finally empty into lymj)h glands. These
lyDiph glands are structures so placed that the lymph flowing towards
the larger trunks passes through them, undergoing a sort of filtration.
From the fact of this arrangement lymj)h glands are subject to inflam-
matory diseases in the vicinity of diseased structures, because infect-
ive material being conveyed in the lymph stream lodges in the glands
and produces irritation.

LOCAL INFLAMMATION AND ABSCESS OF LYMPHATIC GLANDS.

Acute inflammation of the lymph glands usually occurs in connec-
tion with some inflammatory xjrocess in the region from which its
lymph is gathered. Several or all of the glands in a cluster may
become affected, as in strangles, nasal catarrh, or nasal gleet, diseased
or ulcerated teeth, the lymph glands between the branches of the
lower jaw almost invariably become affected, which may lead to sup-
puration or induration. Similar results obtain in other portions of
the body; in pneumonia the bronchial glands become affected; in
pharyngitis, the post-pharyngeal glands lying above tlie trachea
become affected, etc.

Symptoms. — The glands swell and become painful to the touch, the
connective -tissue surrounding them becomes involved, suppuration
usually takes place, and one or more abscesses form. If the inflam-
nuition is of a milder type, resolution may take place and the swelling
recede, the exudative material being absorbed, and the gland restored
without the occurrence of suppuration. In the limbs a whole chain

252

of the glands along the lymphatic vessels may become affected, as in
farcy, phlebitis, or septic poisoning.

Treatment. — Fomentation with hot water, the application of cam-
phorated soap liniment, or camphorated oil, may i)roduce a revulsive
action and prevent suppuration. If there is any indication of abscess
forming, poultices of linseed meal and bran made into a paste with
hot water should be applied, or a mild blistering ointment rubbed in
over the swollen gland. As soon as fluctuation can be felt a free
opening must be made for the escape of the contained pus. The
wound may subsequently be washed out with a solution of chloride
of zinc, 5 grains to the ounce of water, three times a day.

HYPERTROPHIED LYMPHATICS.

This is characterized by an enlargement and growth of lymi^hatic
glands; the causes are obscure, but they sometimes attain an enor-
mous size, and seriously interfere with neighboring organs. This con-
dition is sometimes found in the region of the throat above the larynx,
and produces wheezing or roaring, b}" j)ressing upon the recurrent
laryngeal nerve. It may occur in the bronchial glands of the chest,
and interfere with the action of the heart and respiration. The
SAvelling is not painful or feverish ; it may be very hard or may be
rather soft; occasionally they contain a cheesy deposit or even
undergo calcification. A condition almost similar to this may be
induced by chronic inflammation. In such cases, however, the gland-
ular structure may become lessened, as the result of i^ressure by an
increase of fibrous or connective tissue, although a large tumor at the
site of the gland remains. This may become gradually absorbed;
more often, however, recurrence of inflammation takes place and
frequentl}- small abscesses form.

Treatment. — Repeated blistering with ointment of cantharides 8
parts, bin-iodide of mercury 1 part, to be thoroughly mixed and
applied once in ten days or two weeks. If this fails, extirpation will
become necessar3^

LYMPHANGITIS.

Specific inflammation of the lymphatic structures, usually affecting
the hind leg, very seldom a fore leg. This disease is very sudden in
its attack, exceedingly painful, acconipanied by a high temperature,
and great general disturbance.

Causes. — Horses of lymphatic or sluggish tempei'ament are j^redis-
posed to this affection. It usually attacks well-fed animals, and in
such cases may be due to an excess of nutritive elements in the blood.
Sudden changes in work or in the habits of the animal may induce an
attack.

Symptoms. — It is usually ushered in b}^ a chill, rise in temperature,
and some uneasiness; in a very short time this is followed by lame-
ness in one leg and swelling (m the inside of the thigh. The swelling

253

gradually surrounds the wliole limb, continues on downward until it
reaches the foot. The limb is excessively tender to the touch, the
animal perspires, the breathing is accelerated, pulse hard and quick,
and the temjDerature may reach 100^ Fah. The bowels early become
constipated, and the urine scant}'. The sj'mptoms usually are on the
increase for about two days, then they remain stationary for the same
length of time; the fever tlien abates; the swelling recedes and
becomes less j)ainful. It is very seldom, though, that all the swelling
leaves the leg; generally it leaves some permanent enlargement, and
the animal becomes subject to recurrent attacks. Occasionally, the
inguinal Ij-miahatic glands (in the groin) undergo sui^i^uration, and
pyajmia may supervene and prove fatal. In severe cases the limb
becomes denuded of hair in i)atches, the skin remains indurated with
a fibrous growth, which is known by the name of elephantiasis.

Treatment. — Fomentations with vinegar and water, equal parts, to
which add 2 ounces of nitrate of potassa for each gallon. This should
be applied every ten or fifteen minutes for six or eight hours, then
the leg ma}^ be dried with a woolen cloth and bathed with cami^horated
soap liniment. Internall}^, administer tincture of digitalis and aconite
root, equal parts of each, 30 drops everj^ hour until the fever and pulse
become reduced. Half-ounce doses of nitrate of potassa in the drink-
ing-water every six hours, bran mashes, and complete rest. This
treatment, if instituted early in the attack, very frequently brings
about a remarkable change within twenty-four hours.

DISEASES OF THE EYE.

By Dr. JAMES LAW, F. R. C. V. S.,

Professor of VctcrhHirij Science, etc., Cornell U)n'versift;.

AVg can scareelj^ overestimate the value of sound eyes in the horse,
and hence all diseases and injuries which seriously interfere with vision
are matters of extreme gravity and apprehension, for should they prove
permanent they invariably depreciate the selling price to a considerable
extent. A blind liorse is always dangerous in the saddle or in single
harness, and he is scarcely less so when, with partially impaired vision,
he sees things imperfectly, in a distorted form or in a wrong i^lace, and
when he shies or avoids objects which are commonplace or familiar.
When we add to this that certain diseases of the eyes, like recurring-
inflammation (moon blindness), are habitually transmitted from parent
to offspring, we can realize still more fully the importance of these mala-
dies. Again, as a mere matter of beauty, a sound, full, clear, intelli-
gent eye is something which must always add a high value to our
equine friends and servants.

THE EYEBALL.

A full description of the structure of the eye is incompatible Avith
our i)rescribed limits, and yet a short description is absolutely essen-
tial to the clear understanding of what is to follow.

The horse's eye is a spheroidal body, flattened behind, and with its
posterior four- fifths inclosed bj'an opaque, white, strong fibrous mem-
brane (the sclerotic), on the inner side of which is laid a more delicate
friable membrane, consisting mainly of blood-vessels and pigment
cells (the choroid), and that in its turn is lined by the extremely deli-
cate and sensitive exi)ansion of the nerve of siglit (the retina). The
anterior fifth of the globe of the eye bulges forward from what would
have been the direct line of the sclerotic, and thus forms a segment of
a much smaller sphere than is inclosed by the sclerotic. Its walls,
too, have in health a perfect translucenc}^ from wliich it has derived
the name of t rem spar ent cornea . This transparent coat is composed,

256

in the main, of iibers witli lymj)ii interspaces, and it is to the condi-
tion of these and their condensation and compression that the trans-
lucency is largely dne. This may be shown by comjiressing with the
fingers the eye of an ox which has just been killed, Avlien the clear
transparent cornea will suddenly become clouded over with a whitish
blue opacity, and this will remain until the compression is interrupted.
The interior of the eye contains three transparent media for the refrac-
tion of the rays of light, on their way from the cornea to the visual
nerve. Of these media the anterior one (aqueous humor) is liquid,
the x^osterior (vitreous humor) is semi-solid, and the intermediate one
(crj^stalline lens) is solid. The space occupied bj^the aqueous humor
corresponds nearly to the portion of the eye covered by the trans-
parent cornea. It is, however, divided into two chambers, anterior
and i3osterior, by the iris, a contractile curtain with a hole in the
center (the pupil), and which may be looked on as in some sense a
projection inward of the vascular and pigmentary cOat from its anterior
margin at the point where the sclerotic or opaque outer coat becomes
continuous with the cornea or transparent one. This iris, or curtain,
besides its abundance of blood-vessels and pigment, possesses two sets
of muscular fibers, one set radiating from the margin of the pupil to
the outer border of the curtain at its attachment to the sclerotic and
choroid, and the other encircling the pupil in the inauner of a ring.
The action of the two sets is necessarily antagonistic, the radiating
fibers dilating the iiupil and exx^osing the interior of the eye to view,
while the circular fibers contract this oj)ening and shut out the rays
of light. The form of the pupil in the horse is ovoid, with its longest
diameter from side to side, and its ui^x^er border is fringed b}^ several
minute black bodies (corjjora nigra) projecting forward and serving
to some extent the i)urj)ose of eyebrows in arresting and absorbing the
excess of rays of light which fall ui^on the eye from above. These
jjigmentary projections in front of the uj)i3er border of the pujiil are
often mistaken for the x)roducts of disease or injury, in i)lace of the
normal and beneficent protectors of the nerve of sight which they are.
They may, like all other parts, become the seat of disease, but so
long as they and the iris retain their clear, dark aspect, without any
tints of brown or yellow, they may be held to be health}".

The vitreous or semi-solid refracting medium occupies the posterior
l^art of the eye — the jaart corresx^onding to the sclerotic, choroid, and
retina — and has a consistency corresponding to that of the white of
an egg, and a x^o^ver of refraction of the light-rays corresx^ondingly
greater than the aqueous humor.

The third or solid refracting medium is a biconvex lens, with its
convexity greatest on its posterior surface, Avhich is lodged in a
dex)resssion in tlie vitreous humor, while its anterior surface corre-
sponds to the ox)ening of the pupil. It is inclosed in a membranous
covering (capsule), and is maintained in position by a membrane

257

(suspensory ligament) which extends from the margin of the lens
outward to the sclerotic at the point of junction of the choroid and
iris. This ligament is, in its turn, furnished with radiating muscular
fibers, which change the form or position of the lens so as to adapt it
to see with equal clearness objects at a distance or close by.

Another point which strikes the observer of the horse's eye is that
in the darkness a bright bluish tinge is reflected from the widely-
dilated pupil. This is owing to a comparative absence of ijigment
in the choroid coat inside the upper part of the eyeball, and enables
the animal to see and advance with security in darkness where the
human eye would be of little use. The lower part of the cavity of
the horse's eye, into which the dazzling rays fall from the sky, is fur-
nished with an intensely black lining, by which the rays penetrating
the inner nervous layer are instantly absorbed.

MUSCLES OF THE EYE.

These consist of four straight muscles, two oblique and one retractor.
The straight muscles pass from the depth of the orbit forward on the
inner, outer, upper, and lower sides of the eyeball, and are fixed to
the anterior portion of the fibrous (sclerotic) coat, so that in contract-
ing singly they respectively turn the eye inward, outward, upward,
and downward. When all act together they draw the eyeball deeply
into its socket. The retractor muscle also consists of four muscular
slips, repeating the straight muscles on a smaller scale, but as they are
only attached on the back part of the eyeball they are less adapted to
roll the eye than to draw it down into its socket. The two oblique
muscles rotate the eye on its own axis, the upper one turning its outer
surface upward aiM inward, and the lower one turning it downward
and inward.

THE HAW — THE WINKING CARTILAGE — CARTILAGO NICTATANS.

This is a structure, which, like the retractor muscle, is not found
in the eye of man, but it serves in the lower animals to assist in
removing foreign bodies from the front of the eyeball. It consists,
in the horse, of a cartilage of irregular form, thickened inferiorly
and posteriorly where it is intimately connected with the muscles of
the eyeball, and the fatty material around them; and expanded and'
flattened anteriorly where its upper surface is concave, and, as it
were, moulded on the lower and inner surface of the eyeball. Exter-
nally, it is covered by the mucous membrane which lines the ej'elids
and extends over the front of the eye. In the ordinarj^ restful state
of the eye the edge of this cartilage should just appear as a thin fold
of membrane at the inner angle of the eye, but when the eyeball is
drawn deeply into the orbit the cartilage is pushed forward, outward,
and upward over it until the entire globe may be hidden from sight.
5961 — HOR 9

258

This protrusion of the cartilage, so as to cover the e3'e, maybe induced
in the healthy eye by pressing the finger and thumb on the uj^per and
lower lids, so as to cause retraction of the eyeball into its socket-
AVhen foreign bodies, such as sand, dust, and chaff, or other irritants
have fallen on the eyeball or eyelids, it is similarly projected to j)ush
them off, their expulsion being further favored by a profuse flow of
tears.

This is seen, to a lesser extent, in all painful inflammations of the
eye, and to a very marked degree in lockjaw, Avhen the spasm of
the muscles of the eyeball draws the latter deeply into the orbit and
projects forward the masses of fat and the cartilage. The brutal
practice of cutting off this apparatus, whenever it is i^rojected, necessi-
tates this explanation which, it is hoped, may save to many a faithful
servant a most valuable appendage. That the cartilage and mem-
brane may become the seat of disease is undeniable, but so long as its
edge is thin and even, and its surface smooth and regular, the mere
fact of its projection over a portion or the whole of the eyeball is no
evidence of disease in its substance, nor any warrant for its removal.
It is usually but the evidence of the presence of some pain in another
part of the eye, wdiich the suffering animal endeavors to assuage by
the use of this beneficent provision. For the diseases of the cartilage
itself see "Encephaloid Cancer."

LACHRYMAL APPARATUS.

This consists, first, of a gland for the secretion of the tears, and,
second, of a series of canals for the conveyance of the superfluous
tears into the cavity of the nose.

The gland is situated above the outer part of tMfe eyeball, and the
tears which have flowed over the eye and reached the inner angle are
there directed by a small conical papilla (lachrymal caruncle) into
two minute orifleos, and thence by two ducts (lachrymal) to a small
pouch (lachrymal, sac) from which a canal leads through the bones
of the face into the nose. This opens in the lower jjart of the nose
on the floor of the passage, and a little outside the line of union of
the skin which lines the false nostril with the mucous membrane of the
nose. In the ass and mule this oijeningis situated on the roof instead
of the floor of the nose, but still close to the external opening.

EXAMINATION OF THE EYE.

To avoid unnecessary repetition the following general directions are
given for the examination of the eye: The eye, and to a certain extent
the miu'ous membrane lining the ej^elids, may be exj)Osed to view by
gently parting the eyelids with the thumb and forefinger j)ressed on
the middle of the respective lids. The pressure, it is true, causes the
protrusion of the haw over a portion of the lower and inner part of
the eye, but by gentleness and careful graduation of the pressure this

259

may be kept within bounds, and oftentimes even the interior of the
eye can be seen. As a rule it is best to use the right hand for the left
eye, and the left hand for the right, the finger in each case being
pressed on the u]3per lid while the thumb depresses the lower one. In
cases in which it is desirable to examine the inner side of the eyelid
farther than is possible by the above means, the upper lid may be
drawn dowTi by the ej^'elashes with the one hand and then everted over
the tip of the forefinger of the other hand, or over a probe laid flat
against the middle of the lid. AVhere the interior of the eye must be
examined it is useless to make the attempt in the open sunshine or
under a clear sky. The worst cases, it is true, can be seen under such
circumstances, but for the slighter forms the horse should be taken
indoors, where all light from above will be shut off, and should be
placed so that the light shall fall on the eye from the front and side.
Then the observer, placing himself in front of the animal, will receive
the reflected rays from the cornea, the front of the lens and the back,
and can much more easily detect any cloudiness, opacity, or lack of
transparency. The examination can be made much more satisfactory
by placing the horse in a dark chamber and illuminating the eye by
a lamj) x^laced forward and outward from the eye which is to be exam-
ined.- Any cloudiness is thus easily detected, and any doubt may
be resolved by moving the lamp so that the image of the flame may be
passed in succession over the whole surface of the transparent cornea
and of the crystalline lens. Three images of the flame will be seen,
the larger one upright, reflected from the anterior surface of the eye;
a smaller one upright, reflected from the anterior surface of the lens;
and a second small one inverted from the back surface of the lens.
So long as these images are reflected from healthy surfaces they will
be clear and perfect in outline, but, as soon as one strikes on an area
of opacit}^, it will become diifused, cloudy, and indefinite. Thus, if
the large upright image becomes hazy and imjierfect over a particular
si)ot of the cornea, that will be found to be the seat of disease and
opacity. Should the large image remain clear, but the small upright
one become diffuse and indefinite over a given point, it indicates
opacitj'- on the front of the capsule of the lens. If both upright
images remain clear, while the inverted one becomes indistinct at a
given point, then the ojjacity is in the substance of the lens itself or
in the posterior part of its capsule.

If in a given case the pujiil remains so closely contracted that the
deeper parts of the eye can not be seen the ej'elids may be rubbed
with extract of belladonna, and in a short time the pupil will be
found widelj" dilated.

DISEASES OF THE EYELIDS.

Congenital disorders. — Some faulty conditions of the eyelids are
congenital, as division of an eyelid in two, after the manner of harelip,

260

abnormally small opening between, the lids, often connected with imper-
fect development of the eye, and closure of the lids by adhesioii. The
first is to be remedied by paring the edges of the division and then
bringing them, together, as in torn lids. The last two, if remediable
at all, require seiDaration by the knife, and subsequent treatment
with a cooling astringent eye wash.

Nervous disorders. — Spasm of the eyelids maybe owing to constitu-
tional susceptibility, or to the presence of local irritants (insects,
chemical irritants, sand, etc. ) in the eye, to wounds or inflammation
of the mucous membrane, or to disease of the brain. When due to
local irritation, it may be temporarily overcome by instilling a few
drops of a 4 per cent solution of cocaine into the eye, when the true
cause may be ascertained and removed. The nervous or constitutional
disease must be treated according to its nature.

Drooping eyelids — Ptosis. — This is usually present in the upper lid,
or is at least little noticed in the lower. It is sometimes but a symp-
tom of paralysis of one-half of the face, in which case the ear, lips,
and nostrils on the same side will be found soft, drooping, and inac-
tive, and even the half of the tongue may partake of the palsy. If the
same condition exists on both sides there is difficult snuffling breath-
ing, from the air drawing in the flaps of the nostrils in inspiration,
and all food is taken in by the teeth, as the lips are useless. In both
there is a free discharge of saliva from the mouth during mastication.
This paralysis is a frequent result of injury, by a poke, to the seventh
nerve, as it passes over the back of the lower jaw. In some cases
the paralysis is confined to the lid, the injury having been sustained
by the muscles which raise it, or by the supra-orbital nerve which
emerges from the bone just above the eye. Such injury to the nerve
may have resulted from fracture of the orbital process of the frontal
bone above the eye ball.

The condition may, however, be due to spasm of the sphincter
muscle, which closes the lids, or to inflammation of the upper lid,
usually a result of blows on the orbit. In the latter case it may run
a slow course with chronic thickening of the lid.

The paralysis due to the poke may be often remedied by, first, the
removal of any remaining inflammation by a wet sponge worn beneath
the ear and kept in place by a bandage; second, when all inflamma-
tion has passed by a blister on the same region, or by rubbing it daily
with a mixture in equal proportions of olive oil and strong aqua
ammonia. Improvement is usually slow, and it may be months before
complete recovery ensues.

In paralysis from blows above the eyes the same treatment may be
applied to that part.

Thickening of the lid may be treated by painting with tincture of
iodine, and that failing, by cutting out an elliptical strip of the skin
from the middle of the upper lid and stitching the edges together

261

INFLAMMATION OF THE EYELIDS.

The eyelids suffer more or less in all severe inflammatious of the
eye, whether external or internal, but inasmuch as the disease some-
times starts in the lids and at other times is exclusivel}^ confined to
them, it deserves independent mention.

Among the causes may be named : exposure to draughts of cold air,
or to cold rain or snow-storms; the bites or stings of mosquitoes, flies,
and other insects; snake-bites, pricks with thorns, blows of whip or
club; accidental bruises against the stall or ground, especially during
the violent struggles of colic, enteritis, phrenitis (staggers), and when
thrown for operations. It is also a result of infecting inoculations,
as of erysipelas, anthrax, boil, etc., and is noted by Leblanc as espe-
cially prevalent among horses kept on low marshy pastures. Finally,
the introduction of sand, dust, chaff, beards of barley and seeds of
the finest grasses, and the contact with irritant chemical powders,
liquids, and gases (ammonia from manure or factory, chlorine, strong
sulphur fumes, smoke, and other products of combustion, etc.), may
start the inflammation. The eyelids often undergo extreme inflam-
matory and dropsical swelling in urticaria (nettlerash, surfeit), and
in the general inflammatory dropsy known as purpura haemorrhagica.

The affection will, therefore, readily divide itself into (1), inflam-
mations due to constitutional causes; (2), those due to direct injury,
mechanical or chemical; and (3), such as are due to inoculation vnth
infecting material.

(1) Inflammations due to constitutional causes are distinguished by
the absence of an}^ local wound, and the history of a low damp pas-
ture, exposure, indigestion from unwholesome food, or the presence
elsewhere on the limbs or body of the general doughy swellings of
purpura hsemorrhagica. The lids are swollen and thickened, it may
be slightly or it may be so extremely that the eye ball can not be seen.
If the lid can be everted to show its mucous membrane, that is seen
to be of a deep red color, especially along the branching lines of the
blood vessels. The part is hot and painful, and a profuse flow of tears
and mucus escapes on the side of the face, causing irritation and loss
of the hair. If improvement follows, this discharge becomes more
tenacious, and tends to cause adhesion to the edges of the upper and
lower lids and to mat together the eyelashes in bundles. This grad-
ually decreases to the natural amount, and the redness and congested
appearance of the eyes disappears, but swelling, thickening, and stiff-
ness of the lids may continue for a length of time. There may be
more or less fever according to the violence of the inflammation, but
so long as there is no serious disease of the interior of the eye or of
other vital organ this is usually moderate.

The local treatment consists in astringent, soothing lotions (sugar of
lead 30 gi'ains, laudanum 2 teaspoonfuls, rain water — boiled and
cooled — 1 pint), applied with a soft cloth kept wet with the lotion,

262

and liiiiig over the eye by tying it to tlie headstall of the bridle on the
two sides. If the mucous membrane lining the lids is the seat of little
red granular elevations, a drop of a solution of 2 grains of nitrate of
silver in an ounce of distilled water should be applied ^yith the soft end
of a clean feather to the inside of the lid twice a daj'. The patient
should be removed from all such conditions (pasture, faulty food,
exi)osure, etc.) as may have caused or aggra Abated the disease, and from
dust and irritant fumes and gases. He should be fed from a manger
higli enough to favor the return of blood from the head, and should
be kept from work, especially in a tight collar, which would prevent
the descent of blood by the jugular veins. His diet should be laxa-
tive and non-stimulating (grass, bran mashes, carrots, turnips, beets,
XDotatoes, or steamed hay), and any costiveness should be corrected
by a mild dose of linseed oil (1 to Vr pints). In cold weather warm
blanketing may be needful, and even loose flannel bandages to the
limbs, and heat should never be sought at the expense of pure air.

(2) In inflammations due to local irritants of a non-infective kind,
a careful examination will usually reveal their j)resence, and the first
step must be their removal with a pair of blunt f orcex^s or the point of a
lead i3encil. Subsequent treatment will be in the main the local treat-
ment advised above.

(3) In case of infective inflammation, there will often be found a
prick or tear by which the septic matter has entered, and in such
case the inflammation will for a time be concentrated at that jjoint.
A round or conical swelling round an insect bite is especially charac-
teristic. A snake bite is marked by the double prick made by the
tv>'0 teeth and by the violent and rapidly spreading inflammation.
Erysipelas is attended with much swelling, extending beyond the lids,
and causing the mucous membrane to x)rotrude beyond the edge of
the eyelid (chemosis). This is characterized by a bright, uniform,
rosy red, disappearing on pressure, or later by a dark, livid hue, but
with less branching redness than in noninfecting inflammation, and
less of the dark, dusky, brownish or yellowish tint of anthrax. Little
vesicles may appear on the skin, and pus may be found without any
distinct limiting membrane, as in abscess. It is early attended by
liigh fever and marked general weakness and inappetence. Anthrax
of the lids is marked by a firm swelling, surmounted by a blister,
with bloody serous contents, which tends to burst and dry uj) into a
slough, while the surrounding parts become involved in the same way.
Or it may sliow as a diffuse dropsical swelling, with less of the hard
central sloughing nodule, but like that tending to spread quickly. In
both cases alike the mucous membrane and the skin, if white, assume
a dusky brown or yellowish brown hue, which is largely characteristic.
This may i^ass into a black color by reason of extravasation of blood.
There apjpears early great constitutional disturbance, with much
prostration and weakness and generalized anthrax symptoms.

263

The treatment of these will vary according to the severity. Insect
Lites may be touched with a solution of equal parts of glycerine and
aqua ammonia, or a 1.0 jjer cent solution of carbolic acid in water.
Snake bites may be bathed with aqua ammonia, and the same agent
given in doses of 2 teaspoonfuls in a quart of water. Or alcohol may
be given in pint or quart doses, according to the size of the animal.
In erysipelas the skin may be xjainted with tincture or muriate of iron,
or with a solution of 20 grains of iodine in an ounce of carbolic acid,
and one-half an ounce of tincture of muriate of iron may be given
thrice daily in a bottle of water. In anthrax the swelling should be
painted with tincture of iodine, or of the mixture of iodine and car-
bolic acid, and if very threatening it may have the tincture of iodine
injected into the swelling with a hypodermic syringe, or the hard
mass may be freely incised to its depth with a sharp lancet and the
lotion applied to the exposed tissues. Internally iodide of XJotassium
may be given in doses of 2 drams thrice a day, or tincture of the
muriate of iron every four hours,

STYE — FURUNCLE (BOIL) OF THE EYELID.

This is an inflammation of limited extent, advancing to the formation
of matter and the sloughing out of a small mass of the natural tissue
of the eyelid. It forms a firm, rounded swelling, usually near the
margin of the lid, which suppurates and bursts in four or five days.
Its course may be hastened by a poultice of chamoinile flowers, to
which have been added a few drops of carbolic acid, the whole applied
in a very thin muslin bag. If the swelling is slow to open after hav-
ing become yellowish-white, it may be opened by a lancet, the inci-
sion being made at right angles to the margin of the lid.

ENTROPIOX AND ECTROPION — INVERSION AND EVERSION OF THE

EYELID.

These are respectively caused by wounds, sloughs, ulcers, or other
causes of loss of substance of the mucous membrane on the inside of
the lid and of the skin on the outside; also of tumors, skin diseases,
or paralj^sis which leads to displacement of the margin of the eyelid.
As a rule they require a surgical operation, with removal of an ellip-
tical i)ortion of the mucous membrane or skin, as the case may be, but
which requires the skilled and delicate hand of the surgeon.

TRICHIASIS.

This consists in the turning in of the eyelashes so as to irritate the
front of the eye. If a single eyelash, it may be snipped off with scis-
sors close to the margin of the eyelid, or pulled out by the root with
a pair of flat-bladed forceps. If the divergent lashes are more numer-
ous the treatment may be as for entropion by excising an elliptical
portion of skin opposite the offending lashes, and stitching the edges
together, so as to draw outward the margin of the lid at that point.

264

WARTS AND OTHER TUMORS OF THE EYELIDS.

The eyelids form a favoi'ite site for tumors, and above all, warts,
which consist in a simple diseased overgrowth (hypertrophy) of the
surface layers of the skin. If small, these may be snipped off with
scissors, or tied around the neck with a stout waxed thread and left
to drop off, the destruction being completed, if necessary, by the
daily application of a piece of sul^ihate of copper (blue vitriol), until
any unhealthy material has been removed. If more widely spread
the wart may still be clipped off with curved scissors or knife, and the
caustic thoroughly applied day by day.

A bleediilg wart or erectile tumor is more liable to bleed, and is
best removed by constricting its neck with the waxed cord or rubber
band, or if too broad for this it may be transfixed through its base by
a needle armed with a double thread, which is then to be cut in two
and tied around the two portions of the neck of the tumor. If still
broader the armed needle may be carried through the base of the
tumor at regular intervals, so that the whole may be tied in moder-
ately sized sections.

In gray and white horses black pigmentary tumors (melanotic) are
common on the black portions of skin, such as the eyelids, and are to
be removed by scissors or knife, according to their size. In the horse
these do not usually tend to recur when thoroughly removed, but at
times they prove cancerous (as is the rule in man), and then they tend
to reappear in the same site or in internal organs with, it may be,
fatal effect.

Encysted, honey-like (melicerous), sebaceous, and fibrous tumors of
the lids all require removal with the knife.

TORN EYELIDS — WOUNDS OF EYELIDS.

The eyelids are torn by attacks with horns of cattle, or with the teeth,
or by getting caught on nails in stall rack or manger, on the point of
stump fences or fence rails, on the barbs of wire-fences and on other
pointed bodies. The edges should be brought together as promptly
as possible, so as to secure union without the formation of matter,
puckering of the skin, and unsightly distortions. Great care is nec-
essary to bring the two edges together evenly without twisting or
puckering. The simplest mode of holding them together is by a
series of sharp j)ins passed through the lips of the wound at intervals
of not over a third of an inch, and held together by a thread twisted
around each pin in the form of the figure 8, and carried obliquely
from pin to pin in two directions, so as to prevent gaping of the wound
in the intervals. The points of the pins may then be cut off with
scissors, and the wound may be wet twice a day with a weak solution
of carbolic acid.

265

TUMOR OF THE HAW — CARIES OP THP] CARTILAGE.

Though cruelly excised for alleged "hooks," when itself perfectly-
healthy in the various diseases which lead to retraction of the eye into
its socket, the haw may, like other bodily structures, be itself the seat
of actual disease. The i^igmentary black tumors of white horses and
soft (encephaloid) cancer may attack this iDart primarilj^ or extend to
it from the eyeball or eyelids; hairs have been found growing from its
surface; and the mucous membrane covering it becomes inflamed in
common with that covering the front of the eye. These inflamma-
tions are but a phase of the inflammation of the external structures
of the eye, and demand no particular notice nor specia.1 treatment.
The tumors lead to such irregular enlargement and distortion of the
haw that the condition is not to be confounded with the simple pro-
jection of the healthy structure over the e^^e when the lids are pushed
apart with the finger and thumb, and the same remark applies to the
ulceration or caries of the cartilage. In the latter case, besides
the swelling and distortion of the haw, there is this peculiarity,
that in the midst of the red inflamed mass there appears a white line
or mass formed by the exposed edge of the ulcerating cartilage. The
animal having been thrown and properly fixed, an assistant holds the
eyelids apart while the operator seizes the haw with forceps or hook
and carefully dissects it out with blunt-pointed scissors. The eye is
then covered with a cloth kept wet with an eye wash, aA for external
ophthalmia.

OBSTRUCTION OF THE LACHRYMAL APPARATUS — WATERING EYE.

The escape of tears on the side of the cheek is a symptom of exter-
nal inflammation of the eye, but it may also occur from any disease
of the lachrymal apjDaratus which interferes with the normal j)rogress
of the tears to the nose. Hence, in all cases when this symptom is
not attended by special redness or swelling of the eyelids, it is well
to examine the lachrymal apparatus. In some instances the orifice
of the lachrymal duct on the floor of the nasal chamber and close to
its anterior outlet will be found blocked bj^ a portion of dry muco
purulent matter, on the removal of which tears may begin to escape.
This implies an inflammation of the canal, which may be helped by
occasional sponging out of the nose with warm water, and the appli-
cation of the same on the face. Another remedy is to feed warm
mashes of wheat bran from a nose-bag, so that the relaxing effects of
the water vapor may be secured.

The two lachrymal openings, situated at the inner angle of the eye,
may fail to admit the tears by reason of their deviation outward in
connection with eversion of the lower lid, or by reason of their con-
striction in inflammation of the mucous membrane. Tlie lachrymal
5901— HOR 9*

266

sac, into ^yllicll the laclirymal ducts open, may fail to discharge its
contents b}' reason of constriction or closure of the duct leading to the
nose, and it then forms a rounded swelling beneath the inner angle
of the eye. The duct leading from the sac to the nose may be com-
pressed or obliterated by fractures of the bones of the face, and in
disease of these bones (osteo-sarcoma, so-called osteoijorosis, diseased
teeth, glanders of the nasal sinuses, abscess of the same cavities).

The narrowed or obstructed ducts may be made pervious by a fine
silver probe passed down to the lachrymal sac, and anj" existing
inflammation of the passages may be counteracted by the use of
steaming mashes of wheat bran, by fomentatioiis or wet cloths over
the face, and even by the use of astringent eye washes and the injec-
tion of similar liquids into the lachrymal canal from its nasal opening.
The ordinary eye wash may be used for this purpose, or it jnny be
injected after dilution to half its strength. The fractures and dis-
eases of the bones and teeth must be treated according to their special
demands when, if the canal is still left ijervious, it may be again
rendered useful.

EXTERNAL OPHTHALMIA — COX JUNCTIVITIS.

In inflammation of the outer parts of the eye ball the exposed vas-
cular and sensitive mucous membrane (conjunctiva) which covers the
ball, the eyelids, the haw, and the lachrymal apparatus, is usually the
most deeply involved, yet adjacent parts are more or less implicated,
and when disease is concentrated on these contiguous iDarts it consti-
tutes a phase of external ox)hthalmia which demands a special notice.
These have accordingly been alreadj^ treated of.

The causes of external ophthalmia are mainly those that act locally —
blovrs with whips, clubs, and twigs, the presence of foreign bodies
like hay-seed, chaff, dust, lime, sand, snuff, pollen of plants, flies
attracted by the brilliancy of the eye, wounds of the bridle, the migra-
tion of the scabies (mange) insect into the eye, smoke, ammonia rising
from the excretions, irritant emanations from drying marshes, etc.
A very dry air is alleged to act injuriously by drying the eye as well
as by favoring the production of irritant dust ; and the undue exposure
to bright sunshine through a window in front of the stall, or to the
reflection from snow or water, is undoubtedly injurious. The unpro-
tected exposure of the eyes to sunshine through the use of a very
short overdraw check is to be condemned, and the keeping of the
horse in a very dark stall from which it is liabitually led into the
glare of full sunlight, intensified by reflection from snow or white
limestone dust, must be set down among the locally acting causes.
But exposure to cold and wet, to rain and snow storms, to cold
draughts and wet lairs must also be accepted as causes of conjuncti-
vitis, the general disorder which they produce affecting the eye, if
that happens to be the weakest and most susceptible organ of the

267'

body, or if it lias "been subjected to anysijecial local injury like dust,
irritant gases, or excess of light. Again, external oplithalinia is a
constant concomitant of inflammation of the contiguous and contin-
uous mucous membranes, as those of the nose and throat. Hence the
red watery eyes that attend on nasal catarrh, sore throat, influenza,
strangles, nasal glanders, and the like. In such cases, however, the
affection of the eye is subsidiary and is manifestly overshadowed by
the primary and predominating disease.

The symptoms are watering of the ej^e, swollen lids, redness of the
mucous membrane exi)osed by the separation of the lids — it may bo
a mere pink blush with more or less branching redness, or it may be a
deep, dark red, as from effusion of blood — and a bluish opacity of the
cornea which is normally clear and translucent. But except when
resulting from wounds and actual extravasation of blood, the redness
is seen to be superficial, and if the opacity is confined to the edges,
and does not involve the entire cornea the aqueous humor behind is
seen to be still clear and limx:>id. The fever is always less severe than
in internal ophthalmia, and only runs high in the Avorst cases. The
eyelids may be kept closed, the eye-ball retracted, and the haw i^ro-
truded over one-third or one-half of the ball, but this is due to the
pain only and not to any excessive sensibility to light, as shown by
the comx3arativel3' widely dilated pupil. In internal ophthalmia,
on the contrary, the narrow contracted pupil is the measure of the
pain caused by the falling of light on the inflamed and sensitive optic
nerve (retina) and choroid.

If the affection has resulted from a wound of the cornea, not only is
that the point of greatest opacity, forming a white sj^eck or fleecy
cloud, l)ut too often l>lood-vessels begin to extend from the adjacent
vascular covering of the eye (sclerotic) to the white spot, and that por-
tion of the cornea is rendered permanently oi)aque. Again, if the
wound has been severe, though still short of cutting into the anterior
layers of the cornea, the injury may lead to ulceration which may
13enetrate more or less deeply and leave a breach in the tissue which,
if filled ux? at all, is repaired by oi)aque fibrous tissue in place of the
transparent cellular structure. Pus may form, and the cornea assumes
a yellowish tinge and bursts, giving rise to a deep sore which is liable
to extend as an ulcer, and may be in its turn followed by bulging of
the cornea at that point (staphyloma). This inflammation of the con-
junctiva may be simply catarrhal, with profuse muco-purulent dis-
charge ; it ma}' be granular, the surface being covered with minute
reddish elevations, or it maj' become the seat of a false membrane
(diphtheria).

In treafmg external ophthalmia the first object is the removal of the
cause. Remove any dust, chaff, thorn, or other foreign bod}' from
the conjunctiva, purify the stable from all sources of ammoniacal or
other irritant gas; keei") the horse from dusty roads, and above all

268

from the proximity of a leading wagon and its attendant clond of dust ;
remove from pasture and feed from a rack which is neither so high as
to drop seeds, etc. , into the eyes nor so low as to favor the accumula-
tion of blood in the head ; avoid equally excess of light from a sunny
window in front of the stall and excess of darkness from the absence
of windows; preserve from cold draughts and rains and wet bedding,
and applj^ curative measures for inflammation of the adjacent mucous
membranes or skin. If the irritant has been of a caustic nature
remove any remnant of it by persistent bathing with tepid water and
a soft sponge, or Avith water mixed with white of egg, or a glass filled
with the liquid may be inverted over the eye so that its contents may
dilute and remove the irritant. If the suffering is very severe a lotion
with a few grains of extract of belladonna or of morphia in an ounce
of water may be applied, or if it is available a few drops of 4 per cent
solution of cocaine may be instilled into the eye.

In strong, vigorous patients benefit will usually be obtained from a
laxative, such as 2 tablespoonfuls of Glauber's salts daily, and if the
fever runs high from a daily dose of half an ounce of saltpeter. As
local applications astringent solutions are usually the best, as 30
grains of borax or of sulphate of zinc in a cjuart of water, to be applied
constantly on a cloth, as advised, under inflammation of the eyelids.
In the absence of anj^thing better cold water may serve every i)ur-
pose. Above all, adhesive and oily agents (molasses, sugar, fats)
are to be avoided, as only adding to the irritation. By way of sug-
gesting agents that may be used with good effect, salt and sulphate
of soda may be named, in solutions double the strength of sulphate of
zinc, or 7 grains of nitrate of silver may be added to a quart of dis-
tilled water, and will be found especially applicable in granular con-
junctivitis, diphtheria, or commencing ulceration. A cantharides
blister (1 part of Spanish fly to 4 parts lard) may be rubbed on the
side of the face 3 inches below the eye, and washed off next morning
with soap-suds and oiled daily till the scabs are dropped.

WHITE SPECKS AND CLOUDINESS OF THE CORNEA.

As a result of external ophthalmia, opaque specks, clouds, or hazi-
ness are too often left on the cornea and require for their removal
that they be daily touched with a soft feather dipped in a solution of
3 grains nitrate of silver in 1 ounce distilled water. This should be
applied until all inflammation has subsided, and until its contact is
comparatively i^ainless. It is rarely successful with an old thick scar
following an ulcer, nor with an opacity having red blood-vessels run-
ning across it.

ULCERS OF THE CORNEA.

These may be treated with nitrate of silver lotion of twice the
strength used for opacities. Powdered gentian, one-half ounce, and
sulphate of iron, one-fourth ounce daily, may improve the general
health and increase the reparatorj^ power.

269

INTERNAL OPHTHALMIA — IRITIS— CHOROIDITIS — RETINITIS.

Althoiigli inflammations of the iris, choroid, and retina, the inner,
vascular, and nervous coats of the eye, occur to a certain extent inde-
l^endently of each otlier, yet one usually supervenes upon the oilier,
and as the symptoms are thus made to coincide it will be best for our
present purposes to treat the three as one disease.

The causes of internal ophthalmia are largely those of the external
form only, acting- Avith greater intensity or on a more susceptible eye.
Severe blows, bruises, punctures, etc., of the eye, the penetration of
foreign bodies into the eye (thorns, splinters of iron, etc.), sudden
transition from a dark stall to bright sunshine, to the glare of snow or
water, constant glare from a sunny window, abuse of the overdraw
check-rein, vivid lightning flashes, draughts of cold, damp air; above
all, when the animal is persi^iring, exposure in cold rain and snow-
storms, swimming cold rivers, also certain general diseases like rheu-
matism, arthritis, influenza, and disorders of the digestive organs, may
become complicated by this affection. From the close relation between
the brain and eye — alike in the blood vessels and nerves — disorders of
the first lead to affections of the second, and the same remark applies
to the persistent irritation to which the jaws are subjected in the course
of dentition. So potent is the last agency that we dread a recurrence
of ojDhthalmia so long as dentition is incomplete, and hope for immu-
nity if the animal completes its dentition without any permanent
structural change in the eye.

The sympioms will vary according to the cause. If the attack is due
to direct physical injury the inflammation of the eyelids and suijerfi-
cial structures may be quite as marked as that of the interior of the
eye. If, on the other hand, from general causes, or as a complica-
tion of some distant disease, the affection may be largely confined to
the deeper structures, and the swelling, redness, and tenderness of the
superficial structures will be less marked. When the external coats
thus comparatively escape the extreme anterior edge of the white or
sclerotic coat where it overlaps the border of the transparent cornea is
in a measure free from congestion, and, in the absence of the obscuring
dark jjigment, forms a Avhitish ring around the cornea. This is j^artly
due to the fact that a series of arteries (ciliary) passing to the inflamed
iris j)enetrate the sclerotic coat a short distance behind its anterior
border, and there is therefore a marked difference in color between
the general sclerotic occupied between these congested vessels and
the anterior rim from which they are absent. Unfortunately the pig-
ment is often so abundant in the anterior part of the sclerotic as to
hide this symptom. In internal ophthalmia the opacity of the cornea
may be confined to a zone around the outer margin of the cornea, and
even this may be a bluish haze rather than a deep fleecy white. In
consequence it becomes possible to see the interior of the chamber

270

for the aqueous liumor and the condition of the iris and pupil. The
aqueous humor is usually turbid, and has numerous yellowish white
flakes floating on its substance or deposited in the lower part of
the chamber, so as to cut ofi: the view of the lower x^ortion of the
iris. The still visible portion of the iris has lost its natural, clear
dark luster, which is replaced by a brownish or yellowish sere-leaf
color. This is more marked in jn'oportion as the iris is inflamed, and
less so as the inflammation is conflned to the choroid. The amount
of flocculent deposit in the chamber of the aqueous humor is also in
direct ratio to the inflammation of the iris. Perhaps the most marked
feature of internal ophthalmia is the extreme and painful sensitive-
ness to light. On this account the lids are usually closed, but when
opened the puj)il is seen to be narrowly closed even if the animal has
been kept in an obscured stall. Exceptions to this are seen when
inflammator}' efllusion has overfilled the globe of the eye, and by pres-
sure on the retina has paralyzed it, or when the exudation into the
substance of the retina itself has similarly" led to its paralj^sis. Then
the puiDil may be dilated, and frequently its margin loses its regular
ovoid outline and becomes uneven by reason of the adhesions which
it has contracted with the capsule of the lens, through its inflammator}^
exudations. In the case of excessive effusion into the globe of the
eye that is found to have become tense and hard so that it can not be
indented with the tij) of the finger. With such paralysis of tlie retina,
vision is heavily clouded or entirely lost; hence in spite of the open
I)upil the finger may be approached to the eye vritliout the animal
becoming conscious of it until it touches the surface, and if the nose
on the affected side is gently struck and a feint made to repeat the
blow the i^atient makes no effort to evade it. Sometimes the edges of
the contracted pui)il become adherent to each other by an intervening
plastic exudation, and the opening becomes virtuallj' abolished. In
severe inflammations pus maj' form in the choroid or iris, and escap-
ing into the cavity of the aqueous liumor show as a yellowish white
stratum below. In nearly all cases there is resulting exudation into
the lens or its capsule, constituting a cloudiness or opacity (cataract),
Avhich in severe and old standing cases appears as a white fleecy mass
behind a widely dilated pupil. In the slighter cases cataract is to
be recognized by examination of the eye in a dark chambe]-, Avith
an oblique side light, as described in "the introduction to this article.
Cataracts that appear as a simple haze or indefinite fleecy cloud are
usually on the caj^sulc (capsular), while those that show a radiating
arrangement are in the lens (lenticular), the radiating fibers of which
the exudate follows. Black cataracts are formed by the adhesion of
the pigment on the back of the iris to the front of the lens, and by the
subsequent tearing loose of the iris, leaving a portion of its pigment
adherent to the capsule of the lens. If the pupil is so contracted that
it is impossible to see the lens, it may be dilated by applying to the

271

front of the eye -witli a featlier some drops of a solution of -i grains of
atropia in an ounce of water.

The treatment of internal ophthalmia should embrace first the re-
moval of all existing causes, or sources of aggravation, of the disease,
which need not be here repeated. Special care to protect the patient
against cold, wet, strong light, and active exertion, must, however,
be specially insisted on. A dark stall, and a cloth hung over the eye,
are important, while cleanliness, warmth, drjmess, and rest are equally
demanded. If the patient is strong and vigorous a dose of 4 drams of
Barbadoes aloes may be given, and, if there is auj^ reason to susx^ect
a rheumatic origin, one-half a dram powdered colchicum and one-half
ounce salicylate of soda may be given daily. Locally the astringent
lotions advised for external ophthalmia may be resorted to, especially
when the superficial inflammation is well marked. More important,
however, is to instill into the eye, a few drops at a time, a solu-
tion of 4 grains of atropia in 1 ounce distilled water. This may be
effected with the aid of a soft feather, and may be repeated at inter-
vals of ten minutes until the pupil is widely dilated. As the horse is
to be kept in a dark stall the consequent admission of light will be
harmless, and the dilation of the pui)il i)revents adhesion between the
iris and lens, relieves the constant tension of the eye in the effort to
adapt the pupil to the light, and solicits the contraction of the blood
vessels of the eye and the lessening of congestion, exudation, and
intraocular pressure. Sliould atropia not agree with the case, it may
be replaced by morphia (same strength) or cocaine in. 4 per cent solu-
tion. Another local measure is a blister, which can usually be api^lied
to advantage on the side of the nose or beneath the ear. Si^anish flies
may be used as for external o^jhthalmia. In very severe cases the
parts beneath the eye may be shaved and three or four leeches applied.
Setons are sometimes beneficial, and even puncture of the eye-ball,
but tliese should be reserved for professional hands.

The diet throughout should be easilj' digestible and moderate in
quantity — bran mashes, middlings, grass, steamed hay, etc.

Even after the active inflammation has subsided the atropia lotion
should be continued for some weeks to keep the eye in a state of rest
in its still weak and irritable condition, and during this i)eriod the
patient should be kept in semi-darkness, or taken out only with a
dark shade over the eye. For the same reason heavy draughts and
rapid paces, which would cause congestion of the head, should l)e
carefulh" avoided.

RECURRENT OPHTHALMIA — PERIODIC OPHTHALMIA — MOONBLIND-

NESS.

This is an inflammatorj' affection of the interior of the eye, intimately
related to certain soils, climates, and systems, showing a strong tend-
ency to recur again and again and usually ending in blindness from
cataract or other serious injury.

272

Its causes may be fundamentally attributed to soil. On damp clays
and marshy grounds, on the frequently overflowed river bottoms and
deltas, on the coasts of seas and lakes alternately submerged and ex-
posed, this disease prevails extensively, and in many instances in
France (Reynal), Belgium, Alsace (Zundel Miltenberger), Germany,
and England it has wery largely decreased under land drainage and
improved methods of culture. Other influences, more or less asso-
ciated with such soil, are potent causative factors. Thus damp air
and a cloudy, wet climate, so constantly associated with wet lands,
are universally charged with causing the disease. These act on the
animal body to produce a lymphatic constitution with an excess of
connective tissue, bones, and muscles of coarse oj)en texture, thick
skins and gummy legs covered with a profusion of long hair. Hence
the heavy horses of Belgium and southwestern France have suffered
severel}'^ from the affection, while high dry lands adjacent, like Cata-
lonia, in Spain, and Dauphiuy Provence, and Languedoc, in France,
have in the main escaped.

The rank aqueous fodders grown on such soils are other causes,
but these again are calculated to undermine the characters of the
nervous and sanguineous temperament, and to superinduce the lym-
phatic. Other foods act by leading to constipation and other disor-
ders of the digestive organs, thus impairing the general health ; hence
in any animal predisposed to this disease, heating, starchy foods, such
as maize, wheat, and buckwheat, are to.be carefully avoided. It has
been widely charged that beans, peas, vetches, and other leguminosa
are dangerous, but a fuller inquiry contradicts this. If these are well
grown they invigorate and fortify the system, while like any other
fodder if grown rank, aqueous, and deficient in assimilable principles
they tend to lower the health and oi^en the way for the disease.

The period of dentition and training is a fertile exciting cause, for
though the malady may appear at any time from birth to old age,
yet the great majority of victims are from two to six years old, and if
a horse escapes the affection till after six there is a reasonable hope
that he will continue to resist it. The irritation about the head dur-
ing the eruption of the teeth, and while fretting in the unwonted
bridle and collar, the stimulating grain diet, and the close air of the
stable all combine to rouse the latent tendency to disease in the eye,
while direct injuries by bridle, whip, or hay-seeds are not without
their influence.

In the same way local irritants like dust, severe rain and snow
storms, smoke, and acrid vapors are contributing causes.

It is evident, however, that no one of these is sufficient of itself to
produce the disease, and it has been alleged that the true cause is a
microbe, or the irritant products of a microbe, which is harbored in
the marshy soil. The prevalence of the disease on the same damp
soils which produce ague in man and anthrax in cattle has been

273

quoted in support of this doctrine, as also the fact that the malady is
always more prevalent center is paribus in basins surrounded b.y hills
where the air is still and such products are concentrated, and that a
forest or simple belt of trees will, as in ague, at times limit the area
of its i3revalence. Another argument for the same view is found in
the fact that on certain farms irrigated by town sewage this malady
has become extremely prevalent, the sewage being assumed to form a
suitable nidus for the growth of the germ. But on these sewage
farms a fresh crop may be cut every fortnight, and the product is
precisely that aqueous material which contributes to a lymphatic
structure and a low tone of health. The presence in the system of a
definite germ has not yet been proven, and in the present state of our
knowledge we are only warranted in charging the disease on the dele-
terious emanations from the marshy soil in which bacterial ferments
are constantly producing them.

Heredity is one of the most potent causes. The lymphatic constitu-
tion is of course transmitted and with it the proclivity to recurring
ophthalmia. This is notorious in the case of both parents, male and
female. The tendency appears to be stronger, however, if either par-
ent has already suifered. Thus a mare may have borne a number of
sound foals, and then fallen a victim to this malady, and all foals sul>
sequently borne have likewise suffered. So with the stallion. Rey-
nal even quotes the appearance of the disease in alternate generations,
the stallion offspring of blind parents remaining sound through life and
yet producing foals which furnish numerous victims of recurrent oj)h-
tlialmia. On the contrary, the offsijring of diseased parents removed
to high, dry regions and furnished with wholesome, nourishing rations,
will nearly all escape. Hence the dealers take colts that are still sound
or have had but one attack from the affected low Pyrenees (France)
to the unaffected Catalonia (Sixain), with confidence that they will
escape, and from the Jura Valley to Dauphiny with the same result.

Yet the hereditary taint is so strong and pernicious that intelligent
horsemen everywhere refuse to breed from either horse or mare that
has once suffered from recurrent oi^hthalmia, and the French Govern-
ment studs not only rejept all unsound stallions, but refuse service
to any mare which has suffered with her eyes. It is this avoidance
of the hereditary predisposition more than anything else that has
reduced the formerly wide prevalence of this disease in the Euroi3ean
countries generally. A consideration for the future of our horses
would demand the disuse of all sires that are unlicensed, and the
refusal of a license to any sire which has suffered from this or any
other communicable constitutional disease.

Other contributing causes deserve passing mention. Unwholesome
food and a faulty method of feeding undoubtedly' j)redisposes to the
disease, and in the same district the carefully fed will escape in far
larger proportion than the badly fed. But it is so with every other

274

condition wliicli undermines the general liealtli. The presence of
worms in the intestines, overwork, and debilitating diseases and causes
of every kind weaken the vitalitj^ and lay the sj'stem more open to
attack. Thierry long ago showed that the imxjrovement of close, low,
dark, damj) stables, where the disease had previously prevailed, prac-
tically banished this affection. Whatever contributes to strength and
vigor is x)rotecti^e — whatever contributes to weakness and poor health
is provocative of the disease in the predisposed subject.

The symptoms vary according to the severity of the attack. In some
cases there is marked fever, and in some slighter cases this may be
almost altogether wanting, but there is alwaj's a lack of vigor and
energy, bespeaking general disorder. The local symptoms are in the
main those of internal ophthalmia, with, in manj' cases, an increased
hardness of the eye-ball from effusion into its cavity. The contracted
pupil does not expand much in darkness, nor even under the action
of belladonna. Opacity advances from the margin, over a j)art or
whole of the cornea, but so long as it is trausx)arent there may be seen
the turbid, aqueous humor with or without flocculi, the dingy^ iris
robbed of its clear black aspect, the slightly clouded lens and a green-
ish yellow reflection from the dei)tli of the eye. From the fifth to the
seventh day the flocculi i)recipitates in the lower part of the chamber,
exposing more clearly the iris and lens, and absorption commences so
that the eye may be cleared u^) in ten or fifteen days.

The characteristic of the disease is, however, its recurrence again
and again in the same eye until blindness results. The attacks may
follow each other at intervals of a month, more or less, but they show
no relation to any particular xjhase of the moon as might be inferred
from the familiar name, but are determined rather by the Aveather,
the health, the food, or bj' some i)eriodicity of the sj^stem. From five
to seven attacks usually result in blindness, and then the second eye
is liable to be attacked until it also is ruined.

In the intervals between the attacks some remaining symi)toms
betray the condition, and these become more marked after each suc-
cessive access of disease. Even after the first attack there is a bluish
ring round the margin of the transj)arent cornea. The eye seems
smaller than the other, at first because it is retracted in its socket,
and often after several attacks because of actual shrinkage (atrophy).
The upxDer eyelid, in place of presenting a uniform, continuous arch,
has about one-third from its inner angle an abrupt bend, caused by
the contraction of the levator muscle. The front of the iris has
exchanged some of its dark, clear brilliancy for a lusterless j'ellow,
and the depth of the eye presents more or less of the greenish yellow
shade. The pupil remains a little contracted, except in advanced and
aggravated cases, when, Avith opaque lens, it is widelj- dilated. If one
eye only has suffered, as is common, the contrast in these respects
with the sound eye is all the more characteristic. Another feature is

275

the erect, attentive carriage of the ear, to compensate to some extent
for the w aning- \asion.

The attacks vary greatly iu severity in different cases, ])nt the recur-
rence is characteristic, and all alike lead to cataract and intraocular
effusion, with pressure on the retina and abolition of sight.

The preren/Zo/i of this disease is the great object tobe aimed at, and
this demands the. most careful breeding, feeding, housing, and general
management as indicated under causes. Much can also be done bj'
migration to a high, dry location, but for this and malarious affections
the improvement of the land by drainage and good cultivation should
be the final aim.

Treatment is not satisfactory, but is largely the same as for common
internal ophthalmia. Some cases, like rheumatism, are benefited by
scruple doses of powdered colchicum and 2-dram doses of salicylate of
soda twice a day. In other cases with marked hardness of the globe
of the eye from intraocular effusion, puncture of the eye, or even the
excision of a portion of the iris, has helped. During recovery a course
of tonics (2 drams oxide of iron, 10 grains nux vomica, and 1 ounce
sulphate of soda dailj') is desirable to invigorate the system and help
to ward off another attack. The vulgar resort to knocking out the
wolf-teeth and cutting out the haw can onl^^ be condemned. The
temporary recovery would take place in one or two weeks though no
such thing had been done, and the breaking of a small tooth, leaving
its fang in the jaw, only increases the irritation.

CATARACT.

The common result of internal ophthalmia, as of the recurrent type,
may be recognized as described under the first of these diseases. Its
offensive appearance may be obviated by extraction or depression of
the lens, but as the rays of light would no longer be projierly refracted,
perfect vision would not be restored, and the animal would be liable
to prove an inveterate shyer. If perfect blindness continued by
reason of pressure on the nerve of sight, no shj'ing would result.

PALSY OF THE NERVE OF SIGHT — AMAUROSIS.

The causes of this affection are tumors or other disease of the
brain implicating the roots of the optic nerve; injury to the nerve
between the brain and eye; and inflammation of the optic nerve
within the eye (retina), or undue pressure on the same from dropsical
or inflammatory effusion. It may also occur from overloaded stom-
ach, from a i)rofuse bleeding, and even from the pressure of the
gravid womb in gestation.

The symptoms are wide dilatation of the jiupils, so a.s to exi:)ose
fully the interior of the globe, the expansion remaining the same in
light and darkness. Ordinary eyes when brought to the light have

276

the pupils suddenly eontraot, and then dilate and contract alternately
nntil tliej^ adapt themselves to the amount of light. The horse does
not swerve Avhen a feint to strike is made unless the hand causes a
current of air. The ears are held erect and turn quickly toward any
noise, and the horse steps high to avoid stumbling over objects which
it can not see.

Treatment is only useful when the disease is symptomatic of some
removable cause, like congested brain, loaded stomach, or gravid
womb. When recovery does not follow the termination of these con-
ditions, apply a blister behind the ear and give one-half dram doses
of nux vomica daily.

TUMORS OF THE EYEBALL.

A variety of tumors attack the eyeball — dermoid, jDapillary, fatty,
cystic, and melanotic, but perhaps the most frequent in the horse is
encephaloid cancer. This may grow in or on the globe, the haw, the
eyelid, or the bones of the orbit, and is only to be remedied if at all
by early and thorough excision. It may be distinguished from the
less dangerous tumors by its softness, friability, and great vascularity,
bleeding on the slightest touch, as well as by its anatomical structure.

STAPHYLOMA.

This consists in a bulging forward of the cornea at a given point
by the saccular yielding and distension of its coats, and it maj^ be
either transparent or oj^aque and vascular. In the last form the iris
has become adherent to the back of the cornea, and the whole struc-
ture has become filled with blood-vessels. In the first form the bulg-
ing cornea is attenuated ; in the last it may be thickened. The best
treatment is by excision of a portion of the iris so as to relieve the
intra-ocular pressure.

PARASITES IN THE EYE.

Acari in the eye have been incidentally alluded to under inflam-
mation of the lids.

The Filaria lachrymalis is a white worm, one-half to 1 inch long,
which inhabits the lachrymal duct and the under side of the eyelids
and haw in the horse, producing a verminous conjunctivitis. The
first step in treatment in such cases is to remove the worm with for-
ceps, then treat as for external inflammation.

The Filaria papiUosa is a delicate, white, silvery-looking worm,
which I have repeatedly found 2 inches in length. It invades the
aqueous humor, where its constant active movements make it an
object of great interest, and it is frequently exhibited as a "snake in
the eye." It is found also in other internal cavities of the horse, to
which it undoubtedly makes its Avay f rom the food, and especially the

platf: XXX

if jc r fi^

Theoretical Section of the Horse's Eye
n .Opdc nerve ; b, SclerotijC ; c,Owroict; d.,Retina. ,■ e.Comefi, f,Jris;
g.h, CV/iaj^u circle , CorTijg/ime.nt J a/id^ processes giA'en offbi/ the choroid ,
t/ioux/h representx£f as isol/iteJ} from it, in ojyier- to indijcate their limits
more cieu/i^/y tjizsertion of the nliary processes on ffie cj^i/stnUine Zens,
j. Cri/sfaJZine lens, k, Chpstallinr capsule,- Z> Utreov^ l)ody; nv.n.Anierior
'and posierior chambers; o,Theo7vtical indication of the Tne^nbrane of
the aqufou^ hiimoiir; p.p.Tar'si; q^q.Fih? ■mis membrane of the eJjeUcJs ;
r,Elevntor muscle of the upper ef/elid; s,s,Orlnadaris naiscle of the
ei/eUds; t,t, Skirt of the ei7eZi<Ls/ ii,(^jrm/iuictii'a., ^JSjjzdemur lairer of
diis mejn7)rane c/n-ering tfte Corneo,y x,T'osteri/fr re-ctiis TJiijscJe ;
I/, Sii/jerior rectus nuiscle / z^, Inferior rectus muscle. ,■ xv, Fffn^oiis
shent/i of the oilnt (oT'orhitnJ membrnne ) .

"tco Marx. after DArlxA-al p:i71 A Hoen&Co Lith Baliimore

DlAGRAiMATIC N'KimCAL ShXmON THROTTGH K YE .

277

water SAvallowecl, and its prevention is therefore to be sought mainly
in the supply of pure water from close deep wells. When i)resent in
the eye it causes inflammation and has to be removed through an inci-
sion made with the lancet in the upper border of the cornea close to
the sclerotic, the point of the instrument being directed slightly for-,
ward to avoid injury to the iris. Then ajjply cold water or astringent
lotions.

The echinococcus, the cystic or larval stage of the echinococcus
tapeworm of the dog, has been found in the eye of the horse and a
cysticercus {Cysticercus fistidaris ?) is also reported.

The Pentastoma t(Bnioides, which inhabits the nose of horse and
dog, has been found by Stitten in the eye of the horse, but the case is
unique.

LAMENESS-ITS CAUSES AND TREATMENT.

By Prof. A. LIAUTARD, M. D., V. M.,
Principal of the American Veterinanj College, Neir York.

The consideration of the usefulness and consequently of the value
to their human masters of those of the Inferior animals ^vhich are
classed as beasts of burden ultimately and naturally resolves itself
into an inquiry into the condition of that special i^ortion of their organ-
ism which controls the function of locomotion, for it is onlj^ as living,
organized locomotive machines that the horse, the camel, the ox, and
their burden-bearing companions are of practical value to man. This
is especially true in regard to the members of the equine family, the
most numerous and valuable of them all, and it naturally follows that
with the horse for a subject of discussion the special topic and leading
theme of inquiry will, by an easy lapse, become an inquest into the
condition and efficiency of his power for usefulness as a carrier or
traveler. There is a large amount of abstract interest in the study of
that endowment of the animal economy which enables its possessor to
change his ijlace at will and convey himself whithersoever his needs
or his moods m.aj incline him; but how much greater the interest that
attaches to the subject when it becomes a i)ractical and economic
question and includes within its iDurview the various related topics
which belong to the domains of x)hysiology, pathology, therapeutics,
and the entire round of scientific investigation into which it is finally
merged as a subject for medical and surgical consideration, in a word,
of actual disease and its treatment. It is not surprising that the intri-
cate and complicated apparatus of locomotion, with its symmetry and
harmony of movement and the x^erfection and beauty of its details
and adjuncts, sliould be admiringly denominated by students of cre-
ative design and attentive observers of nature and her marvelous
contrivances and adaptations a living macliine.

The horse in a state of domesticity is of all the animal tribe the
largest sharer with his master in his liability to the accidents and dan-
gers which are among the incidents of civilized life. From his expo-
sure to the missiles of war on the battle-field to his chance of picking
uj) a nail from the city pavement there is no hour- when he is not in
danger of incurring injuries which may demand the best skill of the

279

280

veterinarian j)ractitioner to repair. And this is not alone true of cas-
ualties which belong to the class of external and traumatic cases, hut
includes as well those of a kind perhaj^s nnore numerous, which may
result in lesions of internal parts, frequentl}^ the most serious and
obscure of all in their nature and effects.

The horse is too important a factor in the practical details of human
life and fills too large a place in the business and i)leasure of the
world to justify any indifference to his needs and his physical com-
fort or neglect in respect to the preservation of his peculiar powers
for usefulness. In this connection it is hardly necessary to allude to
sentimental considerations of "humanitj^," so called — a word which
too often becomes a wretched misnomer when one recalls the neg-
lects, the mistreatment, the overtasking and other cruelties, in many
instances tortures, of which he becomes the helpless victim. In enter-
ing somewhat largely, therefore, upon a review of the subject, and
treating in detail of the causes, the symptoms, the i^rogress, the treat-
ment, the results, and the consequences of lameness in the horse,
we are performing a duty which needs no word of apology or justi-
fication. The subject explains and justifies itself, and is its own
vindication and illustration if any are needed.

The function of locomotion is performed by the action of two prin-
cipal systems of organs, known in anatomical and physiological
terminology as pclssive and active, the muscles performing the active
and the bones the passive portion of the movement, the necessary
connection between the co-operating organism being effected by means
of a vital contact by which the muscle is attached to the bone at cer-
tain determinate xwints on the surface of the latter. These points of
attachment appear in tlie form of sometimes an eminence, sometimes
a depression, sometimes a border or an angle, or again as a mere
roughness, but each perfectly fulfilling its purpose, while the necessary
motion is provided for by the formation of the ends of the long bones
into the requisite articulations, joints, or hinges. Every motion is
the product of the contraction of one or more of the muscles, which,
as it acts upon the bony levers, gives rise to a movement of extension
or flexion, abduction or adduction, rotation or circumduction. The
movement of abduction is that which passes from and that of adduc-
tion that which passes toward the median line, or the center of the
body. The movements of flexion and extension are too well under-
stood to need defining. It is the combination and rapid alternations
of these movements which produce the different j)ostures and various
gaits of the living animal, and it is their interrui^tion and derange-
ment, from whatsoever cause, which constitutes the pathological con-
dition of lameness.

A concise examination of the general anatomy of these organs,
however, must precede the consideration of the j^athologieal ques-
tions pertaining to the subject. A statement such as we have just

281

given, containing only the briefest hint of matters which, though not
necessarily in their ultimate scientific minutiae, must be clearly com-
prehended in order to acquire a symmetrical and satisfactory view of
the theme as a practical collation of facts to be remembered, analyzed,
applied, and utilized.

It was th-e great Bacon who wrote : ' ' The human body may be
compared, from its complex and delicate organization, to a musical
instrument of the most perfect construction, but exceedingh' liable
to derangement." In its degree the remark is equally applicable to
the equine body, and if we would keep it in tune and profit by its
harmonious action Ave must at least acquaint ourselves with the rela-
tions of its parts and the mode of their co-operation.

ANATOMY.

The bones, then, are the hard organs which in their connection and
totality constitute the skeleton of an animal. They are of various
forms, of which three — the long, the flat, and the small — are recog-
nized in tlie extremities. These are more or less regular in their form,
but i^reseut upon their surfaces a variety of aspects, exhibiting in
turn, according to the requirement of each case, a roughened or
smooth surface, variously marked with grooves, crests, eminences, and
depressions, for the necessary muscular attachments, and, as before
mentioned, are connected by articulations and joints, of which some
are immovable and others of a movable kind.

The substance of the bones is composed of a mass of combined
earthy and animal matter, surrounded by a fine, fibrous enveloping
membrane (the periosteum) which is intimately adherent to the
external surface of the bone, and is, in fact, the secreting membrane
of the bony structure. The bony tissue proper is of two consistencies,
the external portion being hard and " compact," and called by the
latter term, while the internal, known as the ' ' spongy tissue " or
" areolar," is also of a consistency corresponding with these descrip-
tive terms. Those of the bones which possess this latter consistency
contain also, in their spongy portion, the medullary substance known
as marrow, which is deposited in large quantities in the interior of
the long bones, and especially where a central cavity exists, called,
for that reason, the medullary cavity. The nourishment of the bones
is effected by means of what is known as the nutrient foramen, which is
an opening established for the jjassage of the blood vessels which con-
vey the necessary nourishment to the interior of the organ. There
are other minutiae concerning the nourishment of the skeleton, such
as the venous arrangement and the classification of their arterial ves-
sels into several orders, which, though of interest as an abstract study,
are not of sufficient practical value to refer to here.

The active organs of locomotion, the muscles, form, speaking gen-
erally, the fleshy covering of the external part of the skeleton and

282

surround the bones of the extremities. They varj' greatly in shape and
size, being flat, triangular, long, short, or broad, and are variously
and capriciously named, some from their shape, some from their situa-
tion, and others from their use, and thus we have abductors and adduc-
tors, the pyramidal and orbicular, the digastricus, the vastus, and the
rest. Those which are under the control of the will, known as the vol-
untary muscles, appear in the form of flesh}^ structures, red in color,
and with fibers of various degrees of fineness, and are composed of
^fasciculi,'''' or bundles of fibers, united by connective or cellular tis-
sue, each fasciculus being comiDosed of smaller ones, less in size, but
united in a similar manner to compose the larger formations, each of
which is enveloped by a structure of similar nature known as the sar-
colemma. Many of the muscles are united to the bones b}- the direct
contact of their fleshy fibers, but, in other instances, the body of the
muscle is more or less gradually transformed into a cordy or mem-
branous structiire kno^vn as the tendon or sinew, and the attachment
is made by ver}^ short fibrous threads through the medium of a long
tendinous band, which, passing from a single one to several other of
the bones, effects its object at a point far distant from its original
attachment. In thus carrying its action from one bone to another, or
from one region of a limb to another, these tendons must necessarily
have smooth surfaces over which to glide, either upon the bones them-
selves or formed at their articulations, and this need is supplied by
the secretion of the synovial fluid, a yellowish, unctuous substance,
furnished by a jieculiar tendinous synovial sac, designed for the
purj)ose.

Illustrations in point of the agency of the synovial fluid in assisting
the sliding movements of the tendons may be found under their vari-
ous forms at the shoulder joint, at the upper x)art of the bone of the
arm, at the posterior part of the knee joint, and also at the fetlocks,
on their posterior part.

As the tendons, whether singl}' or in company with others, pass
over these natural pulleys they are retained in place by strong fibrous
bands or sheaths, which are by no means exempt from danger of
injury, as will be readily inferred from a consideration of their impor-
tant special use as sujaports and reenforcements of the tendons them-
selves, with which they must necessarily share the stress of whatever
force or strain is brought to bear upon both or either.

"We have referred to that special formation of the external surface
of a bone by which it is adapted to forma joint or articulation, either
movable or fixed, and a concise examination of the formation and
structure of the movable articulations will liere be in place. These
are foi-med generally by the extremities of the long, or they may
exist on the surfaces of the short bones; the points or regions where
the contact occurs being denominated the articular surface, which
assumes from this circumstance a considerable variety of aspect and

283

form, being in one case comparatively flat and at another elevated;
or as forming a j)rotruding head or knob, with a distinct convexity;
and again jiresenting a corresponding depression or cavity, accurately
adapted to comi)lete, by their coaptation, the ball and socket joint.
The articulation of the arm and shoulder is an examj)le of the first
kind, while that of the hip with the thigh bone is a perfect exhibition
of the latter.

The structure whose oflice is the retention of the articulation in
place, is the ligament. This is a white, inelastic, or yellowish texture,
]x»ssessing in some degree the opposite equality. In some instances it
is of a corded or funicular shape, but consists in others of a broad
membrane, in the first form serving to bind the bones more firmly
together, and in the latter surrounding or inclosing, in whole or in
part, the broad articulations, and calculated rather for the i^rotection
of tlie cavity from intrusion bj' the air than for other security. These
latter are usually found in connection with those of the joints which
X>ossess a free and extended movement, but are also found accompa-
U3"ing the funicular ligaments either suiTOunding and inclosing the
joints or occupjang the interior of their structure, as inter articular,
in which situation they secure the union of the several bones more
firmly and effectively" than would be possible for the capsular liga-
ment unassisted.

The universal need which pertains to all mechanical contrivances
of motion has not been forgotten wliile providing for the perfect work-
ing of the interesting piece of living machinery which x^erforms the
function of locomotion, as we are contemj)lating it, and nature has con-
sequently provided for obviating the evils of attrition and friction,
and insuring the easy play and smooth movement of its parts, by the
establishment of the secretion of the synovia, tlie vital lubricant of
which we have before spoken, as a yellow, oily, or rather glairy secre-
tion, which performs the indisx>ensable office of facilitating the play
of the tendons over the joints and certain given i^oints of the bones.
This fluid, which is deposited in a containing sac, the lining (serous)
membrane of which forms the secreting organ, is of an excessivelj''
sensitive nature, and while it lines the inner face of the ligaments,
both capsular and fascicular, is attached onlj^ upon the edges of the
bones without extending upon their length or between the layers of
cartilage which lie between the bones and their articular surfaces.

Our object in thus partially and concisely reviewing the structure
and condition of the essential organs of locomotion has been rather
to outline a sketch which may serve as a reference chart of the gen-
eral features of the subject than to offer a minute descri^jtion of the
parts referred to. Other j^oints of interest will receive due attention
as we proceed with the illustration of our subject and examine the
matters which it most concerns us to bring under consideration. The
foundation of facts wliich we have thus far prepared will be found
suflicientl}^ broad, we trust, to include whatever may be necessary to

284

insure a ready comprehension of the essential matters which are to
follow as our review is carried forward to completion. What we
have said touching these elementary truths will jjrobably be sufficient
to facilitate a clear understanding of the requirements essential to
the perfection and regularity which characterize the normal j)erform-
ance of the various movements which result in the accomplishment of
the action of locomotion. So long as the bones, the muscles and their
tendons, the joints with their cartilages, their ligaments and their syn-
ovial structure; the nerves and the controlling influences which they
exercise over all, with the blood vessels which distribute to every part,
hoAvever minute, the vitalizing fluid which sustains the whole fab-
ric in being and activity — so long as these various constituents and
adjuncts of animal life preserve their normal exemption from disease,
traumatism, and pathological change, the function of locomotion will
continue to be performed with perfection and efficiency.

But on the other hand, let any element of disease become implanted
in one or several of the parts destined for combined action, any change
or irregularity of form, dimensions, location, or action occur in anj'^
portion of the apparatus — any obstruction or misdirection of vital
power take place, any interference with the order of the phenomena
of normal nature, any loss of harmony and lack of balance be betrayed,
and we have in the result the condition of lameness.

DEFINITION OF LAMENESS.

Physiology. — Comprehensively and universally considered, then,
the term lameness signifies any irregularity or derangement of the
function of locomotion irrespective of the cause which produced it or
the degree of its manifestation. However slightly or severely it may
be exhibited, it is all the same. The nicest observation may be
demanded for its detection, and it may need the most thoroughly
trained i^owers of discernment to identify and locate it, as in cases
where the animal is said to be fainting, tender, or to go sore. Or the
patient may be so far affected as to refuse utterly to use an injured
leg, and under compulsory motion keep it raised from the ground, and
prefer to travel on three legs rather than to bear any i3ortion of his
weight upon the afflicted member. In these two extremes, and in all
the intermediate degrees, the patient is simply lame — pathognomonic
minutiae being considered and settled in a place of their own.

These last two classifications of the condition of disabled function,
of simple lameness and lameness on three legs, are very easy of detec-
tion, but the first or mere tenderness, or soreness, may be very diffi-
cult to identify, and at times very serious results have followed from
the obscurity which has enveloped the early stages of the malady.
For it may easily occur that in the absence of the treatment which an
early correct diagnosis would have indicated, an insidious ailment
may so take advantage of the lapse of time as to root itself too deeply

285

into the economy to be suoverted, and oecome transformed into a dis-
abling chronic case, or possibly one that is incurable and fatal. Hence
the impolicy of depreciating early symptoms because they are unac-
companied by distinct and pronounced characteristics, and from a
lack of threatening appearances inferring the absence of danger.
The possibilities of an ambush can never be safely ignored. An extra
caution cost nothing, even if wasted. The fulfillment of the first duty
of a practitioner, when introduced to a case, is not always an easy
task, though it is too frequently expected that the diagnosis or " what
is the matter " verdict will be reached by the quickest and surest
kind of an " instantaneous process," and a sure prognosis, or "how
will it end," guessed at instanter.

Usually the discovery that the animal is becoming lame is compar-
atively an easy matter to a careful observer. Such a person "«all
readily note the changes of movement which will have taken place
in the animal he has been accustomed to drive or ride, unless they
are indeed slight and limited to the last degree. But what is not
always easy is the detection, after discovering the fact of an existing
irregularity, of the locality of its point of origin, and whether its
seat be in the near or off leg, or in the fore or the hind part of the
body. These are questions too often wrongly answered, notwith-
standing the fact that with a little careful scrutiny the point may be
easily settled. The error, which is too often committed, of pronounc-
ing the leg upon which the animal travels soundly as the seat of the
lameness, is the result of a misinterpretation of the physiology of
locomotion in the crippled animal. Much depends upon the gait with
which the animal moves while under examination. The act of walk-
ing is unfavorable for accurate observation, though, if the animal
walks on three legs, the decision is easy to reach. The action of gal-
loping will often, by the rapidity of the muscular movements and their
quick succession, interfere with a nice study of their rhythm, and it
is only under some peculiar circumstances that the examination can
be safely conducted while the animal is moving with that gait. It is
while the animal is trotting that the investigation is made with the
best chances of an intelligent decision, and it is while moving with
that gait, therefore, that the points should be looked for which must
form the elements of the diagnosis.

Our first consideration should be the physiology of normal or
healthy locomotion, that from thence we may the more easily reach
our conclusions touching that which is abnormal, otherwise lameness,
and by this process we ought to succeed in obtaining a clew to the
solution of the first problem, to wit, in tuhich leg is the seat of the
lameness?

A word of definition is here necessary, in order to render that which
follows more easily intelligible. In veterinary nomenclature each
two of the legs, as referred to in pairs, are denominated a biped. The

286

four points occupied by tlie feet of the auinial while standing at rest,
forming a square, the two fore legs are known as the anterior biped;
the two hinder, the jjo.s/erior; the two on one side, the lateral; and
one of either the front or hind biped with the opposite leg of the hind
or front biped will form the diagonal hiped.

Considering, as it is proper to do, that in a condition of health each
separate biped and each individual leg is required to i^erform an
equal and uniform function and to carry an even or equ^l portion of
the weight of the body, it will be readily appreciated that the result
of this distribution will be a regular, evenly balanced, and smooth
displacement of the body thus supported by the four legs, and that
therefore, according to the rapidity of the motion in different gaits,
each single leg will be required at certain successive moments to
bear the weight which had rested upon its congener while it was
itself in the air, in the act of moving; or, again, two different legs of
a biped maj'- be called upon to bear the weight of the two legs of the
opposite biped while also in the air in the act of moving.

To simplify the matter by an illustration, the weight of an animal
may be placed at 1,000, of which each leg, in a normal and healthy
condition, supports while at rest 250. When one of the fore legs is
in action, or in the air, and carrying no weight, its 250 share of the
weight will be thrown upon its congener or i)artner to sustain. If
the two legs of a biped are both in action and raised from the ground,
their congeners still resting in inaction, will carry the total weight of
the other two, or 500. And as the succession of movements contin-
ues, and the change from one leg to another or from one biped to
another, as may be required by the gait, proceeds, there will result a
smooth, even, and equal balancing of active movements, shifting the
weight from one leg or one biped to another, with symmetrical pre-
cision, and we shall be presented with an interesting example of the
play of vital mechanics in a healthy organization.

Much jnay be learned from the accurate study of the action of a
single leg. Normally, its movements will be without variation or
failure. When at rest it will easily sustain the weight assigned to it,
without showing hesitancy or betraying pain, and when it is raised
from the ground in order to transfer the weight to its mate, it will
perform the act in such a manner that when it is again placed upon
the ground to rest it will bo with a firm tread, indicative of its ability
to receive again the burden to be tlirown back upon it. In planting
it upon the ground or raising it up again for the forward movement
while in action, and again replanting it upon the earth, each move-
ment will be the same for each leg and for each biped, whether the
act be that of walking or trotting, or even of galloping. In short,
the regular play of every part of the apparatus avIU testify to the
existence of that condition of orderly soundness and efficient activity
which is eloquently suggestive of the condition of vital integrity,

287

which is simph' but comprehensively expressed Ijy the terms lieolth
and soundness.

But let some change, though slight and ohscure, occur among the
elements of the case, some invisible agenc}^ of evil intrude among the
harmonizing processes going forward ; any disorder occur in the rela-
tions of cooperating parts; anj'thing appear to neutralize the effi-
ciencj^ of vitalizing forces ; any disability' of a limb to accept and to
throw back upon its mate the iDortion of the weight which belongs to
it to sustain, whether as the effect of traumatic accidents or other-
wise; in short, whatever tends to defeat the purpose of nature in
organizing the locomotive apparatus may be looked upon as a cause
of lameness. And it is not the least of the facts which it is imi^ortant
to remember that it is not sufficient to look for the manifestation of
an existing discordance in the action of the affected limb alone, but
that it is shared by the sound one, and must be searched for in that
as well as the halting member, if the hazard of an error is to be
avoided. The mode of action of the leg which is the seat of the
lameness will vary greatly from that which it exhibited when in a
healthy condition, and the sound leg will also offer important modifi.
cations in the same three i^articulars before alluded to, to wit, that of
resting on the ground, that of its elevation and forward motion, and
that of striking the ground again when the full action of stepping is
accomplished. Inability in the lame leg to sustain weight will imply
excessive exertion by the sound one, and lack of facility or disposi-
tion to rest the lame member on the ground will necessitate a longer
continuance of that action on the sound side. Changes in the act of
elevating the leg, or of carrying it forward, in both, Avill j)resent,
however, entirely opposite conditions between the two. The lame
member will be elevated rapidly, moved carefully forward, and
returned to the ground with caution and hesitancy, and the contact
with the earth will be effected as lightly as possible, while the sound
liml) will rest longer on the ground, move boldly and rapidl}^ forward,
and strike the ground promptly and forcibly. All this is due to the
fact that the sound member carries more than its normal, healthy
share of the weiglit of the body, a share wliich may be in excess from
1 to 250, and thus bring its burden to a figure varying from 251 to
500, all depending upon the degree of the existing lameness, whether
it is simply a slight tenderness or soreness, or whether the trouble
has reached a stage which compels the patient to the awkwardness of
traveling on three legs.

That all this is not mere theory, but rests on a foundation of fact
may l)e established by observing the manifestations attending a single
alteration in the balancing of the ])ody. In health, the support and
equilibrium of that mass of the body which is borne by the fore
legs is equalized, and passes by regular alternations from the right to
the left side, and vice versa. But if the left leg, becoming disabled,

288

relieves itself by leaning, as it were, on the right, the latter becomes,
consequently, i)ractically heavier, and the mass of the body will
incline or settle upon that side. Lameness of the left side, therefore,
means dropping or settling on the right, and vice versa. We emphasize
this statement and insist upon it, the more from the frequency of the
instances of error which have come under our notice, in which parties
have insisted upon their view that the leg which is the seat of the
lameness is that upon which he drops, and which the animal is usually
supposed to favor.

HOW TO DETECT THE SEAT OF LAMENESS.

Properl}^ appreciating the remarks which have preceded, and fully
comprehending the modus operandi and the true pathology of lame-
ness, but little remains to be done in order to reach an answer to the
question as to which side of the animal the lameness is seated, except
to examine the patient while in action. We have already stated our
reasons for preferring the movement of trotting for this i^urpose. In
conducting such an examination the animal should be unblanketed,
and held by a plain halter in the hands of a man who knows how to
manage his paces, and preference should be given to a hard road for
the trial. He is to be examined from various positions — from before,
from behind, and from each side. Watching him as he approaches,
as he recedes, and as he passes by, the observer should carefully
study that important action which we have spoken of as the dropping
of the body upon one extremity or the other, and this can readily
be detected by attending closely to the motions of the head and of
the hip. The head droiDS on the same side on which the mass of the
body will fall, dropping towards the right when the lameness is in
the left fore-leg, and the hip dropping in posterior lameness, also
on the sound leg, the reversal of the conditions, of course, producing
reversed effects. In other words, when the animal in trotting exhibits
signs of irregularity of action,- or lameness, and this irregularity is
accompanied by dropping or nodding the head, or depressing the hip
on the right side of the body, at the time the feet of the right side
strike the ground, the horse is lame on the left side. If the dropping
and nodding are on the near side the lameness is on the off side.

But in a majority of cases the answer to the first question relating
to the lameness of a horse is, after all, not a very difficult task.
There are two other problems in the case more diflficult of solution
and which often require the exercise of a closer scrutiny, and draw
upon all the resources of the experienced practitioner to settle satis-
factorily. That a horse is lame in a given leg may be easily deter-
mined, but when it becomes necessary to pronounce upon the query
as to what part, what region, what structure, is affected, the easy
part of the task is ovei*, and the more difficult and important, because
more obscure portion of the investigation has commenced — except, of

289

course, in cases of which the features are too distinctlj^ evident to the
senses to admit of error. It is true that by carefully noting the man-
ner in which a lame leg is performing its functions, and closely
scrutinizing the motions of the whole extremity, and especially of the
various joints which enter into its structure; by minutely examining
every part of the limb; by observing the outlines; by testing the
change, if any, in temperature and the state of the sensibility— all
these investigations may guide the surgeon to a correct localization of
the seat of trouble, but he must carefully refrain from the adoption
of a hasty conclusion, and above all, assure himself that he has not
failed to make the foot, of all the organs of the horse the most liable
to injury and lesion, the subject of the most thorough and minute
examination of all the parts which compose the suffering extremity.

The greater liability of the foot than of any other part of the
extremities to injury from casualties, natural to its situation and use,
should always suggest the beginning of an inquiry, especially in an
obscure case of lameness at that point. Indeed the lameness may
have an apparent location elsewhere, when that is the true seat of
the trouble, and the surgeon who, while examining his lame patient,
discovers a ringbone, and satisfying himself that he has encountered
the cause of the disordered action suspends his investigation with-
out subjecting the foot to a close scrutiny, may deeply regret his
neglect and inadvertence at a later day, when regrets willava^il noth-
ing towards remedying the irreparable injury which has ensued upon
his partial method of exploration. But, as in human pathological
experience, there are instances when inscrutable diseases will deliver
their fatal messages, while leaving no mark and making no sign by
which they might be identified and classified, so it will happen that
in the humbler animals the onset and progress of mysterious and
unrecognizable ailments will at times baffle the best veterinarian skill,
and leave our burden-bearing servants to succumb to the inevitable,'
and suffer and perish in unrelieved distress.

DISEASES OF BONES.
PERIOSTITIS— OSTITIS— EXOSTOSIS.

From the closeness and intimacy of the connection existing between
the two principal elements of the bony structure while in health it
frequently becomes exceedingly difficult, when a state of disease has
supervened, to discriminate accurately as to the part primarily affected,
and to determine positively whether the periosteum or the body of
the bone is originally implicated. Yet a knowledge of the fact is
often of the first importance, in order to secure a favorable result
from the treatment to be instituted. It is, however, quite evident
that m a majority of instances the bony growths which so frequently
59G1— HOR 10

290

appear on the surface of their structure, to whicli tlie general term
of ejcostosis is applied, have had their origin in an inflammation of
the periosteum, or enveloping membrane, and known as periostitis.
However this may be we have as a frequent result, sometimes on the
length of the bone, sometimes at the extremities, and sometimes
involving the articulation itself, certain bony growths, or exostoses,
known otherwise by the term splint, ringhone, and spainn, all of
which, in an important sense, may be finally referred to the j^erios-
teum as their nutrient source and support, at least after their forma-
tion, if not for their incipient existence. It is certain that inflamma-
tion of the x)eriosteum is frequently referable to wounds and bruises
caused by external agencies, and it is also true that it may jjossibly
result from the s^^reading inflammation of surrounding diseased tis-
sues, but in any case the result is uniformly seen in the deposit of a
bony growth, more or less diif use, sometimes of irregular outline, and
at others projecting distinctly from the surface from which it springs,
as so commonly presented in the ringbone and the spavin. This con-
dition of periostitis is often diiScult to determine. The signs of
inflammation are so obscure, the swelling of the parts so insignificant,
any increase of heat so imperceptible, and the soreness so slight, that
even the most acute observer may fail to locate the point of its
existence, and it is often long after the discovery of the disease itself
that its location is x^ositivelj'' revealed by the visible presence of the
exostosis. Yet the first question had been resolved, in discovering
the fact of the lameness, while the second and third remained unan-
swered, and the identification of the affected limb and the i^oint of
origin of the trouble remained unknown until their palpable revela-
tion to the senses. Wlien, by careful scrutiny, the ailment has been
located, a resort to treatment must be had at once, in order to prevent,
if possible, any further deposit of the calcareous structure and increase
of the exostotic grow^th. With this view the apjjlication of water,
either Avarm or cold, rendered astringent by the addition of alum or
sugar of lead, will be 1)eneficial. The tendency to the formation of
the bony growth, and the increase of its development after its actual
formation, may often be checked by the application of a severe blister
of Spanish fly. The failure of these means and the establishment of
the diseased x^i'ocess in the form of chronic periostitis cause various
clianges in the bone covered by the disordered membrane, and the
result may be softening, degeneration, or necrosis, but more usually it
is follow(Ml by the formation of the bony growths referred to, on the
cannon bone, the coronet, the hock, etc. .

We first turn our attention to the si)lint, as certain bony enlarge-
ments which are developed on the cannon bone, between the knee or
the hock and the fetlock joint, are called. They arc found on the

291

iiiside of the leg, from tlie knee, near to wnicli tliey are to he found,
downward to about tlie lower third of the principal cannon bone!
They are of various dimensions, and are readily perceptible both to
the eye and to the touch. They vary considerably in size, ranging
from that of a large nut downward to very small proportions. In
searching for them tliey may be readily detected by the hand if they
have attained sufficient development in their nsual situation, but must
be distinguished from a small bony enlargement which may be felt at
the lower third of the cannon bone, and is not a splint nor a patho-
logical formation of any kind, but merely the normal development of
the small cannon bone.

We have said that splints are to be found on the inside of the leg.
This is true as a general statement, but it is not invariably so, and they
occasionaUy appear on tlie outside. It is also true that they appear
most commonly on the fore legs, but this is not exclusively the case,
and they may at times be found on both the inside and outside of the
hind legs. Usually a splint forms only a true exostosis, or a single
bony growth, with a somewhat diffuse base, but neither is this invari-
ably the case. In some instances they assume more important dimen-
sions, and pass from the inside to the outside of the bone, on its pos-
terior face, between that and the suspensory ligament. This form is
termed the 2^egged splint, and constitutes a serious and permanent
deformity, in consequence of its interference with the play of the
fibrous cord which passes behind it, becoming thus a source of con-
tinual irritation and consequently of permanent lameness.

A splint may tlius frequently become a cause of lameness though
not necessarily in every instance; but it is a lameness possessing f cul-
tures peculiar to itself. It is not always continuous, but at times
assumes an intermittent character, and is more marked Avhen the ani-
mal is warm than when he is cool. If the lameness is near the knee-
joint, it is very apt to become aggravated when the animal is put to
work, and the gait acquires then a peculiar character, arising from
the manner in which the limb is carried outward from the knees down-
wards, whicli is done by a kind of abduction of the lower part of the
leg. Other symptoms, however, than the lameness and the presence
of the splint, which is its cause, may be looked for in the samie connec-
tion as those which have been mentioned as pertaining to certain evi-
dences of periostitis, in the increase of the temperature of the part,
with swelling and probably pain on pressure. This last symptom is
of no little importance, since its presence or absence has in many
cases formed the determining point in deciding a question of difficult
diagnosis.

A splint being one of the results of periostitis, and the latter one of
the effects of external hurts, it naturally follows that the parts Avhich
are most exposed to blows and collisions will be those on which the
splmt will most commonly be found, and it may not be improper.

292

therefore, to refer to hurts from without as among the common causes
of the lesion. But other causes may also be productive of the evil,
and among these may be mentioned the overstraining of an immature
organism by the imposition of excessive labor upon a young animal
at a too early period of his life. The bones which enter into the for-
mation of the cannon are three in number, one large and two smaller,
which, during the youth of the animal, are more or less articulated,
with a limited amount of mobility, but which become in maturity
firmly joined by a rigid union and ossification of their inter-articular
surface. If the immature animal is compelled, then, to j)erform exact-
ing tasks beyond his strength the inevitable result will follow in the
muscular straining, and perhaps tearing asunder of the fibers which
unite the bones at their points of juncture, and it is difficult to under-
stand how the natural consequences of such a local irritation develop-
ing in inflammation or periostitis can be avoided. If the result were
deliberately and intelligently designed it could hardly be more eflfect-
uall}' accomiDlished.

The splint is an object of the commonest occurrence, so common,
indeed, that in large cities a horse which can not exhibit one or more
specimens upon some portion of his extremities is one of the rarest
of spectacles. Though it is in some instances a, cause of lameness
end its discovery and cure are sometimes beyond the abilitj^ of the
shrev/dest and most experienced veterinarians, yet as a source of vital
danger to the general equine organization, or even of functional dis-
turbance, or of practical inconvenience, aside from the rare excep-
tional cases which exist as mere samples of possibility, it can not be
considered to belong to the category of serious lesions. The worst
stigma that attaches to it is that in general estimation it is ranked
among eyesores, and continues indefinitely to be that and nothing less
or better. Thi inflammation in Avhich they originated, acute at first,
either subsid^^s or assumes the chronic form, and the bony growth
becomes a permanence, more or less established, it is true, but doing
no positive harm, and not hindering the animal from continuing his
daily routine of labor. All this, however, requires a proviso against
the occurrence of a subsequent acute attack, when, as with other
exostoses, a fresh access of acute symptoms may be followed by a new
pathological activity which shall again develop as a natural result a
reappearance of the lameness.

It is of course the consideration of the comparative harmlessness of
splints that suggests and justifies the policy of non-interference,
except as they become a positive cause of lameness. And a more
positive argument for such non-interference consists in the fact that
any active and irritating treatment may so excite the j)arts as to
bring about a renewed pathological activity, which may result in a
reduplication of the phenomena, with a second edition if not a sec-
ond and enlarged volume of the whole story. For our part our faith

293

is firm in the impolicy of interference, and this faith is founded on an
experience of many years, during which our practice has been that of
abstention.

Of course there will be exceptional conditions which will at times
indicate a different course. These will become evident when tlie occa-
sions present themselves, and extraordinary forms and effects of
inflammation and growth in the tumors offer special indications. But
our conviction remains unshaken that surgical treatment of the oper-
ative kind is usually useless, if not dangerous. We have little faith
in the method of extirpation except under very special conditions
among which that of diminutive size has been named, which seems in
itself to constitute a suflicient negative argument. But even in such
a case a resort to the knife or the gouge could scarcely find a justifi-
cation, since no operative procedure is ever without a degree of haz-
ard, to say nothing of the considerations which are always forcibly
negative m any question of the infliction of pain and the unnecessary
use of the knife.

If an acute periostitis of the cannon bone has been readily dis-
covered, the treatment we have already suggested for that ailment is
at once indicated, and the astringent lotions may be relied upon to
bring about beneficial results. Sometimes, however, preference may
be given to a lotion possessing a somewhat different quality the alter-
ative consisting of tincture of iodine applied to the inflamed spot
several times daily. If the lameness persists under this mild course of
treatment it must of course be attacked by other methods, and we must
resort to the cantharidal ointment or Spanish-fly blister, as we have
before recommended. Besides this, and producing an analogous effect
the compounds of biniodide of mercury are favored bv some It is
prepared m the form of an ointment, consisting of l" dram of the
bimodide to 1 ounce of either lard or vaseline. It forms an excellent
blistering and alterative application, and is of special advantage in
newly formed or recently discovered exostosis.

It remains a pertinent query, however, and one which seems to be
easily answered, whether a tumor so diminutive in size that it can
only be detected by diligent search, and which is neither a disfio-ure-
ment nor an obstruction to the motion of the limb, need receive any
recognition whatever. Other modes of treatment for splints are rec-
ommended and practiced which belong strictly to the domain of
operative veterinary surgery. Among these are to be reckoned actual
cauterization, or the application of the fire-iron and the operation of
periosteotomy. These are frequently indicated in the treatment of
splints which have resisted milder means.

The mode of the development of their growth; their intimacv
greater or less, with both the large and the small cannon bones; the
possibility of their extending to the back of these bones under tlie sus-
pensory ligament; the dangerous complications which may follow the

294

rouiili lumdling of the parts; with also a possibility, and indeed
probability, of their return after removal, these are the considera-
tions which have Influenced our judgment in discarding from our
practice and our approval the method of removal by the saw or the
chisel, as recommended by certain European veterinarians.

RINGBONES.

This peculiar term forms the designation of the exostosis which is
found on the coronet, in the digital, and also in the phalangeal region,
probably because it extends quite around the coronet, which it encir-
cles in the manner of a ring, or perhaps because it often forms upon
the back of that bone a regular osseous circlet, through which the
back tendons obtain a passage. The dimensions which may be
attained by these tumors and the places where they are usually devel-
oped have caused their subdivision and classification into three vari-
eties with the designations of liigh, middle, and loiv, though much
can not be said as to the importance of such distinction. It is true
that the ringbone or phalangeal exostosis may be found at various
points on the coronet, in one case forming a large bunch on the upper
part and quite close to the fetlock joint; then appearing on the very
lower portion around the upper border of the foot; seen again on the
extreme front of the coronet; or perhaps discovered on the very back
of it The shape in which they commonly appear is favorable to
their easv discoverr, their form when near the fetlock usually varying
too much from the natural outlines of the part when compared with
those of the opposite side to admit of error in the matter.

A ringbone when in front of the coronet, even when not very largely
developed, assumes the form of a diffused convex swelling If situ-
ated on the lower part, it will form a thick ring, encircling the upper
portion of the foot; when found on the posterior part, a small sharp
osseous growth somewhat projecting, sometimes on the inside and
sometimes on the outside of the coronet, may comprise the entire

manifestation. i i •,, ^ovUr

As with splints, ringbones may result from severe labor m eaii}
life before the process of ossification has been fully perfected ; or they
ma^ be referred to bruises, blows, sprains, or other violence; or inju-
ries of tendons, ligaments, or joints may be among the accountable
accidents. It is certain that they may commonly be traced to dis-
eases and traumatic lesions of the foot, and their appearance may
be reasonably anticipated among the sequelae of an abscess of the
coronet; or the cause may be a severe contusion resulting from calk^
in- or a deep-punctured wound from picking up a nail or stepping
upon any hard object of sufficiently irregular form to penetrate the

'"^Moreover, a ringbone may claim to possess the character of a leg-
acv-it maj' originate in heredity. This is a fact of no little impor-
tance in its relation to questions connected with the extensive interests

295

of the stock breeder and piircnaser. To regard a liability to transmit
constitntional idiosyncrasies by. common propagation as a disease or a
diathesis would be obviously unphilosophical; but to recognize the
fact, in view of existing evidences, in connection with the affection
we are considering, is but to render its due to the claims (^f honest
conviction, and such a conviction we do not hesitate to own. That it
is an active tendency in respect to diseases generally it would be
absurd to claim. But we do claim that a disposition to contract this
particular form of lesion may be transmitted from parent to offspring
though in most cases only with sufficient vigor to impress a predispo-
sition on the part of the latter. Yet in a smaller proportion of cases
it may, in point of fact, constitute a force sufficient to act as a sec-
ondary cause of developed disease, which may in due time become a
visible ringbone.

The importance of this point when considered in reference to the
policy which should be observed in the selection of breeding stock is
obvious, and as the whole matter is within the control of the owners
and breeders it will be their OAvn fault if the unchecked transmission
of ringbones from one equine generation to another shall be allowed
to continue. It is our belief that among the diseases which are known
for their tendency to perpetuate and repeat themselves by individual
succession, those of the bony structures stand first, and the inference
from such a fact which would exclude every animal of doubtful sound-
ness m its osseous apparatus from the stud list and the brood farm is
too i)lain for argument.

Periostitis of the phalanges is an ailment requiring careful explora-
tion and minute inspection for its discovery and is quite likely to
result in a ringbone of which lameness is the effect. The mode of its
manifestation varies according to the state of development of the
diseased growth as affected by the circumstances of its location and
dimensions. It is commonly of the kind which, in consequence of its
intermittent character, is termed lameness irhen cool, having the pecu-
liai^ty of exhibiting itself when the animal starts from the stable and
of diminishing if not entirely disappearing after some distance of
travel, to return to its original degree, if not indeed a severer one
when he has again cooled oflE in his stable. The size of the rino-bone
does not indicate the degree to which it cripples the patient, but the
position may, especially when it interferes with the free movement of
the tendons which pass behind and in front of the coronet YNHiile a
large rmgbone will often interfere but little with the motion of the
limb, a smaller growth, if situated under the tendon, may become the
cause of considerable and continued pain.

A ringbone is doubtless a worse evil than a splint. Its growth its
location, Its tendency to increased development, its exposure to 'the
influence of causes of renewed danger, all tend to impart an unfavor-
able cast to the prognosis of a case and to emphasize the importance

296

and the value of an early discovery of its presence and possible growth.
Even when the discovery has been accomplished it is often the case
that the truth has come to light too late for effectual treatment.
Months may have elapsed after the first manifestation of the lame-
ness before a discovery has been made of the lesion from which it
has originated, and there is no recall for the lapsed time. And by
the uncompromising seriousness of the discouraging prognosis must
the energy and severity of the treatment and the promptness of its
administration be measured. The periostitis has been overlooked;
any chance that might have existed for preventing its advance to the
chronic stage has been lost; the osseous exudation is established;
the ringbone is a fixed fact, and the indications are urgent and
pressing. These include severe blistering once or twice repeated ; the
application of the red iodide of mercury, and if these fail, firing with
the hot iron, and as a last resort, neurotomy, high or low as indicated
by the seat of the lesion.

SIDE-BONES.

On each side of the bone of the foot — the coffin-bone — there are
normally two supplementary organs which are called the cartilages of
the foot. They are soft, and though in a degree elastic, yet somewhat
resisting, and are implanted on the lateral wing of the coffin-bone.
Evidently their office is to assist in the elastic expansion and contrac-
tion of the posterior part of the foot, and their healthy and normal
action doubtless contributes in an important degree to the perfect
performance of the functions of that part of the leg. These organs are,
however, liable to undergo a process of disease which results in an
entire change in their properties, if not in their shape, by which they
acquire a character of hardness resulting from the deposit of earthy
substance in the intimate structure of the cartilage, and it is this
change, when its consummation has been affected, that brings to
our cognizance the diseased growth which has received the designa-
tion of side-bones. They are situated on one or both sides of the leg,
bulging above the superior border of the foot in the form of two hard
bodies composed of ossified cartilage, irregularly square in shape and
unyielding vmder the pressure of the fingers.

The side-bone may be a termination of a low inflammatory condi-
tion, or of an acute attack as well, or may be caused by sprains, bruises,
or blows; or they may have their rise in certain diseases affecting the
foot proper, as corns, quarter cracks, or quittor. The dejjosit of cal-
careous matter in the cartilage is not always uniform, the base of that
organ near its line of union with the coffin-bone being in some cases
its limit, while at other times it is diffused throughout its substance,
the size and prominence of the tumors varying much in consequence.
It would naturally be inferred that the amount of interference with
the proper functions of foot which must result from siich a patholog-
ical change would be proportioned to the size of the tumor, and that as

297

the dimensions increased, the resulting lameness would be the greater
in degree. This, however, is not the fact. A small tumor, while in
a condition of acute inflammation during the formative stage, may
cripple a patient more severely than a much larger one in a later
stage of the disease. In any case the lameness is never Avanting
and with its intermittent character may usually be detected when
the animal is cooled off after labor or exercise. The class of ani-
mals in which this feature of the disease is most frequently witnessed
is that of the heavy draft horse, and others similarl}- employed. There
is a wide margin of difference in respect to the degrees of severity
which may characterize different cases of side-bone. While one may
be so slight as to cause no inconvenience, another may develop ele-
ments of danger which ma}^ involve the necessity of severe surgical
interference.

The curative treatment should be similar to the prophj^lactic, and
such, means should be used as would tend to i)revent the deposit of
bony matters hy checking the acute inflammation which causes it.
The means recommended are the free use of the cold bath; frequent
soaking of the feet, and at a later j)eriod treatment with iodine, either
by i)ainting the surface with the tincture several times daily, or by
applying an ointment made by mixing 1 dram of the crystals with 2
ounces of vaseline, rubbed in once a day for several daj^s. If this
proves to be ineffective, a Spanish fly blister, to which a fen^ grains of
biniodidc of mercury have been added, will, in a majority of cases,
effect the desired result and remove the lameness. If, unally, this
treatment is resisted, the case must be relegated to the surgeon for
the operation of neurotomj-, or the application of the fire-iron, freely
and deeply.

SPAVIN.

This affection, popularly- termed bone spavin, is an exostosis of
the hock joint. The general impression is that in a spavined hock
the bony growth should be seated on the anterior and internal part
of the joint, and this is partially correct, as such a growth will consti-
tute a spavin in the most correct sense of the term. But an enlarge-
ment may appear on the upper part of the hock also, or possibly a
little below the inner side of the lower extremity of the shank bone,
forming what is known as a high spavin; or, again, the growth may
form just on the outside of the hock and become an outside or external
spavin. And, finally, the entire under surface may become the seat
of the osseous deposit, and involve the internal face of all the bones of
the hock, and this again is a Ijone spavin. There would seem, then,
to be but little difiieulty in comprehending the nature of a bone spavin,
and there would be none but for the fact that thei-e are similar affections
which might confuse a diagnosis if not very carefully and intelligently
made.

o9Gl— HOR 10*

298

But the hock may be spavined, while to all outward observation it
still retains its perfect form. With no enlargement tangible to sight
or touch the animal may be disabled by an occult spavin, an anchylosis
in fact, which has resulted from a union of several of the bones of the
joint, and it is only those who are able to realize the importance of its
action to the iierfect fulfillment of the function of propulsion b}' the
hind leg, who can comprehend the gravity of the only prognosis which
can be justified hy the facts of tlie case — a prognosis which is essen-
tially a sentence of serious import in respect to the future usefulness
and value of the animal. For no disease, if we except those acute
inflammatory attacks upon vital organs to whickthe patient succumbs
at once, is more destructive to the usefulness and value of a horse
than a confirmed spavin. Serious in its inception, serious in its prog-
ress, it is an ailment which, when once established, becomes a fixed
condition which there is no known means of dislodging. The peri-
ostitis, of which it is nearly always a termination, is usually the efiiect
of a traumatic cause operating ui)on the complicated structure of the
hock, such as a sprain which has torn a ligamentous insertion and
lacerated some of its fibers; or a violent eflEort in jumping, galloping,
or trotting, to which the victim has been compelled b}' the torture of
whip and spur while in use as a gambling implement by a sporting
owner, under the pretext of "improving his breed;" or the extra
exertion of starting an inordinately heavy load; or an effort to recover
his balance from a misstep; or slipping upon an icy surface; or slid-
ing with worn shoes upon a bad pavement, and other kindred causes.
And we can repeat liere what we have before said concerning bones,
in respect to liereditA' as a cause. As to this, our own experience
is an authority' -^we do know of equine families in which this con-
dition has been transmitted from generation to generation, and ani-
mals otherwise of excellent comformation rendered valueless by the
misfortune of a congenital spavin.

The evil is one of the most serious character for other reasons,
among which maj^be specified the slowness of its development and
the insidiousness of its growth. Certain indefinite x)henomena and
alarming changes and incidents furnish usually the only i)ortents of
approaching trouble. Among these signs may be mentioned a peculiar
posture assumed by the patient while at rest, and becoming at length
so habitual that it can not fail to suggest the action of some hidden
cause, tending to some undeterminable result. Tlie posture is due to
the action of the adductor muscles, the lower part of the leg being
carried inward, and the heel of the shoe resting on the toe of the
opposite foot. Then an unwillingness may be noticed in the animal
to move from one side of the stall to the other. When driven he will
travel, but stiffly, and with a sort of sidelong gait between the shafts,
and after finishing his task and resting again in his stall, will pose
with the toe x>ointing forward, the heel raised, and the hock flexed.

299

Some little heat and a considerable amount of inflammation soon
appear. The slight lameness Avliich appears when backing out of
the stall ceases to be noticeable after a short distance of travel.

A minute examination of the hock will then begin to reveal the
existence of the lesion, in a bony enlargement which may be detected
just at the junction of the hock and the cannon bone, on the inside
and a little in front, and tangible both to sight and touch. This
enlargement or hone spavin grows rapidly and persistently and soon
acquires dimensions which render it impossible to doubt any longer
its existence or its nature. Once established, its development con-
tinues under conditions of j)rogress similar to those to which we have
before alluded, in speaking of other like affections. The argument
obtained by some that because these bony deposits are frequently
found on both hocks they are not spavins, is fallacious. If they are
discovered on both hocks, it proves merely that they are not confined
to a single joint.

The characteristic lameness of bone spavin, as it affects the motion
of the hock joint, presents two aspects. In one class of cases it is
most pronounced when the horse is cool, in the other when he is at
work. The first is characterized by the fact that when the animal
travels the toe first touches the ground, and the heel descends more
slowly, the motion of flexion at the hock taking place stiffly, and
accompanied b}' a dropping of the hip on the opposite side. In the
other case the peculiarity is that the lameness increases as the horse
travels; that when he stops he seeks to favor the lame leg, and Avhen
he resumes his work soon after he steps much on his toe, as in the
first variety.

As with sidebones, though for a somewhat different reason, the
dimensions of the spavin and the degree of the lameness do not seem
to bear an}' determinate relation, the most pronounced symptoms at
times accompanying a very diminutive growth. But the distinction
between the two varieties of cool and warm may easilj' be determined
hy remembering the fact that in a majority of cases the first, or cool,
is due to a simple exostosis, wdiile the second is generally connected
v>'it]i disease of the articulation, sucli as ulceration of tlie articular
surface — a condition which, as we proceed further, will meet our
attention when wo reach the subject of springhalt.

Having thus fully considered the historj^ of bone spavin Ave are
prepared to give due weight to the reasons which exist for the adverse
prognosis which Ave must usually feel compelled to pronounce Avhen
encountering it in practice, as Avell as to realize the value of an early
discoA'Cry of the symptoms which denote its invasion of the organism.
It is but seldom, hoAvever, that the necessary advantage of this early
knowledge can be secured, and A\dien the true nature of the trouble
has become apparent it is usually too late to resort to the remedial
measures Avhich, if duly forcAvarned, a skillful practitioner might have

300

eniiiloyed. We are fully persuaded that but foi- the loss of the time
wasted in the treatment of purely imaginary ailments very many cases
of bone spavin might be arrested in their incipiency and their victims
preserved for years of comfort for themselves and valuable labor to
their owners.

To consider a hypothetical case: An early discovery of lameness
has been made; that is, the existence of an acute inflammation — of
periostitis — has been detected. The increased temperature of the
parts has been observed, with the stiffened gait and the characteristic
pose of the limb, and the question is proposed for solution, "What is
to be done?" Even with only these comparatively doubtful symj)-
toms — doubtful with the non-expert — we should direct our treatment
to the hock in prefei'ence to any other joint, since of all the joints of
the hind leg it is this which is most liable to be attacked, a natural
result from its peculiarities of structure and function. And in ansAver
to the querj^ "What is the first indication?" we should answer res! —
emphatically, and as an essential condition, rest. Whether only
threatened, susi^ected, or i^ositively diseased, the animal must be
wholly released from labor, and it must be no partial or temporary
quiet of a few days. In all stages and conditions of the disease,
whether the sx)avin is nothing more than a simple exostosis, or
v/hether accompanied by the complication of arthritis, there must be
a total suspension of effort until the danger is over. Less than" a
month's quiet ought not to be thought of — the longer the better.

Good results jway also be expected from local applications. The
various lotions which cool the parts, the astringents which lower the
tension of the blood vessels, the tejiid fomentations wliicli accelerate
tlie circulation in the engorged capillaries, the liniments of various
composition, the stimulants, the opiate anodjaies, the sedative prepa-
rations of aconite, the alterative frictions of iodine — all these are
recommended and prescribed by one or another. We prefer counter-
irritants, for the simple reason, among many others, that the}^ tend
by the pi^omptness of their action to prevent hy anticipation the for-
mation of the bony deposits. The lameness will often yield to the
blistering action of cantharides, in the form of ointment or liniment,
and to the alterative preparations of iodine or mercury. And if the
owner of a spavined horse really succeeds in removing the lameness,
he has accomplished all that he is justified in hoping for; beyond this
let him be well persuaded that a "cure" is impossible.

For this reason, moreover, he Avill do Avell to be on his guard against
the patented "cures" which the traveling horse doctor may urge upon
his credulity, and withhold his faith from the circular of the agent
who Avill deluge him with references and certificates. It is possible
that nostrums may in some exceptional instances prove serviceable,
but the greater number of them are capable of producing only injuri-
ous effects. The removal of the bony tumor can not be accomplished

301

by any siicli means, and if a trial of these unknown compounds
should be followed b}' complications no worse than the establishment
of one or more ugly, hairless cicatrices, it will be well for both the
horse and his owner.

Rest and counter-irritation, with the j^roper medicaments, consti-
tute, then, the prominent points in the treatment designed for the
relief of bone spavin. Yet there are cases in which all the agencies
and methods referred to seem to lack effectiveness and fail to produce
sat isf actor}'" results. Either the rest has been prematurelj^ inter-
rupted, or the blisters have failed to righth' modif}' the serous infil-
tration, or the case in hand has some undiscernible characteristics
which seem to have rendered the disease neutral to the agencies
emplo3"ed against it. An indication of more energetic means is then
presented, and free cauterization with the fire-iron becomes necessary.

At this point a word of explanation in reference to this operation
of firing may bs approj)riale for the satisfaction of any among our
readers who maj' entertain an exaggerated idea of its severity and
possible cruelty.

The operation is one of simplicity, but is nevertheless one which,
in order to secure its benefits, must be reserved for times and occa-
sions of which only the best knowledge and highest discretion should
be allowed to judge. It is not the mere application of a hot iron to a
given i^art of the body Avhich constitutes the operation of firing. It
is the methodical and scientific introduction of heat into the structure
with a view to a given effect upon a diseased organ or tissue bj^ an
expert surgeon. The first is one of the degrees of mere burning. The
other is scientific cauterization, and is a surgical manipulation Avhich
sliould be committed exclusively to the practised hand of the veter-
inary surgeon.

Either firing alone or stimulation v\ith blisters is of great efficacy
for the I'elief of lameness from bone spavin. Failure to produce relief
after a few applications and after allowing a sufficient interval of
rest should be followed by a second, or, if needed, a third firing.

In case of further failure there is a reserve of certain special oper-
ations which have been tried and recommended, among which those
of tarsal tenotom}^ periosteotomy, the division of nervous branches,
etc., may be mentioned. These, however, belong to the peculiar
domain of the veterinary practitioner, and need not now engage our
attention.

FRACTURES.

In technical language a fracture is a " solution of continuity in the
structure or substance of a bone," and it ranks among the most seri-
ous of the lesions to which the horse — or any animal — can be subject.
It is a subject of special interest to veterinarians, and to horse own-
ers as well, in view of the vai-iety of forms in which it may occur, as

302

well as of the loss of time to wliicli it subjects the patient, and the
consequent suspension of his earning capacity. Though of less seri-
ous consequence in the horse than in man, it is always a matter of
grave import. It is always slow and tedious in healing, aud is fre-
quently of doubtful and unsatisfactory result.

This solution of continuity may take place in two x>rincipal ways.
In the most numerous instances it includes the total thickness of the
bone and is a complete fracture. In other cases it involves a portion
only of the thickness of the bone, and for that reason is described as
incomplete. If the bone is divided into two separate portions, and
the soft parts have received no injury, the fracture is a simple one;
or it becomes compoimd if the soft jmrts have suffered laceration, and
comminuted if the bones have been crushed or ground into fragments,
many or few. The direction of the break also determines its further
classification. Broken at a right angle it is transverse; at a different
angle it becomes oJjUque, and it may be longitudincd or lengthwise.
In a complete fracture, especially of the oblique kind, there is a con-
dition of great importance in respect to its effect upon the ultimate
result of the treatment in the fact that from various causes, such as
muscular contractions or excessive motion, the bony fragments do not
maintain their mutual coaptation, but become separated at the ends,
and this fact has made it necessary to add another descriptive term
in the words ivifli displacement. And this term again suggests its
negative, and introduces the fracture without displacement, when the
facts justify that description. Again, a fracture may be intraarticu-
lar ov extraarticular, as it extends within a joint or otherwise, and
once more, intra-periostecd, when the periosteum remains intact.
And, finally, there is no absolute limit to the use of descriptive ter-
minology in the case.

The condition of displacement is largely influential in determining
the question of treatment, and as affecting the finalresult of a case
of fracture. This, however, is dependent upon its location or whether
its scat be in one or more of the axes of the bone, in its length, its
breadth, its thickness, or its circumference. An incomplete fracture
may also be either simple or comminuted, the periosteum, in the latter
case when it is intact, keeping the fragments together, the fracture in
that case belonging to the intra-periosteal class. At times, also, there
is only a simple fissure or split in the bone, making a condition of
much difficulty of diagnosis.

Two varieties of originating cause may be recognized in cases of
fracture. They are the precZ/s^Jos/nr/ and iha occasional. As to the
first, different species of animals differ in the degree of their liability.
That of the dog is greater than that of the horse, and, in horses, the
various questions of age, the mode of labor, the season of the year,
tlic portion of the body most exposed, and the existence of ailments,
local and general, are all to be taken into account.

303

Among horses, those employed in neavy draught work or that are
driven over had roads are more exposed than light-draught or saddle
horses, and animals of different ages are not eqnall}" liable. Dogs
and young horses, with those which have become sufficiently aged for
their bones to have acquired an enhanced degree of frangibility, are
more liable than those which have not exceeded the time of their
adult prime. The season of the year is undoubtedlj^, though in an
incidental way, an important factor in the jDroblem of the etiology of
these accidents, for though they may be observed at all times, it is
during the months Avhen the slippery condition of the ic}' roads renders
it difficult for both men and beasts to keep their feet that they occur
most frequently. The long bones, those especiallj^ which belong to
the extremities, are most frequently the seat of fractures, from the
circumstance of their superficial j^osition, their exposure to contact
and collision, and the violent muscular efforts involved both in their
constant rapid movement and their labor in the shafts or at the pole
of heavy and heavily laden carriages.

The relation between sundrj^ idiosyncrasies and diatheses and a lia-
bility to fractures is too constant and well established a pathological
fact to need more than a x)assing reference. The history of rachitis,
of melanosis, and of osteo-porosis, as related to an abnormal frangi-
bility of the bones, is a iiart of our common medical knowledge.
There are few persons who liave not known of cases among their
friends of frequent and almost si)ontaneous fractures, or at least of
such as seem to be j)roduced bj^ the slightest and most inadequate vio-
lence, and there is no tangible reason for doubting an analogous
condition in individuals of the equine constitution. Among local
predisposing affections mention must not be omitted of such bony dis-
eases as caries, tuberculosis, and others of the same class.

Occasional or "efficient" causes of fracture are inmost instances
external traumatisms, as violent contacts, collisions, falls, etc., or
sudden muscular contractions. These external accidents are various
in their character, and are usually associated with quick muscular
exertion. A violent, ineffectual effort to move too heavy a load; a
semispasmodic bracing of the frame to avoid a fall or resist a i)res-
sure; a quick jump to escape a blow; stojij^ing too suddenly after
speeding; struggling to liberate a foot from a rail, i^erhaps to be
thrown in the effort — all these are familar and easy examples of acci-
dents happening hourlj^ by which our equine servants become suffer-
ers. We ma}" add to these the fracture of the bones of the vertebra,
occurring when casting a patient for the j^urpose of undergoing a
surgical operation, quite as much the result of muscular contraction
as of a i)reexisting diseased condition of the bones. A fracture
occurring under these circumstances may be called with propriety
indirect, while one which has resulted from a blow or a fall differently
caused is of the direct kind.

304

We now return to the Jirst items in onr classification of tlie varie-
ties of lameness, for the purpose of bringing them in turn under an
orderly revicAV, and our first examination will include those which
belong to the first category, or the complete kind. Irregularity in the
performance of the functions of the apparatus to Avhich the fractured
bone belongs is a necessary consequence of the existing lesion, and
this is lameness. If the broken bone belongs to one of the extremities,
the impossibility of the performance of its natural function, in sus-
taining the weight of the body and contributing to the act of locomo-
tion, is usually complete, though the degree of iDowerlessness avIU
vaiy according to the kind of fracture and the bone which i:i injured.
•For example, a fracture of the cannon bone without displacement, or
of one of the x^halanges which are surrounded and sustained by a
complex fibrous structure, is, in a certain degree, not incompatible
with some amount of resting of the foot. But on the contrary, if the
shank bone, or that of the forearm be the implicated member, it would
be verj^ difficult for the leg to exercise any agency whatever in the
support of the body. And in a fracture of the lower jaw it would be
obviously futile to expect it to contribute materially to the masticji-
tion of food.

A fracture seldom occurs which is not accompanied witli a degree
of deformity, greater or less, of the region or the leg affected. This
is due to the exudation of the blood into the meshes of the surround-
ing tissues and to the displacement which occurs between the frag-
ments of the bones, with subsequentlj^ the swelling which follows
the inflammation of the surrounding tissues. The character of the
deformit}^ will mainly depend upon the manner in which the displace-
ment occurs.

In a normal state of things the legs perform their movements with
the joints as their only centers or bases of action, witli no i^articipa-
tion of intermediate points, while with a fracture the flexibility and
motion which will be observed at unnatural points are among the most
strongly characteristic signs of the lesion. No one need be told that
when the shaft of a limb is seen to bend midway between the joints,
with the lower portion swinging freel}^, that the leg is broken. But
there are still some conditions where the excessive mobilit}^ is not
easj' to detect with certainty. Such are the cases where the fracture
exists in a short bone, near a movable joint, or in a bone. of a region
where several short and small bones are united in a group, or even in
a long bone where its situation is such that the muscular covering
prevents the visible manifestation of the sj^mptom.

If the situation of a fracture pi'ecludes its discovery by means of
this abnormal flexibility, other detective methods remain. And after
all there is one decisive sign which, though it may not avail in every
case, as it does not, is in cases where its testimony can be secured
absolute and positive beyond question. This is crepiirdiou, or the

305

X)eculiar effect which is produced by the friction of the fractured sur-
faces one against another. Though discerned by the organs of hear-
ing it can scarcely be called a so and, for the grating of the parts as
the rubbing takes place is more felt than heard, but tliere is no mis-
taking its iinijort in cases favorable for the application of the test.
The conditions in which it is not available are those of incomplete
fracture, in which the mobility of the parts is lacking, and those in
which the whole array of phenomena are usually obscure. To obtain
the benefit of this pathognomonic sign recxuires deliberate, careful,
and gentle manipulation. Sometimes the slightest of movements wiU
be sufficient for its development, after much rougher handling has
failed to discover it. Perhaps the failure in the latter case is due to
a sort of defensive spasmodic rigidity caused by the pain resulting
from the rude interference.

]\[ore or less reactive fever is a usual accompaniment of a fracture,
and an ecch3nnosis of the parts is but a natural occurrence, more easil}^
discovered in animals iDOSsessing a light colored and delicate skin than
in those of the opposite character.

There are difficulties in the way of the diagnosis of an incomplete
fracture, even sometimes when there is a degree of impairment in the
function of locomotion, with evidences of pain and swelling at the
seat of lesion. There should then be a careful examination for evi-
dences of a blow or other viol'euce sufficient to account for the fracture,
though ver}^ often a suspicion of its existence can only be converted
into a certainty by a minute history of the patient if it can be obtained
up to the moment of the occurrence of the injury. A diagnosis ought
not to'be hastily pronounced, and where good ground for suspicion
exists it ought not to be rejected upon any evidence less than the best.
Serious and fatal complications are too often recorded of the results
following careless conclusions in similar cases, among which we may
refer to one instance of a complete fracture manifesting itself in an
animal during the act of rising up in his stall after a decision had been
IDronounced that he had no fracture at all.

Fractures are of course liable to complications, those especially,
from the nature of the case, which are of a traumatic character, such
as extensive lacerations, tearing of tissues, i)unctures, contusions, etc.
But unless these are in communication with the fracture itself the
indication is to treat them sinii)ly as independent lesions upon other
parts of the body. A traumatic emphysema will at times cause trouble,
and abscesses, more or less deep and diffused, maj^ follow. In some
cases small bony fragments from a comminuted fracture, becoming
loose and acting as foreign bodies, may give rise to troublesome fistu-
lous tracts. A frequent complication is hemorrhage, which often
becomes of serious consequence. A fracture in close proximitj^ to a
joint may be accompanied hy dangerous inflammations of important
organs, and induce an attack of pneumonia, pleurisy, arthritis, etc..

306

as well as luxations or dislocations, and the more so if situated near
the chest. GcuKjrene, as a consequence of contusions or of hem-
orrhage or of an impediment to the circulation, caused by unskillf ully
applied apparatus, must not be overlooked fimong the occasional inci-
dents; nor must JocVjciw, which is not an uncommon occurrence.
Even founder or laminitis has been met with as the result of forced
and long continued immobility of the feet in the standing posture, as
one of the involvements of unavoidably protracted treatment.

When a simple fracture has been properly treated and the broken
ends of the bone have been securely held in coaptation one of two
things will occur. Either — and this is the more common event — there
will be a union of the two ends by a solid cicatrix, the callus, or the
ends will continue separated or become only partially united by an
intermediate fibrous structure. In the first instance the fracture is
consolidated, or united; in the second there is a false articulation, or
pseudarthrosis.

The time required for a firm union or true consolidation of a fracture
will vary with the character of the bone affected, the age and consti-
tution of the patient, and the general conditions of the case. The
union Avill be perfected earlier in a young than in an adult animal,
and sooner in the latter than in the aged, and a general healthy con-
dition is of course, in every respect, an advantage.

Tlie mode of cicatrization, or method of i-epair in lesions of the bones,
has been a subject of much study among investigators in pathology,
and has elicited various expressions of opinion from those high in
authority. But the weight of evidence and preponderance of oj)inion
are about settled in favor of the theory that the law of reparation is
the same for both the hard and the soft tissues. In one case a simple
exudation of material, with the proper organization of newly formed
tissue, will bring about a union by the first intention, and in another
the Avork will be accompanied by supjjuration, or the union by the sec-
ond intention, a i)rocess so familiar in the repair of the soft structures
by granulation.

Considering the process in its simplest form, in a case in which it
advances without interruption or complication to a favorable result it
may probably be correctly described in this wise :

On the occurrence of the injurj^an effusion of blood takes place be-
tween the ends of the bone. The coagulation of the fluid soon fol-
lows, and this, after a few days, undergoes absorption. There is then
an excess of inflammation in the surrounding structure, which soon
spreads to the bony tissue, when a true ostitis is established, and the
compact tissue of the bone becomes the seat of a ucav vascular organi-
zation, and of a certain exudation of iflastic lymph, appearing between
the periosteum and the external surface of the bone, as well as on the
inner side of the medullary cavity. After a few days the ends of
the l)one thus surrounded by this exudate become involved in it, and

307

tlie lymj)h, becoming- vascular, is soon transformed into cartilaginous,
and in duo time into bony tissue.

Thus the time required for the consolidation of the fractured seg-
ments is divisible into tAvo distinct jieriods. In the first they are sur-
rounded by an external bony ring, and the medullary cavitj' is closed
by a bony plug or stopper, constituting the period of the provisional
callus. This is followed by the period of permanent callus, during
which the process is going forward of converting the cartilaginous into
the osseous form.

The restorative process is sooner completed in the carnivorous than
in the herbivorous tribes. In the former the temporary callus may
attain sufficient fineness of consistency' for the careful use of the limb
witliin four weeks, but with the latter a period of from six weeks to
two months is not too long to allow before removing the supporting
apparatus from the limb.

This in general terms represents the fact when the resources of
nature have not been thwarted by untoward accidents, such as a want
of vigor in the constitution of the patient or a lack of skill on the i)art
of the practitioner, and esx)ecially when, from any cause, the bony
fragments have not been kept in a state df x^erfect immobility and the
constant friction has prevented the osseous union of the two portions.
Failures and misfortunes are always more than possible, and instead
of a solid and practicable bony union the sequel of the accident is
sometimes a /aZse JO /«^, composed of mere flexible cartilage, a poor
pseudartlirosis. The explanation of this appears to be that, first,
the sharp edges of the ends of tlie bone disappear hj becoming
rounded at their extremities by friction and j)olishing against each
other. Then follows an exudation of a plastic nature which becomes
transformed into a cartilaginous layer of a rough articular aspect.
In this bony nuclei soon appear, and the lymph secreted between the
segments thus transformed, instead of becoming truly ossified, is
changed into a sort of fibro-cartilaginous pouch or capsular sac, in
which a somewhat albuminous secretion, or pseudo-synovia, permits
the movement to take place. Most commonly, however, in our ani-
mals, the union of the bonj- fragments is obtained wholly through
the medium of a layer of fibrous tissue, and it is because the union
has been accomplished by a ligamentous formation only that motion
becomes practicable.

The j)rognosis in a case of fracture in an animal is one of the gravest
vital import to the patient, and therefore of serious i)ecuniary concern
to his owner. The X)eriod has not long elapsed when to have received
siich a hurt was quite equivalent to undergoing a sentence of death
for the suffering animal, and j)erhaps to-day a similar verdict is iiro-
nounced \i\ many cases in which the exercise of a little mechanical
ingenuity, Avith a due amount of careful nursing, might secure a
contrary result and insure the return of the patient to his former

308

condition of soundness and usefulness. Considered per se, a fracture
in an animal is in fact no less amenable to treatment than the same
description of injury in any other living being. But the question of
the propriet}^ and exi)ediency of treatment is dependent upon certain
si^ecific points of collateral consideration.

First. The nature of the lesion itself is a point of paramount imjjor-
tance. A simple fracture occurring in a bone where the ends can be
firmly secured in coaj^tation presents the most favorable conditions
for successful treatment. If it be that of a long bone it will be the
less serious if situated at or near the middle of its length than if it
were in close proximity to a joint, from the fact that perfect immo-
bility can rarely, in the latter case, be secured without incurring the
risk of subsequent rigidit}^ of the joint.

A simple is always less serious than a comiDound fracture. A com-
minuted is always more dangerous than a simple, and a transverse
break is easier to treat than one which is oblique. The most serious
are those which are situated on parts of the body in which it is difu-
cult to secure perfect immobility, and especially those which are
accompanied by severe contusions and lacerations in the soft parts;
the protrusion of fragments* through the skin; the division of blood
vessels by the broken ends of the bone; the existence of an articula-
tion near the point to which inflammation is likely to extend; the
luxation of a fragment of the bone; laceration of the i^eriosteum;
the presence of a large number of bony particles, the result of the
crushing of the bone — all these are circumstances which discourage a
favorable i^rognosis, and weigh against the hope of saving the patient
for future usefulness.

Fractures which may be accounted curable are those which are not
conspicuously visible, as those of the ribs, where displacements are
either very limited or do not occur, the jjarts being kept in situhy t\\Q
nature of their position, the shape of the bones, the articulations they
form with the vertebra, the sternum, or their cartilages of prolonga-
tion; those of transverse processes of the lumbar vertebra; those of
the bones of the face ; those of the ilium ; and that of the coffin bones.
To continue the category, they are evidently curable when their posi-
tion an'1 the character of the patient contribute to aid the treatment.
Those ol' the cranium, in the absence of cerebral lesions; those of
the jaws; of the ribs, wilh displacement; of the hip; and those of the
bone of the leg in movab e region ^ but Avhere their vertical position
admits of j)erfect coaptation.

On the contrary, a compound, complicated, or comminuted fracture,
in whatever region it may be situated, may be counted incurable.

In treating fractures time is an important element and "delays are
dangerous." Those of recent occurrence unite more easily and more
regularly than older ones.

Second. As a general rule, fractures are less serious in animals of
the smaller species than in those of more bulky dimensions. This

309

influence of species ^\'i\\ he readily appreciated when we realize that
the difficulties involved in the treatment of the latter class have hard!}'
any existence in connection with the former. The difference in
weight and size, and consequent facility in handling, and making the
necessary applications of dressings and other appliances for the \)nv-
pose of securing the indispensable immobility of the parts, and nsu-
.alh" a less degree of uneasiness in the deportment of the patients are
considerations in this connection of great weight.

Third. In respect to the utilization of the animal, the most obvious
point in estimating the gravity of the case in a fracture accident is
the certainty of the total loss of the services of the patient during
treatment — certainly for a considerable period of time, perhaps per-
manently. For example, the fracture of the jaw of a steer just fat-
tening for the shambles will involve a heavier loss than a similar
accident to a horse. Usually the fracture of the bones of the extrem-
ities in a horse is a very serious casualty, the more so proportionately
as the higher region of the limb is affected. In working animals it is
exceedingly difficult to treat a fracture in such a manner as to restore
a limb to its original perfection of movement. A fracture of a single
bone of an extremity" in a breeding stallion or mare will not necessarily
impair their value as breeders. Other specifications under this head,
though pertinent, and more or less interesting, may bo omitted.

Foiirih. Age and temper are important factors of cure. A young,
growing, robust patient, whose vis vifce is active, is amenable to treat-
ment which one with a waning constitution and j)ast mature energies
would be unable to endure, and a docile, quiet disposition will act
cooperatively with remedial measures which would be neutralized by
the fractious opposition of a peevish and intractable sufferer.

The fulfillment of three indications is indispensable in all fractures.
The first is the reduction, or the replacement, of the parts as nearly
as possible in their normal position. The second is their retention in
that position for a period sufficient for the formation of the provisional
callus, and the third, which in fact is but an incident of the second,
the careful avoidance of any accidents or causes of miscarriage which
might disturb the curative process.

In reference to the first consideration, it must be remembered that
the accident may befall the patient at a distance from his home, and
his removal becomes the first duty to be attended to. Of course this
must be done as carefully as possible. If he can be treated on the sj)ot
so much the better, though this is seldom practicable, and the method
of removal becomes the question calling for settlement. But two
ways present themselves — he must either walk or be carried. If the
first, it is needless to say that every caution must be observed in order
to obviate additional pain for the suffering animal, and to avoid any
aggravation of the injury. Led slowly, and with partial support if
practicable, the journej^ will not always involve untoward results.

310

If he is carried it must be by means of a wagou, a truck, or an ambu-
lance; the latter, being designed and adapted to the purpose, Avould
of course be the preferable vehicle. As a precaution which should
never be overlooked, a tem]3orary dressing should first be applied.
This may be so done as for the time to answer all the purpose of the
permanent adjustment and bandaging. Without thus securing the
patient, a fracture of an inferior degree may be transformed to one of
the severest kind, and, indeed, a curable changed to an incurable
injury. We recall a case in which a fast trotting iiorse, after run-
ning away in a fright caused b}' the whistle of a locomotive, was
found on the road limping Avith excessive lameness in the off fore leg,
and walked with comparative ease some 2 miles to a stable before
being seen by a surgeon. His immediate removal in an ambulance
was advised, but before that vehicle could be procured the horse laid
down, and upon being made to get upon his feet was found with a
well-marked comminuted fracture of the os suffraginis, with consid-
erable displacement. The patient, however, after long treatment,
made a comparatively good recovery and though with a large bony
dei)osit, a ringbone, was able to trot a^nong the forties.

The two obvious indications in cases of fracture are reduction, or
replacement, and retention.

In an incomplete fracture, where there is no displacement, the ne-
cessity of reduction does not exist. With the bone kept in place by
an intact periosteum, and the fragments secured by the uninjured
fibrous and ligamentous structure which surrounds them, there is no
dislocation to correct. It is also at times rendered impossible by the
seat of the fracture itself, by its dimensions alone, or by the resist-
ance arising from the muscular contraction excited by the surgical
manipulation. Tliis is illustrated even in small animals, as in dogs,
by the exceeding difficulty encountered in bringing the ends of a
broken femur or humerus together, the muscular contraction being
even in these animals sufficiently forcible to renew the displacement.

It is generall}', therefore, onl}' fractures of the long bones, and then
at points not in close proximity to the trunk, that may be considered to
be amenable to reduction. It is true that some of the more sui^erfi-
cial bones, as those of the head, of the pelvis, and of the thoracic
walls, may in some cases require special manipulations and appliances
for their retention in their normal positions, but the treatment of
these and of a fractured leg can not be the same.

The methods of accomplishing reduction vary with the features of
each case, the manipulations being necessarilj^ modified to meet
changing circumstances. If the displacement is in the thickness of
the bone, as in transverse fracture, the manipulation of reduction
consists in applying a steady pressure upon one of the fragments,
while the other is kept steady in its place, the object of the pressure
being the reestablishment of the exact coincidence of the two bony

311

siirfa,ces. If the displacemeut has taken plaec at an angle it will be
sufficient in order to effect the reduction to x)ress upon the summit or
apex of the angle until its disappearance indicates that the parts have
been brought into coaptation. This method is often i)racticed in the
treatment of a fractured rib. In a longitudinal fracture, or when
the fragments are pressed together by the contraction of the muscles
to which they give insertion until thej^ so overlap as to correspond by
certain i)oints of their circumference, the reduction is to be accom-
plished by effecting the movements of extension, counter-extension,
and coaptation. Extension is accomplished by making traction upon
the lower i^ortion of the limb. Counter-extension consists in firmly
holding or confining the upper or bodj' portion in such a manner that
it shall not be affected by the traction applied to the lower; in simj)ler
language, holding it motionless against the force exercised in the
extension. In other words, the operator, grasping the limb below
the fracture, draws it down or away from the trunk, while he seeks,
not to draw away, but simi)ly to hold still the upper portion until the
broken ends of bone are brought to their natural relative positions,
when the coaptation, which is thus effected, has only to be made per-
manent by the proper dressings to perfect the reduction.

In treating fractures in small animals the strength of the hand is
usually' sufficient for the required manipulations. In the fracture of
the forearm of a dog, for example, while the upper segment is firmly
held by one hand the lower may be grasped by the other and the bone
itself made to serve the purpose of a lever to bring about the desired
coaptation. In such a case that is sufficient to overcome the muscular
contraction and correct the overlapping or other malposition of the
bones. If, however, the resistance can not be overcome in this mode,
the upper segment may be committed to an assistant for the manage-
ment of the counter extension, leaving to the operator the free use of
both hands for the further manipulation of the case.

But if the reduction of fractures in small animals is an easy task, it
is far from being so when a large animal is the x>atient, whose mus-
cular force is largely greater than that of several men combined. In
such a case resort must be had not only to superior numbers for the
necessary force, but in many cases to mechanical aids. A reference
to the mode of proceeding in a case of fracture with displacement of
the forearm of a horse will illustrate the matter. The j)atient is first
to be carefully cast, on the uninjured side, with ropes, or a broad
leather strap about 18 feet long, passed under and around his body
and under the axilla of the fractured limb and secured at a point
oiDposite to the animal and toward his back. This will form the
mechanical means of counter extension. Another rope will then bo
placed around the inferior part of the leg below the point of frac-
ture, with which to produce extension, and this will sometimes be fur-
nished with a block or pulleys, in order to augment the power when

312

necessary, and there is, in fact, always an advantage in their nse, on
the side of steadiness and uniformity, as well as of increased x^ower.
It is secured around the fetlock or the coronet, or, what is better, above
the knee and nearer the point of fracture, and is committed to assist-
ants. The ti-action on this should be firm, uniform, and slow, with-
out relaxing or jerking, while the operator carefully watches the
process. If the bone is superficially situated he is able to judge by
the eye of any changes that may occur in the form or length of the
parts under traction, and discovering at the moment of its happening
the restoration of symmetry in the disturbed region, he gently but
firmly manipula,tes the place until all appearance of severed conti-
nuit}^ have vanished. Sometimes the fact and the instant of restoration
are indicated by a peculiar sound or " click," as the ends of the bone
slip into contact, to await the next ste]3 of the restorative procedure.

The process is the same Vv^hen the bones are covered v/ith thick
muscular masses, excepting that it is attended with greater diflicul-
ties, from the fact that the finger must be substituted for the eye, and
the taxis must talce the place of the sight, and the result naturallj^
becomes more uncertain.

It frequently happens that perfect coaptation is prevented by the
inteiposition between the bony surfaces of substances, such as a small
fragment of detached bone or a clot of blood, and sometimes the
extreme obliquity of the fracture is the ojiposing cause, b}' permitting
the bones to slij) out of place. These aro difdculties which can not
always bo overcome, even in small-sized animals, and still it is only
when thej^ are mastered that a correct consolidation can be looked for.
Yet without it the continuity between the fragments will be by a
deformed callus, the union will leave a shortened, crooked or angular
limb, and a disabled animal.

If timely assistance can be obtained, and the reduction accom-
plished imme'liatelj' after the occurrence of the accident, that is the
best time for it. But if it can not be attended to until inflammation
has become established and the parts have become swollen and i)ain-
ful, time must be allowed for the subsidence of these symptoms before
attempting the operation. A spasmodic muscular contraction which
sometimes intei'i^oses a difficulty may be easily' overcome by subject-
ing the patient to general anesthesia, and need not, therefore, cause
any loss of time. A tendency to this may also be overcome by the use
of sedatives and antiphlogistic remedies.

The reduction of the fracture having been accomplished, the problem
which follows is that of retention. The parts which have been restored
to their natural position must be kept there, without disturbance or
agitation, until the perfect formation of a callus, and it is here that
ample latitude exists for the exercise of ingenuity and skill by the sur-
geon in the contrivance of the necessary apparatus. One of the most
important of the conditions which are available by the surgeon in

313

treating' human patients is denied to the veterinarian in the manage-
ment of those which belong to the animal tribes. This is position.
The intelligence of the human patient co-operates with the instructions
of the surgeon, but with the animal sufferer there is a continual antag-
onism between the i^arties, and the forced extension and fatiguing posi-
tion which must for a considerable period be maintained as a condition
of restoration require special and effective appliances to insure success-
ful results. To obtain complete immobility is scarcely jiossible, and
the surgeon must be content to reach a point as near as possible
to that which is unattainable. For this reason, as will subsequently
be seen, the use of slings and the restraint of patients in very narrow
stalls is much to be preferred to the practice sometimes recommended,
of allowing entire freedom of motion by turning them loose in box
stalls. Temporary and movable apparatus are not usually of difiicult
use in veterinary practice, but the restlessness of the patients and
their unwillingness to submit quietly to the changing of the dressings
render it obligatory to have recourse to permanent and immovable
bandages, which should be retained without disturbance until the
process of consolidation is complete.

The materials composing the retaining apparatus consist of oakum,
bandages, and splints, with an agglutinating compound which forms
a species of cement by which the different constituents are blended
into a consistent mass to be spread ui^on the surface covering the
locality of the fracture. Its components are black pitch, rosin, and
Venice turpentine, blended by heat. The dressing may be applied
directly to the skin, or a covering of thin linen may be interposed.
A putty made with powdered chalk and the white of egg is recom-
mended for small animals, though a mixture of sugar of lead and
burnt alum with the albumen is preferred by others. Another formula
is spirits of camphor, Goulard's extract and albumen. Another recom-
mendation is to saturate the oakum and bandages with an adhesive
solution formed with gum arable, dextrine, flour j)aste, or starch.
This is advised particularly for small animals. Dextrine mixed, Avhile
warm, with burnt alum and alcohol cools and solidifies into a stony
consistency, and is preferable to plaster of Paris, which is less friable
and has less solidity, besides being heavier and requiring constant
additions as it becomes older. Starch and plaster of Paris form
another good compound.

In applying the dressing the leg is usually padded with a cushion
of oakum, thick and soft enough to equalize the irregularities of the
surface and to form a bedding for the protection of the skin from
chafing. Over this the splints are placed. The material for these is,
variously, pasteboard, thin wood, bark, laths, gutta percha, strips of
thin metal, as tin or perhaps sheet iron. These should be of suffi-
cient length not only to cover the region of the fracture, but to extend
sufficiently above and below to render the immobility more complete

314

tlian in the surrounding joints. The si)lints, again, are covered v/ith
cloth bandages, linen jDreferably, soaked in a glutinous moisture.
These bandages are to be carefully applied, with a perfect condition
of lightness. They are usually made to embrace the entire length of
the leg, in order to avoid the possibility of interference with the cir-
culation of the extremity, as well as for the prevention of chafing.
They should be rolled from the lower part of the leg upwards, and
carefully secured against loosening. In some instances suspensory
bandages are recommended, but excepting for small animals our
experience does not justify a concurrence in the recommendation.

These permanent dressings always need careful watching with ref-
erence to their immediate effect upoii the region ih.ey cover, especially
during the first daj'S succeeding that of their application. Any mani-
festation of ipain, or any appearance of swelling above or below, or
any odor suggestive of sui)puration should excite susi)icion, and a
thorough investigation should follow without delay. The removal of
the dressing should be i^erformed with great care, and especially so if
time enough has elapsed since its application to allow of a probability
of a commencement of the healing j)rocess or the existence of any
points of consolidation. With the original dressing properly applied
in its entirety in the first instance, the entire extremity will have lost
all chance of mobility, and the repairing process may be permitted to
proceed without interference. There will be no necessity and there
need be no haste for removal or change except under such sj)ecial
conditions as have just been mentioned, or when there is reason
to judge that solidification has become perfect, or for the comfort
of the animal, or for its readaptation in consequence of the atrophy of
the limb from want of use. Owners of animals are often tempted
to remove a splint or bandage jirematurely at the risk of producing
a second fracture in consequence of the failure of the callus properly
to consolidate.

The method of applying the splints which we have described refers
to the simx)le varietj^ only. In a comi)Ound case the same rules must be
observed, with the modification of leaving oj)enings through the thick-
ness of the dressing, opposite the wound, in order to permit the escape
of pus and to secure access to the points requiring the application of
treatment.

FEACTUEE OF DIFFEEENT BONES.

Of the cranial hones. — Fractures of this varietj^ in large animals
are comparatively rare, though the records are not destitute of cases.
When they occur, it is as the result of external violence, the sufferers
being usually runaways which have come in collision with a wall or a
tree, or other obstruction ; or it may occur in those which in pulling
upon the halter have broken it with a jerk and been thrown back-
wards, as might occur in rearing too violently. Under these condi-
tions we have witnessed fractures of the parietal, of the frontal, and

315

of the sphenoid bones. These fractures may be of both the complete
and the incomplete kind, which indeed is usually the case with those
of the flat bones, and they are liable to be complicated with lacera-
tions of the skin, in consequence of which they are easily brought
under observation. But Avhen the fact is otherAvise and the skin is
intact, the diagnosis becomes difficult. The incomplete variety may
be unaccompanied by any special symptoms, but in the complete kind
one of the bony plates may be so far detached as to press upon the
cerebral substance with sufficient force to produce serious nervous
complications. When the injury occurs at the base of the cranium
hemorrhage may be looked for, with paralytic symptoms, and when
these are present the usual termination is death. It may still happen,
however, that the symptoms of an apparently very severe concussion
may disappear, with the result of an early and complete recovery, and
the surgeon will therefore do well to avoid undue x>recipitation in
venturing upon a prognosis. In fractures of the orbital or the zygo-
matic bones the danger is less i)i'essing than with injuries otherwise
located about the head. The treatment of cranial fractures is simple,
though involving the best skill of the experienced surgeon, AVhen
incomplete, hardly any interference is needed; even plain bandaging
may usually be dispensed with. In the complete variety the danger
to be combated is compression of the brain, and attention to this
indication must not be delayed. Tlie means to be employed are the
trephining of the skull over the seat of the fracture and the elevation
of the depressed bone or the removal of the portion which is causing
the trouble. Fragments of bone in comminuted cases, bony exfolia-
tions, collections of fluid, or even i)rotruding portions of the brain
substance must be carefully cleansed away, and a simple bandage so
applied as to facilitate the application of subsecjuent dressings.

Fractures of ilie hones of the face. — In respect to their origin — usu-
ally traumatic— these injuries rank with the preceding, and are com-
monly of the incomplete variety. They may easily be overlooked and
may even sometimes escape recognition until the reparative i)i'ocess
has been well established and the discovery of the wound becomes
due to the prominence caused by the presence of the provisional
callus which marks its cure. When the fracture is complete it will
be marked l)y local deformit}', mobility of the fragments, and crepi-
tation. Xasal hemorrhage, roaring, frequent sneezing, loosening or
loss of teeth, difficulty of mastication, and inflammation of the cavi-
ties of the sinuses are varying complications of these accidents. The
ol)ject of tlie treatment should be the restoration of the depressed
bones as nearly as possible to their normal position, and their reten-
tion in place by protecting splints, which should cover the entire
facial region. And 8i:)ecial precautions should be observed to prevent
the patient from disturbing the dressing by rubbing his head against
surrounding objects, such as the stall, the manger, the rack, etc.

316

Clots of blood in the nasal passages must be washed out, collections
of pus must be removed from the sinuses, and if the teeth are loos-
ened and likelj^ to fall out they should be removed. If roaring is
threatened, tracheotomy is indicated.

Fractures of the pre-maxillary hone. — These are mentioned by con-
tinental authors. They are usually encountered in connection with
fractures of the nasal bone, and may take place either in the width
or the length of the bone.

The deformity of the upper lip, which is drawn sidewise in this
lesion, renders it easy of diagnosis. The abnormal mobility and the
crepitation, with the pain manifested by the patient when undergoing
examination, are concurrent symptoms. Looseness of the teeth,
abundant salivation, and entire inability to grasp the food complete
the symptomatology of these accidents. In the treatment, splints of
gutta percha or leather are sometimes used, but they are of difficult
application. Our own judgment and practice are in favor of the
union of the bones by means of metallic sutures.

The loiver jaw. — A fracture here is not an injurj^ of infrequent
occurrence. It involves the body of the bone, at its symphysis, or
back of it, and includes one or both of its branches, either more or less
forward, or at the posterior i^art, near the temporo-raaxillary articu-
lation, at the coronoid process.

Falls, blows, or other external violence, or powerful muscular con-
tractions during the use of the speculum, may be mentioned among
the causes of this lesion. The fracture of the neck and of the
branches in front of the cheeks causes the lower jaw, the true dental
arch, to drop, without the ability to raise it again to the upper, and
the result is a peculiar and characteristic physiognomy. The pre-
hension and mastication of food become impossible; there is an
abundant escape of fetid and sometimes bloody saliva, especially if
the gums have been wounded ; there is excessive mobility of the lower
end of the jawbone; and there is crepitation, and frequently par-
alj^sis of the under lip. But although the aspect of an animal suffer-
ing with a complete and often compound and comminuted fracture of
the submaxilla presents at times a frightful spectacle, the prognosis
of the case is comparatively simple, and recovery usually only a ques-
tion of time. The severity of the lesion corresponds in degree Avith
that of the violence to which it is due, the degree of simplicity or the
amount of complication, and with the situation of the Avound. It is
simple when at the symphysis, but becomes more serious when it
affects one of the branches, to be again aggravated when both are
involved. Fracture of the coronoid process becomes important prin-
cipall}^ as an evidence of the existence of a morbid diathesis, such as
osteoporosis, or the like.

The particular seat of the injury, with its special features, will
of course determine the treatment. For a simple fracture without

317

displacement, provided there is no laceration of the periosteum, an
ordinary sui^porting bandage will usually be sufficient. But when
there is displacement the reduction of the fracture must first be accom-
plished, and for this special splints are necessary. In a fracture of
the symphysis or of the branches the adjustment of the fragments by
securing them with metallic sutures is the first step necessary, to be
followed by the application of supports, consisting of splints of
leather or sheets of metal, the entire front of the head being then
covered with bandages prepared mth adhesive mixtures. During
the entire course of treatment a special method of feeding becomes
necessar}'. The inability of the patient to appreciate the situation
of course necessitates a resort to an artificial mode of introducing the
necessary food into his stomach, and it is accomplished by forcing
between the commissures of the lips, in a liquid form, by means of a
sja-inge, the milk or nutritive gruels selected for his sustenance, until
the consolidation is sufficiently advanced to permit the ingestion of
food of a more solid consistency. The callus will usually be suffi-
ciently hardened in two or three weeks to allow of a change of diet
to mashes of cut haj^ and scalded grain, until the removal of the
dressing restores him to his old habit of mastication.

Fractures of vertehrm. — These are not very common, but when they
do occur the bones most frequently injured are those of the back and
loins. The ordinary causes of fracture are responsible here as else-
where, such as heavy blows on the spinal column, severe falls while
convejdng heavy loads, and especially violent efforts in resisting the
process of casting. Although occurring more or less frequently under
the latter circumstances, the accident is not always attributable to
carelessness or error in the management. It may, of course, some-
times result from such a cause as a badly prepared bed, or the acci-
dental presence of a hard body concealed in the straw, or to a hea\'y
fall when the movements of the patient have not been sufficiently
control' 3d by an effective apparatus and its skillful adaptation, but
it is quite as likely to be caused by the violent resistance and the con-
sequent powerful muscular contraction by the frightened patient.
The simple fact of the overarching of the vertebral column, with
excessive pressure against it from the intestinal mass, owing to the
spasmodic action of the abdominal muscles, may account for it, and
so also may the struggles of the animal to escape from the restraint
of the hobbles while frantic under the pain of an operation without
anaesthesia. In these cases the fracture usually occurs in the body
or the annular part, or both, of the posterior dorsal or the anterior
lumbar vertebra. When the transverse processes of the last-named
bones are injured, it is probably in consequence of the heavy concus-
sion incident to striking the ground when cast. The diagnosis of a
fracture of the body of a vertebra is not always easj'^, especially when
quite recent, and more especially when there is no accompanying

318

displacement. There are certain peculiar signs accomj)anying the
occurrence of the accident while an operation is in progress which
should at once excite the suspicion of the surgeon. In the midst of
a violent struggle the patient becomes suddenly quiet; the movement
of a sharp instrument which at first excited his resistance fails to
give rise to any further evidence of sensation; perhaps a general
trembling, lasting for a few minutes, will follow, succeeded by a cold,
profuse perspiration, particularly between the hind legs, and fre-
quently there will be micturition and defecation. Careful examina-
tion of the vertebral column may then detect a slight dex)ression or
irregularity in the direction of the spine, and there may be a diminu-
tion or loss of sensation in the i^osterior part of the trunk while the
anterior i)ortion continues to be as sensitive as before. In making
an attempt to get upon his feet, however, upon the removal of the
hobbles, only the fore part of the bodj' v>-ill respond to the effort, a
degree of paraplegia being present, and while the head, neck, and
fore j)art of the body will be raised, the hind quarters and hind legs
will remain inert. The animal may perhaps succeed in rising and
probably may be removed to his stall, but the disiDlacement of the
bone will follow, converting the fracture into one of the complete
kind, either through the exertion of walking or by a renewed attempt
to rise after another fall, before reaching his stall. By this time the
paral3'^sis is complete, and the extension of the meningitis which has
become established is a consummation soon reached.

To say that the prognosis of fracture of the body of the vertebra is
always serious is to speak very mildly. It were better ijerhaps to say
that occasionally a ease may recover. Fractures of the transverse
processes are less serious.

Instead of stating the indication in this class of cases as if assum-
ing them to be medicable, the question naturally becomes rather a
query : ' ' Can any treatment be recommended in a fracture of the body
of a vertebra? " The only indication in such a case, in our ojiinion, is
to reach the true diagnosis in the shortest possible time and to act
accardingly. If there is displacement, and the existence of serious
lesions may be inferred from the nervous symptoms, the destruction
of the suffering animal appears to suggest itself as the one conclusion
in which considerations of policy, humanity, and science at once unite.

If, however, it is fairly evident that no disi)lacement exists; that
pressure upon the spinal cord is not yet present ; that the animal with
a little assistance is able to rise upon his feet and to walk a short dis-
tance, it may be well to experiment upon the case to the extent of
placing the patient in the most favorable circumstances for recovery,
and allow nature to operate without further interference. This may
be accomplished by securing immobility of the whole body as much as
possible, and especially of the suspected region, by placing the patient
in slings, in a stall sufficiently narrow to preclude lateral motion, and

319

coverino- the loins with a thick coat of agglutinative mixture, Avatch
and wait for developments.

Fracture of ilie ribs. — The different regions of the chest are not
equally exposed to the violence to which fractures of the ribs are due,
and they are therefore either more common or more easily discovered,
during life, at some points than at others. The more exposed regions
are the middle and the posterior,*while the front is largely covered and
defended by the shoulder. A single rib may be the seat of fracture,
or a number maybe involved, and there maybe injuries on both sides
of the chest at the same time. It may take place lengthwise, in any
part of the bone, though the middle, being the most exposed, is the
most freciuentl}' hurt. Incomplete fractures are usually lengthwise,
involving a portion only of the thickness or one or other of the sur-
faces. The comiDlete kind ma}" be either transverse or oblique, and
are most commonly denticulated. The fracture may be comminuted,
and a single bone may show one of the comj)lete and one of the
incomplete kind at different points. The extent of surface presented
b}' thethoracic region, with its complete exposure at all points, ex-
plains the liability of the ribs to suffer from all the forms of external
violence.

In many instances fractures of these bones continue undiscovered,
especiallj' the incomplete variety, without disj)lacement, though the
evidences of local iiain, a certain amount of swelling, and a degree of
disturbance of the respiration, if noticed during the examination of a
patient, may suggest a suspicion of their existence. Abnormal mo-
bilitj' and crepitation are difficult of detection, even when present,
and they are not always presant. When there is displacement the
deformity which it occasions will betray the fact, and when such an
injur}' exists the surgeon will of course become vigilant in viev^' of
l^ossible and probable complications of thoracic trouble, and prepare
himself for an encounter with a case of traumatic pleuritis or pneu-
monia. Fatal injuries of the heart are recorded. Subcutaneous
emphysema, is a common accompaniment of broken ribs, and we recall
the death from this cause of a patient of our own, which had suffered
a fracture of two ribs in the region of the withers under the cartilages
of the shoulder, and of which the diagnosis vras only made after the
fatal ending of the case.

These hurts are not often of a very serious character, though the
union is never as solid and complete as in other fractures, the callus
being usually imperfect and of a fibrous character, with an amphiar-
throsis formation. Still, complications occur which may impart gravity
to the prognosis.

Fractures with but a slight or no displacement need no reduction.
All that is necessary is a simple application of a blistering nature as
a preventive of inflammation or for its subjugation when present,
and in order to excite an exudation which will tend to aid in the

320

support and immobilization of tlie parts. At times, however, a better
etTect is obtained by the application of a bandage placed firmly around
the chest, although, while this limits the motion of the ribs, it is apt
to render the respiration more labored.

If there is displacement with much accompanying pain and evident
irritation of the lungs, the fracture must be reduced without delay.
The means of effecting this vary acc^rding to whether the displace-
ment is outwards or inwards. In the first case the bone may be
straightened by i)ressure from without, while in the second the end
of the bone must be raised by a lever, for the introduction of which
a small incision through the skin and intercostal spaces will be neces-
sar3^ When coaptation has been effected it must be retained by the
external application of adhesive mixture, with splints and bandages
around the chest.

Fractures of the hones of the pelvis will be considered under their
separate denominations, as those of the sacrum and the as innomi-
nata, or hip, which includes the subdivisions of the ilium, the pubes,
and the ischium.

The sacrum. — Fractures of this bone are rarely met with among
solipeds. Among cattle, however, it is of common occurrence, being
attributed not only to the usual varieties of violence, as blows and
other external hurts, but to the act of coition, and to violent efforts
in parturition. It is generall}^ of the transverse kind, and may be
recognized by the deformity which it occasions. This is due to the
dropping of the bone, with a change in its direction and a lower
attachment of the tail, which also becomes more or less paralyzed.
The natural and siDOutaneous relief Avhicli usually interposes in these
cases has doubtless been observed by the extensive cattle breeders of
the West, and their practice and example fully establishes the inutil-
ity of interference. Still, cases may occur in which reduction may
be indicated, and it then becomes a matter of no difficulty. It is
effected by the introduction of a round, smooth piece of wood into
the rectum as far as the fragment of bone, and using it as a lever,
resting upon another as a fulcrum placed under it outside. The bono
having been thus returned may be kept in place by the ordinary
external means in use.

The OS innominata. — Fractures of the ilium may be observed either
at the angle of the hip or at the neck of the bone; those of the pubes
may take place at the symphysis, or in the body of the bone ; those of
the ischium on the floor of the bone, or at its posterior external angle.
Or, again, the fracture may involve all three of these constituent
parts of the hip bone by having its situation in the articular cavity —
the acetabulum by which it joins the femur or thigh bone.

Some of these fractures are easily recognized, while others are diffi-
cult to identify. The ordinary deformity which characterizes a frac-
ture of the external angle of the ilium, its dropping and the diminution

321

of that side of the hip iu width, unite in indicating the existence of
the condition expressed by the term " hipped." But an incomplete
fracture, or one that is comi^lete without displacement, or even one
with displacement, often demands the closest scrutin^^ for its dis-
covery. The lameness may be well marked, and an animal may show
but little ai^pearance of it while walking, but upon being urged into a
trot will manifest it more and more, until presently he will cease to
use the crippled limb altogether, and perform his traveling entirely
on three legs. The acute character of the lameness will vary in
degree as the seat of the lesion approximates the acetabulum. In
walking, the motion at the hip is very limited, and the leg is dragged,
while at rest it is relieved from bearing its share in sustaining the
body. An intelligent opinion and correct conclusion will depend
largely upon a knowledge of the history of the case, and while in
some instances that will be but a report of the common etiology of
fractures, siich as blows, hurts, and other external violence, the sim-
ple fact of a fall may furnish in a single word a satisfactory solution
of the whole matter.

With the exception of the deformity of the ilium in a fracture of its
external angle, and unless there have been a serious laceration of tis-
sues and infiltration of blood, or excessive disi3lacement, there are no
very definite external symptoms in a case of a fracture of the hip
bone. There is one, however, which, in a majority of cases, will not
fail — it is crepitation. This evidence is attainable by both external
and internal examination — by manipulation of the gluteal surface and
by rectal taxis. Very often a lateral motion, or balancing of the
hinder parts by pressing the body from one side to the other, will be
sufficient to render the crepitation more distinct — a slight sensation
of grating, which may be jjerceived even through the thick coating of
muscle which covers the bone — and the sensation may not onl}^ be felt,
but to the ear of the expert may even become audible. This external
manifestation is, however, not always sufficient in itself, and should
always be associated with the rectal taxis for corroboration. It is true
that this may fail to add to the evidence of fracture, but till then
the simple testimony afforded by the detection of crepitation from the
surface, though a strong confirmatory point, is scarcely sufficiently
absolute to establish more than a reasonable probabilitj'^ or strong
suspicion in the case.

In addition to the fact that the rectal examination brings the
exploring hand of the surgeon into near proximity to the desired
point of search, and to an accurate knowledge of the situation of
parts, both pro and con as respects his own views, there is another
advantage attendant upon it which is well entitled to appreciation.
This is the facility with Avhich he can avail himself of the cooperation
of an assistant, who can aid him by manipulating the implicated limb
5961— HOR 11

322

and placing' il in various positions, so far as the j)atient Avill permit,
while the surgeon himself is making explorations and studying the
effect from A^ithin. By this method he can hardly fail to ascertain
the character of the fracture and the condition of the bony ends. By
tlie rectal taxis, as if with eyes in the finger ends, he will " see " what
is the extent of the fracture of the ilium or of the neck of that bone;
to Avhat ijart of the central portion of the bone (the acetabulum) it
reaches; whether this is free from disease ornot, and in what location
on the floor of the pelvis the lesion is situated. We have frequently,
by this method, been able to detect a fracture at the sj-mphysis which,
from its history and s^-mptoms and an external examination, could
only have been guessed at.

Yet, with all its advantages, the rectal examination is not always
necessary, as, for example, when the fracture is at the posterior and
external angle of the ischium, when by friction of the bony ends tlie
surgeon may discern the crepitation without it.

Every variety of complication, including muscular lacerations with
the formation of deep abscesses and injuries to the organs of the i^elvic
cavity, the bladder, the rectum, and the uterus, may be associated
with fractures of the hip bone.

The prognosis of these lesions will necessarily vary considerably.
A fracture of the most superficial part of the bone of the ilium or of
the ischium, especially where there is little displacement, will unite
rajiidly, leaving a com];)aratively sound animal often quite free from
subsequent lameness. But if there is much dis]3lacement, only a liga-
mentous union will take place, with much deformity and more or less
irregularity in the gait. Other fractures may be followed by comjilete
disability of the patient, as, for example, when the cotyloid cavity is
involved, or when the reparatory process has left bony deposits in the
pelvic cavity at the seat of the union, which may, with the female,
interfere with the steps of parturition, or induce some iocal paralysis
by ijressure ui)on the nerves which govern the muscles of the hind
legs. This is a condition not infrequently observed when the callus
has been formed on the floor of the i^elvis near the obturator foramen,
pressing upon the course or involving the obturator nerve.

The treatment of all fractures of the hip bone should, in our esti-
mation, be of the simplest kind. Rendered comx^aratively immovable
b}^ the thickness of the muscles by which the region is enveloped, one
essential indication suggests itself, and that is, to place the animal in
a position which, as far as possible, will be fixed and i^ermancnt. For
the accomplishment of this purpose the best measure, as we consider
it, is to place him in a stall of just sufficient Avidtli to admit him, and
to apply a set of slings snugly, but comfortably. This will fulfill the
essential conditions of recovery, rest, and immobility. Blistering
applications would be injurious, though the adhesive mixture miglit
prove in some degree beneficial.

323

The iiiiuimiim period allowable for solid union in a fractured hip is,
in our judgment, two months, and we have known cases in which that
was too short a time.

As we have before said, there may be cases in which the ti-eatment
for fracture at the floor of the pelvis has been followed by symptoms
of partial paralysis, the animal, when lying down, being unable to
regain his feet, but moving freely Avhen placed in an uj)riglit position.
This condition is due to the interference of the callus with the func-
tions of the obturator nerve, which it presses upon or surrounds. We
feel warranted by our experience in similar cases in cautioning own-
ers of horses in this condition to exercise due j)atience, and to avoid a
premature sentence of condemnation against their invalid servants;
they are not all irrecoverably paralytic. With alternations of moder-
ate exercise, rest in the slings, and the effect of time while the natural
process of absorption is taking effect upon the callus, with other ele-
ments of change that may be so operating, the horse may in due time
l^ecorae able to once more earn his subsistence and serve his master,

Fracture of ilie scapuJu. — This bone is seldom fractured, its com-
parative exemption being due to its free mobility and the protection
it receives from the superimiiosed soft tissues. Only direct and pow-
erful causes are sufficient to effect the injury, and when it occurs the
large rather than the smaller animals are the subjects. The causes
are heavy blows or kicks, and violent collisions with unyielding
objects. Those wliich are occasioned by falls are generally at the
neck of the bone, and of the transverse and comminuted varieties.

The diagnosis is not alwaj^s easy. The symptoms are inability to
rest the leg on the ground and to carry weights, and they are present
in various degrees from slight to severe. The leg" rests uijon the toe
and seems shortened, and locomotion is i:)erformed by jumps. Moving
the leg while examining it and raising the foot for inspection seem to
produce much pain and cause the animal to rear. Crepitation is
readily felt with the hand upon the shoulder when the leg is moved.
If the fracture occurs in tlie upper part of the bone, overlapping of
the fragments and displacement will be considerable.

Tlie fracture of tliis bone is usually classed among the more serious
accidents, though cases may occur which are followed by recovery
without very serious ultimate results, especially when the seat of
the injurj' is at some of the upper angles of the bone, or about the
acromion crest. But if the neck and the joint are the parts involved,
comiilications are apt to be present which are likely to disable the
animal for life.

If there is no displacement a simple adhesive dressing, to strengthen
and immobilize the parts, Avill be sufficient. A coat of black pitch dis-
solved with wax and Venice turpentine, and kept in place over the
region with oakum or linen bands, will be all tlie treatment required,
especially if the animal is kept qui<-1 in 1he slings.

324

Displacement cannot be remedied, and reduction is next to impos-
sible. Sometimes an iron plate is applied over the parts and retained
by bandages, as in the dressing of Bourgelat ; and this may be advan-
tageously replaced by a pad of thick leather. In smaller animals the
parts are retained by figure-8 bandages, embracing both the normal
and the diseased shoulders, crossing each other in the axilla and
covered with a coating of adhesive mixture.

Fractures of the humerus. — These are more common in small than
in large animals, and are always the result of external traumatism.
They are generally very oblique, are often comminuted, and though
more usually involving the shaft of the bone will in some cases extend
to the upper end and into the articular head. There is ordinarily con-
siderable displacement in consequence of the overlapping of the broken
ends of the bone, and this, of course, causes more or less shortening
of the limb. There will also be swelling, with difiiculty of locomotion,
and crepitation will be eas}^ of detection. This fracture is always a
serious damage to the patient, leaving him with a permanently short-
ened limb and a remediless, lifelong lameness.

If treatment is determined on it will consist in the reduction of the
fracture by means of extension and counter extension, and in order to
accomplish this the aninuil must be thrown. If successful in the reduc-
tion, then follows the application and adjustment of the apparatus of
retention, which must needs be of the most perfect and efficient kind.
And finally, this, however skillfully contrived and carefully adapted,
will often fail to effect any good purpose whatever.

Fracture of the forearm. — A fracture in this region may also involve
the radius or the cubitus, the first being broken at times in its upper
portion above the radio-cubital arch at the olecranon. If the fracture
occurs at any part of the forearm from tlie radio-cubital arch down to
the knee, it maj^ involve either the radius alone or the radius and the
cubitus, which are there intimately united.

Besides having the same etiology with most of the fractures, those
of the forearm are, nevertheless, more commonly due to kicks from
other animals, especially when crowded together in large numbers in
insufficient space. It is a matter of observation that, under these cir-
cumstances, fractures of tlie incomijlete kind are those which occur on
the inside of the leg, the bone being in that region almost entirely sub-
cutaneous, while those of the complete class are either oblique or
ti-ansverse. The least common are the longitudinal, in the long axis
of the bone.

This variet}^ of fracture is easily recognized by the appearance of
the leg and the different changes it undergoes. There is inability to
use the limb; impossibility of locomotion; mobility below the injury;
the ready detection of crepitation — in a word, the assemblage of all the
signs and symptoms which have been already considered as associated
with the history of broken bones.

325

The fracture of the cubitus alone, principally above the radio-cubital
arch, may be ascertained by the aggravated lameness, the excessive
soreness on pressure, and i^erhajis a certain increase of motion, with
a very slight crepitation if tested for in the usual waj'. Disi^lacement
is not likely to take jDlace except when it is well up towards the ole-
cranon or its tuberosity, the upper segment of the bone being in that
case likelj' to be drawn upwards. For a simple fracture of this region
there exists a fair chance of recovery, but in a case of the compound
and comminuted class there is less ground for a favorable prognosis,
esijecially if the elbow joint has suffered injur3\ A fracture of the
cubitus alone is not of serious importance, excejjt when the same con-
ditions prevail. A fracture of the olecranon is less amenable to
treatment, and promises little better than a ligamentous union.

Considering all the various conditions involving tlie nature and
extent of these lesions, the position and direction of the bones of the
forearm are such as to render the chances for recovery from fracture
as among the best. The reduction, by extension and counter exten-
sion; the maintenance of the coa^Dtation of the segments; the adapta-
tion of the dressing by splints, oakum, and agglutinative mixtures; in
a word, all the details of treatment may be here fulfilled with a degree
of facility and precision not attainable in any other pnvt of the organ-
ism. An important if not an essential jDoint, however, must be empha-
sized in regard to the sx)lints. Whether these are of metal, wood, or
other material, they should reach from the elbow joint to the ground,
and should be placed on the posterior face and on both sides of the
leg. This is then to be so confined in a i^roperly constructed box as
to preclude all i30ssibility of motion, while yet it must sustain a cer-
tain portion of the weight of the bod3\ The iron splint (represented
in Plate XXYII) recommended by Bourgelet is designed for fractures
of the forearm, of the knee, and of the cannon bone, and will prove
to be an appliance of great value. For small animals our preference
is for an external covering of gutta percha, embracing the entire leg.
A sheet of this substance of suitable thickness, according to the size
of the animal, softened in lukewarm water, is, when sufficientlj' pli-
able, molded on the outside of the leg, and when suddenly hardened by
the ai)plication of cold water forms a connjlete casing sufficiently^ rigid
to resist all motion. Patients treated in this manner have been able to
use the limb freely, without i^ain, immediately after the application
of the dressing. The removal of the splint is easily effected by cutting
it awaj", either wholly or in sections, after softening it by immersing
the leg in a warm bath.

Fracture of tlie Ixuee. — This accident, happily, is of rare occurrence,
but when it takes j)lace is of a severe character, being of the commi-
nuted kind, and always accompanied by sj^novitis, with disease of the
joint, requiring for treatment therefor, besides the indication of perfect
immobility of the joint, that of open joints, synovitis, and arthritis.

Fracture of ilie femur. — The protection Avliich this bone receives
from the large mass of muscles in which it is enveloped does not
suffice to invest it with immunity in regard to fi-actures. It con-
tributes its share to the list of accidents of this description, sometimes
in consequence of external violence and sometimes as the result of
muscular contraction ; sometimes it takes place at the upper extremity
of the bone; sometimes at the lower; sometimes at the head, when the
condyles become implicated; but it is principally found in the body or
diaphysis. The fracture may be of any of the ordinary forms, simple
or compound, complete or incomplete, transverse or oblique, etc. A
case of the comminuted variety is recorded in which eighty-five frag-
ments of bone were counted and removed.

The thickness of the muscular covering sometimes renders the
diagnosis difficult by interfering with the manipulation, but the crepi-
tation test is readily available even when the swelling is considerable
and which is likely to be the case as the result of the interstitial hem-
orrhage which naturallj' follows the laceration of the blood-vessels of
the region involved. If the fracture is at the neck of the bone the
muscles of that region '(the gluteal) are firmly contracted and the
leg seems to be shortened in consequence. Locomotion is impossible.
Crepitation may in some cases be discerned by rectal examination,
with one hand resting over the coxo-femoral (hip) articulation. Frac-
tures of the tuberosities of the upper end of the bone, the great
trochanter, may be identified by the deformity, the swelling, the
impossibility of rotation, and the dragging of the leg in walking.
Fracture of the body is always accompanied by displacement, and as
a consequence a shortening of the leg, which is carried forward. The
lameness is excessive, the foot being moved, both w^hen raising it
from the ground and vrhen setting it down, very timidly and cau-
tiously. The manipulations for the discovery of crepitation always
cause much pain. Lesions of the lower end of the bone are more
difficult to diagnosticate with certainty, though the manifestation of
pain while making heavy pressure upon the condyles will be so
marked that only crepitation will be needed to turn a suspicion into
a certainty.

The question as to treatment in fractures of this description resolves
itself into tlie query whether any treatment can be suggested that
can avail anything practically as a curative measure, whether, upon
the liypothesis of reduction as an accomplished fact, any permanent
or efficient device as a means of retention is within the scope of human
ingenuity. If the i-eduction were successfully x^erformed vrould it
be possible to keep the parts in place by any known means at our
disposal? At the best the most favorable result that could be antici-
pated would be a reunion of the fragments, with a considerable short-
ening of the bone, and a helpless, limping, crippled animal to remind
us that for human achievement there is a "thus far, and no farther."

327

In small animals, howevcM-, attempts at treatment are justifiable,
and Ave are convinced that in many cases of dilficulty in the applica-
tion of splints and bandages a patient may be iDlaced in a condition
of undisturbed quiet and left to the processes of nature for "treat-
ment " as safelj" and with as good an assurance of a favorable result
as if he had been subjected to the most heroic secundum artem doc-
toring known to science. As a case in point, we maj' mention the
ease of a pregnant bitch which suffered a fracture of the upper end
of the femur by being run over by a light wagon. Her "treatment"
consisted in being tied up in a large box and let alone. In due time
she Avas delivered of a family of pui^i^ies, and in three weeks she was
running in the streets, limping very slightly, and nothing the worse
for her accident.

Fracture of tlie pcdella. — This, fortunately, is a rare accident and
can only result from direct violence, as a kick or other blow. The
lameness which follows it is accompanied with enormous tumefac-
tion of the joint and disease of the articulation. The prognosis is
unavoidably adverse, destruction being the only termination of an
incurable and very painful injury.

Fractures of the tibia are probably more frequently encountered
than any others among the class of accidents we are considering. As
witii injuries of the forearm of a like character, they may be complete
or incomplete; the former when the bone is broken in the middle or
at the extremities, and transverse, oblique, or longitudinal. The
incomijlete kind are more common in this bone than in any other.

Comijlete fractures are easy to recognize, either with or without dis-
j)lacement. The animal is very lame, and the leg is either dragged' or
held up clear from the ground b}' flexion at the stifle, while the lower
part hangs down. Carrying weight or moving backwards is impossi-
ble. There is excessive mobility below the fracture and well-marked
crepitation. If there is much displacement, as in an oblique fracture,
there will be considerable shortening of the leg.

While incomj)lete fractures can not be recognized in the tibia with
anj- greater degree of certainty than in any other bone, there are
some facts associated with them by which a diagnosis ma}' be justi-
fied. The hypothetical historj' of a ease may serve as an illustration:

An animal has received an injury b}' a blow or a kick on the inside
of the bone, perhaps witliout showing any mark. Becoming very
lame immediately afterwards, he is allowed a few days' rest. Being
then taken out again, he seems to have recovered his soundness, but
within a day or two he betrays a little- soreness, and this increasing
he becomes very lame again, to be furloughed once more, with the
result of a temi^orar}- improvement, and again a return to labor and
again a relapse of the lameness; and this alternation seems to be the
rule. The leg being now carefully examined, a local periostitis is
readily discovered at the point of the injury, the part being warm,

328

swollen, and painful. What further proof is necessary? Is it not
evident that a fracture has occurred, first sui^erficial — a mere sj)lit in
the bony structure which, fortunately, has been discovered before
some extra exertion or a casual misstep had developed it into one of
the complete kind, j)OSsibly with complications'? What other inference
can such a series of symptoms thus repeated establish?

The ijrognosis of fracture of the tibia must, as a rule, oe unfavor-
able. The diflficultj'^ of obtaining a union without shortening, and
consequently without lameness, is proof of the futility of ordinary"
attemjits at treatment. But though this may be ti-ue in respect to
fractures of the complete kind, it is not necessarily so with the incom-
plete variety, and with this class the simple treatment of the slings
is all that is necessary to secure consolidation. A few weeks of this
confinement will be sufficient.

With dogs and other small animals there are cases Avhich may be
successfully treated. If the necessarj^ dressings can be successfully
applied and retained, a cure will follow.

Fractures oftheliock. — Injuries of the astragalus have been recorded
which had a fatal termination. Fractures of the os calls have also
been observed, but never with a favorable prognosis, and attempts to
induce recovery have, as might have been anticipated, ijroved futile.

Fractures of the cannon hones. — Whether these occur in the fore or
hind legs they appear either in the body or near their extremities. If
in the body, as a rule the three metacarj)al or metatarsal are also
affected, and the fracture is generally transverse and oblique, and
often compound, one of the segments protruding sharjily through the
skin. Having only the skin for a covering the diagnosis is easy.
There is no displacement, but excessive mobility, crepitation, inability
to sustain Aveight, and the leg is kept off the ground by the flexion of
the upper joint.

No region of the body affords better facilities for the application of
treatment, and the prognosis is, on this account, usually favorable.
We recall a case, however, which proved fatal, though under excep-
tional circumstances. The patient Avas a valuable stallion of highly
nervous organization, with a compound fracture of one of the cannon
bones, and his unconquerable resistance to treatment, excited by the
intense pain of the wound, precluded all chance of recovery, and ulti-
mateh^ caused his death from nervous fever.

The general form of treatment for these lesions will not differ from
that which has been already indicated for other fractures. Reduc-
tion, sometimes necessitating the casting of the patient; coaptation,
comparatively easy by reason of the subcutaneous situation of the
bone; retention, by means of splints and bandages — applied on both
sides of the region, and reaching to the ground as in fractures of the
forearm — these are always indicated. We have obtained excellent
results bv the use of a mold of thick gutta percha, composed of two

329

sections and made to surround the entire lower part of the leg as in
an inflexible case.

Fracture of the first phalanx. — The hinder extremity is more liable
than the fore to this injury. It is usually the result of a violent effort,
or of a sudden misstep or twisting of the leg, and may be transverse,
or, as has usually been the case in our experience, longitudinal, extend-
ing from the upper articular surface down to the center of the bone,
and generally oblique and often comminuted. The symptoms are the
swelling and tenderness of the region, possibl}^ crepitation; a certain
abnormal mobility; an excessive degree of lameness, and in some
instances a dropping back of the fetlock, with perhaps a straightened
or upright condition of the pastern.

The difficulty of reduction and coaptation in this accident, and the
probability of bony deposits, as of ringbones, resulting in lameness,
are circumstances which tend to discourage a favorable ijrognosis.

The treatment is that which has been recommended for all frac-
tures, as far as it can be applied. The iron sj^lint which has been
mentioned gives excellent results in manj?- instances, but if the frac-
ture is incomplete and without displacement a form of treatment less
energetic and severe should be attempted. One case is within our
knowledge in which the owner of an injured horse lost his propertj^
by his refusal to subject the animal to treatment, the j30s^ mortem
revealing only a simi3le fracture with very slight displacement.

Fractures of the coronet. — Though these are generally of the com-
minuted kind, there are often conditions associated with them which
justify the surgeon in attempting their treatment. Though crepita-
tion is not always easj^ to detect, the excessive lameness, the soreness
on pressure, the inability to carry weight, the difficulty experienced
in raising the foot, all these suggest, as the solution of the question
of diagnosis, the fracture of the coronet, with the accompanying
realization of the fact that there is yet, by reason of the situation of
the member, immobilized as it is by its structure and its surround-
ings, room left for a not unfavorable prognosis. Only a slight
manii^ulation will be needed in the treatment of this lesion. To ren-
der the immobility of the region more fixed, to support the bones in
their position by bandaging, and to establish forced immobility of the
entire body with the slings is usually all that is required. Ringbone,
being a common sequela of the reparative process, must receive due
attention subsequently. One of the severest complications likely to
be encountered is anchylosis.

Fractures of the as pedis. — Though these lesions are not of very
rare occurrence their recognition is not easy, and there is more of
speculation than of certainty pertaining to their diagnosis. The
animal is very lame, and, as much as possible, spares the injured
foot, sometimes resting it upon the toe alone and sometimes not at
oUGl— HOR 11*

330

all. The foot is very tender, and the exploring pincers of the examin-
ing surgeon causes much iDain. There is nothing to encourage a
favorable i)rognosis, and a not unusual termination is an anchylosis
with either the navicular bone or the coronet.

No method of treatment needs to be suggested here, the hoof per-
forming the office of retention unaided. Local treatment by baths
and fomentations will do the rest. It maj^ be months before there is
anj^ mitigation of the lameness.

Fracture of the sesamoid hones. — This lesion has been considered
by veterinarians, erroneously, we think, one of rare occurrence. We
believe it to be more frequent than has been supposed. Many obser-
vations and careful dissections have convinced us that fractures of
these little bones have often been mistaken for specific lesions of the
numerous ligaments that are implanted upon their suiDerior and infe-
rior parts, and which have been described as a "giving way" or
"breaking down" of these ligaments. In our 2^ost mortem examina-
tions we have always noted the fact that when the attachments of the
ligaments were torn from their bony connections minute fragments of
bony structure were also separated, though we have failed to detect
any diseased process of the fibrous tissue com^DOsing the ligamentous
substance.

From whatever cause this lesion maj^ arise, it can hardly be consid-
ered as of a traumatic nature, no external violence having anj^ ai^par-
ent agency in producing it, and it is our belief that it is due to a
peculiar degeneration or softening of the bones themselves, a theory
which acquires plausibility from the consideration of the spongy con-
sistency of the sesamoids. The disease is a jpeculiar one, and the sud-
denness with which different feet are successively attacked, at short
intervals and without any obvious cause, seems to prove the existence
of some latent morbid cause which has been unsuspectedl}^ incubating.
It is not j)eculiar to any particular class of horses, nor to anj^ special
season of the year, having fallen under our observation in each of the
four seasons. The general fact is reported in the history of a majority
of cases that it makes its appearance without premonition in animals
which, after enjojing a considerable i)eriod of rest, are first exercised
or put to work, though in x^oint of fact it may manifest itself while
the horse is still idle in his stable. A hypothetical case, in illustra-
tion, will explain our theory:

An animal which has been at rest in his stable is taken out to work
and it will be presently noticed that there is something unusual in his
movement. His gait is changed, and he travels with short, mincing
steps, Avithout any of his accustomed ease and freedom. This may
continue until his return to the stable, and then, after being placed
in his stall, he will be noticed shifting his weight from side to side and
from one leg to another, continuing the movement until rupture of
the bony structure takes place. But it may happen that the lameness

331

in one or more of the extremities, anterior or posterior, suddenly
increases, and it becomes evident tliat tlie rupture has taken j)lace in
consequence of a misstep or a stumble while the horse is at work.
Then, upon coming to a standstill, he will be found with one or more
of his toes turned up — he is unable to place the aifeeted foot flat on
the ground. The fetlock has dropped and the leg rests upon this part,
the skin of which may have remained intact or may have been more
or less extensively lacerated. It seldom happens that more than one
toe at a time will turn np, \et still the lesion in one will be followed
b}^ its occurrence in another, Commonlj- two feet of a bixjed, the
anterior or posterior, are affected, and we recall one case in which
the two fore and one of the hind legs Avere included at the same time.
The accident, however, is quite as likely to happen while the horse is
at rest in his stall, and he may be found in the morning standing on
his fetlocks. One of the earliest of the cases occurring in our own
experience had been under our care for several weeks for susi3ected
disease of the fetlocks, the nature of which had not been made out,
when, apparently, imx^roved by the treatment which he had under-
gone, the patient was taken out of the stable to be walked a short
distance into the country-, but had little more than started when he
was called to a halt bj^ the fracture of the sesamoids of both fore legs.

While there are no positive premonitory symptoms known of these
fractures we believe that there are signs and symptoms which come
but little short of being so, and the appearance of which Avill alwa^'s
justify a strong suspicion of the truth of the case. These have been
indicated when referring to the soreness in standing, the short "minc-
ing" gait, and the tenderness betrayed when pressure is made over
the sesamoids on the sides of the fetlock, Avith others less tangible
and definable.

These injuries can never be accounted less than serious, and in our
judgment will never be other tlian fatal. If our theor^^ of their j^athol-
ogy is the correct one, and the cause of the lesions is truly the
softening of the sesamoidal bony structure and independent of any
changes in the ligamentous fibers, the possibilitj" of a solid osseous
union can hardly be considered admissible.

In respect to the treatment to be recommended and instituted it
can only be employed with any rational hope of benefit during the
incubation, and with the anticipatory purpose of prevention. It must
be suggested by a suspicion of the verities of the ease, and applied
before any rupture has taken j)lace. To prevent this and to antago-
nize the causes which might iDrecipitate the final catastrophe — the
elevation of the toes — resort must be had to the slings and to the appli-
cation of firm bandages or splints, perhaps of plaster of Paris, Avitli a
high shoe, as about tlie only indications which science and nature are
able to offer. When the fracture is an occurred event, and the toes,
one or more, are turned up, any further resort to treatment will be
futile.

332

DISEASES OF JOINTS.

Three classes of injury will be considered under this head. These
are, affections of the synovial sacs; those of the joint structures, or of
the bones and their articular surfaces, and those forms of solution of
continuity known as dislocations or luxations.

Diseases of the synovial sacs. — Two forms of affection here present
themselves, one being the result of an abnormal secretion which .
induces a dropsical condition of the sac without any acute inflamma-
tory action, while the other is characterized by excessive inflammatory
symptoms, with their modifications, constituting synovitis.

Synovial dropsies. — We have already considered in a general way
the presence of these peculiar oil bags in the joints, and in some regions
of the legs where the passage of the tendons takes place, and have
noticed the similarity of structure and function of both the articular
and the tendinous burs*, as well as the etiology of their injuries and
their pathological history, and we now propose to treat of the affections
of both.

Windy alls. — This name is given to the dilated bursse found at the
posterior part of the fetlock joint. They have their origin in a drop-
sical condition of the bursse of the joint itself, and also of the tendon
which slides behind it, and are therefore further known by the des-
ignations of articular and tendinous.

They appear in the form of soft and somewhat symmetrical tumors,
of varying dimensions, and generally well defined in their circumfer-
ence. They are more or less tense, according to the amount of secre-
tion they contain, apparently becoming softer as the foot is raised
and the fetlock flexed. Usually they are painless and only cause
lameness under certain conditions, as when they began to develop
themselves under the stimulus of inflammatory action, or when large
enough to interfere with the functions of the tendons, or again when
they have undergone certain pathological changes, such as calciflca-
tion, Avhich is among their tendencies.

Windgalls may be attributed to external causes, such as severe
labor or strains resulting from heavy pulling, fast driving, or jump-
ing, or they may be among the sequelse of internal disorders and
appear as resultants of a pleuritic or pneumonic attack.

An unnecessary amount of anxiety is sometimes experienced respect-
ing these growths, with much questioning touching the expediency of
their removal, all of which might be spared, for while they constitute
a blemish their uusightliness will not hinder the usefulness of the
animal, and in any case they rarely fail to show themselves easily
amenable to treatment.

Wlien in their acute stage, and when the dropsical condition is not
excessive, pressure by bandages, slight alcoholic frictions, sweating,
the use of liniments, or perhaps a stiff blister of the ordinary kind

333

will accouiplisli all that will be desired. It will subdue the inflam-
mation and abate the soreness, and perhaps if the animal is not too
soon returned to labor and exposed to the same causes by which they
were before induced, the excess of secretion will be absorbed and the
walls of the sac strengthened, and the windgall will disappear.

But if the inflammation has become chronic, and the enlargement
has been of considerable duration, the negative course will be the
wiser one. If any benefit results from treatment it will be of only a
transient kind, the dilatation returning when the patient is again sub-
jected to labor, and it will be a fortunate circumstance if inflammation
has not supervened.

But notwithstanding the generally benignant nature of the tumor
there are exceptional cases, usually when it is probably undergoing
certain pathological changes, which may result in lameness and dis-
able the animal, in which case surgical treatment will be indicated,
especially if repeated blisters have failed to improve the symptoms.
Firing is then a preeminent suggestion, and many a useful life has
received a new lease as the result of this operation timely performed.
The operation, which consists in emptying the sac by means of punc-
tures through and through, made with a red-hot needle or wire, and
the subsequent injection into the cavity of certain irritating and alter-
ative compounds, designed to effect its closure by exciting adhesive
inflammation, such as tincture of iodine, may be commended; but
they are all too active and energetic in their effects and require too
much special attention and intelligent management to be trusted to
any hands other than those of an expert veterinarian.

Blood spavin and ilioroughpins. — The complicated arrangement of
the hock joint, and the jaowerful tendons which i^ass on the jDOsterior
part, are lubricated with the product of secretion from one tendinous
synovial and several articular synovial sacs. One large articular sac
contributes to the lubrication of the shank bone (the tibia) and the
bones of the hock proi^er (the astragalus). The tendinous sac lies
back of the articulation itself and extends upwards and downwards
in the groove of that joint through which the flexor tendons slide.
The dilatation of this articular synovial sac is what is denominated
blood spavin, the term thoroughpin being applied to the dilatation of
the tendinous capsule.

The blood spavin is situated in front and a little inward of the hock ;
the thoroughpin is found at the back and on the top of the hock.
The former is round, smooth, well defined, presenting on its outer
surface, running from below upwards, a vein which is more or less
prominent as the bursa is more or less dilated, and it is from this
conspicuous blood vessel that the tumor derives its name. The
thoroughpin is also round and smooth, but not so regularly formed,
on each side and a little in front of the tendons in that part of the
hock known as the "hollows," immediately back of the posterior face
of the tibia or shank bone.

334

In their general characteristics tliese tumors are similar to wind-
galls, and one description of the origin, symptoms, pathological
changes, and treatment will serve for all equally, except that it is
possible for a blood spavin to cause lameness, and thus to involve a
verdict of unsoundness in the patient, a circumstance which will of
course justify its classification by itself as a severer form of a single
type of disease.

We have alread}^ referred to the subject of treatment and the means
employed — rest, of coui'se — with liniments, blisters, etc., and what we
esteem as the most active and beneficial of an}-, early, deep, and well-
performed cauterization. There are, besides, commendatory reports
of a form of treatment by the application of pads and peculiar band-
ages upon the hocks, and it is claimed that the removal of the tumors
has been effected by their use. But our experience with this appa-
ratus has not been accompanied by such favorable results as would
justify our indorsement of the flattering representations which have
sometimes appeared in its behalf.

Open joints — Broken knees — Sijnovitis — Arihriiis. — The nearness of
the relations which exist between these several affections and their
apparent connection as perliaps successive develoi^ments of a similar
if not an essentially identical origin, with the advantage to be gained
by the avoidance of frequent repetition in the details of symptoms,
treatment, etc., are our reasons for treating under a single head the
ailments we have grouped together in the j^resent chapter.

Tlie great, comprehensive, common cause whose effect is the disa-
bility, sometimes permanent and sometimes only of transient duration,
of chiefly the horse among our domestic animals, is external trauma-
tism. Blows, bruises, hurts by nearly every known form of violence,
falls, kicks, lacerations, punctures — we may add compulsory speed in
racing and cruel overloading of draught animals — cover the entire
ground of the diseases and injuries of the joints, now receiving our
consideration.

In one case, a Avorking horse making a misstep stumbles, and falling
on his knees receives a hurt, variously severe, from a mere abrasion
of the skin to a laceration, a division of the tegument, a slough, mor-
tification, and the escape of the synovial fluid with or without exposure
of the bones and their articular cartilages.

In another case an animal, from one cause or another, perhaps an
impatient temper, has formed the habit of striking or pawing his man-
ger with his fore feet until inflammation of the knee-joint is induced,
first as a little swelling, diffused, i)ainless; then as a periostitis of the
bones of the knee; later as bony deposits, then lameness, and finally
the implication of the joint,^ and following all the various conditions
of carpitis.

In another case a horse has received a blow with a fork from a care-
less hostler, on or near a joint, or has been kicked by a stable com-
panio}!, witli llie result of a jjunctured wound, at first mild-looking.

335

painless, apparently ^vilhout Inflammation, and not yet causing lame-
ness, but which, in a few hours, or it may be not until a few days,
becomes excessively painful, grows worse; the entire joint swells,
presently discharges, and at last a case of suppurative synovitis is
presented, with perhaps disease of the joint proper, and arthritis as
a climax. The symptoms of articular injuries vary not only in the
degrees of the hurt, but in the nature of the lesion.

Or, the condition of hroken knees, resulting as we have said, may
have for its starting point a mere abrasion of the skin — a scratch
apparently, which disappears without a resulting scar. The injury
may, however, have been more severe, the blow heavier, the fall aggra-
vated \>j occurring upon an irregular surface, or sharp or rough object,
with tearing or cutting of the skin, and this laceration may remain.
A more serious case than the first is now brought to our notice.

Another time, immediate!}' following the accident, or possibly as a
sequel of the traumation, the tendinous sacs may be oi^ened, with the
escape of the synovia; or worse, the tendons which i^ass in front of
the knee are torn, the inflammation has spread, the joint and leg are
swollen, the animal is becoming very lame ; synovitis has set in. With
this the danger becomes very great, for soon supi)uration will be estab-
lished, the external coat of the articulation proper become ulcerated,
if it is not alreadj^ in that state, and we find ourselves in the presence
of an open joint with suppurative synovitis — that is, with the worst
among the conditions of diseased x^rocesses, because of the liability of
the suppuration to become infiltrated into every part of the joint,
m-acerating the ligaments and irritating the cartilages, soon to be suc-
ceeded by their ulceration, with the destruction of the articular sur-
face, or the lesion of ulcerative arthritis, one of the gravest among all
the disorders known to the animal economy.

But ulcerative arthritis and suppurative synovitis maj' be developed
in other connections than that with open joints; the simj^lest and
apparently most harmless punctures may prove to be cause sufficient.
For example, a horse may be kicked, perhaps, on the inside of the
hock; there is a mark and a fcAV droi)s of blood to indicate the spot;
he is put to work, apparently free from pain or lameness, and per-
forms his task with his usual ease and facility. But on the following
morning the hock is found to be a little swollen and there is some stiff-
ness. A little later on he betrays a degree of uneasiness in the leg,
and shrinks from resting his weight upon it, moving it \\\} and down
for relief. The swelling has increased and is increasing, the pain is
severe, and, finall}', there is an oozing at the sijot where the kick
impinged of an oily liquid mixed with whitish drops of suppuration.
The mischief is done and a simple, harmless punctured wound has
expanded into a case of ulcerative arthritis and sui^purative SA'novitis.

From ever so brief and succinct description of this traumatism of the
articulations, the serious and important character of these lesions,

336

irrespective of which iDarticular joint is nffected, will be readily under-
stood. Yet there will be modifications in the prognosis in different
cases, in accordance with the peculiarities of structure in the joint
specially involved, as for examj)le, it is obvious that a better result
may be expected from treatment when but a single joint, with only its
plain articular surfaces, is the place of injury, than in one which is com-
posed of several bones, united in a complex formation, as in the knee
or hock. As severe a lesion as suppurative sjmovitis always is, and as
frequently fatal as it proves to be, still cases arise in which, the inflam-
mation assuming a modified character and at length subsiding, the
lesion terminates favorably and leaves the animal with a compara-
tively sound and useful joint. There are cases, however, which termi-
nate in no more favorable a result than the union of the bones and occlu-
sion of the joint, to form an anchylosis, which is scarcely a condition
to justify a high degree of satisfaction, since it insures a permanent
lameness with very little capacity for usefulness.

Ajjpreciating now the dangers associated with all wounds of articu-
lations, however simple and apparently slight, and how serious and
troublesome are the complications Avhich are likely to arise during
their jirogress and treatment, we are prepared to understand and
realize the necessity and the value of early and promiit attention upon
their discovery and diagnosis.

For simple bruises, like those which appear in the form of broken
knees, or of carpitis, simple remedies, such as warm fomentations or
cold water applications and compresses of astringent mixtures, sug-
gest themselves at once. Injuries of a more complicated charac-
ter, as lacerations of the skin or tearing of soft structures, will also
be benefited by simple dressings with antiseptic mixtures, as those
of the carbolic acid order. The escape of synovia should suggest
the prompt use of collodion dressings to check the flow and jjrevent the
further escape of the fluid. But if the discharge is abundant and
heavily suppurative, little can be done more than to put in i^ractice
the "expectant" method with warm fomentations, repeatedly applied,
and soothing mucilaginous poultices. Improvement, if any is possi-
ble, will be but slow to manifest itself. The most difficult of all
things to do, in view of varying interests and opinions — that is, in a
practical sense — is to abstain from "doing" entirelj", and yet we are
firmly convinced that non-interference, in the cases we are consider-
ing, is the best and wisest policy.

In cases which are carried to a successful result the discharge will
by degrees diminish, the extreme i:)ain will gradually subside, and the
convalescent will begin timidly to rest his foot upon the ground, and
presently to bear weight upon it, and perhaps, after a long and tedi-
ous process of recuperation, he may be returned to his former and
normal condition of usefulness. When the discharge has wholly
ceased and the wounds are entirely healed, a blister covering the
whole of the joint for the purj^ose of stimulating the absorj)tion of

337

the exudation will be of great service. But if, on the contrary,
there is no amelioration of synii^toms and the i^rogress of the disease
resists every attempt to check it; if the discharge continues to flow,
not only without abatement, but in an increased volume, and not
alone by a single oi^ening but by a number of fistulous tracts which
have successively formed; if it seems evident that this drainage is
rai^idly and painfull}^ sapping the sufiEering animal's vitality, and a
deficient vis vitce fails to co6j)erate with the means of cure, all rational
hope of recovery may be finally abandoned. An}- fui-ther waiting for
chances, or time lost in experimenting, will be mere cruelty and there
need be no hesitation concerning the next step. The poor beast is
under sentence of death, and every consideration of interest and of
humanity demands an anticipation of nature's evident intent in the
quick and easy execution of the sentence.

One of the essentials of treatment, and probably an indispensable
condition when recover}' is in any wise attainable, is the suspension
of the patient in slings. He should be continued in them as long as
he can be made to submit quietly to their restraint.

Liuxations. — Strength and solidity are so combined in the formation
of the joints of our large animals that dislocations or luxations are
injuries which are but rarely encountered. They are met with but
seldom in cattle and less so in horses, while dogs and smaller animals
are more often the suiferers.

The accident of a luxation or (its synonym) dislocation {displace-
ment) is less often encountered in the animal races than in man.
This is not because the former are less subject to occasional violence
involving powerful muscular contractions, or are less often exposed
to casualties similar to those which result in luxations in the human
skeleton, but because it requires the cooperation of conditions, ana-
tomical, physiological, and perhaps mechanical, i^resent in one of the
races and lacking in the other, but which can not in every case be
clearly defined. Perhaps the greater relative length of the bony
levers in the human formation may constitute a cause of the difference.

Among the predisposing causes in animals, caries of articular sur-
faces, articular abscesses, excessive dropsical conditions, degenera-
tive softening of the ligaments, and any excessive laxity of the soft
structures may be enumerated.

The symptoms of fractures and of dislocations are not always so
variant as to preclude the possibility of error in determining a case
without a thorough examination, but the essential difference, as it
must always exist, must always be discoverable.

In a dislocation there is one very peculiar and characteristic feature
in the impossibility of motion associated with an excessive liberty of
movement — the impossibility of active or conti-olled motion, and a
facility of passive movement (or movableness) at either the affected
joint or at another of the same leg near to it. In a dislocation of the
scapulo-humeral (or shoulder) joint the animal possesses no power of

338

motion over the limb — no muscular contraction can avail to cause it to
j)erform its various functions — but in the hands of the surgeon it may
be made to describe a series of movements which would be simply-
impossible with the joint in a state of integrity. Both fractures and
luxations are marked by deformity, but while in a fracture with dis-
placement there will usually be a shortening of the leg, a dislocation
maj^ be accompanied by either a shortening or a lengthening. Swell-
ing of the parts is usuallj^ a well-defined feature of these injuries.

With all this similaritj' in the sj^mptomatology of luxations and
fractures, there is one sign which either by its j)resence or its absence
will greatly assist in settling a case of differential diagnosis, and this
is the existence or lack of crepiiation. It has no place or cause in a
mere dislocation; it belongs to a fracture, if it is a complete one. If
there is crepitation with a dislocation then it proves that there is a
fracture also.

The jDrognosis of a luxation is comparatively less serious than that
of a fracture, though at times the indications of treatment may prove
to be so difficult to appl}- that complications may arise of a very severe
character.

The treatment of luxations must of course be similar to that of frac-
tures. Reduction, naturallj", will be the first indication in both cases,
and the retention of the replaced parts must follow. The reduction
involves the same steps of extension and counter-extension, performed
in the same manner, with the patient subdued by anesthetics.

The difference between the reduction of a dislocation and that of a
fracture consists in the fact that in the former the object is simply to
restore the bones to their true normal position, with each articular
surface in exact contact with its companion surface, the apparatus
necessary afterwards to keep them in situ being similar to that which
is emx)loyed in fracture cases, and which will usually require to be
retained for a period of from forty to fifty days, if not longer, before
the ruptured retaining ligaments are sufficiently firm to be trusted to
perform their office unassisted. A variety of manipulations are to be
employed by the surgeon, consisting in pushing, pulling, pressing,
rotating, and indeed whatever movement may be necessary, until the
bones are forced into such relative positions that the muscular con-
traction, operating in just the right directions, imlls the oi)posite
matched ends together in true coaptation, a head into a cavity, an
articular eminence into a trochlea, as the case may be. The "setting"
is accompanied by a peculiar snapping sound, audible and significant,
as well as a visible return of the surface to its normal symmetry.

Special dislocations. — While all the articulations of the body are
liable to tliis form of injury, there are three in the large animals which
may claim a special consideration, viz:

Tlie shoulder joint. — We mention this displacement williout intend-
ing to imply the practicability of any ordinary attempt at treatment.

339

which is usually unsuccessful, the animal whose mishap it lias been
to become a victim to it being disabled for life. The superiov head of
the arm bone as it is received into the lower cavity of the shoulder
blade is so situated as to be liable to be forced out of x^laee in four
directions. It may escape from its socket, according to the manner
in Avliich the violence affects it, outwards, inwards, backwards, or
forwards, and the deformity Avhich results and the effects which
follow will correspondingly differ. We have said that treatment is
generally unsuccessful. It may be added that the difficulties which
interpose in the way of reduction are nearly insurmountable, and
that the api)lication of means for the retention of the parts after
reduction would be next to impossible. The prognosis is sufficiently
grave from any point of view for the luckless animal with a dislocated
shoulder.

The liip joint. — This joint partakes very much of the characteristics
of the humero-scapular articulation, but is more strongly built. The
head of the thigh bone is more separated, or prominent and rounder
in form, and the cup-like cavity or socket into which it fits is much
deeper, forming together a deep, true ball-and-socket joint, which is,
moreover, reenforced by two strong cords of funicular ligaments,
which unite them together. It will be easily comprehended, from this
hint of the anatomy of the region, that a luxation of the hip joint
must be an accident of comparatively rare occurrence. And yet cases
are recorded in which the head of the bone has been affirmed to slip
out of its cavity and assume various positions, inwards, outwards,
forwards, and backwards.

The indications of treatment are those of all cases of dislocation.
When the reduction is accomplished the surgeon will be apprised
of the fact by the peculiar snapping sound usually heard on such
occasions.

Pseudo luxations of the poiella. — This is not a true dislocation. The
stifle bone is so peculiarly articulated with the thigh bone that the
means of union are of sufficient strength to resist the causes which
usually give rise to luxations. Yet there is sometimes discovered a
I)eculiar pathological state in the hind legs of animals, the effect of
which is closely to simulate the manifestation of many of the general
sj'mptoms of dislocations. This peculiar pathological condition origi-
nates in muscular cram^Ds, the action of which is seen in a certain
cliange in the coaptation of the articular surfaces of the stifle and
thigh bone, resulting in the exhibition of a sudden and alarming series
of symptoms which have suggested the phrase of "stifle out" as a
descriptive term. The animal so affected stands quietly and firmly
in his stall, or perhai)s with one of his hind legs extended backwards,
and resists every attemx)t to move him backwards, and if urged to
move forwards he will either refuse or eomi)ly witli a jump, with the
toe of the disabled leg dragging on the ground and brought forward

340

by a second effort. There is no flexion at the lioclc and no motion at
the stifle, while the circular motion of the hij) is quite free. The leg
appears to be much longer than the other, owing to the straightened
position of the thigh bone, which forms almost a straight line with
the tibia from the hip joint down. The stifle joint is motionless, and
the motions of all the joints below it are more or less interfered with.
External examination of the muscles of the hip and thigh discovers a
certain amount of rigidity, with perhaps some soreness, and the stifle
bone may be seen projecting more or less on the outside and upper
part of the joint.

This state of things may continue foi- some length of time and
until treatment is applied, or it may spontaneously and suddenly
terminate, leaving everything in its normal condition, Init perhaps
to return again.

Pseudo dislocation of the patella is likely to occur under many of
the conditions which cause actual dislocation, and yet it may often
occur in animals which have not been exposed to the ordinary causes,
but which have remained at rest in their stables. Sometimes these
cases are referred to falls in a slippery stall, or perhaps slipping when
endeavoring to rise ; sometimes to weakness in convalescing patients ;
sometimes to lack of tonicity of structure and general debility ; some-
times to relaxation of tissues from want of exercise or use.

The reduction of these displacements of the patella is not usually
attended with difficulty. A sudden jerk or spasmodic action will often
be all that is required to spring the patella into place, when the flexion
of the leg at the hock ends the trouble for the time. But this is not
always suflicient, and a true reduction may still be indicated. To
effect this the leg must be drawn well forward by a rope attached to
the lower end, and the patella, grasped with the hand, forcibly pushed
forwards and inwards and made to slip over the outside border of
the trochlea of the femur. The bone suddenly slips into position, the
excessive rigor of the leg ceases with a spasmodic jerk, and the animal
may walk or trot away without suspicion of lameness. But though
this may end the trouble for the time, and the restoration seem
to be perfect and permanent, a repetition of the entire transaction
may subsequently take place, and perhaps from the loss of some
portion of tensile power which would naturally follow the original
attack in the muscles involved the lesion might become a habitual
weakness.

Warm fomentations and douches with cold water will often promote
permanent recovery, and liberty in a box stall or in the field will in
many cases insure constant relief. The use of a high-heeled shoe is
recommended by European veterinarians. The use of stimulating
liniments, with frictions, charges or even severe blisters, may be
resorted to in order to prevent the repetition of the difficulty by
strengthening and toning up the parts.

341

DISEASES OF MUSCLES AND TENDONS.

SjJrains. — This term expresses a more or less complete laceration
or jaelcling of the fibers of the muscles, tendons, or the sheaths sur-
rounding and supporting them. The usual cause of a sprain is external
violence, such as a fall or a powerful exertion of strength, with fol-
lowing symptoms of soreness, heat, swelling, and a suspension of
function. Their termination varies from simple resolution to sup-
puration, and commonly plastic exudation difficult to remove. None
of the muscles or tendons of the body are exempt from liability to this
lesion, though naturally from their uses and the exposure of their
situation the extremities are more liable than other regions to become
their seat. The nature of the prognosis will be determined by a con-
sideration of the seat of the injury and the complications likely to
arise. The treatment will resolve itself into the routine of local
applications, including warm fomentations, stimulating liniments,
counter irritation by blistering, and in some cases even firing. Rest,
in the stable or in a box stall, will be of advantage by promoting
the absorption of whatever plastic exudation may have formed, or the
absorption may be stimulated by the careful and iDcrsevering applica-
tion of iodine in the form of ointments of various degrees of strength.-

There are many conditions in which not only the muscular and
tendinous structures proper are affected by a sprain, but, by conti-
guity of parts, the periosteum of neighboring bones may become
involved, with a comx)lication of periostitis and its sequelse.

Lameness of the shoulder. — The frequency of the occurrence of lame-
ness in the shoulder from sprains entitled it to precedence of mention
in our present category. For, though so well covered with its mus-
cular envelope, it is often the seat of injuries which, from the complex
structure of the region, become difficult to diagnosticate with satis-
factory precision and facility. The flat bone which forms the skeleton
of that region is articulated in a comparatively loose manner with
the bone of the arm, but the joint is, notwithstanding, rather solid,
and is jDOwerfuUy strengthened bj^ tendons passing outside, inside, and
in front of it. Still, shoulder lameness or sprain laay exist, origi-
nating in lacerations of the muscles, the tendons or the ligaments
of the joint, or perhaps in diseases of the bones themselves. " Slip of
the shoulder" is a phrase frequently applied to such lesions.

The identification of the particular structures involved in these
lesions is of mucli imj^ortance, in view of its bearing upon the ques-
tion of prognosis. For example, while a simple superficial injury of
the spinatus muscles, or of the muscles by which the leg is attached
to the trunk, may not be of serious import and may readily yield to
treatment, or even recover spontaneously and without interference,
the condition is quite changed when a case of tearing of the flexor
brachii, or of its tendons as they pass in front of the articulation,

342

occurs, or, wliat is still more serious, if tlierc is inflammation or ulcer-
ation in the groove over whicli this tendon slides, or upon the articular
surfaces or their surroundings, or periostitis at any point adjacent.

The frequency of attacks of shoulder lameness is not difficult to
account for. The sux)erficial and unprotected position of the part,
and the numerous movements of which it is capable, and which in
fact it performs, render it both subjectively and objectively preemi-
nently liable to accident or injury. It would be difacult, nor would
it materially avail, to enumerate all the forms of violence by which
the shoulder may be crippled. A fall, accompanied by powerful con-
cussion; a violent muscular contraction in starting a heavily loaded
vehicle from a standstill; a misstep following a quick muscular effort;
a jump accompanied by miscalculated results in alighting; a slip on
a smooth, icy road; balling the feet with snow; colliding with another
horse or other object — indeed, the list might be indefinitely extended,
but it would be without profit or utility. Some of the symptoms of
shoulder lameness are peculiar to themselves, and yet the trouble is
frequently mistaken for other affections — navicular disease more often
than any other. The fact that in both affections there are instances
when the external symptoms are but imperfectly defined, and that
one of them especially is very similar in both, is sufficient to mislead
careless or inexperienced observers and to occasion the error which is
sometimes committed of applying to one disease the name of the other,
erring both ways in the interchange. The true designation of patho-
logical lesions is very far, at times, from being of certain and easy
accomplishment, and owing to the massive structure of the parts we
are considering this is especially true in the present connection. And
still there are many cases in which there is really no reasonable excuse
for an error in diagnosis by an average practitioner.

Shoulder lameness will of course manifest itself by signs and
appearances more or less distinct and pronounced, according to the
nature of the degree and the extent of the originating cause. We
summarize some of these signs and appearances:

The lameness is not intermittent but continued, the disturbance of
motion gauging the severity of the lesion and its extent. It is more
marked when the bones are diseased than when the muscles alone
are affected. When in motion the two upper bony levers, the shoul-
der blade and the bone of the upper arm, are reduced to nearly
complete immobility and the walking is performed by the complete
displacement of the entire mass, which is dragged forward without
either flexion or extension. The action of the joint below, as a natural
consequence, is limited in its flexion. In many instances there is a
certain amount of swelling at the point of injury— at the joint, or more
commonly in front of it, or on the surface of the spinatus muscle.
Again, instead of swelling there will be muscular atrophy, though
while this condition of loss of muscular power may interfere with

343

perfect locomotion, it is not in itself usually a cause of shoulder lame-
ness. . ' ' Sweenied " shoulders are more often diie to disease l^olow the
fetlock than to atfections above the elbow.

During- rest the animal often carries his leg forward, somewhat
analogous to the "pointing" i)osition of navicular disease, though in
some cases the painful member drops at the elbow in a semi-flexed
position. The backing is sometimes typical, the animal when per-
forming it, instead of flexing his shoulder, dragging the whole leg
without motion in the uj^per segment of the extremity. The peculiar
manner in which the leg is carried forward in the act of walking or
trotting is in some instances cliaracteristic of injuries of the shoulder,
the power of extension being limited; the whole leg in the act of
locomotion is moved forward with a circumflex, swinging motion,
which distinguishes this peculiar affection from others.

With the utmost scrutiny and care the vagueness and uncertainty
of the symptoms will contribute tojjerplex and discredit the diagnosis
and embarrass the surgeon, and sometimes the expedient is tried of
aggravating the symptoms by way of intensifying their significance,
and thus rendering them more intelligible. This has been sought by
requiring the i)atient to travel on soft plowed ground and compelling
him to turn on the affected leg as a pivot, with other motions calculated
to betray the locality of the pain.

It is our conviction that lameness of the shoulder mil in manj"
cases disappear with no other p»-escription that that of rest. Pro-
vided the lesions occasioning it are not too sevei'e time is all that is
required. But the negation of Jetting alone is seldom accepted as a
means of doing good, in the place of the active and the positive forms
of treatment. This is in accordance with a trait of human nature
which is universal, and is unlimited in its applications. Hence there
must be something done. In mild cases of shoulder lameness, then,
the indications are water, either in the cold douche or by showering,
or by warm fomentations. Warm wet blankets are of gi-eat service;
and in addition, or as alternative, anodyne liniments, camphor, bella-
donna, either in the form of tincture or the oils, are of benefit, and
at a later period stimulating friction with suitable mixtures, sweating
liniments, blistering compounds, etc., will find their place, and,
finally, when necessity demands it, the firing iron and the seton.

The duration of the treatment must be determined by its effects
and the evidence that may be offered of the results following the
action of the reparative process. But the great essential condition of
cure, and the one without which the possibility of relapse will always
remain as a menace, is, as wo have often reiterated in analogous
cases, rest., imperatively rest, irrespective of any other prescriptions
with which it may be associated.

Sjyrain of the elboiv muscles. — This injury, whicli fortunately is not
very common, is mostly encountered in cities, among heavy draught

344

horses or rapidly driven animals Avhicli are obliged to travel, often
smooth shod, upon slippery, icy, or greasy pavements, where they
are easily liable to lose their foothold. The region of the strain is
the posterior part of the shoulder, and the muscles which are afEected
are those which occupy the space between the posterior border of
the scapula and the posterior face of the arm. It is the muscles of the
olecranon which give way.

The symptoms are easily recognized, especially Avhen the animal is
in action. While at rest the attitude may be normal, or by close
scrutiny a peculiarity may perhaps be detected. The leg may seem
to drop ; the elbow may appear to be lower than its fellow, with the
knee and lower part of the leg flexed and the foot resting on the toe,
with the heel raised. Such an attitude, however, may be occasionally
assumed by an animal without having any special significance. But
when it becomes more i^ronounced on putting him in motion the fact
acquires a symptomatic value, and this is the case in the present
instance. A rapid gait becomes quite impossible, and the walk,
as in some few other diseases, becomes sufficiently characteristic to
Avarrant a diagnosis even when observed from a distance. An entire
dropping of the anterior part of the trunk becomes manifest, and no
weight is carried on the disabled side, in consequence of the loss of
action in the suspensory muscles. There are often heat, pain, and
swelling in the muscular mass at the elbow, though at times a hollow or
depression may be observed near the posterior border of the scapula,
which is probably the seat of injury.

These hurts are of various degrees of imi3ortance, varying from mere
minor casualties of quick recovery to lesions which are of sufficient
severity to render an animal useless and valueless for life.

The prime elements of treatment, which should be strictly observed,
are rest and quiet. Prescriptions of all kinds, however, of course,
have their advocates. Among them are ether, chloroform, camphor,
alcoholic frictions, warm fomentations, blisters, setons, etc. But,
unless the conclusions of experience are to be ignored, our own judg-
ment is decisive in favor of rest, judiciously applied; and our view of
what constitutes a judicious application of rest has been more than
once presented in these pages. There are degrees of this rest. One
contemplates simple immobility in a narrow stall. Another means
the enforced mobility of the slings and a narrow stall as well. Another
a box stall, with ample latitude as to posture and space, and option
to stand up or lie down. As wide as this range may appear to be,
radical recovery has occurred under all of these modified forms of
letting our patients alone.

Hip lameness. — The etiology of injuries and diseases of the hip is
one and the same with that of the shoulder. The same causes operate
and the same results follow. The only essential change, with an
important exception, which would be necessary in passing from one

345

region to the otlier in a descrii^tion of its anatoiny, its pliysiology, and
its pathology, wonld be a snbstitntion of anatomical names in refer-
ring to certain bones, articnlations, muscles, ligaments, and mem-
l>ranes concerned in the injuries and diseases described. It would be
only a useless repetition to cover again the ground over which we
have so recently passed in recital of the manner in which certain
forms of external violence (falls, blows, kicks, etc.) result in other
certain forms of lesion (luxation, fracture, periostitis, ostitis, etc.),
and to recapitulate the items of treatment and the names of the med-
icaments proi)er to use. The same rules of diagnosis and the same
indications and prognosis are ajiplicable equally to every portion of
the organism, with only such modifications in ai^plying dressings and
apparatus as may be required b}' diffei'ences of conformation and other
minor circumstances, which must suggest themselves to the judgment
of every experienced observer when the occasion arri\'es for its exercise.

There is an excei)tion to be made, while considering the subject in
connection with the region now under advisement, in respect to the
formidable affection known as morbus coxarius, or hip-joiiit disease;
and leaving the detail of other lesions to take their place under otlier
heads, that relating to the shoulder, for instance, we turn to the hip
joint and its ailments as the chief subject of our present consideration.

In investigating for morbus coxarius, let the observer first examine
the lame animal by scanning critically the outlines of the joint and
the region adjacent for any difference of size or disturbance of sym-
metry in the parts, any prominence or rotundity, and on both sides.
The lame side will probably be warmer, more developed and fuller,
both to the touch and to the eye. Let him then grasp the lower part
of the leg (as he would in examining a case of shoulder lameness)
and endeavor to produce excessive passive motion. This will prob-
ably cause pain when the leg is made to assume a given position.
Let him push the thigh forcibly against the hip bone, and the contact
will again probably cause a manifestation of pain. If the horse is
trotted, the limited action of the hip joint proper and the excessive
dropping and rising of the hip of the opposite side will be easil}^ recog-
nized. The abductive or circumflex motion observed in shoulder
lameness is also present in hii) lameness, but under special conditions,
and the test of the difficulty, either by traveling on soft ground or
making the lame leg a pivot in turning the horse in a circle, may here
also contribute to the diagonosis as in testing for lameness in the
anterior extremity.

The prognosis of hip lameness is at times quite serious, not only on
account of the long duration of treatment required to effect good
results, and because of the characters which may be assumed by the
disease, but of the permanence of the disability resulting from it.
Exostosis and ulcerative arthritis are sequelae which often resist every
form of treatment.

346

As before intimated, tliis is little more than a repetition of our
remarks upon the lameness of the shoulder, with slight modifications
occasioned by the inuseular structure of the hip, and we are limited
to the same recommendations of treatment. The advantages of rest
must be reaffirmed, Avith local apiilications, of which, however, it
may be said that they are more distinctly indicated and likely to be
more effective in their results than in shoulder lameness, and may
be more freely emjiloyed, whether in the form of liniments, blisters
(singly or repeated), firing, or setoning.

Sprains of suspensory ligaments and of ilie flexor tendons or their
sheatJi. — The fibrous structure situated behind the cannon bones, both
in the fore and hind legs, is often the seat of lacerations or sprains
resulting from violent efforts or sudden jerks. The injurj^ is readily
recognized by the changed aspect of the region and the accompany-
ing local symptoms. The parts, which in health are Avell defined,
with the outlines of the tendons and ligaments well marked, become
the seat of a swelling, more or less developed, from a small sjjot of
the middle of the back of the tendon to a tumefaction reaching from
the knee down to and even involving the fetlock itself. It is alwaj^s
characterized by heat, and it is variousl}^ sensitive, ranging from a mere
tenderness to a degree of soreness which shrinks from the lightest
touch. The degrees of the lameness varj- , and it has a corresponding
range with the soreness, sometimes showing only a slight halting and
at others the extreme of lameness on three legs. Avith intermediate
degrees.

It has for its cause, like all the other forms, external traumatism
by falls, blows, etc. , and may be considered serious or trifling, accord-
ing to the circumstances of each case as judged by its own history.
It may be safely assumed on general principles that a leg which has
received such injuries very seldom returns to a perfect condition of
efficiency and soundness, and that as a fact a certain absolute amount
of thickening and deformity will remain in permanency, even when
the lameness has entirely disappeared.

For this reason the injured member should receive the earliest
attention possible, not only when the inflammatory condition is pres-
ent, but when it is subsiding and there is only the thickening of the
ligaments, the tendons, or tlie sheath. Cold bathing, cold-water band-
ages, either simple or with astringent solutions, do well in some
cases, while in others hot applications have the preference, with com-
plete rest; also, moderate exercise; frictions with alcohol ; tincture of
soap; spirits of camphor; mild liniments; strong sweating liniments;
blisters; the cauterj'^ — these are the means bj^ which the absorption
of tlie exudate must be promoted and the work of restoration effected.
The preparations of iodine are often of benefit in mild cases, but
there are others in which the thickening of the tendons refuses to
yield ;uid Ihe changed tissues remain firmly organized, leaving them

347

iu the form of a thick mass resting on the back part of the cannon
bone. As a consequence the deformity remains and a new condition
presents itself in the articular disposition, constituting the deformity
known as the knuclding fetloclc.

By this is meant a deformity of the fetloclc joint by which the nat-
ural angle is changed from that which pertains to tlie healthy articu-
lation. The first pastern or suffraginis loses its oblique direction
and assumes another which varies from the upright to the oblique,
from befoi-e backwards, and from above downwards; in other words,
forming an angle with its point in front.

This condition, as we have seen, may be the result of chronic dis-
ease pi-oducing structural changes in the tendons, and it may also
occur as the result of other affections or some i^eculiarity independent
of this and situated below the fetlock, such as ringbones, sidebones^
or traumatic disease of the foot proper. Animals are sometimes pre-
disposed to knuckling, such, for example, as are naturally straight
in their pasterns or animals which are compelled to labor when too
young. The hind legs are more predisposed than the fore to this
deformity, in consequence of the greater amount of labor they are
required to perform as the propelling levers of the body.

The symptoms of knuckling are easilj" recognized. The changes in
the direction of the bones vary more or less with the degree of the
lesion, sometimes assuming such a direction that it almost becomes a
true dislocation of the pastern.

The effect of knuckling upon the gait also varies aecoixling to the
degree of the deformity. As the different degrees of the shortening
of the leg aifect the motion of the fetlock the lameness may be very
slight or quite extreme. Another consequence of this shortening is
such a change in the position of the foot that the heels cease to come
in contact with the ground and assume a greater elevation, and the
final result of this is soon witnessed in the development of a clubfoot.

To whatever cause the knuckling may be ascribed it is always a
severe infirmity, and there is but little room for hoping to overcome
it unless it be during the very first stages of the trouble, and the hope
dwindles to still smaller dimensions when it is secondary' to other
diseases below the fetlock. If it is caused by overworking the animal,
the first indication will of course be rest. The animal must be turned
loose and left unemi)loyed and careful attention given to the condi-
tion of his feet and to the manner of shoeing, while time is allowed for
the tendons to become restored to their normal state and the irritation
caused by excessive stretching has subsided. A shoe with a thick
heel will contribute to this. But if no improvement can be obtained
and the tendons though retracted have yet been relieved of much of
their thickening, the case is not a desperate one and may yet be
benefited by tlie operation of tenotomy, single or double — an oi)erative
expedient which must be committed to the experienced surgeon for
its performance.

348

SpriDHj l:)iee.s. — Tliougli not positively the result of diseases of the
tendous acting upon the knees, we venture to consider this deformity
in connection with that which we have just described. It consists in
such an alteration in the direction and articulation of the bones which
form the various carpal joints that instead of forming- a vertical line
from the lower end of the forearm to the cannon bone they are so
united that the knee is more or less bent forward, presenting a condi-
tion due to the retraction of two of the j^rincipal muscles by which the
cannon bone is flexed.

Tliis flexion of the knee may also be a congenital deformity and
have continued from the foaling of the animal. Or, like clubfoot, it
may be the result of heavy labor which the animal has been com-
pelled to j)erform at too early an age. It may also be due to other
diseases existing in parts below the knee joint.

This change of direction largely influences the movement of the
animal by detracting from its flrniness and practically weakening
the entire frame, even to the extent of rendering him insecure on his
feet, and liable to fall. This condition of weakness is sometimes so
pronounced that he is exposed to fall even when standing at rest and
unmolested, the knees being unable even to bear the jjortion of the
mere weight of the frame Avhicli belongs to them. This results in
another trouble, that of being unable to keep x)ermanently upright.
He is apt to fall on his knees, and by this act becomes presently a
sufferer from the lesion known by the term of broken knees.

Whatever may be the originating cause of this imperfection it
detracts very largely from the usefulness and ^■alue of a horse, dis-
qualifying him for ordinary labor and wholly unfitting him for serv-
ice under the saddle without jeopardizing the safety of his rider. If,
however, the trouble is known from the start, and is not the result of
congenital deformity or weakness of the knee joint, or secondary to
other diseases, rest, with fortifying frictions, may sometimes aid in
strengthening the joints; and the application of blisters on the pos-
terior part of the knee, from a short distance above to a point a little
below the joint, may be followed by some satisfactory results. But
with this trouble, as with knuckling fetlocks, the danger of relapse
must not be ignored, but kept in mind as a contingency always liable
to occur.

Curl). — This lesion is the bulging backwards of the jjosterior part
of the hock, where in the normal state there should be a straight line,
extending from the uj)per end of the point of the hock down to the
fetlock. The cause may be a sprain of the tendon which passes on
the posterior part of the hock, or of one of its sheaths, or of the strong
ligament situated on the posterior border of the os calcis. This con-
dition, if not commonly the result of malformation, is often seen in
hocks vdiich present the peculiar condition of being curby. It often
occurs, also, as the result of violent efforts, of heav}' pulling, of high

349

jumpiug or of slipi^ing'; in a word, it iiiay result from any of tlie causes
heretofore considered as instrumental in producing lacerations of
muscular, tendinous, or ligamentous structure.

A hock affected Avith curb will, at the outset, present a swelling
more or less diffuse on its posterior portion, with varying degrees of
heat and soreness, and these will he accompanied by lameness of a
permanent character. At a later period, however, the swelling will
become better defined, the deformity more characteristic, the promi-
nent curved line readity detected, and the thickness of the infiltrated
tissue easily determined by the fingers. At this time, also, there may
be a condition of lameness, varjdng in degree; while at others, again,
the irregularity of action at the hock will be so slight as to escape
attention, the animal betrajang no appearance of its existence.

A curb constitutes, by a strict construction of the term, an " unsound-
ness," since the hock thus affected is less able to endure severe labor,
and is more liable to give way with the slightest effort. And yet the
prognosis of a curb can not be considered to be serious, since it gen-
erally yields to treatment, or at least the lameness it may occasion is
generally easily relieved, though the loss of contour caused by the
bulging will always constitute a blemish to the eye.

On the first appearance of a curb, when it exhibits the signs of an
acute inflammation, the first indication is to subdue this by the use of
warm fomentations or other topical applications. But when these
have exhausted their effect and the swelling has assumed better
defined boundaries, and the infiltration of the tendons or of the liga-
ments is all that remains of a morbid state, then every effort must be
directed to the object of effecting its absorption and reducing its
dimensions by pressure and other methods. The medicaments most
to be trusted are blisters of cantharides and frictions with ointments
of iodine, or, preferably, biniodide of mercury. Mercurial agents
alone, by their therapeutic properties, or by means of the artificial
bandages which they f urnisli by their incrustations when their vesi-
catory effects are exhausted, will give good results in some instances
by a single application, and often by rexjeated applications. The use
of the firing iron must, however, be frequently resorted to, either to
remove the lameness or to stimulate the exudation. We believe that
its early application ought to be resorted to in preference to waiting
until the exudation is firmly organized. Deep and fine needle firing
will prove as beneficial in curb as in any other disease of a similar
nature.

Lacerated tendons. — This form of injurj^, whether of a simple or of
a compound character, may become a lesion of a very serious nature,
and will usually require long and careful treatment, which may yet
prove unavailing in consequence either of the intrinsically fatal char-
acter of the wound itself or the complications which have rendered it
incurable.

350

Like all similar injuries, tlies^are the result of traumatic violence,
such as contact with objects botli blunt and shari?; a curbstone in the
city; in the country a tree stump or a fence, especially one of wire.
It may easily occur to a runaway horse when he is "whipped" with
fragments of harness or "flogged" by fragments of splintered shafts
"thrashing" his legs, or by the contact of his legs with the Avagon he
has overturned and shattered with his heels while disengaging himself
fi-om its wreck.

It is not always necessary that the skin should be involved in this
form of injury. On the contrary the tegument is frequently left
entirely intact, or exhibits only some slight and superficial abrasions.
Yet, again, the skin maj^be cut through and the tendons nearly severed.
A point a little above the fetlock is usually the seat of the injury. But
irrespective of this, and whether the skin is or is not implicated, the
symptoms very much resemble those of a fracture. There is excessive
mobility, at least more than in a normal state, with more or less ina-
bility to carry weight; there may be swelling of the parts, and on
passing the hands carefully along the tendon to the point of division
the stumps of the divided structure will be felt more or less separated,
I)erhaps wholly divided. The position of the animal while at rest and
standing is x^eculiar and characteristic. While the heels are well
placed on the ground, the toe is correspondingly elevated with a dis-
sion to turn up — a form of breaking down which we have described
when speaking of the fracture of the sesamoids. Carrying weight is
done only with considerable difficulty, but with comx)aratively little
pain, and the animal will unconsciously continue to move the leg as
if in great suffering, notwithstanding the fact that his general condi-
tion maj" be very good and his appetite unimpaired.

The effect upon the general organism of compound lacerated wounds
of tendinous structures, or those which are associated with injuries of
the skin, are different. The wound becomes, in a short time, the seat
of a high degree of inflammation with abundant suppuration, filling
it from the bottom; and the tendon, Avhether as the result of the bruise
or of the laceration, or of maceration in the accumulated pus, under-
going a process of softening, and necrosis and sloughing ensue. This
complicates the case, and probably some form of tendinous synovitis
follows, running into suppurative arthritis, to end, if close to a joint,
with a fatal result.

The prognosis of lacerated tendons should be very cautiously
attemi)ted. Under the most favorable circumstances a period of from
six weeks to two months will be necessary for the treatment, before
the formation of the cicatricial callus and the establishment of a firm
union between the tendinous stumps.

As with fractures, and even in a greater degree, the necessity is im-
perative, in the treatment of lacerated tendons, to secure as perfect a
state of immobility as can bo obtained compatibly with the disposition

351

of the patient; the natural opposition of the animal, sometimes ill-
tempered and fractious at best, under the necessary restraint, causing
at times much embarrassment to the practitioner in applying the
necessary treatment. Without the necessary immobility no close
connection of the ends of the tendons can be secured. To fulfill this
necessary condition the j)osterior part of the foot and the fetlock must
1)0 suppo' ted and the traction j^erformed bj' them relieved, an object
which can be attained by the use of the high-heeled and bar shoo, or
possibly better accomplished with a shoe of the same kind extending
about 2 or 2^ inches back of the heels. The i^erfect immobilitj' of the
legs is obtained in the same way as in the treatment of fracture, with
splints, bandages, iron apparatus, plasters of adhesive mixtures, and
similar means. So long as the dressings remain in place undisturbed,
and no chafing or other evidence of pain is present, the dressings
may be continued without changing, the patient being kept in the
slings for a period sufficient to insure the perfect union of the tendons.
But for a compound lesion, when there is laceration of the skin, some
special care is necessary. The wound must bo carefully watched and
the dressings removed at intei'vals of a few days, or as often as may
be needful, all of which additional manipulation and extra nursing,
however indisi^onsablo, still adds to the gravity of the case and ren-
ders the prognosis more and more serious. When the tendons have
sloughed in threads of various dimensions, or if in the absence of
this process of mortification healthy granulations should form and fill
uj) the Avound, still very careful attention will 1)0 required, the gran-
ulating ends of the tendons having a tendencj^ to bulge between the
edges of the skin and to assume large dimensions, forming bulky
excrescences or growths of a Avartj' or cauliflower appearance, the
removal of which becomes a troublesome matter.

Tlie union of the tendons will at times leave a thickening of varj'^-
iug degree near the point of cicatrization,, the absorption of which
becomes an object of difficult and doubtful accomplishment, but
which may be promoted l)y moderate Ijlistering and the use of altera-
tive and absorbent mixtures or perhaps the fire iron, A shoe with
heels somewhat higher than usual will prove a comfort to the animal
and aid in moderating and relieving the tension of the tendons.

Rupture of the flexor metatarsi. — This is a muscle of the anterior
part of the shank. It is situated in front of the tibia, and is of pecul-
iar formation, being composed of a muscular portion with a very
powerful tendon, which are at first distinct and separate, to bo inti-
mately united lower down, and terminating at the lower end by a
di%ision into four tendinous bands. It is a powerful muscle of the
hinder shank bone, and also acts as a strong means of support for
the stifle joint, that is, of the articulation of the thigh and shank bone,
in front and outside of which it passes. Its situation and its use
cause it to be liable to severe stretcliiug and straining, and a rupture
of some of its fibers is sometimes the consequence.

352

Tliis uiay be the result of a violent eifort of the animal in leaping
over a high obstacle; in missing his foothold and suddenly slipping
backwards while powerfully grasping the ground with the feet in
striving to start a heavily loaded vehicle; or in making a violent effort
to prevent a j)robable fall.

The accident is immediately followed by disability which will vary
both as to the true seat of the injury and the period of its duration.
This rupture will not i^revent the horse from standing perfectly and
firmly on his feet when kept at rest, and while no muscular efforts are
required from him there is no appearance of any lesion or unsound-
ness. An attempt to move him backwards, however, will cause him to
throw all his weight upon his hind quarters, and he will refuse to raise
his foot from the ground. If compelled to do so, or required to move
forward, the hock being no longer capable of flexion, the muscle which
effects that movement being the injured one, the opposite muscles,
the extensors, acting freely, the entire lower part of the leg, from the
hock down, will be suddenly, with a jerk, extended over the tibia
or shank bone, and simultaneously with this the tendo-achilles, the
cord of the hock, the tendons of the extensors of the hock will be put
in an excessively relaxed condition. Examination of the fore part of
the shank from the stifle down to the hock may reveal soreness, and
possibly some swelliiig and heat at the seat of the lesion.

Our experience with injuries of this form satisfies us that, gener-
ally speaking, they are amenable to treatment. Very few instances
have come to our knowledge in which radical recovery has not been
obtained, provided a sufficient time has been allowed for cicatrization
to take place.

In these cases, as in those alread}^ considered of simple laceration
of tendons, the indications resemble those which apply in the treat-
ment of fractures; as near a coaptation of the lacerated ends as pos-
sible, with immobility, being the necessarj^ objects to secure. The
first is a matter of very difficult accomplishment, by bandaging alone,
and some have recommended instead the application of charges or
blisters. To these we strongly object from their liability to cause
irritation and to allow of excessive movement, both circumstances
being unfavorable in their influence and hindering the action of the
reparative powers.

To secure the necessary immobility the animal should be placed in
slings snugly applied, and kept in a narrow stall. lie should also be
tied short, and restrained from s,ny backward movement by ropes or
boards, and he should moreover be kept in as quiet a temper as pos-
sible by the exclusion of all causes of irritation or excitement. Weeks
must then elapse, not less, but frequently more than six, often eight,
before he can be considered out of danger and able to return to his
labor, which should for a time be light and easy, and gradually, if
ever, increased to the measure of a thoroughlj^ sound and strong
animal.

353

SUNDRY ADDITIONAL AFFECTIONS OF THE EXTREMITIES.

Among these there are tliiee wliich will principally occui)y our
attention, and these may be considered as forming a single group.
In some parts of the legs may be found certain peculiar little struc-
tures, of a sac-like formation, containing an oily substance designed
for the lubrication of the parts uj)on which they are placed for the
purpose of facilitating the movements of the tendons which pass over
them. These little sacs or muco synovial capsules are liable under
peculiar conditions of traumatism to become subject to a diseased
process, which consists principally in a hyper-secretion of their con-
tents and an increase in dimensions, and the}'^ may undergo peculiar
pathological changes of a character to disable an animal, and in many
instances to cause serious blemishes which can not but depreciate his
value. These growths, which are known as hygromata, may result
from external violence, as blows or bruises, and may appear in the
form of small, soft tumors, painless and not inflammatorj- in charac-
ter, but, by a repetition of the cause or renewal of violence, likely to
acquire a new severity. Severe inflammation may supervene, with
suppuration, which, filling up the cavity, the walls will become thick-
ened and hai'd, and the formation of a tumor follow, which, resisting
all forms of treatment, can only be made to disappear by subjecting
tliem to the edge of the bistour3^

The elbow, the knee, and the hock are the principal i3arts of the
body where these lesions are ordinarily found, and on account of their
peculiar shape and the position they occupy they have received the
denomination of being capped. We shall consider them in their
peculiar aspect.

Capped elboiv. — The shoe boil, commonly so called, is almost too
well known to require a definition from us. An enlargement at the
point of the elbow is the lesion, so called, which is simi)ly the result
of pressure of the heels of the shoe upon that part. There are, of
course, some conditions necessary for the development of the shoe
boil, and for the pressure of the heels uj)ou the spot where it occurs.
Excessive length in the shoe and a formation of the animal with a
cannon bone so long that the flexure of the knee brings the heel in
contact with the elbow may be termed the predisposing causes, but
to these must be added another necessary condition in the peculiar
mode of resting adopted by the affected animal, as exhibited in his
manner of lying down, which is that of the cow, b}^ resting upon the
breastbone with the legs flexed under the body — a most eligible and
natural posture for effecting the result which follows.

The heel just pressing against the elbow, the hard iron of the shoe
in contact with the soft skin, with the weight of the body added,
forms a combination of causes which can not well fail to produce the
59(31— HOR 12

354

bruise wliicli in fact does follow, and ^yllicll soon afterwards l3ecomes
characterized by a variety of symptoms — for a capped elbow does not
always exhibit the same aspect. In one case there is simply a bruise,
with symx3toms of inflammation more or less marked or severe. The
parts will be swollen, sometimes enormously, with heat and pain, the
swelling- not onl}^ covering the point of the elbow, but sometimes
reaching the axilla, and assuming such proportions that there is great
difficulty in using the leg, the animal showing signs of lameness even
to the extent of the circumflex step, as in shoulder lameness. This
cBdematous condition, liowever, does not x-emain stationary. It may
b}^ degrees subside or perhajis disappear. In the first instance it will
become more distinctly defined, v/ith better marked boundaries, until
it is reduced to a soft, round, fluctuating tumor, with or without heat
or pain. There is- then either a bloody or serous tumor or a purulent
collection, and following the puncture of its walls with the knife
there will be an escape of blood, of serum, or of pus, as the case may
be, in variable quantities. In either case, but principally in that of
the cj'stic form, the tumor will be found to be subdivided by septums
or bands running in various directions.

Various changes will follow the opening of the tumor and the
escape of its contents. In a majority of cases, the process of cica-
trization will take place, and the cavity fill up by granulation, the
discharge, at first abundant, gradually diminishing and the wound
closing, usually without leaving any mark. At times, however, and
especially if the disease has several times repeated its course, there
may remain a x)endulous sac, partly obliterated, which a sufficient
amount of excitement or irritation may soon restore to its ijrevious
dimensions and condition.

In other cases an entirely different process takes place. The walls
of the cavity, cyst, or abscess become ulcerated and thickened, the
granulations of the sac become fibrous in their structure and fill up
the cavit}^, and it assumes the character of a hard tumor on the back
of the elbow, sometimes partly and sometimes entirely covered by the
skin. It is fibrous in its nature, painless to the touch, well defined
in its contour, and may vary in size from that of a small lady api)le
to that of a child's head.

This last form of capped elbow is the most serious of any, resisting
all known forms of mild treatment, and removable by the knife only.
The other forms, even that with the inflammatory aspect and its large
oedematous swelling which interferes Avith the work of the animal, maj'-
justify a much milder i^rognosis, and aside from their liability to
recur may be ranked with the comi^aratively harmless affections.

So long as the danger of recurrence is the principal bad feature of
capped elbow the most important consideration is that of devising a
means of its prevention by curing the animal of his habit of resting
in the cow-like posture of sternal decubitus. To prevent the animal

355

from lying down is evidently the simplest method of keeping the
heels and the elbow apart. But the impracticability of this i)rescrip-
tion is apioarent, since a majority of animals are obliged to lie down
when they sleep, though it is true that a few take their sleep on their
feet. The question of shoeing here enters into the discussion. The
shortening of the inside branch of the shoe, Avhich is the one with
which the pressure is made, may be of advantage, and especially if
the truncated end of the shoe is smooth and filed over to remove all
IJossibility of pressure and contusion upon the skin. The protection
of the skin of the elbow }jy interposing soft tissues between that and
the shoe, or bj' bandaging the heel with bags, or covering it with
boots, is considered by many the best of the preventive methods, and
the advantage to be secured by resorting to it can not be overlooked
when the number of horses which develop shoe boil whenever the use
of the boot is intermitted, is considered. In order to prevent the ani-
mal from assuming the sternal decubitus, many give preference to the
plan of fastening a piece of wood across the stall at some distance
from the front wall or manger. It is a simx^le exxDcdient, primitive
perhaps, but nevertheless practical and followed by good results.

The therapeut ic treatment is also important. The oedematous swell-
ing, indicative by its external apx)earance and the existing inflamma-
tion of the diseased condition, requires the use without delay of all
the means attainable for its abatement, with the accomf)anying pain
and the heat, Avitli whatever may tend to accelerate the absorption of
the exudate. Warm fomentations, repeated several times dailj^, are
then indicated, the degree of warmth being as high as can be com-
fortabl}- borne. They are of easy application, and often yield impor-
tant relief in a few hours. In some cases, however, astringents are
used in preference, in the form of poultices or pastes, which are made
to cover the entire swelling and allowed to remain, drying after a
short time, it is true, and perhaps falling off, but easily renewed and
reapi)lied. We have often recommended for these cases (and we
renew our indorsement) a putty made of common chalk, powdered,
and vinegar (acetate of lime — an excellent astringent), and covering
the Avhole swelling with a thick coating of soft clay, made into a softish
mass with water. It has proved very beneficial in our experience.

These simple remedies are often all that is required. Under their
use the SAvelling i^asses off by degrees and after a short interval the
animal is remanded to his work again. But not uncommonly, instead
of this a tumor or lump develops itself, putf}-, not painful, and per-
haps giving a sensation of crepitation when j)ressure is made on it.
It is soft and evidently contains a liquid, and when freely opened,
with a good-sized incision, discharges a certain amount of blood,
partly liquid and partly coagulated, and perhaps a little hemorrhage
will follow. The cavity should then be Avell washed out and a tent
of oakum introduced, leaving a small portion protruding llirough the

356

cut to prevent it from closing pl•enlatul'el5^ It may be taken off the
next day, and a daily cleansing will then be all that is necessary. In
another case the tumor becomes very soft in its whole extent, with evi-
dent fluctuation and a well-defined form. The discharge of the fluid
is then indicated, and a free incision will be followed by the escape of
a quantity of thin, j^ellowish liquid from a single sac. The irritation
of tlie lining membrane with the finger nails, and the introduction
of a tent of oakum, as before, but which should be changed every
two or three days, during which time the parts should be kept free
from suppuration, will inaugurate a speedy change and recovery
will soon follow. But if the cavity is found to be subdivided in its
interior by numerous bands, and the cyst proves to be multilocular,
the j)ai'titioning sacules should be torn out Avith the fingers, and the
cavity then treated in the same manner as the single or unilocular
sac. Another condition is that when the tumor is warm and has been
painful, and has been soft and fluctuating indistinctly^ or only at a
given point, the evidence is of an abscess again indicating the use of
the knife for a free incision for the exit of the contents, tlie general
and first indication in all suppurative collections.

But cases occur when all the treatment that has been detailed has
failed to effect a full recovery, and, instead of closing properly, the
cavity has become the seat of granulations other than those of a
healthful and benign character, having assumed a new and peculiar
form, and appearing in that of a fibrous tumor, quite apt, if not
evicted, to constitute a mere eyesore, profitable and pleasing to no
one. A change of treatment is of course then in order. The inflam-
mation, having a disposition to become chronic, will require stiinulat-
ing treatment in order to counteract that tendency by the quickened
activity of the process of absorption, and we must again draw upon
the resoui'ces of experience in the form of the blisters, the fomenta-
tions, the iodine, and the mercurial helps as heretofore mentioned.
Good results may always be insured from their judicious and timely
administration while combating the aberrations of nature, but little,
from them or from any of the allies of the curative art, by their unin-
telligent and misdirected emijloyment. In applying the jDowerful
mineral inunctions much patience and wisdom are demanded. It
should be done by carefully and perseveringly rulibing in small quan-
tities daily; it should be done softly and gently, not with force of
arms, nor with the expectation of producing an astonishing effect by
heavy dosing and main strength in a few hours; it should be after
the manner of a siege rather than that of a charge. The object must
be to induce the drugs to permeate the affected part until the entire
mass is penetrated. Of course cases will be encountered which resist
every form of treatment but the last of all (in dealing with external
and excessive growths). The tumor remains as a fixed fact; it cor
tinues to grow; it is large and pendulous at the elbow; its weight is

357

estimated in i)ounds; it is not an eyesore merely, but an uncomfort-
able, burdensome mass, excoriating all the surrounding parts and
being itself excoriated in turn; mild treatment has failed and is no
longer to be relied on. There is no longer an alternative between the
abandonment of the patient and the amputation of the tumor. But
there is a choice of modes and instrumentalities, a question of pref-
erence between the ligature, the electric cautery, and the bistoury.
Each has its advocates among practitioners. In a case like the pres-
ent, one of the practical embarrassments aiises in connection with
the application and retention of bandages ajid other dressings after
the amputation has been f)erformed. It is a somewhat difficult prob-
lem, owing to the conformation and proi)ortions of the body of the
patient, and involves the exercise of a considerable amount of prac-
tical ingenuity to adjust and retain the appliances necessary to insure
a good final result in obtaining a proper cicatrix.

In our long description of the treatment of the varieties of capi)ed
elbow we have thus far omitted any mention of one method which
has to some extent received the sanction of experience, and which is
practiced and commended by not a few. We refer to the use of
setons, introduced through and through the tumor. We mention it
to say that our experience is adverse to this mode. We are led to this
opinion not only by our observation of many failures, but from
the fact that in many cases the use of the seton has been followed
by the formation of large fibrous tumors, which in our opinion have
resulted from it.

Capped knee. — The passage of the tendons of the extensor muscle of
the cannon, as it glides in front of the knee joint, is assisted by one
of the little bursse we have before mentioned, and when this becomes
the seat of a dropsical collection a hygroma is formed and the knee is
"capped." Though somewhat analogous in its history to the capped
elbow, there are points of diiference between them. Their develop-
ment may j)rove a source of great annoyance from the fact of the
blemish which they constitute.

The capped knee presents itself under various conditions. It is
sometimes the result of a cause nearly unique, as when it follows a
bruise or contusion, often repeated, inflicted upon himself by a horse
addicted to the habit of pawing while in the stable and striking the
front of the stall with his knees. Another class of patients is formed
of those weak-kneed animals which are subject to falling and bruising
the front of the joint against the ground, the results not being always
of the same character.

The lesion may be a simple bruise, or it may be a severe contusion
with swelling, oedematous, hot, painful, and interfering with locomo-
tion, the joint becoming stiff and sometimes so rigid that the animal
is unable to flex it, and still, under simple treatment, the trouble may
subside almost by spontaneous action.

358

Or, again, instead of altogether x^assing off, the oedema may diminish
in extent, becoming more defined in form and remain as a tnmor more
or less developed on the front part of the knee. Resulting from the
crushing of small blood vessels, this is essentially a bloody tumor. It
is somewhat soft, not painful, surrounded by a little swelling, round,
more or less fluctuating, and after a few days becomes cripitant under
the pressure of the hand.

But instead of possessing all the characteristics of a bloody tumor
it may also assume those of a serous growtli, as often occurs when the
violence (the bruise), though perhaps slight, has been frequently
repeated. In that case the tumor becomes better defined, generally
painless, without any surrounding swelling, is niucli softer, is fluctu-
ating, and more or less pendulous.

In other cases, however, this serous tumor becomes the seat of an
acute inflammation, perhaps from repetition of the original violence;
or it may set in as the immediate result of the bruise, and a phleg-
monous inflammation may thus be established. The' tumor is now
surrounded with oedema, more or less diffused, and becomes hot and
painful. The flexion of the knee can no longer take place; walking
is much interfered with — a large acute abscess has been formed, and
it is this that constitutes the capped Ixiiee.

Whatever may be the nature of the tumors, whether shown Avhen
opened to be bloody, cystic, or i^urulent, or when tliey ulcerate as they
sometimes do, though the cavity of the abscess may fill up in a short
time, the x)robability is that there will always remain in front of the
knee a i^lastic deposit, develoi^ed in varying degrees, which will resist
all treatment and continue unabsorbed for life.

Though simple bruises of the knee without extensive lesions are
usually of trifling account, a different i)rognosis must be pronounced
when the lesion assumes more important dimensions; and though
a capped knee may be comparatively an affair of little importance
we have seen cases where not only extensive blemishes were left to
disfigure the patient, but where the animals had become worthlesss in
consequence of the extension of the diseased process to the various
elements of structure composing the joint, and giving rise to the most
complicated cases of carpitis.

We have seen that usually the first symptom which is observed is the
oedematous swelling on the fore part of the knee, the first lesion, in
fact, and therefore requiring immediate attention. The prevention of
the inflamuiation, and consequently of the abscess, is the prime object
in view, and it maj^ be realized by the use of warm water fomentations
or compresses applied over the swelling, which may be used either in
a simple form or combined with astringents, such as Goulard's extract,
alum, or sulphate of zinc. The application of warm poultices of oil
meal or ground flaxseed, enveloping the whole joint and kept in place
hy bandages, is often followed by absorption of the swelling, or, if the

359

ab.seess is in i^rocess of formation, by tJie active secretion of pus.
If the formation of a tumor lias followed this treatment, or if it has
develoijcd. from its inception, it becomes an immediate necessity to
empty it, and the mode of accomplishing this will vary with different
cases. In one it should be done by a careful incision, which will allow
the escape of the blood or the serum, or of the pus which is inclosed in
the sac; in another it may be by means of a seton, in order that the
discharge may be maintained and allowed to escape; and for another
the more cautious mode may be adopted of emptying the cavity by
means of i)unctures with small trochars or aspirators. The danger
attending this last method arises from the possible sloughing of large
jjortions of the skin, while that attending the first is the hazard of the
possibility of the extension of the inflammation to the capsular liga-
ment of tlie knee, with the risk of an open joint in i^rospect.

As we have remarked, the cavitj', after being emptied, may rapidly
close and leave in a short time but slight traces of its previous exist-
ence. But in man}', if not in a majority, of cases there will remain
after the cicatrization is complete a thickening or organized exudation,
at one time round and vrell defined, at another spreading by a diffused
infiltration, to Avhich it will be necessary to give immediate attention,
from the fact of its tendency to form into an organized and permanent
bod}'. To stimulate inflammation in this diseased structure blisters
are recommended, but chiefly for the purpose of promoting the process
of absorption. If this treatment should fail, the use of alteratives
proper is recommended, mercury and its compounds and iodine prepa-
rations probabh' receiving a majority of suffrages. Plain mercurial
or plain iodine ointment, or both in combination as iodide of mei'cury,
are commonly used, and may either be applied moderately and by
gentle degrees, as we have suggested, or more freely and vigorously
with a view to more immediate effects, which, however, will also be
more superficial. The use of the firing iron applied deeply with fine
points is then to be strongl}^ recommended, to be followed by blisters
and various liniments. This course may generally be relied on as
quite sure to be followed bj^ satisfactory results.

While the treatment is in i^rogress it will of course be necessary to
secure the animal in such a manner .that a recurrence of the injury
will be impossible from similar causes to those which were previously
responsible.

Capped lioclv. — A bad habit prevails among some horses of rubbing
or striking the partitions of their stalls with their hocks, with the
result of an injury which shows itself on the upper point of that bone,
the summit of the os calcis. From its analog}^ to the condition of
capped elbow the designation of caiii:>ed hock has been applied to this
condition.

A capped hock is therefore but the development of a bruise at the
point of the hock, which if many times repeated may excite an inflam-
matory process, with all its usual external symptoms of swelling, heat,

360

soreness, and the rest of the now familiar phenomena. The swelling
is at first diffused, extending more or less on the exterior part of the
hock, and in a few instances running uj) along the tendons and muscles
of the back of the shank. Soon, however, unless the irritating causes
are continued and repeated, the oedema diminishes, and becoming
more defined in its external outlines, leaves the hock capped with a
hj^groma. The hygroma, at the very beginning of the trouble, con-
tains a bloody serosity which soon becomes strictly serum, but through
the influence of an acute inflammatory action is liable to undergo a
metamorphosis which converts it into the product of the suppurative
jjrocess.

The external appearance ought to be sufficient to determine the diag-
nosis, but there are a few signs which may contribute toward a nicer
identification of the lesion. The capped hock, whether under the
appearance of an acute oedematous swelling, or as a sero-bloody col-
lection, or as a simple serous cyst, does not give rise to any remark-
able local manifestation other than such as have already passed under
our survey in considering similar cases, nor will it be likely to inter-
fere with the functions which belong to the member in question, unless
it assumes verj^ large dimensions and on each side of the tendons, as
well as on the summit of the bone. But if the inflammation is quite
high, if suppuration is developing, if there is a true abscess, or —
and this is a common complication — especially when the kicking
or rubbing of the animal is frequently recurring, then, besides the
local trouble of the cyst or of the abscess, the bones become diseased
and the periosteum inflamed; perhaps the superior ends of the bone
and its fibro-cartilage become affected, and a simple lesion or bruise,
whatever it maj'' have been, becomes complicafcf^d with periostitis and
ostitis, and is naturally accompanied with lameness, developed in a
greater or less degree, which in some cases may be permanent and in
others increased b}^ work. But these complications are not conunon
or frequent.

Capped hocks are in manj" cases amenable to treatment, and yet
they often become the opprobrium of the practitioner by remaining,
as the}^ frequently do, an ej^esore on the top of the hock; not inter-
fering, it is true, with the work of the horse, but fixing upon him the
stigma of what, in human estimation, and especially in that of the
tribe of " practical politicians," is a most unreliable and objectionable
reputation, to-wit, that of being an habitual "kicker," and, worse than
all, one that kicks where he receives his provender.

The maxim that " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure "
fits the present case vcrj- neatly. A horse whose hocks have a some-
what puffy look and whose skin on the front of the hock is loose and
flabby, justly subjects himself to a suspicion of his addictedness to
this bad habit. But he may easily be cither convicted or exonerated —
a little watching will soon establish the truth. If, then, the verdict

361

is one of conviction, precautions sliould be immediately adopted
against a continuance of the evil. The padding of the sides of the
stall with straM" mats or mattresses and covering the posts Avith simi-
lar material in such a manner that no hard surface shall be exposed
^itli which to come in contact, will reduce the evil to its minimum.
He may jar his frame when he kicks, but even then there will be less
force in the concussion than if it impinged ujjon the solid jslank, and
cuts and abrasions can not be inflicted by a properly made cushion.
Hobbles are also rightly recommended with a view to the required
restraint of motion, so api)lied as to secure the leg with which the
kicking is j)erformed, or even both hind legs, in such a manner as shall
not interfere with the movements of lying down and rising again
and yet allowing that of kicking backwards. Boots similar in pat-
tern to those whicli are used for the prevention of shoe boil are also
prescribed. These are placed above the hock and retained by straps
tightly fastened. But we apprehend that the difficulty of retaining
them in the proper place without the danger of chafing from the
tightness of the strains might form an objection to their use. Xot-
withstanding all precautions, hocks will be capped in the future as in
the past, and the study of their treatment will alwaj's be in order.

The mode of dealing with them Avill of course be greatlj" influenced
by tlie condition of the parts. AVhen the inflammation is excessive
and the swelling large, hot, and painful to the touch, the application
of warm water will be verj^ beneficial. The leg should be well
fomented several times a daj^, for from fifteen to twenty minutes each
time, a strong decoction of marsh-mallow leaves being added to the
water, and after each application swathed with flannel bandages
soaked in the same warm mixture. A few days of this treatment will
usually effect a resolution of the inflammation, if not complete, at
least sufficiently so to disclose the correct outlines of the hygroma and
exhibit its peculiar and si^ecific s^^mptoms. The expediency of its
removal and the method of accomplishing it are then to be considered,
with the question of opening it to give exit to its contents. If the
fluid is of a purulent character the indication is in favor of its imme-
diate discharge — no time should be lost, and it should be by means of
a small opening made with a narrow bistoury. If, however, the fluid
is a serosity, we prefer to remove it by punctures with a very small
trochar. Our reason for special caution in these cases is our fear
of the possibility of the existence of diseased conditions of a severe
character in the pseudo joint. For the same reason we prefer the
treatment of those growths bj' external applications. In the first
stages of the disease a severe and stiff blister entirely covering the
cyst, ijerhaps not yet comi^letely formed, when tlie inflammation has
subsided will be of great benefit by its stimulating effect, the absorp-
tion it may excite, and the pressure which when dry it will maintain
51)61— HOR 12*

3G2

tiX^on the tumor. If, however, tlie tliickeniug of the growth fails to
diminish it should be treated with some of the iodine preparations in
the form of ointments, pure or in combination with X)otassa, mercury,
etc., of various strengths and in various proportions. Our opinion
of setons is not favorable, but the actual cautery, by deep and fine
firing, in jDoints — needle cauterization — we believe to be the best mode
of treatment, and especiall}^ when applied earlj-.

Whatever treatment may be adopted for capj)ed hock, patience
must be one of the ingredients. In these i)arts absorx^tion is slow and
the skin is very thick, and its return to a soft, pliable, natural condi-
tion, if effected at all, will only take place after weeks added to other
weeks of medical treatment and patient waiting.

Interfering — Speedy cuts. — These designations belong to certain spe-
cial injuries of the extremities, i)roduced b}' similar causes, giving I'ise
to kindred pathological lesions with allied XJhenomeua, requiring about
the same treatment and often followed by the same results, to-wit, a
blemish which maj" not only subject the animal to a suspicion of
unsoundness, but in some special circumstances interfere with his
ability to labor. It is known as ' ' interfering " when the location of
the trouble is the inside of the fetlock of either the fore or hind leg.
It is called "speed}' cut " when it occurs on the inside of the fore leg, a
little below tlie knee, at the point of contact of that joint Avith the
cannon.

It is always tlic result of a blow, self-inflicted, of varj'ing severity,
and giving rise to various lesions. At times the injury is too slight
to be seriously noticed, the hair being scarcely cut and the skin
unmarked. At other times the skin will be cut through, partly or
wiiolly, and it may for the time cause a sufficient amount of pain to
check the motion of the animal and induce him to suspend his labor
through his inability to use the wounded limb, traveling meanwhile
for a short space on three legs only. Sometimes a single blow will
suffice, or again there will be a repetition of lighter strokes. In the
latter case the parts will become much swollen, hot and so painful to
the touch that the motion of the knee or the fetlock will be sufficiently
disturbed to cause lameness of a degree of severity corresponding with
that of the lesion. Folio Aving the subsidence of this diffused and
oedematous swelling is sometimes the formation of a tumor, either at
the knee or the fetlock. This may be soft at first or become so by
degrees, with fluctuation, its contents being at first extravasated
blood, and later a serositj-; or, if there has been a sufficient degree of
inflammation, it may become suppurative. The result of the fault of
interfering may thus l)e exhibited, whether at the knee or at the fet-
lock, as characterized by all the pathological conditions Avhich have
appeared as accompaniments of capped knee or capped hock. If, in
consequence of the force of the blow or bloAVs, the inflammation has
been Tinusually scA'cre, a mortification of the skin may become one of

363

the consequences, a slough takiug place, succeeded b^- a cutaneous
ulcer on the inside of the fetlock or where the greater number of the
original wounds are inflicted. If the interfering has been often
relocated it may be followed by another condition, v%'hich has been con-
sidered in our remarks upon other affections. It is a plastic exuda-
tion or thickening of the parts, vrhich are commonlj' said to have
became " callous," and the effect of it is to destroy the regularity of
the outlines of the joint to an extent which constitutes a serious
blemish, which will bo permanent, and according to the degree of the
aberration from the natural aud symmetrical lines will inevitably
depreciate the commercial value of the animal.

An animal in interfering may thus exhibit a range of symptoms
which, from the simplest form of a mere "touching, "may successively
assume the serious characters of an ugly cicatrix, a hard, plastic
swelling, or perhaps, as witnessed at the knee, of periostitis with its
sequehe.

If a single and constantly recurring cause — a blow — Ijc the starting
point in interfering, Ave may now consider the subject of the iDredisi^o-
sition Avliich brings such serious results upon the suffering animal,
and the conditions which lead to and accompanj^ it. These are
numerous, but the first in frequency and importance is peculiarity of
conformation in the animals addicted to it. The first class will include
horses whose chests are narrow and whose legs do not stand straight
and upright, but ai-e crooked and pigeon-toed in and out. The second
class includes those A^hose legs are weak, either from youth or hard
labor, or from severe attacks of sickness. Another class is made up
of those having abnormallj^ developed feet, or which have been badly
shod mtli unnecessarily Avide or heavy shoes. Another class consists
of those that are affected with swollen fetlocks or chronic oedematous
swelling of the leg. Another is formed of animals with a peculiar
action, as those whose knee action is very high, and it is these that
furnish most of the cases of speedy cut.

The prognosis of interfering is never a very serious one. However
violent the blow may be it is rarelj" that subsequent comjblications of
a troublesome nature occur. The principal evil attending it is a lia-
bility to be followed by a thickened or callous deposit which is not
only an eyesore and a blemish, but constitutes a new and increased
predisposition. The remark that "an animal whieli has interfered
once is always liable to interfere," is often confirmed and sanctioned
bj' a recurrence of the trouble.

Another point in Avhich there is a resemblance between this lesion
and others Avliich we have considered is in its responsiveness to the
same treatment with them. Indeed, the prescrijition of warm fomen-
tations, soothing applications, and astringent and resolvent mixtures,
in a majority of eases, is the first that occurs all through tlie list. If
the swelling assumes the character of a serous collection, pressure.

364

cold water, and bandages will contribute to its removal. If suppuration
seems to be established, and the swelling assumes the character of
a develojiing abscess, the hot poultices of flaxseed or of boiled vege-
tables and the embrocations of supjiurative or sedative ointments,
those of basilicon, or propuleum, impregnated with preparations of
opium or belladonna — all these recommend themselves by their gen-
eral adaptation and the beneficial results which have followed their
administration, not less in one case than in another. When an abscess
has formed and is fluctuating, it should be carefully but fully opened
to evacuate the pus. If it is a serous cyst, some care is necessary in
emptying it, and the possibility of the extension of tlie inflammation
to the joint must be taken into consideration. \Vlien the cavities have
been emptied and have closed by filling up with granulations, or if,
not being ojiened, the contents have been reabsorbed, and there
remains in either case a plastic exudation and a tendency to the cal-
lous organization that may yet exist, blisters under their various
forms, including those of cantharides, of mercury, and of iodine are
then indicated, principally in the early stages, as it is then that their
effects ^^■ill i^rove most satisfactory. The use of the actual cautery,
with fine points, penetrating deeply througliout the enlargement, has
in our hands, when employed in the very early stages of its formation,
nearl}^ always brought on a radical recovery with complete absorj)tion
of the thickening.

StringhaU. — The characteristic symptom, if not in fact the sum of
the symptomatology of this disease, is the spasmodic flexion, more or
less violent, of the hock, sometimes to the extent of striking the abdo-
men with the fetlock of the affected leg, and at others only sufiicient
to lift it a few inches from the ground, but always with the same sud-
den, uncontrollable jerk. The habit is unaffected by the gait of the
animal, and whether trotting, walking, or merely turning around, it
is all the same. It does not seem to be influenced by the horse's age,
young and old being alike affected. Its first manifestations are some-
times very slight. It has been noticed as occurring to an animal when
backing out of his stable and ceasing immediately after. In some
animals it is best seen when the animal is turning around on the
affected leg, and is not noticed when he moves straight forward.
That this peculiar action interferes with facility of locomotion and
detracts from a horse's claim to soundness can not for a moment be
denied.

Veterinarians and joathologists are yet in doubt in respect to the
cause of this affection, as well as to its essential nature. Whether it
results from disease of the hock, of an ulcerative character; whether
it springs from a malformation; whether it is purely a muscular or
purely a nervous lesion, or a compound of both, it still continues, if
an etiologist is bound to possess universal knowledge witliin the scope
of his special studies, to be his opprobrium and his puzzle.

365

Various experiments in the line of treatment have been instituted,
but none have been crowned with satisfactory results. We incline to
the opinion that some undesignated disease of the hock is responsible
for it, and believe that in tlie present state of knowledge the best i)re-
scription that can be devised is the safe and economical one of rest, a
long rest in a i^asture, where unmolested nature shall be permitted to
bring about any necessary change that may be appropriate to the case.
Whatever other treatment it may be considered wise to undertake
must be of a widely different character, and must be determined upon
by those whose chosen and appropriate sphere is the domain of oj^er-
ative surgery.

Embolisms. — There are certain forms of lameness which are very
peculiar in their manifestation, and which to the non-professional mind
must appear to belong rather to the domain of mystery or theorj" than
to be subjects of experimental and definite knowledge. Yet they are
none the less susceptible of demonstration and positive knowledge
than manj^ facts which, plain and familiar to the general comprehen-
sion now, were once ranked among things occult and unsearchable.
An embolism, considered as a cause of lameness, may find a i)lace
among these understood mysteries.

Under certain peculiar conditions of inflammation of the blood ves-
sels, clots of blood are sometimes formed in the arteries and find their
way in the general circulation. At first, while very small, or suffi-
cientl}' so to pass from one vessel to another, they move from a small
vessel to a larger, and from that to one still larger, constantly increas-
ing in size until at some given point, from their inability to enter
smaller vessels, their movement is finally arrested. The artery is thus
effectually dammed, and the clot in a short time cuts off completely
the supply of blood from the parts beyond. This is the embolism, and
it often gives rise to sudden and excessive lameness of a very painful
character.

Embolisms may form in any of the arteries of the bodj', and doubt-
less have been the cause of many cases of lameness which could never
be accounted for. If they exist in small arteries their diagnosis will
probably fail to be made out with certainty, but when situated in the
larger trunks a strong suspicion of their presence may be excited. In
some cases they may even be recognized with positive accuracy, as
when the vessels Avhich supply the posterior extremities are affected
by the blocking up of the posterior aorta or its ramifications.

The existence of embolisms of the arteries of the hind leg may
always be suspected when the following history is known: The gen-
eral health of the animal is good, but symptoms of lameness in one
of the legs have been developed, becoming more marked as he is
worked, and especially when driven at a fast gait. But the disturb-
ance is not permanent, and the lameness disapi^ears. almost imme-
diately upon his being permitted to rest. There is an increase of the

366

difificulty, however, and, lliough ho ma}' walk uormallj-, he will, when
made to trot, very soon begin to slacken his pace and to show signs
of the trouble, and if urged to increase his speed will become lamer
and lamer; an abundant pers]3iration vdll break out; he will refuse
to go, and if forced he shows weakness behind; seems ready to fall,
and perhaps does fall. While on his feet the leg is kept in constant
motion, u^) and down, and is kejit from the ground as if the contact
vras too painful to bear. If undisturbed this series of symptoms will
graduall}' subside, sometimes very soon, and occasionally after a few
hours lie will return to an apparently x^erfect condition. A return to
labor will lead to a renewal of the same incidents.

A history like this suggests a strong suspicion of embolism of an
artery of the hind leg, and this suspicion will be confirmed by the
external sjnni^toms exhibited by the animal. The total absence of
any other disease which might account for the lameness, and a mani-
fest diminution of heat over a part or the whole of the extremity,
when compared with the opposite side or Avitli any other j^ortion of
tlie body; a sensation of cold attendant on the pain, but gradually
subsiding as the i)ain subsides, and the circulation, quickened bj^ the
rest, has been reestablished throughout the extremity; all these are
confirmatory circumstances. Still, it is thus far only a suspicion, and
absolute certainty is jet wanting. To establish the truth of the case
the rectal taxis must be resorted to. The hands then, well prepared
and carefulh" introduced into the rectum, must explore for the truth,
first feeling for the large blood vessels which, divided at the aorta,
separate to supx)ly the right and left legs. These must be compared
in respect to the j)ulsation and other particulars. The artery which is
health}^ will of course exhibit all the proper conditions of that state.
On the other hand, if the vessel appears to the feel hard, more or less
cordy, and jjulseless, or giving a sensation of fluttering, as of a small
A'olume of blood with a trickling motion i^assing through a confined
space, the difference betAveen the sides will make the case plain. The
first will be the full flow of the circulation through an unobstructed
channel, the other a forced passage of the fluid between the embolism
and the coats of the artery.

In such a case the jirognosis is necessarilj' a grave one. No form of
treatment can be advised; and the suffering of a helpless and useless
animal can onl}' bo terminated by that Avhicli ends all.

Cases occur, however, where this condition of the blood-vessels
exists in a much less degree, and the diseased condition is not suffi-
ciently' pronounced for final condemnation. There may oven be a
possibilitj^ of tlie absorption of the clot, and that an increase of the
circulation maj' be sufficient to supply' the parts with blood. In such
cases attempls may be made looking to the possibility of relief, and
the pasture, field, oi- the stable, and unmolested nature must be trusted
for the rest.

367

Sprains of the Joins. — This is an affection whicli suggests to the
mind the idea of muscular injury, and is difficult to distinguisli from
man}' similar eases. If the animal shrinks from the slightest pres-
sure or j)inching of the spine, in the region of the loins, he is by many
I)ronounced to be "lame in the loins," or "sprained in the loins," or
" weak in the kidneys." This is a grave error, as in fact this simiile
and gentle j'ielding to such a i3ressure is not a pathological sign, but
is normal and significant of health. Yet there are several conditions
to which the definition of " sprains of the loins " may applj' which are
not strictly normal. The muscles of the back and those of the loins
proi)er, as the psoas, may have been injured, or again there maj' be
trouble of a rheumatic nature, perhaps suggestive of lumbago.
Diseases of the bones of the vertebral column, or even those of the
organs of circulation, may giA'e rise to an exhibition of similar symp-
toms. These sj^miDtoms are characteristic of a loss of rigiditj* or firm-
ness of the vertebral column, both when the animal is at rest and in
action. In the former condition, or when at rest, there is an arched
condition of the back and a constrained posture in standing, with the
hind legs separated. In the latter there is a lateral, balancing move-
ment at the loins, i^rincipall}' noticeable while the animal is in the
act of ti'otting — a iDCCuliar motion, sometimes referred to as a "crick
in the back," or what the French call a '^tour de hafeau.'" If, while in
action, the animal is suddenly made to halt, the act is accompanied
with much j^ain, the back suddenly arching or bending laterally, and
perhaps the hind legs thrown under the bod 3', as if unable to perform
their functions in stopping, and sometimes it is only accomjilished at
the cost of a sudden and severe fall. This manifestation is also
exhibited when the animal is called upon to back, when a repetition
of the same symptoms will also occur.

If a slight i)ressure on the back or the loins is followed by a moder-
ate yielding of the animal, it is, as we before remarked, a good sign
of health. With a sprain of the loins j)ressure of anj- kind is i^aiuf ul,
and will cause the animal to bend or to crouch under it more or less,
according to the weight of the pressure. Heavy loads, and even
heavj' harnessing will develop this tenderness. In lying down he
seems to suffer much discomfort, and often accompanies the act with
groaning, and when compelled to rise does so only with great difficulty
and seldom succeeds without repeated efforts.

Sprains of muscles proper, when recent, will always be accompanied
by this series of symptoms, and the fact of their exhibition, with an
excessive sensibility of tlie parts, and possibly with a degree of swell-
ing, will always justifj^ a diagnosis of acute muscular lesion; and
especially so if accompanied by a history of violent efforts, powerful
muscular strains, falls, heavy loading, etc., connected Avith the case.
But if the symptoms have been of slow development and gradual
increase, it becomes a more difficult task to determine whether the

368

diagnosis points to ijathological changes in the structure of the
muscles or of the bones, the nervous centers, or the blood-vessels of
the region. And yet it is important to decide as to which particular
structure is affected in reference to the question of prognosis, since
the degree of the gravity of the lesion will depend largely upon
whether the disabled condition of the animal is due to an acute or a
chronic disease. The prescription which will necessarily first of all
suggest itself for sprains of the loins is rest. An animal so affected
should be immediately placed in slings and none of his efforts to
release himself should be allowed to succeed. Hot compresses, cold-
Avater douches, sweating applications, stimulating frictions, strength-
ening charges, blistering ointments of cantharides and the actual
cautery, all have their advocates; but in no case can the immobility
obtained by the slings be dispensed with. In many cases electricity
has also yielded good results, where the weakness of the hind quarters
was dependent on disease of the nervous centers.

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Haines, del Nos.!, 2 and .J Original. No '«. after Pern val . A Hoen sCo Lithocaustic. Baltimore

PLATE xxvrn.

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Haines, d«l after Revnders.

A.Hoen SrCo Lithocaustic.Bahjmore

'rHi<: si.ixcv i.v i:s)-:

DISEASES OF THE FETLOCK, ANKLE, AND FOOT.

By A. A. HOLCOMBE, D. V. S.

ANATOMICAL REVIEW OF THE FOOT.

In a description of the foot of the horse it is customaiy to inclnde
only the hoof and its contents, j^et, from a zoological standpoint, the
foot includes all the leg from the knee and the hock down.

The foot of the horse is undoubtedly the most important part of the
animal, in so far as veterinary surgery is concerned, for the reason
that this member is subject to so many injuries and diseases, which,
in part or in whole, render the patient unfit for the labor demanded
of him. The old aphorism, "no foot no horse," is as true to-day as
when first exj)ressed; in fact, domestication, coupled with the multi-
plied uses to which the animal is put, and the constant reproduction
of hereditary defects and tendencies, have largely transformed the
ancient "comj)ani(jn of the wind" into a very common piece of
machinery AA^hich is often out of repair, and, at best, is but short-lived
in its usefulness.

Since the value of the horse depends largely, or even entirely, upon
his abilit}' to labor, it is essential that his organs of locomotion should
be kept sound; and to accomplish this end it is necessary not only to
know how to cure all diseases to which these organs are liable, but,
better still, how to i^revent them.

An important prerequisite to the detection and cure of disease is a
knowledge of the construction and function of the parts which may be
involved in the diseased process; hence, first of all, the anatomical
structures must be understood.

The hones of the fetlock and foot constitute, the skeleton on which
the other structures are built, and comprise the lower end of the can-
non bone (the metacari^us in the fore leg, the metatarsus in the hind
leg), the two sesamoids, the large pastern or suffraginis, the small i^as-
tern or coronet, the cofl&n bone or os pedis, and the small sesamoid or

navicular bone. (Plate XXXII, Fig. 3.)

369

370

The cannon hone extends from tlie knee or liock to tlie fetlock is
cylindrical in shape, and stands nearly or quite perpendicular.

The sesamoids occur in pairs, are small, shaped like a three-faced
pyramid, and are set behind the fetlock joint, at the upper end of the
suffraginis, with the base of the pyramid down.

The suffraginis is a very compact bone, set in an oblique direction
doAvnward and forward, and extends from the cannon bone to the
coronet.

The coronet is a short, cube-shaped bone, set between the suffraginis
and cof&n bone, in the same oblique direction.

The coffin, hone forms the end of the foot and is shaped like the
horny box in which it is enclosed.

The navicular hone is short, flattened above and below, and is
attached to the coffin bone behind.

All of these bones are covered on the surfaces with a cartilage of
incrustation which goes to make up the joints, while the portions
between are covered with a fibrous membrane called the periosteum.

The joints of the legs are of especial importance, since any inter-
ference Avith their function very largely impairs the value of the
animal for most purposes. As the joints of the foot and ankle are at
the point of greatest concussion they are the ones most subject to
injury and disease.

There are three of these joints— the fetlock, pastern, and coflin.
They are made by the union of two or more bones, held together by
ligaments of fibrous tissue, and are lubricated by a thick viscid
fluid, called synovia, which is secreted by a special membrane inclos-
ing the joints.

The fetlock joint is made by the union of the lower end of the
cannon and the upper end of the large pastern bones, supplemented
by the two sesamoids, so placed behind the upper end of the pastern
that the joint is capable of a very extensive motion. These bones
are held together by ligaments, only one of which— the suspensory-
demands special mention.

The suspensory ligament of the fetlock starts from the knee,
extends down behind the cannon, Ij^ng behind the two splint bones,
until near the fetlock, where it divides and sends a branch on either
side of the joint, downward and forward, to become attached on the
sides of the extensor tendon at the lower end of the pastern bone.
As it crosses the sesamoids on the posterior borders of the fetlock it
throws out fibers, whieli hold it fast to these bones. (Plate XXXII,
Fig. 2.)

Th.^ pastern joint is made by the union of the two pastern bones.

The coffin joint is made by the union of the small pastern, coffin,
and small sesamoid or navicular bones, the latter being set behind
and beneath the joint surface of the coflin bone in such a way as to
largely receive the weight of the small pastern.

371

Three tendons serve to move the bones of the foot one on another.
Two of these flex or bend the joints, while the other extends or
straightens the column of bones. (Plate XXX, Fig. 5.)

The flexor pedis perforans^ or deep flexor of the foot, x)asses down
behind the cannon bone, lying against the suspensory ligament in
front, crosses the fetlock joint in the groove made by the union of
the two sesamoids, and is attached to the bottom of the coffin bone,
after covering the navicular, by a wide expansion of its fibers. It is
the function of this tendon to flex the coffin bone and with it the
horny box.

The flexor pedis perforatus, or superficial flexor of the foot, follows
the course of the preceding tendon and is attached to the middle of
the ankle. Tlio function of this tendon is to flex the foot at the fetlock.

The extensor pedis runs down in front of the leg, is attached on
the most i)rominent i)oint of the coffin bone, and has for function the
straightening of the bones of the ankle and foot.

The bones, ligaments, and tendons are covered by a loose connect-
ive tissue, which gives a symmetry to the i^arts by filling up and
rounding off, and all are protected by the skin and hoof.

The shin of the fetlock and ankle is generally characterized by its
thickness and the length of its hairs, especially around the hind j)arts
of the fetlock joint in certain breeds of horses. The most important
part of this envelope is that known as the coronary band.

The coronarij hand is th^t i^ortion of the skin which secretes the
horn by which the wall 9£ the hoof is made. This horn much resem-
bles tlie nail wliich grows on the fingers and toes of man. It is com-
posed of hollow, cylindrical tubes, extending from the coronary band
to the lower border of the hoof, which are held together by a tenacious
opaque matter. (Plate XXIX, Fig. 1.)

The hoof is a box of horn, consisting of a wall, sole, and frog, and
contains, besides the coffin, navicular and jinvt of the small ]3astern
bones, the sensitive lamina?, plantar cushion and the lateral cartilages.
(Plate XXX, Fig. 4.)

The sole of the foot incloses the box on the ground surface, is shaped
like the cii-cumference of the foot, except that a V-shaped opening is
left behind for the reception of the frog, and is concave on the lower
surface. The sole is produced by the velvety tissue, a thin mem-
brane covering the plantar cushion and other soft tissues beneath
the coffin bone. The horn of the sole differs from the horn of the wall,
in that its tubes are not straight, and from the fact that it scales off
in j)ieces over the whole surface.

The frog is a triangular shajjed body, divided into two equal parts
by a deep fissure, extending from its apex in front to the base. It
fills the triangular space in the sole to Avhich it is intimately attached
by its borders. The horn of the frog is i^roduced in the same manner
as the sole, but it differs from both the wall and sole, in that the liorn

372

is soft, moist, and elastic to a remarkable degree. It is the function
of the frog to destroy shock and to prevent slipping.

The sensitive lamince, are thin plates of soft tissue, covering the
entire anterior surface of the coffin bone. They are present in great
numbers, and by fitting into corresponding grooves on the inner
surface of the horn of the wall the union of the soft and horny tissues
is made complete. (Plate XXIX, Fig. 1.)

The planiar cushion is a thick pad of fibrous tissue, placed behind
and under the navicular and coffin bones, and resting on tlie sole and
frog, for the i^urpose of receiving the downward i^ressure of the column
of bones and to destroy shock. (Plate XXIX, Fig. 4.)

The lateral cartilages are attached, one on either side, to the wings
of the coffin bone b}' their inferior borders. They are thin plates of
fibro-cartilage, and their function is to assist the frog and adjacent
structures to regain their proper position after having been displaced
by the weight of the body while the foot rested on the ground. (Plate
XXIX, Fig. 2.)

FAULTS OF CONFORMATION.

A large percentage of the horses have feet which are not perfect in
conformation, and as a consequence of these imperfections they are
especially predisposed to certain injuries and diseases.

Flat feet is that condition in which the sole has little or no con-
vexity. It is a peculiarity common to some breeds, especially heav^%
l3^mi)hatic animals raised on low, marshy soils. It is confined to the
forefeet, which are generally broad, low heeled, and with a wall less
upright than is seen in the perfect foot.

In flat-foot there can be little or no elasticity in the sole, for the
reason that it has no arch, and the weight of the animal is received
on the entire plantar surface as it rests upon the ground instead of on
the wall. For these reasons such feet are i^articularly liable to bruises
of the sole, corns, pumiced sole, and excessive suppuration Avhen the
process is once establislied. Horses with flat-foot should be shod
with a shoe having a wide web, pressing on the wall only, while the
heels and frog are never to be pared. Flat-foot generally has weak
walls, and as a consequence the nails of the shoe are readily loosened
and the shoe cast.

Clubfoot is a term applied to such feet as have the wall set nearly
perpendicular. When this condition is present the heels are high,
the fetlock joint is thrown forward, or knuckles, and the weight of
the animal is received on the toes. Many mules are clubfooted,
especially behind, where it seems to cause little or no inconvenience.
Clubfoot may be cured by cutting the tendons in severe cases, but as
a rule special shoeing is the only measure of relief that can be adopted.
The toe should not be pared, but the heels are to be lowered as much
as possible, and a shoe put on with a long projecting toe piece, slightly
turned up, wliilc the heels of the shoe are to be made thin.

373

Crooked foot is that condition in which one side of the wall is higher
than the other. If the inside wall is the higher, the ankle is thrown
outward, so that the fetlock joints are abnormally wide apart and the
toes close together. Animals with this deformity are "pigeon-toed,"
and are prone to interfere, the inside toe striking the opposite fetlock.
If but one foot is affected, the other being jjerfect, the liability to
interfere is still greater, for the reason that the fetlock of the perfect
leg is more near the center plane.

When the outside heel is the higher the ankle is thrown in and the
toe turns out. Horses with such feet interfere with the heel. If but
one foot is so affected, the liability to interfere is less than where
both feet are affected, for the reason that the ankle of the perfect leg
is not so near to the center line. Such animals are especially liable
to stumbling and to lameness from injury to the ligaments of the
fetlock joints. The deformity is to be overcome by such shoeing as
will equalize the disparity in length of walls, and by proi)er boots to
protect the fetlocks from interfering.

INTERFERING.

An animal is said to interfere when one foot strikes the opposite leg,
as it passes by, during locomotion. The inner surface of the fetlock
joint is the part most subject to this injurj^ although, under certain
conditions, it ma}" happen to anj' part of the ankle. It is seen more
often in the hind than in the fore legs. Interfering causes a bruise of
the skin and deeper tissues, generally accompanied by an abrasion
of the surface. It may cause lameness, dangerous tripping, and
thickening of the injured parts.

Cmises. — Faulty conformation is the most prolific cause of interfer-
ing. When the bones of the leg are so united that the toe of the foot
turns in (pigeon-toed), or when the fetlock joints are close together
and the toQ turns out, when the leg is so deformed that the whole foot
and ankle turn either in or out, interfering is almost sure to folloAv.
It may happen, also, when the feet grow too long ; from defective shoe-
ing; rough or slippery roads; from the exliaustion of labor or sick-
ness; swelling of the leg; high knee action; fast work, and because
the chest or hips are too narrow.

Sympfoms. — Generally, the evidences of interfering are easily
detected, for the parts are tender, swollen, and the skin broken.
But very often, especially in trotters, the flat surface of the hoof
strikes the fetlock Avithout evident injury, and attention is directed
to these parts onh^ by the occasional trif)ping and unsteady gait. In
such cases proof of the cause may be had by walking and trotting the
animal, after first painting the inside toe and quarter of the suspected
foot with a thin coating of chalk, charcoal, mud, or paint.

Treatment. — When the trouble is due to deformity or faulty confor-
mation it may not be possible to overcome the defect.

374

In sueli cases, and as well in those due to exhaustion or fatigue, the
fetlock or ankle boot must be used. In manj- instances interfering
may be prevented by proper shoeing. The outside heel and quarter
of the foot on the injured leg should be lowered sufficiently to change
the relative i)osition of the fetlock joint, by bringing it further awaj^
from the center plane of the bodj^, therebj' x)ermitting the other foot
to pass 1)3' without striking.

A very slight change is often sufficient to effect this result. At the
same time the offending foot should be shod, that the shoe may set
well nnder the hoof at the point responsible for the injury. The shoe
should be reset every three or four weeks.

When the cause has been removed cold water bandages to the
injured x^arts will soon remove the soreness and swelling, especially
in recent cases. If, however, the fetlock has become calloused from
long-continued bruising, a Spanish fly blister over the parts, repeated
in two or three weeks' time if necessary, will aid in reducing the leg
to its natural condition.

KNUCKLIXG OR COCKED AXKLES.

Knuckling is a partial dislocation of the fetlock joint, in which tlie
relatiA'e j)osition of the i^astern bone to the cannon and coronet bones
is changed, the pastern becoming more nearly j^erpendicular, with
the lower end of the cannon bone resting behind the center line of the
suft'raginis, while the lower end of this bone rests behind the center
line of the coronet. While knuckling is not always an unsound-
ness, it nevertheless predisjjoses to stumbling and to fracture of the
pastern.

Causes. — Young foals are quite subject to this condition, but in the
great majoritj^ of cases it is onlj^ temporary. It is largely due to
the fact that, before birth, the legs were flexed,; and time is required,
after birth, for the ligaments, tendons, and muscles to adapt them-
selves to the function of sustaining the weight of the body.

Horses vdth erect pasterns are very prone to knuckle as they grow
old, especially in the hind legs. All kinds of heavy Avork, particu-
larl}' in hillj^ districts, and fast work on hard race-tracks or roads are
exciting causes of knuckling. It is also commonly seen as an accom-
jianiment to that faulty conformation called club-foot, in which the
toe of the wall is perpendicular and short and the heels high, a condi-
tion most often seen in the mule, especially the hind feet.

Lastly, knuckling is produced by disease of the suspensory ligament,
or of the flexor tendons, wherebj' the}' are shortened, and by disease
of the fetlock joints.

Treatment. — In young foals no treatment is necessary, unless there
is some deformity present, since the legs straighten up without inter-
ference in the course of a few weeks' time. When knuckling has com-
menced the indications are to relieve the tendons and ligaments by

375

proper shoeing. The foot is to be prepared for tlie shoe by shortening
the toe as mucli as jjossible, leaving the heels high; or if the foot is
prepared in the usual \vay the shoe should be thin in front, with thick
heels or high calks. For the hind feet a long-heeled shoe with calks
seems to do best. Of course, >Yhen i^ossible, the causes of knuckling
are to be removed, but since this can not always be done, the time ma}^
come when the patient can no longer perform any service, ijarticularlj'
in those cases where both forelegs are affected, and it becomes neces-
sary either to destroj" the animal or secure relief by surgical inter-
ference. In such cases the tendons, between the fetlock and knee,
may be divided for the purj)ose of securing temporary relief. Firing
and blistering the parts responsible for the knuckling maj^, in some
instances effect a cure ; but a consideration of these measures properlj'^
belongs to the treatment of the diseases in which knuckling simply
appears as a sequel.

WIXD-GALLS.

Joints and tendons are furnished with sacs containing a lubricating
fluid called synovia. When these sacs are overdistended, by reason
of an excessive secretion of synovia, thej^are called wind-galls. Thej^
form a soft, puffy tumor about the siz« of a hickorj'^ nut, and are most
often found in the foreleg, at the upper part of the fetlock joint,
between the tendon and the shin-bone. When they develoj) in the
hind leg it is not unusual to see them reach the size of a walnut.
Occasionallj^ they appear in front of the fetlock on the border of the
tendon. The majority of the horses are not subject to them after colt-
hood is passed.

Causes. — Wind-galls are often seen in young, overgrown horses,
where the body seems to have outgrown the ability of the joints to sus-
tain the weight. In cart and other horses used to hard work, in trot-
ters with excessive knee action, in hurdle racers and hunters, and in
most cow-ponies there is a predisposition to wind-galls. Street-car
horses and others used to start heavy loads on slippery streets are the
ones most apt to develop wind-galls in the hind legs.

Symptoms. — The tumor is more or less firm and tense when the foot
is on the ground, but is soft and compressible when the foot is off the
ground. In old horses wind-galls generallj" develop slowly and cause
no inconvenience. If they are caused by excessive tension of the joint
the tumor develops rapidly, is tense, hot, and painful, and the animal
is exceedingly lame. The patient stands ^^'iththe joint flexed, Avalks
with short steps, the toe only being placed on the ground. When the
tumor is large and situated upon the inside of the legit may be injured
by interfering, causing stumbling and inflammation of the sac. Rest
generally causes the tumor to diminish in size, only to All up again
after renewed labor. In old cases the tumors arc hardened, and may
become converted into bono by a deposit of the lime salts.

376

Treatment — The large, puffy joints of suckling colts, as a rule,
require no treatment, for as the animal grows older the parts clean
up, and after a time the swelling entirely disappears.

When the trouble is due to an injurj^ entire rest is to be secured
by the use of slings and a high-heeled shoe. Cold water douches
should be used once or twice a day, followed by cold water bandages,
until the fever has subsided and the soreness is largely removed,
when a blister is to be applied.

In old wind-galls, which cause more or less stiffness, some relief may
be had by the use of cold compress bandages, elastic boots, or the
red iodide of mercury blisters. Opening the sacs, as recommended
by some authors, is of doubtful utility, and should onlj^ be adopted by
the surgeon capable of treating the wound he has made. Enforced
rest until complete recovery is effected should alwaj^s be insisted on,
as a too early return to work is sure to be followed by a relapse.

SPRAIN OF THE FETLOCK.

Sprain of the fetlock joint is most common in the fore legs, and as
a rule affects but one at a time. Horses doing fast work, as trotters,
runners, steeple-chasers, hunters, cow-ponies, and those that interfere,
are particularly liable to this injury.

Causes. — Horses knuckling at the fetlock, and all those with dis-
eases which imi^air the powers of locomotion, such as navicular
disease, contracted heels, side bones, chronic laminitis, etc., are pre-
disposed to sprains of the fetlock. It generally happens from a mis-
stej), stumbling, or slipping, which results in the joint being extended
or flexed to excess. The same result may happen where the foot is
caught in a rut, hole in a bridge, or in a car track, and the animal
falls or struggles violently. Direct blows and punctured wounds may
also set up inflamnlation of the joint.

Symptoms. — The symptoms of sprain of the fetlock vary with the
severit}'^ of the injury. If slight there may be no lameness, but simply
a little soreness, especially when the foot strikes on uneven ground, and
the joint is twisted a little. In cases more severe the joint swells, is hot
and puffj^, and the lameness may be so intense as to compel the animal
to hobble on three legs. While at rest the leg is flexed at the joint
affected, and the toe rests on the ground.

Treatment. — If the injury is slight, cold-water bandages and a few
days' rest are sufficient to effect recovery. In cases where there is
intense lameness, swelling, etc., the leg should be ijlaced under a con-
stant stream of cold water, as described in the treatment for quittor.
When the inflammation has subsided a blister to the joint should be
applied.

In some cases, especially in old horses long accustomed to fast work,
the ligaments of the joints are ruptured, in whole or in part, and the
lameness may last a long time. In these cases the joint should be

377

kept completely at rest; and tliis condition is best secured by the
application of the plaster of Paris bandages, as in cases of fracture.
As a rule, patients take kindly to this bandage, and may be given the
freedom of a roomy box or yard while wearing it. If they are dis-
posed to tear it off, or if sufficient rest can not otherwise be secured,
the patient must be kept in slings.

In the majority of instances the jilavSter bandage should remain on
from two to four weeks. If the lameness returns when the bandage
is removed, a new one should be i)ut on. The swelling, which alwaj^s
remains after the other evidences of the disease liave disappeared,
may be largely dissipated and the joint strengthened by the use of
the firing iron and blisters.

A joint once injured by a severe sj^rain never entire!}^ regains its
original strength, and is ever after particularly liable to a repetition
of the injury.

RUPTURE OF THE SUSPENSORY LIGAMENT.

Sprain, with or without rupture, of the sii.spensory ligament may
happen in both the fore and hind legs, and is occasionally seen in
horses of all classes and at all ages. Old animals, however, and
especially hunters, runners, and trotters, are the most subject to this
injury, and with these classes the seat of the trouble is nearly always
in one, or both, the fore legs. Horses used for heavy draught are
more liable to have the ligament of the hind legs affected.

AVhen the strain upon the suspensory ligament becomes too great
one or both of the branches may be torn from their attachments to the
sesamoid bones, one or both of the branches may be torn completely
across, or the ligament may ruiJture above the point of division.

Synqjtoms. — The most common injury to the suspensory ligament
is sprain of the internal branch in one of the fore legs. The trouble
is proclaimed by lameness, heat, swelling and tenderness of the
affected branch, beginning just above the sesamoid bone and extend-
ing obliquely downward and forward to the front of the ankle. If
the whole ligament is involved the swelling comes on gradually, and
is found above the fetlock and in front of the flexor tendons. The
patient stands or walks upon the toe as much as possible, keeping
fetlock joint flexed so as to relieve the ligament of tension.

When both branches are torn from their attachments to the sesa-
moids, or both are torn across, the lameness comes on suddenly and
is most intense; the fetlock descends, the toe turns up, and, as the
aninuil attempts to walk, the leg has the appearance of being broken
off at the fetlock. These symptoms, followed by heat, pain, and
swelling of the parts at the point of injury, will enable anyone to
make a diagnosis.

Treatment. — Sprain of the suspensory ligament, no matter how mild
it may be, should always be treated by enforced rest of at least a

378

month, and tlie application of cold donclies and cold water bandages,
firmly applied nutil the fever has subsided, when a cantharides blis-
ter should be put on and repeated in two or three weeks' time, if
necessary. When rupture has taken place the patient should be
ljut in slings, and a constant stream of cold water allo\ved to trickle
over the seat of injur}^ until tlie fever is reduced. In the course of a
week or ten days' time a plaster of paris splint, such as is used in frac-
tures, is to be applied and left on for a month or six weeks. When
this is taken off blisters may be used to remove the remaining sore-
ness; but it is useless to expect a removal of all the thickening, for in
the process of repair new tissue has been formed which will always
remain.

In old cases of sprain tlie firing iron may often be used with good
results. As a rule, severe injuries to the suspensory ligament inca-
jjacitato tlie subject for anything but slow, light work.

OVERREACH.

An overreach is where the shoe of the hind foot strikes and injures
the heel or quarter of the fore foot. It rarely happens except when
the animal is going fast, hence is most common in trotting and run-
ning horses. In trotters the accident generally happens when the
animal breaks from a trot to a run. The outside heels and quarters
are most liable to the injur}^

Symptoms. — The coronet at the heel or quarter is bruised or cut, the
injuiy in some instances involving the horn as well. Where the hind
foot strikes well back on tlie heel of the fore foot — an accident known
among horsemen as "grabbing" — the shoe may be torn from the
fore foot or the animal may fall to his knees. Horses accustomed to
overreaching are often "bad l)reakers," for the reason that the pain
of the injury so excites them tliat tliey can not readily be brought back
to the trotting gait.

Treatmenf. — If the injury is but a slight bruise cold water bandages
applied for a few days will remove all of the soreness. If the parts
are deeply cut more or less suppuration will follow, and, as a rule, it
is well to poultice the parts for a da}^ or two, after which cold baths
may be used, or the Avounds dressed with tincture of aloes, oakum,
and a roller bandage.

When an animal is known to be subject to overreaching he should
nevfer be driven fast without quarter-boots, which are specially made
for the i)rotcction of the heels and quarters.

If tliere is a disposition to "grab "the forward shoes the trouble
may be remedied by having the heels of these shoes made as short as
possible, while the toe of the hind foot should project well over the
hind shoo. When circumstances will permit of their use, the fore feet
may be shod witli the tii)S instead of the common shoe, as described
in llio treatment for contracted heels.

379

CALK AVOUNDS.

Horses wearing shoes with sharp calks are liable to wounds of the
coronary region, either from tramping on themselves, or on each
other. These injuries are most common in heavy draught horses,
especially on rough roads and slippery streets. The fore feet are
more liable than the hind ones, and the seat of injury is commonly on
the quarters. In the hind feet the wound often results from the ani-
mal resting with the heel of one foot set directly over the front of the
other. In these cases the injury is generally close to the horn, and
often involves the coronary band, the sensitive laminae, the extensor
tendon, and even the coffin bone.

Treatment. — Preventive measures would include the use of boots to
I)rotect the coronet of the hind foot and the use of a blunt calk on
the outside heel of the fore shoe, since this is generally the offending
instrument where the fore feet are injured. If the wound is not deep
and the soreness slight, cold-water bandages and a light protective
dressing, such as carbolized cosmoline, will be all that is needed.
Where the injury is deep, followed by inflammation and suppuration
of the coronarj" band, lateral cartilages, sensitive lamina?, etc., active
measures must be resorted to. In these cases cold, astringent baths,
made by adding two ounces of sulphate of iron to a gallon of water,
should be used, followed l)y jDoultices if it is necessary to hasten the
cleansing of the wound by stimulating the sloughing process. Where
the wound is deep between the horn and skin, especiall}^ over the
anterior tendon, the horn should be cut away so that the injured
tissues may be exposed. The subsecjuent treatment in these cases
should follow the directions laid down in the article on toe-cracks.

FROST BITES.

Excepting the ears, the feet and legs are about the only parts of the
horse liable to become frost bitten. The cases most commonly seen
are found in cities, especially among car horses, where salt is used
for the purpose of melting the snow on curves and switches. This
mixture of snow and salt is splashed over the feet and legs, rapidly
lowering the temperature of the parts to the freezing point. In
mountainous districts Avhere the snowfall is heavy and the cold often
intense, frost bites are not uncommon even among animals running
at large.

Symptoms. — AVhen the frosting is slight the skin becomes pale
and bloodless, followed soon after b}' intense redness, heat, pain, and
swelling. lu these cases the hair may fall out and the epidermis peel
off, but the inflammation soon subsides, the swelling disappears, and
only an increased sensitiveness to cold remains. -

In cases more severe, irregular patches of skin are destroyed, and
after a few days' time slough away, leaving slow-healing ulcers behind.

380

In tlio eases j)rodiieed by low temperatures and deep snoAvthe coronary
l)and is the j>art most often affected.

In many instances there is no destruction of the skin, but simply a
temporary suspension of the horn-producing function of the coronary
band. The fore feet are more often affected than the hind ones, and
for some reason the heels and quarters are less often involved than
the front part of the foot. The coronarj^ band becomes hot, swollen
and painful, and after two or three days' time the horn separates from
the band and slight suppuration follows. For a few days the animal
is lame, but as the suppuration disappears the lameness subsides;
new horn, often of an inferior quality, is produced by the coronary
band, and in time the cleft is grown off and complete recover^'' is
effected. The frog is occasionally frost bitten and may slough off,
exposing the soft tissues beneath and causing severe lameness for a
time.

Treatment. — Simple frost bites are best treated by cold fomentations
followed by applications of a 5 per cent solution of carbolized oil.
When i)ortions of the skin are destroyed their early sejDaration should
be hastened by warm fomentations and x)onltices. Ulcers are to be
treated by the apx)lication of stimulating dressings such as carbolized
oil, a 1 per cent, solution of nitrate of silver or of chloride of zinc, with
pads of oakum and flannel bandages. In many of these cases recovery
is exceedingly slow. The new tissue hy which the destroyed skin is
rei:»laced always shrinks in healing, and as a consequence unsightlj^
scars are unavoidable. Where the coronary band is involved it is
generally advisable to blister the coronet over tlie seat of injury as soon
as the suppuration ceases, for the purpose of stimulating the growth
of nevr horn. Where a crevasse is formed between the old and new
horn, no serious trouble is likely to be met with until the cleft is
nearly grown out, when the soft tissues may be exposed by a break-
ing off of the partly detached horn.

But even where this accident happens final recovery is secured by
poulticing the foot until a sufficient growth of horn protects the part
from injur}'.

(^UITTOR.

Quittor is a term applied to various affections of the foot wherein
the tissues which are involved undergo a j)rocess of degeneration that
results in the formation of a slough, followed by the elimination
of the diseased structures by means of a more or less extensive
suppuration.

For convenience of consideration quittors may be divided into four
classes, as suggested by Girard: (1) Cutaneous quittor, which is
known also as simple quittor, skin quittor, and carbuncle of the coro-
net; (2) tendinous quittor; (;3) subhorny quittor; and (4) cartilagi-
nous (piittor.

381

CUTANEOUS (^UITTOR.

Simple quittor cousists iu a local inflaiumatiou of the skin and of the
subcutaneous connective tissue on some part of the coronet, followed
by a slougli and the formation of an ulcer, whi(!li heals by suppuration.

It is an extremely painful disease, owing to the dense character of
the tissues involved; for, in all dense structures, the swelling, which
accompanies inflammation, always produces intense i)ressure. This
pressure not only adds to the patient's suffering, but may, at the same
time, endanger the life of the affected parts by strangulating the blood
vessels, which alone constitute the means whereby a nutritive supply
is constantly maintained. It is held by some writers on the subject
that simple quittor is most often met with in the hind feet, but in the
author's experience more than two-thirds of the cases have developed
in the fore feet. While any part of the coronet may become the seat
of attack, the heels and quarters are undoubtedly most liable.

Causes. — Bruises and other wounds of the coronet are often the
cause of cutaneous quittor, yet there can be no question but that in
the great majority of these cases the disease develops without any
known cause. For some reason, not yet satisfactorily explained, most
cases happen in the fall of the year. One explanation of this fact has
been attempted in the statement that the disease is due to the injurious
action of cold and mud. This claim, however, seems to lose force
when it is remembered that in many parts of this country the most
mud, accompanied by freezing and thawing weather, is seen in the
early springtime without a corresponding increase of quittor. Fur-
thermore, the serious outbreaks of this disease in the mountainous
regions of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are seen in the fall and
winter seasons, when the weather is the driest. It may be claimed,
and perhaps with justice, that during these seasons, when the water
is low, animals are compelled to wade through more mud to drink
from lakes and pools than is necessar}^ at other seasons of the year,
when these lakes and pools are full. Add to these conditions the
further fact that much of this mud is impregnated with alkaline salts,
which, like the mineral substances always found in the mud of cities,
are more or less irritating, and it seems fair to conclude that under
certain circumstances mud may become an important factor in the
production of quittor.*

*A recent outbreak of quittor near Cheyenne, Wyo., which came under the
author's observation, was caused by the mud through which the horses had to
wade to reach the watering troughs. These troughs were furnished ^vith water
by windmills, and the mud-holes were caused by the waste water. More than
fifty cases developed inside of two months' time, or during September and October.
Among these fifty cases all forms of the disease and all possible complications
were presented. During the rainy season at Leadvilie, Colo. , outbreaks of quittor
are common, and the disease is so virulent that it has long been known as the
' ' Leadvilie foot-rot. " The soil being rich in mineral matters is no doubt the cause
of the outbreaks. In the city of Montreal quittor is said to be very common in the
early springtime, when the streets are muddy from the melting of the snow and ice.

382

"While this disease at times attacks an^' and all classes of liorses, it
is the large, coinmon breeds, with thick skins, heavy coats, and coarse
legs that are most often affected. Horses well groomed and cared
for in stables seem to be less liable to the disease than those run-
ning at large or than those which are kept and worked under adverse
circumstances.

Symptoms. — Lameness, lasting from one to three or four days,
nearly always x)recedes the development of the strictly local evidences
of quittor. The next sign is the appearance of a small, tense, hot, and
painful tumor in the skin of the coronary region. If the skin of the
affected foot is white the inflamed portion will present a dark red or
even a purplish appearance near the center. Within a few hours'
time the ankle, or even the whole leg as high as the knee or hock,
becomes much swollen. The lameness is now so great that the patient
refuses to use the foot at all, but carries it in the air if comiDelled to
move. As a consequence the opposite leg is required to do the work
of both, and if the animal persists in standing a greater part of the
time it, too, becomes swollen. In many of these cases the suffering
is so intense during the first fcAv days as to cause general fever, dull-
ness, loss of appetite, and increased thirst. Generally the tumor shows
signs of suppuration within from forty-eight to seventy-two hours
after its first appearance; the summit softens, a fluctuating fluid is
felt beneath the skin, which soon ulcerates completely through, caus-
ing the discharge of a thick, yellow, bloody pus, containing shreds of
dead tissue which have sloughed away. The sore is now converted
into an open Ulcer, generally deep, nearly or quite circular in outline,
and with hardened base and edges. In exceptional cases large patclies
of skin, varying from 1 to 2^ inches in diameter, slough away at once,
leaving an ugly superficial ulcer. These sores, especially when deep,
suppurate freely; if there are no complications the}^ tend to heal
rapidly as soon as the degenerated, tissue has softened and is entirely
removed. When suppuration is fully established the lameness and
general symptoms subside. Where but a single tumor and abscess
form the disease progresses rapidlj', and recovery, under proper treat-
ment, may be effected in from two to three weeks' time; but when two
or more tumors are developed at once or where the formation of one
tumor is rapidly succeeded by another for an indefinite time the suf-
ferings of the patient are greatly increased, the case is more difficult
to treat, and recovery is more slow and less certain.

Tliis form of quittor is often complicated with the tendinous and
subhorny quittors by an extension of the sloughing process.

Treatment. — The first step in the treatment of an outbreak of quittor
should be the removal of all exciting causes. Crowding animals into
small corrals and stables, where injuries to the coronet are likely to
happen from tramping, especially among unbroken range horses, must
be avoided as much as possible.

383

Watering places, accessible without having to wade through mud,
are to be supplied. In toAvns, where the mud or dust is largely impreg-
nated with mineral products, it is not possible to adopt complete pro-
phylactic measures. ' Much can be done, however, by careful cleansing
of the feet and legs as soon as the animal returns from work. Warm
water should be used to remove the mud and dirt, after which the
parts are to be thoroughly dried with soft cloths.

The means which are to be adopted for the cure of cutaneous quittor
vary with the stage of the disease at the time the case is presented for
treatment. If the case is seen early, that is, before any of the signs
of suppuration have developed, the affected foot is to be placed under
a constant stream of cold Avater, with the object of arresting a further
extension of the inflammatory process. To accomplish this put the
patient in slings in a narrow stall havinga slat or open floor. Bandage
the foot and leg to the knee or hock, as the case may be, with flannel
bandages loosely applied. Set a tub or barrel filled with cold water
above the patient and by the use of a small rubber hose of sufficient
length make a siphon which will carry the water from the bottom of
the tub to the leg at the top of the bandages. The stream of water
should be quite small, audit is to be continned until the inflammation
has entirely subsided or until the presence of pus can be detected in
the tumor. When suppuration has commenced the process should be
aided by the use of warm baths and poultices of linseed meal or boiled
turnips. If the tumor is of rapid growth, accompanied by intense
pain, relief is secured and sloughing largely limited by a free incision
of the parts. The incision should be vertical and deep into the tumor,
care being taken not to entirely divide the coronarj- band. If the
tumor is large more than one incision may be necessar3\

The foot should now be placed in a warm bath for half an hour or
longer and then poulticed. The hemorrhage produced by the cutting
and encouraged by the Avarm bath is generally very copious and soon
gives relief to the overtcnsion of the parts.

In other cases it will be found that suppuration is well under way,
so that the center of the tumor is soft when the patient is first pre-
sented for treatment. It is always good surgery to relieve pus Avhen-
ever its presence can be detected; hence in these cases a free incision
must be made into the softened parts, the pus evacuated, and the foot
poulticed.

By surgical interference the tumor is noAV converted into an oi^en
sore or ulcer, which, after it has been well cleaned by v.-arm baths
and poultices applied for two or three days, needs to be protected by
proper dressings. The best of all protective dressings is made of
small balls or pledgets of oakum, carefully packed into the wound
and held in place by a roller bandage 4 yards long, from 3 to 4 inches
wide, made of common bedticking and skillfully applied. The rem-
edies which may be used to stimulate the healing process are many,
and as a rule they are applied in the form of solutions or tinctures.

384

In my own practice I prefer a .solution of bichloride of mercury 1
part, Avater 500 parts, with a few drops of muriatic acid or a few
grains of muriate of ammonia added to cause the mercury to dissolve.
The balls of oakum are wet with this solution before they are applied
to the wound.

Among the other remedies which may be used, and perhaps with
equalh' as good results, will be noted the sulphate of copper, iron,
and zinc, 5 grains of either to the ounce of water; chloride of zinc, 5
grains to the ounce; carbolic acid, 20 drops dissolved in an equal
amount of glycerine and added to 1 ounce of water, and the nitrate of
silver, 10 grains to the ounce of water.

If the wound is slow to heal it will be found of advantage to change
the remedies used every few daj^s, for after a time a remedy seems to
lose its stimulating effect upon the slow-growing granulations.

If the wound is pale in color, the granulations transparent and glis-
tening, the tincture of aloes, tincture of gentian, or the spirits of
camphor may do best.

When the sore is red in color and healing rapidly an ointment made
of 1 part of carbolic acid to 40 parts of cosmoline or vaseline is all that
is needed.

If the granulations continue to grow until a tumor is formed, which
projects beyond th(i surrounding skin, it should be cut off with a
sharp, clean knife, the foot poulticed for twenty-four hours, after
which the wound is to be well cauterized daily with lunar caustic and
the bandages applied with great firmness.

The question as to how often the dressings should be renewed must
be determined by the condition of the wound, etc. If the sore is sup-
purating freely it will be necessary to renew the dressing every twenty-
four or forty-eight hours. If the discharge is small in quantity and
the patient comfortable the dressing may be left on for several days;
in fact, the less often the wound is disturbed the better, in so long as
the healing process is healthy. When the sore commences to skin
over the edges should be lightly touched with the lunar caustic at
each dressing. The patient may now be given a little exercise daily,
but the bandages must be kept on until the wound is entirely healed.

TENDINOUS QUITTOR.

This form of quittor differs from the cutaneous in that it not only
affects the skin and subcutaneous tissues, but involves, also, the ten-
dons of the leg, the ligaments of the joints, and, in many cases, the
bones of the foot as well.

Fortunately this form of quittor is less common than the preced-
ing; yet any case beginning as simi)le cutaneous quittor may, at any
time during its course, become c(nnplicated b}^ the death of some
Xiart of the tendons by gangrene of the ligaments, sloughing of the
coronarv band, caries of the bones, or inflammation accompanied by

385

suppuration of the sj'uovial sacs and joints, thereby converting a
simple quittor into one which will, in all probabilit}^, either destroy
the patient's life or inaini him for all time.

Causes. — Tendinous quittor is caused by the same injuries and
influences that produce the sinqile form. Zundel believes it to be a
not infrequent accompaniment of distemper. In my own experience
I have seen nothing to verify this belief, but I am satisfied that young
animals are more liable to have tendinous quittor than older ones,
and that thej^ are much more likely to make a good recovery.

Sumptoms. — When a case of simijle quittor is transformed into the
tendinous variety the development of the complications is announced
by a sudden increase in the severity' of all of the symptoms. On the
other hand, if the attack primarily is one of tendinous quittor, the
earliest symj)tom seen is a well-marked lameness in the affected leg.
In those cases due to causes other than injuries this lameness is at
first very slight, and the animal limps no more in trotting than in
walking; but later on, generally during the next forty-eight hours,
the lameness increases to such an extent that the patient often refuses
to use the leg at all. An examination made during the first two days
rarely discloses any cause for this lameness; it may not be possible
even to say, with certainty, that the foot is the seat of the trouble.
On the third or fourth day, sometimes so late as the fifth, a doughy-
feeling tumor will be found forming on the heel or quarter. This
tumor grows rapidly, feels hot to the touch, and is extremely painful.
As the tumor develops all the other symi)toms increase in intensity;
the pulse is rapid and hard, the breathing quick, the temperature
elevated three or four degrees, the appetite is gone, thirst is increased,
and the lameness is so great that the foot is carried in the air if loco-
motion is attempted. At this stage of the disease the patient gener-
ally seeks relief by lying upon the broad side, with outstretched legs,
the coat bedewed with a clammy sweat, Avhile every respiration is
accompanied by a moan. The leg soon swells to the fetlock; later
this swelling gradually extends as high as to the knee or hock, and
in some cases it even reaches the body. As a rule several days elapse
before the disease develoi)s a well defined abscess, for, owing to the
dense structure of the bones, ligaments, and tendons, the suppurative
pi'ocess is a slow one, and the pus when formed is prevented from
readily collecting in a mass.

Recently I made a post mortem examination on a typical case of
this disease, Avhere the animal had died on the fourth day after being
found on the range slightly lame. The suffering had been intense;
yet the only external evidences of the disease consisted in the shed-
ding of the hoof from the right fore foot, and a limited swelling of
the leg to the knee. The sloughing of the hoof took place two or three
hours before death, and was accompanied with but little suppuration
59G1— HOR 13

386

and 110 lienioi'i'hage. The skin, tvom the knee to the foot, was thick-
ened from Avateiy infiltration (oedema), and on the inside quarter
three holes, each about one-half of an inch in diameter, were found.
All had ragged edges, while but one had gone deep enougli to per-
forate the coronary band. The loose connective tissue, found beneath
the skin, was distended with a gelatijious infiltration, over the whole
course of the flexor tendons, and to the fetlock joint over the tendon
in front. The soft tissues covering the coffin bone were loosened in
patches by collections of pus which had formed beneath the sensitive
laniin?e. The coffin and pastern joints were both inflamed, as Avero
also the coffin, navicular, and coronet bones, while the outside toe of
the coffin bono had become softened from suppuration, until it could
readily be crumbled between the fingers. The coronary band v/as
largely destroyed and completelj' separated from the other tissues of
the foot; the inner lateral cartilage was gangrenous, as was also a small
spot on the extensor tendon, near its point of attachment on the coffin
bone. Several small collections of pus were found deep in the connec-
tive tissue of the coronary region; along tlie course of the sesamoid
ligaments; in the sheath of the flexor tendons; under the tendon just
below the fetlock joint in front, and in the coffin joint.

But all cases of tendinous quitter are by no means so complicated
as this one was. In rare instances the swelling is slight, and after a
few days' time the lameness and other S3-mptoms subside without an}^
discharge of pus from an external opening. In most cases, however,
from one to half a dozen or more soft i^oints arise on the skin of the
coronet, open, and discharge slowly a thick, yellow, fetid, and bloody
matter. In otlier cases the suppurative process is largely confined to
the sensitive laminae and plantar cushion; in these cases the suffering
is intense until the pus finds an avenue of escape, which it generally
does by separating the hoof from the coronary band, at or near the
heels, Avithout causing a loss of the whole horny box. When the flexor
tendon is involved deep in the foot, the discharge of pus usually takes
place from an opening in the hollow of the heel; if the sesamoid liga-
ment, or the sheath of the flexors, are affected, the opening is nearer
the fetlock joint; although in most of these cases the suppuration
spreads along the course of the tendons until the navicular joint is
involved, and extensive sloughing of the deeper parts follows.

Treatment.— ThQ treatment of tendinous quitter is to be directed
toward the saving of the foot. First of all, an effort must be made to
I)revent suppuration; and if the patient is seen at the beginning, the
cold irrigation, recommended in the treatment for cutaneous quittor,
is to be resorted to. Later on, when the tumor is forming on the cor-
onet, the knife must be used, ;ind a free and deep incision made into
the swelling. Whenever openings appear from which the pus escapes
they should be carefully probed ; in all instances these fistulous tracts
will be found leading down to dead tissue which nature is trying to

387

remove by the process of sloughing. If a counter opening can be
made, which will enable a more ready escape of the pus, it should
be done at once; for instance, if the probe shows that the discharge
originates from tlie bottom of the foot the sole must be pared through,
over the seat of trovible. AVhenever suppuration has commenced, the
process is to be stimulated by the use of warm baths and poultices.
The pus which accumulates in the deeper i^arts, especially along the
tendons, around the joints, and in the hoof, is to be removed by pres-
sure and injections, made with a small syringe and repeated two or
three times a day. As soon as the discharge assumes a healthy char-
acter and diminishes in quantity, stimulating solutions are to be
injected into the open wounds. AVhere the tendons, ligaments, and
other deeper i)arts are affected, a strong solution of carbolic acid — 1 to
4 — should be used at first. Or, strong solutions of tincture of iodine,
sulphate of iron, sulphate of copper, bichloride of mercury, etc., may
be used in j)lace of the carbolic; after which the remedies and dress-
ings, directed for use in simple quittor, are to be used. In those cases
where the fistulous tracts refuse to heal, it is often necessary to burn
them out with a saturated solution of caustic soda, equal parts of
muriatic acid, and water, or, better still, with a long, tliin iron, heated
white hot.

But no matter what treatment is adopted, a large percentage of
the eases of tendinous quittor fail to make good recoveries. Where
the entire hoof sloughs away, the growth of a new, but soft and imper-
fect, hoof may be secured by carefully jDrotecting the soft and exposed
tissues with proper bandages. AVhen the joints are opened by deep
sloughing, recovery ma}' eventually take jilace, but the joint remains
immovable ever after. If caries of a small part of the coffin bone
takes place, it may be removed by an operation ; but if much of the
bone is affected, or if the navicular and coronet bones are involved
in the carious process, the onh' hojie for a cure is in the amputation
of the foot. Of course, this operation would only be advisable where
the animal was valuable for breeding purposes. In all other cases
where there is no hope for recovery the patient's suffering should
be relieved by death. In tendinous quittor much thickening of the
coronary region, and sometimes of the ankle and fetlock, remains
after supi)uration has ceased and the fistulous tracts have healed.
To stimulate the reabsorption of tliis new and unnecessary tissue the
parts should be fired with the hot iron; or, in its absence, repeated
blistering, with the biniodide of mercury ointment, may largely
accomplish the same result.

SUBHORNY QUITTOR.

This is the most common form of the disease. It is generally seen
in but one foot at a time, and more often in the fore feet than in the
hind ones. It nearly always attacks the inside quarter, but may

388

affect the outside quarter, tlie toe or the heel, where it is of but little
consequence. It consists in the inflammation of a small part of the
coronary band and adjacent skin, followed by sloughing and more or
less suppuration, which in most cases extends to the neighboring
sensitive laminte.

Causes. — Injuries to the coronet, such as bruises, overreaching,
and calk wounds, are considered as the common causes of this dis-
ease. Still, cases occur in which there appears to be no exciting
cause, just as in the other forms of quittor, and it seems fair to con-
clude that subhorny quittor may also be i^roduced by internal causes.

Symptoms. — At the outset the lameness is always severe, and the
patient often refuses to use the affected foot. Swelling of the coro-
net takes place close to the top of the hoof, causing the quarter to
protrude beyond the wall of the foot. This tumor is extremely sensi-
tive, and the whole foot is hot and painful. After a few days' time
a small spot in the skin, over the most elevated part of the tumor,
softens and opens, or else the hoof separates from the coronary band
at the quarter or well back toward the heel. From this opening,
wherever it may be, a thin, watery, offensive discharge escapes, often
dark in color, at times mixed with blood, and always containing a
considerable percentage of pus.

Probing will now disclose a fistulous tract leading to the bottom of
the diseased tissues. If the opening is small there is a tendency upon
the part of the suppurative process to spread downward; the pus
gradually separating the hoof from the sensitive laminae until the sole
is reached, and even a portion of this may also be undermined.

As a rule, the slough in this form of quittor is not deep, so that if the
case receives early and proper treatment complications are generally
avoided, but if the case is neglected, and, occasionally, even in spite
of the best of treatment, the disease spreads until the tendon in front,
the lateral cartilage, or the coffin l)one and joint as well, are involved.

In all cases of subhorny quittor much relief is experienced as soon
as the slough has come away, and rapid progress toward recovery is
made. If, however, after the lapse of a few days' time, the lameness
still remains and the wound continues to discharge a thin unhealthy
matter, the probabilities are that the disease is spreading, and that
pus is collecting in the deeper parts of the foot. In Zundel's opinion,
if the use of the probe now detects a pus cavity below the opening, a
cartilaginous quittor is in the course of develoiament.

Treatment.— Wot baths and poultices are to be used until the pres-
ence of pus can be determined, when the tumor is to be opened with
a knife or sharp-pointed iron heated white hot. The hot baths and
poultices are now continued for a few days, or until the entire slough
has come away and the discharge is diminished, when the dressings
recommended in the treatment for cutaneous quittor are to be used
until recovery is completed. In cases where the discharge comes

389

from a cleft between the upper border of the hoof and the coronary
band, alwaj's pare away the loosened horn, so that the soft tissues
beneath are fully exposed, care being taken not to injure the healthy
parts. This operation permits of a thorough inspection of the dis-
eased parts, the easy removal of all gangrenous tissue, and a better
application of the necessary remedies and dressings. The only objec-
tion to the oi)eration is that the i^atient is prevented from being early
returned to work.

When the probe shows that pus has collected under the coffin bone,
the sole must be j)ared through, and if caries of the bone is present,
the dead parts must be cut away. After either of these operations
the w^ound is to be dressed with the oakum balls saturated in the
bichloride of mercury solution, as previously directed, and the band-
ages tightly applied. Generally the discharge for the first two or
three days is so great that the dressings need to be changed every
twenty-four hours; but when the discharge diminishes, the dressing
may be left on from one to two weeks. Before the patient is returned
to work, a bar shoe should be applied, since the removed quarter or
heel can only be made perfect again by a new growth from the coro-
nary band.

Tendinous or cartilaginous complications are to be treated as directed
under these headings.

CARTILAGINOUS QUITTOR.

This form of quittor may commence as a primary inflammation of
the lateral cartilage, but in the great majority of cases it appears as
a sequel to cutaneous or sub-horny quittor. It may affect either the
fore or hind feet, but is most commonly seen in the former. As a
rule, it attacks but one foot at a time, and but one of the cartilages,
and that is generally the inner one. It is always a serious affection
for the reason that, in many cases, it can only be cured by a surgical
operation, requiring a thorough knowledge of the anatomy of the
parts involved and much surgical skill.

Causes. — Direct injuries to the coronet, such as trami^ing, pricks,
burns, and the blow of some heavy falling object which may puncture,
bruise, or crush the cartilage, are the common direct causes of carti-
laginous quittor. Besides being a sequel to the other forms of quittor,
it sometimes develops as a complication in suppurative corn, canker,
grease, laminitis, and punctured wounds of the foot. Animals used
for heavy draught, and those with flat feet and low heels, are more
liable to the disease than others, for the simple reason that they are
more exposed to injury. Rough roads also predispose to the disease
by increasing liability to injury.

Symptoms. — When the disease commences as a primaiy inflamma-
tion of the cartilage, lameness develops with the formation of a swell-
ing on the side of the coronet over the quarter. The severity of this

390

lameness depends largely npon the part of the cartilage which is dis-
eased; if the disease is situated in that part of the cartilage nearest
the heel, where the surrounding tissues are soft and spongy, the lame-
ness may be very slight, e'specially if the patient is required to go no
faster than a walk; but when the middle and anterior parts of the car-
tilage are diseased the ])iihi and consequent lameness are much greater,
for the tissues are less elastic and the colFm joint is more likely to
become affected.

Except in tlie cases to be noted hereafter, one or more fistulous open-
ings finally appear in the tumor on the coronet. These openings are
surrounded by a small mass of granulations, which are elevated above
the adjacent skin and bleed readily if handled. A probe shows these
fistulous tracts to be more or less sinuous, but always leading to one
point — tlie gangrenous cartilage. AVhen cartilaginous quittor hap-
pens as a comijlication of suppurative corn, or from punctured wounds
of the foot, the fistulous tract may open alone at the point of injury on
the sole.

The discharge in this form of quittor is generally thin, waterj^ and
contains enough pus to give it a pale yellow color; it is offensive to the
sense of smell, due to the detachment of small flakes of the cartilage
which have become gangrenous and are to be seen in the discharge in
the form of small greenish-colored particles. In old cases it is not
unusual to find some of the fistulous openings heal at the surface; this
is followed by the gradual collection of pus in the deeper parts, form-
ing an abscess, which in a short time opens at a new point. The wall
of the hoof, over the affected quarter and heel, in very old cases,
becomes rough and Avrinkled like the horn of a ram; and generally it
is thicker than the corresponding quarter, owing to the stimulating
effect which the disease has upon the coronar}^ band.

Complications may arise by an extension of the disease to the lateral
ligament of the coffin joint, to the joint itself, to the plantar cushion,
and ]\y caries of the coffin bone.

Treatment. — Before recovery can take place in these cases all of the
dead cartilage must be removed. In rare instances this is effected b}''
nature without assistance. Usually, however, the disease does not tend
to recovery, and active curative measures must be adopted. The best
and simplest treatment in a majority of cases is the injection of strong
caustic solutions, which are intended to destroy the diseased cartilage,
and to cause its removal, along with the other x^roducts of suppura-
tion. In favorable cases these injections Avill secure a healing of the
wound in from two to three weeks' time. While the saturated solution
of the sulphate of copper, or a solution of 10 parts of bi-chloride of
me}-cury to 100 parts of water, has given the best results in mj' hands,
equally as favorable success lias been secured by others from the use
of caustic soda, nitrate of silver, suljjhate of zinc, tincture of iodine,
etc. But no matter which one of these remedies maj'^ be selected, it

391

must be used at least twice a day for a time. The solution is to be
injected into the various openings with enough force to drive it to the
bottom of the wound, after which the foot is to be dressed with a
pad of oakum, lield in place b}^ a roller bandage tightl}^ applied.
"While it is not always necessary, in many cases it is of advantage to
relieve the pressure on the parts by rasping away the horn over the
seat of the cartilage; the coronary band and the lamin;e sliould not
be injured in the operation.

If the caustic injections prove successful, the discharge will become
healthy and graduallj' diminish, so that by the end of the second week
it will be found that the fistulous tracts are closing up, and that the
injections are made with much difficulty.

If, on the other hand, there is but little or no improvement after
this treatment has been used for three weeks, it may reasonal^ly be
concluded that the operation for the removal of the lateral cartilage
must be resorted to for the cure of the trouble. As this operation
can be safely undertaken only by an expert surgeon, it will not be
described in this connection.

THRUSH.

Thrush is a disease characterized bj* an excessive secretion of un-
healthy matter from the cleft of the frog. "While all classes of horses
are liable to this affection, it is more often seen in the common draft
horse than in any other breed, a fact due to the conditions of servi-
tude and not to the fault of the breed. Country horses are much less
subject to the disease, except in wet, marshy districts, than are the
horses used in cities and towns.

Causes. — The most common cause of thrush is the filth}' condition
of the stable in which the animal is kept. Mares are more liable to
contract the disease in the hind feet when the cause is due to filth,
while the gelding and stallion are more likely to develop it in the fore
feet. Hard work, on rough and stony roads, may also induce the dis-
ease, as may a change from dryness to excessive moisture. The latter
cause is often seen to operate in old track horses, whose feet are con-
stantly soaked in the bath-tub for the purpose of relieving soreness.
Muddy streets and roads, especially Avhcre mineral substances are
plentiful, excite this abnormal condition of the frog. Contracted
heels, scratches, and navicular disease predispose to thrush, while by
some a constitutional tendency is believed to exist among certain
animals which otherwise present a perfect frog.

SyinptoDis. — At first there is simply an increased moisture in the
cleft of the frog, accompanied by an offensive smell. After a time a
considerable discharge takes place— thin, watery, and highly offen-
sive— changing gradually to a thicker puriforni matter, which rapidly
desti'03's the horn of the frog. Only in old and severe cases is the
patient lame and the foot feverisli— cases in which the whole frog is
involved in the diseased process.

392

Treatmeni. — Thrushes are to be treated by cleanliness, the removal
of all exciting causes, and a return of the frog to its normal condition.
As a rule, the diseased and ragged portions of horn are to be pared
awaj^, and the foot poulticed for a day or two with boiled turnips, to
which maj' be added a few drops of carbolic acid or a handful of pow-
dered charcoal to destroy the offensive smell. The cleft of the frog
and the grooves on the edges are then to be cleaned and well filled with
dry calomel, and the foot dressed with oakum and a roller bandage.
If the discharge is profuse the dressing should be changed daily,
otherwise it may be left on for two or three days at a time. Where
a constitutional taint is supi^osed to exist Avith swelling of the legs,
grease, etc., a purgative followed by dram doses of sulphate of iron,
repeated daily, may be prescribed. In cases where the growth of horn
seems too slow, a Spanish fly blister applied to the heels is often fol-
lowed by good results. Feet in which the disease is readily induced
may be protected in the stable with a leather boot. If the thrush is
but a sequel to other diseases a permanent cure may not be possible.

CANKER.

Canker of the foot is a disease due to the ra^iid reproduction of a
vegetable parasite. It not only destroys the sole and frog, but by set-
ting up a chronic inflammation in the deeper tissues, prevents the
growth of a healthy horn by which the injury might be repaired.
Heavy cart horses are more often affected than those of any other class.

Causes. — The essential element in the production of cankers is of
course the presence of the parasite; consequently the disease may be
called contagious. But, as in all other diseases due to specific causes,
the seeds of the disorder must find a suitable soil in which to grow
before they are reijroduced. It may be said, then, that the conditions
which favor the i)reparation of the tissues for a reception of the seeds
of this disease are simply predisposing causes.

The condition most favorable to the development of cankers is
dampness — in fact, dampness seems indispensable to the existence
and growth of the parasite ; for the disease is rarely, if ever, seen in
high, dry districts, and is much more common in vsauy than in dry
seasons. Filthy sta])les and muddy roads have been classed among
the causes of canker; but it is very doubtful if these conditions can
do more than favor a preparation of the foot for the reception of the
disease germ.

All injuries to the feet may, by exposing the soft tissues, render the
animal susceptible to infection; but neither the injury nor the irrita-
tion and inflammation of the tissues which follow, are sufficient to
induce the disease.

For some unknown reason horses with lymphatic temperaments,
thick skins, flat feet, fleshy frogs, heavy hair, and particularly with
white feet and legs, are especially liable to canker.

393

Symptoms. — Usually, canker is confined to one foot; but it may
attack two, three, or all of the feet at once; or, as is more commonly-
seen, the disease attacks first one then another, until all may have
been successively affected. When the disease follows an injury which
has exposed the soft tissues of the foot the wound shows no tendency
to heal, but, instead, there is secreted from the inflamed parts a pro-
fuse, thin, fetid, watery discharge, which graduallj^ undermines and
destroys the surrounding horn, until eventually a large part of the
sole and frog is diseased. The living tissues are swollen, dark-col-
ored, and covered at certain i^oints with particles of new, soft, yellow-
ish, thready horn, which are constantly undergoing maceration in the
abundant liquid secretion l)y which thej^ are immersed. As this secre-
tion escapes to the surrounding i^arts it dries and forms small cheesy
masses composed of the partly dried horny matter, exceedingly offen-
sive to the sense of smell. When the disease originates independ-
ently of an injury, the first evidences of the trouble are the offensive
odor of the foot, the liquid secretion from the cleft and sides of the
frog, and the rotting away of the horn of the frog and sole.

In the earlier stages of the disease there is no interference with
locomotion, but later the foot becomes sensitive, particularly if the
animal is used on rough roads, and, finally, when the sole and frog
are largely destroyed the lameness is severe.

Treatment. — Since canker does not destroy the power of the tissues
to produce horn, but rather excites them to an excessive ijroduction
of an imperfect horn, the indications for treatment are to restore the
parts to a normal condition, when healthy horn may again be secreted.
In my experience, limited though it has been, the old practice of strip-
ping off the entire sole and deep cauterization, with either the hot
iron or strong acids, is not attended with uniformly good results.

I am of the opinion that recovery can generally be effected as surely
and as speedil}- with measures which are less heroic and much less
painful. True, the treatment of canker is likely to exhaust the
patience, and sometimes the resources, of the attendant; but after
all success depends more on the persistent application of simple
remedies and great cleanliness than on the si^ecial virtues of any
particular drug.

First, then, clean the foot with warm baths and, apply a poultice
containing j)owdered charcoal or carbolic acid. A handful of the
charcoal, or a tablespoonful of the acid, mixed with the poultice
serves to destroy much of the offensive odor. The diseased jiortions
of horn are now to be carefully removed with sharp instruments,
until only healthy horn borders the affected i^arts. The edges of the
sound horn are to be i)ared thin, so that the swollen soft tissues may
not overlap their borders. With sharp scissors cut off all the promi-
nent points on the soft tissues, shorten the walls of the foot, and nail
59(31— HOR 1.3*

394

on a broad, plain shoe. The foot is now ready for the dressings, and
any of the many stimnlating and drying remedies may be used.
Whichever is selected at the outset, it will be necessary to change
frequently from one to another, until finallj^ all may be tried.

The list from Avhicli a selection may 1)e made comprises Avood tar,
gas tar, i^etroleum, creosote, phenic acid, sulphates of iron, copper
and zinc, chloride of zinc, bichloride of mercury, calomel, caustic soda,
nitrate of silver, chloride of lime, carbolic, nitric, and sulphuric acids.

In practice I prefer to give the newly shod foot a bath for an hour
or two in a solution of the sulphate of iron, made by adding 2 ounces
of the liowdered sulphate to a gallon of cold water. When the foot
is removed it is dressed with oakum balls, dipped in a mixture made
of Barbadoes tar, 1 j)art; oil of turpentine, 8 i^arts, to which are
slowly added 2 parts of sulphuric acid, and the mixture well stirred
and cooled. The diseased parts being well covered with the balls, a
pad of oakum, sufficiently thick to cause considerable pressure, is
placed over them, and all are held in place h} pieces of heavy tin
fitted to slip under the shoe. The whole foot is now encased in a
boot or folded gunny sack, and the patient turned into a loose, dry
box. The dressings are to be changed daily, or even twice a day, at
first. When they are removed all ijieces of new hornj- matter, Avhicli
are now tirmly adherent must be rubbed off with the finger or a tent
of oakum. As the secretion diminishes dry powders may prove of
most advantage, such as calomel, sulphates of iron, copper, etc. The
sulphates should not be used pure, but are to be mixed with powdered
animal charcoal in the proportion of one of the former to eight or ten
of the latter. When the soft tissues are all horned over the dress-
ings should be continued for a time, weak solutions being used to
prevent a recurrence of the disease. If the patient is run down in
condition, bitter tonics, such as gentian, may be given in 2-dram
doses, twice a day, and a liberal diet of grain allowed.

CORNS.

A corn is an injury to the living horn of the foot, involving at the
same time the soft tissues beneath, whereb}'' the capillary blood ves-
sels are ruptured and a small amount of blood escapes, which, by
I)ermeating the horn in the immediate neighborhood, stains it a dark
color. If the injury is continuously repeated the horn becomes altered
in character, the soft tissues may suppurate, causing the disease to
spread, or a hornj" tumor may develop. Corns always appear in that
part of the sole included in the angle between the bar and the outside
wall of the hoof. In many cases the lamiuse of the bar, of the wall,
or of both, are involved at the same time.

Three kinds of corns are commonly recognized — the drj% the moist,
and the suppurative, a division based solely on the character of the
conditions which follow the i)rimary injury.

395

The forefeet are almost exclusively the subjects oL' the disease, for
two reasons: First, because they supi)ort a greater part of the bodj'-;
secondly, because the heel of the fore foot during progression is first
placed ui)on the ground, Avhereby it receives mucli more concussion
than the heel of the hind foot, in which the toe first strikes the ground.

Causes. — It maybe said that all feet are exposed to corns, and that
even the best feet may suffer from them when the conditions neces-
sary to tlie production of the peculiar injury are present. The heavier
breeds of horses generally used for heavy work on rough roads and
streets seem to be most liable to this trouble. Mules rarely have
corns.

Among the causes and conditions which predispose to corns may be
named high heels, -which change the natural relative position of the
bones of the foot and thereby increase the concussion to which these
parts are subject; contracted heels, which in part destroy" the elas-
ticity of the foot, increase the pressure upon the soft tissues of the
heel, and render lacerations more easy; long feet, which, by removing
the frog and heels too far from the ground, deprive them of necessary
moisture, which in turn reduces the elastic iDroperties of the horn and
diminishes the transverse diameter of the heels; weak feet, or those
in which the horn of the wall is too thin to resist the tendenc}' to
spread, and as a result the soft tissues are easily lacerated. Wide
feet with low heels are always accompanied by a flat sole whose pos-
terior wings either rest upon the ground or the shoe, and as a conse-
quence are easily bruised ; at the same time the arch of the sole is so
broad and flat that it can not support the weight of the bodj^, and in
the displacement which happens when the foot is rested upon the
ground the soft tissues are liable to become bruised or torn.

It is universallj^ conceded that shoeing of the foot, either as a direct
or predisposing cause, is most jDrolific in iiroducing corns. One of the
most serious as well as the most common of the errors in shoeing is to
be found in the preparation of the foot for the shoe. Instead of seek-
ing to maintain the integrity of the arch the first thing done is to
Aveaken it bj- freel}' paring away the sole; nor does the mutilation
end here, for the frog, which is nature's mainsupi^ort to the branches
of the sole and the heels, is also largely cut away. This not only per-
mits of an excessive downward movement of tlie contents of the horny
box, but it at the same time removes the one great means by which
concussion of the foot is destroyed. As adjuncts to the foregoing-
errors must be added the faults in the construction of the shoe and
in the way it is adjusted to the foot. An excess of concavity in the
shoe, by extending it too far back on the heels, high calks, thin heels
which permit the shoe to spring, short heels Avith a calk set under the
foot, and a shoe too light for the animal wearing it or for the work
required of him, are all to be avoided as causes of corns. A shoe so
set as to press upon the sole, or one that has been on so long that the

39G

hoof lias overgrown it until the heels rest uj^on the sole and bars, be-
comes a direct cause of corns. Indirectly the shoe becomes the cause
of corns when small stones, hard dry earth, or other objects collect
between the sole and shoe. Lastly, a rapid gait and excessive knee
action, especially on hard roads, predispose to this disease of the feet.
*S'//7??j5/o?».s'. — Ordinarily a corn induces sufficient pain to cause lame-
ness. It may be intense, as seen in sujipui'ative corn, or it may be
but a slight soreness, such as that which accompanies dry corn. It
is by no means unusual to see old horses having chronic corns appar-
ently so accustomed to the slight i)ain which they suffer as not to limp
at all; but these animals are generally very restless; they paw their
bedding behind them at night, and in many instances they refuse to
lie down for any lengthened rest. The lameness of this disease, how-
ever, can hardly be said to be characteristic, for the reason that it
varies so greatly in intensity; but the position of the leg while the
patient is at rest is generally the same in all cases. The foot is so
advanced that it is relieved of all weight and the fetlock is flexed
until all pressure by the contents of the hoof is removed from the
heels. In suppurative corn the lameness subsides or entirely dis-
appears as soon as the abscess has opened. AVhen the injured tissues
are much inflamed, as may happen in severe and recent cases, the
heel of the affected side, or even the whole foot, is hot and tender to
pressure. In dry corn, and in most chronic cases, all evidences of
local fever are often wanting. It is in these cases that the patient
goes w^ell when newly shod, for the smith cuts away the sole over the
seat of injury until all i)ressuro b}' the shoe is removed, and lowers
the heels so that concussion is reduced to a minimum. If a corn is
suspected the foot should be examined for increased sensibility of the
inside heel. Tapping the heel of the shoe with a hammer and grasp-
ing the wall and bar between the jaws of a pincers, with moderate
pressure, will cause more or less flinching if the disease is present.
For further evidence the shoe is removed and the heel cut away with
the drawing knife. As the horn is pared out not only the sole in the
angle is found discolored, but, in many instances, the insensible
laminae of the bar and Avail adjacent are also stained with the escaped
blood. In moist and suppurative corns this discoloration is less
marked than in dry corn and may be even entirely Avanting. In these
cases the horn is soft, often Avliite, and stringy or mealy, as seen in
pumiced sole resulting from founder. When the whole thickness of
the sole is discolored and the horn dry and brittle it is generally evi-
dence that the corn is an old one and that the exciting cause has
existed continuously. A moist corn differs from the dry corn in that
the injury is more severe, the parts affected are more or less inflamed,
and the horn of the sole in the angle is undermined b}^ a citron-colored
fluid, which often permeates the injured sole and laminae, causing the
horn to become somewhat spongy.

397

A suppurative corn differs from the others in that the inflammation
accompanying the injury ends in suppuration. The pus collects at
the point of injury and finally escapes by working a passage way
between the sensitive and insensible laminae to the top of the hoof,
where an opening is made by separation of the wall from the coronary
band at or near the heels. This is the most serious form of corns, for
the reason that it may induce gangrene of the plantar cushion, carti-
laginous quittor, or caries of the coffin bone.

Treafmenf. — Since a diversity of opinion exists as to what measures
must be adopted for the radical cure of corns, the author will advise
the use of those which have proven most efficient in his hands.

As in all other troubles, the cause must be discovered, if possible,
and removed. In the great majority of cases the shoeing wiU be at
fault. AVhile sudden changes in the method of shoeing are not
advisable, it may be said that all errors, either in the i^reparation of
the foot, in the construction of the shoe, or in its application, may
very properly be corrected at any time. Circumstances may, at times,
make it imperative that shoes shall be worn which are not free from
objections, as, for instance, the shoe with a high calk; but in such
cases it is considered that the injuries liable to result from the use of
calks are less serious than those which are sure to happen for the
want of them.

For a sound foot, perfectly formed, a flat shoe, with heels less thick
than the toe, and which rests evenly on the wall proper, is the best.
In flat feet it is often necessary to concave the shoe as much as possi-
ble on the upper surface, so that the sole may not be pressed upon
If the heels are very low the heels of the shoe may be made thicker.
If the foot is very broad and the wall light toward the heels, a bar
shoe, resting uj)on the frog, will aid to i^revent excessive tension upon
the soft tissues when the foot receives the weight of the body. A
piece of leather placed betAveen the foot and the shoe serves to largely
destroy concussion, and its use is absolutely necessary on some
animals in that they may be kept at work.

Lastly, among the jireventive measures may be mentioned those
which serve to maintain the suppleness of the hoof. The dead horn
upon the surface of the sole not only retains moisture for a long time,
but protects the living horn beneath from the effects of evaporation,
and for this reason the sole should be pared as little as possible.
Stuffing the feet with flaxseed meal, wet clay, or other like sub-
stances; damp dirt floors or damp bedding of tan-bark, greasy hoof
ointments, etc., are all means which may be used to keej) the feet
from becoming too dry and hard.

As to the curative measures which are to be adopted much will
depend upon the extent of the injury. If the case is one of chronic
dry corn, with but slight lameness, the foot should be poulticed for a
day or two and the discolored horn pared out, care being taken not to

398

injure the soft tissues. The heel oii the affected side is to be low-
ered until all pressure is removed, and, if the i)atient's labor is
required, the foot must be shod with a bar shoe or with one having
stiff heels. Care must be t^ken to reset the shoe before the foot has
grown too long, else the shoe will no longer rest on the wall but on
the sole and bar.

In moist corns we believe in cutting them out. If there is inflam-
mation present, cold baths and poultices should be used; when the'
horn is well softened and the fever allayed, pare ont all of the dis-
eased horn, lightly cauterize the soft tissues beneath, and poultice
the foot for two or three days. When the granulations look red
dress the wound with oakum balls saturated in a weak solution of
tincture of aloes or spirits of camphor, and apply a roller bandage.
Change the dressing every two or three days until a firm, healthy
layer of new horn covers the wound, wlien the shoe may be put on,
as in dry corn, and the patient returned to work.

In suppurative corns the loosened horn must be removed so that
the i^us may freelj^ escape. If the pus has worked a passage to the
coronarj" band, and escapes from an opening between the band and
hoof, an opening must be made on the sole, and cold baths, made
astringent with a little sulphate of iron or copper^ are to be used for
a day or two. When the discharge becomes health)^ the fistulous
tracts may be injected daily with a weak solution of bichloride of
mercury, nitrate of silver, etc., and the foot dressed as after the
operation for moist corns. When complications arise the treatment
must be varied to meet the indications; if gangrene of the lateral
cartilage takes place it must be treated as directed under the liead of
cartilaginous quittor; if the velvety tissue is gangrenous it must be
cut away, and if the coffin bone is necrosed it must be scraped, and
the resulting wounds are to be treated on general principles. After
any of the operations for corns have been performed, in which the
soft tissues have been laid l3are, it is best to protect the foot by a sole
of soft leather, set beneath the shoe, when the animal is returned to
work. Onl}^ in rare instances are the complications of corn so seri-
ous as to destroy the life or usefulness of the patient. It is the wide,
flat foot, Avith low heels and a thin wall, which is most liable to resist
all efforts toward effecting a comj^lete cure.

BRUISE OF THE FROG.

When the frog is severely bruised the injury is followed by suppu-
ration beneath the horn, and at times by partial gangrene of the
plantar cushion.

Causes. — A bruise of the frog generally happens from the animal
stepping on a rough stone or otlier hard object. It is more apt to take
place when the animal is trotting, running, or jumping than when he
is at a slower pace. A stone wedged between the branches of the shoe
in the cleft of the frog, or between tlie sides of the frog and the shoe,

399

and remainiug for a time, produces the same results. A cut through
the horny frog with some sharp instrument or a punctured ^vound with
ablunt-i^ointed insti'ument may also cause suppuration and gangrene
of the plantar cushion. Broad, flat feet, with low heels and a fleshy
frog, are most liable to these injuries.

Sijni2:)/oins. — Lameness, severe in x^i'oportion to the extent of the
bruise and the consequent suppuration, is always an earlj^ sN-mptom.
When the animal moves the toe only is placed to the ground, or the
foot is carried in the air and the patient hobbles along on three legs.
When he is at rest the foot is set forward with the toe resting on the
ground and the leg flexed at the fetlock joint. As soon as the pus
finds its way to the surface the lameness improves. If the frog is
examined early the injured spot may usually be found, and if nooj)en-
ing exists the collection of piis maybe detected working its wa}' toward
the heels. The horn is felt to be loosened from the deeper tissues,
and if it is pared through, a thin, yellow, watery and offensive pus
escapes. In other cases a ragged oj^ening is found in the frog, lead-
ing down to a mass of dead, sloughing tissues, which are pale green
in color if gangrene of the jDlantar cushion has set in. In rare cases
the coflin bone may be involved in the injury and a small portion of
it become carious.

Treatment. — If the injury is seen at once the foot should be i)hicfKi
in a bath of cold water with the object of preventing suppuration. If
suppuration has already set in the horn of the frog, and of the bars
and l)ranches of the sole if necessary, is to be pared thin, so that all
possible pressure may be removed and the foot poulticed. As soon as
the lius has loosened the horn, all the detached portions are to be cut
away. If the pus is discharging from an opening near the hair the
whole frog, or one-half of it, will generally be found separated from
the plantar cushion, and is to be removed with the knife. After a
few days' time the gangrenous portion of the cushion will slough off
under the stimulating effects of the poultice, and under rare circum-
stances only should the dead parts be removed by surgical inter-
ference. Where the slough is all detached the remaining wound is to
be treated with simple stimulating dressings, such as tincture of aloes
oi- tui-pentine, oakum balls, and bandages as directed in punctured
wounds. The lameness having subsided, and a thin layer of new
horn having grown on the exposed parts, the foot may be shod, the
frog covered with a thick pad of oakum, held in x^lace by pieces of tin
fitted to slide under the shoe, and the animal returned to slow work.
Where caries of the coffin bone, etc., follow the injur}' the treatment
recommended for these complications in i^unctured wounds of the foot
must be I'esorted to.

PUNCTURED WOUNDS OF THE FOOT.

Of all the injuries to which the foot of the horse is liable none are
more common than i)unctured wounds, and none arc more serious

400

than these may be when involving tlie more important organs con-
tained within the hoof. A nail is the most common instrument by
which the injury is inflicted, yet wounds maj^ happen from sharp
pieces of rock, glass, wire, knives, etc.

A wound of the foot is more serious when made bj- a blunt-pointed
instrument than when the point is sharp, and the nearer the injury
is to the center of the foot the more likely are disastrous results to
follow. Wounds in the heel and in the i^osterior parts of the frog are
attended with but little danger, unless they are so deep as to injure
the lateral cartilages, when cjuittor may follow. Punctured wounds
of the anterior parts of the sole are more dangerous for the reason
tliat the coffin bone may be injured and the suppuration, even where
the wound is not deep, tends to spread and always gives rise to
intense suffering. The most serious of the i^unctured wounds are
those which happen to the center of the foot, and which involve, in
proportion to their depth, the x^lantar cushion, the plantar aponeurosis,
the sesamoid sheath, the navicular bone, or the coffin joint.

Punctured wounds are more likely to be deep in flat or convex feet
than in well-made feet, and, as a rule, recovery is neither so rapid
nor so certain. These wounds are less serious in animals used for
heavj^ draught than in those required to do faster work; for the for-
mer may be useful, even if complete recovery is not effected. Lastly,
punctured wounds of the fore feet are more serious than of the hind
feet, for the reason that in the former the instrument is apt to enter
the foot in a nearly perpendicular line, and, consequently, is more
likely to injure the deejier structures of the foot, while in the hind
foot the injury is generall}^ near the heels and the wound oblique and
less deep.

Symptoms. — \ nail or other sharp instrument may iienetrate the
frog and remain there for several daj^s without causing lameness; in
fact, in man}' cases of punctured wound of the frog the fi.rst evidence
of the injury is the finding of the nail on cleaning the foot or the
appearance of an oj)ening Avhere the skin and frog unite, from Avhich
more or less pus escapes. Even when the sole is perforated, if the
injury is not too deep, no lameness develops until suppuration is
established. In all cases of foot lameness, especially if the cause
is obscure, the foot should be examined for evidence of injujy.

The lameness from punctured wounds, accomj)anied by suppuration,
is generally severe, the patient often refusing to use the affected mem-
ber at all. The pain being lancinating in character, he stands with
the injured foot at rest or constantly moves it back and forth. In
other cases the patient lies down most of the time with the feet out-
stretched; the breathing is raiiid, the iiulse fast, the temperature ele-
vated, and the body covered with patches of sweat.

When the plantar aponeurosis is injured the x^ns escapes with diffi-
culty and the wound shows no signs of healing; the whole foot is hot

401

and very painful. If the puncture involves the sesamoid sheath the
synovial fluid escaijes. At first this fluid is pure, like joint-water, but
later on it becomes mixed with the products of suiipuration and loses
its clear amber color. In these cases the supijuration generally ex-
tends up the course of the flexor tendon, an abscess forms in the hol-
low of the heel, and finally oj^ens somewhere below the fetlock joint.
The whole coronet is more or less swollen, the discharge is profuse
and often mixed with blood, yet the suffering is greatly relieved from
the moment the abscess opens.

Wlien the wound reaches the navicular bone the lameness is intense
from the beginning; but, after all, the only certain way in which to
determine the existence of this complication is in the use of the probe,
and unless there is a free escai)e of synovia the probe should be used
with the greatest of care, else the coffin joint may be oj^ened.

If the coffin joint has been penetrated, either by the offending instru-
ment or by the process of suf>pnration, acute inflammation of the joint
follows, accompanied by high fever, loss of appetite, etc. The ankle
and coronet are now greatly swollen, and in many cases dropsy of the
leg to the knee or hock, or even to the body, follows. If the process
of suppuration continues small abscesses appear at intervals on dif-
ferent parts of the coronet, the j)atient rapidl}- loses flesh, and may
die from the effects of the intense suffering and blood poisoning. In
other cases the suppuration soon disappears and recovery is effected
by the joint becoming stiff (anchylosis).

When the wound is forward, near the toe, and deep enough to injure
the coffin bone, caries always results. The presence of the dead pieces
of bone can be determined b}- the use of the probe; the bone feels
rough and gritt}". Furthermore, there is no disposition upon the part
of the wound to heal.

Besides the complications above mentioned others, equally as seri-
ous, may be met with. The tendons may soften and rupture, the hoof
may slough off, quittors develop, or sidebones and ringbones grow.
Finally laminitis of the opposite foot may happen if the patient
persists in standing most of the time, or lockjaw may cause early
death.

Treatment. — In all cases of jjunctured wound of the foot the horn
around the seat of injury should be thinned doAvn, a free opening
made for the escape of the products of suppuration, and the foot placed
in a poultice. If the injury is not serious recovery takes place in a
few days' time. AVhere the wound is deejier it is better to put the
foot in a cold bath or under a stream of cold water, as advised in the
treatment for quittor.

If the bone is injured cold baths, containing about 2 ounces each of
sulphate of copper and suli:)hate of iron, may be used until the dead
bone is Avell softened, when it should be removed b}' an operation.
The animal must be cast for this operation, the sole pared away until

402

the diseased bone is exposed, when all the dead particles are to oe
removed with a drawing-knife and the wound dressed with a 5 per
cent solution of carbolic acid, oakum balls, and a roller bandage.

Wounds of the bone which are made by a blunt-pointed instrument,
like the square-pointed cut nail, in which a portion of the surface is
driven into the deeper parts of the l)one, always progress slowly, and
should be operated upon as soon as the conditions are favorable. Even
wounds of the navicular bone, accompanied by caries, may be oper-
ated on and the life of the patient saved; but the most skillful sur-
gery is required in these cases and only the experienced operator
should undertake their treatment.

If there is an escape of pure sjaiovial fluid from a wound of the sole,
without injury to the bone, a small pencil of corrosive sublimate
should be introduced to the l)ottom of the wound and the foot dressed
as directed above.

Tlie other complications are to ])e treated as directed under their

proper lieadings.

After healing of the wounds has been effected, lameness, with more
or less swelling of the coronary region, may remain. In these cases
the coronet should be blistered, or even fired with the actual cautery,
and the patient turned to pasture. If the lameness still persists, and
is not due to a stiff joint, unnerving may be resorted to, and in many
cases with very good results. If the joint is anchylosed of course no
treatment can relieve it, and the patient must eitber be put to very
slow work or kept for breeding purposes only.

'' Prich ill shoeing'' is an injury which should be considered under
the head of punctured wounds of the foot. The nails by which the
shoe is fastened to the hoof may produce an injury followed by infiam-
mation and suppuration in two days, either by penetrating the soft
tissues directly or by being driven so deep that the inner layers of the
horn of the wall are pressed against the soft tissues Avith such force
as 1o crush them. In either case the animal generally goes lame
soon after shoeing unless the injury is at the toe, when the first evi-
dence of the trouble may be the discharge of pus at the coronet.
When lameness follows close upon the setting of the shoes, Avith-
out other appreciable cause, each nail should be lightly struck with
a hammer, when the one at fault will l)e detected by the flinching of
the animal.

Tlie treatment consists in drawing the nail, and if the soft tissues
have been penetrated, or if suppuration has commenced, the horn
must be pared away until the diseased parts are exposed. The foot
is now to be poulticed for a day or two, or until the lameness and
suppuration have ceased. If the discharge of pus from the coronet is
tlie first evidence of the disease the offending nail must be found and
removed, the parts pared out, and a weak solution of carbolic acid
injected at the cononet until the fistulous tract has healed.

403

CONTRACTED HEELS,

Contificted lieels, or hoof -bound, as it is someMnics called, is a
coiunion disease, especially among horses kejDt on liard floors in dry
stables, and in such as are subject to much saddle work. It consists
in an atrophy or shrinking of the tissues of the foot, whereby the lat-
eral diameter of the heels in particular is diminished. It affects the
fore feet XJrincipally, but is seen occasionally in the hind feet, where
it is of less importance for the reason that the hind foot first strikes
the ground vdth the toe, and, consequently, less expansion of the heels
is necessary than in the fore feet, where the weight is first received on
the heels, and any interference with the expansibility of this part of
the foot interferes with locomotion and ultimatel}' gives rise to lame-
ness. Usually but one foot is affected at a time, but when both are
diseased the change is greater in one than in the other. Occasionally
but one heel, and that the inner one, is contracted; in these cases
there is less likely to be lameness and x)ermanent impairment of the
animal's usefulness. According to the opinion of some of the French
veterinarians, hoof -bound should be divided into two classes — total con-
traction, in which the Avhole foot is shrunken in size, and contraction
of the heels, when the trouble extends only from the quarters backward.
(Plate XXXIV, Figs. 4 and 7.)

Causes. — Animals raised in Avet or marsh}' districts, when taken to
towns and kept on dry floors, are liable to have contracted heels, not
alone because the horn becomes diy but because fever of the feet and
wasting away of the soft tissues result from the change. Another com-
mon cause of contracted heels is to be found in faulty shoeing, such as
rasping the wall, cutting away the frog, heels, and bars; high calks
and the use of nails too near the heels. Contracted heels may happen
also as one of the results of other diseases of the foot; for instance,
it often accompanies thrush, side-bones, ringbones, canker, navicular
disease, corns, sprains of the flexor t-endons, of the sesamoid and sus-
pensory ligaments, and from excessive knuckling of the fetlock joints.

Sympioras. — In contraction of the heels the foot has lost its circular
shape, and the walls from the quarters backward api)roacli to a
straight line. The ground surface of the foot is now smaller than the
coronary circumference; the frog is pinched between the inclosing
heels, is much shrunken, and at times is alfected with thrush. The
sole is more concave than natural, the heels are higher, and the bars
are long and nearly perpendicular. Tlie whole hoof is dry, and so
hard that it can scarcely be cut; the parts toward the heels are scaly
and often rigid like the horns of a ram, while fissures, more or less
deep, may be seen at the quarters and heels following the direction of
the horn fibei^.- (Plate XXXIII, Fig. 10.) When the disease is well
advanced lameness is present; in the earlier stages there is only an
uneasiness evinced by frequent shifting of the affected foot or feet.

404

Stiiiubling is common, especially on hard or rougli roads. In most
cases the animal comes out of the stable stiff and inclined to walk on
the toe, but after exercise he may go free again. lie wears his shoes
off at the toe in a short time, no matter whether he works or remains
in the stable. If the shoe is removed and the foot jjared, in old cases
a dry, meal}^ horn will be found where the sole and wall unite, extend-
ing upward in a narrow line toward the quarters.

Treatment. — First of all, the preventive measures must be consid-
ered. The feet must be kept moist and the horn be prevented from
drying out by the use of moist sawdust or other damp bedding; by
occasional i3oultices of boiled turnips, linseed meal, etc., and the use
of greasy hoof ointments to botli the sole and walls of the feet. The
wall of the foot should be si)ared from the abuse of the rasp ; the frog,
heels, and bars are not to be mutilated Avith the knife, nor should
calks be used on the shoe except when absolutelj^ necessary. The
shoes should be reset at least once a month, to prevent the feet from
becoming too long, and daily exercise must be insisted on.

As to curative measures a diversity of opinion exists. A number
of kinds of special shoes have been invented, having for an object the
spreading of the heels, and perhaps any of these, if properly used,
would eventually effect the desired result. But a serious objection to
most of these shoes is that they are expensive and often difficult of
make and application. The method of treatment which I have adopted
in these cases is not only attended with good results, but is inexpen-
sive, if the loss of the patient's services for a time is not considered a
part of the question. It consists, first, in the use of poultices or baths
of cold water for a few days until the horn is thoroughly softened.
The foot is now prepared for the shoe in the usual way, except that
the heels are lowered a little, the frog remaining untouched. A shoe
called a "tip" is made by cutting off both branches at the center of
the foot and drawing the ends down to an edge. The tapering of the
branches should begin at the toe, and the shoe should be of the usual
width, with both the upper and lower surfaces flat. This tip is to be
fastened on with six or eight small nails, all set well forward, two
being in the toe. With a common foot rasp begin at the heels, close
to the coronet, and cut away the horn of the wall until only a thin
layer covers the soft tissues beneath. Cut forward until the new sur-
face meets the same 2^ or 3 inches from the heel. The same slox3ing
shape is to be observed in cutting downward toward the bottom of
the foot, at which point the wall is to retain its normal thickness.
The foot is now blistered all around the coronet with Spanish fly oint-
ment, and when this is well set the patient is to be turned to pasture
in a damp field or meadow. The blister should be repeated in three
or four weeks, and, as a rule, the patient can be returned to work in
two or three months' time. The object of the tip is to throw the weight
on 1 lie frog and heels, which are readily spread after the horn has

405

been cut away on the sides of the wall. The internal structures of
the foot at the heels, being relieved of excessive pressure, regain their
normal condition if the disease is not of too long standing. The blis-
ter not onl}^ tends to relieve any inflammation which may be present,
but it also stimulates a rapid growth of healthy horn, which, in most
cases, ultimately forms a wide and normal heel. In old chronic cases,
with a shrunken frog and increased concavity of the sole, accompanied
by excessive wasting of all the internal tissues of the foot, of course
satisfactory results can not be expected and are rarel}^ secured. Still
mnch relief, if not an entire cure, maj' be effected by these measures.
When thrush is present as a complication its cure must be sought
by such measures as are directed in a consideration of this disease
under its proper heading. If sidebones, ringbones, navicular disease,
contracted tendons, or other diseases have been the cause of con-
tracted heels, of course treatment of the result will be useless until
the cause is removed.

SAND-CRACKS.

A sand-crack is a solution of continuity or fissure in tlie horn of the
wall of the foot. These fissures are quite narrow, and as a general
rule they follow the direction of the liornj^ fibers. They may happen
on any part of the wall, but ordinarilj^ they are only seen directly in
front, when they are called foe-cracks; and on the lateral parts of the
walls, when thej^ are known as quarter-cracks. (Plate XXXIII.)

Toe-cracks are most common in the hind feet, while quarter-cracks
nearly alwaj'S affect the fore feet. The inside quarter is more liable
to the injury than the outside one, for the reason that this quarter is
not only the thinner, but during locomotion receives a greater part of
the weight of the body. A sand-crack may be superficial, involving
only the outer parts of the wall, or it may be deep, involving the
whole thickness of the wall and the soft tissues beneath.

Tlie toe-crack is most likely to be complete — that is extending from
the coronary band to the sole — while the quarter-crack is nearly
always incomplete, at least when of comparatively recent origin.
Sand-cracks are most serious Avhen they involve the coronary band in
the injury. They may be complicated at any time by hemorrhage,
inflammation of the lamina^, suiipuration, gangrene of the lateral
cartilage and of the extensor tendon, caries of the coffin bone, or the
growth of a horny tumor known as a keraphyllocele.

Causes. — Relative dryness of the horn is the principal i)redisposing
cause of sand-cracks. Excessive dryness is perhaps not a more pro-
lific cause of cracks in the horn than alternate changes from damp to
dry. It is even claimed that these injuries are more common in ani-
mals working on wet roads than in those working on roads that are
rough and dry; at least these injuries are not common in mountain-
ous countries. Animals used to running at i)asture Avhen ti-ansferred

406

to stables with hard, dry floors are more liable, especially to quarter-
cracks, than those accustomed to stables. Small feet, with tliick,
hard hoofs, and feet which are excessively large, are more susceptible
to sand-cracks than those of better in-oportion. A ijredisposition to
quarter-crack exists in contracted feet, and in those where the toe
turns out or the inside quarter turns under.

HeaAy shoes, large nails, and nails set too far back toward the heels,
together with such diseases as canker, quittor, grease, and suppura-
tive corns, must be included as occasional predisposing causes of sand-
cracks.

Fast work on hard roads, jumping, and blov.s on the coronet,
together with calk wounds of the feet, are accidental causes of quar-
ter-cracks in particular. Toe-cracks are more likely to be caused bj'
heavy jJuUing on slippery roads and pavements or on steep hills.

Si/nqdoms. — The fissure in the horn is ofttimes the onl3' evidence
of the disease; and even this may be accidentally or purposely hidden
from casual view by mud, ointments, tar, wax, jiutty, gutta-percha,
or by the long hairs of the coronet.

Sand-cracks sometimes commence on the internal face of the wall,
involving its whole thickness, excepting a thin layer on the outer
surface. In these cases the existence of the injury maj' be suspected
from a slight depression, which begins near the coronary band and
follows the direction of the horny fillers, but the trouble can only be
positively diagnosed by paring away the outside laj'Crs of horn until
the fissure is exposed. In toe-cracks the walls of the fissure are in
close apposition when the foot receives the weight of the body, but
when the foot is raised from the ground the fissure opens. In quar-
ter-crack the opposite is true, and the fissure closes when the weight
is removed from the foot. As a rule sand-ci-acks begin at the coro-
nary band, and as they become older they not only extend downward,
but they also grow deeper. In old cases, particularly in toe-crack,
the horn on the borders of the fissure loses its vitalitj-^ and scales off,
sometimes through the greater part of its thickness, leaving behind a
rough and irregular channel exteaiding from the coronet to tlie end of
the toe.

In many cases of quarter-crack, and in some cases of toe-crack as
Avell, if the edges remain close together, with but little motion, the
fissure is dry, but in other cases a thin, offensive discharge issues
from the crack and the ulcerated soft tissues, or a fungus-like growth
protrudes from the narrow oi^ening.

Wlion the cracks are deep and the ])iotion of their edges consider-
able, so that the soft tissues are bruised and pinched with every move-
ment, a constant inflammation of the parts is maintained and the
lameness is s(^vere.

Ordinarilj^, the lameness of sand crack is slight Avhen the patient
walks; but it is greatly aggravated Avhen he is made to trot, and the

407

harder the road the worse lie limps. Furthermore, the lameness is
greater going down hill than up, for the reason that these conditions
are favorable to an increased motion in the edges of the fissure.
Lastly, more or less hemorrhage accompanies the inception of a
sand crack wlien the whole thickness of the wall is involved. Sub-
sequent hemorrhages may also take place from fast work, jumping,
or a misstep.

Treatment. — In so far as preventive measures are concerned l)ut
little can be done. The suppleness of the horn is, of course, to be
maintained by the use of ointments, damp floor, bedding, etc. The
shoe is to be proportioned to the weight and work of the animal; the
nails holding it in place are to be of proper size and not driven too
near the heels; sufficient calks and toe-pieces must be added to the
shoes of horses Avorking on slipperj^ roads, and the evils of jumping,
fast driving, etc., are to be avoided.

AVhen a fissure has made its appearance, means are to l)e adopted
which will prevent it from growing longer or deeper; and this can
only be done by arresting all motion in the edges. The best and
simplest artificial appliance for holding the borders of a toe crack
together is the Vachette clasp. These clasps, and the instruments
necessary for their application, can be had of any of the more i^rom-
inent makers of veterinary instruments. These instruments com-
prise a cautery iron with which two notches are burned in the wall,
one on each side of the crack, and forceps Avith which the clasps
are closed into place in the bottom of the notches and the edges of
the fissure brought close together. The clasps being made of stitf
steel wire are strong enough to prevent all motion in the borders
of the crack. Before these clasps are applied the fissure should
be thoroughly cleansed and dried, and, if the injury is of recent
origin, the crack may be filled with a putt}' ma-de of 2 parts of gutta
percha and 1 part of gum ammoniac. The number of clasps to be
used is to be determined by the length of the crack, the amount of
motion to be arrested, etc. Generally the clasps are from one-half
to three-quarters of an inch apart. The clasps answer equally as
well in quarter crack if the wall is sufficiently thick and not too dry
and brittle to withstand the strain.

In the absence of these instruments and clasps a hole may be
drilled through the horn across the fissure, and the crack closed with
a thin nail made of tough iron, neatly clinched at both ends. A plate
of steel or brass is sometimes fitted to the parts and fastened on with
short screws; Avhile this appliance may prevent much gaping of the
fissure it does not entirely arrest motion of the edges for the simple
reason that the plate and screw can not be rendered immobile.

If, for any reason, the above measures fail or can not be used
recourse must be had to an operation. The horn is softened by the
use of warm baths and poultices, the patient cast and the walls of

408

the fissure are entirely removed with the knife. Tlie horn removed
is in the shape of the letter V with the base at the coronet. Care
must be taken not to injure the coronary baud and the laminse. The
wound is to be treated with mild stimulant dressings, such as a weak
solution of carbolic acid, tincture of aloes, etc., oakum balls, and a
roller bandage. After a few daj'S the wound will become covered
with a new, white horn, and the oakum and bandages only will be
needed. As the new quarter grows out the lameness disappears, and
the patient may be shod with a bar shoe and returned to Avork.

In all cases of sand crack the growth of horn should be stimulated
by cauterizing tlie coronary band, or by the use of blisters. In sim-
ple quarter crack recovery will often take place if the coronet is blis-
tered, the foot shod with a "tip," and the patient turned to pasture.

The shoe, in toe crack, should have a clip on each side of the fis-
sure and should be thicker at the toe than at the heels. The foot
should be lowered at the heels by f>aring, and spared at the toe,
except directly under the fissure, where it is to be pared away until it
sets free from the shoe.

When any of the complications referred to above arise, special
measures must of course be resorted to. For the x^rojier treatment of
gangrene of the lateral cartilage and extensor tendon and caries of the
coffin bone, reference maj^ be had to the articles on quittors. If
the horny tumor known as keraphyllocele should develop it is to be
removed by the use of the knife. Since this tumor develops on the
inside of the horny box and may involve other important organs of
the foot in disease, its removal should only be undertaken by a skillful
surgeon.

NAVICULAR DISEASE.

Navicular disease, often called "navicular arthritis" by the English,
is an inflammation of the sesamoid sheath, induced by repeated bruis-
ing or laceration, and comi)licated in many cases by inflammation and
caries of the navicular bone. In some instances the disease undoubt-
edly begins in the bone, and the sesamoid sheath becomes involved
subsequently by an extension of the inflammatory process. (Plate
XXXII, Fig. 5.)

The thoroughbred horse is more commonly affected with the disease
than any other, yet no class or breed of horses is entirely exempt. The
mule, however, seems rarely, if ever, to suffer from it. For reasons
which will appear when considering the causes of the disease the hind
feet are not liable to be affected. As a general rule but one fore foot
suffers from the disease, but if both should be attacked the trouble
has become chronic in the first before the second shows signs of the
disease.

Causes. — To comprehend fully how navicular disease may be caused
b}' conditions and usages common to nearly all animals it is necessary

409

to recall the peciilifii" anatomy of the parts involved in the jirocess and
the functions which they perform in locomotion. It mnst he remem-
bered that the fore legs largely support the weight of the body when
the animal is at rest, and that the faster he moves the greater is the
shock which the fore feet mnst sustain as the bodj^ is thrown forward
upon them by the i^ropelling force of the hind legs. This shock could
not be withstood by the tissues of the fore feet and legs were it not
that it is largely dissipated by the elastic muscles which bind the
shoulder to the body, tlie ease with which the arm closes on the shoul-
der blade, and the spring of the fetlock joint. But even these means
are not sufficient within themselves to protect the foot from injury,
and so nature has furtlier supplemented them b}' placing the coffin
joint on the hind i)art of the coffin bone instead of directly on top of
it, whereby a large part of the shock of locomotion is dispersed before
it can reach the vertical column, represented in the cannon, knee,
and arm bones. A still further jirovision is made by j)lacing a soft,
elastic pad — the frog and plantar cushion — at the heels to receive the
sesamoid expansion of the flexor tendon as it is forced downward by
the pressure of the coronet bone against the navicular. Extraordi-
nary as these means may appear for the destruction of shock, and
ample as they are when the animal is at a slow pace or unweighted by
rider or load, they fail to completely relieve the parts from concussion
and excessive pressure whenever the opposite conditions are present.
The result, then, is that the coronet bone forces the navicular hard
against the flexor tendon, which, in turn, presses firmly against the
navicular as the force of the contracting muscles lifts the tendon into
place. It is self-evident, then, that the more rapid the pace and the
greater the load, the greater must these contending forces be, and
the greater the liability to injury. For the same reason horses with
excessive knee action are more likely to suffer from this disease than
others, concussion of the foot and intense pressure on the tendon being
common attendants upon their usage. Besides these exciting causes
must be considered those which predispose to the disease. Most
prominent among these is heredity. It maybe claimed, however, that
an inherited in-edisposition to navicular disease consists not so much
in a special susceptibility of the tissues which are involved in the proc- .
ess as in a vice of conformation which, as is well known, is likely to
be transmitted from parent to offspring. The faults of conformation
most likely to be followed by the development of navicular disease
are an insufficient plantar cushion, a small frog, high heels, excessive
knee action, and contracted heels. Finalh", the environments of
domestication and use, such as dry stables, heavy pulling, bad shoe-
ing, punctured wounds, etc., all have their influence in developing
this disease.

Symjifoms. — In the earlj- stages of navicular disease the sjmiptoms
are generally very obscure. When the disease begins in inflammation

410

of the navicular "bone the animal points the affected foot while at rest,
a time before any lameness is seen. While at work he ai^pareutly
travels as well as ever, but when placed in the stable one foot is set
out in front of tlie other, resting on the toe, with fetlock and knee
flexed. After a time, if the case is closelj^ watched, the animal takes
a few lame steps while at work, but the lameness disappears as sud-
dcnl}'' as it came and the driver doubts if the animal was really lame
at all. Later on the patient has a lame spell Avhich may last during a
greater part of the day, but the next morning it is gone; he leaves the
stable all right, but goes lame again during the daj'. In time he has
a severe attack of lameness, which may last for a weelc or more, when
a remission takes j^lace and it may be weeks or months before another
attack supervenes. Finally, he becomes constantly lame, and the
more lie is iised the greater the lameness.

In the lameness from navicular disease the affected leg always takes
a short step, and the toe of the foot first strikes the ground, so that
the shoe is most worn at this point. If the iiatient is made to move
backwards the foot is set down with exceeding great care, and the
weight rests upon the affected leg but a moment. When exercised he
often stumbles, and if the road is rough he may fall on his knees. If
he is lame in both feet the gait is stilty, the shoulders seem stiff, and
if the patient is made to Avork he sweats profusely from the intense
pain. Early in the develoi)ment of the disease a careful examination
will reveal some increased heat in the heels and frog, particularly
after work; as the disease progresses this becomes more marked until
the whole foot is hot to the touch. . At the same time there is .an
increased sensibility of the foot, for the jiatient flinches from the per-
cussion of a hammer lightly applied to the frog and heels, or from the
pressure of the smith's pincers. The frog is generally shrunken, often
of a pale reddish color, and at times it is affected with thrush. If the
heels are pared awaj^ so that all the weight is received on the frog, or
if the same result is attained by the application of a bar shoe, the
animal is excessively lame. The muscles of the leg and shoulder
shrink away, and often tremble as the animal stands at rest. After
months of lameness the foot is found to be shrunken in its diameter
and apparently lengthened; the horn is dry and brittle and has lost
its natural gloss, while circular ridges, developed most tOAvard the
heels, cover the upper part of the hoof. When both feet are affected
the animal points first one foot then the other, and stands with the
hind feet well forward beneath the bodj' so as to relieve the fore feet
as much as possible from bearing weight. In old cases the wasting
of the muscles and the knuckling at the fetlock become so great that
the leg can not be straightened, and locomotion can scarcely be per-
formed. The disease generall}'^ makes a steady progress without
inclining to recovery — the remission of symptoms in the earlier stages
should not be interpreted as evidence that the i^rocess has terminated.

411

The complications iisuallj' seen are ringbones, sidebones, thrush, con-
tracted heels, quarter cracks, and fractures of the navicular, coronet,
and j)astern bones.

Treatment. — But few cases of navicular disease recover. In the
early stages the wall of the heels should be rasped awaj'' as directed
in the treatment for contracted heels, until the horn is quite thin;
the coronet should be well blistered Avith Spanish-lly ointment, and the
patient turned to grass in a damp field or meadow. After three or
four weeks' time the blister sliould be repeated. This treatment is to
be continued for two or three months. Plane shoes are to be put on
when the patient is returned to work. In chronic cases the animal
should be put to slow, easy work. To relieve the pain, neurotomy
may be performed — an operation in which the sense of feeling is
destroyed in the foot by cutting out pieces of the nerve at the fetlock.
This operation in nowise cures the disease, and since it may be
attended with serious results can ow\j be advised in certain favorable
cases, to be determined b}' the veterinarian.

SIDEBOXES.

A sidebone -consists in a transformation of the lateral cartilages
found on the wings of the coffin bone into bonj'- matter by the deposi-
tion of lime salts. The disease is a common one, especially in heavy
horses used for draft, in cavalry horses, cow-ponies, and other saddle
horses, and in runners and trotters.

Sidebones are peculiar to the fore feet, yet thej* occasionally develop
in the hind feet, where they are of little importance, since thej' cause
no lameness. In manj^ instances sidebones are of slow growth, and
being unaccompanied by acute inflammation, they cause no lameness
until such time as, b}' reason of their size, they interfere with the
action of the joint. (Plate XXXII, Fig. 4.)

Causes. — Sidebones often grow in heavy horses without any appar-
ent injury, and their development has been attributed to the over-
expansion of the cartilages caused bj^ the great weight of the animal.
Blows, and other injuries to the cartilages, may set up an inflamma-
tory process which ends in the formation of these bony growths.
Iligh-heeled shoes, high calks, and long feet are always classed among
the conditions which may excite the growth of sidebones. They are
often seen in connection with contracted heels, ringbones, navicular
diseases, punctured wounds of the foot, quarter crack, and occasion-
ally as a sequel to founder.

Symjitoms. — In the earlier stages of the disease, if inflammation is
present, the only evidence of the trouble to be detected is a little
fever over the seat of the affected cartilage and a slight lameness. In
the lameness of sidebones the toe of the foot first strikes the ground
and tlie step is shorter than natural. The subject comes out of the
stable stiff and sore, but the gait is more free after exercise.

412

Since the deposit of the bony matter often begins in that part of the
cartilage Avliere it is attached to the coffin bone, the diseased process
may exist for some time before the bony growtli can be seen or felt.
Later on, however, the cartilage can be felt to have lost its soft elastic
character, and by standing in front of the animal a prominence of the
coronary region at the quarters can be seen. Occasionally these
bones become so large as to bulge the hoof outward, and by pressing
on the joint they so interfere Avith locomotion that the animal becomes
entirely useless.

Treatment. — So soon as the disease can be diagnosed active treat-
ment should be adopted. Cold water bandages are to be used for a
few days to relieve the fever and soreness.

The imjjrovement consequent on the use of these simx3le measures
of ten leads to the belief that the disease has recovered; but with a
return to work the lameness, fever, etc., reappears. For this reason
the use of blisters, or better still the firing iron, should follow on the
discontinuance of the cold bandages.

But in many instances no treatment will arrest the growth of these
bony tumors, and as a palliative measure neurotomy must be resorted
to. Generally this operation will so relieve the pain of locomotion
that the patient nnay be used for slow work; but in animals used for
faster driving or for saddle purjioses the operation is ijractically use-
less. Some years ago I unnerved a number of cavalry horses at Fort
Leavenworth that were suffering from sidebones, and the records show
that in less than seven months' time all were more lame than ever.
Since a predisposition todeveloj) sidebones maybe inherited, animals
suffering from this disease should not be used for breeding ijurposes
unless the trouble is known to have originated from an accident.

RINGBONE.

A ringbone is the growth of a bony tumor on the ankle. This tumor
is in fact not the disease, but simply the result effected by an inflam-
matory action set up in the periosteum and bone tissue proper of! the
large and small pastern bones. (Plate XXXII, Fig. 1.)

Causes. — Injuries, such as blows, sprains, overwork in young unde-
veloped animals, fast work on hard roads, jumiiing, etc., are among
the principal exciting causes of ringbones. Horses most disposed to
this disease are those with short upright pasterns, for the reason that
the shock of locomotion is but imperfectly dissipated in the fore legs
of these animals. Imi^roper shoeing, such as the use of high calks,
a too great shortening of the toe and correspondingly high heels,
predispose to this disease by increasing the concussion to the feet.

Symptoiris. — The first symptom of an actively developed ringbone
is the appearance of a lameness more or less acute. If the bony tumor
forms on the side or upper parts of the large pastern its growth is
generally unattended with acute inflammatory action, and, conse-
quently, produces no lameness or evident fcA-er. These are called

413

false ringbones. But when the tumors form on tlie whole circumfer-
ence of the ankle, or simply in front nnder the extensor tendon, or
behind under the flexor tendons; or if they involve the joints between
the two pastern bones, or between the small pastern and the coffin
bone, the lameness is always severe. These constitute the true ring-
bone. Besides the lameness the ankle of the affected limb presents
more or less heat, and in many instances a rather firm, though limited,
swelling of the deeper tissues over the seat of the inflammatory proc-
ess. The lameness of ringbone is characteristic in that the heel is
first placed on tlie ground when tlie disease is in a fore leg, and the
ankle is kept as rigid as possible. In the hind leg, however, the toe
strikes the ground first when the ringbone is high on the ankle, just
as in health; but the ankle is maintained in a rigid position. If the
bony growth is under the front tendon of the hind leg, or if it involves
the coffin joint, the heel is brought to the ground first. In the early
stages of the disease it is not always easy to diagnose ringbone; but
when the deposits have reached some size they can be felt and seen as
well.

The importance of a ringbone of course depends on its seat, and
often on its size. If it interferes with the joints, or with the tendons,
it maj^ cause an incurable lameness even though small. If it is on
the sides of the large pastern, the lameness generallj^ disappears as
soon as the tumor has reached its growth and the inflammation sub-
sides. Even where the pastern joint is involved, if comj)lete anchy-
losis results, the patient may recover from the lameness with simply
an imjierfect action of the foot remaining, due to the stiff joint.

Treatment. — Before the bony growth has commenced the inflam-
matory process may be cut short by the use of cold baths and wet
bandages, followed by one or more blisters. If the bony deposits
have begun, the firing iron should always be used. Even where the
tumors are large and the pastern joint involved, firing often hastens
the process of anchylosis, and should always be tried.

Where the lower joint is involved, or Avhere the tumor interferes
with the action of the tendons, of course recovery is not to be expected.
In many of these latter cases, however, the animal may be made serv-
iceable by proper shoeing. If the patient walks with the toe on the
ground the foot should be sliod with a high-heeled shoe and a short
toe. On the other hand, if he walks on the heel a thick-toed and
thin-heeled shoe must be worn.

Since ringbone is considered to be one of the hereditary diseases no
animal suffering from this trouble should ever be used for breeding
purposes.

LAMINITIS.

By what term this disease was first known to man is a question
unanswerable. During many years in the recent past, and before an

414

approximate knowledge of its lesions was had, it vras usually desig-
nated as "founder."

In country districts and amongst the great majority of the laity
this name is yet almost exclusively used; and undoubtedly it was first
so employed because it best expressed the physical inability or
disinclination upon the part of the patient to proceed in his gait,
resembling thereby a ship similarly disabled. That it could have
been adopted upon any other ground hardly seems possible, for the
etymology of the term does not indicate that it was so used because it
contained even the most remote intimation either as to the seat of the
disease, its nature or its cause.

Of the nature of laminitis but little is to be said, it being a simple
inflammation of the senstive laminae of the feet, characterized b}^ the
general phenomena attending inflammation of the skin and mucous
membranes, producing no constitutional disturbances except those
dependent upon the local disease, and having a strong tendency, in
severe cases, to destructive disorganization of the tissues affected.

Causes. — The causes of laminitis ai^e as wide and variable as in any
of the local inflammations, and may be divided into two classes — tlie
predisposing and exciting.

Predisposing causes. — From personal observations I do not know
that any particular construction of foot or any special breed of horses
is thereby predisposed to tliis disease, neither can I find anything to
warrant the assumption that it is in any way hereditary; so that while
we may easily cultivate a predisposition of the disease upon the part
of the tissues subject to become affected, the disease itself does not
originate Avithout an exciting cause. Like most other tissues, a pre-
disposition to inflammation may be induced in the sensitive lamime
by any cause which lessens their power of withstjinding the work
imposed on them. It exists to an extent in those animals unaccus-
to]i\ed to work, particularly if they are plethoric, and in all those tjiat
have been previous subjects of the disease, for the same rule hdlds
good here .that we find in so many diseases — /. e., that one attack
impairs the functional activity of the affected tissues and thus renders
them more easy of a subsequent inflammation.

Unusual excitement by determining an excessive blood supply, bad
shoeing, careless paring of the feet by removing the sole support, as
well as high calkings without corresponding toe pieces, must be
included under this head.

Exciting causes.— The exciting causes of laminitis are many and
varied, the most common being concussion, overexertion, exhaustion,
rapid changes of temperature, ingestion of various foods, purgatives,
and the oft-mentioned metastasis.

(1) Concussion acts as a producer of this disease by the local over-
stimulation which it occasions, the excessive excitement being fol-
lowed by an almost complete exhaustion of the functional activity of

415

the laminated tissues, the exliaustioii by congestion, and eventually
by inflammation. But congestion here, as in all other tissues, is not
necessarily followed by inflammation ; lor although the principal symp-
toms belonging to true laminitis are present, the congestion ma}' be
relieved before the processes of inflammation are fully established.
This is the condition that obtains in the many so-called cases of lam-
initis, Avhich recover in fi'om twenty-four to forty-eight hours' time.
These are the cases which should be called congestion of the laminsc.
Laminitis from concussion is common in track horses trotting races
when not in condition, especially if they are carrying the obnoxious
toe Aveights, and in green horses put to work on city pavements to
which they are unaccustomed. Concussion from long drives on dirt
roads is at times productive of the same results, notably when the
weather is extremely warm, or at least when the relative change of
temperature is great. But undoubtedly the exhaustion so apt to be
produced under these circumstances must be considered as exerting
almost as great an influence as an exciting cause as does the long-con-
tinued concussion. This same combination of causes must also be
admitted as determining the disease when seen at times in hunters,
for the imi)osed weight of the rider increases the demands made upon
the function of these tissues, and their powers of resisting congestion
and its consequences are the sooner exhausted.

(2) Overexertion, as heavy pulling or rapid work, even where there
is no chance for immoderate concussion, occasionally results in this
disease, although in the majorit}' of instances exhaustion is a con-
junctive cause, for overexertion can not be long continued without
inducing exhaustion.

(3) Exhaustion, in whatever manner produced, is nearly as prolific
a source of laminitis as is concussion, for when the physical strength
has been greatly impaired, even though but temporarily, some part
of the economy is rendered more vulnerable to disease than others,
and it is not strange that in nian}"" instances it should be those parts
still called ujion to perform their function of maintaining the weight
of the body after their activity has been exhausted. It is to this cause
Ave must ascribe those many cases Avhich we see folloAving a hard day's
AA'ork, Avhere at no tijne has there been OA^erexertion or immoderate
concussion.

In the same manner a strong teiidency to laminitis is induced in
horses on sea A^oyages, the exhaustion of the laminje resulting from
the continual constrained position Avhich the animal is compelled to
maintain on account of the rocking motion of the A^essel,

The same cause exists Avhere one foot has been blistei-ed, or AA^here
one limb is incapacitated from any other reason; for the opposite
member being called on to do double duty, soon becomes exhausted,
and congestion, folloAved T)y inflammation, results as a matter of
course. Where one foot only becomes laminitic, it is customary to

416

find the other or corresponding menil)er participating at a later date,
not always because of sympathy, but because the transfer of all the
functional performance to the one foot proves within itself a sufiacient
exciting cause.

(4) Rapid changes of temperature act as an exciting cause of lami-
nitis in precisely the same way as they act to produce disease in other
tissues, the result of these variations of temperature showing itself
upon those parts rendered particularly susceptible to pathological
changes from some impairment of their natural disease-resisting
powers.

This change of temperature may be induced by drinking large quan-
tities of cold water while in an overheated condition. Here the inter-
nal heat is rapidly reduced, the neighboring tissues and blood-vessels
constrained, and the blood supply to these organs greatly diminished,
while the quantity sent to the surface is correspondingly increased.
True, in many of the cases which result from this cause there has not
been sufficient labor performed to impair the powers of the lamiufe,
and I am inclined to the opinion that laminitis is the more readily
induced than congestion or inflammation of the skin or other surface
organs because of the impossibility upon the part of the lamina3 to
reUeve themselves of the threatened congestion by the general safety-
valve of perspiration. A cold wind or relatively cold air allowed to
play upon the body when heated and wet with sweat has virtually the
same result, for it arrests evaporation and rapidly cools the external
surface, thereby determining an excess of blood to such organs and
tissues as are protected from this outside i nfluence. In many instances
this happens to be some of the internal organs, as the lungs, where the
previous work has been rapid and their functional activity impaired;
but in numerous other instances the determination is toward the feet,
and that it is so depends upon two very palpable facts; first, that
these tissues have been greatly excited and are already receiving as
much blood as they can accommodate consistently with health; sec-
ondly, even though these tissues are classed with those of the surfac4,
their protection from atmospheric influences by means of the thick
box of horn incasing them renders them in this respect equivalent to
internal organs.

Again, a still more limited local action of cold excites this disease,
as seen from driving through water or washing the feet or legs while
the animal is warm or just in from work. Here a very marked reac-
tion takes place in the surface tissues of the limbs, and passive con-
gestion of the foot results from an interference with the return flow
of blood, which is being sent to these organs in excess. These are
more apt to be simple cases of congestion, soon to recover, yet they
may become true cases of laminitis. Youatt says: "The danger is
not confined to the change from heat to cold; a sudden transition
from cold to heat is as injurious, and therefore it is that so many

417

horses after having been ridden far in frost and snow and placed
immediately in a hot stable and littered up to the knees are attacked
by this complaint." I have never seen the disease occnr nnder exactly
similar circnmstances, bnt am inclined to believe that in these cases
the disease was attributed to the wrong cause — the excitement, exhaus-
tion, and concussion of the long ride being apparently entirelj' over-
looked. Furthermore, if we consider the physical conditions which
must necessarily be present under the circumstances, it seems incon-
sistent Avith our knowledge of the effects of heat and cold to believe
tliat the verj' moderate temperature of stables and the lieat-T)roducing
ijroperties of bedding "up to the knees" could' be productive of 1am-
initis. Rather should we say that such favorable circumstances would
be conducive to opposite results.

(5) AVhj^ it is that certain kinds of grain v>-ill cause laminitis does
not seem to be clearly understood. Certainly they possess no specific
action upon the laminsG, for all animals are not alike affected, neither
do thej^ always produce these results in the same animal. In the
case of some of these ailments, where their ingestion causes a strong
tendency to indigestion, the consequent irritation of the alimentary
canal may be so great as to warrant the belief that the lamina3 are
affected through sympathy. In other instances there is no apparent
interference with digestion, nor evidence of any irritation of the
mucous membranes, yet the disease is in some manner dependent upon
the food in question for its inception. Barley, wheat, and sometimes
corn are the grains most prolific in the production of this disease.
With some horses there appears to be a particular susceptibility to
this influence of corn. In such instances the feeding of this grain for
a few days will be followed by inflammation of the feet, lasting from
a few days to two weeks time. In these animals, to all appearances
healthy, the corn neither induces colic, indigestion, nor i^urging, and
apparently no irritation whatever of tlie alimentary canal.

(()) Fortunately i^urgative medicines but rarely become the exciting
cause of inflammation of the lamina?. That it is then the result of a
sympathetic action upon the part of the tissues affected is no doubt
more than hypothetical, for when there is no derangement of the ali-
mentary canal existing a dose of cathartic medicine will at times bring
on severe laminitis, and that, too, before purgation commences.

(7) Most if not all the older authorities were agreed that metastatic
laminitis is a reality. That such a condition ever does exist outside
the imagination certainly awaits the proving. That laminitis may
and ofttimes does exist as a concurrent disease with numerous
others is unquestionably true, but to believe an inflammation can be
almost momentarily transferred from one organ to another, no mat-
ter how remote, is to destroy all belief in our knowledge of the pathol-
ogy of this complicated process. We do not pretend to deny that
5961— HOR 1-4

418

the induction of laminitis, during the course of some other disease, may
servo to arrest the further invasion of healthy tissue by the primary
process, or that it may exert a remedial influence upon the first dis-
ease, but it can not and does not at once remove that inflammation
and obliterate its lesions, for the products of any inflammation, be
it never so simple, require a certain time for their removal, and it is
impossible that, for instance, the products of inflamed lung tissue
can be immediately removed and the inflammation in whole trans-
ferred to the laminae. Metastatic laminitis, then, is nothing more
nor less than concurrent laminitis, and as such presents little in jiny
way peculiar outside the imperfectly understood exciting cause, and
the practitioner who allows the acute symptoms of the laminitis to
mislead liim, simply because their severity has overshadowed those
of the primary disease, may lose his case through unguarded subse-
quent treatment. This form of laminitis is by no means commonly
met with, but when seen will usually be found in conjunction with
pneumonia, according to Youatt with inflammation of the bowels and
eyes, and according to Law and Williams sometimes with bronchitis.
^ Sym]jtoms.— Laminitis is characterized by a congregation of symp-
toms so well marked as scarcely to be misinterpreted by the most cas.
ual observer. They are nearly constant in their manifestations, modi-
fied by the number of feet affected, the cause which has induced the
disease, the previous condition of the patient, and the various other
influences which operate in all diseases to some extent. They may be
divided into general symptoms, which are concomitants of all cases of
the disease, subject to variations in degree only and special symptoms,
or those whieli serve to determine the feet affected and the coinplica-
tions which may arise.

General si/mj^toms.—Vsuallj the first symptoms that would indicate
any definite obstruction to functional performance is the interference
with locomotion produced by congestion of the sensitive membrane.
Occasionally the other symptoms are presented first. With the devel-
opment of the lameness the pulse will be found accelerated, full, hiird,
and striking the finger strongly; the temperature soon rises several
degrees above the normal, reaching sometimes 106° Fahr., although it
generally ranges between 102^° and 105° Fahr. The respirations are
rapid and panting in character^ the nostrils being widely dilated, and
the mucous membranes highly injected. The facial expression is anx-
ious and indicative of the most acute suffering, while the body is more
or less bedewed with sweat. At first there may be tendency to diar-
rhea, or it may appear later, particularly as the result of the medicines
used. The urine is high colored, scant in quantity, and of increased
specific gravity, owing to the water from the system being eliminated
by the skin instead of the kidneys. The appetite is impaired and
sometimes entirely lost, while the thirst is greatly increased. The
affected feet arc hot and dry to the touch. They are relieved as much

419

as i^ossible from bearing weight. Rapping them with a hammer or
compelling tlie animal to stand uj)on one atfected member causes
intense pain, while the artery at the fetlock throbs beneath the finger.

Special symptoms. — Liabilitj* to affection varies in the different feet
according to the exciting cause. Any one or more of the feet may
become the subject of this disease, although it appears more often in
the fore feet than in the hind ones, a fact owing to the difference of
function, /. e., that the fore feet are the basis of the columns of sup-
port, receiving nearly all the body weight during progression and con-
sequently most of the concussion, while the hind feet at such times
become simply the fulcra of the levers of progression, and arc almost
exempt from concussion.

One foot. — Injuries and excessive functional performance are the
causes of the disease in only one foot; here the general symptoms as
a rule are not severe, there often being no loss of appetite and no
unusual thirst, while the pulse, temperature, and respiration remain
about normal. In these instances the weight of the body is early
thrown upon the opposite foot and the affected one is extended,
repeatedly raised from the floor and then carefully replaced. When
made to move forward the lame foot is either carried in the air while
progression is accomplished by hopping with the health}^ one, or else
the heel of the first is placed upon the ground and receives the little
weight thrown upon it while the sound limb is quickly advanced.
Progression in a straight line is much more easily accomi^lished than
in turning toward the lame side.

Both fore feet. — When both fore feet are affected the symptoms are
well marked. Tlie lameness is excessive and the animal almost
immovable. When standing the head hangs low down, or rests upon
the manger as a means of supix>rt and to relieve the feet; the fore
feet are well extended so that the weight is thrown upon the heels,
where the tissues are least sensitive, least inflamed, and most capable
of relief from free effusion. The hind feet are brought forward
beneath the body to receive as much weight as possible, thereby
relieving the diseased ones. If progression is attempted, Avhich rarely
happens voluntarily during the first three or four days, it is accom-
plished with very great pain and lameness at the starting, which
usually subsides to an extent after a few minutes' exercise. During
this exercise, if the animal hai^pens to step upon a small stone or
other hard sul)stance, he stumbles painfully on the other foot and is
excessively lame in the offended member for a number of steps, owing
to the acute pain which pressure upon the sole causes in the tissues
beneath. The manner of the progression is pathognomonic of the
comj)laint. Sometimes the affected feet are simultaneously raised
from the ground (the hind ones sustaining the weight), then advanced
a short distance and carefully replaced, while at almost the same
moment the hind ones are quickly shuffled forward near to the center
of gravitation.

420

111 other instances one foot at a time is advanced and placed with
the heel upon the ground in the same careful manner, all causes of
concussion being carefully avoided. In attempting to back the ani-
mal he is found to be almost stationary, sim^jly swaying the body
back on the haunches and elevating the toes of the diseased feet as
they rest upon their heels. In attempting to turn either to the right
or left he allows his head to be drawn to the one side to its full extent
before moving, then makes his hind feet the axis around which the
forward ones describe a shuffling circle.

In a majority' of cases of laminitis in the fore feet the animal per-
sists in standing until he is nearlj^ recovered. In other cases he as
persistently lies, standing only when necessity seems to compel it,
and then for as short a time as possible. If the recumbent position
is once assumed the relief experienced from a removal of the weight
of the bod}'- off the inflamed tissues tempts the patient to seek it
again, and so we often find him down a greater part of the time. But
this is not true of all cases, for sometimes he will make the experi-
ment, then cautiously guard against a rejietition. Even in those
cases of enforced recumbency, he ofttimes takes advantage of the
first opportunity and gets upon his feet, doggedly remaining there
until again laid upon his side by his attendants. How to explain
this diversity of action I do not know, for theoretically the recumbent
jjosition is the only appro i:)riate one, except when complications exist,
and the one which should give the most comfort, yet it is rejected by
very many x)atients and no doubt for some good reason. It has been
suggested as an exjilanation that when the animal gets upon his feet
after lying for a time the suffering is so greatly augmented that the
memory of this experience deters him from an attempted repetition.
If this were true, the horse with the first attack of this disease must
necessaril}^ make the exi3eriiiieiit before knowing the after effects of
lying down, yet many remain standing without even an attempt at
gaining this experimental knowledge.

The most favored jiosition of the animal when down is on the broad-
side, with the feet and legs extending. While in this jiosition the
general sj'mptoms greatly subside; the respirations and pulse become
almost normal; the temperature falls and the persjiiration dries. It
is mostly with difficulty that he is made to rise, and when he attempts
it gets up rapidl}- and "all in a heap," as it were, shifting quickly
from one to the other foot until they become accustomed again to the
weight thrown wpon them. Occasionall}^ a i)atient will get up like a
cow, rising upon the hind feet first. Although enforced exercise
relieves to some extent the soreness, it is but temporary, for after a
few minutes' rest it returns again with all its former severity.

BoiJi hind feet. — AYhen only both hind feet are affected, thej^ are,
while standing, maintained in the same position as when only the fore
ones are the subjects of the disease, but with an entirely different

421

object in view. Instead of being liere to receive weight, they are so
advanced in that the heels may receive whatever weight is, from neees-^
sity, imposed on them, the fore feet being at the same time placed
well back beneath the bodj^, Avhere they become the main supports, the
animal standing, as AVilliams describes it, "all of a heaj)."

Progression is even more difficult now than when the disease is
confined to the anterior extremities. The fore feet are dubiously
advanced a short distance and the hind ones are then brought forward
with a kind of a kangaroo hop, which results in an apparent loss of
equilibrium which the animal is a few moments in regaining. The
general symptoms, or in other words the degree of suffering, seem more
severe in these cases than where the disease affects the fore feet alone.
The standing position is not often maintained, the patient seeking
relief in recumbency. This fact is easilj^ understood when we con-
sider how cramped and unnatural is the position he assumes while
standing, and if it were maintained for any considerable length of
time would no doubt excite the disease in the fore f^et, as explained
by D'Arboval.

^4// four feet. — Laminitis of all four feet is but uncommonly met
with. The author has seen but three such cases. In all these the
position assumed was nearly normal, all the feet being slightly ad-
vanced, and first one and then another momentarily raised from the
ground and carefully replaced, this [iction being kept up almost con-
tinually during the time the animal remained standing. The suffer-
ing in these cases is most acute, the appetite is lost, and although
the patient lies most of the time the temperature remains too high;
the pulse and respirations are greatly accelerated, the body covered
with sweat, and bed sores are unpleasant accompaniments.

Course.— The course which laminitis takes varies greatly in different
cases, being influenced more or less by the exciting cause, the animal's
previous condition, the acuteness of the attack, and the subsequent
treatment. The first symptoms rarely exhibit themselves while the
animal is at his work, although we will occasionally see the gait
impaired by stumbling, the body covered with a profuse sweat, and
the respiration become blowing in character as premonitions of the
oncoming disease, but as a rule nothing is noted amiss with the animal
until lie has stood for some time after coming in from work, wheii, in
attempting to move him, he is found very stiff. Like all congestions
the early symptoms usually develop rapidly, yet this is not always the
case, for in some instances there appears to be no well-defined period
of congestion, the disease seemingly commencing at a point and gradu-
ally spreading until a large territory is involved in the morbid process.

Simple congest io)}.— Those cases of simj^le congestion of the lamina3
which Ave erroneously call laminitis are rapidly developed, the symp
toms being but moderately severe and from one to three days required
for recovery. There are no structural changes here and but a moderate

422

exudate, wliich is rapidly reabsorbed, leaving the parts precisely in
tlie same condition as they were previous to the attack. If the con-
gestion has been excessive a rupture of some of the capillaries will bo
found, a condition more apt to obtain where the animal is made to
continue work after a development of symptoms has begun.

True, the majority of these last-described cases prove to be the lami-
nitis in fact, yet at times the congestion will pass away and the
extravasated blood be absorbed without inflammation supervening to
an extent sufficient to warrant us calling it laminitis. The seat of
o-reatest congestion will always be found in the neighborhood of tlie
toe, because of the increased vascularity of that part, and although
at times it is limited to the podophyllous tissue alone, any or all parts
of the keratogenous membrane may be affected by the congestion and
followed finally by inflammation.

Acute.— In t\ie acute form of laminitis the symptoms may all develop
rapidly, or it may commence by the appearance of a little soreness of
the feet during progression, which in twenty-four or forty-eight hours'
time has passed into a well-marked case. This peculiarity of develop-
ment is due to one of two causes. Either the congestion is general,
but takes place slowly, or else it begins in one or more points and
Gradually spreads throughout the laminse. These acute cases gener-
ally run their course in from a few days to two weeks or more time.
Usually a culmination of the symptoms is reached if the patient is
properly treated in from three to five days ; then evidences of recovery
are discernible in favorable cases. The lameness improves, the other
symptoms gradually subside, and eventually health is regained. It
is in these acute cases that a strong tendency to disorganization of a
destructive character exists, and hence it is we see so many recover
imperfectly with marked structural changes permanently remaining.
Subacute.— ^nhacnte laminitis is most often seen as a termination
of the acute form, although at times it exists independent of or prb-
cedes an acute attack. It is characterized by the mildness of its symj}-
toms, slow course, and moderate tissue changes. It may be present
for a long time before any pathological lesions result other than those
found in the acute form, and when these changes do take place they
should rather be viewed as complications.

Chronic— Chronic laminitis is a term used by many to designate any
of the sequela? of the acute and subacute forms of this disease. Pure
chronic inflammation of the lamina; is not very commonly met with,
but is most frequent in horses that have long done fast track work.
They have " fever in the feet " at all times and are continually sore,
both conditions being aggravated by work. Like chronic inflamma-
tion of other parts, there is a strong tendency lie.e to tlie development
of new connective tissues, which, by its pressure upon the blood ves-
sels, interferes with nutrition. Wasting of the coffin bone and mflam-
mat'ion of its covering with caries is not unusual. The continued

423

fever and impaired function of secretion result in the production of
horn deficient in elasticity-, somewhat spongy in character, and inclined
to crumble. In others of these cases of " soreness" in horses used to
hard work, there is evident weakness of the coats of the A'esscls
brought on b}' repeated functional exhaustion. Here slight work acts
as an exciting cause of congestion, which results in serious effusion
and temix)rary symptoms similar to those of chronic laminitis.

CompUcatiouh;. — Complications concurrent with or supervening
upon laminitis are frequent and varied, and are often dependent upon
causes not fully understood.

Excessive purgation is one of the simplest of these, and not usually
attended with dangerous consequences. It rarely occurs unless
induced by the exhibition of a ijurgative, and the excessive action of
the medicine is probably to be explained upon the theory that the
mucous membrane sympathizes with the diseased laminae, is irritable,
and readily becomes overexcited. The discharges are thin and watery,
sometimes offensively odorous, and occasionally persist in spite of
treatment. It may prove disastrous to the welfare of the patient by
the rapid exhaustion which it causes, preventing resolution of the
laminitis, and may even cause death.

Sepiiccamia andpyccm /a.— Septicaemia and pyaemia are unusual com-
plications and are seen only in the most severe cases, where bed-sores
are present or suppuration of the laminae results. They die, as a rule,
within three days after showing signs of the complication.

Pneumonia— ihe so-called metastatic— needs no special considera-
tion, for in its lesions and symptoms it does not differ from ordinary
pneumonia, although it may be overlooked entirely by the practitioner.
Examinations of the chest in .laminitis should be made every day, so
as to detect the disease at its onset and render proper aid.

Sidebones.—A rapid development of sidebones is one of the compli-
cations, or perhaps better, a sequel of laminitis not often met ^vith in
practice. Here the inflammatory process extends to the lateral carti-
lages, with a strong tendency to calcification. The deposition of the
lime salts is sometimes most rapid, so that the "bones" are developed
in a few weeks' time; in other instances they are deposited slowly and
their growth is not noted until long after the subsidence of the lami-
nitis, so that the exciting cause is not suspected. This change in the
cartilages may commence as early as the first week of the laminitis,
and although the trouble in the lamina' is removed in the course of a
fortnight the symptoms do not entirely subside, the animal still retain-
ing the shuffling gait, wliile the sidebones continue to grow and the
patient usually remains quite lame. This alteration of the cartilages
generally prevents the patient recovering liis natural gait, because of
tlie permanent impairment of function induced, and tlie practitioner
receives unjust censure for a condition of affairs he could neither
foresee nor prevent.

424

Tlie laininitic j)rocess also occasionally extends to the covering of
the coronet bone, or at least concurrent with and subsequent to lauii-
nitis the development of "low ringbone" is seen, and it is apparently
dependent upon the disease of the laminae for its exciting cause.
The impairment of function and consequent symptoms are much less
marked here than in sidebones. The coronet remains hot and sensi-
tive and somewhat thickened after the laminitis subsides, and a little
lameness is present. This lameness persists and the deposits of new
bone may readily be detected.

Suppuration of the sensitive membrane is a somewhat common
complication, and even when present in its most limited form is always
a serious matter; but when it becomes extensive, and especially where
the suppurative process extends to the lieriosteum, the results are apt
to be fatal. When sux5i)uration occurs the exudation does not appear
to be excessive, but is rich in leucocj^tes and seems to have caused a
detachment of the sensitive tissues from the horn prior to the forma-
tion of pus in some instances, while in others the tissues are still
attached to the horn and the suppuration takes place in the deeper
tissues.

Limited suppuration may take place in any part of the sensitive
tissues of the foot during laminitis, and may ultimately be reabsorbed
instead of being discharged upon the surface, but generally the proc-
ess begins in the neighborhood of the toe and spreads backward and
upward towards the coronet, Avhere it is seen sei^arating the horn from
the coronarj^ band at the quarters. At the same time it is spreading
over the sole and eventually the entire hoof is loosened and finally
sloughs awa3% leaving the tissues beneath entirely unprotected.

In other instances, and these are generally the cases not considered
unusually severe, the suppuration begins at the coronary band.
The suppuration extends but a short distance in the tissue, yet serves
to destroy the patient by separating tlie hoof from the coronary band
upon which it depends for su^iport and growth. In this form of the
suppurative iirocess it is usually seen beginning in front, for it is this
part of the coronary band that is alwaj'-s most actively affected with
inflammation, and consequently it is here that imi)airments first
occur. Suppuration of the sensitive sole is more common than of the
sensitive lamina? and coronary band. It is iDresent in the majority of
cases where there is a dropping of the coffin bone, and in other
instances where the effusion at this point is so great as to arrest the
X)roduction of horn and uncover the sensitive tissues. Except when
the result of injury it begins at the toe and spreads backward, and if
not relieved by opening the sole escapes at the heel. Suppuration of the
sole is much less serious than where present in other parts of the foot.

If the acute constitutional symptoms developed from this slough-
ing of the foot do not result in death, a new hoof of very imperfect
horn may be dcvcloi^cd after a time, but unless the animal is to be

425

kept for breeding piirjioses alone the foot will ever be useless for
work and death should relieve the suffering. When only the sole
sloughs recovery takes jilace with x?i"oper treatment.

Peditis. — This is the term which "Williams applies to that serious
complication of laminitis where not only the laminse but the perios-
teum and the coffin bone are also the subjects of the inflammatory
process. Neither is this all, for in some of these cases of peditis
acute inflammation of the "coffin joint" is present, and occasionally
suppuration of the joint. A mild form of x^eriostitis, in which the
exudation is in the outer or looser layer of the lieriosteum only, is
a more common condition than is recognized by practitioners gener-
ally^, and the intimate contiguity of structures is the predisposing
cause, the disease either si)reading from the original seat, or the com-
plication occurs as one of the primary results of the exciting cause.
In the severer cases where the exudate separates the x)eriosteum from
the bone, supiDuration, gangrene, and superficial caries are common
results; where infiltration of the bone tissues is rapid the blood sup-
ply is cut off by the pressure uj^on the vessels and death of the coffin
bone ensues. Grave constitutional symptoms mark these changes
and soon prove fatal.

In the mild cases of periostitis it is by no means easy to determine
its presence positively, for there are no special symptoms by which it
may be distinguished from jDuro laminitis. In the majority of the
acute cases, though, which show no signs of inix^rovement by the fifth
to seventh day, it is safe to suspect periostitis is present, particularly
if the coronets are very hot, the pulse remaining full and hard, and
the lameness acute. In the fortunately rare cases where the bone is
affected with inflammation and supijuration, the agony of the patient
is intense; he occupies the recumbent position almost continually,
never standing for more than a few minutes at a time, suffers from
the most careful handling of the affected feet; maintains a rapid pulse
and respiration, high temperature, loss of appetite, and great thirst.
It is in these cases the patient continually grows worse, and the
ai)i3earance of suppuration at the top of the hoof in about two weeks
after the incei^tion of the disease jiroves the inefficiency of any treat-
ment that may have been adopted and the hopelessness of the ease.
These patients die usually between the tenth and twentieth days,
either from exhaustion or pytemic infections.

Gangrene occurs in the periosteum as the result of excessive detach-
ment from the bone, combined with compression from an overprofuse
exudate. Other parts of the sensitive tissues are subject to the same
fate occasionally, from this last-named cause, and at times large
territories will be found dead.

Pumiced sole is that condition in which the horny sole in the neigh-
borhood of the toe readily crumbles away and leaves the sensitive
5001— HOR 14*

426

tissues more or less exposed. It is not confined to being a complica-
tion of laminitis, but may be seen whenever the necessary conditions
for inducing it are present. Williams has described the horn 3' tissue
under these circumstances as being "weak, cheesy, or sijongy, like
macerated horn, or even grumous," and this certainly conveys a good
idea of its appearance and general characteristics. This crumbling-
horn when critically examined shows almost an entii-e absence of the
cohesive matter which unites the healthy fibers, Avhile the fibers
themselves are irregular and granular in appearance. Pumiced sole
depends upon an impairment of the horn-secreting i)OAvers of the sen-
sitive sole, or upon a separation occurring between the horu}'^ and soft
tissues which maintain its vitality. The normal sole phj'siologically
maintains a proper thinness by crumbling off in scales as it passes
be\-ond the life-maintaining influence of the producing tissues, and
anj'thing which i)revents, suspends, or destroys this influence causes
the crumbling process to become excessive.

Punctured wounds of the feet, where accomi^anied b}" any consider-
able destruction of the soft or horn-secreting tissues, present the same
peculiarities in this respect in the immediate neighborhood of the
injury. Bruises of the sole are occasionally followed by this change
in the horn where the exudation has been excessive and has separated
it from the living tissues. True, in these cases we rarely see the soft
tissues laid bare, for the reason that new horn is constantly secreted
and replaces that undergoing the process of disintegration.

Laminitis presents three diiferent conditions under which pumiced
sole may appear : First, where free exudation separates the horn from
the other tissues, or where the process of inflammation arrests the pro-
duction of horn bj' impairing or desti'oying the horn-secreting mem-
brane; secondly, where depression of the coffin bone causes pressure
upon and arrests the formation of horn ; and, thirdly, where the eleva-
tion of the sole compresses the soft tissues against the pedal bone and
induces the same condition. Pumiced sole, as it results from simple
exudation and separation of tissues, is of no imi)ortance, for the reason
given above in connection Avith bruises; but where suppuration occurs
in restricted portions of the foot in conjunction with laminitis it always
lays bare the tissues beneath and impairs the animaVs value tempora-
rily. In these cases recovery takes iilace after a few weeks' time by
the tissues horning over, as in injuries which have been attended with
the same process. Depression of the coffin bone is not a sufficient
cause within itself to cause pumiced sole, for if the relative change in
the bone takes place slowly, or if the horn is thin, the sole becomes
convex from the gradual pressure and the soft tissues adapt them-
selves to the change vrithout having their function materially impaired.
But when the dro])ping is sudden and the soft tissues entirely
destroyed, the horn rapidly crumbles away and the toe of the bone
comes through. In many of these cases the soft tissues remain uncov-
ered for months, and when they eventually become covered it is with

427

a thin, slightly adherent horn that bears but little or no wear. The
sole being now convex, the diseased, tissues are compelled to })ear
unusual weight by coming in contact with the ground, and hence it
is these animals are generally incurable cripples. In the majority of
cases wliere the sole is raised to meet the pedal l)one and pumiced sole
occurs, it is due not to pressure of the bone from within (for the tis-
sues are capable of adapting themselves to the gradual change), but to
impaired vitalitj' of the sensitive tissues from the inflammation and
tlie constant concussion and pressure a|)j)lied from without during pro-
gression. Added to this is to bo considered the paring away of the
horn by the smith wh<Mi applying the shoe, thereby keeping the sole
at this i)oint too thin.

Tifiintuj up of the toe. — In man}' cases of laniinitis which have
become chronic it is found that the toe of the foot turns up, and that
the heels are longer than natural, while the whole hoof next to the
coronary band is circled with ridges like the horn of a ram. Even in
other cases where recovery has taken place, and in other diseases
than laminitis, these may be found in the wall of the foot, but in
these cases the ridges are equally distant from each )ther all around
the foot, while in turning up of the toe the ridges are wide apart at
the Iieels and close together in front, as seen in the figure (Plate
XXXI, Fig. 4). These ridges are produced by ijeriods of interference
with the growth of horn alternating with periods during which a nor-
mal or nearly normal growth takes place. When the toe turns up it
does so because the coronary band in front produces horn very slowly,
while at the heels it grows much faster.

Animals affected with pumiced foot and turning up of the toe dur-
ing progression always place the abnormally long heel first upon the
ground, not because the heel is too long, nor as in acute or subacute
laminitis to relieve the i)ain, but for the simple reason that the animal
carries the leg forward \vith the column of bones in the normal posi-
tion, and attempting to keep them so the heel first comes in contact
with the ground, and lie then knuckles over at the fetlock in propor-
tion to the amount of foot deformity present as he brings the toe to
tlu^ surface.

Tlie pain and impairment of function in these cases always result
in marked atrophy of the muscles of the forearm and shoulder, and
to some extent of the pectorals, while the position of the fore feet
advances the scapula joints so far forward as to cause a somewhat
sunken appearance of the chest in front, which the laity recognize
as a peculiar form of the disease popularly designated as "chest
founder."

Regarding the presence of inflammation during this process, tliere
is no doubt a chronic form exists a long time after these lesions com-
mence, yet it may in time subside and leave the feet free from fever
while the other changes still cro on.

428

The lesions of turning up of the toe are permanent, and are withal
the most interesting pathologically of all the complications of 1am-
initis.

Treatment. — The treatment of laminitis is i^robably more varied
than in other disease, and yet in spite of it a large number of cases
recover for even the poorest practitioner. Since there are two objects
to be attained in treatment — xjrevention and remedy — the matter will
be considered under the liead of ijrevention and curative measures.

Prevention. — To guard against and prevent disease, or to render
an nnpreventable attack less serious than it otherwise would be,
is the highest practice of the healing art. In a disease so prone to
result from the simplest causes as seen in laminitis, and especially
when the soundest judgment may not be able to determine the extent
of the disease-resisting powers of the tissues which are liable to be
affected, or of what shall in every instance constitute an over-excite-
ment, it is not strange that horse owners find themselves in trouble
from unintentional transgression. If the disease was dependent upon
specific causes, or if the stability of the tissues w^ere of a fixed or
more nearly determinate quality, some measures might be instituted
that would prove generally i^reventive. But when we recall the
fact that predisposing causes are so prevalent and often can not
be remedied, that what is but gentle work in one instance may incite
disease in another, that what is food to-da}^ inay to-morrow prove
disastrous to health, and that necessary medical interference, no
matter how judicious, may cause a more serious complaint than that
which Avas being treated, the obstacles to contend with become plain.
Notwithstanding these difficulties there are some general rules to be
observed that will in part serve to prevent the development of an
unusual number of cases. In the first place all the predisposing
causes named must be removed where j)ossible, and when this is
impossible unusual care must be taken not to bring into operation an
exciting cause. Fat animals should, under no circumstances, have
hard work, and if the weather is warm or the variation of temi^era-
ture great they should have but slow, gentle labor until they become
inured to it, the tissues hardened and their excitability reduced to a
minimum. Green horses should always have moderate Avork for the
same reason, and particularly when changed from the farm and dirt
roads to city pavements. The increased concussion, changed hj^gienic
conditions, and artificial living readily become active causes of the
disease under these circumstances. Armj" horses just out of winter
quarters, track horses with insufficient preparation, and farmers'
horses put to work in the spring, are among the most susceptible
classes, and must be i^roteeted by work that is easy and gradual. If
long marches or drives are imi^erative, then the incumbrances must
be light as possible and the journey interspersed with frequent rests,
for this allows the lamina? to regain their impaired functional activity

429

and thereby to withstand much more work without danger. And,
furthermore, it permits an early detection of an oncoming attack; in
any case prevents working after the disease begins and renders subse-
quent medication much more effective b}' cutting the process short at
the stage of congestion.

All animals when resting immediately after work should be pro-
tected from cold air or draughts. If placed in a stable that is warm
and without draught no covering is necessary; under opposite con-
ditions blankets should be used until the excitement and exhaustion
of the labor performed have entirely passed away. It is still better
that all animals coming in warm from work be ' ' cooled out " by slow
walking until the perspiration has dried and the circulation and
respiration returned to the normal. Animals stoiDped on the road
even for a few moments' time should always be i)rotected from rapid
change of temperature by appropriate clothing. If it can be avoided
horses that are working should never be driven or ridden through a
stream or jdooI of water. "Where necessary they should be cooled off
before passing through, aud then kept exercising until completely
dried. The same rule is to be observed with regard to washing the
legs in cold water when the animal is just in from work, for, although
it is practiced extensively and usually with imx)unity, occasionally it
proves the cause of a most acute attack of this disease. Regarding
shoeing as a predisposing cause, unusual changes in the manner of
applying the shoe should not be hastily made.

If a jjlane shoe has been worn, high heels or toes must not be sub-
stituted at once, but the change, if necessary, should gradually be
made, so that the different tissues may adapt themselves to the change
of functional performance they are called upon to bear. If, on the
other hand, such changes are imperative, as is sometimes the case,
then the work must be so reduced in quantity and qualitj^ that it can
not prove excitant of the disease. Laminitis from the effects of pur-
gative medicines is a condition which can scarcely be guarded against
unless we discard entirely this useful class of medicines. I can not
determine from the few cases in which I have seen this unhappy result
of a purgative that there are any conditions of the system present
that would warn us of danger in this direction. The disease does not
seem to have any dependence for inception in such cases upon the
size of the purgative, the length of time before i^urgation begins, or
the activity aud severity v>ath which the remedy acts. Moderate
doses of medicines known to have unusual irritating effects on the
alimentary canal should be used only M'hen necessity demands it.

Experience alone will determine what animals are liable to suffer
from this disease through the influence of the different foods. When
an attack can with any certainty be ascribed to any iiarticular food it
should ever be withheld unless in the smallest quantities. Horses that
have never been fed uj)on Indian corn should receive but a little at a

430

time at first, and alwaj-.s mixed with bran, oats, oi' other food, nntil it
lias been determined tliat no danger exists. Corn is much more liable
to cause laminitis in warm than in cold weather, and for this reason
it should alwaj^s be fed with care during spring and summer months.

AVhen an animal is excessively lame in one foot the other or oppo-
site member should have the shoe esu'ly removed and cold water fre-
quently applied. At the same time the slings should be used if the
subject remains standing. Horses should under no circumstances be
overworked; to guard against this, previous work, nature of roads,
state of weather, and various other influences must be carefull3=^
noted. Watering while warm is a pernicious habit, and unless the
animal is accustomed to it is apt to result in some disorder, ofttimes
in laminitis.

Curative measures. — In cases of simple passive congestion of the
lamin?e the body should be warmly clothed and warm drinks given to
draw the blood in increased quantity" to these parts so as to direct it
from the feet ; at the same time the feet should be placed in warm water
so as to increase the return flow of blood. In the course of half an
hour the feet may be changed to cold water, which .serves as a tonic
to all the tissues, and kept there until recovery is completed. If the
constitutional symi)toms demand it, diuretics should be given. Half-
ounce doses of saltpeter, three times a day in the water, answers the
l)urpose. In cases of active congestion the warm foot baths should be
omitted and cold ones substituted from the commencement. Subacute
laminitis demands the same treatment with laxatives if there is con-
stipation, and the addition of low-heeled shoes. The diuretics may
need to be continued for some time and their frequency increased.
Regarding acute laminitis, what has been called the ' 'American treat-
ment " is so simj^le and withal so efficient that it is to be remarked
other countries have never adopted it. Since the disease is a local
one, unquestionably the remedies used should be ap]3lied in the imme-
diate neighborhood of the alfeeted parts, or if drugs are administered
internally, they should have some specific localized action. And such
are the claims made for the above-named method of treatment. It
consists solely in the exhibition of large doses of nitrate of potash and
the continued application to the feet and ankles of cold water.

Three to 4 ounces of saltiDeter in a pint of water, repeated every six
hours, is the proper dose, and the laminitis frequently subsides inside
of a week's time. These large doses may be continued for a week
without danger; never under an}' circumstances have I seen the kid-
neys irritated to excess or other unfavorable effects prpduced.

The feet should either be kept in a tub of water at a temperature
of 45? to 50° Fahr. (it maj' be lowered if desired), or if the animal is
lying down swabs should be used and wet every half hour with the
cold water. The water not only keeps the horn soft and moist, but
acts directly upon the inflamed tissues by reducing their temperature.

431

thereby increasing their vitality and disease-resisting <|nalities, and
at the same time hy toning np the coats of the blood vessels dimin-
ishes the snpph' of blood and limits the exndation. Fui'thermore,
cold has also an anesthetic effect upon the diseased tissues and relieves
the i^ain.

Aconite may be given in conjunction with niter where the lieart is
greatly excited and beating strong!}'. Ten-drop doses repeated every
two hours for twenty-four hours is sufficient. The practice of giving
cathartics is dangerous, for it may excite suj^erpurgation. Usually
the niter has sufficient effect upon the constipation to relieve it, yet if
it should prove obstinate laxatives may be carefully given. Bleed-
ing, both general and local, should be guarded against. Tlie shoes
should alwaj's be earh^ rem.oved and the soles left unpared.

Paring of the soles presents two objections. First, while it may
temporarily relieve the pain hy relieving pressure, it at the same time
allows of greater exudation, which may more than counterbalance the
good effects. Secondly, it makes the feet tender and subject to bruises
when the animal again goes to work. The shoes should be replaced
when convalescence sets in and the animal is ready to take exercise.
Exercise shoidd never l)e enforced until the inflammation has subsided,
for although.it temporarih' relieves the pain and soreness, it serves to
maintain continued irritation, increases tlie exudation, and prolongs
the recovery.

If at the end of tlie fifth or sixth day prominent sj'mptoms of recov-
ery are not apparent ajjply a stiff blister of cantharides around the
coronet and omit the niter for about forty-eight hours. As soon as
the blister has drawn well the feet may again receive wet swabs.
If one blister does not suffice to remove the soreness, as is the case
sometimes, especially wliere periostitis is present, it maybe repeated,
or the actual cautery ai^plied. The same treatment should be adopted
where side bones form or inflammation of the coronet bone ensues.
When the sole breaks through and exposes the coffin bone and soft
tissues, the feet must be carefully shod with thin heels and thick toes
where there is any tendency to walking on the heels, and the sole well
protected witli appropriate dressing and iDressure over the exposed
parts. AVlien there is a turning up of the toe, blistering of the coronet
in front, carefully avoiding the quarters and heels, sometimes stimu-
lates the growth of horn, but as a rule judicious shoeing is the only
treatment that will keep the animal in a condition to do light, slow
work.

Where suppuration of the laminae is profuse it is better to destroy
your patient at once and relieve his suffering, but if the suppuration
is limited to a small extent of tissue, especially of the sole, treatuu^nt
as in acute cases may induce recovery and should always be tried. If
from bed-sores or other causes septicaemia or pyremia is feared, the
bisulpliite of soda in half -ounce doses ma}' be given in conjunction

432

with tonics and other treatment indicated m these diseases. Regard-
ing enforced recumbency I doubt the propriety of insisting on it in
the majority of cases, for I think as a rule the animal assumes what-
ever position gives comfort. There can be no doubt that recumbency
diminishes the amount of blood sent to the feet, and that the suffer-
ing is greatly relieved while in this position, so that the experiment
of forcing the x^atient to lie down may be tried, j^et should not be
renewed if it thereafter j^ersists in standing.

Where the animal stands, or where constant lying indicates it, to
prevent extensive sores the patient should be i^laced in slings, and
the weight supported in this manner to the relief of the feet. When
all four feet are affected it may be impossible to use slings, for the
reason that the i^atient refuses to suj)port any of his weight on his
feet and simply hangs in them. Lastly, convalescent cases must not
be returned to work too early, else permanent recovery may never be
effected.

0
0

0

1
<-\

Z

#

.<:'^ ■■,\

pi.ATK xxxn

Fort' an 1 1

l/'7t:wr
\ /)C/-thrrms

I prrfnrviOi.'-

/■hot

//ui/o/t/i,' of the fatti ^
after Haubner .

Bones of tfte foot

afler Cha\'eavi .

. Sulje Horifs .
after Stonehense

\ fu'i/rnlar IMsea.se .

Fifter Sioneliense

A Hoec i,Co bthocaustic.Baltinion

HIXC, BONK AND XA\'I('.rLAH DISKASK

IT.ATK XXXI II

//w/ forhnrniii,/ /m/rs

f>fiia7/s orjtnof

The rhiiiip anrl viarZ r^'niff/fps /ipplJp,/

J or r-ftirk. IVo2l removed to shmv
fihsnrptmn ofcorrin fjone .

f'i-(irA-pr/ u'n//.<i.

/

/I

Qiiarte/'-i-rfrr/i with (■/■osscnf

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Haines del

A Hoen&Co LithocausKc.BaftT

1 2 titu/ 3 , Soii/ii/ /hot n/'fi\'o i.'Cdt o///

PI>ATE XXXIV

a;J\/aRproperhr driven,
7j, .Mdl ijnproperh/ driven

V

7

Ci>nircxcted foot

Sound- but flat font

Haines, del.

.ScrJion arj^oss fit/. 6 id x .

. Seriiort acf^os.s tiff. 7(dx.

\

JBrid//.- lori/zYir/i't/ foot.

H Haen&Co Lithocausfic Bsltimon

SOUND AND CONTRACTED FEET.

DISEASES OF THE SKIN.

By JAMES LAW, F. R. C. S. V. S.,

Profcscor of Veterinary Science, etc., Cornell University.

As we find them described in systematic works, tlie diseases of the
skin are very numerous and complex, whicii may be largely accounted
for by the fact that the cutaneous covering is exposed to view at all
points, so that shades of difference in inflammatory and other dis-
eased processes are easily seen and distinguished from each other.
In the horse the hairy covering serves to some extent to mask the
symptoms, and hence the nonprofessional man is tempted to apply
the term "mange " to all alike, and it is only a step further to apply the
same treatment to all these widely different disorders. Yet even in
the hairy quadruped the distinction can be made in a way which
can not be done in disorders of that counterpart and prolongation of
tiie skin— tlie mucous membrane, which lines the air passages, the
digestive organs, the urinary and generative apparatus. Diseased
processes, therefore, which in these organs it might be difficult or
impossible to distinguish from each otlier, can usually be separated
and recognized when appearing in the skin.

Nor is this differentiation unimportant. The cutaneous covering
presents such an extensive surface for the secretion of cuticula?
scales, hairs, horn, sebaceous matter, sweat, and other excretory mat-
ters, that any extensive disorder in its functions may lead to serious
internal disease and death. Again, the intimate nervous sympathy
of different points of the skin with particular internal organs renders
certain skin disorders causative of internal disease and certain inter-
nal diseases causative of affections of the skin. The mere painting
of the skin with an impermeable coating of glue is speedily fatal; a
cold draught striking on the chest causes inflammation of the lungs
or pleura; a skin eruption speedily follows certain disorders of the
stomach, the liver, the kidneys, or even the lungs; simple burns of
the skin cause inflammations of internal organs, and inflammations
of such organs cause in their turn eruptions on the skin. The rela-
tions—nervous, secretory, and absorptive— between the skin and
internal organs are most extensive and varied, and therefore a visible

433

434

disorder in llio skin may point at once and specifically to a particular
fanlt in diet, to an injudicions use of cold water when the system is
heated, to a fault in drainage, ventilation or lighting of the stables,
to indigestion, to liver disease, to urinary disorder, etc.

STRUCTURE OF THE SKIN.

The skin consists primarily of two parts: (1), the superficial non-
vascular (without blood vessels) layer, the cuticle or epidermis; and
(2), the deep vascular (with blood vessels) layer, the corium, dermis

""'Thl^^/Z/c/c' is made up of cells placed side by side and more or less
modified in shape by their mutual compression and "^y/^'^^'^^'T^'.
ration and drving. The superficial stratum consists of the cells dued
in the form of scales, which fall off continually and form dandruff
The deep stratum (the mucous layer) is formed of somewhat rounded
cells with large central nuclei, and in colored skin containing numer-
ous' pigment ^granules. These cells have prolongations or branches
bv which the^' communicate with each other and with the superficial
layer of cells hi the true skin beneath. Through these they receive
nutrient liquids for their growth and increase, and through these
limiids absorbed by the skin, may be passed on into the vessels of
the true skin beneath. The living matter in the cells exercises an
equally selective power on what they shall take up for their own
nourishment and on what they shall admit into the circulation fi^m
without. Thus, certain agents Uke iodine and belladonna are readily
admitted, whereas others, like arsenic, are excluded by the sound
unbroken epidermis. Between the deep and superficial layers of the
epidermis there is a thin translucent layer (septum ucidum , con-
sistino- of a double stratum of cells, and forming a medium of transi-
tion from the deep spheroidal to the superficial scaly cuticle.

The true skin or dermis has a framework of interlacing bundles of
white and vellow fibers, large and coarse in the deeper layers, and
fine in the superficial where they approach the cuticle. Between the
fibrous bundles are left interspaces which, like the bundles, become
finer as they approach the surface, and inclose cells, vessels, nerves,
o-lands, gland ducts, hairs, and in the deeper layers fat.
" The superficial layer of the dermis is formed into a series of mmu e
conical elevations or papUla, projecting into the deep ^fl^fj^"
cuticle, from which they are separated by a very fine traispaient
membi^ne. This papHUwu layer is very richly supplied with capil-
lary blood vessels and nerves, and is at once the seat of acute sens^a-
tion and the point from which the nutrient liquid is supplied to the
cdls of the cuticle above. It is also at this point that the active
changes of inflammation are especially concentrated; it is the immedi-
atel/superposed cell layers (mucous), that become morbid y increased
in the early stages of inflammation; it is on the surface of the papilla.y

435

layer that tlie liquid is thrown out which raises tlie cuticle in the
form of a blister, and it is at tliis point mainly that pus forms in
the ordinary ])ustule.

The fibrous bundles of the true skin contain plain muscular fil,ers
which are not controlled by the will, but contract under the iniiuence
of cold and under certain nervous influences, as in some skin dis-
eases and in the chill of a fever, and lead to contraction, tightening
or corrugation of the skin, contributing to produce the "hidebound"''
of the horseman. Other minute muscular filaments are extended
from the surface of the dermis to the hair follicle on the side to which
the hair is inclined, and under the same stimulating influences pro-
duce that erection of the hair which is familiarly known as "starino-
coat. *' Besides these, the horse's skin is furnished with an expansion
of red voluntary muscle, firmly attached to the fibrous bundles, and
by which the animal can not only dislodge insects and other irritants
but even shake off the harness. This fleshy envelope covers the sides
of the trunk and the lower portions of the neck and head, the parts
unprotected by the mane and tail, and serves to throw the skin of
these parts into puckers or ridges in certain irritating skin diseases.

The Imirs are cuticular products growing from an enlarged papilla
lodged in the depth of a follicle or sack, hollowed out in the skin and
extending to its deepest layers. The hair follicle is lined by cells of
epidermis, Avhich at the bottom are reflected on the papilla and
become the root of the hair. The hair itself is formed of the same
kind of cells firmly adherent to each other by a tough intercellular
substance, and overlapping each other like slates on a roof in a direc-
tion towards the free end.

The sehaceous glands are branching tubes ending in follicles or
sacks and opening into the hair follicles, lined by a very vascular
fibrous network representing the dermis, and an internal layer of cells
representing the mucous layer of the cuticle. Their oily secretion
gives gloss to the hair and prevents its becoming drv and brittle and
keeps the skin soft and supple, protecting it at once against undue
exhalation of water and undue absorption when immersed in that
medium. Jk'sides those connected with the hair follicles there are
numerous isolated sebaceous glands, opening directly on the surface
of the skin, producing a somewhat thicker and more odorous secre-
tion. These are found in large numbers in the folds of the skin where
chafing would be likely if the surface were dry, as on the sheath, scro-
tum, mammary glands and inner side of the thigh, around the anus
and vulva, m the liollow of the heel, beneath the fine horn of the fro-
on the inner side of the elbow, on the lips, nostrils, and evelids!
AV hen closed by dried secretion or otherwise these glands mav become
distended so as to form various sized swellings on the skin, and when
mfla ined they may throw out offensive liquid discharges as in " grease "
or produce red tender fungus growths ("grapes"). '

436

The sweat glands of the horse, like those of man, are composed of
simple tubes, which extend down through the cuticle and dermis in a
spiral manner, and are coiled into balls in the deeper layer of the true
skin In addition to their importance in throwing offensive waste
products out of the system, these glands tend to cool the skin and the
entire economy of the animal through the evaporation of their watery
secretion Their activity is therefore a matter of no small moment,
as beside regulating the animal heat and excreting impurities, it influ-
ences largely the internal organs through the intimate sympathy main-
tained between them and the skin. ^ ,. •

Diseases of the skin may be conveniently divided, according to their
most marked features, into:

(1) Those in which congestion and inflammation are the most markea
features, varying according to the grade or form into (o), congestion
with simple redness, dryness, and heat, but no eruption {erythema);
(h) iniiammation with red pointed elevations but no blisters {jpapules) ;
ic) iniiammation with fine conical elevations, each surmounted by a
minute blister (resic/e); (^), inflammation with a similar eruption
but with larger blisters, like half a pea and upwards {huUc^)', {e)
inflammation with a similar eruption but with a small sack of white
creamy pus on the summit of each elevation {pustides); (/), the for-
mation of pustules implicating the superficial layer of the true skin,
a small portion of which dies and is thrown off as a slough or core
ihoils)- (a), the formation of round, nodular, transient swellings in
the true skin {tnUrcles), and (7^), the excessive production of scales or
dandruff (scaly or squamous afl^ections). _

(2) Diseases in which there is only deranged sensations, of itching,
heat, tenderness, etc. {neurosis).

(.3) Diseased growths, as warts, callosities, horny growths, cancer,

(4) Diseases due to parasites, animal and vegetable.

(5) Diseases connected with a specific poison-horsepox, erysipelas,
anthrax, farcy or cutaneous glanders, etc.

(6) Physical injuries like wounds, burns, scalds, etc.

CONGESTION— RED EFFLORESCENCE— ERYTHEMA.

This is a congested or slightly inflamed condition of the skin, unat-
tended by any eruption. The part is slightly swollen, hot tender or
tchy and dry, and if the skin is white there is redness. The redness
is effaced by pressure, but reappears instantly when the pressure is
removed. Unless in transient cases the hairs are liable to be shed.
It may be looked on as the first stage of inflammation, and therefore
when it becomes aggravated it may merge in part or m whole into a
papular, vesicular, or pustular eruption.

Erythema may arise from a variety of c«...s, and ^^f'^J^^
in accordance witli its most prominent cause. Thus the clulling or

437

partial freeziuy of a part will give rise to a severe reaction and con-
gestion. Where snowy or icy streets have been salted this may
extend to severe inflammation with vesicles, pustules, or even sloughs
of circumscribed portions of the skin of the pastern (chiU-blain, frost-
bite). Heat and burning has a similar effect, and this often 'comes
from exposure to the direct rays of the sun. The skin that does not
perspire is the most subject, and hence the white face or ivJiite limb
of a horse becoming dried by the intensity of the sun's rays often
suffers to the exclusion of the rest of the body {wJiite face and foot
disease). The febrile state of the general system is also a potent
cause, hence the white-skinned horse is rendered the more liable if
kept on a heating ration of huckiclieat, or even of iclieat or maize.
Contact of the skin with oil of turpentine or other essential oils, wTth
trrdant liquids, vegetable or mineral, with rancid fats, with the acrid
secretions of certain animals like the irritcded toad, with pus, sweat,
tears, urine or liquid fceces, will produce congestion or even 'inflam-
mation. Chafing is a common cause, and is especially liable to affect
the fat horse between the thighs, by the side of the sheath or scrotum,
on the inner side of the elbow, or where the harness chafes on the
poll, shoulder, back, breastbone, and under the tail. The accumula-
tion of sweat and dust between the folds of the skin and on the sur-
face of the harness, and the specially acrid character of the sweat in
certain horses contribute to chafing or ' ' intertrigo. " The heels often
become congested, owing to the irritation caused by the short bristly
hairs in clipped heels. Again, congestion may occur from friction by
halter, harness, or other foreign body under the pastern, or inside
the thigh or arm, or by reason of blows from another foot (cuttino-
interfering, overreach). Finally, erythema is especially liable to
occur in spring when the coat is being shed, and the hair follicles
and general surface are exposed and irritable in connection with the
dropping of the hairs.

If due only to a local irritant congestion will usually disappear
when such cause has been removed, but when the feeding or system
IS at fault these conditions must be first corrected. While the coat is
being shed the susceptibility will continue, and the aim should be to
prevent the disease developing and advancing so as to weaken the
skm, render the susceptibility permanent, and lay the foundation of
persistent or frequently recurring skin disease. Hence at such times
the diet should be nonstimulating; any excess of grain and above
all of buckwheat, Indian corn, or wheat being avoided A laro-e
gram ration should not be given at once on return from hard work
when the general system and stomach are unable to cope with it; the
animal should not be given more than a swallow or two of cold water
when perspiring and fatigued; nor should he be allowed a full sup-
ply of Avater just after his grain ration; he should not be overheated
nor exhausted by work, nor should dried sweat and dust be allowed

438

to aoeiiraulate on the skin nor on the narness pressing on it. The
exposure of the affected heels to damp, mud, and.snow, and above all
to melting snow, should be guarded against; light, smooth, well-fitting
harness must be secured, and where the saddle or collar irritates an
incision should be made above and one below the part that chafes,
and the padding between having been removed, the lining should be
beaten so as to make a hollow. A zinc shield in the npper angle of
the collar vdll often prevent chafing in front of the withers.

Wash the chafed skin and apply salt water (one-half ounce to the
quart), extract of witch-hazel, a weak solution of oak bark or cam-
phorated spirit. If the surface is raw nse bland powders, as oxide
of zinc, lycopodinm, starch, or smear the surface ^vith vaseline, or
with 1 ounce vaseline intimately mixed with one-half dram each of
su-ar of lead and opium. In cases of chafing rest must be strictly
enjoined Where there is constitutional disorder or acrid sweat 1
ounce cream of tartar or a teaspoonf ul of bicarbonate of soda may
be given twice daily.

CONGESTION, Vs^ITH SMALL PIMPLES— PAPULES.

Ill this affection there is the general blush, heat, etc., of erythema,
to-ether with a crop of elevations from the size of a poppy-seed to a
coffee-bean, visible when the hair is reversed or to be felt with the
finger where the hair is scanty. In white skins they vary fi-om
the palest to the darkest red. All do not retain the papular type, but
some o-o on to form blisters (eczema, bullae), or pustules, or dry up
into scales, or break out into open sores, or extend into larger swellings
(tubercles). The majority, however, remaining as pimples, charac-
terize the disease. Whenveryitchytherubbingbreaksthemopen,and
the resulting sores and scales hide the true nature of the eruption.

The general and local cau.^es may be the same as for erythema, and
in tlie same subject one porti(m of the skin may have simple conges-
tion and another adjacent papules. As the inflammatory action is
more pronounced, so the irritation and itching are usually greater,
the animal rubbing and biting himself severely. This itching is
especially severe in the forms which attack the roots of the mane
and tail, and there the disease is often so persistent and troublesome
that the horse is rendered virtually useless.

The bites of insects often produce a papular eruption, but in many
such cases the swelling extends wider into a button-like elevation, one-
half to an inch in. diameter. The same remarks apply to the effects
of the poison ivy and poison sumac.

In papular eruption first remove the cause, then apply the same gen-
eral remedies as for simple congestion. In the more inveterate cases
use a lotion of one-half ounce sulphide of potassium in 2 quarts water,
to which a little castile soap has been added.. Or use a wash with one-
liaU- ounce oil of tar, 2 ounces castile soap, and 20 ounces water.

439

INFLAMMATION WITH BLISTERS — ECZEMA.

In this the skin is congested, th'ckened, warm (white skins are red-
dened), and shows a thick croi> of little blisters formed by effnsions
of a straw-colored fluid between the true skin and the cuticle. The
blisters may be of an}^ size from a millet seed to a pea, and often
crack open and allow the escape of the fluid which concretes as a
slightly yellowish scab or crust around the roots of the hairs. This
exudation and incrustation are especially common where the hairs
arc long, thick, and numerous, as in the region of the pastern of
heavy draught horses. Eczema maj' appear on any part of the body,
but in horses it is especially common on the heels and the lower parts
of the limbs, and less frequently on the neck, shoulder, and abdomen.
The limbs appear to be especially liable because of their dependent
Ijosition, all blood having to return from them against the action of
gravity, and congestions and swellings being common, because of the
abundance of blood vessels in this i)art of the skin, and l>ecause of
the frequent contact with the irritant dung and urine and their
ammonical emanations. The legs further suffer from contact with
wet and mud when at work, from snow and ice, from draughts of cold
air on the wet limbs, from washing with caustic soaps, or from the
relaxing effects of a too deep and abundant litter. Among other
causes may be iiamed indigestions and the i)resence of irritant matters
in the blood and sweat, the result of patent medicated foods and con-
dition powders (aromatics, stimulants), green food, new hay, new
oats, buckwheat, wheat, maize, diseased potatoes, smut or ergot in
grains, decomposing green food, brewer's grains, or kitchen garbage.
The excitement in the skin, caused by shedding the coat, lack of
grooming, hot weather, hot boiled or steamed food, conduces to tlie
eruption. Lastly, any sudden change of food may induce it.

The blisters may in part go on to suppuration so that vesicles and
pustules often appear on the same patch, and when raw from rubbing
the true nature of the eruption may be comijletely masked. In high-
fed horses, kept in close stables with little Avork, eczema of the limbs
may last for months and years. It is a very troublesome affection in
draught stallions.

Treatment. — This disease is so often the result of indigestion that a
laxative of 1 pound Glauber's salts in 3 or 4 quarts Avater, or 1^ innts,
olive oil is often demanded to clear away irritants from the alimen-
tai-y canal. Following this, in recent and acute cases, give 2 drams
of acetate or bicarbonate of potash twice a day in the drinking water.
If the bowels still become costive give daily 1 ounce sulphate of soda
and 20 grains powdered nux vomica. In debilitated horses combine
the niLx vomica with one-half ounce powdered gentian root. As a
^vash for the skin use 1 dram bicarbonate of soda and 1 dram carbolic
acid in a quart of water, after having cleansed the surface with tepid

440

water. Employ the same precautions as regards feeding, stabling,
and care of harness as in simple congestion of the skin.

In the more inveterate forms of eczema more active treatment is
re<iuired. Soak the scabs in fresh sweet oil, and in a few hours remove
these with tepid water and castile soap; then apply an ointment of
sulphur or iodide of sulphur day by day. If this seems to be losing
its effect after a week, change for mercurial ointment or a solution of
sulphide of potassium, or of hyposulphite of soda, 3 drams to the
quart of water. In these cases the animal may take a course of sul-
phur (1 ounce daily), bisulphite of soda (i ounce daily), or of arsenic
(5 grains daily) mixed with 1 dram bicarbonate of soda.

INFLAMMATION WITH PUSTULES.

In tliis affection the individual elevations on the inflamed skin show
in the center a small sack of white, creamy pus, in place of the clear
liquid of a blister. They vary in size from a millet seed to a hazel
nut The pustules of glanders (farcy buds) are to be distinguished
by the watery contents and the cord-like swelling, extending from the
pustules along the line of the veins, and those of boils by the inflam-
mation and sloughing out of a core of the true skin. The hair on the
pustule stands erect, and is often shed with the scab which results.
AVhen itching is severe the parts become excoriated by rubbing, and,
as in the other forms of skin disease, the character of the eruption may
become indistinct. Old horses suffer mainly at the root of the mane
and tail and about the heels, and suckling foals around the mouth,
on the face, inside the thighs, and under the tail.

Pustules like eczema are especially liable to result from unwholesome
food and indigestion, from a sudden change of food, above all from
dry to green food. In foals it may result from overheating of the
mare and allowing the first milk after she returns, or by milk ren-
dered unwholesome by faulty feeding of the dam. If a foal is brought
up by hand the souring and other decompositions in the milk derange
the digestion and cause such eruption. Vetches and other plants
affected with honeydew and buckwheat have been the cause of these
eruptions on white portions of the skin. Disorders of the kidneys or
liver are common causes of this affection.

Treatment— A^yply soothing ointments, such as benzoated oxide of
zinc or vaseline with 1 dram oxide of zinc in each ounce. Or a wash
of 1 dram sugar of lead or 2 drams hyposulphite of soda m a quart of
water may be freely applied. If the skin is already abraded and
scabby smear thickly with vaseline for some hours, then wash with
soapsuds and apply the above dressings. When the excoriations are
indolent they may be painted with a solution of lunar caustic, 2 grains
to 1 ounce of distilled water. Internally counteract costiveness and
remove intestinal irritants by the same means as in eczema, and fol-
low this with one-half ounce doses daily of hyposulphite of soda, and

441

one-half ounce doses of gentian. Inveterate cases may often be bene-
fited by a course of svilpliur, bisulijliite of soda, or arsenic. In all the
greatest care must be taken with regard to food, feeding, watering,
cleanliness, and work. In wet and cold seasons i^redisposed animals
should, as far as possible, be protected from Avet, mud, snow, and
melted snow, above all from that Avhich has been melted by salt.

BOILS — FUKUNCLES.

These may appear on any part of the skin, but are especially com-
mon on the lower x^arts of the limbs, and on the shoulders and back
where the skin is irritated by accumulated secretion and chafing with
the harness. In other cases the cause is constitutional, or attended
by unwholesome diet and overwork with loss of general health and
condition. They also follow on weakening diseases, notably strangles,
in which irritants are retained in the system from overproduction of
effete matters during fever, and imperfect elimination. There is also
the presence of a pyogenic bacterium, by which the disease may be
maintained and proj)agated.

While boils are pus i)roducing, they differ from simple x^ustule in
affecting the deepest layers of the true skin, and even the superficial
layers of the connective tissues beneath, and in the death and slough-
ing out of the central x)art of the inflamed mass (core). The depth
of the hard, indurated, painful swelling, and the formation of this
central mass or core, which is bathed in x)us and slowly sei)arated
from surrounding parts, serve to distinguish the boil alike from the
I)ustule, from the farcy bud, and from a superficial abscess.

To freed very painful boils a free incision with a lancet in two
directions, followed by a dressing with one-half an ounce carbolic
acid in a pint of water, bound on with cotton avooI or lint, may cut
them short. The more common course is to aj^ply a warm poultice of
linseed meal or wheat bran, and renew daily until the center of the
boil softens, when it should be lanced and the core pressed out.

If the boil is smeared with a blistering ointment of Slianish flies
and a poultice put over it, the formation of matter and separation
of the core is often hastened. A mixture of sugar and soai) laid on
the boil is equally good. Cleanliness of the skin and the avoidance
of all causes of irritation are imx)ortant items, and a teaspoonful of
bicarbonate of soda once or twice a day will sometimes assist in ward-
ing off a new crop.

NETTLERASH— SURFEIT — URTICARIA.

This is an eruption in the form of cutaneous nodules, in size from a
hazel nut to a hickory nut, transient, with little disposition to the for-
mation of either blister or j^ustule, and usuall}' connected with shed-
ding of the coat, sudden changes of weather, and unwholesomeness or

442

sudden clian^e in the food. It is most frequent in the spring and
in young andVigorous animals (good feeders). The swelling embraces
the entire thickness of the skin and terminates hy an abrupt margin
in place of shading oif into surrounding parts. When the individual
swellings run together there are formed extensive patches of thickened
integument. These may appear on any part of the body, and may be
o-eneral; the eyelids may be closed, the lips rendered immovable, or
the nostrils so thickened that breathing becomes difficult and snuffling.
It may be attended by constipation or diarrhea, or by colicky pams.
The eruption is sudden, the whole skin being sometimes covered ma
few hours, and it may disappear with equal rapidity or persist for six

or eight days. ^

Treatment.— Thin consists in clearing out the bowels by o drams
Barbadoes aloes, or 1 pound Glauber's salts, and follow tlie opera-
tion of these by daily doses of one-half ounce powdered gentian and
1 ounce Glauber's salts. A weak solution of alum maybe applied to
the swellings.

SCALY SKIN DISEASE— PITYRIASIS.

This affection is characterized by an excessive production and
detachment of dry scales from the surface of the skin (dandruff). It
is usually dependent on some fault in digestion, and an imperfect
secretion from the sebaceous glands, and is most common in old horses
witli spare habit of body. Williams attributes it to food rich m sac-
charine matter (carrots, turnips), and the excretion by the skm of
oxalic acid. He has found it in horses irregularly worked and well
fed and advises the administration of pitch for a length of time, and
the' avoidance of saccharine food. Otherwise the horse may take a
laxative followed by dram doses of carbonate of potash, and the
affected parts niav be bathed with soft tepid water and smeared with
an ointment made with vaseline and sulphur. In obstinate cases
sulpliur may be given daily in the food.

NERVOUS IRRITATION OF THE SKIN— PRURITUS.

Tills is seen in horses fed to excess on grain and hay, kept in close
stables, and worked irregularly. Though most common in summer
it is often severe in hot, close stables in winter. Pimples, vesicles,
and abrasions may result, but as the itching is quite as severe on
other parts of the skin, these may be the result of scratching merely.
It is especially common and inveterate about the roots of the mane

and tail.

Treatment consists in a purgative (Glauber's salts, 1 pound), re-
stricted, laxative diet, and a wash of water slightly soured with oil of
vitriol and rendered sweet by carbolic acid. If obstinate, give daily
1 ounce of sulphur and 20 grains nux vomica. If the acid lotion fails,

443

2 drams carbonate of potash and 2 grains of cyanide of potassium in
a quart of water Avill sometimes Ijenelit. If due to pin worms in the
rectum, tlie itching- of the tail may be remedied bj" an occasional
injection of a quart of water in which chips of quassia wood have
been steeped for twelve hours.

HERPES.

This name has been apj)lied to a disease in whicli there is an erup-
tion of minute vesicles in circular groups or clusters, with little tend-
ency' to burst but ratlier to dry up into fine scabs. If the vesicles
break they exude a sliglit, gummy discharge which concretes into a
small, hard scab. It is apparentlj- noncontagious and not appreciably
connected with an}" disorder of internal organs. It sometimes accom-
panies or follows specific fevers, and is on the whole most frequent at
the seasons of changing the coat — spring and autumn. It is seen on
the lips and pastern, but may appear on any part of the body. The
duration of the eruption is two weeks or even more, the tendency
being to spontaneous recovery. The affected part is very irritable,
causing a sensitiveness and a disposition to rub out of proportion to
the extent of the eruption.

It may be treated hy oxide of zinc ointment, and to relieve the irri-
tation a solution of opium or belladonna in water, or of sugar of lead
or oil of peppermint. A course of bitters (one-half an ounce Peru-
vian bark dailj* for a week) may be servicable in bracing the system
and i^roducing an indisposition to the eruption.

BLEEDING SKIN ERUPTIONS — DERMATORRHA(iIA PARASITICA.

In China, Hungary, Spain, and other countries horses frequently
suffer from the presence of a thread worm {Filar ia hceuiorrhagira,
Railliet: F. muUipapnllosa, Condamine, Drouilly) in the subcuta-
neous connective tissue, causing effusions of blood under the scurf
skin and incrustations of dried blood on the surface. The erup-
tions, which appear mainly on the sides of the trunk, but maj' cover
an}' ijart of the body, are rounded elevations about the size of a small
pea, containing blood which bursts through the scurf skin and con-
cretes like a reddish scab around tlie erect, rigid hairs. These swell-
ings appear in groui^s, which remain out for several da^'S, graduallj-
diminishing in size; new groups appear after an interval of three or
four Aveeks, the manifestation being confined to three or four months
of spring and disappearing in winter. A horse will suffer for several
years in succession, and then permanently recover. A fatal issue is
not unknown. To find the worm the hair is shaved from the part
where the elevations are felt, and as vSoon as a bleeding ijoint is shown
the superficial layer is laid open with the knife, when the parasite
will be seen drawing itself back into the i^arts beneath. The worm is

444

about 2 inches long and like a stout thread, thicker towards the head
than towards the tail, and with numerous little conical elevations
(papilla^) around the head. The young worms are numerous in the
body of the adult female Avorm. -, t^- i t.oT.Ux

The Avorm has become common m given localities, and probably
enters tlie system with food or water. Treatment is not satisfactory,
but the affected surface should be kept clean by sponging, and the
pressure of harness on any affected part must be avoided. Thus rest
may become essential. The part may be frequently washed with a
strong solution of sulphide of potassium.

SUMMER SORES FROM FILARIA IRRITANS.

The summer sores of horses {dermatitis granulosa, boils) have been
traced to the presence in the skin of another parasite, 3 millimeters
"in length and extremely attenuated {Filaria irritans, Railliet). The
sores may be seen as small as a millet seed, but more frequently the
size of a pea, and may become an inch in diameter. They may
appear on any point, but are especially obnoxious where the harness
presses or on the lower part of the limbs. They cause intense and
insupportable itching, and the victim rubs and bites the part until
extensive raw surfaces are produced. Aside from such friction the
sore is covered by a brownish-red, soft, pulpy material with cracks
or furrows filled with serous pus. In the midst of the softened mass
are small, firm, rounded granulations, fibrinous, and even caseated,
and when the soft pultaceous material has been scraped off the sur-
face bears a resemblance to the fine yellow points of miliary tuber-
culosis in the lung. The worm or its debris is found in the center of
such masses. These sores are very obstinate, resisting treatment for
months in summer, and even after apparent recovery during the cold
season they may appear anew the following summer. In bad cases
the rubbing and biting may cause exposure of synovial sacs and ten-
dons, and cause irremediable injury. Even in winter, however, when
the diseased process seems arrested, there remains the hard, firm,
resistant patches of the skin with points in which the diseased prod-
uct has become softened like cheese.

The apparent subsidence of the'disease in winter is attributed to the
coldness and comparative bloodlessness of tlie skin, whereas in sum-
mer, with high temperature, active circulation, and rapid cell-growth,
inflammation is increased, itching follows, and from the animal rub-
bing the part the irritation is persistently increased. The hotter the
climate the more troublesome the disease.

The life history of the parasite is unknown, but it probably enters
the system with the food or water.

Treatment consists, first, in placing the animal in a cool place and
showering the surface with cold water. The parasite may be destroyed
by rubbing the surface of the wound witli iodoform and covering it

445

with a layer of collodion, and repeating the applications every twenty-
fonr hours for fifteen days, or until the sores heal up. Ether or chlo-
roform may be used in place of iodoform, being poured on cotton wool
and applied to the sore for two minutes before painting it Avith
collodion.

CRACKED HEELS— SCRATCHES— CHAPS ON KNEE AND HOCK.

This usually sets in with swelling, heat, and tenderness of the hollow
of the heel, Avith erections of the hairs and redness (in white skins),
with stiffness and lameness, Avhich may be extreme in irritable horses!
Soon slight cracks appear transversely, and may gain in depth and
width, and may even suppurate. More frequently tliey become cov-
ered at the edges or throughout by firm incrustations resulting from
the drying of the liquids thrown out, and the skin becomes increas-
ingly thick and rigid. A similar condition occurs behind the knee
and in front of the hock (malanders and salanders), and may extend
from these points to the hoof, virtually incasing that side of the limb
in a permanent incrusting sheath. Besides a heavy Ij-mphatic con-
stitution, which predisposes to this affection, the causes are overfeed-
ing on grain, unwholesome fodder, close, hot, dirty stables, constant
contact Avith dung and urine and their emanations, AA-orking in deep,
irritant mud; above all, in limestone districts, irritation by dry lime-
stone or sandy dust in dry Aveather on dirt road, also cold draughts,
snoAv and freezing mud, Avashing the legs Avith caustic soap, Avrapping
the wet legs in thick Avoolen bandages Avhieh soak the skin and render
it sensitiA-e Avhen exposed next day, clipping the heels, Aveak heart and
circulation, natural or superA'ening on overwork, imperfect nourish-
ment, impure air, lack of sunshine, chronic, exhausting, or debilitating
diseases, or functional or structural diseases of the heart, liA^er, or
kidneys. These last induce dropsical sAvelling of the limbs (stocking) ,
Aveaken the parts, and induce cracking. Finally the cicatrix of' a
preexisting crack, weak, rigid, and unyielding, is liable to reopen
under any severe exertion, hence rapid paces and heavy draft are
acti\'e causes.

In treatment the first step is to ascertain and remove the cause Avhen-
ever possible. If there is much local heat and inflammation a laxative
(5 drams aloes, or 1 pound Glauber salts) may be given, and for the
pampered animal the grain should be reduced or replaced altogether
by bran mashes, flaxseed, and other laxative, nonstimulating food.
In the debilitated, on the other liand, nutritious food and bitter tonics
may be given, and even a course of arsenic (5 grains arsenic Avith 1
di-am bicarbonate of soda daily) . When the legs swell exercise on dry
roads, hand-rubbing, and evenly applied bandages are good, and mild
astringents, like extract of Avitch-hazel, may be applied and the part
subsequently rubbed dry and bandaged. If there is much heat but
unbroken skin, a lotion of 2 drams sugar of lead to 1 quart of Avater

446

may be applied on a tliin bandage, covered in cold weather witli a dry
one The same may be nsed after the cracks appear, or a solntion of
sulpliurous acid 1 part, glycerine 1 part, and water 1 part, applied on
cotton and well covered by a bandage. In case these should prove
unsuitable to the particular case, the part may be smeared with
vaseline 1 ounce, sugar of lead 1 dram, and carbolic acid 10 drops.

INFLAMMATION OF THE HEELS FROM A FUNGUS-GREASE-CANKER.

This is a specific affection of the heels of horses, associated with the
oTowth of a parasitic fungus {Oldiiim laimcosis, dennajjhyfon), an
offensive discharge from the numerous sebaceous glands and m bad
cases the formation of red, raw excrescences {grcqyes) from the sur-
face It is to be distinguished (1) iromsim2>Je inflammation, m which
the special fetid discharge and the tendency to the formation of
"o-rapes" are absent; (2) from horsepox, in which the abundant exu-
date forms a firm yellow incrustation around the roots of the hair, and
is embedded at intervals in the pits formed by the individual pocks,
and in which there is no vascular excrescence; (3) from foot scabies
(man-e) in which the presence of an acarus is distinctive; (4) from
lymphan-itis, in which the swelling appears suddenly extending
around the entire limb as high as the hock, and on the inner side
of the thigh along the line of the vein to the groin, and m which
there is active fever, and (5) from erysipelas, in which there is active
fever (wanting in grease), the implication of the deeper layers of the
skin and of the parts beneath giving a boggy feeling to the parts,
the absence of the fetid, greasy discharge, and finally a tendency to
form pus loosely in the tissues without any limiting membrane as
in -ibscess Another distinctive feature of grease is its tendency to
implicate the skin Avhich secretes the bulbs or heels of the horny frog
and in the cleft of the frog, constituting the disease known as canker.
The predisposing causes of grease are essentially the same as those
of simple inflammation of the heel, so tliat the reader may consult the
preceding article, and though the specific fungus {Oidnnn hatracosis)
is essential to the disease, yet it usually remains inoperative unless
the field has been prepared by the coexistent predisposing factors.
Local irritants may cause simple inflammation, and may be essential
to the growth of the implanted germ, but without that germ it will

not produce grease.

The sumptoms vary according to whether the disease comes on sud-
denly or more tardily. In the first case there is a sudden swelling of
the skin in the heel, with heat, tenderness, itching, and stiffness, which
is lessened during exercise. In the slower forms there is only seen
a slight swelling after rest, and with little heat or inflammation for a
week or more. Even at this early stage a slight serous oozing may be
detected As the swelling increases, extending up toward the hock
or laiees the haii-s stand erect, and are bedewed by moisture no longer

447

clear aucl odorless, but grayish, milky, and fetid. Tlio fetor of the
discharge draws attention to the part whenever one enters the stable,
and the swollen pastern and Avet, matted hairs on the heel draw atten-
tion to the precise seat of the malady. If actively treated the disease
may not advance farther, but if neglected the tense tender skin cracks
open, leaving open sores from which vascular bleeding growths grow
up, constituting the " grapes. '' The hair is shed, and the heel may
appear but as one mass of rounded, red, angry excrescences which bleed
on handling and are covered with the now repulsively fetid decom-
posing discharge. During this time there is little or no fever, the ani-
mal feeds well, and but for its local trouble it might continue at work.
When the malady extends to the frog there is a fetid discharge fronl
its cleft, or from the depressions at its sides, and this gradually extends
to its whole surface and upon the adjacent parts of the sole. The
horn meanwhile becomes soft, whitish, and fleshy in aspect, its con-
stituent tubes being greatly enlarged and losing their natural cohesion ;
it grows rapidly above the level of the surrounding horn, and when
pared is found to be penetrated to an unusual depth by the secretino-
papilla?, and that at intervals these have bulged out into a vascular
fungus mass comparable to the "grapes."

In ireatment hygienic measures occupy a front rank, but are in
themselves insufBcient to establish a cure. AU local and general con-
ditions which favor the production and pei-sistence of the disease must
be guarded against. Above all, cleanliness and purity of tlie stable
and air must be secured; also, nourishing diet, regular exercise, and
the avoidance of local irritants— septic, muddy, chilling, etc. At the
outset benzoated oxide of zinc ointment may be used with advantage.
A still better dressing is made with 1 ounce vaseline, 2 di-ams oxide'^of
zinc, and 20 drops iodized phenol. If the surface is much swollen and
tender, a flaxseed poultice may be applied over the surface of which
has been poured some of the following lotion: Sugar of lead, one-
half ounce ; carbolic acid, 1 dram ; water, 1 quart. All the astringents
of the pharmacopeia have been employed with more or less achan-
tage, and some particular one seems to suit particular cases or patients
To destroy the grapes, they may be rubbed daily with strong caustics
(copperas, bluestone, lunar caustic), or each may be tied round its
neck by a stout waxed thread, or finally and more speedily they may
be cut off by a blacksmith's sliovel heated to redness, and applied
with its sharp edge toward the neck of the excrescence, over a cold
shovel held between it and the skin to protect it from the heat. The
latter must be frequently dipped in water to cool it down. After the
removal of the grapes the astringent dressing must be persistently
applied to the surface. When the frog is affected it must be pared to
the quick and dressed with dry caustic powders (quicklime, copperas,
bluestone), or carbolic acid and subjected to pressure, the dressing
being renewed every day at least. '^

448

ERYSIPELAS.

This is a si3ecific contagious disease, characterized by spreading
dropsical inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, attended
by general fever. It differs from most specific diseases in the absence
of a definite period of incubation, a regular course and duration, and
a conferring of immunity on the subject after recovery. On the con-
trary, one attack of erysipelas predisposes to another, partly, doubt-
less, by the loss of tone and vitality in the affected tissues, but also,
perhaps, because of the survival of the inf ecti ng germ. It is no longer
to be doubted that the microbes found in the inflammatory product
are the true cause of erysipelas, as the disease can be successfully
transferred from man to animals and from one animal to another by
their means. This transition may be direct or through the medium
of infected l)uildings or other articles. Yet from the varying severity
of erysipelas in different outbreaks and localities it has been surmised
that various different microbes are operative in this disease, and a
perfect knowledge of these might perhaps enable us to divide erysipe-
las into two or more distinct affections. At present we must recog-
nize it as a specific inflammation due to a bacterial poison and closely
allied to septicaemia. Erysipelas was formerly known as surgical
when it spread from a wound (through which the germ liad gained
access) and medical ov idiopathic when it started independently of any
recognizable lesion. Depending as it does, however, upon a germ
distinct from the body the disease must be looked upon as one no mat-
ter by what channel the germ found an entrance. Erysipelas Avhich
follows a wound is usually much more violent than the other form,
the difference being doubtless partly due to the lowered vitality of the
wounded tissues and to the oxidation and septic changes which are
invited on the raw, exposed surface. As apparently idiopathic cases
may be due to infection through bites of insects, the small amount of
poison inserted may serve to moderate the violence.

This affection may attack a wound of any part of the horse's body,
' while apart from wounds it is most frequent about the head and the
hind limbs. It is to be distinguished from ordinary imflammations
by its gradual extension from the point first attacked, by the abun-
dant liquid exudation into the affected part, by the tension of the skin
over the affected part, by its soft boggy feeling, allowing it to be
deeply indented by the finger, by the abrupt line of limitation between
the diseased and healthy skin, the former descending suddenly to the
healthy level instead of shading off slowly towards it, by the tendency of
tlie inflammation to extend deeply into the subjacent tissues between
and into the muscles and other structures, by the great tendency to
death and sloughing of portions of skin and of the structures beneath,
by the formation of pus at various different points throughout the
diseased parts without any surrounding sack to protect the surround-
ing structures from its destructive action, and without the usual

449

disposition of pus to advance harmlessly toward the surface and
escape; and, finally, by a low prostrating type of fever, with ele-
vated temperature of the body, coated tongue, excited breathing and
loss of appetite. The pus Avhen escaping through a lancet wound is
grayish, brownish, or reddish, with a heavy or fetid odor, and inter-
mixed with shreds of broken-down tissues. The most destructive
form, however, is that in which pus is deficient, and gangrene and
sloughing more speedy and extensive.

Treatment resolves itself mainly into the elimination from the svs-
tem of the poisonous products of the bacteria by laxatives and diu-

abo^ e all those of the nature of antiferments, and the local application
of astringent and antiseptic agents. Internal treatment may consist
m 4 drams tincture of muriate of iron, and one-half dram muriate of
ammonia or chlorate of potash, given in a pint of water every two
houi-s. lo this may be added, liberally, whisky or brandy when the
pro.stration is very marked. Locally a strong solution of iron, alum
or of sulphate of iron and laudanum may be used. Or the affected
part may be painted with tincture of muriate of iron or with iodized
phenol. In mild cases a lotion of 4 drams sugar of lead and 2 ounces
audanum m a quart of water may be applied. It is desirable to avoid
the formation of wounds and the consequent septic action, yet when
pus has formed, and is felt by fluctuation under the finger to be
approaching the surface, it should be freely opened with a clean
sharp lancet, and the wound thereafter disinfected daily with carbolic
acid 1 part to water 10 parts, with a saturated solution of hvposul-
phite of soda, or with powders of iodoform or salol

IIORSE-POX, ANTHRAX, AND CUTANEOUS GLANDERS (faRCY) will

come more properly under contagious diseases.

CALLOSITIES.

These are simple thickening and induration of the cuticle by rea-
son of continued pressure, notably in lying down on a hard surface
I>eing devoid of hair, they cause blemishes, hence smooth floods and
good bedding should be secured as preventives.

HORNY SLOUGHS— SITFASTS— SLOUGHING CALLOSITIES.

iZ'^lZT f "•^^^^^^"^f «l«^gli« Of limited portions of the skin,

the lesult of pressure by badly-fitting harness, or by irritatinj^

masses of dirt, sweat, and hairs under the harne s. They a^ mos^

common under the saddle, but may be found under collar oiWch-

ng as well The sitfast is a piece of dead tissue which would be

hrown oif but that it has formed firm connections with the fibrous

skm beneath, or even deeper with the fibrous layers (fascia) of the

5961— HOR 15

450

mnseles, or with the bones, and is thus bound in its phace as a per-
sistent source of irritation. The horn-like slough may thus involve
the superficial part of the skin only, or the ^vhole thickness of the
skin, and even of some of the structures beneath. The first object
is to'remove the dead irritant by dissecting it off with a sharp knife,
after which the sore may be treated with simple wet cloths or a weak
carbolic acid lotion, like a common wound. If the outline of the
dead mass is too indefinite, a linseed-meal poultice will make its out-
hne more e\ident to the operator. If the fascia or bone has become
gangrenous the dead portion must be removed with the horn-like
skin. During and after treatment the horse must be kept at rest or
the harness must be so adjusted that no pressure can come near the
affected parts.

WARTS.

These are essentially a morbid overgrowth of the superficial papil-
lary layer of the skin and of the investing cuticular layer. They are
mostly seen in young horses, about the lips, eyelids, cheeks, ears,
beneath the bellv, and on the sheath, but may develop anywhere.
Thesmallerones may be clipped off with scissors and the raw surface
cauterized with bluestone. The larger may be sliced off with a sharp
knife or if with a narrow neck they maybe twisted off and then cau-
terized. If very vascular they may be strangled by a wax thread or
cord tied around the neck, at least three turns being made round and
the ends being fixed bypassing them beneath the last preceding turn
of the cord, so that they can be tightened day by day as they slacken
by shrinkage of the tissues. If the neck is too broad it may be trans-
fixed several times with a double-threaded needle and then be tied in
sections Very broad warts that can not be treated m this way may
be burned down to beneath the surface of the skin with a soldering
bolt at a red heat and any subsequent tendency to overgrowth kept
down by bluestone.

BLACK PIGMENT TUMORS— MELANOSIS.

These are common in gray and white horses on the naturally black
parts of the skin at the root of the tail, around the anus, vulva,
udder, sheath, eyelids and lips. They are readily recognized by their
inky-black collar, which extends throughout the whole mass. Ihey
may appear as simple pea-like masses, or as multiple tumors aggre-
gating many pounds, especially around the tail. In the horse these
are usually simple tumors, and may be removed with the knife. In
exceptional cases they prove cancerous, as they usually are in man.

EPITHELIAL CANCER— EPITHELIOMA.

This sometimes occurs on the lips at the angle of the mouth, and
elsewhere in the horse. It begins as a small wart-like tumor, which
grows slowlv at first, but finally bursts open, ulcerates and extends

451

laterally and deeply in the skin and other tissnes, destroying them as
it advances (rodent nicer). It is made nj) of a fibrous framework and
numerous round, ovoid, or cylindrical cavities, lined with masses of
epithelial cells, which may be squeezed out as a fetid caseous material.
The most successful treatment is early and thorough removal with
the knife.

VEGETABLE PARASITES OF THE SKIN.

Parasite: Tricliophyf on tonsurans. Malady: Tinea tonsurans —
Cirvinate ringworm. — This is esx^ecially common in j-oung horses com-
ing into training and work, in low-conditioned colts in winter and
spring after confinement indoors and during moulting, in lymphatic
rather than nervous subjects, and at the same time in several animals
that have herded together. The disease is common to man, and
among the domestic animals to horse, ox, goat, dog, cat, and in rare
instances to sheep and swine. Hence it is common to find animals of
different species and tl\eir attendants suffering at once, the diseases
having been propagated from one to the other.

In the horse the symptoms are the formation of a circular scruffy
patch where the fungus has established itself, the hairs of the affected
si)ot being erect, bristly, twisted, broken, or split iip and droi^xjing off.
Later the spot first affected has become entirely bald, and a circular
row of hairs around this are erect, bristlj', broken, and split. These
in turn are shed and a new row outside passes through the same proc-
ess, so that the extension is made in more or less circular outline.
The central bald spot, covered with a grayish scruff and surrounded
by a circle of broken and split hairs, is characteristic. If the scj'uff
and diseased hairs are treated with caustic potash solution and put
under the microscope the natural cells of the cuticle and hair Avill be
seen to have become transparent, while the groups of spherical cells
and branching filaments of the fungus vStand out prominently in the
substance of both, dark and unchanged. The eruption usually appears
on the back, loins, croup, chest, and head. It tends to spontaneous
recovery in a month or two, leaving for a time a dappled coat from
the spots of short, liglit-colored hair of the new growth.

The most effective way of reaching the parasite in the hair follicles
is to extract the hairs individually, but in the horse the mere shaving
of the affected x^art is usually enough. It may then be x^ainted with
tincture of iodine t>vice a day for two weeks. Germs about the stable
may be covered up or destro^-ed by a whitewash of freshl}' burned
quicklime, the harness, brushes, etc., may be Avashed with caustic
soda, and then smeared with a solution of corrosive sublimate one-half
drachm and water 1 x^int. The clothing may be boiled and dried.

Parasite: Trichophyton sporuloides. Malady: Plica Polonica. —
Ptica Polonica, vi-luch mats together the mane and tail of the horse
as well as the hair of men, is associated with numerous sx^ores of a

452

trichophyton, and is rationally treated by cutting off the hair and
applying tincture of iodine or a solution of corrosive sublimate (4
parts to 1,000 of water).

Parasite: Aclwrwn ScMrdeini. Malady: Favus, Honeycomb
ringworm.— ^iegnin and Goyau, who describe this in the horse, say
that it loses its characteristic honeycomb or cup-shaped appearance,
and forms only a series of closely aggregated, dry, yellowish crusts the
size of hemp seed on the trunk, shoulders, flanks, or thighs. They are
accompanied by severe itching, especially at night. The cryptogam,
formed of spherical cells with a few filaments only, grows m the hair
follicles and on the cuticle, and thus a crust often forms around the
root of a hair. Like the other cryptogams, their color, as seen under
the microscope, is unaffected by acetic acid, alcohol, ether, or oil of
turpentine, while the cells are turned bluish by iodine. For treat-
ment, remove the hair and apply tincture of iodine or corrosive subli-
mate lotion, as advised under the last paragraph.

Parasite: Microsporon Furfur. Malady: Parasitic pityriasis.—
This attacks the horse's head where the harness presses, and leads to
dropping of the hair, leaving bald patches covered with a branlike
scruff, without any eruption, heat, tenderness, swelling, or rigidity of
the skin. A lotion of carbolic acid, 1 dram, and water 2i ounces, is
usually applied to effect a cure.

animal parasites of the skin.

Acariasis: Jfcmr/e.— This affection is due to the irritation of the skin,

caused by the presence of a nearly microscopic acarus or mite. The

disease varies, however, according to the species of acarus which

infests the skin, so that we must treat of several different kinds of

acariasis. . . . m • •

Parasite: Sarcoptes equi. Malady: Sarcoptic acariasis.— i His is

the special sarcoptes of the horse, but under favorable conditions it

can be transmitted to ass and mule, and even to man, and may live

indefinitely on the human skin. The mite is nearly microscopical,

but may be detected with a magnifying lens among moving scruff

taken from the infected skin. Like all sarcoptes, it burrows little

o-alleries in and beneath the scruff skin, where it hides and lays its

eggs and where its young are hatched. It is therefore often difficult

to find the parasite on the surface, unless the skin has been heated

by a temporary exposure to the sun or in a warm room. Even then

it may be needful to tie the scab on the human arm till a pricking is

felt when the acarus will be found in the center of a minute papule

caused by its bite. Like other acari, this is wonderfully prolific, a

new o-eneration of fifteen individuals being possible every fifteen days,

so thlt in three months the offspring of a single pair may produce a

generation of 1,500,000 young. The sarcoptes have less vitality than

the nonburrowing acari, as they die in an hour when kept in dry air

453

apart from the skin at a heat of 145° F. They live tweb^e to fourteen
days apart from the skin in the damj) air of a stable. On a piece of
damp hide thej^ lived till the twenty-fourtli day, but were dead on
the twenty-eighth.

The symptoms are an incessant, intolerable, and increasing itching
of some part of the skin (head, mane, tail, back, etc.), the horse
inclining himself toward the hand that scratches him, and moving his
lips as if liimself scratching. The hairs may be broken and rubbed
off, but the part is never entirelj^ bald as in ringworm, and there may
be papules or any kind of eruption or open sores from the energj^ of
the scratching. Scabs of any thickness may form, but the special
features are the intense itching and the discovery of the acarus.

Treatment consists in the removal of the scabs by soaj)suds, and, if
necessarj^, a brush, and the thorough application of tobacco 1^ ounces
and water 2 pints, prepared by boiling. This may be applied more
than once, and should always be repeated after fifteen days, to destroy
the new brood that mjiy have been hatched in the interval. All har-
ness and stable utensils should be similarly treated; blankets and
rubbers may be boiled, and the stalls should be covered with a white-
wash of quicklime, containing one-fourth pound of chloride of lime to
the gallon.

Parasite: Sarcoptes mutans. Malady: Sarcopfic acariasis from
fowls. — This parasite belongs to chickens, but can live on the skin of
the fox and horse as well. A troublesome mange may therefore at
times be traceable to the i)roximity of a chicken roost. The general
symptoms and treatment are essentially the same as for sarcoptis equi.

Parasite: Psoroptis equi {Dermatocoptis equi, Dermatodectis equi).
Malady : Psor optic acariasis. — Thi s produces the most frequent mange
in horses, and as the parasite only bites the surface and lives among
the crusts under the shelter of the hair, it is very easily discovered.
It reproduces itself with equal rapidity, and causes similar symptoms
to those produced by the sarcoptes. The same treatment will suffice
and is more promptly effectual. The purifying of the stable must be
more thorough, as the psoroptis will survive twenty to thirty days in
the moist atmosi)here of a stable, and may even revive after six or
eight weeks when subjected to moist warmth. Infested pastures will
therefore prove dangerous to horses for that length of time, and with
rubbing posts, etc , should be secluded.

Parasite: Symbiotis equi, DermatopJiagus equi, Cliorioptes spaiMf-
erous. Malady: Foot mange. — This acarus attacks the heels and
lower parts of the legs, especially the hind ones, and may be present
for years without extending upon the body. Like the psoroptis, it
lives on the s urf ace, on the hairs, and among the scabs. It gives rise
to great itching, stamj)ing, rubbing of the one leg with the other, and
the formation of papules, wounds, ulcerous sores, and scabs. The
intense itching will always suggest this parasite, and the discovery

454

of the acarus will identifj^ tlie disease. Treatment is the same as for
the sarcoptes, but may be confined to the legs and the parts with
which they come in contact.

Parasite.— 2)erwa?i2/ssi<s gaUinecB — Chiclcen Acari. Malady:
Poultry acariasis.— This is a large-sized acarus, though usually mis-
called " hen louse," and the disease " poultry -lousiness." The mite
lives in the hen manure and adjacent woodwork, but temporarily
passes on to the skin of man, and of the horse and other quadrupeds,
when occasion serves. It causes much irritation, with the eruption
of papules or vesicles and the formation of sores and scabs. The
examination of the skin is usually fruitless, as the attacks are mostly
made at night and the effects only may be seen during the day. The
proximity of hen manure swarming with the acari explains the
trouble, and the removal of this and a whitewashing with quicklime
with or Avithout chloride of lime will prevent future attacks. The
skin may still require bland ointments or lotions, as for congestion.

Parasite: Larva of a TromUdium—Leptus Americanus— Harvest
Bug, misnamed Jigger {Chigoe). Malady: Aidumn mange.— This
parasite is a brick-red acarus, visible to the naked eye on a dark
ground, and living on green vegetation in many localities. It attacks
man, and the horse, oi, dog, etc., burrowing under the skin and giv-
ing rise to small papules and intolerable irritation. This continues
for two or three days only if no fresh acari are received, but will
last until cold weather sets in if a fresh colony is received every day.
Horses at pasture suffer mainly on tlie lower part of the face. If kept
indoors the disease will disappear, or if left at pasture a weak tar
water or solution of tobacco may be applied to the face.

Parasites: aamarus Pteropioides and Chegletaes live in musty
fodders and are found on the horse.

TICKS.

The wood tick is familiar to inhabitants of uncultivated lands, and
proves a troublesome parasite to man and beast alike. It lives on
bushes, and only attaches itself to the mammal to secure a feast of
blood, for when gorged it drops off to sleep off its debauch on the soil.
The tick produces great irritation by boring into the skin with its
armed proboscis. If pulled out the head and thorax are often left in
the skin. They may be covered with oil to shut out the air from their
breathing pores, or by touching them with a hot penknife they will be
impelled to let go. If extracted by the liand they should be turned
to. the left like a screw. It is needless to particularize the several
species, as all can be treated alike.

GRUBS IN SKIN.

Parasite: Hypoderma Silenns. IMalady: Larva {Gruhs) under
the shin.— This fly deposits its embryo on or in the skin of the horse,

455

as its congener {Hypoclerma horis) does in the ox, and the resulting
larva? pass the winter in little rounded sacks beneath tlie integument,
furnished with a central opening, through which the mature larva
escapes in early summer and develops into a &y. In districts where
they exist the grubs should be pressed out of the skin and destroyed
in tlie course of the winter.

LARVA (grubs) OX THE SKIX — FLY-BLOW.

The following flies, among others, deposit their eggs on open sores
or on wet filthy parts of the skin, where their larvae or grubs give rise
to serious trouble: Lucilia Ccesar (blue bottle), Lucilialiominivorax
(screw- worm fly), Musca romiforia (meat fly), and Sorcopliaga car-
naria (flesh-fly). To xjrevent their attacks wet, filthy hair should be
removed and wounds kept clean, and rendered antiseptic by a lotion
of carbolic acid 1 part, water 50 parts; by a mixture of 1 ounce oil of
tar in 20 ounces sweet oil, or some other antiseptic. If the grubs are
already present they should be picked off and one of these dressings
freely applied.

FLIES.

A number of flies attack horses and suck their blood, producing
great annoyance, and in some Instances death. These insects not onlj^
suck the blood, but also often instil an acid poison into the skin, and
in exceptional cases transfer infectious germs from animal to animal
by inoculation.

Various devices are resorted to to prevent the attacks, as to sponge
the skin with a decoction of walnut or elder leaves, of tobacco, to dust
with Persian insect j)owder, to keep a light blanket or fly-net on the
horse, to close doors and windows with fine screens and destroy by
pyrethrum anj^ flies that have gained admission, to remove all manure
heaps that would prove breeding places for flies, to keep the stalls
clean, deodorize hj gypsum and to spread in them trays of dry chlo-
ride of lime. For the poisoned bites apply ammonia, or a solution of
1 part of carbolic acid in 20 parts of sweet oil or glycerine, or one-
fourth ounce bicarbonate of soda and 1 dram of carbolic acid in a
quart of water may be used.

STINGS OF BEES, WASPS, AND HORNETS.

These are much more irritating than the bites of flies, partly because
the barbed sting is left in the wound, and i^artly because of the amount
and quality of the venom. When a swarm attacks an animal the result
may prove fatal.

Treatment consists in the application of wet clay, or of a lotion of
soda or ammonia, or of carbolic acid, or of sugar of lead 2 drams,
laudanum 1 ounce, and water 1 pint. The embedded stings should
be extracted with fine forceps or even with the finger nails.

456

FLEA — PULEX.

The flea of man and those of the dog and cat, when nnmerons, will
bite the horse and give rise to rounded swellings on the skin. To
dispose of them it is needful to clear the surroundings of the grub-
like larvje as well as to treat the victim. The soil may be sprinkled
with quicklime, carbolic acid, coal tar, or petroleum; the stalls may
be deluged with boiling water and afterward painted with oil of tur-
pentine and littered with fresh pine sawdust, and all blankets should
be boiled. The skin may be sponged with a solution of 1 part car-
bolic acid in 50 parts of water. Dogs, cats, and pigs should be
dressed with the same lotion, or, better, removed from the ^acinity

of the stable.

The chigoe [Pulex penetrans) of the Gulf Coast is still more injuri-
ous, because it burrows under the surface and deposits its eggs to be
hatched out slowly with much irritation. The tumor formed by it
should be laid open and the parasite extracted. If it bursts so that
its eggs escape into the wound, they may be destroyed by introducing
a wire at a red heat.

LICE — PEDICULI.

Two kinds of lice attack the horse, one of which is furnished with
narrow head and a proboscis for perforating the skin and sucking the
blood, and the other— the broad-headed kind— with strong mandibles,
by which it bites the skin only. Of the bloodsuckers, one is common
to horse and ass and another to horse and ox, while of the nonsucking
lice one species attacks horse and ox and a second ox and ass. The
poor condition, itching, and loss of hair should lead to suspicion, and
a close examination will detect the lice. They may be destroyed by
rubbing the victim with sulphur ointment, or with sulphuretof potas-
sium 4 ounces, water 1 gallon, or with tar water, or the skin may be
sponged with benzine. The application should be repeated a week
later to destroy all lice hatched from the nits in the interval. Build-
ings, clothes, etc., should be treated as for fleas.

TARANTULA AND SCORPION.

The bite of the first and the sting of the second are poisonous, and
may be treated like other insect venom, by carbolated glycerine or a
strong solution of ammonia.

SNAKE BITES.

These are marked by the double i'ncision caused by the two fangs,
by the excessive doughy (dark red) swelling around the wounds,
and in ])ad cases by the general symptoms of giddiness, weakness, and
prostration. They are best treated by enormous doses of alcohol,
whisky, or brandy, or by aqua ammonia very largely diluted in water,

457

the object being to sustain life until the poison snail have spent its
power. As local treatment, if the wound is in a limb, the latter may
have a handkerchief or cord tied around it, above the injury, and
drawn tight l>y a stick twisted into it. In this way absorption may be
checked until the poison can be destroyed b}' the application of a hot
iron or a piece of nitrate of silver or other caustic. A poultice of
tobacco leaves is a favorite remedy, and may be used to soothe the
sore after cauterization.

BURNS AND SCALDS.

For scalds the surface may be bathed with a solution of bicarbon-
ate of soda, sweetened or not by carbolic acid, or a weak solution of
sugar of lead may be used ; or the surface may be dusted thickly with
starch or flour and covered with the cotton wool, or oil of turpentine
may be ai^plied over the scalded skin. Burns are well treated by lini-
ment made of equal parts of lime water and linseed oil (Carron oil).
For both kinds of injuries, cosmoline ten parts, and carbolic acid, one
part, proves an excellent dressing. Blisters should be pricked with a
needle and emptied to prevent their rupture and the exposure of the
raw surface.

Severe burns, leading to destruction of very extensive patches of
skin, usually render a horse useless by reason of the contraction of the
resulting scar, hence the treatment of such is rarely advisable, unless
followed by a skillful plastic operation. In otlier cases a skillful
transi)lanting of epidermis, shaved from a healthy surface with a
sharp razor, will secure the healing of a granulating wound which has
proved obstinate to all other measures. In cases of burns with min-
eral acids (sulphuric, nitric or h^xlrochloric) avoid water, as that will
develop heat, and cover the surface with dry whiting or chalk, and
only when effervescence has ceased wash off with water. "When the
caustic has been a salt (cojiperas, bluestoue, chloride of zinc, etc.)
apply lime water or white of egg. If the irritant has been caustic
potash, soda or ammonia, \anegar should be the first application. If
sores result they may be treated like ordinary wounds.

WOUNDS OF THE SKIN.

These are divided into incised {clean cut) wounds, lacerated {torn)
wounds, and contused {bruised) and jjuncture'd wounds.

Incised wounds are the simplest, and the sharper the instrument
and the cleaner the cut the greater the hope of speedy healing. Some-
thing, however, depends on the seat and direction of the wound; thus
one running from before backward on the body, or from above down-
ward in the limb, will not tend to be drawn open and gape as would
one running transversely on the body or limb. Again a wound on a
joint and running across the limb will gape when the joint is bent.
59G1— HOR 15*

458

Again, a clean-cut wound wliicli lias not been exposed to the air, and
which'lodges no foreign body and no septic nor infecting germ, will
heal readily by simple adhesion, whereas those that have been exposed
and contain matter foreign to the tissues will have healing delayed
or prevented by the disturbing action of such bodies.

Healing in wounds may be said to take place by these modes:

(1) By primary adhesion, in which case the spherical {enibryonic)
cells, and the stellate connective tissue cells (placoids) thrown out on
the surface of the wound, rapidly multiply and form a bond of union
between the divided lips. Union by this means may be affected
within twenty-four hours after the wound has been inflicted. Of all
domestic animals, however, the horse is the least prone to such union,
being more disposed to the formation of pus.

(2) By granulation, which is the common form of healing in raw,
exposed\sores, in those containing foreign bodies and septic and infect-
ing ferments; also in torn and contused wounds. In this form the
wound becomes covered with a layer of embryonic and placoid cells,
of which the superficial ones degenerate into pus cells, and thus the
surface is kept moist by a layer of whitish, creamy pus. In the deeper
layer of cells minute loops of capillary blood vessels start up, causing
the small rounded elevations known as granulations. In this way the
deeper layer of cells receiving a blood supply is transformed into con-
nective tissue, and from its surface new loops of blood vessels start
into the layer above, and thus layer after layer of new tissue is formed,
and the breach caused by the wound is gradually filled up. The
new tissue as formed undergoes a steady contraction, drawing in the
adjacent skin over the wound, and hence large wounds healed in this
way have the skin more or less puckered around them.

(3) By secondary adhesion, in which two granulating lips of a wound
having been brought together and kept in apposition, union takes
place through the medium of the cells, as in primary adhesion.

(4) By scabbing, in which the exudation on the surface of the wound
dries up into a firm scab, under Avhich the process of repair goes on
by the development of tissue from the deeper cells, as in adhesion.

In treating clean, incised wounds, attempts should be made to secure
healing by primary adhesion, even in the horse. Bleeding should
first be arrested, or nearly so, by applying a cold or hot sponge, or
by tying bleeding vessels, and the lips of the wound should then be
closed accurately, without any twisting or overlapping. ^ In small
wounds pieces of sticking plaster may be used, the lips of the wound
having fii-st been smootlily shaved, so that they may adhere firmly.
In larger wounds the wound may be sewed with a curved surgical
needle\nd a silk thread dipped in a solution of carbolic acid. The
stitches may be continued from end to end of the wound and the
thread prevented from slipping and loosening by a knot at each end;
or the stitches may bo independent, the two ends being tied together
across the wound. In such cases they may be one-quarter to one-
third inch apart; or the lips of the wound may be pinned together, the

PI.ATE XXXV

I'ertijcaL s&tion. through sTdn^

after Chaiiveau .

Hatr^ cUseaseA hy
Tiichoplvi/ton Tonsurans.

after Me^nin.

Hair' disrobed 1)1/
Achnrixjn Srfidnleirn

after Me^nin ■

^°^^r^"fc»^

^^^crosporoTv^daninia frmn.
Parasitic J^yriaMs in the horse

after Tkteijnin.

Haines.del

A Hoon&Co Lith, Baltimore.

DISEASES OF THE SKIN

PLATE XXX Vi

.Sfircnpfcs scnbmi , inr.Eqni

Chorijoptes spathiferns.

^_^.

1>

/ 1 ] '-<^ms^ -s$^

^ ')

/'sarnptr.s /ofi</irn.sf7i.s , i •m: h'qiti

Dprmum'saiis ytt/linae.

Hhjiu;s del rffler Megnin

A Hoen &Co Lith. Baltimore

mitf:s that infest thk hohsp:

459

pins in a simple skin wound bein^ inserted one-eighth inch from the
edge, and when both lips have been transfixed in this way a thread
(or liair) carried snccessivelj' around the tAvo ends of the pin and made
to describe a figure S will hold the wound close. When the stitching
is not continuous from end to end of the wound the apposition of the
edges will be rendered more perfect by the application of strips of
sticking plaster in the intervals.

When efforts at primary union have failed and pus has formed, or
fermentative changes have occurred on the raw surfaces and the lips
gape more or less, some antiseptic dressing will be required, as in the
case of lacerated and contused wounds.

In cases where an incised wound has had foreign bodies or septic
ferments introduced into it, these should first be removed. A current
of water that has been boiled and cooled is one of the best methods of
cleansing a wound, and there is no objection to the addition of one-
twentieth of its amount of carbolic acid, as this will tend to destroy
any germ life that might otherwise prove fatal to the healing process.
Then the wound may be stitched up as if it had been clean, and a
daily dressing, of carbolic acid 1 part and sweet oil 10 parts, may be
applied.

For a wound on the convex surface of a joint, where stitches are
not sufficient to keep the lips accurately applied to each other, the
movement of the joint may be temporarily abolished by the applica-
tion of a splint and bandage, and in any such case the bandage should
be applied uniformly from the hoof upward, as othervrise the limb
below the bandage is liable to swell or even die.

The treatment of contused, punctured, and lacerated wounds demands
cleansing and antiseptic applications as for an incised wound, but as
primary adhesion is next to impossible, the same accurate apposition
of the lips by stitching is not so essential. If portions of skin or other
tissue are so detached or crushed that they can not possibly live, they
may be cut off, but if there is any doubt on this matter the injured
portion should be left and every attempt should be made to preserve
it. Such portions of the wound as are free from such fatally injured
parts may be disinfected by the carbolic lotion referred to above, and
stitched up like a clean wound. The severely injured parts may be
left open to discharge, and the whole may be dressed daily with the
carbolized oil, or with a solution of one part of mercuric chloride in
one thousand i)arts water.

GranuJatiny wounds may be irrigated with the mercuric chloride
solution and if the granulations become inflamed (soft, flabby, exu-
berant, rising above the edges of the wound) they may be touched
lightly with a stick of lunar caustic so as to leave them covered with
a white film.

In all wounds that fail to heal by primary union an elaborate anti-
septic treatment is desirable, but the difficulty of applying this suc-
cessfully to the hoi-se in an ordinary stable would seem to forbid a
lengthy description in a book of this kind.

WOUNDS AND THEIR TREATMENT.

By CH. B. MICHENER, V. S.,
Professor of Cattle Pathology and Obstetrics at the Xeir York College of Veter-
inary Surgeons, Inspector of the Bureau of Animal Industry, etc.

Wounds are of different kinds, and are classified as incised, lacer-
afbd, contused, punctured, and gunshot.

An incised wound, or cut, is made with some sharp body. The edges
of the wound are smooth, as though cut with a knife. These wounds
are the simplest we are called upon to treat. If they occur in fleshy
parts, if blood-vessels, tendons, or joints are not injured, they soon
recover and often without any treatment whatever. When bleeding
to any considerable extent follows, and this is more likely to occur
from incised than lacerated or contused wounds, we must first of all
stop the flow of blood before attempting to close the wound itself or
apply any other treatment. Hemorrhage may take place from either
arteries or veins. If from arteries, the blood is bright red or scarlet
in color, and flows in jerks or jets; if from veins, it is darker in color
and the flow is regular. Bleeding from large vessels may be stopped
by compress bandages, torsion, hot iron, and ligatures.

Bu bandages.— It the blood is from an artery, the pressure should
be applied between the wound and the center of circulation, i. e.,
toward the body; if from a vein, toward the extremities. Torsion is
to be applied by the artery forceps grasping the divided vessel and
twisting it the proper number of times. The liot iron (budding iron)
may also be used to sear the end of a blood vessel and thus stopbleed-
ing. Of all means, however, employed to stop the flow of blood from
a large vessel a ligature is the best. The divided end of the artery or
vein is to be caught up and firmly tied about one-half incli from its
division. Should profuse bleeding occur from the incision of a great
number of small vessels, it is best stopped by compresses moistened
with the tincture of the chloride of iron or other astringents. Any
moderately tight bandage of oakum, tow, cob-Avebs, etc., will stop the
hemorrhage, often without the medicaments referred to.

When we have controlled the bleeding our next step is to cleanse
the wound. This is to be accomplished by allowing warm water to

461

462

flov.- or trickle over the wound. Never nib an incised wound with
any coarse substance. When the incision is parallel to the muscular
fibers the wound does not gape to any extent. Stitches placed about
an inch apart are here advisable, or we may keep the edges of the
wound together by means of a bandage. If the incision be across
the direction of the muscular fibers gaping ensues and a "pocket"
forms at the bottom of the wound in which lodge blood and pus. In
my experience stitches do more harm than good in such cases. They
irritate the parts and soon cause sloughing of the skin. A bandage,
so applied as to bring the edges of the wound as close together as
possible, is here preferable. It should be applied from below upwards,
as this encourages union from the bottom, and serves to prevent the
accumulation of pus in the wound. But little is to be done after this.
By means of a sponge apply some simple antiseptic wash, carbolic
acid 1 part, glvcerine 10 to 15 parts. If the parts become very much
soiled they are to be gently washed with castile or carbolic soap and
hot water. Should proud flesh appear it is to be treated with burnt
alum, powdered bluestone, etc. Ofacious meddling and frequent
"dressing" of such wounds do more harm than good.

Incised wounds of tendons, or of any vital part of the body, require
professional attendance, and can not be separately treated of here.

Lacerated and contused wounds may be described together, although
there is of course this difference, that in contused wounds there is no
break or laceration of the skin. Lacerated wounds, however, are as
a rule also contused— the surrounding tissues are bruised to a greater
or lesser extent. While such wounds may not appear at first sight to
be as serious as incised wounds they are commonly very much more
so. Lacerations and contusions, when extensive, are always to be
regarded as dangerous. Many horses die from septic infection or
mortification as a result of these injuries. We find in severe con-
tusions an infiltration of blood into the surrounding tissues; dis-
organization and mortification follow, and involve often the deeper
seated structures. Abscesses, single or multiple, may also result and
call for specal treatment.

In wounds that are lacerated the amount of hemorrhage is mostly
inconsiderable ; even very large blood vessels are thus torn apart with-
out inducing a fatal result. The edges of the wound are ragged and
uneven. These wounds are produced by some blunt object, as where
a horse runs against fences, board piles, the corners of buildings, or
where he is struck by the pole or shafts of another team, falling on
rough, irregular stones, etc.

Trecdment.— In lacerated wounds great care must at first be exer-
cised in examining or probing to the very bottom of the rent or tear
to see if any foreign body be present. Very often splinters of wood or
bits of stone or dirt are thus lodged, and unless removed prevent the
wound from healing; or if it should heal the wound soon opens again,

463

discliargiiig a tliin, gluey matter that is characteristic of the iiresence
of some ol3Ject in the j^arts. After a thorough exploration these
wounds are to be carefully and patiently fomented with warm water,
to which has been added carbolic acid in the i^roportion of 1 part to
100 of water. Rarely, if ever, are stitches to be inserted in lacerated
wounds. The surrounding tissues and skin are so weakened in vitality
and structure by the contusion that stitches will not hold; they only
irritate the parts. It is better to endeavor to secure coadaptation by
means of bandages, plasters, or collodion. One essential in the treat-
ment of lacerated wounds is to secure a free exit for the pus. If the
orifice of tlic wound is too high, or if i)us is found to be burrowing in
the tissues beneath the opening, we must then make a counter open-
ing as low as i)ossible. This will admit of the wound being thoroughly
washed out, at first with warm water, and afterward injected with
some mild astringent and antiseptic wash, as chloride of zinc, 1 dram
to a pint of water. A depending opening must be maintained until
the wound ceases to discharge. Repeated hot fomentations over the
region of lacerated Avounds afford much relief and should be per-
sisted in.

Bruises are nothing but contused wounds, where the skin has not
been ruptured. There is often considerable solution of continuitj'" of
the parts under the skin, subcutaneous hemorrhage, etc. , which VLyay
result in local death — mortification — and slough of the bruised j)art.
If the bruise or contusion is not so severe, very many cases are quickly
cured by constant fomentation with hot water for from two to four
hours. The water should be allowed, about this time, to gradually
become cool and then cold. Cold fomentation must then be kei)t up
for another liour or two. Dry the parts thoroughly and quickly, and
bathe them freely with camphor 1 ounce, sweet oil 8 ounces. A (Xvy^
light bandage should then be applied, the horse allowed rest, and, if
necessarj^, the camphorated oil may be repeated for two or three
days. If, however, the wound is so severe that sloughing must ensue,
we must encourage this by poultices made of linseed meal, wheat
bran, turnij^s, onions, bread and milk, or hops. Charcoal is to be
sprinkled over the surface of the poultice when the wound is bad
smelling. After the slough has fallen off the wound is to be dressed
with antiseptic washes of carbolic acid, chloride of ^inc, permanganate
of potash, etc. If granulating (filling up) too fast, use burnt alum,
or air-slaked lime. Besides this local treatment we find that the con-
stitutional symptoms of fever and inflammation call for measures to
prevent or control them. This is best done by i)lacing the injured
animal on soft or green food. A physic of Barbadoes aloes, 1 ounce,
should be given as soon as possible after the accident. Sedatives, as
tincture of aconite root, 15 drops every two or three hours, and ounce
doses of saltpeter twice or three times a day, are also to be adminis-
tered. When the symptoms of fever are abated, and if the discharges

464

from the wound are abundant, the strength of our patient must be
sui^ported by good food and tonics. One of the best tonics is as fol-
lows: Powdered sulphate of iron, powdered gentian, and powdered
ginger, of each 4 ounces. Mix thoroughly and give a heaping table-
spoonful twice a day on the feed, or as a drench.

Punctured luounds are produced by the penetration of a sharp or
blunt pointed substance, as a thorn, fork, nail, etc., and the orifice of
these wounds is always small in proportion to their depth. In veteri-
nary practice punctured wounds are much more common than the
others. They involve the feet most frequently, next the legs, and often
the head and face from nails protruding through the stalls and trough.
They are not only the most frequent but they are also the most serious.
One circumstance rendering them so is the lack of attention that they
at first receive. The external wound is so small that but little or no
importance is attached to it, yet in a short time swelling, pain, and
acute inflammation, often of a serious character, are manifested. Con-
sidering the most common of the punctured wounds we must give
precedence to those of the feet. Horses worked in cities, about iron
works, around building places, etc., are most likely to receive "nails
in the feet." The animal treads upon nails, pieces of iron or screws,
and forces them into the soles of the feet. If the nail, or whatever it is
that has punctured the foot, is fast in some large or heavy body, and
is withdrawn as the horse lifts his foot, lameness may last for only a
few steps; but unless properly attended to at once he will be found in
a day or two to be excrutiatingly lame in the injured member. If
the foreign body remains in the foot he gradually grows worse from the
time of puncture until the cause is discovered and removed. If, when
shoeing, a nail is driven into the "quick" (sensitive laminae) and
allowed to remain, the horse gradually evinces more pain from day to
day; but if the nail has at once been removed by the smith lameness
does not, as a rule, show itself for some days; or, if the nail is simply
driven "too close," not actually pricking the horse, he may not show
any lameness for a week or even much longer. At this point it is due
the blacksmith to say that, considering how thin the walls of some feet
are, the uneasiness of many horses while shoeing, the ease with which
a nail is diverted from its course by striking an old piece of nail left
in the wall, or froi#the nail itself splitting, the wonder is not tliat so
many horses are pricked or nails driven ''too close," but rather that
many more are not so injured. It is not always carelessness or igno-
rance on the part of the smith, by any means, that is to account for
this accident. Bad and careless shoers we do meet with, but let us be
honest and say that the rarity of these accidents points rather to the
general care and attention given by these much-abused mechanics.
" From the construction of the horse's foot (being encased in an
impermeable horny box), and from the elasticity of the horn closing
the orifice, punctured wounds of the feet are almost always productive

465

of lameness. Inflammation results, and as there is no relief afforded
by swelling and no escape for the product of inflammation, this mat-
ter must and does burrow between the sole or wall and the sensitive
parts within it until it generally opens ' ' between hair and hoof. "
We can thus see why pain is so much more severe, why tetanus (lock-
jaw) more frequently follows wounds of the feet, and why, from the
extensive, or at times complete, separation and " casting" of the hoof,
these wounds must always be regarded with grave apprehension.

Symptoms and treatment. — A j^ractice Avhich, if never deviated
from — that of picking up each foot, cleaning the sole, and thoroughly
examining the foot each and every time the horse comes into the
stable — will enable us to reduce the serious consequences of punctured
wounds of the feet to the minimum. If the wound has resulted from
pricking, lameness follows soon after shoeing; if from the nails being-
driven too close, it usually appears from four to five days or a week
after receiving the shoe. We should alwaj^s inquire as to the time of
shoeing, examine the shoe carefully and see whether it has been par-
tially pulled and the horse stepped back upon some of the nails or the
clip. The i)ain from these wounds is lancinating; the horse is seen
to raise and lower the limb or hold it from the ground altogether; often
he points the foot, flexes the leg, and knuckles at the fetlock. Swell-
ing of the fetlock and back tendons is also frequently seen and is aj)t
to mislead us. The foot must he carefully examined, and this can not
he properly done without removing the shoe. The nails should be
drawn separately and carefully examined. If there is no escape of
matter from the nail-holes, or if the nails themselves are not moist,
we must continue our examination of the foot by carefully pinching or
tapping it at all parts. With a little practice we can detect the spot
where pain is the greatest or discover the delicate line or scar left at
the point of entrance of the foreign body. The entire sole is then to
be thinned, after which we are to carefully cut down u^jon the point
where pain is greatest upon pressure, and, finally, through the sole at
this spot. When the matter has escaped, the sole, so far as it was
undermined by pus, is to be removed. The foot must now be poulticed
for one or two days and afterAvard dressed Avith a compress of oakum
saturated with carbolic-acid solution or other antiseptic dressing.

If we discover a nail or other object in the foot the principal direc-
tion, after havdng removed the oftending body, is to cut away the
sole, in a funnel shape, doAvn to the sensitive parts beneath. This is
imperative, and if a good free oj^ening has been made and is main-
tained for a few days, hot fomentations and antiseptic dressings
applied, the cure is mostly easy, simple, quick, and permanent. The
horse should be shod with a leather sole under the shoe, first of all
applying tar and oakum to prevent any dirt from entering the wound.
In some instances nails may puncture the flexor tendons, the coffin
bone, or enter the coffin joint. Such injuries are always serious, their

466

recoverj'^ slow and tedious, and the treatment so varied and difficult
that the services of a veterinarian will be necessary.

Punctured wounds of joints — Open joints. — These wounds are more
or less frequent. They are always serious, and often result in anchy-
losis (stiff ening) of the joint or death of the animal. The joints mostly
punctured are the hock, fetlock, or knee, though other joints may of
course suffer this injury. As the symptoms and treatment are much
the same for all, I will only describe this accident as it occurs in the
hock joint. Probably the most common mode of injury is from the stab
of a fork, but it may result from the kick of another horse that is
newl}'' shod, or in many other ways. At first the horse evinces but
slight pain or lameness. The owner discovers a small wound scarcely
larger than a i)ea, and iiays but little attention to it. In a few days,
however, the pain and lameness become excessive ; the horse can no
longer bear any weight ujion the injured leg; the joint is very much
swollen and painful ui)on i)ressure; there are well-marked s^'m^jtoms
of constitutional disturbance — c^uick i)ulse, hurried breathing, liigh
temi^erature, 103° to 106° Fahr., the apiDetite is lost, thirst is present,
the horse reeks with sweat, and shows by an anxious countenance the
pain he suffers. He may lie down, though mostly he persists in stand-
ing, and the opposite limb becomes greatly swollen from bearing the
entire weiglit and strain for so long a time. The wound, which at
first appeared so insignificant, is now constantly discharging a thin
whitish or yellowish fluid — joint-oil or water, which becomes coagu-
lated about the mouth of the wound and adheres to the part in clots
like jelly, or resembling somewhat the white of an egg. Not infre-
quently the joint oj)ens at different places, discharging at first a thin
bloody fluid that soon assumes the character above described.

Treatment of these wounds is most difficult and unsatisfactory. In
my own exx)erience we can do much to j)revent this arraj' of symptoms
if the case is seen early — within the first twenty-four or forty-eight
hours after the injury; but when inflammation of the joint is once
fairl}' established the case becomes one of grave tendencies. When-
ever a punctured Avound of a joint is noticed, even though apparently
of but small moment, we should without the least delay apply a strong
cantharides blister over the entire joint, being even careful to fill the
orifice of the wound Avith the blistering ointment. This treatment is
almost always effectual. It operates to x^erf orm a cure in two ways —
first, the swelling of the skin and tissues underneath it completely
closes the wound and j)re vents the ingress of air; second, by the super-
ficial inflammation established it acts to check and abate all deep-
seated inflammation. In the great majority of instances, if i)ursued
soon after the accident, this treatment performs a cure in about one
week, but should the changes described as occurring later in the joint
have already taken place, we must then treat by cooling lotions and
the application to the wound of chloride of zinc, 10 grains to the ounce

467

of water, or a paste made u\) of flour and alum. A bandage is toliold
these apj)lications in place, which is only to be removed when swelling
of the leg or increasing febrile sj^mptoms demand it. In the treat-
ment of open joints our chief aim must be to close the orifice as soon
as possible. For this reason rex)eated x)robing or even injections are
contra-indicated. The onlj^ i)i'ohing of an open joint that is to be
sanctioned is on our first visit, when we should carefully examine the
wound for foreign bodies or dirt, and after removing them the probe
must not again be used. The medicines used to coagulate the synovial
discharge are best simply applied to the surface of the wound, on
pledgets of tow, and held in place by bandages. Internal "treatment
is also indicated in those cases of open joints where the suffering is
great. At first we should administer a light i)hysic, and follow this
up with sedatives and anodynes, as directed for contused wounds.
Later, however, we should give quinine, or salicylic acid in one-dram
doses two or three times a day.

JFounds of tendons are similar to open joints in that there is an
escape of synovial fluid, "sinew water." Where the tendons are
simjoly punctured bj^ a thorn, nail, or fork, we must, after a thorough
exploration of the wound for any remaining foreign substance, treat
with the flour and alum paste, bandages, etc., as for oi)en joint.
Should the skin and tendons be divided the case is even more serious
and often incurable. There is always a large bed of granulations
(proud flesh) at the seat of injury, and a thickening more or less i)ro-
nounced remains. When the back tendons of the leg are severed we
should apply at once a high-heel shoe (which is to be gradualhj low-
ered as healing advances) and bandage firmly with a comj)ress mois-
tened with a 10-grain chloride of zinc solution. When i^roud flesh
appears this is best kept under control by repeated applications of a
red-hot iron. Mares that are valuable as brood animals and stock
horses sliould always be treated for this injury, as, even though
blemished, their value is not seriously impaired. The length of
time required and the exj^ense of treatment will cause us to hesitate in
attemi)ting a cure if the subject is old and comjiaratively valueless.

Gunshot wounds. — These wounds are so seldom met with in our ani-
mals that an extended reference to them seems unnecessary. If a
wound has been made by a bullet a careful examination should be
made to ascertain if the ball has passed through or out of the body.
If it has not we must then probe for the ball, and if it can be located
it is to be cut out when practicable to do so. Oftentimes a ball may
be so lodged that it can not be removed, and it then wmy become
encj'sted and remain for years without giving rise to any inconven-
ience. It is often difficult to locate a bullet, as it is very readily
deflected by resistances met with after entering the body. Should
bones be struck by a baU they are frequently shattered and splintered
to such an extent as to warrant us in having the animal destroved.

468

A gunshot wound, when irreparable injury has not been done, is to
be treated the same as punctured wounds, i. e., remove the foreign
body if possible, and apply hot fomentations or poultices to the wound
until suppuration is fairly established. Antiseptic and disinfectant
injections may then be used. Should pus accumulate in the tissues
openings must be made at the most depending parts for its escape.
Wounds from shotguns if fired close to the animal are serious. They
are virtually lacerated and contused wounds. Remove all the shot
possible from the wound, and treat as directed for contusions. When
small shot strike the horse from a distance they stick in the skin or
only go through it. The shot grains must be picked out, but as a
rule this "peppering" of the skin amounts to but little.

Cliajing hij the harness— saddle or collar galls.— ^Vonnds or abra-
sions of this description are very commonly met with during the spring
plowing, particularly in "new ground," or from ill-fitting saddles or
collars at any time of the year. Collars too large or too small are
equally productive of this trouble. In the spring of the year, when
the horse has been unused to steady work for some months, the skin
is tender and easily abraded. The horse, from being wintered on a
scanty allowance of grain, is soft, sweats easily, and if the collar and
shoulders are not properly attended to chafing of the skin is almost
sure to follow. The harness should be repaired, cleaned, and oiled
before using, and the collar in particular should be thoroughly cleansed
after every day's use. The shoulders are to be frequently washed with
cold water, and afterward bathed with white-oak bark tea, alcohol, or
other astringents. Should ill-fitting or badly made harness or saddles
gall a horse, they must be refitted at once, or laid aside for other and
better ones.

The treatment of such abrasions is simple and effective if the cause
be removed without delay. The parts must be thoroughly bathed in
soapy water, allowing the lather to remain on the abraded surface.
There are many remedies for harness galls. Among them may be
mentioned alcohol, 1 pint, in which are well shaken the whites of two
eggs; a solution of nitrate of silver, 10 grains to the ounce of water;
sugar of lead or sulphate of zinc, 20 grains to an ounce of water; car-
bolic acid, 1 part in 15 parts of glycerine, and so on almost without
end. Any simple astringent wash or powder will effect a cure pro-
vided the sores are not irritated by friction. If the animal must
continue his work the harness must be padded or chambered.

Burns and scalds.— Wounds from burning or scalding are rare in
the domestic animals, but when extensive they prove very trouble-
some and are often fatal. According to the severity of the burn we
find the skin simply reddened, vesicles (blisters) may be produced, or
the part may be literally roasted or boiled, causing complete destruc-
tion of the tissues and sloughing. When a large surface of the skin
is burned or scalded the animal (if he does not die at once from shock)

469

will soon show symptoms of fever — shivering, coldness of the extremi-
ties, weakness, restlessness, quick, feeble pulse, sighing breathing, etc.
The treatment in such cases must be jarompt and energetic. Stimu-
lants, such as whisky with milk and eggs, are to be frequently given.
Quinine and salicylic acid, of each 1 dram, should also be administered
twice a day. The burned surface must be immediately bathed with
equal parts of lime-water and linseed oil, and afterwards dredged
with as much flour as can be made to adhere. If these can not be
obtained cover the i^arts with flour paste, layers of cotton, or any-
thing to exclude the air. Nitrate of silver, 5 grains to the ounce of
water, or carbolic acid, 1 part to 50 of water, afford great relief if
frequently applied. When the slough takes place we must supi)ort
the animal's strength with good food and tonics, and treat the raw
surface the same as other granulating wounds.

ABSCESSES.

These consist of accumulations of pus within circumscribed walls,
at different parts of the body, and may be classed as acute, and cold
or chronic abscesses.

Acute abscesses follow as the result of local inflammation in glands,
muscular tissue, or even bones. They are Very common in the two
former. The abscesses most commonly met with in the horse (and
the ones which will be here described) are those of the salivarj^ glands,
occurring during the existence of " strangles " or "colt distemper."
The glands behind or under the jaw are seen to slowly increase in
size, becoming firm, hard, hot, and painful. At first the swelling is
uniformly hard and resisting over its entire surface, but in a little
while becomes soft — fluctuating — at some portion, mostly in the center.
From this time on the abscess is said to be ' ' pointing " or ' ' coming
to a head," which is shown by a small elevated or projecting promi-
nence, which at first is dry, but soon becomes moist with transuded
serum. The hairs over this part loosen and fall off, and in a short
time the abscess opens, the contents escape, and the cavity gradually
fills up — heals by granulations.

Abscesses in muscular tissue are usually the result of bruises or
injuries. In all cases where abscesses are forming we should hurry
the ripening procees by frequent hot fomentations and poultices.
When they are very tardy in their development a blister over their
surface is advisable. It is a common rule with surgeons to open an
abscess as soon as j)us can be plainly felt, but this i>ractice can
scarcely be recommended to owners of stock indiscriminatelj^ since
this little operation frequently requires an exact knowledge of anat-
omy. It \^ill usually be found the better plan to encourage the full
ripening of an abscess and allow it to open of itself. This is imj)era-
tive if the abscess is in the region of joints, etc. When open, we
must not squeeze the walls of the abscess to any extent. They may

470

be veiy gently pressed witli the fingers at first to remove the clots —
inspissated x)us — but after this the orifice is simply- to be kept open
by the introduction of a whalebone probe, should it be disposed to
heal too soon. If the opening is at too high a level another should
be made into the lowest portion of the abscess. Hot fomentations or
poultices are sometimes required for a day or two after an abscess
has opened, and are i)articularly indicated when the base of the ab-
scess is hard and indurated. As a rule, injections into the cavity of
abscesses are not indicatedj though in cases of serous abscesses (if one
may be allowed such latitude of terms), as cysts of the elbow, knee,
etc., astringent injections — sulphate of zinc, 15 grains to the ounce
of water — are required to cause adhesions of the walls of the cavity
and i)revent it from refilling. If abscesses are foul and bad-smelling
their cavities must be syringed with a weak solution of carbolic acid
or other antiseptics.

CoJd abscess is the term applied to those large, indolent swellings
that are the result of a low or chronic form of inflammation, in the
center of which there is a small collection of i>us. These are mostly
met with at the base of the neck and in front of the shoulder joint.
The swelling is diffuse and of enormous extent, but slightly hotter
than surrounding j)arts, and not very x^ainful ux)on x)ressure. There
is a i^ronounced stiffness, rather than pain, evinced upon moving the
animal. Such abscesses have the appearance of a hard tumor, sur-
rounded b}' a softer oedematous swelling, involving the tissues to the
extent of a foot or more in all directions from the tumor. This dif-
fused swelling gradually' subsides and leaves the large, hardened mass
somewhat well defined. One of the characteristics of cold abscesses
is their tendency to remain in the same condition for a great length
of time. There is neither heat nor soreness; no increase nor les-
sening in the size of the tumor; it remains statu quo. If, however,
the animal should be put to work for a short time the irritation of the
collar causes the surrounding tissues to again assume an oedematous
condition, which, after a few daj's' rest, disapi)ear, leaving the tumor
as before or but slightly larger. UiDon careful manipulation we may
discover what appears to be a fluid deep seated in the center of the
mass. The quantity of matter so contained is very small — often not
more than a tablespoonf ul — and for this reason it can not, In all cases,
be detected.

Cold abscesses are mostlj^ if not always, caused by the long-con-
tinued irritation of a loose and badly fitting collar. There is a slow
inflammatory action going on, which results in the formation of a
small quantity of matter, inclosed in very thick and but partially
organized walls, that are not as well defined as is the circumference
of fibrous tumors, which they most resemble.

Treatment. — The means recommended to bring the acute abscess "to
a head" are but rarely effectual with this variety; or, if successful,

471

too mucli time lias been occupied in tlie cure. AVe uiust look for
other and more rapid metliods of treatment. These consist in, first of
all, carefully exploring the tumor for the presence of pus. The inci-
sions must be made over the softest i)art, and carried deep into the
tumor (to its verj^ bottom if necessary), and the matter allowed to
escape. After this, and whether we have found matter or not, we
must induce an active i7} flammed ion of the tumor in order to j)romote
solution of the thick walls of the abscess. This may be done by insert-
ing well into the incision a piece of oakum or cotton saturated with
turpentine, carbolic acid, tincture of iodine, etc., or we may pack the
incision with jiowdered sulphate of zinc and keep the orifice plugged
for twenty-four hours. These agents set ux3 a destructive inflamma-
tion of the walls. Suj)puration follows, and this should now be en-
couraged by hot fomentations and poultices. The orifice must be kei)t
open, and should it be disposed to heal we must again introduce some
of the agents above described. A favored treatment with many, and
it is x)robabl3^ the best, is to plunge a red-hot iron to the bottom
of the incision, and thoroughly sear all parts of the walls of the
abscess. This is to be repeated after the first slough has taken place,
if the walls remain thickened and indurated.

It is useless to waste time with fomentations, j)oultices, or blisters
in the treatment of cold abscesses, since, though apjiarently removed
by such methods, they almost invariably return again when the
horse is put to work. Extiri)ation by the knife is not i)racticable,
as the walls of the tumor are not sufiicientlj^ defined. If treated as
above directed, and i^roperh- fitted with a good collar after healing,
there will not remain any track, trace, or remembrance of the large,
unsightly mass.

FISTULtE.

The word fistula is properly applied to sinuous pipes or ducts lead-
ing from cavities to the surface of the body, through which a discharge
is constantly taking i^lace. Thej' are lined by a false or adventitious
membrane, and show no disposition to heal. Fistula) may then exist
at any part, but the name has come to be commonly accepted as
applicable onh^ to such discharges taking place from the withers,
and we shall refer to this location when using the term.

Poll evil is a fistula upon the poll, and in no sense differs from fistu-
lous Avithers except as to location. The description of fistula will
apply then, in the main, to ijoll evil as well. Fistula) are particularly
liable to occur at either of these locations from the disx)ositiou of the
muscles and tendinous expansions, which favor the burrowing of pus
and its retention. Fistulse follow as a result of abscesses, bruises,
wounds, or long continued irritation by the harness. Among the
more common causes of fistula of the poll — poll evil — are chafing by
the halter or heavy bridle; blows from the butt end of the whip; the

472

horse striking his head against the hayrack, heams of the ceiling, low
doors, etc. Fistulous withers are seen mostly in those horses that
have 'thick necks as well as those that are very high in the withel^s;
or among saddle horses, those that are very low on the withers, the
saddle here riding forward and bruising the parts. They are often
caused by bad-fitting collars or saddles, by direct injuries from blows,
and from the horse rolling upon rough or sharp stones. In either of
these locations, ulcers of the skin, or simple abscesses, if not prop-
erly and punctually treated, may become fistuhe. The pus burrows
and finds lodgment deep down between the muscles, and only escapes
when the sinus becomes surcharged or during motion of the parts,
when the matter is squeezed out.

>%mpto?ns.— These of course will vary according to the progress
made by the fistula. Following an injury we may often notice sore-
ness or stiffness of the front legs, and upon careful examination of the
withers we will see small tortuous lines running from the point of
irritation downward and backward over the region of the shoulder.
These are superficial lymphatics, and are swollen and painful to the
touch In a day or two a swelling is noticed on one or both sides of
the dorsal vertebra3, which is hot and painful and rapidly enlarging.
The pain may at this time subside somewhat, the stiffness disappear,
but the swelling continues and increases in size. It fluctuates upon
pressure, and either opens or its contents become inspissated, dry up,
leaving a tumor that gradually develops the common characteristics
of a fibrous tumor. AVhen the enlargement has opened we should
carefully examine its cavity, as on its condition will wholly depend

our treatment.

In the earliest stage, when there is soreness, enlarged lymphatics,
but no well-marked swelling, the trouble may be frequently aborted.
To do this requires both general and local treatment. A physic should
be o-iven and the horse receive 1 ounce of powdered saltpeter three
times a day in his water or feed. If the fever runs high, 20-drop
doses of tincture of aconite root every two hours may be administered.
Locally we will find much relief by pouring cold water from a height
upon the inflamed spot for an hour at a time three or four times a
day Cooling lotions, muriate of ammonia, or saltpeter and water,
sedative washes, as tincture of opium and aconite, chloroform lini-
ment, or camphorated oil are also to be frequently applied. I have
seen a number of cases presenting these initial symptoms of fistula
thus aborted that required no other treatment than the avoidance of
the original cause. AVhen, however, the formation of pus is inevita-
ble this must be hurried as much as possible. Hot fomentations and
poultices are to be constantly used, and as soon as fluctuation can be
plainly felt the abscess wall is to be opened at its loivest point. In
this procedure lies our hope of a speedy cure. If the parts are so laid
open by the knife that the pus must escape as fast as it is formed, and

473

where there is left no possibility of its burrowing between the muscles,
forming pockets or sinuses, the parts rapidly and permanently heal
without any mediation whatever, as though we had been dealing Avith
a simple abscess of the withers, and not a true fistula at all.

Attention is again called to the directions given above as to the
necessit}'^ of probing the cavity when opened. If upon a careful exam-
ination with the probe we find that there are no pockets, no sinuses,
but a simple, regular abscess wall, the indication for treatment is to
make an opening from below so that the matter must all escape.
Rarel}' is anything more needed than to keep the orifice open and to
bathe or inject the parts with some simple antiseptic wash that is not
irritant or caustic. A low opening and cleanliness constitute the
essential and rational treatment. If caustics are inserted, tlie}^ cause
sloughing of healthy tissues and favor the formation of sinuses by
producing ' sloughs below the point of incision. If the abscess has
existed for some time and has not opened, its walls become thickened,
the pus granular or inspissated, then, after an opening has been made
bj" the knife and the contents washed and squeezed out as thoroughl}^
as possible, the plan of treatment is materially different. There is
enormous thickening of the walls, which must be destroj^ed and
sloughed out by caustics. The best plan here is to make the first
incision in the highest point of the swelling, introduce a piece of caustic
potash (fused) 1 to 2 inches in length, carefully plug the opening with
oakum or cotton, and secure the horse so that he can not disturb the
parts by rubbing or biting them. The skin of the shoulder and entire
leg must be thoroughly greased with lard or oil in order to prevent
the caustic (should it escai)e) from excoriating the skin over which it
flows. Twenty-four hours after the introduction of the caustic the plug
is to be removed and hot fomentations applied. As soon as the dis-
charge is again established we must make another opening with the
knife or seton needle as low as possible, and keep this open with a
seton. The object of making the first incision on top is to insure
the retention of the caustic until it has a'ttacked the entire inner sur-
face of the cavity. If this is done the caustic causes sloughing of every
portion of the diseased parts, leaving a health}' granulating surface
underneath, which only requires that the depending orifice be kept
open and the cavity washed out with a weak antiseptic solution once
or twice a week to effect a cure. In manj^ cases of fistula there is more
than one sinus or pipe that must be explored, laid open with the knife
if possible, or opened through its bottom by means of a sharp seton
needle, passing a tape through the openings, and retaining it in this
position for some time. If the pipes are directed straight downward
between the shoulder blade and the spine it is difficult or impossible
to make a counter oijening, and the case become serious or intract-
able. Caustic solutions must now be injected carefull}' into the sinuses
with the hope of reaching every diseased part. Probably the best is

474

graniilar cliloride of zinc, 1 ounce to a half pint of water. This should
be injected three times during one week, after which a weak solution
of the same, or sulphate of zinc, is to be occasionally injected. Pres-
sure must be applied /roni helow, and endeavors made in this manner
to heal the different pipes /ro?7i the bottom. Should the bones of the
withers or the shoulder blade be diseased the complication is again
serious, and these must be scraped or portions of them removed,
requiring the aid of the veterinary surgeon.

In those cases of fistula where the tumor is large and hard, yet not
sufficiently defined to admit of extirpation with the knife, Ave may
often effect a cure by making a shallow incision under the skin, over
the center of the tumor, and inserting from 20 to 30 grains of arse-
nious acid— powdered arsenic— wrapped in a single layer of tissue
paper, and retaining in the same manner as before directed for the
caustic potassa. No further treatment is necessary for some time.
In about ten days or two weeks there will have taken place a large,
deep slough, leaving a very ugly looking granulating wound, which,
however, gradually contracts during the healing process and results
in the entire disappearance of the tumor.

It is to be inferred from the foregoing that, even though fully estab-
lished, fistula? of the withers or poll are, in the majority of cases, cur-
able. They often require much time and patient attention. The
sinuses must be opened at their inferior extremity and kept open.
At first caustic injections or applications must be thoroughly applied
once or twice, after which mild astringent antiseptic washes and
cleanliness complete the cure. In those cases where the sinuses or
pipes are so directed that counter openings can not be made, wliere
there are diseased conditions of the bones, articulations, etc., that can
not l)e reached, the horse had often best be destroyed at once.

It is not at all unusual for fistula? to break out again after having
healed. This should not discourage us of a complete cure, as there
is mostly only some small particle of diseased tissue remaining, caught,
probably, in the healing of ttie orifice. A small abscess forms, points,
and open's. This abscess should be injected with a solution of sul-
phate of zinc, 20 grains to the ounce of water, every second or third
day until entirely healed.

Fistula? of the foot— quittor— should 1)0 ti-eated on the same prin-
ciple as those already described.

AVhen fistulous tracts are found at unusual points we must care-
fully examine the character and time of the discharges, and diligently
probe the sinus to ascertain if the duct of some gland lias not been
opened, or if some foreign body, as a splinter of wood, etc., is not
retained in the wound. In the first case— fistula of a gland duct— a
competent veterinarian must be called. In the second instance the
foreign body is to be carefully cut down upon and removed, after
which healing progresses rapidly and satisfactorily.

GENERAL DISEASES.

BY RUSH SHIPPEN HUIDEKOPER, M. D., Vet.
Editor Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Archives, Philadelphia.

INFLAMMATION.

Synonyms : Inflam medio, Latin, from Inflammare, to flame, to burn ;
Phlegmasia 6\eyjj.affia, Greek; Inflammation, French; Inflamma-
zione, Italian; Inflaviacion, Spanish; Entzundung, German.

Definition. — Inflammation is a process of excessive nutrition —
hypernutrition— of a living tissue, by wliicli the latter may be altered
in its functions while retaining for an indefinite time a morbid life;
may be destroyed, as in abscesses, ulcers, necrosis, etc. ; or may be
transformed into a new tissue, as in the healing of a previousl^^
injured i)art, the normal tissue in this case being replaced by a scar
(cicatricial tissue), or by masses of calcareous deposits (lime salts).

ANIMAL TISSUES.

The non-professional reader may regard tlie animal tissues, which
are subject to inflammation, as excessively simple structures, as sim-
ilar, simple, and fixed in their organization as the joists and boards
which frame a liouse, the bricks and iron coils of pipe whicli build
a furnace, or the stones and mortar which make the support of a
great railroad bridge. Yet while the principles of structure are thus
simple, for the general understanding by the student who begins
their study the complete appreciation of the shades of variation,
which differentiate one tissue from another, which define a sound ten-
don or ligament from a fibrous band, the result of disease filling in an
old lesion and tying one organ with another, is as complicated as the
nicest jointing of Chinese woodwork, the building of a furnace for
the most difficult chemical analj^sis, or tlie construction of a bridge
which will stand for ages and resist vtuj force or weight.

All tissues are composed of certain fundamental and similar ele-
ments which are governed by the same rules of life, though they may

475

476

appear at first glance to be widely different. These are: (a) amor-
phous substances; (b) fibers; (c) cells.

(a) Amorphous substances may be in liquid form, as in the fluid of
the blood, which holds a vast amount of salts and nutritive matter in
solution, or they may be in a semi-liquid condition, as the plasma
which infiltrates the loose meshes of connective tissue and lubricates
the surface of some membranes, or they may be in the form of a glue
or cement, fastening one structure to another, as a tendon or muscle
end to a bone, or again they hold similar elements firmly together as
in bone, where they form a stiff matrix which becomes impregnated
with lime salts. Amorphous substances again form the protoplasm
or nutritive element of cells or the elements of life.

(&) Fibers are formed of elements of organic matter which have
only a passive function. They can be assiuiilated to little strings or
cords tangled one with another like a mass of waste yarn, woven regu-
larly like a cloth or bound together like a rope. They are of two
kinds, white connective tissue fibers, only slightly extensible, pliable,
and very strong, and yellow elastic fibers, elastic, curly, ramified, and
very dense. These fibers once created require the constant presence
of fluids around them in order to retain their functional condition, as
a piece of harness leather demands continual oiling to keep its
strength, but they undergo no change or alteration in their form until
destroyed by death.

(c) Cells, which may even be regarded as low forms of life, are
masses of protoplasm or amorphous living matter with a nucleus and
frequently a nucleolus or living germs, which are capable of assimi-
lating nutriment or food, propagating themselves either into others of
the same form or into fixed cells of another outward appearance and
different function, but of the same constitution. It is simply in the
mode of grouping of these elements that we have the variation in tis-
sues, as: (1) loose connective tissue ; (2) aponeurosis and tendons; (3)
muscles; (4) cartilage; (5) bones; (6) epithelia and endothelia; (7)

nerves. «. i v

(1) Loose connective tissue forms the great framework or scaffolding
of the body, and is found under the skin, between the muscles sur-
rounding the bones and blood vessels, and entering into the structures
of almost all of the organs. In this the fibers are loosely meshed
together like a sponge, leaving spaces in which the nutrient fiuid and
cells are irregularly distributed. This tissue we find in the skm, m
the spaces between the organs of the body where fat accumulates,
and as the framework of all glands.

(2) AiJoneuTOsis and tendons are structures which serve for the ter-
mination of muscles and for their contention and for the attachment
of bones together. In these the fibers are more frequent and dense
and are arranged with regularity, either crossing each other or lying
parallel, and here the cells are found in minimum quantity.

477

(3) Jfiisdes.— In these the cells lie end to eud, forming long fibers
which have the power of contraction, and the connective tissue is in
small quantity, serving the passive purpose of a band around the
contractile elements.

(4) In cartilacje a mass of firm amorphous substance, with no vas-
cularity and little vitality, forms the bed for the chondroplasts or
cells of this tissue.

(5) Bone differs from the above in having the amorphous matter
impregnated with lime salts, which gives it its rigidity and firmness.

(6) Epithelia and endotheUa, or the membranes which cover the
body and line all of its cavities and glands, are made up of single
or stratified and multiple layers of cells bound together by a glue^'of
amorphous substance, and resting on a layer composed of m^ore or
less fibers. AVlien the membrane serves for secreting or excreting
purposes, as in the salivary glands or the kidneys, it is usually sin>
pie when it serves the mechanical purpose of protecting a part, as
over the tongue or skin it is invariably multiple and stratified, the
surface wearing away while new cells replace it from beneath.

(7) In nerves, stellate cells are connected by their rays to each
other, or to fibers which conduct the nerve impressions, or they act
as receptacles and storehouses for them, just as the switch board of
a telephone system serves to connect the various Avires.

All of these tissues are supplied with blood in greater or less ouan-
tity. The vascularity depends upon the function which the tissue is
called upon to perform. If this is great, as in the tongue, the luno-s
or the sensitive part of the foot, a large amount of blood is require'd'
if the labor is a passive one, as in cartilage, the membrane over the
withers, or the tendons of the legs, the vessels only reach the periph-
ery, and nutrition is furnished by imbibition of the fluids brought to
their surface by the blood vessels.

Blood is brought to the tissues by arterioles, or the small termina-
tions of the arteries, and is carried off from them by the veinlets or
the commencement of the veins. Between these two systems are
small delicate networks of vessels called capillaries, which subdivide
into a veritable lace-work so as to reach the neighborhood of everv
element. ^

In health the blood passes through these capillaries with a reo-ular
current, the red cells or corpuscles floating rapidly in the fluid in the
center of the channel, while the white or amoeboid cells are attracted
to the walls of the vessels and move very slowly. The supplv of blood
IS regulated by the condition of repose or activity of the tfssue and
under normal conditions the outflow compensates exactly the supply
The caliber of the blood vessels, and consequently the amount of
blood which they carry, is governed by nerves of the sympathetic
system m a healthy body with unerring regularity, but in a diseased
organ the flow may cease or be greatly augmented. In health a tissue

478

or organ receives its proper quantity of blood; tlie nutritive elements
are extracted for the support of the tissue and for the product, which
the function of the organ forms. The force required in the achieve-
ment of this is furnished by combustion of the hydro-earbons and
oxygen brought by the arterial blood, then by the veins this same fluid
passes off, less its oxygen, loaded with the waste products, which are
the result of the worn out and disintegrated tissues, and of those which
have undergone combustion. The above brief outline indicates the
I)rocess of nutrition of the tissues.

Hyper-nutrition or excessive nutrition of a tissue maybe normal or
morbid. If the latter the tissue becomes congested or inflamed.

CONGESTION.

Congestion is an unnatural accumulation of blood in a part. Excess-
ive accumulation of blood may be normal, as in blushing or in the red
face which temporarily foUovv^s a violent muscular effort, or, as in the
stomach or liver during digestion, or in the lungs after severe work,
from which, in the latter case, it is shortly relieved by a little rapid
breathing. The term congestion, however, usually indicates a morbid
condition, with more or less lasting effects. Congestion is acUve or
X>assive. The former is produced by an increased supply of blood to
the part, the latter by an obstacle preventing the escape of blood from
the tissue. In either case there is an increased supply of blood, and as
a result increased combustion and augmented nutrition.

Active congestion is caused by:

(1) Functional activity.— Any organ which is constantly or exces-
sively used is habituated to hold an unusual quantity of blood; the
vessels become dilated; if overstrained the walls become weakened,
lose their elasticity, and any sudden additional amount of blood
engorges the tissues so that they can not contract and congestion
results. Example: The lungs of a race horse, after an unusual burst
of speed or severe work, in damp weather.

(2) Irritants.— Heat, cold, chemical or mechanical. Any of these,
by threatening the vitality of a tissue, induce immediately an aug-
mented flow of blood to the part to furnish the means of repair— a
hot iron, frostbites, acids, or a blow.

(3) Nerve influence.— This may produce congestion either by acting
on the partreflexly, or as the result of some central nerve disturbance
affecting the branch which supplies a given organ.

(4) Plethora and sanguinary temperament.— 'F\\\\-h\oo(iQ(i animals
are much more predisposed to congestive diseases than those of a
lymphatic character, or those in an ansemic condition. The circula-
tion in them is forced to all parts with much greater force and in
larger quantities. A well-bred, full-blooded horse is much more
subject to congestive diseases than a common, coarse, or old worn-out
animal.

479

(5) Fevers. — In fever the heart works more actively and forces the
current of blood more rapidly; the tissues are weakened, and it
requires but a slight local cause at any part to congest the structures
alreadj^ overloaded with blood. Again, in certain fevers, we find
alteration of the blood itself, rendering it less or more fluid, which
interferes with its free passage through the vessels and induces a local
predisposition to congestion.

(G) Warm climate and summer heat. — Warmth of the atmosphere
relaxes the tissues; it demands of the animals less blood to keep up
their own body temperature, and the extra quantity accumulates in
the blood-vessel system. It causes sluggishness in the performance of
the organic functions, and in this way it induces congestion, especially
of tlie internal organs. So we find founders, congestive colics, and
staggers more frequent in summer than in winter.

(7) Previous congestion. — Whether the previous congestion of any
organ has been a continuous normal one, that is, a repeated functional
activity, or has been a morbid temporary overloading, it always leaves
the walls of the vessels weakened and more predisposed to recurrent
attacks from accidental causes than i)erfectly healthy tissues are.
Thus a horse Avhich has had a congestion of the lungs from a severe
drive is apt to have another attack from even a lesser cause.

The alterations of congestion are distention of the blood vessels,
accumulation of the cellular elements of the blood in them, and effu-
sion of a portion of the liquid of the blood into the fibrous tissues
which surround the vessels. Where the changes produced by conges-
tion are visible, as in the eye, the nostril, the mouth, the genital
organs, and on the surface of the body in white or unpigmented ani-
mals, the part appears red from the increase of blood; it becomes
swollen from the effusion of liquid into the sponge-like connective tis-
sues; it is at times more or less hot from the increased combustion; the
part is frequently painful to the animal from pressure of the effusion
on the nerves, and the function of the tissue is interfered with. The
secretion or excretion of glands may be augmented or diminished.
Muscles may be affected with spasms or may be unable to contract.
The eyes and ears may be affected Avith imaginary sights and sounds.

PASSIVE COXGESTION.

Passive congestion is caused by interference with the return of the
current of blood from a part.

Old age and del) Hit y weaken the tissues and the force of the circula-
tion, especially in the veins, and retard the movement of the blood.
We then see horses of this class with stocked legs, swelling of the
sheath of the penis or of the milk glands, and of the under surface of
the belly. We find them also Avith effusions of the liquid parts of the
blood into the lymph spaces of the posterior extremities and organs of
the pelvic cavity.

480

Tumors or other mechanical obstruction, by pressing on the veins,
retard the flow of blood and cause it to back up in distal parts of the
body, causing passive congestion.

The alterations of passive congestion, as in active congestion, consist
of an increased quantity of blood in the vessels and an exudation of
its fluid into the tissues surrounding them, but in passive congestion
we have a dark thick blood which has lost it oxygen, instead of the
rich combustible blood rich in oxygen which is found in active con-
gestion.

The termination of congestion is by resolution or inflammation. In
the first case, the choked-up blood vessels find an outlet for the exces-
sive amount of blood and are relieved; the transuded serum or fluid
of the blood is reabsorbed, and the part returns almost to its normal
condition, with, however, a tendency to weakness predisposing to
future trouble of the same kind. In the other case further alterations
take place, and we have inflammation.

INFLAMMATION.

Inflmnniatimi is a hypernutrition of a tissue. It is described by
Dr. Agnew, the surgeon, as "a double-edged sword, cutting either
way for good or for evil." The increased nutrition may be moderate
and cause a growth of new tissue, a simple increase of quantity at
first; or it may produce a new growth differing in quality, as a cancer;
or it may be so great that, like luxuriant, overgrown weeds, the ele-
ments die from their very haste of growth, and we have immediate
destruction of the part. According to the rapidity and intensity of
the process of structural changes which take place in an inflamed tis-
sue, inflammation is described as acute or chronic, with a vast number
of intermediate forms. When the phenomena are marked it is termed
sthenic; when less distinct, as the result of a broken down and feeble
constitution in the animal, it is called asthenic. Certain inflamma-
tions are specific, as in strangles, the horsepox, glanders, etc., where a
characteristic or specific cause or condition is added to the origin, char-
acter of phenomena, or alterations which result from an ordinary
inflammation. An inflammation may be circumscribed or limited, as
in the abscess on the neck caused by the pressure of a collar, in pneu-
monias, in glanders, in the small tumors of a splint or a jack; or it
may be diffuse, as in severe fistulas of the withers, in an extensive
lung fever, in the legs in a case of grease, or in the spavins which
affect horses with poorly nourished bones. The causes of inflamma-
tion are practically the same as those of congestion, which is the initial
step of all inflammation.

Tlie temperament of a horse predisposes the animal to inflammation
of certain organs. A full-blooded animal, whose veins show on the
surface of the body, and which has a strong, bounding heart pumping
large quantities of blood into the vascular organs like the lungs, the

481

intestines, and the laminae of the feet, is more apt to have pneumonia
congestive colics, and founder, while lymphatic, cold-blooded animals
have pleurisies, inflammation of the bones, spavins, ring bones, etc.,
inflammation of the glands of the less vascular skin of the extremities,'
greasy heels, thrush, etc.

Young horses have inflammation of the membranes lining the air
passages and digestive tract, while older animals are more subject to
troubles in the closed serous sacks and in the bones.

The work to which a horse is put (saddle or harness, speed or
draft) will influence the predisposition of an animal to inflammatory
diseases. Like in congestion, the functional activity of a part is an
important factor in localizing this fonn of disease. Given a group of
horses exposed to the same draft of cold air or other exciting cause
of inflammation, the one which has just been eating will be attacked
with an inflammation of the bowels; the one that has just been work-
ing so as to increase its respiration will have an inflammation of the
throat, bronchi, or lungs; the one that has just been using its feet
excessively will have a founder or inflammation of the laminae of the
feet.

The direct cause of inflammation is usually an irritant of some
form. This may be mechanical or chemical, external or internal.
Cuts, bruises, injuries of any kind, parasites, acids, blisters, heat,
cold, secretions, as an excess of tears over the cheek or urine on the
legs, all cause inflammation by direct injury to the part. Strains or
wrenches of joints, ligaments, and tendons cause trouble by lacera-
tion of the tissue.

Inflammations of the internal organs are caused by irritants as
above, and by sudden cooling of the surface of the animal, which
drives the blood to that organ which at the moment is most actively
supplied with blood. This is called repercussion. A horse which
has been worked at speed and is breathing rapidly if suddenly chilled
is liable to have pneumonia, while an animal which has just been fed
if exposed to the same influence is more apt to have a congestive
colic, the blood in this case being driven from the exterior to the intes-
tines, while in the former it was driven to the lungs.

Symptoms.— The symptoms of inflammation are, as in congestion,
change of color, due to an increased supply of blood ; su-elliny, from the
same cause, with the addition of an effusion into the surrounding tis-
sues; heat, owing to the increased combustion in the part; j^in"^ due
to pressure on the nerves and altered function. This latter may be
augmented or diminished, or first one and then the other. In addition
to the local symptoms, inflammation always produces more or less
constitutional disturbance or fever. A splint or small spavin will
cause so little fever that it is not appreciable, while a severe spavin,
an inflamed joint, or a pneumonia may give rise to a marked fever.
5061 — HOR 10

482

Tlie altercdwns in an inflamed tissue are first those of congestion,
distension of tlie blood vessels, and exudation of the fluid of the blood
into the surrounding fibers, with, however, a iuore complete stagna-
tion of the blood; fibrin or lymph, a glue-like substance, is thrown
out as well, and the cells, which we have seen to be living organ-
isms in themselves, no longer carried in the current of the blood,
migrate from the vessels and finding proper nutriment proliferate or
multiply with greater or less rapidity. The cells which lie dormant
in tlie meshes of the surrounding fibers are awakened into activity
by the nutritious lymph Avhich surrounds them and they also multiply.
Whether the cell in an inflamed part is the white amoeboid cell of
the blood or the fixed connective tissue cell embedded in the fibei-s,
it multiplies in the same way. The germ in the center (nucleus) is
divided into two, and then each again into two ad infinitum. If the
process is slow, each new cell may assimilate nourishment and become,
like its ancestor, an aid in the formation of new tissues; if, however,
the changing takes place rapidly the brood of young cells have not
time to grow or use up the surrounding nourishment, and but half-
developed they die, and we then have destruction of tissue, and pus
or matter is formed, a material made up of the imperfect dead ele-
ments and the broken down tissue. Between the two there is an inter-
mediate form, where we have imperfectly formed tissues, as in " proud
flesh," cancer, large and soft splints, fungus growths, greasy heels,
and thrush.

Whether the inflamed tissue is one like the skin, lungs, or intes-
tines, very loose in their texture, or a tendon or bone, dense in struc-
ture, and comparatively poor in blood-vessels, the principle of the
process is the same. The effects, however, and the appearance may
be widely different. After a cut on the face or an exudation into the
lungs, the loose tissues and multiple vessels allow the proliferating
cells to obtain rich nourishment; absorption- can take plaee readily,
and the part regains its normal condition entirely, while a bruise at
the heel or at the withers finds a dense, inextensible tissue where the
multiplying elements and exuded fluids choke up aU communication,
and the*^ parts die (ulcerate) from want of blood and cause a serious
quittor or fistula.

This effect of structure of a part on the same process shows the
importance of a i^erfect knowledge in the study of a local trouble, and
the indispensable part Avhich such knowledge plays in judging of the
gravity of an inflammatory disease, and in formulating- a prognosis
or opmion of the final termination of it. It is this which allows
the veterinarian, through his knowledge of the intimate structure of
a part and the relations of its elements, to judge of the severity of a
disease, and to prescribe different modes of treatment in two animals
for troubles which appear to the less experienced observer to be abso-
lutely identical.

483

Termination of inflammation.— L\\^e congestion, inflammation may
terminate by resolution. In this case the exuded lym^ih undergoes
chemical alteration by oxidization, and the products are absorbed
and carried off by the blood vessels and lymphatics, to be thro^vn out
of the body by the liver, the glands of the skin, and the other excre-
tory organs. The eellB, which have wandered into the neighboring
tissues from the blood vessels, find their way back again or become
transformed into fixed cells. Those which are the result of the tissue
cells, wakened into active life, follow the same course. The vessels
tliemselves contract, and liaving resumed their normal caliber, the
pai't apparently reassumes its normal condition; but it is always
weakened, and a new inflammation is more liable to reapi^ear in a
previously inflamed part than in a sound one. The alternate termi-
nation is mortification. If the mortification, or death of a part, is by
molecules, each losing its vitality after the other in more or less rapid
succession, it takes the name of ulceration. If it occurs in a consid-
erable part at once, it is called gangrene. If this death of the tissues
occurs deep in the organism, and the destroj-ed elements and prolifer-
ated and dead cells are enclosed in a cavity, the result of the process
is called an abscess. When it occurs on a surface, it is an utcer, and
an abscess by breaking on the exterior becomes then also an ulcer.
Proliferating and dying cells, and the fluid which exudes from an
ulcerating surface, and the debris of broken down tissue, is known as
pus, and the process by which this is formed is known as suppuration.
A mass of dead tissue in a soft part is termed a slough, while the
same in bone is called a sequestrum.

Treatment of inflammaiion.—The study of the cause and patholog-
ical alterations of inflammation has shown the process to be one of
hypernutrition, attended by excessive l)lood supplv, so this study will
indicate the primary factor to be employed in the treatment of it
Any agent which will reduce the blood supply and prevent the exces-
sive nutrition of the elements of the part will serve as a remedy
The means employed may l>e used locaUy to the part,*or thev may be
constitutional remedies, which act indirectly.
Local treatment consists of:

{a) Rertvoval of the cause, as a stone in the frog, causing a traumatic
thrush; a badly fitting harness or saddle, causing ulcers of the skin-
decomposing manui-e and urine in a stable, which, by their vapors,'
irritate the air tubes and lungs and cause a cough. These causes if
removed, will frequently allow the part to heal at once.

{h) i?e6/.— Motion stimulates the action of the blood, and thus feeds
an inflamed tissue. This is alike applicable to a diseased point irri-
tated by movement, to an inflamed pair of lungs surcharged with
blood by the use demanded of them in a working animal, or to an
inflamed eye exposed to light, or an inflamed stomach and intestines
stiUfurther fatigued by food. Absolute quiet, a dark stable, and small

484

quantities of easily digested food will often cure serious inflammatory
troubles without further treatment.

(r) Cold.— The application of ice bags or cold water by bandages,
douching with a hose, or irrigation with dripping water, contracts
the blood vessels, acts as a sedative to the nerves and lessens the
vitality of a part; it consequently prevents the tissue change which
inflammation produces.

{(]) Heat. — Either dry or moist heat acts as a derivative. It quickens
the circulation and renders the chemical changes more active in the
surrounding parts; it softens the tissues and attracts the current of
blood from the inflamed organ; it also promotes the absorption of the
effusion and hastens the elimination of the waste products in the part.
Heat maybe applied by hand rubbing or active friction and the appli-
cation of warm coverings (bandages), or by cloths wrung out of warm
water, or steaming with warm moist vapor, medicated or not, Avill
answer the same purpose. The latter is especially applicable to
inflammatory troubles in the air passages.

(t) Local hleedmg. — This treatment frequently affords immedicite
relief by carrying off the excessive blood and draining the effusion
which has already occurred. It affords direct mechanical relief, and,
by a stimulation of the part, promotes the chemical changes necessary
for bringing the diseased tissues to a healthy condition. Local blood-
letting can be done by scarifying, or making small punctures into the
inflamed part, as in the eyelid of an inflamed eye, or into the sheath
of the penis, or into the skin of the latter organ when congested, or
the leg when acutely swelled. This treatment, however, is frequently
very advantageous in the toe of the foot in acute founder; leeches,
cups, etc., are rarely applicable in veterinary practice.

Counter irritants are used for deep inflammations. They act by
bringing the blood to the surface and consequently lessening the blood
pressure within. The derivation of the blood to the exterior dimin-
ishes the amount in the internal organs and is often almost mirac-
ulous in its action in relieving a congested lung or liver. The most
common counter irritant is mustard flour. It is applied as a soft
paste mixed with warm water to the under surface of the belly and
to the sides where the skin is comparatively soft and vascular. Colds
in the throat or inflammations at any point demand the treatment
applied in the same manner to the belly and sides and not to the
throat or on the legs, as so often used. Blisters, iodine, and many
other irritants are used in the same way.

Constitutional treatment in inflammation is designed to reduce the
current of blood, which is the fuel for the inflammation in the dis-
eased part, to quiet the patient and to combat the fever or general
effects of the trouble in the system. It consists of :

Reduction of bZoocZ.— This is obtained in various ways. The diminu-
tion of the quantity of blood lessens the amount of pressure on the

485

vessels, and, as a sequel, the volume of it which is carried to the point
of inflammation; it diminishes the body temperature or fever; it
numbs the nervous system, which plays an important part as a con-
ductor of irritation in diseases.

Blood-letting is the most rapid means, and frequently acts like a
charm in relieving a commencing inflammatory trouble. The class of
horses and cattle in which this mode of treatment is indicated usually
tolerates the loss of a considerable quanity of blood without inconven-
ience and recuperates from the loss rapidly.

Ccdliartics act by drawing off a large quantity of fluid from the blood
through the intestines, and have the advantage over the last remedy
• of removing only the watery and not the formed elements from the cir-
culation. The blood cells remain, leaving the blood as rich as it was
before. Again, the glands of the intestines are stimulated to excrete
much waste matter and other deleterious material which may be acting
as a poison in the blood.

Diuretics operate through the kidneys in the same way.

Diaphoretics aid depletion of the blood by pouring water in the form
of sweat from the surface of the skin and stimulating the discharge of
waste material out of its glands, which has the same effect on the blood
pressure.

Depressants are drugs which act on the heart. They slow or weaken
the action of this organ and reduce the quantity and force of the cur-
rent of the blood which is carried to the point of local disease; they
lessen the natality of the animal; so they act in two ways: first, as in
the previous classes, by reduction of the force of the blood; and, sec-
ondly, as in the next class, by putting to rest the animal system'
_ Anodynes quiet the nervous system. Pain in the horse, as in man
IS one of the important factors in the production of fever, and the
dulling of the former often prevents, or at least reduces, the latter
They produce sleep, so as to rest the patient and allow recuperation
for the succeeding struggle of the vitality of the animal against the
exhausting drain of the disease.

The diet of an animal suffering from acute inflammation is a factor
of the greatest importance. An overloaded circulation can be starved
to a reduced quantity and to a less rich quality of blood by reducino-
the quantity of food given to the patient. Matters of easy digestion
do not tire the already fatigued organs of an animal with a torpid
digestive system. Nourishment will be taken by a suffering brute in
the form of slops and cooling drinks where it would be totally refused
If offered in its ordinary form, as hard oats or dry hay, requiring the
labor of grinding between the teeth and swallowing by the weakened
muscles of the jaws and throat.

Tonics and stimulants are remedies which enter rather into the
after treatment of inflammatory trouble than into the acute stages of
them, rhey brace up weakened and torpid glands ; they stimulate the

486

secretion of the necessary fluids of tlie body, and hasten the excretion
of the waste material produced bj^the inflammatory process; they reg-
ulate the action of a weakened heart; they promote healthy vitality of
diseased parts, arid aid the chemical changes needed for returning the
altered tissues to their normal condition.

FEVER.

Synonyms: Fehris, -Latin; Fyrexia, Greek; Flevre,¥veneh; Fieher,
German; Fehbre, Italian; Calentura, Spanish.

The etymology of the word fever from the Latin /ere re, to boil or to
burn, and otpyre-xia, from the Greek word -S«, fire, defines in a gen-
eral way the meaning of the term.

Fever is a general condition of the animal body in which there is
an elevation of the animal body temperature, which may be only a
degree or two or may be 10° Fahrenheit. The elevation of the body
temperature, which represents tissue change or combustion, is accom-
panied bv an acceleration of the heart's action, a quickening of the
respiration, and an aberration in the functional activity of the various
organs of the body. These organs may be stimulated to the perform-
ance of excessive work, or they may be incapacitated from carrying
out their allotted tasks, or in the course of a fever the two conditions
may both exist, the one succeeding the other. To fever as a disease
is usually added chills as an essential symptom.

Fevers are divided into essential fevers and symptomatic fevers.
In symptomatic fever some local disease, usually of an inflammatory
character, develops first, and the constitutional febrile phenomena are
the result of the primary point of combustion, irritating the whole body,
either through the nervous system or directly by means of the waste
material which is carried into the circulation and through the blood-
vessels, and is distributed to distal parts. Essential fevers are those
in which there is from the outset a general disturbance of the whole
economy. This may consist of an elementary alteration in the blood,
or a general change in the constitution of the tissues.

Essential fevers are subdivided into ephemeral fevers, which last
but a short time and terminate by critical phenomena; intermittent
fevers, in which there are alternations of exacerbations of the febrile
symptoms and remissions, in which the body returns to its normal
condition or sometimes to a depressed condition, in which the func-
tions of life are but badly performed; and continued fevers, which
include the contagious diseases, as glanders, influenza, etc., the sep-
tic diseases, as pyaemia, sopticsemia, etc., and the eruptive fevers, as

variola, etc.

Whether the cause of the fever has been an injury to the tissues,
as a severe bruise, a broken bone, an inflamed lung, or excessive work
Avhich has surcharged the blood with the waste products of the com-
bustion of the tissues, which were destroyed to produce force; or the

487

pulliilation of the ferments of influenza in the blood whieli destroy
the red blood corpuscles; or the presence of irritating material, either
in the form of living organisms or of their products, as in glanders or
tuberculosis, the general train of symptoms are the same, only vary-
ing as the amount of the irritant differs in quantity, or when some
special quality in them has a specific action on one or another tissue.
There is in fever at first a relaxation of the small blood vessels,
which may have been preceded by a contraction of the same if there
was a chill, and as a consequence there is an acceleration of the cur-
rent of the blood. There is then an elevation of the peripheral tem-
perature, foUowed by a lowering of tension in the arteries and an
acceleration in the movement of the heart. These conditions may be
produced by a primary irritation of the nerve centers, or the brain
from the effects of heat, as is seen in thermic fever or sunstroke, in
which trouble the extremes of symptoius may sometimes be seen alter-
nating with a very short period, to be counted scarcely by hours.

There are times when it is difficult to distinguish between the exist-
ence of fever as a disease and a temporary feverish condition which
is the result of excessive work. Like the condition of congestion of
the lungs, Avhich is normal up to a certain degree in the lungs of a
race horse after a severe race, and morbid when it produces inore than
temporary phenomena or when it causes distinct lesions, fever, or as
It IS better termed a feverish condition, may follow any work or other
employment of enei-gy in which excessive tissue change has taken
place, but if the consequences are ephemeral, and no recognizable
lesion is apparent, it is not considered morbid. This condition, how-
ever, may predispose to severe organic disturbance and local inflam-
mations which will cause disease, as an animal in this condition is
liable to take cold, develop a lung fever or a severe enteritis, if chilled
or otherwise exx^osed.

Fever in all animals is characterized by the same general phenom-
ena, but we find the intensity of the symptoms modified bv the species
of animals affected, by the races which subdivide tlie species, by the
families which form groups of the races, and by certain conditions in
individuals themselves. For example, a pricked foot in a thorough-
bred may cause intense fever, while the same injury in the foot of a
Clydesdale may scarcely cause a visible general svmptom. In tlie
horse, fever produces the following symptoms :

The normal body temperatu];e, which varies from 98° to 100° F the
latter being usually the result of some temporary cause, is elevated
from 1 to 9 degrees. At emperature of 102° or 103° F. is moderate
104° to 105° F. is high, and 10G° F. ^nd over is excessive.

This elevation of temperature can readily be felt bv tlie hand placed
m the mouth of tlie animal, or in the rectum, and in the folds between
the hind legs; it is usually appreciable at any point over the surface
ot the body and in the expired air emitted from the nostrils. The ears

488

and cannons are often as hot as tlie rest of the body, but are some-
times cokl, which denotes a debility in the circuhition. The pulse,
which in a healthy horse is felt beating about 42 to 48 times in the
minute, is increased to 60, 70, 90, or even 100. The respirations are
increased from 14 or IG to 24, 30, 36, or even more. With the com-
mencement of a fever the horse usually has its appetite diminished, or
it may have total loss of appetite, if the fever is excessive. There is,
however, a vast difference among horses in this regard. With the
same amount of elevation of temperature one horse may lose its aj^pe-
tite entirely, while others, usually of the more common sort, will eat
at hay throughout the course of the fever and will even continue to
eat oats or other grains. Thirst is usually increased, but the animal
desires only a small quantity of w^ater at a time, and in most cases of
fever a bucket of water with the chill taken off should be kept stand-
ing before the patient, who maj^ be allowed it ad libitum. The skin
becomes dry and the hairs stand on end. Sweating is almost unknown
in the early stage of fevers, but f requentl}' occurs later in their course,
when an outbreak of warm sweat is often a most favorable symj)tom.
The mucous membranes, which are most easily examined in the con-
junctiva of the eyes and inside of the mouth, change color if the fever
is an acute one ; without alteration of blood the mucous membranes
become of a rosy or deep red color at the outset; if the fever is
attended with distinct alteration of the blood, as in influenza, and at
the end of two or three days in severe cases of pneumonia or other
extensive inflammatory troubles, the mucous membranes are tinged
with yellow, which may even become a deep ochre in color, the result
of the decomposition of the blood corpuscles and the freeing of their
coloring matter, which acts as a stain. At the outset of a fever the
various glands are checked in their secretions, the salivary glands
fail to secrete the saliva, and we find the surface of the tongue and
inside of the cheeks dry and covered with a brownish, bad-smelling
deposit. The excretion from the liver and intestinal glands is dimin-
ished and produces an inactivity of the digestive organs which causes
a constipation. If this is not remedied at an early period the undi-
gested material acts as an irritant, and later we maj' have it followed
by an inflammatory process, producing a severe diarrhea.

The excretion from the kidneys is sometimes at first entirely sup-
pressed. It is always considerably diminished, and what urine is
passed is dark in color, undergoes ajnmoniacal change rapidly, and
deposits quantities of salts. At a later period the diminished excre-
tion may be replaced by an excessive excretion, which aids in carry-
ing off waste products and usually indicates an amelioration of the
fever.

While the ears, cannons, and hoofs of a horse suffering from fever
are usually found hot, they may frequently alternate from hot to cold
in their temperature, or be much cooler than they normally are. This

489

latter condition usuall}' indicates great weakness on the part of the
circulatory sj'stem. It is of the greatest importance as an aid in
diagnosing the gravity of an attack of fever and as an indication
in the selection of its mode of treatment, to recognize the exact cause
of a febrile condition in the horse. In certain cases, in very ner^'ous
animals in which fever is the result of nerve influence, a simple ano-
djnie, or even only quiet with continued care and nursing, will some-
times be sufficient to diminish it. When fever is the result of local
injury the cure of the cause produces a cessation in the constitutional
symptoms; when fever is the result of a pneumonia or other severe
parenchymatous inflammation, it usually lasts for a definite time, and
subsides Avith the first improvement of the local trouble, but in these
cases Ave constantly have exaccerbations of fever due to secondary
infiammatory processes, such as the formation of small abscesses, the
development of secondary bronchitis, or the death of a limited amount
of tissue (gangrene).

In specific cases, such as influenza, strangles, and septicaemia, there
is a definite poison contained in the blood-vessel system, and carried
to the heart and to the nervous system, which produces a peculiar
irritation, usually lasting for a specific period, during which the
temperature can be but slightly diminished by any remedy.
. In cases attended with complications, the diagnosis becomes at times
still more difficult, as' at the end of a case of influenza which becomes
complicated AAith pneumonia. The high temperature of the simple
inflammatory disease may be grafted on that of the specific trouble,
and the line of causation of the fever between the two, frequently a
narrow is yet an important one, as upon it depends the mode of
treatment.

Any animal suffering from fever, from any cause, is much more sus-
ceptible to attacks of local inflammation, which become complications
of the original disease, than are animals in sound health. In fever
we have the tissues and the walls of the blood vessels weakened, we
have an increased current of more or less altered blood, flowing through
the vessels and stagnating in the capillaries, which need but an excit-
ing cause to transform the passive congestion of fever into an active
congestion and acute inflammation. These conditions become still
more distinct when the fever is accompanied by a decided deteriora-
tion in the blood itself, as is seen in influenza, septicaemia, and at the
termination of severe pneumonias.

Fever, with its symptoms of increased temperature, acceleratioh of '
the pulse, acceleration of respiraticm, dry skin, diminished secretions,
etc. , must be considered as a symptom of organic disturbance.

This organic disturbance may be the result of local inflammation or
other irritants acting through the nerves on nerve centers; altercdions
of the blood, in which a poison is carried to the nerve centers, or direct
5961— HOR- 10*

490

irritants to the nerve centers themselves, as in cases of heat stroke,
injur}- to the brain, etc.

The treatment of fever depends upon its cause. As nerve irrita-
tion enters into the etiology of fever in all cases, one of the important
factors in treatment is absolute quiet. This maj' be obtained by
placing a sick horse in a box stall, awaj' from other animals and
extraneous noises, and sheltered from excessive light and draughts
of air. Anodjmes, belladonna, hyoscyamus, and opium, act as anti-
I)yretics simply by quieting the nervous system. As an irritant exists
in the blood in most cases of fever, any remedj' which will favor the
excretion of foreign elements from it will diminish this cause. We
therefore employ diaphoretics to stimulate the sweat and. excretions
from the skin; diuretics to favor the elimination of matter by the
kidneys ; cholagogues and laxatives to increase the action of the liver
and intestines, and to drain from these important organs all the
waste material which is aiding to choke up and congest their rich
plexuses of blood vessels. As the heart becomes stimulated to
increased action at the outset of a fever, and increases it by iDumj)-
ing an augmented quantitj- of blood through the whole body, we
emi^loy cardiac depressants to diminish tlie force of this organ.
Among these antimony, aconite, veratrum viridQ, and iodide of pot-
ash are the most important. The increased blood pressure througli-
out the body may also be diminished by lessefting the fjuantity of
blood. This is obtained in many cases with advantage by direct
abstraction of blood, as in bleeding from the jugular or other veins,
or by derivatives, such as mustard, turioentine, or blisters applied
to the skin; or setons, which draw to the surface the fluid of the
blood, thereby lessening its volume, Avithout having the disadvantage
found in bleeding, of imi)Overishing the elements of the blood.

When the irritation which is the cause of fever is a specific one,
either in the form of a bacterium (living organism), as in glanders,
tuberculosis, influenza, septicaemia, etc., or in the form of a foreign
chemical element, as in rheumatism, gout, ha3maglobinuria, and other
so-called diseases of nutrition, we employ remedies which have been
found to have a direct specific action on them. Among the specific
remedies for various diseases are counted quinine, carbolic acid, sali-
cylic acid, antipyrine, mercury, iodine, the empyreumatic oils, tars,
resins, aromatics, sulphur, and a host of other drugs, some of Avhich
are ad hoc and other of Avhickare theoretical in action. Certain reme-
• dies, like simple aromatic teas, vegetable acids, as vinegar, lemon
juice, etc., alkalies in the form of salts, sweet spirits of niter, etc.,
which are household remedies, are alwaj^s useful, because they act on
the excreting organs and ameliorate the effects of fever. Other reme-
dies, which are to be used to influence tlie canse of fever, must be
selected with judgment and from a tliorough knowledge of the nature
of the disease.

491

INFLUENZA.

Synonyms: Pin'k-Eije, Typhoid Fever, Epizodty, Epiliippic Fever,
Fievre Typhoide, Freucli; Grippe, French; Pferdestauhe, German;
Gastro-enteriUs of Yatel and d'Arboval; Fehris Erysipelatodes, Zim-
del; r//2)7??7.s of Delafond; Hepatic Fever, Bilious Fever, etc.

Definition. — Influenza is a contagious and infectious specific fever
of tlie horse, ass, and mule, with alterations of the blood, stui)efaction
of the brain and nervous s^'stem, great depression of the xHrX forces
and frequent inflammatory- complications of the imxx)rtant vascular
organs, especially of the lungs, intestines, brain, and lamina of the
feet. One attack usualh- protects the animal from future ones of the
same disease, but not always. An apparent complete recovery is
sometimes followed by serious sequela? of the nervous and blood-vessel
systems. The disease is very apt, under certain conditions of the
atmosphere or from unknown causes, to assume an epizootic form,
with tendency to complications of especial organs, as, at one period
the lungs, at another the intestines, etc.

The first description of influenza is given by Laurentius Rusius, in
1301, A. D., when it spread over a considerable portion of Italy,
causing great loss amongst the war-horses of Rome and its sur-
roundings. In 1648, A. D., an epizootic of this disease visited Ger-
many and spread to other parts of Europe. la 1711, A. D., under
the name of "epidemica equorum,'' it followed the tracks of the great
armies all over Europe, causing unmense losses among the horses,
while the ''rinderpest was scourging the cattle of the same regions.
The two diseases were confounded v\-ith each other, and were, by
the scientists of the day, allied to the typhus, which was a plague to
the human race at the same time. AVe find the first advent of this
disease to the British Islands in an epizootic among the horses of Lon-
don and the southern counties of England, in 1732, which is described
by Gibson. In 1758, Robert Whytt recounts the devastation of the
horses of the north of Scotland from the same trouble. Throughout
the eighteenth centur}- a number of epizootics occurred in Hanover
and other portions of Germany and in France, which were renewed
early in the present century, with complications of the intestinal
tract, which obtained for it its name of gastro-enteritis. In 17GG it
first attacked the horses in Xorth America, but is not described as
again occurring in a severe form until 1870-1872, when it spread
over the entire country, fi-om Canada south to Ohio, and then east-
ward to the Atlantic and westward to California. It is noAv a per-
manent disease in our large cities, selecting for the continuance of
its virulence young or especially susceptible horses which pass
through the large and iU-ventilated and uncleaned dealers' stables
and assumes, from time to time, an enzootic form, as from some
reason its virulence increases, or as from reasons of rural economy

492

and commerce large numbers of young and more susceptible animals
are exposed to its contagion.

Etiology. — As one attack is self-protective, numbers of old horses,
having had an earlier attack, are not cajjable of contracting it again;
but, aside from this, young horses, especially those about four or five
years of age, are much more predisposed to be attacked, while the
older ones, even if they have not had the disease, are less liable to it.
Again, the former age is that in which the horse is brought from the
farm, where it has been free from the risk of contamination, and is
sold to pass through the stables of the country taverns, the dirty,
infected railway cars, and the foul stockyards and damp dealers' sta-
bles of our large cities. Want of training is a predisposing cause.
Overfed, fat, young horses, which have just come through the sales
stables, are much more suscex:)tible to contagion than the same horses
are after a few months of steady work.

Pilger, in 1805, w^as the first to recognize infection as the direct
cause of the disease. Roll and others studied the contagiousness of
influenza, and finding it so much more virulent and permanent in old
stables than elsewhere classed it as a " stall miasm." The atmos-
phere is the most common carrier of the infection from sick animals
to healthy ones, and through it it may be carried for a considerable
distance. The contagion will remain in the straw bedding and drop-
pings of the animar, and in the feed in an infected stable, for a con-
siderable time, and if these are removed to other localities it may be
carried in them. It maybe carried in the clothing of those who have
been in attendance on horses suffering from the disease. The drink-
ing water in troughs and even running water may hold the virus and
be a means of its communication to other animals even at a distance.
The studies of Dieckerhoff, in 1881, in regard to the contagion of
influenza were especially interesting. He found that during a local
enzootic, produced by the introduction of horses suffering from
influenza into an extensive stable otherwise perfectly healthy, the
infection took place in what at first seemed to be a most irregular
manner, but which was shown later to be dependent on the ventila-
tion and currents of air through the various buildings. His experi-
ments showed that the virus of influenza is excessively diffusible, and
that it will spread rapidly to the roof of a building and pass by the
apertures of ventilation to others in the neighborhood. The writer
has seen cases spread through a brick wall and attack animals on the
opposite side before others even in the same stable were affected.
Brick walls, old woodwork, and the dirt which is too frequently left
about the feed boxes of a horse stall, will all hold the contagion for
some days, if not weeks, and communicate it to susceptible animals
when placed in the same locality. A four-year-old colt, belonging to
the writer, stood at the open door of a stable where two cases of influ-
enza had developed the day before, fully 40 feet from the stall, for

493

about ten miuutes on two successive mornings, and in six days devel-
oped the disease. On the morning- when the trouble in the colt was
recognized it stood in an infirmary with a dozen horses being treated
for various diseases, but was imDiediately isolated; within one week
two-thirds of the other horses had contracted the pink-eye.

Sij}n2:)toms.—Aiter the exposure of a susceptible horse to infection
a period of incubation of from five to seven days elapses, during
which the animal seems in perfect health, before any symptom is vis-
ible. When the symptoms of influenza develop they may be intense
or they may be so moderate as to occasion but little alarm, but the
latter condition frequently exposes the animal to use and to the dan-
ger of the exciting causes of complications which would not have hap-
pened had the animal been left quietly in its stall in place of being
Avorked or driven out to show to prospective purchasers. The disease
may run its simple course as a specific fever, with alterations only of
the blood, or it may become at any period complicated by local inflam-
matory troubles, the gravity of which is augmented by developing in
an animal with an impoverished blood and already irritated and
rapid circulation and defective nutritive and reparative functions.

The first symptoms are those of a rapidly developing fever, which
becomes intense within a very short period. The animal becomes
dejected and inattentive to surrounding objects; stands with its head
down, and not back on the halter as in serious lung diseases. It has
chills of the flanks, the muscles of the croup, and the muscles of the
shoulders, or of the entire body, lasting from fifteen to thirty minutes,
and frequently a grinding of the teeth, which warns one that a severe
attack may be expected. The hairs become dry and rough and stand
on end. The body temperature increases to 104°, 104^°, and 105° F.,
or even in severe cases to 107° F., within the first twelve or eighteen
hours. The horse becomes stupid, stands immobile with its head
hanging, the ears listless, and it pays but little attention to the sur-
rounding attendants or the crack of a whip. The stupor becomes
rapidly more marked, the eyes become puffy and swollen with excessive
lachrymation, so that the tears run from the internal eanthus of the
eye over the cheeks and may blister the skin in its course. The respi-
ration becomes accelerated to twenty-five or thirty in a minute, and the
pulse is quickened to seventy, eighty, or even one hundred, moderate
in volume and in force. There is great depression of muscular force;
the animal stands limp as if excessively fatigued. There is diminu-
tion, or in some cases total loss, of sensibility of the skin, so that it
may be pricked or handled without attracting the attention of the
animal. On movement, the horse staggers and shows a want of
coordination of all the muscles of its limbs. The senses of hearing,
sight, and taste are diminished, if not entirely abolished. The visi-
ble mucous membranes (as the conjunctiva), from which it is known
as the "pink-eye," and the mouth and the natural openings become

494

of a cleej) saffron, oclier, or violet-red color. This -latter is esi^ecially
noticeable on tlie rim of the gums and is a condition not found in any-
other disease, so that it is an almost diagnostic symptom. If the ani-
mal is bled at this iDcriod tlie blood is found more coagulable tlian
normal, but at a later period it becomes of a dark color and less
coagulable. There is great diminution or total loss of appetite, witli
an excessive thirst, but in manj' cases in cold-blooded liorses the ani-
mal may retain a certain amount of appetite, eating slowly at its haj^,
oats, or other feed.

"We have, following the fever, a tumefaction or oedema of the sub-
cutaneous tissues at the fetlocks, of the under surface of the belly,
and of the sheath of the penis, Avhich may be excessive. This infiltra-
tion is uon-inflammatory in character and produces an insensibility
of the skin like the excessive stocking which we see in debilitated
animals after exposure to cold. In ordinary' cases the temperature
has reached its maximum of 105° or lOG" F. in from twenty-four to
forty-eight hours from the origin of the fever. It remains stationary
for a period of from three to four days without the variation between
morning and evening temperature which we have in pneumonia or
other serious diseases of the lungs. At the termination of the specific
course of the disease, which is generally close to eightj'-six hours,
the fevej.' abates almost as rapidly as it commenced, the swelling of
legs and under surface of bell}^ diminishes, the appetite returns, the
strength is rapidly regained, the mucous membranes lose their jellow-
ish color, which they attain so rapidly at the commencement of the
disease, and the animal convalesces promjitly to its ordinary good
condition and health, and rapidl}" regains the large amount of weight
which it lost in the early part of the disease, a loss which frequentlj^
reaches 30, 50, or even 75 pounds each twenty-four hours. For the
first three days of the high temperature there is a great tendency to
constiiDation, which should be avoided if possible, for, if it has been
marked, it may be followed bj' a troublesome diarrhea.

Terminations. — The termination of simple influenza may be death
by extreme fever, with failure of the heart's action; from excessive
coma, due generally to a rapid congestion of the brain; to the poison-
ous effects of the debris of the disintegrated blood corpuscles; to an
asphyxia, following congestion of the lungs; or the disease terminates
by subsidence of the fever, return of the api^etite and nutritive func-
tions of the organs, and rapid convalescence; or, in an unfortunately
large number of cases, the course of the disease is complicated by
local inflammatory troubles,, whose gravity is greater in iufluen2;a than
it is when, they occur as sporadic diseases.

Complications. — The complications are congestions, followed by
inflammatory phenomena in the various organs of the body, but they
are most commonly located in the lungs, intestines, brain, or vascu-
lar laminai of the feet. Atmospheric influence or other surrounding

495

influences of unknuwn <|uality seem to be an important factor in tlie
determination of tlie local lesions. At certain seasons of the year,
and in certain epizootics, vre find 40 and 50 j^er cent or even a greater
I)ercentage of the cases rendered more serious by complication of the
intestines ; at other seasons of the j'ear, or in other epizootics, we find
the same per cent of cases complicated by inflammation of the lungs,
■while at the same time a small percentage of them are comi)licated
by troubles of the other organs; inflammatory changes of the brain,
of the laminfB, more rarely commence in epizootic form, but are to be
found in a certain small i^ercentage of cases in all epizootics.

Exciting causes are important factors in comjplicating individual
cases of influenza, or in localizing special lesions either during enzo-
otics or ej)izootics. These exciting or determining causes act much
as they would in si)oradic inflammatory diseases, but in this case we
find the animal much more suscei^tible and predisposed to be acted
upon than ordinary healthy animals. AVith a temperature already
elevated, with the heart's action driving the blood in increased quantity
into the distended blood-vessels, whicli become dilated and lose their
contractility, with a congestion of all of the vascular organs already
established, it takes but little additional irritation to carry the con-
gestion one step further and x)roduce inflammation.

Complication of the intestines. — When any cause acts as an irritant
to the intestinal tract during the course of this siDecific fever it may
produce inflammation of the organs belonging to it. This cause may be
constipation, which can only find relief in a congestion which offers to
increase the function of the glands and relieve the inertia caused by
a temporary cessation of activity; or irritant medicines, especially any
increased use of antimony, turpentine, or the more active remedies;
the taking of indigestible food, or of food in too great quantities, or
food altered in any way by fungus or other injurious alterations; the
swallowing of too cold water; or any other irritant may cause conges-
tion. This complication is ushered in by colics. The animal paws
with the fore feet and evinces a great sensibility of the belly; it looks
with the head from side to side, and may lie down and get up, not with
\aolenee, but.with care for itself, perfectly protecting the surface of
the belly from any violence. At first we find a decided constipation;
the droppings if passed are small and hard, coated Avith a A-iscous var-
nish or even consisting of false membranes. In from 30 to 40 hours
the constipation is followed by diarrhea. The alimentary discharge
becomes mixed with sero-mucous exudation, Avhich is followed by a
certain amount of suppurative matter. The animal becomes rapidly
exhausted and unstable, staggers on movement, losing the little appe-
tite which may have remained, and has exacerbations of fever. The
I)ulse becomes softer and weaker, the respiration becomes slowly more
rapid, the temperature is about 1° to U° F. higher. If a fatal result
is not produced by the extensive diarrhea the discharge becomes

496

arrested in from five to ten days and a rapid recovery takes place.
While the diarrhea complication is a serious one, and may greatly
weaken the animal, it rarely becomes so intense as to assume the name
of dysentery, and it rarely becomes hemorrhagic; it is rather a diar-
rhea of anaemia. An enteritis takes place in an animal weakened by
the previous action of the disease, and there is not sufficient vitality
of the organ itself to resist the inflammation, but this is a superficial
inflammation, with destruction only of the tissue of the surface of
the intestines, which allows a rapid healing. Rapid recovery takes
place, and the promptitude with which the intestines can commence to
digest and assimilate food when the diarrhea is checked is frequently
surprising.

Complication of the Jungs. — If at any time during the course of the
fever the animal is exposed to cold or draughts of air, or in any other
way to the causes of repercussion, the lungs may be affected. In the
majority of cases, however, after three, four, or five days of the fever,
the congestion of the lungs commences without any exposure or appar-
ent exciting cause. This is due to the alteration of the blood, which
allows a more easy osmosis of the blood into the surrounding tissues
and to the checking of the capillary blood vessels, produced by the
increased rapidity and force of the circulation. Unless this conges-
tion of the lungs is relieved at once it is followed by an inflammatory
product, a fibrinous pneumonia. This pneumonia, while it is in its
essence the same, differs from an ordinary pneumonia at the com-
mencement by an insidious course. The animal commences to breathe
heavily, which becomes distinctly visible in the heaving of the flanks,
the dilation of the nostrils, and frequently in the swaying movement
of the unsteady body. The respirations increase in number, wiiat
little appetite remains is lost, the temperature increases one to two
degrees, the pulse becomes more rapid, and at times, for a short period,
more tense and full, but the previous poisoning of the specific disease
has so weakened the tissues that it never becomes the characteristic
full, tense pulse of a simple pneumonia.

On percussion of the chest dullness is found over the inflamed areas;
on auscultation at the base of the neck over the trachea a tubular
murmur is heard. The crepitant rales and tubular murmurs of pneu-
monia are heard on the sides of the chest if the pneumonia is periph-
eral, but in pneumonia complicating influenza the inflamed iwrtions
are frequently disseminated in islands of variable size and are some-
times deep seated, in which case the characteristic auscultory symptoms
are sometimes wanting. From this time on the symptoms of the ani-
mal are those of an ordinary grave pneumonia, rendered more severe
by occurring in a debilitated animal. After resolution, however, and
absorption into the lungs convalescence is rapid, and recovery takes
place perhaps more quickly than it does in the simple form of the dis-
ease. There is a cough, at first hacky and aborted, later more full

497

and moist, Trlien we have a discharge from the nostrils which is muco-
purulent, purulent, or hemorrhagic. As in simple pneumonia, in the
outset this discharge may be "rusty," due to capillary hemorrhages.
We find that the blood is thoroughly mixed with the matter, staining
it evenly instead of being mixed with it in the form of clots. At the
commencement of the complication the animal may be subject to
chills, which may again occur in the course of the disease, in which
case, if severe, an unfavorable termination by gangrene may be looked
for. If gangrene occurs, ushered in by severe chills, a rapid eleva-
tion of temj)erature, a tumultuous heart, a flaky discharge from the
nostrils, and a fetid breath, the symptoms are identical with those
which occur in gangrene complicating other diseases.

Complication of tJie brain. — At any time during the course of the
disease, at an early period if the fever has been intense from the out-
set, but more frequently after three or four days in ordinary cases,
a congestion of the brain may occur. The animal, which has been
stupid and immobile, becomes suddenly restless, walks forward in
the stall until it fastens its head in the corner. If in a box stall and
it becomes displaced from its position, it follows the wall with the
nose and eyes, rubbing against it until it reaches the corner and again
fastens itself. It may become more violent and rear and plunge.
If disturbed by the entrance of the attendant or any loud noise or
bright light, it will stamp with its fore feet and strike with its hind
feet, but is not definite in fixing the object which it is resisting, which
is a diagnostic point between meningitis and rabies, and which ren-
ders the animal with the former disease less dangerous to handle.
If fastened by a rope to a stake or post the animal will wander in a
circle at the end of the roi3e. It wanders almost invariably in one
direction, either from the right to left or from left to right, in different
cases, which is dei)endent upon a greater congestion of one side of
the brain than the other. The pupils may be dilated or contracted,
or we nvdY find one condition in one eye and the opposite in the other.

The period of excitement is followed by one of profound coma, in
which the animal is immobile, the head hanging and placed against
the corner of the stall, the body limp, and the motion, if demanded
of the animal, unsteady. Little or no attention will be jiaid to the
surrounding noises, the crack of a whip, or even a blow on the surface
of the body. The respiration becomes slower, the pulsations are
diminished, the coma lasts for variable time, to be followed by excesses
of violence, after which the two alternate, but if severe the period of
coma becomes longer and longer until the animal dies of spasms of the
lungs or of heart failure. It may die from injuries which occur in
the ungovernable attacks of violence.

Complication of the feet. — The feet are the organs which are next in
frequency predisposed to congestion. This congestion takes place
in the laminse (podojihyllous structures) of the feet. The stupefied

498

animal is aroused from its condition l)y the excessive pain produced
in the feet, and assumes the position of a foundered horse; that is, if
the fore feet alone are affected the}' are carried forward until they
rest on the heels, and if the hind feet are affected all of the feet are
carried forward resting on their heels, the hind ones as near the center
of gravity as possible. In some cases the stupor of the animal is so
great that the i)ain is not felt, and little or no alteration of the posi-
tion of the animal is noticeable. The foot is found hot to the touch,
and after a given time the depressed convex sole of the typical founder
is recognized. Other complications may occur, due to the action of
exciting causes, and we may have a severe corysa, laryngitis, pharyn-
gitis, or even congestion of the kidneys, followed by nephritis, con-
gestion of the spleen or of any other organ.

Pleurisy. — This is a rare complication, but when it does occur it is
ushered in by the usual s^nnptoms of depression, rapid pulse, small
respiration, elevation of the temperature, subcutaneous a?dema of the
legs and under surface of the belly, and we find a line of dullness on
either side of the chest and an absence of respiratory murmur at the
lower part. It is usually severe, and we find an effusion filling one-
fourth to one-third of the thoracic cavity in from thirty-six to forty-
eight hours.

The laryngo-bronchitis is not a frequent complication nor a very
serious one. It is ushered in b}" a cough, which is rough and fatty, a
purulent discharge from the nostrils and an enlargement of the sur-
rounding lymphatic ganglia.

Pericarditis is an occasional complication of influenza, never occur-
ring alone or in connection v.ith other organs in the chest cavity. It
is ushered in by chills, elevation of tlie temperature ; the pulse becomes
rapid, thread}', and imperceptible. The heart murmurs become indis-
tinct or can not be heard. A venous pulse is seen on the line of tlie
jugular veins along the neck. Respiration becomes more difficult
and rapid. If the animal is moved the symptoms become more marked,
or it may drop suddenly dead from heart failure.

Peritonitis, or inflammation of the membranes lining the belly and
covering the organs contained in it, sometimes takes jjlace, The gen-
eral symptoms are similar to those of a commencing pericarditis. The
local symptoms are those of pain, especially to pressure on side of the
flanks and belly; distension of the latter, and sometimes the formation
of flatus or gas, and constipation.

Diagnosis. — The diagnosis of influenza is based upon a continued
fever, with great depression and sj'mijtoms of stupor and coma; tlie
rapid, dark saffron, ocher, yellowish discoloration of the mucous mem-
branes, swelling of the legs and soft tissues of the genitals. When
these symptoms have lasted for a greater or less time, the diagnosis of
the localization of the fever or complication is based upon the same
symptoms that are i^roduced in the more local diseases from other

499

causes, but in influenza the local symptoms are frequently masked or
even entirely hidden hy the intense stupor of the animal, which ren-
ders it insensible to pain. The evidence of colic and congestion,
which is followed by diarrhea, fills the symptoms for the diagnosis of
enteritis. The rapid breathing or difiiculty of respiration forms the
suspicion at once of complication of the lungs, but as we have seen in
the study of the sj-mptoms the local evidences of lung lesions are fre-
quently hidden. Again, we have seen that inflammation of the feet
or founder complicating influenza is frequently not shown on account of
the insensibility to pain on the part of the animal, which indicates the
importance of running the hand daily over the hoofs to detect any
sudden elevation of temperature on their surface.

The diagnosis of brain trouble is based upon the excessive violence
which occurs in the course of the disease, for during the intervening
period or coma there is no means of determining that it is due to this
complication. Severe cases of influenza may simulate anthrax in the
horse. In both we have stupor, the intense coloration of the mucous
membranes of the eyes and a certain amount of swelling of the legs
and under surface of the belly. The diagnosis here can only be made
by microscopic examination of the blood. In strangles, equine variola,
and sealma we have an intense red, rosy coloration of the mucous
membranes, full, tense pulse, and although in these diseases we may
have depression, we do not have the stupor and coma, except in severe
cases which have lasted for some days. In influenza we have no evi-
dence of the formation of j)us on the mucous membranes as we did
in the other diseases, except in the conjunctiva of the eyes, where,
however, we have had a profuse serous discharge, producing the
conjunctivitis.

In severe x)neumonia (lung fever) Ave may have profound coma,
dark yellowish coloration of the mucous membranes, and swelling of
the under surface of the belly and legs, but in pneumonia we have the
history of the difiicultj^ of breathing and an a<?ute fever of a sthenic
tyj)e from the outset, and the other sj'mptoms do not occur for several
days; while in influenza we have the history of characteristic symp-
toms for several days before the rapid breathing and difficult}- of res-
pii-ation indicate the appearance of the complication. Without the
history it is frequently difficult to diagnose a case of influenza of
scA'eral days' standing complicated by pneumonia from a case of severe
pneumonia of five to six days' standing, but from a prognostic point
of view it is immaterial, as the treatment of both are identical.

Prognosis. — Influenza Is an excessivelj^ serious disease for many
reasons. We find the majority of horses susceptible to this virus when
exposed to it. It is fatal to a large number of animals even vvith the
best treatment, and is especially fatal to the young and to those ani-
mals which are more valuable from their fine breeding, as the disease
occurs in a more serious form in well-bred animals than it does in the

500

Ijnnphatic and more common ones. It is more severe than the other
epizootic diseases, and its contagiousness is much greater than in the
otliers.

The fatal issue of influenza varies in different epizootics ; where the
disease is occurring only in scattered cases through a large town or
count ly locality, and in some epizootics, the majoritj'^ of the cases run
a mild form without complications; at other times, where the disease
occurs in enzootic and epizootic form, we find over 50 per cent of the
cases complicated by disease of the lungs; in others a large number
of cases are complicated by trouble of the intestines.

Alterations. — The alteration of influenza occurs in the blood, and
consists of a rajjid destruction of the red blood corpuscles, which are
the carriers of oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. The
animal is always found emaciated. The tissues throughout the body
are found stained, and of a more or less yellowish hue, due to the dis-
integrated blood corpuscles which Were at first the cause of the char-
acterized discoloration of the mucous membranes in the living animal.
There is always found a congested condition of all the organs, muscles,
and interstitial tissues of the body. The coverings of the brain and
spinal cord partake in the congested and discolored condition of the
rest of the tissues.

Other alterations are dependent entirely upon the complications.
If the lungs have been affected, we find effusions identical in their
intimate nature with those of simple pneumonia, but they differ some-
what in their general appearance in not being so circumscribed in
their area of invasion. Complication of the intestines offers the red,
puff}^ swollen, or congested appearance which we have in an ordinary
enteritis, with peeling from the surface of the membranes of the intes-
tinal tube. The alterations of meningitis and laminitis are identical
with those of sporadic cases of founder and inflammation of the brain.

Treatment. — While the appetite remains the patient should have a
moderate quantity of sound hay, good oats, and bran ; or even a little
fresh clover, if obtainable, can be given in small quantities. With
the first decided symptoms of fever the antipyretics are indicated, of
which we have a variable choice. Bleeding in this disease is a ques-
tionable treatment, and is only to be employed at the very outset of
the disease. In large, strong horses of a sanguinarj^ temperament an
abstraction of a few quarts of blood will frequently diminish the
stupefaction, lower the temperature, slow the pulse and respiration,
and render the course of the disease shorter by twelve or twenty-four
hours. In some cases, however, bleeding seems to increase the
amount of depression, and it should never be used after the deep
ocher color of the mucous membranes shows that an extensive disin-
tegration of the blood corpuscles has taken place. Derivatives in the
form of essential oils and mustard poultices, baths of alcohol, turi^en-
tine, and hot water, after which the animal must be immediately dried

501

aud blanketed, serve to waken the animal up from stupor and relieve
the congestion of the internal organs. This treatment is especially
indicated when complication by congestion of the lungs, intestines, or
of the brain is threatened. Quinine and salicylic acid in dram doses
will lower the temperature, but too continuous use of quinine in some
cases increases the after depression. Aconite is especially indicated,
as in addition to its action on the circulation it seems to be almost a
specific in certain cases in relieving the congestion of the brain and
the nervous symptoms produced by the latter. Iodide of potash
reduces the excessive nutrition of the congested organs and thereby
reduces the temperature; again, this drug in moderate quantities is a
stimulant to the 'digestive tract and acts as a diuretic, causing the
elimination of waste matter by the kidneys. Antimony, in guarded
doses of one-half dram to 1 dram, repeated not more than two or three
times, will reduce excessive fever, and can be used with special advan-
tage at the first appearance of complications, but it must be used with
care, as it is an irritant to the digestive tract and may produce intesti-
nal complication, causing a severe diarrhea. Small doses of Glauber's
salts and bicarbonate of soda, used from the outset, stimulate the
digestive tract and prevent constipation and its evil results.

In cases of severe depression and weakness of the heart, digitalis
can be used with advantage. At the end of the fever, and when con-
valescence is established, alcohol in one-half pint doses and good ale
in pint doses may be given as stimulants; to these maybe added dram
doses of turpentine.

In complication of the intestines camphor and asafetida are most
frequently used to relieve the pain causing the colics; diarrhea is also
relieved by the use of bicarbonate of soda, nitrate of potash, and
drinks made from boiled rice or starch, to which may be added small
doses of laudanum.

In complication of the lungs iodide of potash and digitalis are most
frequently indicated, in addition to the remedies used for the disease
itself.

Founder occurring as a complication of fever is difficult to treat.
It is, unfortunately, frequently not recognized until inflammatory
changes have gone on for some days. If recognized at once, local
bleeding and the use of hot or cold water, as the condition of the ani-
mal will permit, are most useful, but in the majority of cases the stu-
pefied animal is unable to be moved satisfactorily or to have one foot
lifted for local treatment, and the only treatment consists in local
bleeding above the coronary bands and the application of poultices.

For congestion of the brain large doses of aconite and small repeated
doses of mercury form the ordinary mode of treatment. During con-
valescence small doses of alkalies may be kept up for some little
time, but the greatest care must be used, while furnishing the animal
with plenty of nutritious, easily digested food, not to overload the

502

intestinal tract, causing constipation and consecutive diarrhea. Spe-
cial care must be taken for some weeks not to expose the animal to

cold.

SEQUELAE OF INFLUENZA. ■

Anasarca. — A previous attack of influenza is the most common pre-
disposing cause of a serious disease of the nervous system; paralysis
of the vaso-motor nerves which govern the circulation in the smaller
blood vessels and capillaries. This trouble, which is also known as pur-
j)ura hemorrhagcia and as scarlatina, appears most frequently a few
weeks after convalescence is established. It occurs more frequentl}^
in those animals which have made a rapid convalescence and are
apparently perfectlj^ well, and in those vdiich have evidently perfectly
regained their health, than it does in those which have made a sloAver
recovery. The exciting cause of this trouble is usually exposure to
cold; and again, exposure to cold draughts of air on the heated but
not necessarily^ sweating animal is more aj)t to cause the trouble than
exposure to rain or wet. This latter will more f requentlj' cause com-
plication of the internal organs, such as pneumonia, pleurisj', etc.

Anasarca commences by sj'mptoms which are excessively variable.
The local lesions may be confined to a small portion of the animal's
body and the constitutional phenomena be nul. The appearance and
gravity of the local lesions may be so unlike, from difference of loca-
tion, that they seem to belong to a separate disease, and complications
may completely mask the original trouble.

In the simplest form the first symptom noticed is a swelling, or
several swellings, occurring on the surface of the body, on the forearm,
the leg, the under surface of the belly, or on the side of the head.
The tumefaction is at first the size of a hen's egg; not hot, little sensi-
tive, and distincl}^ circumscribed by a marked line from the surround-
ing healthy tissue. These tumors gradually extend until they coalesce,
and in a few hours we have swelling up of the legs, legs and belly, or
the head, to an enormous size; they have alwaj^s the characteristic
constricted border, which looks as if it had been tied with a cord. In
the nostrils are found small reddish spots or petechia, which gradu-
ally assume a brownish and frequentl}^ a black color. Examination
of the mouth will frequently reveal similar lesions on the surface of
the tongue, along the lingual gutter and on the frsenum. If the
external swelling lias been on the head the petechia of the mucous
membranes are apt to be more numerous and to coalesce into patches
of larger size than when the dropsy is confined to the legs. Tlie ani-
mals may be rendered stiff by the swelling of the legs, or be annoyed
by the awkward swollen head, which at times ma}^ be so enormous as
to resemble that of a hippopotamus rather than that of a horse. Dur-
ing this period the temperature remains normal; the pulse, if altered
at all, is only a little weaker; the respiration is only hurried if the
swelling of the head infringes on the caliber of the nostrils. The

503

appetite remains normal. The animal is attentive to all that is going
on, and, except for the swelling, apparently in XDerfect health.

In from two to four days the tissues can no longer resist the pressure
of the exuded fluid. Over the surface of the skin which covers the
dropsy we find a slight serous sweating, which loosens the epiderjnis
and dries so as to simulate the eruption of some cutaneous disease.
If this is excessive we may see irritated spots which are suppurating.
In the nasal fossae the hemorrhagic spots have acted as irritants, and,
inviting an increased amount of blood to the Schneiderian membrane,
produce a cor3^za or even a catarrh. We maj' now find some enlarge-
ment and peripheral oedema of the lymi3hatic glands which are fed
from the affected part. The thermometer indicates a slight rise in
the body temxjerature, while the pulse and respiration are somewhat
accelerated. The appetite usually remains good. In the course of a
few daj^s the temperature may have reached 102°, 103°, or 104° F.

Fever is established, not an essential or specific fever in any way,
but a simple secondary fever produced by the dead material from the
surface or superficial suppuration, and by the oxidization and absorp-
tion of the colloid mass contained in the tissues — just such a fever
as would be produced by an excoriation of a considerable surface of
the skin in an animal otherwise sound, or by the absorption of the
oedema resulting from a. blow.

Suppuration may become excessive from the great distension and
loss of vitality of the skin. Here the lesion is visible and the consti-
tutional phenomena are marked.

Lympliangitis may be established from the large amount of irritat-
ing material which the ducts and glands of the lymjjhatie system are
forced to carry from the affected part.

Gangrene may be developed in spots from the size of a pea to tliat
of a hen's egg,. The great distension of the subcutaneous layer of con-
nective tissue or the excessive hemorrhage in the submucous laj^er
may completely destroy the vitality of the iDart, and brown and then
black masses of slough appear, to be eliminated and leave a deep
rosy ulcer in their place. This is more Common in the nose and under
the tongue.

Excessive swelling of ihe head. — The swelling of the head may
increase and extend outside to the throat or to the nostrils until the
latter are closed, or to the larynx, which is so pressed upon as to
render respiration difficult or impossible. The same complication
renders mastication and deglutition equall}' difficult.

Metastasis. — This is a frequently' dreaded complication. If the
trouble lias originallj^ been in the legs and belly it may suddenly
commence to api)ear in the head, and disappear from the i^art first
affected, or the oj^posite more favorable change sometimes occurs,
the dangerous swelling of the head disappearing to attack the belly
or legs.

604

Enteric oedema. — The effusion on the exterior may take another
course and pass to the intestine, causing symptoms of colic, which
either ends fatally or more rarely terminates b}^ a profuse diarrhea,
which is sometimes hemorrhagic in character.

P.ulmonary (Edema. — Marked dyspnoea, without swelling of the
head, is indicative of metastasis into the parenchyma of the lungs,
which will rapidly show dullness on percussion and tubular murmurs
on auscultation. The tumefaction leaves the exterior and attacks
the lungs, and the animal dies of asphyxia.

SepticcEmia. — There is certainly no disease in veterinary practice
which offers a more favorable field for the development of septicreniia.
The large mass of colloid matter held at the temj^erature of the animal
body could not be surpassed in the gelatine tube of bacteriological
laboratory as a nutriment for the putrefactive ferments. Septicaemia
is ushered in by general rigor, sudden elevation of temperature, and
marked symptoms of coma.

TERMINATIONS.

Resolution. — The simple form of the disease most frequently termi-
nates favorably on the eighth or tenth day by absorption of the effusion,
with usually a profuse diuresis, and with or Avithout diarrhea. The
appetite remains good or is at times capricious. The surface of the
body is dirty from desquamated eiiithelium, and at times there is a
complete loss of hair, giving the appearance of a bad case of sarcoptic
mange. At other times the absorption is slow, lasting for some weeks
with tendency to relapses. Again there may be left some permanent
induration, the result of embryonic growth.

Death. — Death may occur from mechanical asphyxia, produced by
closure of the nostrils or closure of the glottis. Metastasis to the lungs
is almost invariably fatal, causing death by asphyxia. Metastatis to
the intestines may cause death from pain, enteritis, or hemorrhage.

Excessive suppuration, lyrtipliangitis, and gangrene are causes of a
fatal termination by exhaustion. Mortal exhaustion is again pro-
duced by inability to swallow in cases of excessive swelling of the head.

Peritonitis may rise secondary to the enteric oedema, or by perfora-
tion of the stomach or intestines by a gangrenous spot.

Sepjtic(B77i'ia terminates fatally with its usual train of symptoms.

The essential alterations of anasarca are exceedingly simple; the
capillaries are dilated, the lymphatic spaces between the fibers of
the connective tissue are filled with serum, and the coagulable por-
tion of the blood presents a yellowish or citrine mass, jelly-like in
consistency, which has stretched out the tissue like the meshes of a
sponge. Where the effusion has occurred between the muscles, as in
the head, these are found dissected and separated from each other
like those of a hog's head by the masses of fat. The surface of the
skin is desquamated and frequently denuded of the hair. Frequently

505

there are traces of suppuration and of ulceration. The mucous mem-
brane of the nose is found studded M'ith small, hemorrhagic spots,
sometimes red, more frequently brown or black, often coalesced with
each other in irregular sized patches and surrounded by a reddish
zone, the product of irritation. If oedema of the intestines has
occurred the membrane is found four or five times its normal thick-
ness, reddish in color, with hemorrhages on the free surface. CEdema
of the lungs leaves these organs distended. On section a yellowish
fluid runs out, like the fluid does from lungs which have been filled
with Avater in the dissecting room. The secondary alterations vary
according to the comijlications. There are frequently the lesions of
asphyxia; externally we find ulcers, abscesses, and gangrenous spots
and the deep ulcers resulting from the latter. The lymphatic cords
and glands are found with all the lesions of lymphangitis. Again
are found the traces of excessive emaciation, or the lesions of septi-
caemia. Except from the complications the blood is not altered in
anasarca. If previous to the attack the animal had renemia the tis-
sue will be infiltrated and the pallor and other appearances of aenemia
will be found. If prior to the attack the animal is in moderate health,
with unaltered blood, the blood will be found to clot with the typical
change of the buffy coat of the horse. In death by asphyxia the
blood will be found fluid, black in color, but gradually turns red,
and clots on exposure to the air. Dieckerhoff mentions fibrinous
Ijneumonia among the alterations. I myself have never seen it
occur.

The diagnosis of anasarca must principally be nmde from farcj' or
glanders. In anasarca the swelling is nonsensitive, while sensitive
in the acute swelling of farcy. The nodes of farcy are distinct and
hard and never circumscribed, as in the other disease. The erujjtion
of glanders on the mucous membranes is nodular, hard, and pellet-
like. The redness disappears on pressure. In case of excessive
swelling of the head, in anasarca, there may occur an extensive sero-
fibrinous exudation from the mucous membranes of the nose, poured
out as a semi-fluid mass or as a cast of the nasal fosste, never having
the appearance or tjpical oily character which it has in glanders.
The inflammation of the lymphatic cords and glands in anasarca does
not produce the hard, indurated character which is found in farcy.

Sejificanuia may have occurred i^rimarily, or as a complication of
anasarca. The diagnosis must be from the history, and the prognosis
is of little import.

While this is not an excessively fatal disease, the i^rognosis must
always be guarded. The majority of cases run a simi^le course and
terminate favorably at the end of eight or ten days, or possibly after
one to two relapses, requiring several weeks for comi)letc recoverj^
Effusion into the head renders the jirognosis much more grave from
the possible danger of mechanical asphyxia. Threatened mechanical

506

asphyxia is especially dangerous on account of the risk of blood-
l^oisoning after an oj^eration of tracheotomy.

Metastasis to the viscera, or from the legs to the head, is a most
serious complication, while metastasis from the head or otlier ^ov-
tions to the holly and legs is favorable, as removing, for a moment at
least, all danger of immediate death. The prognosis is otherwise
based on the complications, their extent and their individual gravity,
existing, as they do here, in an alreadj^ debilitated subject.

Treatment. — The treatment of anasarca may have been as variable
as are the lesions. The Indications are at once shown by the altera-
tions and mechanism of the disease, which we have just studied.
These are:

(1) Regulation of the disordered circulation of the blood and
strengthening of the vaso-motor system.

(2) Promotion of absori)tion of the colloid mass, which has infil-
trated the tissues. This, of course, is based upon oxidization in order
to metamorphose the exudation into absorbable crystalloids.

(3) Prevention of metastasis, which is the most frequent fatal
termination of this trouble, if not directly by a?dema of the lung or
enteritis, indirectly by further weakening the already debilitated
system.

(i) The immediate treatment of the complications, each, p^r se,
asphj-xia and gangrene, being the two which most frequently call for
active interference.

These indications call for constitutional and local' remedies.

Blood-letting would at first seem totally contra-indicated, but in
certain cases it acts like a charm. Debilitated, as an animal usually
is when attacked by anasarca, we have yet seen that one of the great
predisposing causes is the plethoric habit. The current of blood, like
a swollen river after a spring storm, can be thrown from its usual
course by the slightest side channel. The use of bleeding requires
the acute i:)erception of the practitioner to be put upon the alert to
regulate it. Not only the present condition, but the ijrevious state of
health, and the probable future hygienic and medical care must be
taken into consideration. Given a case that will admit of bleeding,
the quantit}' to be taken is always a minimum one, and it is to be
regulated by the effect upon the pulse during the bleeding.

With the weakened walls of the vessels but a little lessening of
the pressure will ijroduce a vacuum, when compared with the con-
dition found in an ordinary blood-vessel system, with normal elas-
tic walls. Bleeding is only permissible at the outset of the disease
when the tumors are still isolated. When the tumefaction has coal-
esced all the blood is required to oxidize the mass of effused colloid
matter.

Hygiene now comes into play as the most imj)brtant factor. Oats,
oat and hay tea, milk, eggs, anything which the stomach or rectum

507

cau be coaxed to take care of, must be emploj'ed to give the nutriment
which is tlie onlj^ thing that will i)ermanently strengthen the tissues,
and thej^ must be strengthened in order to keep the capillaries at their
proper caliber.

Laxatives, diaphoretics, and diuretics must be used to stimulate the
emunctories so that thej' shall carry off the large amount of the prod-
ucts of decomposition, which result from the stagnated effusions of
anasarca. Of these the sulphate of soda in small repeated doses, and
the nitrate of i)otash and bicarbonate of soda in small quantity,
and the chlorate of iwtash in single large doses, Avill be found useful.
"Williams cites the chlorate of potash as an antiputrid ; it is useful, I
believe, because it frees oxj^gen, and oxygen is a chemical purifier.

Stimulants and astringents are directlj^ indicated. The animal
wants wakening up, everything in it wants a shock, and a belt to
hold it in j)lace. Spirits of turpentine serves the double purpose of
a cardiac stimulant and a powerful warm diuretic, for the kidneys
in this disease will stand a wonderful amount of work. Camphor
can be used with advantage. Coffee and tea are two of the dif-
fusible stimulants v.'hich are too much neglected in veterinary
medicine; both are valuable adjuncts in treatment in anasarca, as
the}' are during convalescence at the end of any grave disease
which has tended to render the patient ansemic. Dilute sulphuric
acid and hydrochloric acid are perhaps the best examples of
a combination of stimulant, astringent, and tonic which can be
emj)loyed. The simx)le astringents of mineral origin, suli)hates of
iron, copper, etc., are useful as digestive tonics; I doubt if they have
any constitutional effect. The vegetable astringents, tannic acid,
etc. , have not i)i'Oved efficacious in my liauds. Iodide of potash in
small doses serves the triple purpose of digestive tonic, denutritive
for inflammation, and diuretic.

Externally. — Sponging the swollen parts, especially the head, when
the swelling occurs here, is most useful. The bath should be at an
extreme of temijerature — either ice-cold to constrict the tissues, or hot
water to act as an emollient and to favor circulation. Vinegar may
be added as an astringent. When we have excessively denuded sur-
faces, suppuration, or open wounds, disinfectants should be added to
the wash.

In cases of excessive swelling, especially of the head, mechanical
relief may be required. Punctures of the jmrt should be made with
the hot iron even in country practice, as no other disease so predis-
poses to septic contamination. When mechanical asphyxia is threat-
ened tracheotomy may be demanded. Here, again, the liot iron
should be used, and disinfectant applications should be constantly
applied. With the first evidence of dyspnwa, not due to closing of
the nostrils or glottis, or with the first pawing which gives rise to a
suspicion of colic, a mustard plaster should be applied over the whole

508

belly and chest. The sinapism will draw the current of the circula-
tion to the exterior, the metastasis to the lungs or intestines is pre-
vented, and the enfeebled, nervous system is stimulated to renewed
vigor by the perijiheral irritation. The organs are encouraged by it
to renewed functional activity ; the local inflammation produced by
it favors absorption of the exudation. Tlie objection to the use of
blisters is their more severe action and the danger of mortification.
Septicaemia, when occurring as a complication, requires the ordinary
treatment for the putrid diseases, with little hope of a good result.

After recovery the animal regains its ordinary health, and in mj'^
own experience there has been no predisposition to a return of the
disease.

STRANGLES.

Synonyms: Distemper, colt-ill, catarrhal fever, one form of ship-
ping fever, _Fe&Ws ^j/zofye/u'ea.

Definition. — Strangles is an infectious disease of the horse, mule, and
ass; seen most frequently in young animals, and usually leaving an
animal which has had one attack protected from future trouble of the
same kind. It appears as a fever, lasting for a few days, with forma-
tion of matter or pus in the air tubes and lungs, and frequently the
formation of abscesses in various parts of the body, both near the sur-
face and in the internal organs. It usually leaves the animal after
convalescence perfectly healthy and as good as it was before, but
sometimes leaves it a roarer, or is followed by the development of
deep-seated abscesses which may prove fatal.

Causes. — The cause of strangles is infection by direct contact with
an animal suffering from the disease, or indirectly through contact
with the discharges from an infected animal, or by means of the
atmosiihere in which an infected animal has been. There are many
predisposing causes which render some animals much more subject to
contract the disease than others. Early age, which has given it the
popular name of colt-ill, offers many more subjects than the later
periods of life do, for the animal can contract the disease but once, and
the large majority of adult and old animals have derived an immunity
from previous attacks. At three, four, or five years of age the colt,
which has been at home, safe on a meadow or in a cozy barnj^ard, far
from all intercourse with other animals or sources of contagion, is first
put to work and driven to the market town or county fairs to be
exposed to an atmosphere or to stables contaminated by other horses
suffering from disease and serving as infecting agents. If it fails to
contract it there, it is sold and shipped in foul, undisinfected rail-
way cars, to dealers' stables, equally unclean, where it meets many
opportunities of infection. If it escapes so far, it reaches the time for
heavier work and daily contact on the streets of towns or large cities,
with numerous other horses and mules, some of which are sure to be

609

the bearers of the germs or this or some otner infectious disease, and
at last it succumbs.

The period of the erui)tiou of the last permanent teeth, or the end
of the period of development from the colt to an adult horse, at which
time the animals usually have a tendency to fatten and be excessively
full-blooded, also seems to be a predisposing- jDcriod for the contraction
of this as well as of the other infectious diseases. Thoroughbred
colts are very susceptible, and frequently contract strangles at a some-
what earlier age than those of more humble origin. Mules and asses
are much less suscei^tible and are but rarely affected. Other* animals
are not subject to this disease, but there is a certain analogy between
it and distemper in dogs. After exj)osure to infection there is a period
of incubation of the disease, lasting from two to four days, during
which the animal enjoys its ordinary health.

Symptoms. — The horse at first is a little sluggish if used, or when
placed in its stable, is somewhat dejected, paying but moderate atten-
tion to the various disturbing surroundings. Its appetite is somewhat
diminished in many cases, Avhile in some cases the animal eats well
throughout. Thirst is increased, but not a great deal of water is
taken at one time. If a bucket of water is placed in the manger,
before the patient, it will dip its nose into it and swallow a few
mouthfuls, allowing some of it to drip back, and then stop, to return
to it in a short time. The coat becomes dry and the hairs stand on
end. At times the horse will have chills of one or the other leg, the
fore quarters or hind quarters, or in severe cases of the whole body,
with trembling of the muscles, dryness of the skin, and its hairs stand-
ing on end.

If the eyes and mouth are examined the membranes are found red-
dened to a bright rosy color. The pulse is quickened and the breath-
ing may be slightly accelerated. At the end of a couple of days a
cough is heard and a discharge begins to come from the nostrils.
This discharge is at first watery; it then becomes thicker, somewhat
bluish in color, and sticky, and finally it assumes the yellowish color
of matter and increases greatly in quantity.

At the outset the colt may sneeze occasionally and a cough is heard.
The cough is at first repeated and harsh, but soon becomes softer and
moist as the discharge increases. Again the cough varies according
■ to the source of the discharge, for in light cases this may be only a
catarrh of the nasal canals, or it may be from the throat, the wind-
pipe, or the air-tubes of the lungs, or even from the lungs themselves.
According to the organ afi'ected the symptoms and character of cough
will be similar to those of a laryngitis, bronchitis, or lung fever caused
by ordinary cold.

Shortly after the discharge is seen a swelling takes i)lace under the
jaw, or in the intermaxillary space. This is at first puffy, swollen,
somewhat hot and tender, and finally becomes distinctly so, and an

510

abscess is felt, or having broken itself the discharge is seen dripping
from a small opening. When the discharge from the nostrils has fully
developed the fever usually disappears and the animal regains its
appetite, unless the swelling is sufacient to interfere with the function
of the throat, causing pain on any attempt to swallow. At the end of
four or six days the discharge lessens, the soreness around the throat
diminishes, the horse regains its appetite, and in two weeks has
regained its usual condition. Old and strong horses may have the dis-
ease in so light a form that the fever is not noticeable; they may con-
tinue to'eat and perform their ordinary work as usual and no symptom
may be seen beyond a slight discharge from the nose and a rare cough,
whicli is not sufficient to worry any but the most particular owner.
But, on the other hand, the disease may assume a malignant form or
become complicated so as to become a most serious disease, and even
prove fatal in many cases. Inflammation of the larynx and bronchi,
if excessive, will produce violent, harsh coughing, which may almost
asphyxiate the animal. The large amount of discharge may be mixed
with air by the difficult breathing, and the nostrils, the front of tlie
animal, manger and surrounding objects become covered with a white
foam. The inflammation may be in the lung itself (lobular pneumo-
nia) and cause the animal to breathe heavily, heave at the flanks, and
show great distress. In this condition marked symptoms of fever are
seen; the appetite is lost, the coat is dry, the horse stands back in
its stall at the end of the halter strap with its neck extended and its
legs propped apart to favor its breathing. Tliis condition may end by
resolution, leaving the horse for some time with a severe cough, or
the animal may die from choking up of the lungs (asphyxia).

The swelling under the jaw may be excessive, and if the abscess is
not opened it burrows toward the throat or to the side and causes
inflammation of the parotid glands and breaks in annoying fistulas at
the sides of the throat and even up as high as the ears. Roaring may
occur either during a moderately severe attack from inflammation of
the throat (larynx) or at a later period as the result of continued lung
trouble. Abscesses may develop in other parts of the body, in the
poll, in the withers, or in the spaces of loose tissue under the arms, in
the fold of the thigh, and, in entire horses, in the testicles.

During the course of the disease or later, when the animal seems to
be on the road to perfect recovery, abscesses may form in the internal '
organs and produce symptoms characteristic of disease of those parts.
Delirium.— Uoaiing, plunging, wandering in a circle, or standing
with the head wedged in a corner of the stall indicates the collection
of matter in the brain. Sudden and severe lung symptoms, without
previous discharge, point to an abscess between the lungs, in the
mediastinum; colic, which is often continuous for days, is the result
of the formation of an abscess in some part of the abdominal cavity,
usually in the mesentery.

511

Patliology. — The lesions of strangles are found on the surface of
tlie mucous membranes, essentially of the respiratorj- sj'stem and in the
loose connective tissue fibers of the internal organs and glands, and
consist of acute inflammatory changes, tending to the formation of
matter. The blood is unaltered, though it is rich in fibrin, and if
the animal has died of asphyxia it is found dark colored and unco-
agulated when the body is first opened. If the animal has died while
suffering from high fever the ordinary alterations throughout the
body which are produced by any fever not attended by alteration of
blood are found.

Treatment. — Ordinary light eases require but little treatment beyond
diet, warm washes, moistened hay, warm coverings, and protection from
exposure to cold. The latter is urgently called for, .as lung complica-
tions, severe bronchitis, and larjTigitis are oiten the results of neglect
of this precaution. If the fever is excessive the horse may receive
small quantities of Glauber salts (handful three times a day), as a
laxative, bicarbonate of soda or niter in dram doses every few hours,
and small doses of antimony, iodide of potash, aconite, or quinine.
Steaming the head with the vapor of warm water poured over a bucket
of bran and hay, in whicli belladonna leaves or tar have been placed,
will allay the inflammation of the mucous membranes and greatly ease
the cough.

The swelling of the glands should be promptly treated by bathing
with warm water and flaxseed poultices, and as soon as there is any
evidence of the formation of matter it should be opened. Prompt
action in this ^vill often save serious complications. Blisters and irri-
tating liniments should not be applied to the throat. When lung com-
plications show themselves the horse should have mustard applied to
the belly and to the sides of the chest. "\Ylien convalescence begins
great care must be taken not to expose the animal to cold, w^hich may
bring on relapses, and while exercise is of great advantage it must
not be turned into work until the animal has entirely regained its
strength.

SCALMA.

The differentiation of the various diseases which have popularly
been included under the terms of distemper and influenza up to a
comparatively recent date has been so slow and so tardily accepted
by the majority of practitioners that we have been subjected to con-
stantly seeing announced and heralded as news in the daily papers
the appearance of some ncAv disease. These new diseases of the popu-
lace and of the empii-ic are to us but the epizootic outbreak or the
more severely manifested form of some ordinary contagious disease.
We treat several cases of different troubles in tlie same stable with-
out having the time or seeing the necessity of explaining them to the
owner, when suddenly one- of them spreads to the rest of the stable

512

in an epizootic form, and our clients will not nnderstand that all of
the animals liave not suffered from the same illness.

There is, however, one of the contagious fevers of the horse which
has constantly been confounded with other diseases, and which has
not been separated from them in our English text-books. As this
disease has received no proper name in English, I shall use for it the
name given by Professor Dieckerhoff, of Berlin, who first described
it in the Adams Wochenschrift, XXIX, in 1885.

Etymology.— The term "scalma" is derived from the old German
word scalmo, scelmo, sclielm, which indicates roguishness or knavish-
ness, as great nervous irritability, especially of the temper, is one of
the characteristics, almost diagnostic, symptoms of this disease. The
term '' Heimtuchische Kranlchtit,'' signifying malicious, treacherous,
or mischievous, is also employed in German for the same trouble. I
am not aware of any name in English or French which has been
applied to it.

As I am opposed to employing in veterinary medicine any of the
nomenclature of human medicine, except for identical, simple, and
inflammatory diseases, or for intercommunicable contagious diseases,
I will not offer the term "whooping cough" as a name, but I will sug-
gest a certain similarity between the latter disease in man and scalma
in the horse.

Definition. — Scalma is a contagious and infectious febrile disease of
the horse, with local lesions of the bronchi, trachea, and larynx, which
is evidenced by cough. It is further characterized by great irrita-
bility of temper. It occurs as a stable plague ; that is, in enzo5tic
form, with, however, great variations in the susceptibility of the ani-
mals to contract it. It is rarely fatal except from complications.

Incuhatio}!.— The period of incubation is from six to seven days,
but the disease may develop in two days after exposure or it may
delay its appearance for ten days. It spreads through a stable slowly,
developing at times in a horse placed in a stall where the previously
sick one had stood, or it may pass next to an animal several stalls
away. One attack is usually protective.

Symptoms.— The symptoms are ushered in by fever, in which the
acceleration of the pulse and respiration is in no way in accord with
the great elevation of temperature. With the appearance of the fever
is developed a diffuse bronchitis, which is, however, subacute both in
its character and in its course. At times the trouble of the bronchi
may extend to the trachea, larynx, pharynx, or even to the nasal foss?e.
In two or three days a trifling grayish, albuminous discharge from
the nostrils occurs, which continues, variable in quantity, for eight
to fourteen days, or may even last for three weeks. The cough is
short, rough, and painful, spasmodic in its occurrence and in char-
acter. The slight watery or slimy discharge may become more pro-
fuse, purulent, or even "rusty," if the bronchitis has extended to the

513

neighboring- structures. Pharyngeal discharge may take place. Tho
respiration is moderate and only affected during an excess of cough-
ing, or in complicated cases. The pulse undergoes but little quicken-
ing. The temperature rises rapidly to 39°, 40°, and in some cases even
to 41. 5° C. (107|° F. ). The latter temperature usually, but not always,
indicates complication by pleurisy. In ordinary cases the temperature
drops in two or three days after the appearance of the cough. The
hide is dry and rough, with the hairs on end, but the horse appears
rather as an animal out of condition than a sick one. Emaciation may
be rapid. The mucous membranes are moderately reddened. The
appetite is diminished, but the animal chews constantly. Deglutition,
either of food or water, is frequently the cause of spasms of c*otighing,
and these in turn seem to warn the animal against attempts at swal-
lowing. On percussion no alteration of resonance is to be detected.
On auscultation of the lungs mucous rales are heard, with at times
tubular breathing; the latter, however, we will study under the com-
plications, as also the friction warning of pleurisy. Throughout the
course of the disease we have still one constant and characteristic
symptom— nervous irritability. With temperature of 104° to 107° F.,
the horse still flinches to the touch on the loins; it stands frequently
with the head up, and it is on the alert for the entrance of any one to
the stall. The previously good-tempered and quiet horse will turn and
bite, will strike with the hind legs, or at the first touch to the side,
head, or throat will half rear and back into the corner of the box, or
breaking the halter turn backAvard out of the stall.

The course of the disease is from five to eight days, but the cough
may continue for two or three weeks with variable elevation of tem-
perature. As a stable plague the course is from two to three months,
as the contagion is much more uncertain than in strangles or influ-
enza. The termination is by resolution and recovery, or by compli-
cations. In resolution the temperature drops, the cough becomes less
frequent and less spasmodic in character, the appetite returns, and
lu) sign is left of the disease except the fever mark on the hoof.

The complications are excessive spasms and pleurisy. In the former
tlie cough may be so violent as to convulse the whole animal, the legs
are spread and fixed, with the hind ones drawn slightly under the
body. The head and neck are extended, with the muscles tense. The
cough comes out by rapidly succeeding efforts, or with the first sound
the larynx seems to close for a moment before the rest can follow. In
two cases of my own the spasm has been so great that the animal has
fallen to the ground. During these accesses the respiration becomes
accelerated, and on ausculation of the trachea and lungs the tubular
murmur of an apparent pneumonia can be heard. This false mur-
mur, however, disappears at the end of the attack. In the case which
fell to the ground the horse would lie for a moment or two absolutely
5061 — HOR 17

514

motionless. (In the first I believed that he had broken his neck. ) The
rapid respiration was then followed by a long inspiration, the animal
reo-ained his feet, the respiration became almost normal, andthetnbu-
lar murmur had disappeared. I have seen no fatal termination from
this spasm of the pneumo-gastric, but can readily believe that trau-
matisms resulting from such attacks might prove fatal, or that the'
spasm might continue long enough to produce asphyxia. The fatal
complication is pleurisy. This occurs when the horse has been kept
at work after the development of the disease while suffering from a
high fever, and is probably in no way specific, but the result of work
on an animal with high temperature. The additional symptoms are
those of an ordinary pleurisy.

Diagnosis. — The diagnosis is based upon the elevation of the tem-
perature without corresponding acceleration of the pulse and of the
respirations; upon the retention of appetite and spinal reflex, with
the great irritability of temper in the presence of a high temperature,
and upon the spasmodic cough and auscultatory sounds of bronchitis
with but trifling discharge.

The diagnosis is made from oidematous pneumonia l)y the absence
of the yellow colorations, the absence of pneumonia, and the less con-
tinuous high temperature; from influenza by the absence of (edema,
of the ocher coloration, and of the typhoid symptoms; from strangles
by want of enlargement of the lymphatics, absence of purulent dis-
charge and abscesses; from variola by the nonappearance of pustules
and enlarged lymphatics; from simple bronchitis, as the latter is spo-
radic, and in it great fever is accompanied by profuse discharge;
from rheumatic pleurisy and pleurodynia by the history in these of
repeated attacks and great temporary pain; from surgical fever by

the absence of cause.

Pro(/Ho.s/.s.— The prognosis is usually favorable. This disease entails

only the loss of ten days' to three weeks' use of the animal, and leaves
the subject with no complicating sequelae. In some cases I have seen
the irritable disposition remain for a length of time, but in every case
it has finally disappeared. As I have suggested, violent spasms might
prove fatal. Pleurisy would render the prognosis serious, as the same
disease would when occurring from simple causes.

Treatment— The treatment of a stable should be at once prophylac-
tic. The infected animal should be removed, and complete disinfec-
tion of the stalls and area should be made. The individual treatment
is simple. The hygienic measures of cleanliness, fresh air without
drafts, frequent rubbing and tempting food should be thorough. The
digestive tract is to be regulated by small doses of bicarbonate of
soda, sulphate of soda, gentian, and tannic acid. The appetite is to
be stimulated by drinks of cold l)reakfast tea and cow's milk. Anti-
spasmodics are "to be used when the cough is excessive. The best
of these are camphor, belladonna, stramonium, and steaming Avith

• 515

turpentine. (Tuqx-ntino 1 ounee, vajter half bucket.) External fric-
tions of alcohol and turpentine, Avith hot packs to the loins, v.ill also
affoi-d relief. Quinine and salicylic acid may bo used during the ele-
vation of temperature. Professor Dieckerhotf recommends tracheal
injections in ounce doses of the following solution: Acetate of alumi-
nium, 1 per cent; alum, one-half to 1 per cent; bromide of potash,
1 to 2 per cent; water, 100.

CEDEMATOUS PNEUMONIA.

Syxoxyms: Adj-namic pneumonia; hospital or stable pneumonia;
influenza; Pectoralis equorum; pleuro-pneumonia; Contagiosa equo-
rum; Brustseuche, German.

Definition.— Thin disease is the adynamic pneumonia of the older
. veterinarians wlio did not recognize any essential difference in its
nature from an ordinary inflammation of the lungs, excejit in the
profound sedation of the force of the animal affected with it, which
is a prominent symptom from the outset of the disease. Again, this
same prostration of the vital force of the animal, combined vrith the
staggering movement and want of coordination of the muscles of
the animal, caused it for a long time to bo confounded with influenza,
with which at certain periods it certainly has a strong analogy of
symptoms, but from which, as from sporadic pneumonia, it can be
separated very readily if a case can be followed throughout its wliole
course.

(Edematous pneumonia is a specific inflammation of the lungs, pro-
ducing an interstitial oedema and inflammation of the tissues of these
organs, and a constitutional disturbance or fever of a low or adynamic
f 3-pe. It causes a profound sedation of the nervous system which may
be so great as to cause death. It is sometimes attended by pleurisy,
inflammation of the heart, or septic complications which also nrove
fatal.

EtioJogp. —While, as an infectious disease, its original cause is due
to a specific virus, there are many predisposing causes which act as
important factors in aiding in its development. Old horses, espe-
cially those which have been rendered antemic or debilitated by hard
use or by diminished quantities of food, and those which are obliged
to work constantly in Avater or are exposed to continual cold and wet,
as in the ease of canal horses, old hack horses and their congeners'
and those younger animals which liave a sudden weakened vitality
produced by being put too rapidly to work, or to too hard work before
their muscles arc hardened and their organs have been accustomed
loathe unusual demands placed upon them by want of training, are
much more susceptible to the contagion than adult animals in a good
condition of health. Lymplmtic, narrow-chested, thick-hided, and
big-hoofed animals will contract the disease much more easily than
the finer-skinned, richer-muscled animal of a sanguinary tempera-
ment and robust constitution.

516

Old, cold, damp, foul, unclean, and badly drained and ventilated
stable's aUow rapid dissemination of the disease to other horses in the
same stable, and act as rich reservoirs for preserving the contagion
which, in one of these cases, the writer knew to be retained for over
a year. Every few weeks during this time, in the corner of a large
livery stable, one or more cases of oedematous pneumonia broke out,
usually in one of two stalls, but sometimes several stables away.
When the stable was remodeled and new woodwork was placed in
for mangers and floors the disease disappeared. The virus is but
moderately volatile, and in a stable seems rather to follow the lines
of the walls and irregular courses than the direct currents of air and
the tracts of ventilation. Professor Dieckerhoff found that the con-
tagion of influenza was readily diffusible throughout an entire stable
and through any opening to other buildings, and substantiates the
writer's experience that it will pass through solid walls of considera-
ble thickness; but he also found that the contagion of (edematous
pneumonia is not transmissible at any great distance, nor is it very
diifusible in the atmosphere. A brick wall 8 feet in height served to
prevent the infection of other animals placed on that side of a horse
ill with the disease, while others placed on the opposite side and
separated from the focus of contagion only by open bars in the stall
were infected and developed the disease in its typical form.

Symptoms.— The symptoms differ slightly from those of a frank,
fibrinous pneumonia, but not so much by the introduction of new
symptoms as by the want of or absence of the distinct evidences of
local lesions which are found in the latter disease. All of the pneu-
monias throughout the whole course of the trouble are less marked
and less clearly defined.

At first the symptoms are latent; the animal gives a rare cough
which resembles that of a heavy horse affected with a slight chronic
bronchitis; it becomes somewhat dejected and dull, at times somno-
lent, and has a diminished appetite. This condition lasts for several
days. No history can be obtained of causes for symptoms of acute
trouble, and the absence of organic lesions to account for the general
condition leaves the attendant, however expert he may be, in much
doubt as to the nature of the trouble unless previous cases in the same
stable, or special tact on the part of the veterinarian, aids in foresee-
ing the probable termination of the slight local trouble and commenc-
ing adynamic changes in the organic functions of the animal. No
crepitant rale is heard as in fibrinous pneumonia, as in this disease
the local trouble commences in the neighborhood of the large air tubes
and not on the periphery of the lungs. During several days these
symptoms increase and a fever of a low type gradually develops. The
respiration increases to twenty-four, thirty, or thirty-six to the min-
ute, and a small, running, soft pulse, indicating great exhaustion ot
the capillaries and their surrounding tissues, attains a rhythm ot htty,

517

seventy, or even more beats in the sixty seconds. The heart, how-
ever, contrary to the debilitated condition of the pulse, is found beat-
ing violently and tumultuously, Kke it does in anthrax and septic
intoxication. The mucous membranes of the eyes and mouth and of
the g-enital organs are found somewhat oedematous, and they rapidly
assume a dirty, saffron color, at times approaching an ocher, but dis-
tinguishable from the similar coloration in influenza by the want of
the luster belonging to the latter and by the muddy, dull tint which
is characteristic throughout the disease.

Suddenly, without the preMminary rales which precede grave
lesion of the lungs in other diseases, the blowing murmur of pneu-
monia is heard over a variable area of the chfest, usually, however
much more distinctly over the trachea at the base of the neck and
directly behind the shoulder on either side of the chest. In some
cases the evidence of lung lesion can only be detected over the
trachea. The body temperature has now reached 104°, 105° F., or
in extreme cases even a degree higher. The debility of the animal
is great without the stupefaction or evidence of cerebral trouble,
which is constant with such grave constitutional phenomena in influ-
enza or severe pneumonias. The animal is subject to occasional
chills, and on movement staggers in its gait. The yellow coloration
of the visible mucous membrane is rendered pale by infiltration of
the liquid of the blood into the tissues; the pulse may become so soft
as to be almost imperceptible, the heart movement and sounds being
at the same time exaggerated. The animal loses flesh rapidly, and
dropsies of the extremities, of the under surface of the belly, 'or of
the internal organs may show themselves. We then have all the
general phenomena of a profound ansemia.

Termmatiojis.— These symptoms may gradually subside; with an
improved appetite the inanition may cease and the aminal commence
to nourish its impoverished blood and tissues; the pulse becomes
stronger, the heart more regular and less tumultuous; the mucous
membranes assume a brighter and more distinct color; the difficulty
of respiration is removed, and the animal may make a recovery but
at best the convalescence is a long one, and in many cases it is ques-
tionable If it is an economical proceeding to carry the animal through
It. More frequently the disease terminates by death. This is usuaUy
directly due to heart failure; in some cases it is caused by asphyxia
owing to the great amount of exudation into the lung tissue, render-
ing Its further function impossible; in most cases the anemia and
marasmus debilitate the animal until it dies as it would from the
same condition produced by any other cause.

Complications.— The complications of oedematous pneumonia are
inflammatory or necrotic changes in the lungs themselves. Suppura-
tion at times takes place in the bronchi and may extend to the lung
tissue. In this case yve may find the mucous rales of a bronchitis

518

appearing- wliere there were only neg-ativc signs of pulmonary trouble,
or we may find them grafted upon the tubular murmur of the pneu-
monia if the latter has been detected in the earlier stages of the dis-
ease. These are mostly distinctly heard over the trachea and on the
sides of the chest directly behind the slioulders. With the develop-
ment of the mucous rales, to be heard on auscultation, we have a m.ore
purulent discharge from the nostrils, similar to that of a chronic or
sub-acute bronchitis. If the inflammation has been of some standing,
cavernous rales may be heard indicating the destruction of a consid-
erable portion of lung tissue and the formation of a cavity. The effects
of this more acute inflammatory process are not appreciable in the
general condition of the animal, except to still further weaken it and
add to its debilitated and emaciated cachexia. Gangrene frequently
occurs. A sudden rise of the body temperature one or two degrees,
with a more enfeebled pulse and a still more tumultous heart, develop
simultaneously with the appearance of a discharge from the nostrils.
Tliis discharge -is gray in color, serous or watery in consistency, mixed
with the detritus of broken-down lung tissue, and sometimes contains
clots of blood, or in more serious cases may be marked by a quantity
of fluid blood from a hemorrhage, which proves fatal. The discharge
is fetid to the smell. The animal emaciates rapidly. On examination
of the lungs m ucous rales are heard in the larger bronchi, cavities may
be found at any part of these organs, and points of lobular pneumonia
ma}' bo detected.

Diagnosis.— The diagnosis of oBdematous pneumonia at the outset
is aided greatly by a rigid examination of the surroundings, and still
more so by the history or knowledge of previous cases in the same
stable. The cough and commencing fever of the first few days have
nothing diagnostic in them, but when combined with repeated chills,
a soft pulse, a tumultuous heart, the rapidly stained dull yellow
mucous membranes, and the staggering gait of the animal without
marked brain trouble, the diagnosis becomes more easy. In pneu-
monia the fever is always of a more sthenic character, the fever is con-
comitant, or precedes the marked lung trouble; the yellowish discolor-
ation is a phenomenon of the later stages of the disease; the debility
of the muscles is simple weakness, or, if complicated by want of
coordination, it accompanies an evident brain trouble and loss of
consciousness. In pneumonia there has always been in the lungs the
regular series of absence of vesicular murmur, crepitant rales, and
then tubular murmur. While the pulse in a simple pneumonia may
in the later stages become very soft and weak, it commences as a
tense and full one. The heart only becomes irregular as the result of
cardiac com.plieation, and never assumes the tumultuous character
of the septic diseases unless gangrene occurs, in which case the
animal is only of value as a scientific study to the veterinary attend-
ant. In influenza the symptoms of fever develop before any local

519

lesions are noticed. The feebleness of 1 he mnscles and want of coordi-
nation are from the ontset the evident result of a poisoned condition
of the brain, as shown b}^ the stupor of the animal; the saffron or
ocher coloration of the visible mucous merftbrane is of a decided tint,
and while these membranes may be o^deinatous, they become so as
the result of an increase in the quantity of blood in their capillaries,
or by congestion, and not from the a?dematous infiltration of the
watery portion of the blood, as in the disease in question.

Prognosis. — CEdematous pneumonia is an excessively fatal disease.
"We have seen that it usually attacks animals which are alread}' in
more or less of a depraved condition or weakened in their vital forces
by the bad hygienic surroundings to which they have been subjected.
Rapid increase in the area of infiltration in the lungs, as shown by
dullness on percussion and the extent of the tubular murmur, is an
unfavorable symptom. Increased prostration in the early part of the
disease augurs badly for the chances of future resistance to the effects
of the local lesions. Suppuration with the formation of abscesses and
gangrene in the lungs are even more serious in this disease than as a
complication of other diseases, on account of the debilitating character
of the original trouble.

Alterations. — At the time of death from oedematous pneumonia we
frequently find septic changes and the evidences of putrefaction. The
solidification of the lung tissue is found irregular in shape and high
up around the root of the lungs and around the large bronchi, and is
generally covered by sound lung tissue. The anterior lobes of the
lungs are usually entirely affected. The diseased portion appears of
a gray-yellowish' color, somewhat watery, and tears readily. Matter
is found in the air tubes which form gutters througli the jelly-like
mass of the diseased lung. Abscesses, from the size of a nut to larger
masses, may be found disseminated through the lungs. The blood is
dark in color, fluid, or only clotted into soft, jelly-like masses. Classes
of gangrenous or dead black tissue may be present.

Treatment.~A study of the symptoms Avill indicate at once tliat the
antiphlogistics, or those remedies which we employ in such sthenic dis-
eases as fibrinous pneumonia, strangles, etc. , are not to be employed
in this disease. Bleeding would only still further weaken an already
enfeebled animal; antimony or the alterants would increase the
depression of a too depraved constitution. There is in this disease no
acute congestion of a particular organ to draw off by depletive meas-
ures, nor any violent blood current to be retarded, for fear of liyper-
nutrition of any special j^art.

Revulsives do good, as they excite the nervous system and awaken
the torpor of the weakened blood vessels, which aid in the reestablisli-
ment of the functions. Mustard poultices may be applied over the
belly and sides of the chest, as in other diseases, but caution must be
used in the emploj'ment of blisters, as ugly ulcers may result from

520

tneir action ou a tissue of weakened vitality. Setons are dangerous
from the great tendency in this disease to septic complications.
Repeated friction of the legs l3y hand-rubbing and warmth by band-
aging and by rubbing the surface of the body with turpentine and
alcohol, which is immediately to be dried by rough towels, will excite
the circulation and stimulate the emunctories of the skin.

Stimulants are given internally from the outset of the disease. Tur-
pentine in dram doses regulates the heart and excites the kidneys to
carry off waste matter, but if repeated too frequently may disturb the
already delicate digestive system. Alcohol rectifies the latter danger,
and is a useful stimulant to the heart and digestive system, if given
with care in small doses. It must be remembered that this remedy is
not a food. It is a hydrocarbon which is not burnt, but is eliminated
in the urine and in the expired air. If given in too large quantities it
becomes a depressant, and lowers the vitality of all of the tissues of
the body, as can too frequently be seen in the mental and physical
condition of the drunkard. It is an antiputrid, and is especially indi-
cated when septic complications and gangrene are present. The
aromatics and bitter tonics are useful ; gentian, tannin, and English
breakfast tea in warm decoction form a useful menstruum for other
remedies. The various preparations of iron are astringents and excit-
ants to the digestive system. Carbolic acid is an antiputrid, which is
of marked benefit in oedematous pneumonia; it should be given in
small doses diluted in alcohol.

Salicylic acid may be given in 1 or 2 dram doses every few hours.
It is a specific for troubles of the serous membranes, lowers the tem-
perature, and is of value in this disease in preventing the exudation
into the tissue of the lungs. The alkalies, as the sulphate and bicar-
bonate of soda, the nitrate of potash, and very small doses of the iodide
of potash, should be employed to regulate the digestive tract, the kid-
neys, and the other excreting glands, and to stimulate absorption of
the waste matter.

The diet demands the strictest attention from the outset. In many
of the fevers the food has to be diminished in quantity and regulated
in the quality of its heat-producing components during the acute part
of the disease, so as to lessen the material for combustion in the in-
flamed organs. In oedematous pneumonia, on the contrary, all the
food that can possibly be digested and assimilated must be given.
Choice must be made of the richest material which can be handled by
the weakened stomach and intestines without fatiguing them. Good,
sound hay should be chopped short and dampened or partly boiled;
in the latter case the hay tea can be reserved to use as a drink. Oats
may be preferred dry or in other cases will be taken better scalded;
in most cases, however, it is better to give slops of oatmeal, to which
can be added a little bran, barley flour, or boiled milk and wheat
flour. Ture cow's milk, not too rich in fatty matter, can be given

521

alone or with beaten eggs; frequently the horse will have to be
coaxed with the milk diluted with several parts of water at first, but
will soon learn to drink the pure mild. Apples and carrots out up
raw or boiled are useful, and fresh clover in small quantities will fre-
quently stimulate the appetite. Throughout the course of the disease
and during convalescence the greatest attention must be given to
cleaning the coat thoroughly so as to keep the glands of the skin in
working order, and light, Avarm covering must be used to protect the
animal from cold or draughts of air.

HORSEPOX — EQUINE VARIOLA.

Synonyms: Variola equina — Pustular Grease— Phhjdenoid Herpes.

Definition. —The horseiwx is a specific infectious fever of the horse
attended by an eruption of pustules or pocks over any part of the skin
or on the mucous membranes lining the various cavities in the body.
When the eruption takes place on the mucous membrane of the respir-
atory tract it produces an irritation and discharge of matter which
greatly resembles that of strangles. This disease was for a long time
confounded with the latter disease, and there is no doubt that many
light cases in which the eruption is not well marked are still mistaken
for distemper.

The horsepox was described by the early Roman agricultural writers
and by the veterinarians of the last century. It received its first
important notice from the great Jenner, who confounded it Avith grease
in horses, as animals with this disease are very apt to have the erup-
tion of variola appear on the inflamed fetlocks if they are affected
with grease at the same time. He saw these cases transmit the dis-
ease to cattle in the byres and to the stablemen and milkmaids who
attended them, and furnish the latter with immunity from smallpox,
which led to the discovery of vaccination. The horsepox is again
frequently mistaken for the exanthemata attending some forms of
venereal disease in horses.

Variola in the horse, while it is identical in principle, general course,
complications, and lesions with variola in other animals, is a disease
of the horse itself, and is not transmissible in the form "of variola to
any other animal; nor is the variola of any other animal transmissible
to the horse. Cattle and men, if inoculated from a case of horsepox,
develop vaccinia, but vaccinia from the latter animals is not so readily
reinoculated into the horse with success. If it does develop, it pro-
duces the original disease.

Etiology.— The direct cause of the horsepox is infection. A large
number of predisposing causes favor the development of the disease
as in the case of strangles, for this trouble, like almost all contagious
diseases, renders the animal which has had one attack immune from
future ones. The causes are, young age, for then the animal is still
5961— HOR 17*

522

siiseeptible to contract the disease, but old horses which have not been
affected are less apt to become infected when exposed than younger
ones. The exposure incident to shipment through public stables, cars,
etc., again acts as a predisposing cause as in the other infectious dis-
eases. The period of final dentition is a moment of the animal's life
which renders it peculiarly susceptible.

Dupaul states that the infection is transmissible through the atmos-
phere for several hundred yards. The more common means of conta-
gion is by direct contact or by means of fomites. Feed boxes and
bridles previously used by horses affected with variola are probably
the most frequent carriers of the virus, and we find the lesions in the
majority of cases developed in the neighborhood of the lips and
nostrils. Coition is a frequent cause. A stallion suffering from this
disease may be the cause of a considerable epizootic, as he transmits
it to a number of brood mares and they in turn return to the farms
where they are surrounded by young animals to whom they convey
the contagion. The saddle of the harness and croup straps are fre-
quent agents of infection. The presence of a wound greatly favors
the inoculation of the disease, which is also sometimes carried by sur-
gical instruments or sponges. Trasbot recites a case in which a set
of hobbles which had been used on an animal suffering from variola
were used on a horse for a quittor operation and transmitted the dis-
ease, which developed on the edges of the Avound. There is no elective
point for the first development of the disease, but it commences most
frequently around the natural openings, as these are points whicli are
most exposed to inoculation.

Symi^toms.— There is a period of incubation, after an animal has
been exposed, of from five to eight days, during which there is no
appreciable alteration in the health. This period is shorter in sum-
mer and longer in winter. At the end of this time, small nodes
develop at the point of inoculation and the animal becomes feverish.
The nodes, which feel like small shot under the skin, soften into small
pustules and break into little, shallow, superficial ulcers, exuding a
creamy, thick matter, which rapidly dries and forms scabs. The
horse is dull and dejected, loses its appetite, and has a rough di-y coat
with the hairs on end. There is moderate thrist. The respirations
are somewhat quickened and the pulse Ijecomes rapid and full. ^The
body temperature is elevated, frequently reaching 104° or 105° F.,
within thirty-six or forty-eight hours from the appearance of the first
symptoms.

The visible mucous membranes, especially the conjunetivse, are of
a bright rosy red. In the lymphatic, cold-blooded, and more common
horses these symptoms of fever are less marked; even with a com-
paratively high temperature the animal may retain its appetite and
even work comparatively well, but these cases, if worked and over-
heated, are apt to develop serious complications.

523

At tlie end of from three and a lialf to four days tlie eruption breaks
out, the fever abates, and the general symptoms improve. The eruj)-
tion in severe cases may be generalized ; it may be confined to the
softer skin of the nose and lips, the genital organs, and tlie inside of
the thighs, or it maj- be localized in the neighborhood of a wound or
in the irritated skin of a pair of greasy heels. It consists of a greater
or less number of little nodes which, on a mucous membrane, as in the
nostrils or vagina, or on soft unpigmented skin, appear red and feel
at first like shot under the epidermis. These nodes soften and show
a yellowish spot in the center when they become pustules. The epi-
dermis is dissoh^ed and the matter escapes as a viscid fluid at first
citrine and later cloudy and purulent, which dries rapidly, forming
scabs; if these fall off or are removed they leave a little shallow con-
cave ulcer which heals in the course of five or six days. In the softer
skin if i^igmented the cicatrices are white and frequentlj' remain so
for about a year, when the pigment returns. The lips or genital
organs of a colored horse, if covered with a number of small white
spots about the size of a pea, will usually indicate that the aninuit has
been affected with the horsepox.

At times the pustules may become confluent and x)roduce large
superficial serpentine ulcers on the membrane of the nostrils, around
the lips or eyelids, or on the borders of wounds and in greasy heels;
in this case the part becomes swollen, hot, painful, and is covered
with a profuse discharge of matter. In this form -there is frequently
a secondary fever lasting for a day or two.

In severe cases there may be a suppurative adenitis or inflamma-
tion of the lymphatic glands which are fed from the affected part.
If the eruption is around the nostrils and lips, the glands between
the jaws (submaxillary) form abscesses, as in a case of strangles;
if the eruption is in a pair of greasy heels abscesses may form in the
fold of the groin (inguinal). There may be so much tumefaction of
the nostrils as to produce difficulty in breathing.

Complication^. — A case of horsepox maybe attended with various
complications of greater or less importance. Adenitis or suppuration
of the glands has just been mentioned. Confluent eruptions irritate
the part and induce the animal to rub the inflamed part against the
manger or scratch it in other ways, and produce troublesome ulcers,
Avhieh may leave ugly scars. Irritation of the mucous membrane of
the nose causes severe corj-za with purulent discharge.

Tlie eruption may occur in the throat or in the air tubes to the
lungs, developing an acute laryngitis or bronchitis. These commence
with a harsh cough, wliich becomes moister and more fatty as the dis-
charge increases, and is followed for several days by a fever, which is
often severe. If the larynx is affected it becomes inflamed and swollen,
causing the animal to roar and discharge quantities of foamy mucus
and matter from tlie nostrils, as in troubles of the same organ from

524

other causes. If the animal is exposed to cokl, or worked so as to
engorge the lungs with blood at the termination of the specific fever,
just when the eruption is about to localize, it may be determined to
the lungs. In this case we have a short dry cough, labored breath-
ing, the development of a secondary fever of some gravity, and all of
the external symptoms of a pneumonia. This pneumonia differs,
however, from an ordinary pneumonia in the symptoms furnished by
the examination of the lungs themselves. In place of a large mass of
the lung tissue being affected the inflammation is disseminated in
smaller spots over the entire lung. The total of these areas may be
equal, however, to the half or more of the lungs and prove fatal.
The crepitant rales and tubular murmur of pneumonia is absent, and
is replaced by sibilant and small mucous rales. When the fever has
been intense and the animal is unduly exposed or worked, it may be
attacked with a congestion of the lungs, which will prove fatal within
a few hours, and no localization be developed ; or, if in this case relief
is afforded, it may be followed by a lobar pneumonia, showing itself
with all the symptoms of this disease when it is produced by ordinary
causes.

Diagnosis.— The diagnosis of the horsepox is to be based on the
presence of a continuous fever, with rosy mucous membranes, for
several days, and the appearance of the characteristic eruption. If
the eruption is in the nasal cavities, marked by a considerable dis-
charge and attended by submaxillary abscesses, it maybe confounded
Avith strangles. If the throat is affected it may be confounded with
an angina (laryngitis or pharyngitis), but in the latter the local
trouble precedes or is concomitant with the fever, while in the former
the fever precedes the local trouble by several days. Variola may be
confounded with bronchitis or pneumonia if complicated with these
troubles and the eruption is absent from the exterior, but it is of little
moment, as the treatment for both will be much the same. When the
ei'uption is in the neighborhood of the genital organs this disease
lias been mistaken for the dourine. In variola the eruption is a tem-
porary one; the nodes and pustules are followed by shallow ulcers
and rapid cicatrization, unless continued in the vagina or on the penis
by the rubbing of the walls and the filth which accumulates; there
are apt to be pustules at other parts of the body. In the venereal
disease the local trouble commences as a papule and breaks into an
ulcer without having formed a pustule. The ulcer has not the con-
vex rosy appearance of that of the less serious discharge; the symp-
toms last for a longer period, by which time others aid in differentiat-
ing the two. In glanders the tubercle is hard, and, after breaking
into an ulcer, the indurated bottom remains, grayish or dirty-white
in color, ragged and exuding a viscous, oily discharge. There is no
disposition to suppuration of the neighboring glands. In variola tlie
rosy shallow ulcer and healthy laudable pus, with the acutely tumified

525

glands, should not be mistaken, at least after a day. I have seen
acute glanders in mules which required a day's delay to differentiate
from strangles; at that time the farcy buds appeared.

Prognosis. — The average case of the horsepox runs a course of dejec-
tion, loss of appetite, and more or less fever for about four days, fol-
lowed by a rapid convalescence, and leaves the animal as well and as
sound as before. If the eruption has been excessive or confluent, the
ulcerations may act as irritants and render the animal unfit for use
for several weeks. Larj^ngitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, and pneumo-
nia in this disease are not of greater gravity than they are when
occurring from other causes. The spots denuded of pigment left by
the pustules on the lips and genitals may temporarily depreciate the
value of the animal to a slight degree.

Treatment.— As this is a disease unattended by alterations of the
blood itself, although a specific fever, and is of a sthenic type, active
remedies are admissible and indicated. The horse should be placed
on a low diet— little or no oats— bran mashes, a moderate quantity of
good sound hay, a few carrots or apples, which will act as laxatives,
and slop feed. Barley flour is more cooling for mashes than bran or
oat meal. Water may be given as the animal desires it, but it should
not be cold; if a half bucketful of water is kept in the manger the
horse will take but a few swallows at a time. Dram doses of nitrate
of potash, or ounce doses of sweet spirits of niter are useful in the
drinking water. If the fever is high the antipyretics are indicated :
Tincture of aconite in fifteen to twenty drop doses; sulphate of qui-
nine in dram doses; iodide of potash in dram doses; two or three
half -dram doses of tartar emetic or Kermes mineral are often useful ;
bleeding will often reduce the temperature at once and prevent com-
plications, but is sometimes the cause of an ugly inflammation sur-
rounded by an eruption in the neighboi-hood of the wound; infusion
of pine tops, of juniper leaves, of the aromatic herbs, or of English
breakfast tea are useful in the later stages. If complications of the
air passages or lungs are threatened a large mustard poultice should
be applied to the belly and sides of the chest. Oxide of zinc oint-
ment should be used on confluent eruptions, and if the ulceration is
excessive it may have to be touched with caustic.

Great care must be taken to keep the animal protected from cold
draughts of air or other exposure. Blankets or sheets should be used
on the body and bandages on the legs. After convalescence is estab-
lished nutritious food of easy digestion and walking exercise are all
that is needed, except perhaps a little Glauber's salts, to pi-event
constipation.

Prophylactic treatment.— When the horsepox breaks out amongst a
large number of horses, especially on a farm where there are a num-
ber of colts, it may be assumed that the greater majority will contract
the disease, and it is more economical that they should have it and

526

be tliroiigli witli it at once. If the weather is moderate all the animals
which have not been affected can be inoculated, which will produce
the disease in a mild form, with the eruption at a point of election,
and render the danger of complication a minimum one. For inocula-
tion the discharge from the pustules of a mild case should be selected
and inoculated by scarification on the belly or the under surface of
the neck.

ANTHRAX.

Synonyms: Sacer ignis, PustuJa maligna, Anthrax, Latin; Char-
hon, Sang de Bate, French; Miltzbrand, German; Carhone, Carhon-
cli io, Fiioco de St. Antonio, Italian ; Jaswa , Siherskaji Jasiva, Russian ;
Carbuncle, Splenic Fever, Splenic Apoplexy, Braxy (in sheep), etc.

Anthrax is a severe and usually fatal contagious disease, charac-
terized by chills, great depression and stupor of the animal, and a
profound alteration of the blood, due to destruction of the red blood
corpuscles. It is caused by the admission into the animal body of
bacteria, or low order of living organisms, or their spores, known as
the "hacilhis of Davaine'' or ''hacillus anthracis.''

It affects all animals exposed to its contagion. Tlie herbivora are
especially susceptible in the following order: the sheep, the ox, and
the horse. The Guinea pig, the hog, the rabbit, mice, and other ani-
mals die quickly from its effects. Man, the dog, and other omnivora
and carnivora may be attacked by it in a constitutional form as fatal
as in the herbivora, but fortunately, in some cases, develop from it
only local trouble, followed by recovery. Fowls may be inoculated
and develop the disease if they are partially immersed in cold water,
to reduce their natural body temperature from 104° to about 100° F.
Frogs may be inoculated successfully if kept in warm water, which
will elevate their body temperature to one approximating that of the
warm-blooded animal, 9G°-98° F.

Anthrax has been a scourge of the animals of the civilized world
since the first written history we have of any of their diseases. It
existed in Asia Minor at the time of the siege of Troy; it was a plague
of the cattle of Egypt during the time of Moses. It was a severe pest
among the agricultural animals in the early Greek and Roman days,
and we have very accurate accounts of its symptoms from the writings
of Columella, Varro, Yirgil, and others. r>y the writers of the Middle
Ages it was frequently confounded with the rinderpest, but is described
with sufficient precision to identify outbreaks of it in epizootic form
in 99G A. D. and 1090 A. D. in France; in 1552 at Lucca, Italy; in 1017
at Naples, where numbers of human beings died from eating the flesh
of animals which were affected with the disease.

In 1598 the senate of Venice interdicted the sale of meat, butter, or
cheese coming from animals affected with anthrax. In 1709-1712
A. D. extensive outbreaks of anthrax occurred iii Germany, Hungary,
and Poland. In the first half of the present century it had become an

527

extensive!}^ spread disease in Russia, Holland, and England, and for
the last century has been gradually spreading in the Americas; more
so in South America. In 1804, in the five governments of Petersburg,
Novgorod, Olonetz, Twer, and Jaroslaw, in Russia, over ten thousand
horses and nearly one thousand persons perished from the disease.

The causes of anthrax were for a long time attributed entirelj' to
climatic influence, soil, and atmospheric temperature, and they are
still recognized as most important predisposing factors in the develop-
ment of the disease, for it is usually found, especially when outbreaks
over any number of animals occur, in low, damp, marshy countries
during the warm seasons. It is more frequent in districts where
marsh}- lands dry out during the heat of summer and are then covered
with light rains. Decaying vegetable matter seems most favorable for
nourishing and preserving the virus.

The direct cause of anthrax is always contagion or infection of a pre-
viously sound animal, either directly from a diseased animal or through
various media which contain excretions or the debris from the body of
a previously infected animal. The specific virus of anthrax was first
discovered by Davaine in 1851. He recognized in the blood of animals
suffering from anthrax microscopic bodies in the form of little rods
with bright spots at their extremities. It ^vas not, however, till a
quarter of a century later that Pasteur defined the exact nature of the
bacillus, the mode of its propagation, and its exact relationship to
anthrax as the sole cause of the disease. The bacillus of Davaine, or
the virus of anthrax, is a low organism, in the form of a rod with a
bright spot or spore at either end, which develops in the blood of an
animal, or in other favorable media, as chicken broth or meat jellies
kept at the temperature of the animal body. In the animal body the
bacilli have a tendency to be filtered from the blood by the tissues of
the organs through which the fluid passes, and to accumulate in the
spleen, liver, and elsewhere, so that these organs are much more viru-
lent than the muscles or less vascular tissues. AVhen eliminated from
the animal in the excretions, or when exposed to outside influences by
the death of the animal and the disintegration of the tissues, the body
of the rod is destroyed and the spores only remain. These spores,
which are the germs of the ^irus, retain their vitality for a long period;
they resist ordinary putrefaction; they are unchanged by moisture,
and they are not afleeeted by moderate heat. If scattered with the
debris of a dead animal on the surface of the ground, they may remain
around the roots of -the grass in a pasture, or may be washed to the
nearest low-lying ground or marsh. If buried in the body of an ani-
mal dead from anthrax, they may be washed deep in the ground, and
in later years (in one proven case seventeen years) be brought to the
surface and infect other animals. They are frequently brought to
the surface of the earth, having been swallowed by earthworms, in the
bodies of which they have been found.

528

This accounts for the outbreaks at the time of the first rains after a
dry season. During the latter the earthworm goes deep in the ground
in^search of moisture; it finds the spore which has been washed there
in past years, swallows it, and brings it to the surface when the rain
furnishes the moisture which drives the worm itself from its deeper
home. The virus is carried with the wool from infected sheep and
remains in it through the process of manufacture into cloth. The
spores remain in the hides of animals which have died of anthrax and
retain their vitality throughout months of soaking in the tanners' pits,
the working of the harness-maker or the cobbler and after the oiling
of the completed leather. The dried spores in the dust from any of
these products nuxy be carried by the atmosphere.

Infection of an animal takes place through inoculation or contact
of the bacillus or its spores Avith an abraded surface or mucous mem-
brane on a sound animal. In an infected district horses may eat the
rich pasturage of spring and early summer with impunity, but when
grass becomes low they crop it close to the ground, pull up the roots
around which the virus may be lodged, and under these conditions
the animals are more apt to have abrasions of the lips or tongue by
contact with dried stubble and the dirt on the roots, which favor the
introduction of the germs into the system. The virus may be intro-
duced with food and enter the blood-vessel system from the stomach
and intestines. If contained in the dust, dried hay, or on the parched
pasture of late summer, the virus may be inhaled and be absorbed
from the lining of the lungs. If contained in harness leather, it needs
but an abrasion of the skin, as the harness rubs it, to transfer the
spore from the leather to the circulation of the animal.

The writer saw a case of anthrax occur in a groom from the use of
a new horse brush. The strap which passes over the back of the hand
inoculated an abrasion on the knuckle of the first finger, and in twelve
hours a "pustule" had formed and the arm had become affected.

Sijmptoms.— The symptoms of anthrax develop with extreme rapid-
ity; they are frequently so sudden that it appears but a few minutes
for'the animals to have passed from a condition of perfect health to a
dangerouslv diseased one. The horse is dejected and falls into a state
of profound stupor, attended by great muscular weakness. The
feeble, indolent animal, if forced to move, drags its legs. There are
severe chills, agitation of the muscles, symptoms of vertigo, and at
times colickv pains. The mucous membranes turn a deep ocher or
bluish-red color. The body temperature is rapidly elevated to 104°
and 105° F. The breathing is increased to thirty or forty respirations
in the minute and the pulse is greatly accelerated, but the arteries are
soft and almost imperceptible, while the heart-beats can be felt and
heard, violent and tumultuous. In other words, it resembles a very
severe case of influenza, except in regard to the heart's action. The
symptoms last but two, three, or four days, at most, when the case

529

usually terminates fatally. An examination of the blood shows a dark
fluid which does not clot, and which remains black after exposure
to the air. After death the bodies putrefy rapidly and bloat up; the
tissues are filled with gases and a bloody foam exudes from the mouth,
nostrils, and anus, and frequently the mucous membranes of the rec-
tum protrude from tlie latter. The hairs detach from the skin. Con-
gestion of all the organs and tissues is found, with interstitial hemor-
rhages. The muscles are friable and are covered with ecchymotic
spots. This is specially marked in the heart.

The black, uncoagulated and incoagulable blood shows an iridescent
scum on its surface, which is due to the fat of the animal dissolved
by the ammonia produced by the decomposed tissues. The serum
oozes out of every tissue and contains broken-down blood, which,
when examined microscopically, is found to liave the red globules
crenated and the leucocytes granular. A high power of the micro-
scope also reveals the bacteria in the shape of little rod-like bodies of
homogeneous texture with their brilliant spores.

The lymphatic ganglia are increased four, five, six, or ten times
their natural size, enlarged by the engorgement of blood. The spleen
shows nodulated black spots containing a muddy blood, which is
found teeming with the virus. The mucous membi-anes of the intes-
tines are congested and brown; the surface of the intestines is in
many places denuded of its lining membrane, showing fissures and
hemorrhagic spots. The liver has a cooked appearance; the kidnej^s
are congested and friable; the urine is red; the pleura, lungs, and
the meninges are congested and the bronchi of the lungs contain a
bloody foam.

En resume: The symptoms are those which are found in any dis-
ease with a rapidly decomposing blood.

The treatment of anthrax was entirely useless and ineffectual until
within a comparatively few years. The curative treatment, for wliich
almost every drug in the pharmacopoeia has been used, was without
avail, except, perhaps, the use of iodine, injected in the circulation
in as large quantities as could be tolerated by the system. This
treatment gives good results in the human being, but requires too
much personal attention to be economical in animals when the disease
occurs in epidemic form, although it may be used in the horse when
occurring in an animal of great value.

The prophylactic treatment formerly consisted in the avoidance of
certain fields and marshes which were recognized as contaminated dur-
ing the months of August and September and had been occupied the
years in which the outbreaks usually occurred. It underwent, how-
ever, a revolution after the discovery by Pasteur of the possibility of
a prophylactic inoculation which granted immunity from future attacks
of the disease equal to that granted by the recovery of an animal from
an ordinary attack of the disease.

530

This treatment consists in an artificial cultivation of the virus of
anthrax in broths, jellies, or other media, and in the treatment of it
by means of continued exposure to the atmosphere or to a high tem-
I)erature for a 'certain length of time, which weakens the virus to such
an extent that it is onlj^ capable of j)roducing an ephemeral fever in
the animal in which it is inoculated, and which yet has retained a suffi-
cient amount of its power to protect the animal from inoculation of
a stronger virus. The production of this virus, which is carried on in
some countries at the expense of the government and is furnished at a
small cost to the farmers in regions where the disease prevails, in this
country is made only in private laboratories.

GLANDERS.

Synonyms: Glanders, Farcy, One form of Nasal (rZee/, English;
Malleus Inimidus, Equina nasalis. Equina apostematos, Latin; Rotz,
Botzkrankheif, German; Siwf, Yerroting, Dutch; Moccio, Ciamorro,
Italian; Muermo, Spanish; 3forve, Farcin, French.

Definilion. — Let it be understood at the outset that glanders and
farcy are one and the same disease, differing onl}'^ in that the first
term is applied to the disease when the local lesions i)redominate in
the internal organs, especially in the lungs and the air tubes; and
that the second term is applied to it when the principal manifestation
is an outbreak of the lesions on the exterior or skin of the animal.
The term glanders applies to the disease in both forms, while the term
farcy is limited to the visible appearance of external trouble only;
but in the latter case internal lesions always exist, although they may
not be evident.

Glanders is a contagious constitutional disease of the genus equus
(the horse, ass, and mule), readilj^ communicable to man, sheep,
goats, to dog, the cat, the rabbit, and Guinea pig. It runs a variable
course until it produces the death of the animal affected with it. It is
characterized b}^ the formation of neoplasms of connective tissue, or
tubercles which degenerate into ulcers from which exudes a peculiar
discharge. It is accomT)anied by a variable amount of fever accord-
ing to the rapidit}' of its course. It is subject to various complications
of the lymphatic glands, of the lungs, of the testicles, of the internal
organs, and of the subcutaneous connective tissue.

History. — Glanders is one of the oldest diseases of which we have
definite knowledge in the history of medicine. Absyrtus, the Greek
veterinarian in the army of Constantino the Great, described this dis-
ease with considerable accuracy and recognized the contagiousness of
its character. Another Greek veterinarian, Yegetius Renatus, who
lived in the time of Theodosius (381 A. D.), described under the name
of malleus liumidus a disease of the horse characterized by a nasal
discharge and accompanied by superficial ulcers. He recognized the
contagious properties of the discharge of the external ulcers, and

531

recommended that all animals sick with the disease should be sepa-
rated at once with the greatest care from the others, and should be
pastured in separate fields for fear the other animals should become
affected.

In 1682 Solh'sel, the stable master of Louis XIV, published an
account of glanders and fare}-, which he considered closelj^ related to
each other, although he did not recognize them as identical. He
admitted the existence of a virus which communicated the disease
from an infected animal to a sound one. He called special attention
to the feed-troughs and water-buckets as being the medium of conta-
gion. He divided glanders into two forms, one malignant and con-
tagious, and the other benign, and he stated that there was always
danger of infection.

Garsault, in 174G, said "that as this disease is communicated ver3^
easilj-, and can infect in a very short time a prodigious number of
horses by means of the discharges which may be licked up, animals
infected with glanders should be destroyed."

Bourgelat, the founder of veterinary schools, in his "Elements of
Hippiatary," published in 1755, establishes glanders as a virulent
disease. Extensive outbreaks of glanders are described as prevailing
in the great armies of continental Europe and England from time to
time during the periods of all the wars of the last few centuries.

Glanders was imported into America at the close of the last century,
and before the end of the first half of the present century had spread
to a considerable degTee among the horses of the Middle and immedi-
ately adjoiiiing Southern States. This disease was unknown in Mexico
until carried there during the Mexican war by the badly diseased
horses of the United States Army. D uring the first half of the present
century a large school of A'eterinarians and medical men protested
against the contagious character of tliis disease, and prevailed by their
opinion to such an extent against the common opinion that several of
the governments of Europe undertook a series of experiments to deter-
mine the right between the contesting parties.

At the veterinary school at Alfort, and at the farm of Lamirault
in France several hundred horses Avhich had i^assed examination as
sound had placed among them glandered horses under various condi-
tions. The results of these experiments proved conclusively the con-
tagious character of the di.sease.

In 1881 Professor Bouchard, of the faculty of medicine in Paris,
assisted by Drs. Capilan and Charrin, undertook a series of experi-
ments with matter taken from the farcy ulcer of a human being.
They afterward continued their experiments with matter taken from
animals of the equine genus. In 1883 these gentlemen presented the
results of their researches to the Academy, through Prof essors Bouley
and Vulpiam, conclusively demonstrating that the disease was caused
by a bacterium or low order of parasitic organism, which is capable

532

of propagation and reproduction of others of its own kind if placed in
the proper media.

When we come to stndy the etiology of glanders, the difference of
susceptibility on the part of difiEerent species of animals, or even on
the part of individuals of the same species, and when we come to find
proof of the slow incubation and latent character of the disease as
it exists in certain individuals, we will understand how in a section of
country containing a number of glandered animals others can seem
to contract and develop the disease without having apparently been
exposed to contagion.

Etiologjj.—The contagious nature of glanders, in no matter what
form it appears, being to-day definitely demonstrated, we can recog-
nize but one cause for all cases, and that is contagion by means of the
specific virus of the disease.

In studying the writings of the older authors on glanders, and the
works of those authors who contested the contagious nature of the dis-
ease, we find a large number of predisposing causes assigned as factors
in the development of the malady.

While a virus from a case of glanders if inoculated into an animal
of the genus equus vnll inevitably produce the disease, we find a vast
difference in the contagious activity of the products of different cases
of glanders. We find a great variation in the manner and rapidity
of the development of the disease in different individuals, and we
find that the contagion is much more apt to be carried to sound ani-
mals under certain circumstances than it is under others. Only cer-
tain species of animals are susceptible of contracting the disease, and
while some of these contract it as a general constitutional malady, in
others it only develops as a local sore.

In acute glanders the contagion is found in its most virulent form,
as is shown by the inevitable infection of susceptible animals inocu-
lated with the disease, while the discharge from chronic semilatent
glanders and farcy may at times be inoculated with a negative result;
again, in acute glanders, as we have a free discharge, a much greater
quantity of virus-containing matter is scattered in the neighborhood
of an infected horse to serve as a contagion to others than is found in
the small amount of discharge of the chronic cases.

The chances of contagion are much greater when sound horses,
asses, or mules are placed in the immediate neighborhood of glandered
horses, drink from the same bucket, stand in the next stall or work in
the same wagon, or are fed from the same bales of hay or straw which
have been impregnated by the saliva and soiled by the discharge of
sick animals. The contagion must terminate by direct contact of the
discharges of a glandered animal with the tissues of a sound one,
either on the exterior or when swallowed mixed with food into the
digestive tract.

Glanders is not infectious in the old acceptation of the word. Re-
nault made a large number of experiiuents, forcing sound horses to

533

breathe the expired air of giandered horses for an hour and a half a
day for seven days, by means of a tube of canvas, and was unable to
.produce the disease in any case.

The stable attendants serve as one of the most common carriers of
the virus. Dried or fresh discharges are collected from the infected
animal in cleaning, harnessing, feeding, and by means of the hands,
clothing, the teeth of the currycomb, the sponge, the bridle, and
halter and are carried to other animals.

An animal affected with chronic glanders in a latent form is moved
from one part of the stable to another, or works hitched with one
horse and then with another, and may be an active agent in the
provocation of the disease without the cause being recognized.

Glanders is found frequently in the most insidious forms, and we
recognize that it can exist Avithout being apparent; that is, it may
affect a horSe for a long period without showing any symptoms that
will allow even the most experienced veterinarian to make a diagno-
sis. An old gray mare belonging to a tavern keeper was reserved for
family use with good care and light work for a period of eight years,
during which time other horses in the tavern stable were from time to
time affected with glanders without an apparent cause. The mare,
whose only trouble was an apparent attack of heaves, was sold to a
huckster, who placed her at hard work. Want of feed and overwork
and exposure rapidly developed a case of acute glanders, from which
the animal died, and at the autopsy were found the lesions of an acute
pneumonia of glanders grafted on chronic lesions, consisting of old
tubercles, which had undoubtedly existed for years.

In a recent case under the care of the writer a coach horse was
examined for soundness and passed as sound by a prominent veteri-
narian, who a few months afterwards treated the horse for a skin erup-
tion from which it recovered. Twelve months afterwards it came into
the hands of the writer, hidebound, with a slight cough and a slight
eruption of the skin, which was attributed to clipping and the rubbing
of the harness, but which had nothing suspicious in its charactei\
The horse was placed on tonics and put to regular light driving. In
six weeks it developed a bronchitis without having been specially
exposed, and in two days this trouble was followed by a lobular pneu-
monia and the breaking of an abscess in the right lung. Farcy buds
developed on the surface of the body and the animal died!^ The
autopsy showed the existence of a number of old tubercles in the
lungs which must have existed previous to purchase, more than a
year before.

Public watering troughs and the feed boxes of boarding stables and
the tavern stables of market towns are among the most common recip-
ients for the virus of glanders, which is most dangerous in its fresh
state, but cases have been known to be caused by feeding animals in
the box or stall in which giandered animals had stocxl more than a

534

year before. While the discharge from a case of chronic ghiiiders is
much less apt to contain the virus than that from a case of acute
glanders, the former, if it infects an animal, will produce the same •
disease as the latter. It may assume from the outset an acute or
chronic form according to the susceptibility of the animal infected,
and this does not depend upon the character of the disease from Avhich
the virus was derived.

The genus equus, the horse, the ass, and the mule, are the animals
which are the most susceptible to contract glanders, but in these we
find a much greater receptivity in the ass and mule than we do in the
horse. In the ass and mule in almost all cases the period of incuba-
tion is short and the disease develox)s in an acute form. We find that
the race of horse infected influences the character of the disease; in
full-blooded, fat horses, of a sanguinary temperament, the disease usu-
ally develoj)S in an acute form, while in the lymi)hatic, cold-blooded,
more common race of horses the disease usuall}^ assumes a chronic
form. If the disease develops first in the chronic form in a horse in
fair condition, starvation and overwork are apt to bring on an acute
attack, but when the disease is inoculated into a debilitated and
imi^overished animal it is apt to start in the latent form. Inoculation
on the lips or the exterior of the animal is frequently followed by an
acute attack, while infection by ingestion of the virus and inoculation
by means of the digestive tract is often followed by the trouble in the
chronic latent form.

In the dog the inoculation of glanders may develop a constitutional
disease with all the sj^miitoms vrhich are found in the horse, but more
frequentlj^ the virus pullulates onlj^ at the iDoint of inoculation,
remaining for some time as a local sore, which maj^.then heal, leaving
a perfectly sound animal; but while the local sore is continuing to
ulcerate, and specific virus exists in it, it maj" be the carrier of con-
tagion to other animals. In man we find a greater receptivity to
glanders than in the dog, and in many unfortunate cases the virus
spreads from the i^oint of inoculation to the entire sj^stem and destroys
the vrretched mortal by extensive ulcers of the face and hemorrhage,
or by destruction of the lung tissue; in other cases, however, most
fortunately, glanders mny develop as in the dog, only in local form,
not infecting the constitution and terminating in recover}^, while the
specific ulcer by proper treatment is turned into a simple one. In
the feline species glanders is more destructive than in the dog. The
j)oint of inoculation ulcerates rapidly and the entire system becomes
infected.

AVhile a student the writer saw a lion in the service of Professor
Trasbot, at Alfort, which had contracted the disease by eating glan-
dered meat and died with the lung farcied with tubercles. A litter of
kittens lapped at the blood from the lungs of a glandered horse on
which an autopsy was being made, and in four days almost their

535

entire faces, including the nasal bones, were eaten away by rapid
ulceration. Tubercles were found in the lungs.

A pack of wolves in the Philadelphia Zoological Garden died in ten
days after being fed with the meat of a glandered liorse. The rabbit,
Guinea pig, and mice are specially susceptible to the inoculation of
glanders, and the recent discoveries in regard to this disease have
made these animals most convenient witnesses and proofs of the exist-
ence of suspected cases of the glanders in other animals by the results
of successful inoculations.

The sheep and the goat are both capable of developing the disease.
The goat is more susceptible and frequently develops it by means of
the digestive tract, from its habit of eating droppings, i-ags, etc. , which
are found in the neighborhood of the stall. The pig is considered not
to be susceptible to glanders, and a large number of inoculations,
together with the feeding of glandered meat to a pen of pigs at the vet-
erinary school at Alfort, failed to give these animals the disease, but
Bollinger reports that Gerlach has seen glanders in the pig nine
months after inoculation. An experiment of Spinola has also pro-
duced positive results, so that we should consider it dangerous to allow
a pig the use of glandered meat.

Horned cattle and barnyard fowls are absolutely exempt from
attacks of glanders, whether the virus is given to them by the digest-
ive tract or inoculated into their tissues.

The previous reference to the existence of glanders under the two
forms more commonly differentiated as glanders and as farcy, and our
reference to the various conditions in which it may exist as acute,
chronic, and latent, show that the disease may assume several differ-
ent phases. Without losing sight for a moment of the fact that all of
these varied conditions are identical in their origin and in their
essence, for convenience of study we may divide glanders into three
classes: Chronic farcy, chronic glanders, and acute farcij glanders.

The primary lesions in any form is a local point of eruption in which
we have a rapid prolification of the cell elements which make up the
animal tissue with formation of new connective tissue, with a crowd-
ing together of the elements until their own pressure on each other
cuts off the circulation and nutrition, and death takes place in them
in the form of idceration or gangrene. Following this primary lesion
we have an extension of infection by means of those tissues immedi-
ately surrounding the first infected spot, which is most suitable for the
development of simple inflammatory phenomena or the specific virus.
Tlie primary symptoms are the result of inoculation developed at the
point of inoculation, but at a later time the virus is carried by means
of the blood vessels and lymphatic vessels to other parts of the body
and becomes lodged at different places and develops in them; again,
when the disease has existed in the latent form in the lungs of the
animal and tho virus is Avakened into action from any cause, we have

536

it carried to various parts of the body and developing in tlie most
favorable localities. The points of development are most frequently
determined by the activity of the circulation and the effects of exterior
irritants. For example, if a horse which has been so slightly affected
with the virus of glanders that no symptoms are visible is exposed to
cold, rain, or sleet, or by the rubbing of the harness on the body and
the irritation of mud in the legs, the disease is apt to develop on the
exterior in the form of farcy, while a full-blooded horse which is
employed at speed and has its lung and respiratory tract gorged with
blood from the extreme use of these organs will develop glanders as
the local manifestation of the disease in the respiratory tract.

Chronic farcy. — In farcy the symptoms commence by formation of
little nodes on the under surface of the skin, which rapidly infringe
on the tissues of the skin itself. These nodes, which are known as
farcy "buds" and farcy "buttons," are from the size of a bullet to
the size of a walnut. They are hot, sensitive to the touch, at first
elastic and afterwards become soft; the tissue is destroyed, and
infringing on the substance of the skin the disease produces an ulcer,
which is known as a chancre. This ulcer is irregular in shape, with
ragged edges which overhang the sore ; it has a gray, dirty bottom
and the discharge is sometimes thin and sometimes purulent; in
either case it is mixed with a viscous, sticky, yellowish material like
the white of an egg in consistency, and like olive oil in appearance.
The discharge is almost diagnostic ; it resembles somewhat the dis-
charge which we have in greasy heels and in certain attacks of lym-
phangitis, but to the expert the specific discharge is characteristic.
The discharge accumulates on the hair surrounding the ulcer and
over its surface and dries, forming scabs which become thicker by
successive deposits on the under surface until they fall off, to be
replaced by others of the same kind; and the excess of discharge may
drop on the hairs below and form similar brownish yellow crusts.
The farcy ulcers may retain their specific form for a considerable
time— days or even weeks; but eventually the discharge becomes
purulent in character and assumes the appearance of healthy matter.
The surface of the gangrenous bottom of the ulcer is replaced by rosy
granulations, the ragged edges beveled off, and the chancre is turned
into a simple ulcer which rapidly heals.

The farcy buttons occur most frequently on the sides of the lips, the
sides of the neck, the lower part of the shoulders, the inside of the thighs,
or the outside of the legs, but may occur at any part of the body.

We have next an irritation of the lymphatic vessels in the neigh-
borhood of the chancres. These become swollen and then indurated
and appear like great ridges underneath the skin; they are hot to
the touch and sensitive. The cords may remain for a considerable
time and then gradually disappear, or they may ulcerate like a farcy
bud itself, forming elongated, ii-regular, serpentine ulcers with a

537

characteristic, dirty, gray bottom and ragged edges, and pour out a
viscons oily discharge like the chancres themselves.

The essential symptoms of farcy are the above; the luiton, the
clumcre, tlie cord, and the discharge. ^Ve have in addition to these
symptoms a certain number of accessory symptoms, Avhich, while not
diagnostic in themselves, are of great service in aiding the diagnosis
in cases where the eruption takes place in small quantities, and when
the ulcers are not characteristic.

Epistaxis, or bleeding from the nose without previous work or other
apparent cause, is one of the frequent concomitant symptoms in
glanders, and such a hemorrhage from the nostrils should always be
regarded with suspicion. The animal with farcy frequently develops
a cough, resembling much that which we find in heaves— a short, dry,
aborted, hacking cough, with little or no discharge from the nostrils!
AVith this we find an irregular movement of the flanks, and on auscul-
tation of the lungs we find sibilant or at times a few mucous rales.
Another common symptom is a sudden swelling of one of the hind
legs; it is suddenly found swollen in the region of the cannon, the
enlargement extending below to the pastern and above as high as
the stifle. This swelling is hot and painful to the touch, and renders
the animal stiff and lame. On pressure with the finger the swelling
can be indented, but the pits so formed soon fill up again on removal
of the pressure. In severe cases we may have ulceration of the. skin,
and serum pours out from the surface, resembling the oozing which
we have after a blister or in a case of grease. This swelling is not to
be confounded with the stocking in lymphatic horses, or the oedema
which we have in chronic heart or in kidney trouble, as in the last
the swelling is cool and not painful and the pitting on pressure
remains for some time after the latter is withdrawn. It is not to be
confounded with greasy heels. In these the disease commences in
the neighborhood of the pastern and gradually extends up the leg,
rarely passing beyond the neighborhood of the hock. The swolleli
leg in glandei-s almost invariably swells for the entire length in a
single night, or within a very short period. When greasy heels are
complicated by lymphangitis we ha\e a condition very much resem-
bling that of farcy. The swelled leg in farcy is frequently followed
by an outbreak of farcy buttons and ulcers over its surface. In the
entire horse the testicles are frequently swollen, hot and sensitive
to the touch, but they have no tendency to suppuration. The acute
inflammation is rapidly followed by the specific induration, which
corresponds to the local lesions in other parts of the body.

Chronic farcy in the ass and mule is an excessively rare condition,
but som etimes occurs.

Chronic ghmders.—ln chronic glanders we have the same train
of inflammatory phenomena, varying in appearance from those of
chronic farcy only by the difference of the tissues in which they are

538

located. In chronic glanders we have first the tubercle, which is a
small node from the size of a shot to that of a small pea, which forms
in the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. This may be just
inside of the wings of the nostrils or on the septum which divides the
one nasal cavity from the other and can be easily detected, or they
may be higher in the nasal cavities on the turbinated bones, or they may
form in the larynx itself, or on the surface of the trachea or deep in
the lungs.

The tubercles, which are first red and hard and consist of new con-
nective tissue, soon soften and become yellow; the yellow spots
break and we have a small ulcer the size of the preceding tubercle,
which has a gray, dirty bottom and ragged edges and is known as a
chancre. This ulcer pours from its surface a viscous, oily discharge
similar to that which we have seen in tlie farcy ulcer. The irritation
of tlie discharge may ulcerate the lining mucous membrane of the
nose, causing serpentine gutters with bottoms resembling those of
the chancres themselves. If the tubercles have formed in large
numbers we may have them causing an acute inflammation of tlie
Schneiderian membrane, with a catarrhal discharge which may mark
the specific discharge, or that which comes from the ulcers and
resembles the discharge of strangles or simple inflammatory diseases.

The eruption of the ulcers and discharge soon cause an irritation of
the neighboring lymphatics; and in the intermaxillary space, deep
inside of the jaws, we find an enlargement of the glands, which for the
first few days may seem soft and o-dematous, but which rapidly
becomes confined to the glands, these being from the size of an almond
to that of a small bunch of berries, exceedingly hard and nodulated.
This enlargement of the glands is found high up on the inside of the
jaws, firmly adherent to the base of the tongue. It is not to be con-
founded with the swelling, puffy, oedematous, and not to be separated
from the skin and subcutaneous connective tissues, which we find in
strangles, in laryngitis, and in other simi^le inflammatory troubles.

These glands bear a great resemblance to the hard, indurated glands
vdiich we find in connection with the collection of pus in the sinuses;
but in the latter disease the glands have not the nodulated feel which
they have in glanders. With the glands we find indurated cords, feel-
ing like balls of tangled wire or twine, fastening the glands together.
The essential symptoms of glanders are the iuherde, the chancre, the
glands, and the discharge. With the development of the tubercles on
the respiratory tract, according to their number and the amount of
eruption Avhich they cause, we may have a cough which resembles that
of a coryza, a laryngitis, a bronchitis, or a broncho-pneumonia, accord-
ing to the location of the lesions. In clironic glanders Ave have the
same accessory symptoms Avhich we have in chronic farcy, the hemor-
rhage of the nose, the swelling of the legs, the chronic cough, and in
the entire liorso the swelling of the testicles.

539

On healing, tlie clianeres on the mucous membranes leave small,
whitish, star-shaped scars, hard and indurated to the touch, and
which remain for almost an indefinite time. The chancres heal and
tlie other local symptoms disappear, Avith the exception of the enlarge-
ment of the glands, and we find these so diminished in size that
they are scarcely perceptible on examination. During the subacute
attacks, Avith a minimum quantity of local troubles, in chronic glan-
ders and in chronic farcy the animal rarely shows any amount of
fever, but does have a general depraved appearance; it loses flesh
and becomes hidebound; the skin becomes dry and the hairs stand
on end. There is a cachexia, however, which resembles greatly that
of any chronic, organic trouble, but is not diagnostic, although it has
in it certain appearances and conditions which often render the animal
suspicious to the eye of the expert veterinarian, while without the
presence of local lesions he would bo unable to state on what he has
based his opinion.

Acute glanders. — In the acute form of glanders we luive the symp-
toms which we have just studied in chronic farcy and in chronic
glanders in a more acute and aggravated form. We have a rapid out-
break of tubercles in the respiratory tract which rapidly degenerate
into chancres and pour out a considerable discharge from the nostrils.
We have a cough of more or less severity according to the amount
and site of the local eruption. "We have over the surface of the body
swellings which are rapidly followed by farcy buttons, which break
into ulcers; we have the indurated cords and enlargement of the
lymphatics.

Bleeding from the nose, sudden swelling of one of the hind legs,
and the swelling of the testicles are apt to precede an acute eruption
of glanders. As the symptoms become more marked the animal has dif-
ficulty of respiration, the flanks heave, the respiration becomes rapid,
the pulse becomes quickened, and the temperature becomes elevated
to 103°, 104°, or 105° F.

With the other symptoms of an acute fever the general appearance
an<l station of the animal is that of one suffering from an acute pneu-
monia, but upon examination, while we may find sibilant and mucous
rales over the side of the chest, and may possibly hear tubular mur-
murs at the base of the neck overthe trachea, we fail to find the tubu-
lar murmur or the large area of dullness on percussion over the sides
of the chest which belongs to simi^le pneumonia.

The post-mortem examination of the lungs shows that the pneu-
monia of glanders is a lobular, V-shaped pneumonia scattered
Ihrough the lungs and caused by the specific inflammatory process
taking place at the divergence of the smaller air tubes of the lungs.
In some cases of acute glanders the formation of tubercles may so irri-
tate the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and cause such a
profuse discharge of muco-purulent or purulent matter that the
^Decifie character of the original discharsre is entirelv masked. In

540

this case, too, the submaxillary space may for a few days so swell as
to resemble the oedematous inflamed glands of strangles, equine vari-
ola, or laryngitis. This condition is especially apt to be marked in
an acute outbreak of glanders in a drove of mules.

Cases of chronic farcy and glanders, if not destroyed, may live in a
depraved condition until the animal dies from general emaciation and
anaemia, but in the majoritj^ of cases, from some sudden exposure to
cold, it develops an acute pneumonia or other simple inflammatory
trouble which starts up the latent disease and the animal has acute
glanders.

In the ass, mule, and plethoric horses, acute glanders usually termi-
nates by lobular pneumonia. In other cases the general symptoms
may subside. The symptoms of pneumonia gradually disappear, the
temperature lowers, the pulse becomes slow^er, the ulcers heal, leaving
small indurated cicatrices, and the animal may return to apparent
health, or may at least be able to do a small amount of work with but
a few symptoms of the disease remaining in a chronic form. During
the attack of acute glanders the inflammation of the nasal cavities
frequently spreads into the sinuses or air cells, which are found in the
forehead and in front of the eyes on either side of the face, and cause
abscesses of these cavities, which may remain as the only visible symp-
tom of the disease. Animals that have recovered from acute glanders,
like the animals that are affected by chronic glanders and chronic
farcy, are apt to be affected with emphysema of the lungs or the
heaves, and to have a chronic cough. In this condition they may
continue for a long period, serving as dangerous sources of contagion,
the more so because the slight amount of discharge does not serve as
a warning to the owner or driver as profuse discharge does in the
more acute cases.

AYith good care, good food, and good surroundings and little work,
an animal affected with glanders may live for months or even years
in an apparent state of perfect health, but with the first deprivation
of food, with a few days of severe hard work, with exposure to cold or
with the attack of a simple fever or inflammatory trouble from other
causes, the latent seeds of the disease break out and develop the trouble
again in an acute form.

At the post-mortem examination of an animal which has been
destroyed or has died of glanders we find evidences of the various
lesions which we have studied in the symptoms. In addition to this,
we find tubercles similar to those which we have seen on the exterior
throughout the various organs of the body. Tubercles may be found
in the liver, in the spleen, and in the kidneys. We may have inflam-
niat ion of the periosteum of the bones, and we have excessive altera-
tions in the marrow in the interior of the bones themselves. Both of
these conditions during the life of the animal may have been the cause
of lameness which was difficult to diagnose. •

541

In one case which came nnder the observation of the writer a lame
horse was destroj^ed and found to have a large abscess of the bone of
the arm, with old tubercles of the lungs. When an animal has died
immediately after an attack of a primary acute case of glanders, we
find small V-shaped spots of acute pneumonia in the lungs. If the
animal has made an apparent recovery from acute glanders, and in
cases of chronic farcy and chronic glanders no matter how few the
external and visible symptoms may have been, there is a deposit of
tubercles — small, hard, indurated nodes of new connective tissue to
be found in the lungs. When these have existed for some time we
may find a deposit of lime salts in them. These indurated tubercles
retain the virus and their power to give out contagion for almost an
indefinite time, and predispose to the causes which we have studied
as the common factors in developing a chronic case into an acute case;
that is, ah inflammatory process wakens up their vitality and produces
a reinfection of the entire animal. The blood of an animal suffering
from chronic glanders and farcy is not virulent and is unaltered, but
during the attack of acute glanders, while the animal has fever, the
blood becomes virulent and remains so for a few days.

Treatment. — Fully the entire list of drugs in the pharmacopoeia have
been tested in the treatment of glanders. Good hygienic surroundings,
good food, with alteratives and tonics, frequently ameliorate the symp-
toms and often do so to such an extent that the animal would pass the
examination of any expert as a perfectly sound animal. But while in
this case the number of tubercles of the lungs, which are invariably
there, may be so few as not to cause sufiicient disturbance in the res-
piration as to attract the attention of the examiner, they exist, and
will remain there almost indefinitely with the constant possibility of a
return of acute symptoms.

In several celebrated cases horses which have been affected with
glanders have been known to work for years and die from other causes
without ever ha%ing had the return of symptoms; but, allowing that
these cases may occur, they are so few and far between, and the dan-
ger of infection of glanders to other horses and to the stable attend-
ants is so great, that no animal which has once been affected with the
disease should be allowed to live.

In all civilized countries, with the exception of some of the States in
the United States, the laws are most stringent regarding the prompt
declaration on the part of the owner and attending veterinarian at the
first suspicion of a case of glanders, and they allow a liberal indemnity
for the animal. When this is done, in all cases the animal is destroyed
and the articles with which it has been in contact are thoroughly dis-
infected. When the attendants have attempted to hide the presence of
the disease in a community, punishment is meted to the owner, attend-
ing veterinarian, or other responsible parties. Several States have
passed excellent laws in regard to glanders, but with few exceptions

542

these laws are not carried out witli the rigidity with which they should
be. In other States where an indemnity is allowed on declaration on
the i)art of the owner, the appraisement of the animal is not fairly
made. If the owners of infected animals are to be encouraged to
declare the presence of the disease in order to protect their neigh-
bors from the danger of contagion thcj" should be paid, not what the
animal affected with the disease is considered worth, when it is value-
less, but the one-half or two-thirds of what would be its market value
without the disease, and the community should share the loss which
the owner should make in order to protect others.

RABIES IX THE HORSE.

Synonyms: Hydrophobia, madness, Ij'ssa, rage, Widhlcranlcheit.

Rabies is a contagious disease, which is usually transmitted by a
bite and by the introduction of a virus contained in the saliva of an
affected animal, but may be transmitted in other ways. It is char-
acterized by symi)toms of aberration of the nervous system, and inva-
riably terminates fatally. It is a disease essentiall}^ of the dog, but
is transmitted to the horse, either from dogs or from any other animal
affected with it.

As a disease of the horse it is useless to enter into the etiology fur-
ther than to assume that in this animal it is invariably the result of
the bite of a rabid animal, usuallj^ a dog.

Perhaps no disease in medicine has been the object of more contro-
versy than rabies. Certain medical men of prominence have even
doubted the existence of the disease. Many medical men have
claimed for it a spontaneous origin. The experience, however, of
ages has shown that contagion can be proved in the great majority
of cases, and by analogy with other contagious diseases we may only
believe that the development of one ease reciuired the preexistence of
a previous case from which the virus has been transmitted. M. Pas-
teur has further added to our knov\iedge of the disease by showing
that a virus capable of cultivation exists in the nervous system, espe-
cially in the loAver part of the brain (medulla oblongata), and in the
anterior part of the spinal column. M. Pasteur has further shown
that that x)ortion of the nervous system which contains the virus, tlie
exact nature of which has not yet been demonstrated, will retain it
for an indefinite time if kept at a very low temperature, or if left
surrounded by carbonic acid; but if the nerve matter, which is viru-
lent at first, is exposed to the air and by substances which will absorb
the surrounding moisture is kept from putrefaction, it will gradually
lose its virulence and become inoffensive in about fifteen days. lie
lias further shown that the action of a weak virus on an animal will
prevent tlie development of a stronger virus, and from this he has
formulated his method of prophylactic treatment. This treatment

543

consists of the successive inoculation of portions of tlie nerve matter
containing the virus from a rabid animal, which has been exposed to
the atmosphere for thirteen daj^s, ten days, seven da^-s, and four
days, until the Airulent matter which w411 produce rabies in any
unpi-oteeted animal can be inoculated with impunity. A curious
result of the experiments of M. Pasteur is that an animal which has
first been inoculated with a Airus of full strength can be protected
by subsequent inoculations of attenuated virus repeated in doses of
increasing strength.

In the horse rabies is invariably the result of the bite of a rabid dog
or other rabid animal. From the moment of inoculation a variable
time elapses before the development of any symptoms. This time
may be eight days, or it may be several months; it is usually about
four weeks. The first symptom is an irritation of the original wound.
This wound, which may have healed completely, commences to itch
until the horse rubs or bites it into a new sore. The horse then
becomes irritable and vicious. It is especially susceptible to sur-
rounding media; excessive light, noises, the entrance of an attendant,
or any other disturbance will cause the patient to be on the defensive.
It apparently sees imaginary objects; the slightest noise is exaggerated
into threatening violence; the approach of an attendant or another
animal, especially a dog, is interpreted as an assault and the horse
will strike and bite. The violence on the part of the rabid horse is
not for a moment to be confounded with the fury of the same animal
suffering from meningitis or any other trouble of the brain. In rabies
there is a volition, a premeditated method, in the attacks which the
animal will make, Avhich is not found in the other diseases. Between
the attacks of fury the animal may become calm for a variable period.
The vrriter attended a case in which, after a violent attack of an hour,
the horse was sufficiently calm to be walked 10 miles and only devel-
oped violence again an hour after being placed in the new stable. In
the period of fury the horse will bite at the reopened original wound;
it will rear and attempt to break its halter and fastenings; it will bite
at the woodwork and surrounding objects in the stable. If the animal
lives long enough it shows paralytic symptoms and falls to the ground,
unable to use two or more of its extremities, but in the majcjrity of
cases, in its excesses of violence, it does physical injury to itself. It
breaks the jav/s in biting at the manger, or fractures other bones in
throwing itself on the ground, and dies of hemorrhage or internal
injuries. At times throughout the course of the disease there is an
excessive sensibility of the skin, which, if irritated by the touch, will
l)ring on attacks of violence. The animal may have appetite and
desire water throughout the course of the disease, but on attempting
to sv.allow has a spasm of the throat, which renders the act impossible.
This latter condition, which is common in all rabid animals, has given
the disease the name of hydroxiliohia (fear of water).

544

In a case recently under the care of the writer a horse, four weeks
after being bitten on the forearm by a rabid dog, developed local irri-
tation in the healed wound and tore it with its teeth into a large
ulcer. This was healed by local treatment in ten days and the horse
was kept under surveillance for over a month. On the advice of
another practitioner the horse was taken home and put to work, and
within three days it developed violent symptoms and had to be
destroyed.

The diagnosis of rabies in the horse is to be made from the various
brain troubles to which the animal is subject; first, by the history of
a previous bite of a rabid animal or inoculation by other means; sec-
ondly, by the evident volition and consciousness on the part of the
animal in its attacks, offensive and defensive, on persons, animals, or
other disturbing surroundings. The irritation and reopening of the
original wound or point of inoculation is a valuable factor in diag-
nosis.

Recovery from rabies may be considered as a question of the cor-
rectness of the original diagnosis.

No remedial treatment has ever been successful. All of the ano-
dynes and anaesthetics, opium, belladonna, bromide of potash, ether,
chloroform, etc. , have been used without avail. The prophylactic treat-
ment of successive inoculations is being used on human beings, and
has experimentally proved efficacious in dogs, but would be impracti-
cable in the horse, which must invariably be destroyed or be so guarded
as to protect the surrounding attendants and other animals in the
same stable, when it ^^dll die in a day or two from self-inflicted trau-
matism or paralysis.

PLATE XNXVJl.

\J' L

L-Uninfhirn^d wijig of fjie bat.

2 -hi flamed n'iiifjofthjp bat.

ines, after Agjiew.

A Hoen iCo Lith. Baltimore

I TvT F L^ ]\ I A I/^VT 1 O X

PLATE XXXVm

i-.Aon-ir//7ame/i, niesente/y of the frog, WOdia/rteiprs, reduced 4 cL.a l^m/r
-wit/), red mid. white corpiiscljRs .■ b.i, Gelcdinoiis nert'e fibre c Capilicu-y ■ d d
Dark -bordered Twrt'e fibre ,- e,e,GoTinjerUi'e Ussvue nrtdi conTi^ctu'e tissue
rorpu.icles and leijrocijtes scrjttere-d spa^seip t/irough it

}^.;

'^ t'n Cty

CL^'9

'^■^7 .v^^^- ^"^'^f^'^f'^V oft/ie froff, iOO dirmtetprs reduced '? . a blWiuJe
f7//ed n'dfi red and w/dfe rorpfi.scle.s ,- the red in dt/> re/itre and die nhite
rroH'di/Hj a/orig die wad^f, c,c. aipdJary distertde^i wiih red and white cor
pnsrJes,7ii7jrd)ej-ofdif white. nuicA decreased, ddConnective tissue between
'■craiJe and rnr/dlari/ tiiled with migrated, i&icoci/te^^. e.e,rnrai£chi'e d^sue
n7/h less Jnratration. f Dark-hordje^e^ nerve fibre ■ o.JMimber of nuclei
m sTbeMfis increased. .

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A Hoen&Co Lithi.BaltJmore

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4

I

SHOEINC;.

By WILLIAM DICKSON,
Veterinarian to the State Farmers' Institute of Minnesota.

Although the subject discussed iu tlie present chapter may not,
strictly speaking, be entitled to a place in a category of the ailments
to which horseflesh is heir, bad and indifferent shoeing are such pro-
lific sources of both disability and disease in the noblest of all our
dumb animals, that no excuse is necessary in claiming for it equal
attention at the hands of those interested.

It has sometimes been asserted that the history of every horse is a
record of human endeavor to mar his utility. While the accuracy of
such a sweeping assertion may fairly be called in question, there are
undoubtedly respects in which the horse in domestication is very often
the victim of his owner's ignorance, indifference, or even mistaken
kindness, and in no particular is this more strikingly conspicuous than
in the ordinary treatment of organs so vitally essential to his useful-
ness as his feet. No horseman questions the truth of the aphorism
"no foot, no horse," and yet in no portion of that animal's economy
has he suffered so many wrongs, or as a natural consequence endured
so much uncalled-for suffering, as in his feet, and to shoeing a very larcre
proportion of these evils is, beyond all doubt, directly or indirectly
referable.

Unfortunately, under certain conditions, shoeing is an almost un-
avoidable consequence of the horse's domestication, and, although we
may have no wish to uphold the traditional methods, we are driven
to the conclusion that an artificial protection of some kind for the
horse's foot is very frequently one of the penalties which civilization
inexorably exacts. That the ordinary iron shoe is the best and least
hurtful means that could be devised, I am reluctant to admit; but,
so far, even American ingenuity has failed to develop anvthing better
suited to the purpose. That the system of horseshoing as it obtains,
even in the most skillful hands, is pregnant with mischief to the foot,'
no one who is conversant with the facts will venture to deny. As a
matter of physiological fitness the shoe and its mode of attachment
are utterly indefensible. Each time a horse is shod — every nail
driven—means so much injury to the foot. The better the job the
5961— HOR 18 545

646

less that injury is; but there is no such thing as absolute immunity
from an evil which must always exist in inverse ratio to the skill
displayed in the execution of the work. We have, however, to deal
with facts as Ave find them, and if we have, day after day, to impose
upon our horses work of a nature which entails upon their feet more
waste of horn than nature can replace during the ordinary interval of
rest, we are obliged to adopt a defense of some kind. It would be
futile to inveigh against the form of protection in universal use, unless
we were prepared vfitli a substitute not open to the same or equally
serious objections.

There is, however, at least one very large and important class of
horses to which shoes are by no means an habitual necessity, namely,
our agricultural horses. The nature of their work, the pace at wliich
they are required to perform it, and the character of the ground over
which they ordinarily move, all unite to render artificial protection
for their feet, save under exceptional circumstances, altogether
uncalled for. When this is so, and when it is conceded that shoeing
is, even under the most favora,ble circumstances, an evil (albeit in
some cases a necessary one), a frequent cause of disease, and there-
fore a direct source of loss, it is a matter of deep regret that such a
large majority of our farm horses, the very mainspring of our agricul-
tural existence, should be needlessly subjected to a mutilation which
curtails the period of their natural efficiency and too often renders
their life thus shortened one long-continued agony. For it must
be borne in mind that our ordinary village blacksmith, of whose
dailj" work horseshoeing forms but an insignificant and by no means
either an easy or pleasant pai't, is not alwaj'S tlie most competent of
workmen.

"Without wishing to do injustice to our rural knights of the anvil,
it is nevertheless a lamentable truth that these votaries of the but-
tress and drawing-knife are, all the world over, so wedded to a num-
ber of traditionary practices, so heinous, so irrational, so prejudicial
to the interests alike of the horse and his owner, that one might
well be excused for v/ondering whether their mission were not to
mar instead of to protect the marvelously perfect handiwork of the
Creator. Ignorant alike of the anatomy, jihysiology, and economic
relations of the parts, they mutilate, they cut and carve as whim,
prejudice, or time-honored custom dictates. Disaster, it may. be
slowly, but surely, follows, and too often the poor dumb creature's
suffering foots the bill. Let us glance in passing at some of these
traditional practices.

Foremost among them is the insane habit of trimming tlie frog and
thinning out the sole till it visibly yields to the pressure of the oper-
atoi''s thumbs. The frog is nature's cushion and hoof-expander, placed
there b}^ an all-wise hand; bj'^ its elasticity it wards off concussion
from the less elastic portions of the structure, and by its resilience

547

assists in maintaiuing the natural expansion of its hoi-ny ambit ; that
is to say, it does so in its natural state, but the drawing-knife's touch
is fatal to it. Once cut and carved and deprived of pressure, those
very acts cause it to shrink, dry, and harden, and at once lose those
very attributes which constitute its usefulness to the foot. Robbed
of its elasticity and resilience, it is incapable of discharging its allot-
ted functions — both as a cushion and as an expander it is a dead fail-
ure; indeed it is worse, as in its altered character it is now a menace
instead of protection, a bane rather than a boon to the foot that
wears it.

The destruction of this important factor having been thus provided
for, the operator probably next turns his attention to the sole, which,
by all traditions of the craft, must be pared down until only a thin
film of soft, partially formed horn is left to protect the living struc-
tures vv-ithin against injury from the substances with which the foot
necessarily comes in contact. Xor does the mischief stop here. The
sole itself, or what is left of it, consists now of soft, moist, half-formed
horn, which dries and shrinks on exposure to the air, and thereby
entails a further and a still more serious injury on the foot.

We have seen in the preceding chapters how the sole is secreted by
the velvety tissue dependent from the membrane which invests the
pedal bone, the minute, hollow, fibrous processes of which penetrate it
and minister to its support. In the mutilated, shrunken sole these
delicate fibers are pinched in the lessened caliber of the pores; the
source of supply is cut off, and the process of repair retarded if not
absolutely arrested. There seems to be a fascination about this work
of destruction, and the incompetent workman next addresses himself
to the self-imposed task of improving upon nature by removing the
bars and what he calls, on the Incus a noii hicendo principle, "open-
ing" the heels, a process Avhich, in plain language, means opening a
road for them to close over. On this poor, maimed foot a shoe, often
many sizes too small, is tacked, and the rasp is most likely called into
requisition to reduce the foot to fit the shoe; for although it is appar-
ently of little moment w^hether the shoe fits the foot, it is indispen-
sably necessary that the foot should, somehow- or other, be got to fit
the shoe, and horseshoeing, like other arts, must needs sacrifice on
the altar of appearances. It is sad that art and nature should so often
be at variance, and that what satisfies the one should outrage the
demands of the other.

The foot is now shod and protected from undue wear, to be sure,
but at what a sacrifice! Robbed of its cushion, its natural expander;
its lateral braces removed; its sole mangled and its natural repair
arrested; the hairlike fibers which make up the horny wall crushed,
defiected, and their nutritive function impeded by an unnecessary
number of nails; robbed by the rasp of its cortical layer of natural
varnish, which retains the moisture secreted by the economy, the

548

strong walls become desiccated and weakened, and the foot is in a
very sorry plight indeed. To some this picture may seem overdrawn,
but it is nevertheless a matter of daily occurrence.

Of course, even among agricultural horses, there are individuals
that can not work unshod; but these are exceptional cases. Then,
again, in winter, when the usual snowfall is wanting, most horses'
feet will require protection ; but nowadays an owner has himself to
blame if he submits to having the work done in that wrong-headed
and ridiculous manner, which has called into existence such a long
and dismal category of disease and misery.

The horse's foot is, after all, a good deal of what we make it, and if
our horses, from their colthood up, had their feet more carefully
attended to, and especially were they invariablj^ to stand while in con-
finement on some material less deleterious to the hoof than dry wooden
flooring, from which the foot suffers no attrition whatsoever, and by
which it is moreover depleted of its natural moisture, their feet would,
in the period of the animals' active usefulness, be found to be better
shaped, harder, less brittle, and in every way better suited for the
work required of them.

In the East Indies, where pony racing is very popular and the purses
exceedingly valuable, many ex]3edients are resorted to to smuggle a
pony that is over height under the 13.2 standard (the maximum height
for j)onies) among them, of course cutting down the feet as far as can
be done with impunity. I frequently observed that those of the hand-
some little Arabs and Walers (Australians), which came up oftenest
for measurement, and whose feet were in consequence most frequently
pared down (albeit by an artist at the business, as these little animals
were too valuable for their owners to accept any risk of injury), were
those whose feet subsequently stood best the trying ordeal of training
and racing on the adamantine going of the tropics. The moral of this
is obvious. It might even be possible (I do not mean necessarily in
this i)articular way) in the course of generations to develop a horse
whose feet should be so improved that he could do all sorts of work on
all sorts of going barefoot with impunity; but this would imply an
amount of self-sacrifice in the present for the benefit of remote pos-
terity which is hardly to be looked for in this practical age, and the
contention of enthusiasts that all horses could and should, under all
circumstances, go unshod is, I fear, Utopian and imjiractical.

I have endeavored to show that shoeing, as generally, or at all events
very frequently, i^racticed is a fruitful source of injury to our horses'
feet; but as we can not altogether dispense with the custom, let us turn
to a consideration of the means which lie in our power of minimizing
the attendant evil as much as possible.

There is one instrument which I should like to see, if possible,
omitted from the shoeing outfit of every farrier, and that is the draw-
ing-knife. If our blacksmiths would use their knives less and their

549

heads more in the execution of their very important and by no means
easy duty, our horses Avould be the better for it, and so won hi tlieir
owners. There is no great mystery surrounding the subject, and the
application of ordinary common sense, in lieu of the barbarous routine
which has been so long handed down from generation to generation
nntil it has actually become a portion of the blacksmith's creed, would
go a long way towards obviating many, if not most, of the cruel wrongs
to which our horses' feet are day by day needlessly subjected.

The outside, or horny wall, and that portion of the sole which is in
immediate contact Avith it, on which the shoe should rest, are the
only portions of the foot which require to be interfered witli in prepar-
ing the foot for the shoe, and all the trimming that is necessary can
and ought to be effected by means of the rasp. The frog and sole
should on no pretext whatever be meddled with, save to the extent I
have indicated. Their presence in their entirety, and in their natural
state, is essentially necessary to the well-being of the foot, and neither
brooks the touch of the steel.

There may be differences of opinion auiong authorities as to minor
details in shoeing, but there is at all events one issue on which it is
satisfactory to know that there is absolute unanimity; one practice
which all alike utterly condemn; and that is the irrational treatment
of the frog and sole, to which I have already alluded. There is, how-
ever, no particular in which the thinking horse-owner finds himself
more frequently at variance with his blacksmith, for there is no detail
in all the latter's misconceived procedure to which he clings with such
colossal obstinacy, which is not open to argument, and which sets com-
mon sense at defiance.

It is a strange fact, but none tlie less true, that all the world over the
farrier is the one among all our artisans who is least amenable to sug-
gestions from his employer. Other mechanics permit their patrons at
least some discretion as to the size, shape, and structure of the article
desired, but when the ordinary horse owner takes his animal to the
shoeing forge he has usually to place himself absolutely in the black-
smith's hands, and give him carte blanche to cut and carve at his
unholy will, or else take his horse elsewhere, and there probably find
himself no better off. The result is that his horse's feet are merci-
lessly mutilated instead of being left as nearly as possible as nature
in her ineffable wisdom made them.

Plate XXXXII, Fig. 1, shows the only parts which should be re-
duced when a foot is properly prepared for the shoe. Sufficient care is
not always given to shortening the hoof so that its angle should conform
exactly to the inclination of the limb. It would be misleading to lay
down any arbitrary degree of obliquity. The angle differs in differ-
ent cases, and the natural bias of the superimposed structures is the
only safe guide to follow. More than one instrument has been devised
for ascertaining the correct degree of obliquity, some of them simple

550

and efficacious; but an inspection of the foot in profile is usually the
best way of deciding. Too much importance can not possibl}^ be
attached by the workman to this and tlie succeeding step, namely,
leveling the ground surface of the foot, as the slightest departure
from absolute exactitude here renders whatever amount of care he
may devote to the completion of his work vforse than useless. The
ver}^ smallest deviation from the perpendicular entails disastrous con-
sequences not only on the foot but on the entire limb. In the foot
itself, when the weight is borne unevenly, the lowest parts receive an
undue share; the pressure retards the growth of new horn, and the
foot in consequence becomes weakened, distorted, and deformed. In
the limb, deflected as it is by an uneven basis, from the ground sur-
face to its union with the trunk, the angle of incidence of the weight
is imposed unequally, and bone and tendon mutually suffer from the
strain.

THE SHOE.

The shoe should be as liglit as the Aveight of the animal and the
nature of the work he is expected to perform will admit of. I am not
now writing for the trotting horseman, who knows his own business
better than I can teach him. In referring to shoeing smiths it is pos-
sible that I should have made an exception in favor of the finished
artist who arms the feet of the trotter with those masterpieces of skill
and ingenuity wdiich balance his gait, level his action and perfect the
rhythm of the motion with which'he spurns the flying track behind
him, wdien thousands of anxious eyes watch his every footstep, and
fortunes depend on the length and tirelessness of his stride. That is
a branch of the business which has received an amount of attention
and achieved triumphs unrivaled or unapproached in other lands.
Yet have I seen that artist (for he is nothing less), after fitting and
setting a shoe, perfect in workmanship as a piece of jewelry, reach
out for his tool box and rasp the foot from the coronary band to the
plantar border, and thus wantonly court disaster, for what reason let
him tell us if he can.

Heavy shoes not only burden the animal which is condemned to wear
them, for there is truth in the old adage, "an ounce at the toe means
a pound at the withers," but they also increase the concussion insepa-
rable from progression, and even in the trotter, whose work is meted
out to him v.'itli judicious care, although the weight doubtless accom-
plishes the work for w^hich it was intended, it is a draft at usury on
the horse's futui-e soundness, which that animal is bound to take up
at maturit3^

The legitimate mission of the shoe is to prevent undue wear of the
walls, and a light shoe will do this quite as well as a heavy one; it is
moreover entirel}' erroneous to suppose that a heavy shoe necessarily
wears longer than a light one, as experience proves the contrary, in
manv instances, to be the ease. Even among our mammoth draft

551

horses, Avliose shoes must of course he made with reference to the
weiglit tliey liave to bear and the inordinate strain to whicli they are
subjected when the animal wlneli Avears tliem is at work, I am not
prepared to admit that it is l)yauy means necessary to add to the con-
cussion to wliich his feet are unavoidably subjected, by several i)ounds
of unyielding iron on each foot, when shoes weighing half as much
would serve the purpose equally well. The lamentably short career
of our city draft horse, which is usually determined by foot lameness
of one kind or another, is largely attributable to the aggravated
amount of battering on hard pavements which his needless weight of
armament entails.

The upper su rface of the slioe should l:>e perfectly level. If the plane
of the web inclines from outside inward, it greatly adds to the una-
voidable tendency to contraction which shoeing invariably entails,
and there is a wealth of unwisdom in most of the clumsy attempts at
meclianically spreading the heels by making the inclination in the
contrary direction. It is true that in cases of malformation, or grave
alteration of the contour of the foot, good results are obtainable by
this or other mechanical means, but all such heroic remedies should
be undertaken only at the instance and under the immediate super-
vision of the veterinary practitioner; otherwise they are liable to do
harm instead of good.

In France dilatation of the hoof by mechanical means is advocated
and practiced more than elsewhere, but the operation is performed
with the utmost exactitude, scrupulous care and delicacy, and under
the closest professional supervision. Even under these favorable con-
ditions the slightest accidental deviation not only defeats the object
in vievv^ but occasionally leads to untoward results. When con-
tracted feet have to be expanded there is a far more simple, safe and
at the same time effective means of attaining that end to be found
within the foot itself. By lowering the walls at the heels, so as to
restore frog pressure, the latter speedily recovers its lost character-
istics, and in a healthy condition gradually and naturally accomplishes
one of the very purposes for which the Great Architect placed it there.
It would seem to be unnecessary to say that the shoe sliould be so
shaped as to conform exactly to the natural tread of the foot, yet a
very common practice obtains of using a shoe of a uniform shape, often
less in circumference, if such a term is permissible, than the foot on
which it is to be nailed, and then rasping down the foot to fit it. It
is ol)viously easier to make the foot to fit the shoe than it is to make
the shoe to fit the foot; a stroke or two of the rasp effects the former,
but it is a far more arduous undertaking to modify the size and shape
of the shoe. The outcome of this pernicious practice is disastrous in
the last degree, more especially so in a dry climate like ours, as the
walls thus robbed of their natural covering permit the moisture of
the foot rapidly to evaporate, and the horn fibers, Avhich make up the

552

outside walls, instead of being compactly knit together, readily disin-
tegrate, and in tlie course of a shoeing or two those very portions in
Avhich the nails should obtain firm hold possess little more adhesion
than a bundle of broom corn. If the shoe fitted as it ought to do, a
touch of the rasp under each clinch would be all that was necessarj'-,
and even this much might advantageously be dispensed with. Plate
XX XXIV illustrates correct and incorrect fitting, figure 1 being the
right and figure 2 the wrong way.

FITTING.

In many countries what is called hot-fitting — that is to say, after the
foot has been trimmed and leveled, momentarilj^ applying the shoe at
a red heat to the foot — is generally ijracticed to the almost entire exclu-
sion of any other method, and the system is not only found to answer,
but receives the indorsement of the most competent authorities. The
climatic conditions which render the practice open to objection in this
hemisphere fortunately enable us to dispense with a procedure against
which there exists in the minds of many horse-owners a not unrea-
sonable prejudice, which, however, is directed at the abuse rather than
the intelligent application of a proceeding not necessarily^ hurtful in
itself. The advantage conferred by hot-fitting consists in the fact
that a more accurate accommodation is by this means more readily
obtained than by any other method, and the contact between hoof and
shoe can thus be made more intimate and enduring. In moist cli-
mates it is only by means of hot-fitting that a set of shoes can be got
to remain on for a reasonable length of time; but in no ]3art of this
country have I found any difficulty of this nature; indeed, on the con-
trary, shoes are usually allowed to remain on too long, especially in
the agricultural districts. It has frequently occurred to me, wdien
in the discharge of my duties as veterinarian to the Farmers' Institute
of Minnesota I have remonstrated with some local blacksmith at the
number of gigantic nails he employed in affixing a shoe, that I have
been assured that did the shoe not remain on for several months his
employer would be dissatisfied and would transfer his custom else-
where. Nothing could be more short-sighted nor more unreasonable
than such conduct.

The hoof of the horse is in shape a truncated cone with the base
downwards; as it grows the circumference of the base consequently
increases, and the shoe fitted when it was newly put on after a time
becomes too small. It would bo just as reasonable for a horse-owner
to buy his little boy a i)air of shoes which just fitted him when he was
six years old, and then expect him to wear them until he was twelve,
as it is for him to require his dumb servant, who can not protest
against the infliction, to wear his shoes for months in succession with-
out resetting. A badly fitting shoe is to a horse as painful as a tight
boot is to his owner, and under no circumstances should shoes be

553

permitted to remain on more than a month or five weeks at the out-
side; many animals require to be resliod even more frequently. It is
only when an owner lets his parsimony overcome his reason that he
subscribes himself to a penny- wise and pound-foolish policy, which can
only result, as such policies invariably do, in a loss to their exponent

NAILS.

The fewest nails, and these of the smallest size, that will ensure the
shoe remaining on for the proper length of time, is a rule tliat should
never be departed from. The nail lioles should not be punched too
fine— that is, too near the outside edge of the web of the shoe (this is
a very common failing of "keg shoes"); if punched coarser the nails
will take a thicker and lower hold of the walls, and in this wav obviate
their having to be driven so high up as to approach dangerouslv near
the sensitive structures. Two of the commonest errors in shoeing are
using too many nails and these of an altogether unnecessary size and
then driving them too high up into the walls. If a perfectly level
bearing has been obtained-as ought to be the case-it is astoiiishino-
how few and how small nails will hold the slioe firmly in its place'^
but let the fitting be carelessly done, then, no matter how the shoe
may be nailed on, but a short time elapses ere the clinches open
and the shoe works loose. When we bear in mind that the wall of
the hoof consists of a number of hair-like tubes cemented together
and that each tube is one of an infinite number of minute canals'
which diffuse throughout the horn a fluid that nourishes and pre-
serves It, It will be readily understood that each nail driven into the
wall deflects those little tubules, probably absolutely closing those
with which It comes into actual contact and hurtfullv compressino-
those lying half way between the nails, thus impairing if not destrov^
ing their utility and cutting oif the supply of a material necessarv to
the foot s existence. If we could dispense ^vith nails altogether our
horses feet would be immeasurably better off. This, unfortunately
we apparently can not do, but we have it in our power to minimize an
evil which, at present, at all events, we can not entirely avoid There
1ms recently been patented in England a nailless horseshoe, for which
the patentees claim extraordinary excellence. I have not yet been
able to see one of these shoes, but if they will enable us to dispense
with the use of nails they will confer a priceless boon on horseflesh
generally. From the description given by the patentees I fail to see
however, how the shoes can be kept sufficiently firmly in place, nor
cun 1 glean from the same source that the new method of attachment
(by means of a metal band and studs) is equallv efficacious with the
old, or less injurious.

There is, however, one shoe, without some allusion to which any
essay of this kind would be incomplete, namely, the "Charlier shoe,"
5901 — iioR 18*

554

invented some years ago by M. Cliarlier, a well-known veterinary sur-
geon of Paris, France, wliicli lias never, in my opinion, received either
the attention or trial its merits deserve. Common sense and science
alike indorse it, and were the system to become more generally known
in this conntrj' I venture to assert that there is an extremel}' large
number of cases in Avhich it would be found both approx)riate and
beneficial. For this reason I will briefly describe it. The shoes used
are about one-third the weight of an ordinary shoe, and less than one-
half the width. In preparing the foot for the shoe and sole, frog and
bars are left, as they ought to be, absolutel}' untouched, and a groove
is cut, by means of a knife speciall}' designed for the purpose, in the
wall, not high enough to reach above the sole level, and less than the
thickness of the wall in depth. Into this groove a narrow but thick
band of iron is sunk and nailed to the foot by means of four to six
conical-headed nails, the heads being countersunk in the shoe. The
advantage of this method of shoeing is that the frog, bars, and a por-
tion of the sole come to the ground exactly as if the foot were unshod,
and one and all participate in weight-bearing as it was obviously
intended they should, while the wall is protected from wear by the
small rim of iron let into its ground surface.

A modification of the system has been suggested by an enthusiast
who writes under the name of "Free Lance," which possesses even
superior advantages. Under this sj'stem onlj' tii3S or toe-pieces of
the Charlier pattern are used, the foot being prepared for their recep-
tion, as shoAvn in Plate XXXXIY, Fig. 3. The tips are made with
their ground surface broader than their upper face, and the outside
edge of the web beveled ofl so as to follow the angle of the profiles of
the foot. (Plate XXXXIV, Fig. 4.)

I have used both the Charlier shoe and the tip in this country- as well
as in the East Indies, and I am lierfectl}' satisfied that in many respects
they are superior to any other model. They are infinitelj' lighter, the
nails are smaller and fewer in numljer — all steps in the right direction;
but the dominant superiority' of the device consists in the fact that
the frog obtains i3ressure to the extent contemplated by nature, and
in the case of the Charlier tip particularlj- the exercise of its double
function as a buffer and dilator is absolutelj' untrammeled in any
v/ay by the shoe.

FINISHING TOUCHES.

When the shoe has been fitted, the nails driven, drawn up, and
clinched, there should l)e nothing left to bo done. Very frequently,
liowever, it is just at this stage that the incompetent workman, in the
most uncalled-for manner, inflicts serious and lasting injury on the foot.
If the wall has not been sufficiently reduced in leveling the foot, or if
the shoe used is too small, the rasp is required to reduce the projecting
parts. (Plate XXXXIV, Fig. 2.) Often, indeed, when there is not

555

even this pretext, tlie whole surface of the foot is subjected to its relent-
less touch. No procedure could well be devised vdiicli would bo more
luirtf ul to the foot. In its natural state the entire hoof, from the coronet
to the sole level, is covered by a fine coating of natural varnish, tliickest
at the upper margin and gradually becoming thinner as it descends.
Ujider cover of this beneficent curtain the iiew horn is secreted and
protected until it has attained maturity. The moisture secreted by
the animal economy necessary to the perfection of the horn is retained
vdthin it, and the prejudicial influences of alternating drought and
moisture are set at defiance. In a very dry atmosphere like ours it is
of paramount importance that this beautiful shield should be pre-
served and fostered, and no name is bad enough for a senseless cus-
tom which, to serve no good purpose, robs the foot of a necessary
protection which it is beyond the power of art 1o imitate or replace.

IVINTER SHOEING.

The subject of winter shoeing presents, in many sections of the
country, fresh difficulties, for now the shoe is required, in the case
of all classes of horses, to discharge a double duty; to afford foothold
as well as guard against undue wear. Various patterns of shoes have
from time to time been invented to meet this dual requirement, but
the commonest of all, fashioned with shoe and heel calks or calkins,
is, faulty though it be, probably, all things considered, the one which
best suits the requirements of the case. It should, liowever, never be
lost sight of that the shorter, the sharper, and the smaller the calkins
are, so long as they answer the purpose which called them into exist-
ence, so much the better for the foot that wears them. High calkins,
while they confer no firmer foothold, are potent means of inflicting
injury both on the foot itself and the superincumbent limb at large!
It is only from that portion of the catch which enters the ground sur-
face that the horse derives any benefit in the shape of foothold, and
It must be apparent to the meanest capacity that long calkings, which
do not penetrate the hard, uneven ground, are so many leavers put
into the animal's possession to enable if not compel him to wring his
feet, rack his limbs, and inflict untold tortures on himself. I have
laid particular stress on this subject, as I am of opinion that the pres-
ence of navicular disease, a dire malady from which horses used for
agricultural lal)or should enjoy a practical immunity, is traceable
largely to the habitual use, during our long winter months, of need-
lessly large calkins, only fractional parts of which find lodgment in
the earth or ice during progression. I will explain what' I mean
A\ hen a horse is shod with the exaggerated calkins to which I have
alluded, the toe and heel calks are, or ought to be, tlie same height
to start with, at all events. Very often, hoM^ever, they are not, and
even when they are, the toe calk wears down on animals used for
draft purposes far more rapidly than its fellows at tlie heel The

55G

result is that the toe is depressed ^vhile the heel is uunaturally raised.
The relative position of the bony structures within the foot is altered,
and the navicular bone, which is not one of the weight-bearing bones,
is brought within the angle of incidence of both weight and concus-
sion, influences which it was never contemplated it should withstand,
and which its structure precludes its sustaining vrithout injury. The
bone becomes first bruised and then diseased; the tendon to which
it was intended it should act as a pulley, which passes over and is in
constant contact with it, before long also becomes implicated, and
what is technically known as navicular arthritis is thus engendered
and developed.

SHOEING FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE.

Thanks to the amount of attention whicli every detail that could
possibly tend to the more perfect development of that paragon of
horseflesh, the American trotter, has received at the hands of all
classes of men, the matter of shoeing for specific purposes has made
greater progress in America than in any other country on the face of
the globe, and that is a department of the farrier's art which is justly
entitled to the highest eulogium that can be bestowed upon it.

The dift'er.ent styles of shoes which have been devised are marvels
of ingenuity, and many of them are admirably effective as remedial
agents for faulty gaits and uneven action. Their number is infinite,
but as many are applicable only, or in a large measure, to horses used
solely for speed purposes, any attempt at classification or detailed
description v.ould be out of place in a work of this kind. Wlien intel-
ligentl}^ applied a considerable number are, however, potent auxiliaries
in mitigating in some cases the results of natural defects of conforma-
tion amongst animals whose lot is cast in the humbler if more useful
fields of horse enterprise. Among these are the scoop-toed or roller-
motion shoe for the fore feet (Plate XXXXII, Fig. 2) and the shoe
Plate XXXXII, Fig. 3) for the hind feet, which, while they obviate
"forging" or "clicking," a habit hurtful to the horse and singularly
annoying to his driver, do not in any way tend to inflict injury on the
feet or limbs. The scooped or rolled toe confers a mechanical advan-
tage, enabling the animal to get over his toes more promptly and thus
remove the front foot from the stroke of the hind extremity, while
the lengthening of the branches of the hind shoes, by increasing the
ground surface, retards the flexion and extension of the hind limbs.

The common practice of increasing the weight of the outside web of
the hind shoes, to open the action (Plate XXXXII, Fig. 4), is equally
harmless and efficacious when not carried to extremes.

Plate XXXXIII, Fig. 1, is the most effective model of shoe to square
and balance the gate of unmade horses, but the period of its use should
be strictly limited and the weight of the toe graduallj^ reduced as
the desired gait becomes established. An ingenious shoe to prevent

PLATE XXXXII.

'/'he foot rearh/ foi-the shoeiShmririf/
fi-oc/ /nid bw.f nn thev shou/d fx' lefi

/•'roiif I'tfiv of.scoi>/>ff>(' it)/Jni</iiittfi'nii shoe

/fiiiil f'o/ji .sjiar /o htiliim-e //if ar//<//i

• Side wi-iijfit slini- for h in// f'oo/

Ki'js 2,3 and VCrorn'RusseH's Scientific HorsH shoeing .

A Hoen sCo Lith. Baltimore-

PLATE XXXVIII

Top wf'igfii .shoe

^

A^oii -/)(ii/r//inf/ shnc

KrDni'RiissGll'.sScionlit'ii; Horse; shoeing

A Hoen &Co Litb. Baltimore

PiATE

Foot prepared /w- Charlier I if) .

Foot shod u'iilt. (^Juu-Uej- Up.

RigM fiUmg.

Wrong niiing.

Haines, del.

A Hoen&Co Lith. Baltimore

557

'•dishiug" or "paddling" is shown in Plate XXXXIII, Fig. _', but I
can not acknowledge so implicit confidence in its efficacy, as the vice
is the result of a j)hysical malformation,- which mechanical means can
go but a small waj' to remove or palliate.

There are many other styles of shoe, the product of American inge-
nuity, for which probabl}" equal merit might be claimed, but there are
others, which, while they ma3" cure or mitigate the special defect
against whicli they are directed, only do so at the expense of some
other j)ortion of the structure. It has many a time furnished food for
thought to the writer, that, in this great commonwealth, while there
are such a large number of artificers who make horse-shoeing a pro-
fession, who offer such convincing testimony of a vast amount of care-
ful thought and patient study of at least some of the principles of
their very important i)rofession as many of these devices afford, the
bulk of such work should be permitted to fall into the hands of a set
of incompetent, ignorant, and ofttimes unprincipled bunglers, who
prey upon the credulity of their emploj^ers and inflict upon the most
generous of all our dumb servants an amount of injury which curtails
the period of his usefulness and results in his premature decadence at
an age when he ought still to be in his prime. It is possible, if not
probable, that in the future it maj^ become a less invidious task to
discuss this much vexed problem. In this age of marvelous ingenuity,
is it visionary to hope that it is within the power of chemistry to
develop some preparation which, applied to our horses' hoofs in a
liquid or pultaceous form, will quickly harden into a substance closely
resembling the natural horn, which will enable us to dispense alto-
gether with the lieav}', unyielding iron, and while it affords the neces-
sary protection to the foot will permit it to retain to the full its won-
drous combination of lightness, strength, and elasticity, and enable it
to perform its varied functions under the most exacting conditions
wiiich advanced civilization can impose, with that marvelous trinity
of ai)i)arently incompatible characteristics unhampered as they left
the workshop of the Creator, all acting together in perfect harmony
and absolute efficiency?

In the meantime it behooves us to make the most of the means
within our power. Our horses are national property. Surelj', there-
fore, it is time that the possibility of a great national economy was
recognized, and some legislation formulated which Avould require an
established standard of attaijiment in a class of workmen to whose
care propert}^ of such value is habitually intrusted, and uijon whose
proficienc}^, or the reverse, so much of its utility or comparative worth-
lessness depends, while it, at the same time, provided for some means
of practical instruction Avhich contemplated raising the science of
horseshoeing above the baneful influences of ignorance and traditional
I'outine, to that position to which its impoi-tance to us as a people
justly entitles it.

IINTDE X.

Page.

Abdomen, dropsy of — 53

of foal, dropsy of 168

swelling of 146

Abortion 158

Abrasions by collar and saddle 468

Abscesses, acute 469

cold or chronic 470

intercostal 131

of the brain 193

heart 235

pllar^^lx 27

Acariasis 453

Amaurosis - 209, 275

Amnios, dropsy of 155

Antemia. cerebral 201

spinal .- 213

Anasarca 502, 505

Anchylosis from injury of joints 336

Aneurism 244

Ankles, cocked 374

diseases of 369

Anthrax 528

Apoi)lexy, cerebral 198

of the lungs 118

Arsenical poisoning. _ . 34

Arteries, aneurism of 244

constriction of . 244

diseases of 243

inflammation of 243

nature and functions of 227

rupture of 246

throT^bi and embolisms in 246, 305

Arthritis 334

Ascites 55, 168

Asthma : 132

Atheroma _ . 244

Atrophy of the brain 201

heart ....... 243

AiiscultatiOn 110

Azotcemia 08

Azoturia 68

Balls, liow to administer 9

Bee stings _ -Ll.j

559

5(J0

Pase

Beets as feed 21

Belly-ache (.sv^c also Colic) 39

Big leg (lymphangitis) 253

Black jjigment tumoi's . 365, 450

Black- water (azoturia) _ 68

Bladder, diseased growths in 77

eversion of . 78

inflamination of 75

irritable 77

Xjaralysis of . . 75

spasm of neck of 73, 308

stone in 85, ICG

worms 73

Bleeding after castration 146

from Inngs 131

ruptured artery . . 246

womb 180

skin eruption 443

Blind staggers 816

Bloat (tympanites) _ , 31 , 41

Blood spavin 333

vessels, diseases of 235, 329

Bloody flux (dysentery) 48

urine 67

Bog spavin (blood spavin) 333

Boils, nature and treatment of . 441 , 444

on the eyelid 263

Bone spavin , 297

Bones, anatomy of 281

diseases of 289

fractures of 301

Bots 35

Bowels. (.S^ce Intestines.)

Brain, abscess of 193

affections, acute 193

amemia of 201

anatomy and physiology of 187

atrophy of . _ . 201

complication from influenza . 497

comiiression of _ lOv)

concussion of 300

congestion of 195

dropsy of . . _ _ 201

envelopes, inflammation of 191

hemorrhage of 198

inflammation of 1 89

paralysis of 193

softening of 193

substance, inflammation of 192

Bran as feed . . 31

Broken bones. (.SVe Fractures.)

knees 334

wind 133

Bronchitis _. 110

561

Broiicho-plenro-piieumoiiia _ ^^q

Bronclio-pneuinonia '

Bruises .^.^^ ^^^

Burns and scalds,. V-^" ,„'

Bm-sae. {See Syno\-ial sacs. )

Calculi, biliarv .

. : ' w

gastric ^^

intestinal ... ,~

preputial ^o

renal . ^.j

urethral q„

uietral ' „<

urinary, classes of c,^

n ,, ^'^^'^^^ 85,166

L alk wounds _ or.q

Callosities , '^

Cancer, eucephaloid (soft) o/>- o-p

epithelial .-„

spinal 2j^

Canker in foot of>n ~, ,~

„ , „ - - 6\)2, 440

Capped elbow . . . „^^

, , 353

hock ._ 3g^

knee .,_,

?^^T -'-.-. -------"^-^i-;::;::::::::::: 334,336

C arrots as feed ^.

Castration, conditions favorable to . 14-

covered method of . -..n,

of cryptorchids (ridglings) j45

mares \[\. 148

stallions ^ i,

ti-eatment of complications of I45 j4g

Cataract ' ^^_

Catarrh, acute nasal "'[-,

chronic 'S^^

Catarrhal fever . _' "

Cer ebritis

Cerebrospinal meningitis. ^.t

Chaff as feed '^'

Chaiing^by harness ,^0

Chapped hock " ._

knee

Charbon (anthrax) . -,^

Charlier shoe " LI

Chest cough j- ."-.'..._.'"" i^/o

diseases, methods of examination for j„-

percussion... ..^ .,'

pulse , ,^

respiration

secretions _ "-^!!" !!!! ^^l!!]]"'"""" i„9

temperature '

wounds _ _ _^

Chigoe, treatment for 'J'

Choking, causes of '^l

cervical _,

thoracic "'

562

Pago.

Chorea 304

Choroiditis 269

Clubfoot 373

Coma (sleepy staggers) : - 205

Cocked ankles (knuckling) . 374

Cold in the head - - - - 92

Colic, cramp or spasmodic 39

flatulent or wind 41

from aneurism 244

Collar galls 468

Colt-ill 508

Concretions, gastric 44

intestinal 44

Congestion . causes of . 478

of the brain 195

lungs _- 115

skin . 433

passive 479

spinal -• 212

Conjunctivitis 266

Constipation 43

Consumption 133

Corn as feed 21

Cornea, ulcers of 2(}8

Corns.... 394

Costiveness ^'^

Cough, chronic 135

dry and moist 110

Cracked heels 445

Cramp of hind liml) 156, 203

Crami)-colic 39

Cramps 203

during parturition 156

Cranium, tumors in 202

Crick in the back _ _ . 367

Crooked foot . 373

Croup 103

Curb 348

Cuts 461

Cj^anosis - - 243

Dentition 23

Dermatorrhagica parasitica 443

Diabetes insipidus : C4

mellitus (saccharine) 65

Diaphragm, rupture of 138

spasms of ' 137

Diarrhea - . 47

Digestive organs, diseases of ... . 15

Diphtheria 103

Dislocations, indications of 337

of the hip joint 339

patella 339

slioulder joint S33

reduction of 337

563

Distemper . ^^^

Diuresis „ ,

Doxiche, nasal -.^

Donriue ^,1

Drenches, how to administer jq

Dropsv of abdomen ~- i~c

amnios -,—

bram 2^^

f cetus 1 «A

scrotum

sjniovial sacs
Avoinb

Ectropion

Eczema

Edema (oedema)
Elbow, capped...

Eruptions, bleeding skin

Er}-thema

Erysipelas

Exostosis

Eye, affection of cornea of_.

diseases of

examination of

lachrymal apparatus of

muscles of

parasites in

waterinsr of

tumors of.

Eyelids, boils on

diseases of

droopinc^

inflammation of _ . .

inver.sion and oversion of.
spasm of ....

141
332

Dysentery - . o

. 2m

-. 439

. 5Q4

. . ^~\?

sprain of muscles of 3^P

Electric shock
Electuaries . .
Elephantiasis

Embolisms n < ^ o^-

Embryotomy -,~,^

Emphj'sema of foetus

Encephalitis .

Endarteritis

Endocarditis

Enemas

Enteritis

Entropion

Epilepsy

Epithelioma

Epizooty (see also Influenza) . ^~' 4m

223

10

S53

177

169

190

243

230

12.40

53

263

205

142, 450

443

433

44g

Exhaustion (see aZso Sunstroke) jg-

289
268

253

25S

T 257

: 276

T-, 1 „ 265

Eyeball, anatomy of o--

276
263
259
260
261
263
260

564

Page.

Eyelids, tumors of 264

warts on 264

wounds of 264

Fainting 239

Falling fits 205

Farcy buds 440.535

, chronic (see also Glanders) 535

Favus ^^^

Feeding ^'

Fetlock, diseases of ''""

sprain of _ _ ^""

Fevers, kinds of 486

rheumatic ^^^

splenic ^"^'^

treatment of.-.. ^^^

Fistula} - . - ^'^

of the foot (quittor) 380, 474

Flat foot _ ^'^

Flatulent colic (tjanimnitis) 31,41

Flaxseed as feed 21

Fleas 4f

Flexor metatarsi, rupture of 351

Flies, protection from ^''^'^

Flooding ^^^_

Flux, bloody (dysentery)

Fly-blow

Foaling {see also Parturition) 160, 172

F«jetus. adherent to walls of womb 1*5

constriction of member by navel cord

dissection of ^'^

dropsy of ^"^

emphysema of -^^^

excessive size of 1"'

extra-iiterine development of l-'^-^

prolonged retention of . . . l'"^"

tumors of - •

Foods and feeding

effects of changes of.

preparation of

Foot, anatomy of

complication from influenza •*•'■!

diseases of 'ff

faults of conformation . ^'"^

454
mange

wounds of ^^^

Founder (see also Laminitis)

Fractures, causes of

nature of.- f^^

of bones of face 315

cannon bones

coronet ■

o-i A

cranial bones

326

48
455

108

170
17
19
22

369

329

femur

first phalanx,

329

565

Fractures of forearm of-fj

624:

hip bone, effect in parturition. jgg

hock... goQ

humerus o^ ,

^'i^ee -[[][][ 325

lower jaw pj/>

OS innominata oon

pedis v.///. 829

patella oo'^

pre-maxillary bone oi g

"^^- --- "------------";;-;;:':::::; 319

"^'^^"^ 164,320

scapula goQ

sesamoid bones ooa

tibia .. .j,^

vertebrae „. ^

--- oil

progiiosis 01 .3„^

reduction of o.l

retention of o^j.

Frog, bruise of " ^^^

Frost-bites

Furuncles (sec also Boils) >^63 441

Gall-stones "^ ' '

Galls, collar and saddle

Gangrene

Gastritis

Generative organs, diseases of
Gestation, extra uterine

59
468
131,425.504

139

, , --- 153

prolonged -. _ „

Glanders

acute

cause of

chronic

pustules of

treatment of

Gleet, nasal

urethral

Glossitis

Glycosuria

Grains, feeding value of

Grasses, feeding value of _ . .

Gravel

Grease ....

Grubs on and under the skin

Grunting

Gullet, diseases of (see oho (Esophagus) " " _ 2-^

530

539

532

537

440

541

94

79

25

65

20

22

80

446

434

Gunshot wounds
Gut- tie

Guttural pouches

Harness galls

Haematuria

Ha?mogiobinuria .

Haemorrhoids

Haw, tumor of . . .

467
47

106

468
67
68
49

265

566

Page.

Hay as feed 19

Heart, adventitious growths in 238

anatomy and iiliysiology of . 225

atrophy of 243

congestion of 2-12

dilatation of . 241

diseases of 225, 229

enlargement of 240

fatty degeneration of 241

functional and organic diseases of . 238

liypertropliy of 240

palpitation of 239

rupture of . 242

sounds of 228

valvular disease of 237

weakness of 242

Heaves 132

Heels, contracted 403

cracked 445

inflamed 446

Hemiplegia 207

Hemorrhage, cerebral 198

Hepatitis 56

Hernia, diphraginatic 54

inguinal 52

kinds of 51

scrotal ._...• 52

umbilical 53

uterine 164

ventral 53

Herpes (shingles) 443

phlyctenoid 521

High blowing -. 105

Hip bones, fractured, effect in parturition 163

joint, dislocation of 339

lameness 344

Hip- joint disease 345

Hock, capped 360

chapped . 445

Hoof, contracted 403

cracked 405

Hoof -bound 403

Horny sloughs 449

Horsepox 521

Hydrocele 141

Hydrocephalus 168, 201

Hydrophobia 221, 542

Hydro-thorax , . . 130

Hypertrophy of the heart 240

Incoordination of movement 208

Icterus 57

Indigestion . . .- 36

Inflammation, character of . _ 475, 480

of the bladder . 75

5G7

Pajo.

Inflammation of the bowels fjO

brain and its membranes 189

eyelids oQl

heart . 030

heart-case _ 335

kidneys _ '_ 70

knee joint 334,335

lymphatic glands. 253

mouth (stomatitis) 05

nerves . __^ oj.j

periosteum 039

skin 439,440

testicles I39

tongue 05

womb and peritoneum. . 18:j

Influfcftza, alterations of 5Q()

complications of 494

definition of 49I

diagnosis of 493

etiology of 493

in-ognosis of 499

sequela? of 503, .506

symptoms of ■ 493

terminations of 494^ 504

treatment of 500

Injections 13 13 4^^

Inosuritv _ (55

Insufflation of medicines H

Interfering 362,373

Intestines, complication from influenza 494

diseases of 39

inflammation of 50

intussusception or invagination of .. . 45

large, impaction of 43

stones (calculi) in 44

twisting of 47

worms in 38

Invagination. (See Intussusception.)

Iritis.

2G9

Itching from mange 453

Jaundice 5^

Jerks (chorea) 394

Joint water (synovia) , escape of _ 334

Joints, di.seases of 333

dislocated 337

open 334

stiffened by injury (anchylosis) _ 330

Kidneys, acute inflammation of 70

chronic inflammation of 73

tumors of _ 73

Knees, broken 331

capped 357

chapped 445

effects of injuries to 334

5G8

Page.

Knees, sprung 348

Knuckling- _ _ 37-4

Labor pains, premature - 163

suppression from bladder disorder _ _ . ....... 1(55

Lameness, causes and treatment of . . . 2T9

definition of . . 284

location of 288

of the hip , 344

shoulder - . 341

Laminitis (founder) 413

complications of. . 421

curative measures for . 428

exciting caiises of 414

following parturition ....... 184

prevention of 426

symptoms of - 418

treatment of 428

Lampas . . 25

Larvfe on and under the skin - . 455

Laryngitis 98

Laryngismus para,lyticus 103, 208

Larynx, spasm of _ _ - - - . 103

Lead x>oisoning. 33, 223

Leucorrhoea . 183

Lice 452, 456

Ligament, suspensory, rupture of 377

Linseed as feed. . . . 21

Liver, diseases of 56

inflammation of - 56

ruijture of 58

stone in ducts of . 59

Lock-jaw 219

Locomotor .ataxia 208

Loins, sprains of 367

Lung fever 118

Lungs, abscess and suppuration in 131

anatomy of 115

apoplexy of 118

bleeding from . . 131

complication from influenza 496

congestion of 116

consumption of .. 132

drop.sy of 133

mortification of 131

Luxations (see also Dislocations) . ... 337

Lymphangitis 252. 504

Lymphatic glands, abscess and inflammation of . 251

hypertrophied _ 252

system, diseases of 251

Mad staggers _ 191

Madness (rabies) . .... .. . 231

Maize as feed 21

Malignant pustule (anthrax) 536

Mai du coit 143

569

M^°g« ---- 419.438

Masturbation __ j^2

Medicines, how to administer 9

inhalation of j j

injection of . - o 13

insufflation of U

Megrims ^q~

Melanosis 2Q4 450

Meningitis, cerebro-spinal 191 215

spinal 219

Metastasis _ 503

Moles . ' . ] r. . 154

Monstrosities 15^ j-q

Moon-blindness . 'o~i

Morbus coxarius g^-

Mortification -.oi

Mouth, diseases of o-

Muscles, anatomy of _ oqi

diseases of -_ _ 011

of foal, contraction of 1(39

Myelitis _ .,-, I

Myocarditis r,oA

Nail pricks .q^

Nails for shoeing ~~Z

Nasal catarrh 90

douche ^ o

gleet_ f^

Navel, discharge of urine by i^g

Navicular disease .go

Nephritis, acute *l^

Nerve, inflammation of o^-

injury to . " " ! 215

tumor of ^.-

Nervous system, diseases of lg.j,

Nettlerash ^.

Neuroma ,,._

Neuritis g/-

Nose, bleeding from ~q~

Nostrils. tumors in _ qo

wounds near 9^

Oats as feed ^^

CEdema, enteric r-n ,

, 5U4

pulmonary... g^^

(Esophagus, diseases of ' o~

saciTlar dilatation of.

30

stricture of 29

Openjoints gg^

Ophthalmia, external 266

internal ^ 269

recurrent or periodic . . 971

Optic nerve, paralysis of '^09 2'^1

Orchitis ' ' ^^^

Ostitis I ."y^\\ .[.["[[ 389

Overreach „^^

570

, , rase.

Palpitation of the heart -.. - 239

Palsy {see also Paralysis) . 206

Papilloma 142

Paralysis (palsy) 206

during pregnancy 156

facial 208

intestinal 209

local --. 208

of bladder . 209

hind extremities 156, 207

muscles of limbs 208

optic nerve 156, 209, 278

penis 142

rectum and tail 209

side of body _-. 207

Paraphymosis 147

Paraplegia 207

Parasites, animal, of the eye 276

kidneys . _ _ . 73

skin 452

vegetable, of the skin .__, 451

Parasitic pityriasis 452

Parrot-month 24

Parturition. difBcult . IGO, 161, 165

natural -.- 160

of twins_. 172

symxstoms of - _ 160

Pastern, injured by knuckling ... 374

Patella, pseudo luxation of 339

Pediculi 456

Peditis 425

Pelvis, tumors in 163

Penis, growths on 142

paralysis of 142

rujjtured blood vessels of 142

swelled 146

warts on 142

Pericarditis -. 235

with influenza. 498

PeriufBum, dropsy of 156

Periostitis 289, 425

Peritonitis .54

Pharyngitis 26

Pharynx, abscesses in 27

inflammation of - - . 08

paralysis of 26

Phlebitis 348

Phymosis 147

Pigeon-toed foot 373

Piles : 49

Pimples with congestion 438

Pink-eye (see also Influenza) 491

Pin- worm 38

Pityriasis 442

571

Pleurisy. ^^^^

sj-mptoms and prognosis j.jr.

treatment of -i .^^^

with influenza ,oq

Pleurodynia ' ^ ^^^

Pleuro-pneumonia . ....^

Plica polonica ,'

Plurabism gg ^,1,^

Pneumonia (lung fever) 'T^o

metastatic aoo

cedematous . -7-

" ol.j

with bronchitis . .. -.o-.

and pleurisy jyo

with pleurisy -. oq

Poisoning, arsenical o -

lead OQ oot)

Poll evil '~:"

Polypus, nasal _ _ _ „„

pharyngeal ' _"_" g~

Polyuria - --- .-

Potatoes as feed *. q.

Powder?, how to administer ~q

Presentations, natural -,,.\

wrong j-.^

Pregnancy, care of mare during . _ ' ^ -o

constipation during -,-1

duration of i -.-,

mdications of ^-r,

ovarian, tubal, and abdominal : 153 ^ -^

paralysis during ' . -^

Proud flesh :-::::."";::;::::::::::"" lit

Pruritus ^ ..,

Psoroptic acariasis ^~^

Ptosis..... -----!-!"i!!---!!"" ';'!]";!;;;"; o^o

Ptyalism .^^

Pulse ---!!!'^!!-"""!!^' 107 oog

Pumiced sole _ * T^-

_ ^2^^

Purpura hemorrhagica ( anasarca) 049 500

Pnstules with inflammation ' ~^''44.0

Pya^-mia ---------.!"!!!"'!!!! 423

Qunrter-cracks .f,.

Quiddmg q^

^"^"•^^ ---,---- ^"--"---"""""^^^V380,474

cartilaginous o^^rj

cutaneous ..y,

subhorny _ oo~

tendinous qo_£

Rabies .. I"-.'!''.! '!"!!!"! 221,542

Rectum, impaction of _ , ' yZ

paralysis of "' ^^^

Respiration ' "!

Respiratory organs, diseases of ...../ 80

Retinitis " ^^^^

Rheumatic fever, remedies for .„ ..,.. 49O

572

Page.

Ringbone _.. 294,412

Ringworm, circinate . . 451

honeycomb _ 452

Roaring 103, 208

Rodent nicer - . - 451

Roots as feed 21

Rnpture (see also Hernia) . . 51

of arteries 246

the diaphragm 138

heart 243

liver 58

shank muscle (flexor metatarsi) 351

stomach . . _ 32

suspensory ligament .-. 377

the womb 164

Rye as feed 21

Saddle galls 468

Saliva, excessive flow of 26

Sand-cracks 405

Sarcocele 140

Sarcoptic acariasis ". 452

Scalds 457,468

Scalma 511

Seal J' skin diseases 442

Scapula, fracture of 323

Scarlatina (anasarca) 502

Scarum 320

Sclerosis, cerebral 193

spinal 211

Scorpion, sting of 456

Scour . 47

Scratches 445

Scrotum, dropsy of 141

Secretions 109

Self-abuse 142

Septicaemia . 423, 504

Sheath, calculi in 88

swelling of 146

Shingles (herpes) 443

Shivering (chorea) 204

Shoe boil 353

Shoeing, article on 545

bad methods of . 546

finishing touches in . . 554

for specific purposes 556

winter 555

nail prick in . _ _ Z... 402

preparing the foot for ... 549

use of nails in 553

Shoes, best form of ..... . 550

Charlier pattern of 553

fitting of - 553

various styles of 556

Shoulder, dislocation of joint of „ . . . 338

573

Shonlder, lameness of _ 3^j

Shoulder-blade (scapula) . fracture of _ 303

Sidebones .'.'"296,411,423

Sitfasts^ ^^9

Skin, bleeding eruptions of 443

disease, scaly ... 442

diseases of ""' 433^436

nervous irritation of _ , 442

structure of 434

thread worms in 443

Sleepy staggers _ oq-

Slobbering (ptyalism) ~o(5

Snake bites 4-g

Softening of the brain j93

Sole, pumiced 4^-

Sore mouth ' ^^

throat- _ Qg

Sores, summer, from thread worm 443

Spasms, causes of

of diaphragm iq-t

glottis '203

intestines. 39

^^^J'^^ .VV/\V" 103

neck of bladder 1^^ oqq

202
203

womb

166

thigh or hind limb . 203

Spavin, blood or bog 003

bo^^ -- -- ---------- --'^^-""^""""^ 297

occult c,Qg

Spaying ...[]].]. I47

Speedy-cuts 3g2 3^3

Spermatic cord, strangulated ' j4g

tumors on. from castration . _ _ 247

Spinal anaemia c,.n

compression 013

concu.ssion oj,

congestion and hyperaemia ojo

cord ^liy~y[" ^89

hemorrhage 213

^^^^«-- — -----------------!!-----"!";■!!:;-■::: m

sclerosis 219

tumors _ 0^ t

Splenic fever " f.^-

Splints .-.--..."....--.." 290

Sprains, causes and treatment of 34j

of the elbow muscles 343

hiP*^ - --"-----^;""^"!!!!;!!" 344

ligaments and tendons 377

loins ^-""-"ll!l!^"!;i"! 367

shoulder 34^

Springhalt (stringhalt) 204 365

Sprung knees ' ~ " p ,g

Staggers, mad or blind jgj !^jg

^^«^py :-------"--"!"";;!-!;-";;;;;;:; "205

574

Page.

Staggers, stoinacli 30

Stallions, castration of , . 144

Staphyloma 276

Sterility 148

Stethoscope, use of - _ 110

Stiffness of joints (anchylosis) from injuries 336

Stifle- bone (patella) , false dislocation of 339

Stings 455

Stocking 475

Stomach, diseases of - 30

gorged 30

inflammation of 33

rupttire of 33

staggers 30

tympanites of (bloat) 31, 41

Stomatitis 25

Stone in the bladder 85, 166

gall bladder 59

intestines 44

kidney 83

sheath 88

stomach 43

ureter _. 84

urethra 87

Strangles . 508

Straw as feed . 20

Stringhalt 204,365

Stye 263

Summer sores -•- - 443

Sunstroke 197

Surfeit 441

Suppuration, excessive 504

Superpurgation 48

Suspensory ligament, rui^ture of 377

Sweeny 843

Syncope 233

Synovial fluid, escape of 334

sacs, diseases of 333

Synovitis 332,334

Tail, paralysis of 209

Tape- worms 38

Tarantula, bite of 456

Tear ducts, inflamed 265

Teats, diseases of 184

Teeth, aching 24

diseases of 23

irregularities of 23

Teething :. 23

Temperatui'o 108

Tendons, diseases of 341

lacerated 349

wounds of 467

Testicles, abnormal number of 141

congestion and inflammation of 139

.075

Testicles, degeneration of j^l j

enlarged and hardened (sarcocele) 140

thickening of cord of ( varicocele) 141

Tetanus
Thick wind

--- 219

Thoronghpm g^g

Thread worm

Throat, soreness of

Thrombus and embolism

Thrush

Ticks.

Tinea tonsurans.

475
427
405
25
24
100
263
132

443

gy

:. 246

Thumps 137 203

454

451

Tip (shoe) , form of ^^j^

Tissues, animal

Toe, turning up of

Toe-cracks .

Tongue, inflammation of

Toothache

Tracheotomy, operation of

Trichiasis

Tuberculosis (consumption)

Tumors, black pigment 055 4^0

in vagina and pelvis " 'jgo

of a nerve ^ '_

the cranium ^^q

eyeball 2„g

foetus... T-,-.

^^^

haw . „„_

- ~0o

Kidnej's r-o

nostrils '^"^"!^!! 93

spermatic cord " ^^

spine !!!!!^!!!!!! 214

udder , !j'o:-

Twins, delivery of ^Ji

Tympanites

Typhoid fever {f;ce also Influenza) 40.

Udder, diseases of

tumors of ^„_

Ulcers of cornea. ^„„

Urachus, persistent. ~

Urtemia ^^3

Urethra, inflammation of " ' ""iZ

stone in „„

stricture of.... ^^

Urinary organs, diseases of q.

Urine, bloody

brownish or black go

discharge of , by navel ~o

examination of po

excessive secretion of g.

sweet (glycosuria) . gr

Urticaria ....

^1-1

Uterus. (-S'eeWomb.)

576

Page.

Vachette clasp for toe-crack 407

Vagina, constriction of ... . . 167

effusion of blood in walls of 165

rupture of 167

tumors in 163

Varicocele ... 141

Variola _ 521

Varix 249

Veins, dilated or varicose 249

Veins, diseases of 248

entrance of air into 249

Vertigo (megrims) 195

Volvulus 47

Warts 450

on the penis " 142

teats 185

Water, amount required for drink 15

impurities of 16

time for giving 16

Wheat as feed 21

Whistling 105

Wind colic (tympanites) 31, 41

Wind-broken . 132

Windgalls , 332,375

Windpipe 106

Withers, fistulous 471

Wood ticks 454

Womb, constriction of neck of . 166

cystic disease of walls of. 154

drojjsy of 155

eversion of 180

rupture or laceration of 182

spasm of neck of 166

twisting of neck of 164

Worms, intestinal , 38

Wounds and their treatment 461

by shoe-calks 379

gunshot 467

incised or cut 457, 461

lacerated and contused 457, 462

near the nostrils - 91

of the skin 457

tendons i 467

punctured 457, 464

Yellows 57

Webster Famib' ' ^"^^i of Veterinary Medicine
CummlnQs ::: . .. .^.-rinary Medicine at

Tufts Universiiy
200W5StbQrOt..^u
North Grafton, MA 01536