Materia Medica.

Aromatic herbs, and will answer the purpose of an erthine pretty well.

b. TOBACCO. Common snuff. In affections of the eyes.

7. SIALOGOGUES.

These remedies are given with a view of increasing the flow of saliva or slaver. They are seldom employed in veterinary medicine, though it is probable that salivation might be productive of good effects in the locked jaw, so fatal to horses, and in the distemper in dogs.

a. GINGER. Amomum zingiber. Sometimes tied about a horse's bit by way of a masticatory, as it is called.

b. MERCURY. Calomel is the only mercurial that can properly be employed to excite salivation in the horse and dog; and it will scarcely produce this effect, if given by the mouth. It is best to rub the gums with it twice or thrice a-day, till the proper effect is produced. See STIMULANTS.

8. EMOLLIENTS.

These are such remedies as are calculated either to relax the body, or to abate acrimony. The former are sometimes divided into diluents and relaxants; the latter are usually called demulcents, although diluents are also commonly given to obviate acrimony.

a. BARLEY. Hordeum distichon. Lin. The use of barley as an article of food, has been already noticed. A decoction of it forms a part of most emollient drenches and clysters.

b. CHAMOMILE. Anthemis nobilis. Lin. The dried flower. In infusion or decoction by way of fomentation.

c. GUM ARABIC. Mimosa nilotica. Lin. In powder. Dose two or three ounces or more, by way of a drench.

d. GUM DRAGANT. Astragalus tragacanthus. In infusion, so as to form a mucilage. In inflammatory affections of the lungs, bowels, or bladder.

e. HOG'S LARD. An ingredient in most ointments and liniments.

f. LINSEED. Linum usitatissimum. Lin. In infusion, by way of drench or clyster. In purging or scouring.

g. LIQUORICE. Glycyrrhiza glabra. Lin. The root in infusion, or powder. Seldom employed except to render drenches more palatable, or in powder to mix up balls.

h. MARSHMALLOWS. Althea officinalis. Lin. The dried root in decoction, by way of drench or clyster. In internal inflammations, or irritation from strong purges.

i. OLIVE OIL. A principal ingredient in ointments and liniments, and also frequently given by way of drench or clyster.

k. STARCH. Very serviceable by way of clyster dissolved in warm water, either to obviate acrimony in inflammation of the bowels, and scouring; or by way of nourishment, combined with a little opium, in cases where food cannot be given by the mouth.

l. WARM BATH. Seldom employed, on account of its inconvenience, although it would be probably one of the best remedies in spasmodic complaints.

Receipts for Emollients.

19. Take of linseed, four ounces; Boiling water, three pints. Infuse for some hours, and add to the strained liquor, of nitre an ounce, honey sufficient to make a palatable drench. For two doses.

20. Take of marshmallow root sliced, four ounces; Water three pints. Boil together till the liquor be reduced to a quart, and to the strained decoction add of Powdered gum arabic, an ounce; Linseed oil, two ounces; Honey sufficient to make it palatable. For two doses. The above decoction, before the other ingredients are added, forms a good emollient fomentation.

21. Take of starch, two ounces; Water-gruel, two quarts; Mix for a clyster. To be given frequently in scouring or purging. If they are not kept up for a sufficient time, two or three drachms of laudanum must be added.

9. COOLING REMEDIES.

These are called refrigerants by medical writers, and it is supposed that they act by diminishing the temperature of the body. See Materia Medica. They are peculiarly suited to cases of fever and inflammation.

a. NITRE. Frequently employed in fevers and inflammations, except those of the kidneys, and in catarrh. Dose about an ounce, dissolved in water-gruel, or some mucilaginous decoction, by way of a drench.

b. SAL AMMONIAC. Muriate of Ammonia. Externally, as a lotion, against inflammation.

c. SPIRIT OF SALT. Muriatic Acid. May be employed as a refrigerant in fevers, when largely diluted with water or water-gruel.

d. SUGAR OF LEAD. Acetate of Lead. Employed externally, dissolved in soft water; by way of lotion or embrocation, for strains or bruises; and in the form of a poultice with oat-meal, to check inflammation.

e. GOULARD'S e. Goulard's Extract, or Vegeto-mineral water. Is merely another form of the same remedy.

f. Vinegar. Acetous acid. Employed externally in similar cases.

g. Vitriolic Acid. Sulphuric acid. Useful in similar cases with the muriatic acid, but requires to be largely diluted.

Receipts for Cooling Remedies.

22. Take of nitre, an ounce; Emetic tartar, two drachms. Dissolve it in a sufficient quantity of water-gruel, for a drench.

23. Take of sugar of lead, half an ounce; Vinegar, two ounces; Rain-water, a quart. Dissolve for a lotion.

24. Take of sal ammoniac, an ounce; Vinegar, four ounces; Spirit of wine, two ounces; Soft water, half a pint. Dissolve for a lotion.

Both these lotions are employed in external inflammation.

25. Take of cream of tartar, two drachms; Nitre, an ounce; Water-gruel, a quart. For a drench in fevers.

26. Take of emetic tartar, a drachm; Glauber's salt, eight ounces; Water-gruel, a quart. In similar cases attended with coliciveness. To be repeated every six hours.

27. Take of extract of lead, half an ounce; Distilled vinegar, Olive oil, of each two ounces. Mix well together, into a liniment. For sore backs.

28. Take of marshmallow ointment, half a pound; Sugar of lead rubbed fine, an ounce. Mix for an ointment.

10. Astringents.

Astringents are such medicines as are supposed to produce a degree of rigidity in the muscular fibres, and thus to increase its power of action, or to prevent morbid discharges. Such as are intended to prevent unusual discharges of blood are called styptics. For the action of astringents, see Materia Medica.

a. Alum. Superfulphate of Alumina and Potash. In powder, from half an ounce to an ounce, in the form of drench or ball. In purging, diabetes, &c. Externally by way of lotion, or in a fine powder sprinkled on the part. In grease.

b. Bistort. Polygonum bistorta. Lin.

The root in powder, from half an ounce to an ounce; or in a larger dose, in the form of decoction, for a drench. A powerful astringent in cases of purging, and recommended in hemorrhages.

c. Galls. Quercus cerris. Lin. Nut galls. In powder, infused in boiling water as an external application.

d. Iron. Muriate of Iron. A powerful astringent, though rarely employed in veterinary practice. It may be given in cases of obstinate purging, or diabetes, in doses of a drachm or two, by way of drench.

e. Japan Earth. Mimosa catechu. Improperly called an earth, as it is a vegetable extract. Given in powder, from two drachms to four, in purging and diabetes.

f. Kino. An extract similar to the former, and adapted to similar purposes.

g. Logwood. Haematoxylon Campechianum. Lin. Extract of logwood. Dose from two to four drachms, in a ball.

h. Oak Bark. Quercus robur. Lin. In powder. Dose about two ounces, in the form of a ball. Externally by way of decoction.

i. Pomegranate. Punica granatum. Lin. The dried fruit in powder. Dose from half an ounce to an ounce. Chiefly given in the scouring incident to horned cattle.

k. Tormentil. Tormentilla erecta. Lin. The root in the form of decoction, by way of a drench. An ounce or an ounce and a half in three pints of water, boiled to a quart. In similar cases with the last.

l. Vitriolic Acid. Sulphuric Acid. Diluted Vitriolic Acid. Used externally by way of lotion, in obstinate cases of grease, and to foul ulcers. Not given to the horse internally.

m. Zinc. White Vitriol. Sulphate of Zinc. Chiefly employed externally, in inflammations of the eye, and as a lotion to foul ulcers, and to check inflammation. Seems to have little effect on the horse, but may probably be given to cattle with some advantage in cases of debility.

Receipts for Astringents.

29. Take of powdered oak-bark, an ounce; Powdered ginger, two drachms; Opium, a drachm; Solution of glue, enough to make the mass into a ball. In profuse staining, with a drench of oak-bark decoction after it. 30. Take of kino, two drachms; Alum, half an ounce; Ginger, a drachm; Castile soap softened with water, two drachms; Powder of oak-bark, enough to make a ball. In scouring or purging.

31. Take of white vitriol, Sugar of lead, each one drachm; Soft water, half a pint. Mix. For eye-water, in inflammation of the eyes.

II. STRENGTHENING REMEDIES.

These are commonly called tonics by medical writers. Many of them are astringents, and have been already enumerated.

a. GALANGAL. Maranta galanga. Lin. The root in powder; dose about an ounce. In weakness of the stomach.

b. GENTIAN. Gentiana lutea. Lin. The root in powder; dose from half an ounce to six drachms.

EXTRACT OF GENTIAN. Dose, a drachm or two, in a ball in composition. In indigestion and weakness of the stomach.

c. HORSE CHESTNUT. Esculus hippocastanum. Lin. The bark in powder, or its decoction. Dose of the powder about an ounce.

d. IRON.

SALT OF STEEL. Sulphate of Iron. Dose about half an ounce. Generally in composition. In similar cases.

e. MYRRH. A gum resin. Dose in powder, from two to four drachms, in a ball. In weaknesses of the stomach, and general debility.

f. OAK BARK. Quercus robur. Lin. Dose in powder about an ounce. In general debility, succeeding to violent diseases.

g. PERUVIAN BARK. Cinchona officinalis. Lin. Dose of the powder from one ounce to two. Seldom employed in veterinary practice on account of its expense. Said to be inferior to many other tonics in the horse.

h. QUASSIA. Quassia excelsa. Lin. The wood and the bark of the root. Dose in powder two or three drachms, in a ball, or infused in water by way of a drench.

i. BLUE VITRIOL. Sulphate of Copper. Recommended as a powerful tonic, but requires caution in its use. Dose about half a drachm, gradually increased according to its effects. A considerable quantity of drink should be given, either before or after it. In cases of debility that resist other tonics.

Receipts for Tonics.

32. Take of powdered gentian, half an ounce; Ginger, two drachms; Honey or molasses, enough to make a ball.

33. Take of powdered horse chestnut bark, an ounce; Myrrh, in powder; Castile soap, each a drachm; Water, enough to make a ball.

34. Take of powdered cassia buds, a drachm; Extract of gentian, a drachm and a half; Honey, enough to make a ball.

35. Take of powdered oak bark, an ounce; Aromatic powder, two drachms; Salt of tartar, a drachm; Molasses, enough to form a ball.

36. Take of salt of steel, two drachms; Infusion of quassia, (2 drachms to a quart of water) a quart; Dissolve for a drench.

12. STIMULANTS.

These are such remedies as are suited to increase the action, either of the whole circulating system, or of some particular part or organ. They are at present usually divided into diffusible and permanent, the former being such as produce a considerable stimulating effect, which is soon followed by a degree of quietness or torpor, proportioned to the quantity that had been administered; as wine, alcohol, ether, and probably opium; the other sort being such as produce no very considerable effect, unless repeatedly exhibited for some considerable time.

Most of the stimulants are called cordials or aromatics; and under this class, we rank those medicines which have been called carminatives, or which are calculated to expel wind from the stomach and bowels, epipogistics or blistering substances; and under this class we may also reckon most of those remedies that are called alternatives, or such as are supposed to produce some change in the constitution or habit of body. The stimulating remedies employed in farriery, as in human medicine, are very numerous.

a. AMMONIA, or Volatile Alkali. Prepared Ammonia. Carbonate of Ammonia. Dose from half a drachm to two drachms, in a ball newly prepared. In the latter stages of fever, attended with great debility.

b. Spirit of Sal Ammoniac. Water of Carbonate of Ammonia. Chiefly used externally. Caustic Volatile Alkali. Water of Ammonia. Used externally mixed with oil into a liniment, in cases of strains, bruises, and swellings of the back sinews.

c. ANISESEED. Pimpinella anisum. Lin. The seed in powder. Dose about an ounce, in a ball. Essential oil of aniseed. Dose from half a drachm to a drachm, in the same form. In flatulency and indigestion.

d. BALSAM d. Balsam of Copaiva. See Expectorants. In flatulent colic or gripes.

e. Barbadoes Tar. Externally mixed with oil of turpentine or sweet oil into an embrocation. In strains and bruises.

f. Cantharides, or Spanish fly. Lytta vesicatoria. Tincture of cantharides. Externally by way of embrocation in similar cases.

Blisters are well known to be those remedies that irritate the skin to which they are applied, so as to raise the scarf-skin into a bladder containing a watery fluid, which is the serous part of the blood. By abstracting this from the general mass of circulation, they produce an evacuation, proportioned to their extent, from the part to which they are applied, and are thus extremely useful in producing a determination of blood from some neighbouring and more important part.

Blisters are of considerable use in veterinary practice. According to Mr White they are very efficacious in dispersing callous swellings, the effects of strains, bruises, &c. Their beneficial effects are very great in removing the inflammation of such parts as are remote from the surface. In inflammations of the internal parts of the foot, they generally give relief when applied to the part, especially if the auxiliary remedies are not neglected, such as raising the hoof, paring the sole, soaking the horny part of the foot in warm water, or by the application of a poultice to it, and administering a purging medicine. For curbs, wind-galls, spavins, &c., no remedy is more efficacious than blistering. It is also productive of salutary effects in inflammation of the internal organs. For instance, when the lungs are inflamed, the determination of blood to the diseased part is lessened by extensive blistering of the sides, and considerable relief is afforded in this way.

By the unskilful treatment of broken knees, a callous swelling is often left in the part, for the removal of which it is always necessary to have recourse to blistering. If blisters are freed from all caustic ingredients, and properly made, no injury to the hair will result from their application; and if one should fail of producing the desired effect, the practice may be followed without danger till that object is attained.

g. Blue Vitriol. Sulphate of Copper. Employed externally to foul ulcers, either in solution, or by touching their edges with a crystal of it; to produce healthy granulations. Also in some inflammations of the eye by way of lotion.

h. Burgundy Pitch. As an ingredient in stimulating ointments and plasters.

i. Capsicum, or Cayenne Pepper. Cap. annum. Lin. The dried pod in water. Dose about a drachm, in a ball, with milder stimulants. In flatulence and indigestion.

k. Caraway. Carum carvi. Lin. The seeds and their essential oil. Dose of the oil from half a drachm to a drachm, in a ball, as prescribed presently. In weakness of the stomach, flatulence, and indigestion.

l. Cassia. Laurus cappa. Lin. The bark and flowering buds in powder. Dose, from one to three drachms. Used as an ingredient in many cordial medicines. Chiefly for affections of the stomach.

m. Cloves. Eugenium caryophyllata. Lin. The flowering buds.

n. Oil of Cloves. Dose, 20 or 30 drops. In gripes and sickness of the stomach.

o. Cummin. Cuminum cyminum. Lin. The seeds and their essential oil. In a dose of from half a drachm to a drachm, in similar cases.

p. Oil of Cummin. Dose, from half a drachm to a drachm. In flatulent colic.

q. Fennel. Anethum fæniculum. Lin. The seeds in powder. Dose, an ounce or two.

r. Ginger. Amomum zingiber. Lin. The root in powder. One of the most useful stimulants, and preferable to most others in veterinary practice. Dose, a drachm or two. In weakness of the stomach, indigestion, and flatulent colic.

s. Grains of Paradise. Amomum grana paradisi. Lin. The seeds. Chiefly employed as a stimulant for cattle, as a cordial. Dose, from three to six drachms.

t. White Hellebore. Veratrum album. Lin. The root in powder. Chiefly used externally in blisters, and for diseases of the skin. Formerly employed as a purge for horses, but now deservedly exploded, as by far too violent.

u. Horse Radish. Cochlearia armoracia. Lin. The fresh root in infusion or distilled water. In flatulence and indigestion.

v. Mercury. Calomel. Dose, from 15 grains to half a drachm. In farcy, glanders, &c. Wherever calomel or other mercurial preparations are given, the animals should be kept warm, should drink their water a little warmed, and should take regular exercise in dry weather.

w. Corrosive Sublimate. Muriate of Mercury. Employed internally in solution, in doses of about 15 grains, gradually increased. In farcy and glanders. Externally by way of lotion, to foul ulcers and eruptions of the skin. No preparation of mercury seems to produce so great a degree of weakness in the horse as this. Its effects must therefore be carefully watched; and besides the regulations laid down above; the horse must be kept on a more nourishing diet than usual.

x. Red Precipitate. Nitrated Oxide of Mercury. Externally to ulcers, either sprinkled on their surface, or mixed into an ointment; in which latter form it is very useful in chronic inflammation of the eyes.

y. Nitrate of Mercury. See Receipts, No 49.

z. Mint. Mentha sativa. Lin. The essential oil. Dose, about a drachm. In weakness of the stomach, &c.

a a. Mustard. Sinapi nigrum. Lin. The seed in powder. Externally mixed with water into a paste, or sinapisin, in cases of internal inflammation.

b b. Peppermint. Mentha Piperita. Lin. The essential oil. Dose, about half a drachm. In similar cases with mint.

c c. Pepper. Piper nigrum. Lin. Dose, from half an ounce to an ounce, in powder. In flatulent colic.

d d. Spirits. Whisky, Gin, or Brandy. Dose, from a gill to half a pint. To cattle in the flatulence proceeding from eating too much green food.

e e. Salt. Muriate of Soda. Given with good effect to sheep in the rot.

f f. Tar. Commonly given by country farmers to cattle when thrown from clover.

g g. Turpentine. Oil of Turpentine. Dose, an ounce or two. In flatulent colic. Externally by way of embrocation. In cases of indurated swellings, strains, and bruises; and for cattle after the bite of the gad-fly.

Receipts for Stimulants.

Cordial Balls.

37. Take of caraway seeds powdered, six drachms; Powdered ginger, two drachms; Oil of cloves, 15 drops; Treacle enough to make a ball.

38. Take of powdered aniseeds, half an ounce; Turmeric, an ounce; Powdered cayenne, two drachms; Treacle enough to form the ball.

39. Take of caraway seeds, and grains of paradise, each in powder, three drachms; Ginger, a drachm; Oil of mint, 30 drops; Honey enough to form the ball.

Stimulating Ointments and Liniments.

40. Take of yellow balsam, half a pound; Red precipitate finely ground, two ounces. Mix well together. For foul ulcers.

41. Take of hog's lard, four ounces; Oil of turpentine, an ounce. Melt together on a slow fire. In similar cases.

42. Take of oil of turpentine, Oil of olives, each two ounces. Mix for a liniment. For strains and bruises.

43. Take of verdigris finely powdered, an ounce; Venice turpentine, half an ounce; Olive oil, an ounce. Melt the turpentine and oil together, and when nearly cold, add the verdigris. For foul ulcers.

44. Take of hog's lard, four ounces; Bees wax, an ounce; Venice turpentine, three ounces; Red precipitate finely ground, two ounces. Melt the three first together, and when nearly cold, sprinkle in the powder. This is Mr White's receipt for the digestive ointment, commonly employed by farriers for dressing rowels and ulcers.

45. Take of camphor, an ounce; Oil of turpentine, two ounces; Rectified spirit, four ounces. Dissolve. For old strains.

Stimulating Lotions.

46. Take of blue vitriol, an ounce; Water, four ounces; Vitriolic acid, 10 drops. Mix. For similar cases, and for the mange.

47. Take of blue vitriol, half a drachm; Water, half a pint. Dissolve for a lotion. In inflammation of the eyes.

48. Take of tincture of opium, two ounces; Water, six ounces. Mix for an eye water. In similar cases.

49. Take of aquafortis, two ounces; Quicksilver one ounce. Dissolve in a gentle heat, taking care to avoid the fumes. This forms a nitrate of quicksilver, and when diluted with a proper quantity of water, is one of the best applications for the foot-rot in sheep.

13. Antispasmodics.

These are such remedies as are calculated to remove spasmodic affections of the muscles, or convulsive affections, and are therefore frequently employed in cases of locked jaw, epilepsy, &c. Few remedies of this class are used in veterinary practice. Such as are more peculiarly of this nature are mentioned below. They generally consist of stimulants or of anodyne remedies.

a. Camphor. Dose, about two drachms, in a ball combined with opium and stimulants. In locked jaw.

b. Ether. Sulphuric Ether. One of the most powerful antispasmodics. Dose, about an ounce, mixed with a pint of water. This should be given as expeditiously as possible, otherwise much of the other will evaporate. In obstinate cases of flatulent colic.

c. Opium. Dose a drachm or two. The latter quantity generally in clysters.

Tincture of Opium. Dose, from half an ounce to an ounce, repeated occasionally. In most spasmodic complaints.

Oil of Turpentine. Dose, about two ounces. In flatulent colic.

Receipts.

50. Take of camphor, a drachm; Essence of peppermint, two drachms. Grind together, and add Of water, a pint; Ether, half an ounce. Mix. To be given immediately. In violent cramp of the stomach.

51. Take of tincture of opium, an ounce; Oil of juniper, two drachms; Dulcified spirit of nitre, a drachm; Water a pint. Mix.

52. Take of tincture of opium, two ounces; Cold water-gruel, a quart. For a clyster. To be repeated frequently. In locked jaw.

Anodynes.

14. Anodynes

Are those remedies which are given for the purpose of procuring sleep, or alleviating pain. They are commonly called narcotics, and many of them are by most medical writers denominated sedatives.

a. Fox Glove. Digitalis purpurea. Lin. Leaves in powder. Dose, half a drachm, increased gradually according to its effect. In violent internal inflammations and swelling of the legs.

b. Hemlock. Conium maculatum. Lin. Leaves in powder. Dose, about a drachm, gradually increased.

Extract of Hemlock. Dose, about a drachm. In obstinate coughs attended with irritability.

c. Henbane. Hyoscyamus niger. Lin. The leaves in powder, or the seeds. Dose, about a drachm.

Extract of Henbane. Dose, about a drachm. A solution of this extract has been found useful, applied to the eye, in chronic inflammation.

d. Hop. Humulus lupulus. Lin. The dried cones in powder. Dose, a drachm or two, in a ball.

The hop has been shewn to be a powerful narcotic, and has succeeded in producing sleep in some cases where opium has failed. It has not yet been introduced into veterinary practice; but we think it deserves a trial, as being much cheaper than opium.

e. Opium. Dose, about a drachm by the mouth, and two drachms in a clyster.

f. Poppy. Papaver somniferum. Lin. The dried heads boiled in water, by way of fomentation.

Receipts.

53. Take of opium, a drachm; Powdered antifeeds, half an ounce; Caftile soap, two drachms; Molasses, enough to make a ball.

54. Take of camphor, a drachm and a half; Opium, a drachm; Ginger, two drachms; Honey, enough to form the ball.

55. Take of tincture of opium, two drachms; Decoction of poppyheads, a quart. Mix for a clyster.

56. Take of extract of hemlock, two drachms; Peppermint water, half a pint; Ether, half an ounce. Dissolve the extract in the water, and add the ether at the moment of exhibition. For a drench. In putrid fever, or gangrene.

57. Take of bruised poppyheads, four ounces; Hemlock leaves green, a large handful. Boil gently in a gallon of water for about an hour, and strain the decoction. In wounds and bruises attended with considerable irritability.

15. Worm Medicines.

There are few cases in which worm medicines are given in veterinary practice. In the horse they are seldom required, and do not often prove effectual. In the dog, indeed, they have been applied more frequently, and may be used with more probability of success. The remedies of this class are generally of two kinds, either such as are violent purgatives, and in this way expel the worms by the violence of their operation; or, they are such as act mechanically on these animals, irritating and tearing their tender bodies, and thus forcing them to relinquish their situation.

a. Castor Oil. Dose, about half a pound.

b. Gamboge. Dose, two or three drachms in a ball.

c. Mercury. Calomel. Dose for a horse, two or three drachms; for a dog, about half a drachm, in a ball with purgatives.

d. Salt. Dose, from four to six ounces, in a drench, or double the quantity by way of clyster.

Said to have proved frequently successful in expelling worms, when followed by a brisk purgative.

e. Sal Indus. A salt lately procured from the East Indies, said to be successful in expelling bots from horses; but Mr White thinks that other worms have been mistaken for bots, in the cases where it has been successful.

Dose, about four or five ounces in a drench.

f. Tin. Powder of Tin. Dose, about an ounce, mixed with honey.

This promises to be one of the most effectual medicines in cases of tape-worm, that are so common to dogs.

Receipts.

58. Take of calomel, jalap, each half a drachm; honey enough to make a ball.

For dogs.

59. Take of tin powder, Quicksilver, of each two drachms. Grind together till they be thoroughly mixed; then add enough of sugar to form a powder, to be made up into a ball with castile soap, softened with water.

60. Take of sal indus, four ounces; Alum, half an ounce; Water, a pint. Dissolve for a drench. For the bots in horses.

16. Chemical Remedies.

Many remedies are given internally, or applied externally, which seem to act merely chemically, either by combining with an acid or alkali, and thus neutralizing it, by checking putrefaction, or correcting the ill smell that is produced by it; or, in external applications, by destroying or corroding the parts to which they are applied. This class will therefore comprehend,

1. All those medicines that have been called antacids or absorbers, which are given to correct acidity in the stomach and bowels.

2. Antalkalines, or those acid substances that are given more rarely to correct alkalinefence.

3. Antiseptics, or those that are supposed capable of obviating putrefaction.

4. Caustics or cauterities, which are intended to corrode the skin, or to take down fungous or proud flesh in ulcers.

a. Alum. Burnt Alum. Sometimes applied to ulcers, to wear down proud flesh.

b. Ammonia. Spirit of Sal Ammoniac. Water of Ammonia. Dose, a drachm or two, in a drench, for acidity in the stomach and bowels.

c. Antimony. Butter of Antimony. Muriate of Antimony. Sometimes applied to foul ulcers. A violent caustic.

a. Charcoal.

Given internally in powder, to correct the bad smell in violent purging; and when powdered fine, may be sprinkled on large stinking sores, with the same intention.

e. Lime. Lime-water. Dose about a quart, in acidity of the stomach.

f. Chalk. Carbonate of Lime. Dose, an ounce or two. In violent purging attended with acidity.

g. Silver. Lunar Caustic. Nitrate of Silver. Employed to eat down proud flesh, or destroy horny excrescences.

h. Spirit of Salt. Dose about two drachms, mixed with a quart of water by way of drench.

i. Vinegar. Given internally as an antiseptic, diluted with an equal quantity of water, or used externally to wash foul ulcers.

k. Vitriolic Acid. Dose, a drachm or two, as under spirit of salt.

l. Yeast or Barm. Employed to make fermenting poultices in cases of stinking ulcers.

Receipts.

61. Take of prepared chalk, an ounce; Powdered ginger, two drachms; Honey enough to make a ball. In purging attended with griping.

62. Take of purified soda in powder, Powdered gentian root, each two drachms; Powdered calisia, a drachm; Treacle enough to form a ball. In indigestion, with acidity of the stomach and bowels.

63. Take of charcoal in powder, Powdered oak bark, each an ounce; Treacle enough to make a ball. In violent purging, producing very fetid stools.

64. Take of oat meal, Powdered charcoal, of each four ounces; Thin yeast, a sufficient quantity to make a poultice. To be applied to foul ulcers.

65. Take of aquafortis, an ounce, Filings of copper, half an ounce. Dissolve in a gentle heat, taking care to avoid the fumes. For a caustic, in cancer of the foot. It may be made into an ointment for the same purpose, by mixing with hog's lard.

66. Take of fresh burnt quicklime powdered, Soft soap, of each equal parts. Mix at the time of using. A mild caustic, useful in destroying parts of the skin where necessary.

67. Take 67. Take of corrosive sublimate, half a drachm; Ardent spirits, two ounces. Dissolve for a lotion. Useful as an application to the callous edges of ulcers.

17. MISCELLANEOUS REMEDIES.

a. EGGS. The Yolk. Sometimes employed among the common farriers as a remedy for broken wind, but appear to be useful only for the purpose of combining oily substances with water.

b. ELECCAMPANE. Enula helenium. Lin. The root in powder. In the form of ointment for the itch or mange.

c. GLASS. Powdered glass is sometimes blown into the eyes of horses, to remove specks on the cornea.

d. LEAD. White Lead. White Oxide of Lead. Sometimes used by way of ointment in some diseases of the skin.

e. DIACHYLON PLAISTER. Litharge Plaister. Employed in making charges or strengthening plasters.

f. BAYS. Laurus nobilis. Lin. Oil of Bay. Sometimes used in ointments for the mange.

g. STAVESACKE. Delphinium staphyfagria. Lin. The seeds in powder. Employed to destroy vermin, being sprinkled on the skin.

h. ZINC. White flowers of Zinc. White Oxide of Zinc. In ointment, to sores and ulcers. Calamine. Impure Carbonate of Zinc. Employed to make the common brown cerate.

Receipts.

68. Take of sulphur vivum finely powdered, Powdered elecampane root, each two ounces; Hogs lard, enough to form an ointment. For the mange.

69. Take of sulphur vivum powdered, four ounces; Salt butter, six ounces; Train oil, Oil of turpentine, each one ounce. Mix well together into an ointment. These two ointments are useful applications in the mange.

70. Take of hogs lard, four ounces; Tar, two ounces. Melt together into an ointment. Employed to anoint the backs of sheep or cattle, when bitten by the gad-fly.

71. Take of Burgundy pitch, four ounces; Barbadoes tar, six ounces; Bees wax, two ounces; Red lead, four ounces. Melt the pitch, tar, and wax together, and when the mixture is nearly cold, stir in the red lead, and continue stirring till it is firm. This is Mr White's receipt for making charges, or strengthening plasters. In cases of wind-galls and old strains.

Before concluding this part, it will be proper to make a few observations, on the custom that prevails so much among grooms and farriers, of administering medicine to horses, by way of preservatives of health, or preventives of disease. It is very common among these gentlemen to bleed or physic a horse at least twice a-year, viz. medicines in the spring and fall, though he be in never such to honest good health, or good condition; to give him sulphur and antimony now and then to keep his coat fine; and to administer a cordial ball, or a dose of diapente occasionally to improve his appetite. If he is to undergo any unusual exertion, as riding or hunting, it is judged necessary by these sagacious practitioners to prepare him for the work, by bleeding, purging, and sweating below a load of body clothes in a clothe, hot stable. In pursuing this custom, they indeed only imitate what they practice on themselves on similar occasions. As they deem it necessary to have themselves bled every spring and fall, or once a-quarter, to take physic once a-month, and to sweat themselves to make them ride or run more lightly in a jockey match, they naturally conclude that their horses should be treated in the same manner, and should undergo the same preparation.

If an animal is in a perfect state of health, nothing more is required to render him capable of performing the functions for which he is intended. It is only when there appears some derangement of the system, or when the state of the body is such as to threaten the attack of some dangerous disease, that it is necessary to call in the assistance of medicine. We shall soon have occasion to mention cases of this kind, and to show how the threatened danger is to be avoided. It must be remembered that those substances that are called medicine, are such as produce some effect on the body, that is in general either unnatural, or is greater than what commonly takes place in a state of perfect health. If then we give medicines to an animal in this healthy state, we either excite the organs to some unusual exertion, or we check those exertions that are natural and healthy; and in either case, we must do harm. Besides the custom of giving medicines when they are unnecessary, renders them less efficacious when they are absolutely required, to ward off or obviate any disease. It is found that most remedies, when employed habitually, require to be increased in quantity in order to produce the same effect, and if continued too long they sometimes cease to produce their effect at all. With respect to some remedies, it is found that their habitual use is attended with dangerous consequences. Frequent bleeding tends to produce faintness, and a plethoric state of the body; the frequent use of cordials and astringents stimulates the circulation too much, and produces such a rigidity of the fibres, as lays the foundation of apoplexy, palsy, and other dangerous disorders. It is well known too, that when the action of the stomach is too much excited by the habitual use of stimulants, it in time loses its tone, and becomes incapable of healthy digestion, unless roused by a greater quantity of its accustomed stimulus. It is therefore obvious that when an animal is in perfect health, all that is required to keep him so, is the proper regulation of diet, exercise, cleanliness, and other circumstances that have been mentioned in the fourth part of this article.

We cannot better illustrate the absurdity of the usual care methods methods of preparing horses for a race, than by the following cale, which fell under the observation of Mr Clark of Edinburgh. "Two military gentlemen betted their horses to run against each other on the sands of Leith for a considerable sum, and this was to take place three weeks after the bet. The horses were to be ridden by their own grooms. Captain R's was a poney about 13½ hands; Captain M's was a gelding about 15 hands high. Both grooms were bred at Newmarket, and were keen advocates for bleeding and purging, though both the horses had been kept on dry food, and in the best order, and the interval of time for such treatment was very short. This bleeding and purging was in order to prepare them the better for running. Captain M's horse was bled once, and purged twice. Captain R's was bled once and purged once. Both were sweated in the stable with a great load of clothes; and their stables, though separate, were kept uncommonly hot, and closely shut up day and night, though it was in the midst of summer. From this treatment the horses soon lost their appetite, and in the course of eight or ten days their strength was so much exhausted, that they were scarcely able to go through their usual exercise on the sands. In this situation Captain R. considered his bet as lost, and expected nothing less than the loss of his poney, on which he set a high value. Luckily, however, the groom, who was rather corpulent, had put himself under a course of physic, to bring himself down to the proper weight, and was unable to proceed in his plan of purging and sweating the horse. The poney was therefore provided with another groom, and was put under the care of Mr Clark, who, seeing the absurdity of the plan which had hitherto been observed, ordered his clothing to be reduced to a single rug, and the stable windows to be thrown open, to admit the fresh air. The poney soon recovered his appetite; and his activity, strength and spirits were in a great measure restored. Captain M's horse in the meantime was continued under the debilitating regimen. When the race came to be decided, though at starting the odds were considerably in favour of Captain M's horse, yet his opponent won the race with considerable ease.

PART VI. OF THE DISEASES INCIDENT TO DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

IN treating of the diseases of domestic animals, we shall class them in two great divisions: in the first of which we shall consider most of those morbid affections which are usually called local and symptomatic, or in general those simple affections of the several functions, that are most easily understood, and require the least complicated mode of treatment. In the second of these divisions we shall treat of the more complicated diseases, or those in which the whole system is more or less affected, and of which the treatment is more difficult, and in general more precarious.

When an animal is diseased, he is affected with some or other of the following symptoms.

1. Of Sensation. He labours under too acute sensibility; or, He is affected with pain or itching. His sensibility is unusually diminished. His sense of smelling is more or less impaired. He hears with difficulty, or not at all. His vision is more or less impaired. He is unusually watchful. His sleep is disturbed; or, He is unusually heavy and drowsy.

2. Of Motion. He is either affected with irregular, involuntary motions or spasms; or, His moving powers are impaired.

3. Of Digestion. His digestive organs perform their functions too quickly. His digestion is impaired; or, He does not digest at all. He is affected with sickness, with flatulence, or wind in the stomach and bowels.

4. Of Absorption. He is unusually fat; or, unusually lean. He is affected with some watery swelling.

5. Of Circulation. His circulation is too rapid; or, It is too slow; or, It is irregular. He has some effusion of blood.

6. Of Respiration. His breathing is hurried; or, It is difficult. He is affected with cough; with sneezing, hiccup. His breath is hot; or, It is cold. His skin is unusually hot; or, It is unusually cold.

7. Of Secretion and Excretion. His secretions and excretions are either unusually copious. He flares profusely. He has a purging; or, His skin is unusually moist. The secretions and excretions are morbidly diminished. He flares with difficulty, or not at all. He is coltive. His skin is unusually dry.

8. Of 8. Of Generation.

His venereal appetite is excessive; or, It is morbidly impaired. He is impotent.

When a practitioner comes to examine one of these animals whose health is deranged, he will naturally inquire into all or most of the above particulars, and they will in general apply to all the four animals of which we are treating. There are some other questions which peculiarly relate to horses, and which it more especially becomes a farrier to ask; as,

- Whether his flanks work. - Whether his ears are cold, or are in constant motion. - In what manner he walks. - Whether he looks earnestly at his sides. - Whether his eyes appear drowsy. - In what manner he carries his head. - Whether he kicks his belly. - Whether he appears delirious to lie down, but afraid to do so. - Whether he sometimes lies down on one side, and then immediately turns to the other. - Whether he lies down and flies up again repeatedly. - Whether he leans upon the manger. - Whether he stands off from the manger. - Whether he paws his litter. - Whether his nose runs. - Whether or not he passes much wind.

It will also frequently be of consequence to ascertain the following particulars.

- Whether the horse is usually in a poor condition. - How did the disorder begin? - How long it has continued. - How long it is since he ate or drank. - Has he ever had the disorder before? - If he has, what was usually given him on these occasions? - Does the disorder come on at any particular times? - Has he been observed to pass any worms? - How long has he been bought, and what price was paid for him. - Was he bought of a horse-dealer, or of a private person? - Of a friend, or at the public market?

Having ascertained the necessary particulars, it is proper to consider whether the disease is of such a nature as has in general been easily removed; or whether the expense and time of cure will be sufficiently compensated by the value of the horse; for it must be remarked, that in general a horse or other domestic animal is worth no more than the price he would fetch at the public market. Unless, therefore, the animal is a favourite, or has some particular good quality which greatly enhances its value, it may happen that the expense and trouble of cure may amount to more than the animal is worth. In such a case it would be both prudence and mercy to kill him, unless we wish to attempt his cure for the sake of experience. These observations of course equally apply to cases that are generally deemed incurable.

Having found that the disease is of such a nature as to give hopes of a speedy or perfect cure, it will next be proper for the practitioner to consider what is the speediest, safest, and cheapest method of treatment. In particular, he ought to consider whether any immediate remedy be necessary, in order to check the violence of the distemper; more especially whether any immediate evacuation is required, as bleeding, purging, blistering, rowels, &c.

He must also be particular in examining whether the disease be of a contagious or infectious nature, that the affected animals may be kept in a separate place from those which have not been attacked.

As the general nature and theory of disease will be considered at large under the medical department of this work, we have only in this article to detail the symptoms as they occur in the domestic animals; to point out the causes and seat of the disease, as far as they have been ascertained by observation and deduction; and to lay down the most approved methods of treatment adapted to these animals. Observations with respect to the theory of diseases would here be out of place, and we shall seldom hazard them, except in some of those specific complaints which appear to attack solely the animals of which we are treating.

It may not be improper to remark, that diseases, like the objects of natural history, have been arranged in two methods. One of these is the natural method, in which they are classified according to their seat or causes. The causes of diseases are the foundation of Dr Darwin's system. In the first section of this part we shall attempt to class the morbid symptoms according to their seat, or the functions which they attack. The other method of arrangement, or the artificial method, is that in which diseases are arranged according to some obvious and remarkable symptoms. This is best calculated for the purpose of recognizing the disease when seen, and is the method employed by most physicians. The diseases in the second section of this part will be arranged in this way.

SECT. I.

CHAP. I. Of Morbid Affections of Sensation.

Most animals are occasionally subject to a morbid increase of sensibility, either of the whole nervous system, or of some particular organ. This morbid sensibility is generally called by medical writers, irritability; but this name is improper, as it implies an affection of the muscular parts; whereas the symptom we are now considering is an affection of the nervous system.

Some horses naturally possess a morbid degree of sensibility, which appears by their starting on the sudden approach of any object, by the peculiar tenderness of their skin that makes them wince and tremble under the currycomb, and by the extreme sensibility that they evince at the least touch of the whip or spur. Such horses are in general very active and spirited; but they require a cautious and prudent rider, who must rather endeavour to soothe and encourage them, than use any harsh or violent means.

This increased sensibility is not easily removed by art, but Diseases, but generally decreases as the horse grows older. It is best counteracted by living in a large well-aired stable, by being kept on hard coarse food, and by lying with as little litter below him, as is sufficient to prevent him from injuring himself against the pavement of the stable. In dressing him, the currycomb should not be too sharp, and should not be employed too freely.

When excessive sensibility arises from a delicacy and weakness of habit, strengthening medicines will be of use, and cordials may occasionally be employed.

There is a symptom nearly allied to this, which sometimes appears. The animal affected gathers himself together, and brings his four legs as close as possible below him, and creeps as it were all on a heap. This symptom often attends nervous diseases, and severe affections of the bowels. It is generally considered as a sign of great danger, and is not unfrequently the forerunner of mortification.

At the commencement of several acute diseases, especially those of the brain, animals betray an unusual sensibility to the effects of light and sound. When this happens, the place where they are kept should be darkened, and they should be as little as possible disturbed with noise.

There is a peculiar restlessness and anxiety with which animals are sometimes affected. This is not unfrequently their only complaint, or at least we cannot perceive that they are affected with any obvious or well-marked disease, but it is most commonly a symptom attending violent disorders, especially of the inflammatory kind; and generally preceding the fatal termination of dangerous chronic diseases. Animals thus affected are continually moving about, and often lie down; if they are at liberty, they seek out the most sequestered and gloomy parts of the pasture, and frequently change their place; if they are tied up, they appear to listen to, or observe, every thing that passes round them; they are restlessly attentive to the various objects near them; but although their eyes appear fixed, and wide open, they do not steadfastly regard any object; they are perpetually turning from side to side, and if they feel pain in any part, they often turn their heads mournfully towards it, sometimes groaning or panting. If this state has continued long, the animals become still more restless, are perpetually shifting about, scraping with their feet, or pawing the litter; their ears become cold, and their hairs bristle up.

These latter symptoms are considered as denoting great danger, especially when the animal looks steadfastly at his sides, or stares with his eyes without appearing to take particular notice of any object.

When anxiety appears to be the only symptom, without any signs of inflammation or convulsive affection, it is generally a mark of nervous weakness, and requires cordial and strengthening remedies, nourishing diet, and gentle exercise without labour; but if it is a symptom of some violent disease; it can only be removed by the general treatment of that disease; and in this view, will come to be considered hereafter.

Animals are sometimes affected with dejection or loss of spirit. This is not unfrequently the attendant of fatigue brought on by excessive labour or unusual exertion; and is therefore most commonly seen in horses. It appears by the animal's leaning his head on the manger, standing still in the same place, and appearing to move with pain or difficulty. His limbs are stiff, his skin hard and dry, his eyes look sad, he has no appetite for meat; if he lies down, he remains immovable, or if obliged to rise, immediately falls again when left to himself.

In general, if the fatigue produced be not extremely great, it gradually goes off with rest and quiet, especially if it has been found practicable to employ the means that are presently to be recommended; but if the exertion to which the animal was exposed, has been too great for its strength, the consequent depression may prove highly dangerous, or even fatal. In this state his urine is crude and watery, and, if a male horse, he seems scarcely to have the power of drawing for the purpose of making water; and his excrements are dry and scanty. If taken out in this condition, he moves with pain and difficulty, trots slow, or lifts his feet very little above the ground, carries his head very low and his ears depressed over his forehead; he often stumbles, and not unfrequently falls on his knees, and appears very little sensible of the whip or spur. If a horse in this state has any sores or ulcers about him, they become hard, or flabby, assume a dull appearance, and the matter proceeding from them becomes thick and viscid. Rowels very frequently dry up; and if he is affected with any eruption of the skin, this commonly disappears.

To prevent the bad consequences that are likely to follow the state which we have now described, it is proper, as soon as we find a horse much fatigued, to spread a bed of litter for him to rest on; and as soon as possible give him a cordial bath, or drench. The strength of this must not, however, be in proportion to the degree of fatigue or depression, as experience has shown, that when a powerful cordial is given in a state of excessive weakness, it proves too much for the animal, and frequently excites fevers or inflammation. The horse's limbs should be bathed with warm water, and then rubbed thoroughly dry. After this he should be left to his repose, and if it be not too late at night, he may in a few hours have a warm bran bath. When a little recovered, he must be gently rubbed all over, but especially his limbs, without currying; he should be put upon a nourishing diet, and exercised but little. These means, varied according to circumstances, will in general bring the horse round, unless the symptoms are extremely violent; when they will commonly terminate in fever, or in some chronic disease, especially dropsy.

The train of symptoms which we have been describing, are most commonly the effect of fatigue; but they may arise from other causes. They are more or less the attendants of decay, and they are generally the forerunners of fever or inflammation of the brain.

Sometimes these animals are affected with a great degree of insensibility or torpor; they are heavy and listless, drowsy; lie much; are not easily disturbed; are inattentive to the objects around them; seem to be insensible to pain, and move heavily and unwillingly. These symptoms require particular attention, as in most cases they denote some dangerous affection of the brain and are very commonly followed by apoplexy or staggers; or by epilepsy; or they are the attendants (especially in sheep) of water in the head. Wherever they are observed to take place in an animal that has been full fed, with little exercise, especially if he appear fat and full of... of blood, and the pulse be found full and strong, the eyes red or heavy, there is danger of apoplexy; and the animal should immediately be bled and purged, be gradually put on a lower diet, and use gradually more exercise. These changes must be made by degrees, because too sudden changes may produce the very effects against which we are guarding.

A great degree of torpor and infirmity is often produced by excessive cold, or by being kept long in an impure atmosphere. Where they have taken place from either of these causes to a dangerous degree, the application of heat must not be too sudden, as it will tend to extinguish the small remaining spark of life, and produce apoplexy, or mortification, where any external part has suffered from cold.

The head may be affected with dizziness, or giddiness, commonly called turn-sick, from various causes. It may arise from great weakness, or it may be the consequence of plethora, or fulness of blood. In the latter case, it is a pretty sure mark of approaching apoplexy or flaggers; and the animal must immediately be bled, and put on a lower diet, with gentle exercise. In sheep, dizziness is a common symptom of flurdy, or water in the head, a complaint which will be considered hereafter. It will be evident that when this affection appears in animals that are lean, meagre, and in low condition, it shows the necessity of a more full and nourishing diet.

The only morbid affection of the external senses, that we shall here consider is blindness, a defect which is of most consequence in the horse, though it may occur in all the domestic animals.

The eyes of a horse, when perfectly sound, have the cornea or outer covering, and the humours that are seen through it, perfectly clear and transparent; there should be no specks, or dragons as they are called, in either; no greenish or glairy appearance of the pupil, and this should readily contract when suddenly exposed to a clear light. Buffon observes, that in a sound eye, two or three foot-coloured spots appear through the cornea above the pupil.

When a horse has a defect in his vision, without being perfectly blind, he appears dull, fearful, and reticent, start at suddenly approaching any object, carries his head high, or to one side; moves his ears alternately, or turns one forwards, while the other is turned backwards, and usually hangs back on his bridle or halter, and lifts his legs up very high.

Partial blindness is a symptom of several diseases in the horse: it usually attends great weakness, especially when this has been brought on by hard work and low feeding; it is a common attendant on locked jaw, and generally precedes the flaggers. It of course is one of the effects of old age.

When proceeding from debility, it generally goes off in proportion as the strength is restored by rest and proper nourishment; when it is a symptom of other diseases, it goes off when they are removed. The blindness of old age is incurable, and in the horse we believe no method has yet been discovered of relieving the defect by art.

It is generally allowed, that it is better to have a horse totally, than partially blind; as when quite blind, he is not liable to start, or be shy; and when sure footed, well fed, and managed by a careful rider, there is little danger of his stumbling or falling.

Total blindness either proceeds from a defect in the optic nerve, by which this is rendered incapable of receiving the impression of light, or from an opacity or muddiness in the cornea or humours, by which the transmission of light through them is obstructed.

The first species of blindness, or that depending on a glassy appearance of the eye, which seems perfectly clear, so that an ordinary observer would not suppose that there was any defect in the horse's eye. On examining the eye however more attentively, it will be found that the pupil is considerably dilated, and preserves the same size in every change of light; not contracting, as usual, when the light to which it is exposed becomes stronger. There is also a greenish appearance of the eye in this disease.

The causes of glassy eyes are not well ascertained. It has followed a blow on the head, or inflammatory affections of the brain or its membranes; but it has come on sometimes imperceptibly, and where these diseases, or any other evident cause has not appeared.

This disease in the horse has hitherto proved incurable.

The most common cause of blindness in the horse, is Cataract, an opacity of the lens, or crystalline humour of the eye. This disease is known by the name of cataract, and is sometimes called by farriers, moon blindness, or a horse that has a cataract is said to be moon-eyed.

It is in general easily discovered that a horse labours under a cataract, as, when the disease is confirmed, an obscurity or muddiness may be seen in the centre of the pupil, occupying more or less of the opening, according as the cataract is more or less extended. The opaque spot is generally of a dull white or yellowish colour. Sometimes the crystalline humour is so fixed to the iris, or that moveable coloured part in the middle of the eye, as to obstruct its motion, and then the pupil retains the same size in every light; or if the adhesion is partial, the pupil of the eye assumes a regular shape.

It must be observed, that in this disease, the iris is not always so immovable as in glassy eyes; though when the cataract is fully formed, the pupil is generally enlarged, and contracts very little on the approach of a strong light. Sometimes the lens comes through the pupil altogether, and floats in the watery humour, in the fore part of the eye.

The cataract in horses is said to be always a consequence of inflammation in the eye, which will be considered in the second section of this part.

The only method that appears likely to remove the cataract, is an operation by which the opaque lens may be thrust down below the pupil or entirely extracted from the eye; but neither couching nor extraction can be recommended in the horse, as the removal of the lens would still be attended with a defect of vision that would render the animal of less use, than if he were totally blind.

Another cause of blindness, and also a consequence of inflammation, is opacity of the cornea. There may the cornea be either a diffuse whitening or muddiness in the cornea, that is more or less extensive; or, there may be specks or warts growing on the outside of this coat, so as to obstruct the passage of the rays of light. Sometimes the opacity of the cornea is only slight, producing partial blindness; but frequently it is universal, and then the horse cannot see at all. This universal opacity of the cornea is sometimes, though improperly, called cataract. It sometimes disappears for a time, and the eye seems nearly as clear as ever; but it generally returns in no long time.

General opacity diffused through the substance of the cornea, does not readily yield to remedies. Attempts have been made, by terrifying the vessels on the white of the eye, or by stimulating applications to the cornea, to rouse into action the absorbent vessels of the eye, and thus remove the opacity; but these attempts seem to have been attended with little success. Specks or warts on the cornea, if they are not too large, may generally be removed by the knife, or by repeatedly blowing into the eye a powder composed of powdered glass and white vitriol. But, if these specks are attended with any general opacity of the cornea, little benefit is to be expected from these operations.

As the skin is intimately connected with sensation, we shall here consider some of the more simple affections of that organ, that are not generally attended with fever. It is not uncommon for excrescences or warts to grow on the skins of domestic animals, particularly on horses and oxen. Sometimes they are hard and firm; at others they are soft and sprouting: in some their root is smaller than their head; in others the base is the largest part. The sprouting kind of warts are called by the farriers anger-berricet, ambury or ambery, and are not uncommon among oxen. As these are largest at the base, they can, like all of that description, be removed only by touching them daily with some caustic, as lunar caustic, or butter of antimony. Where the wart has a small root, it may be best removed by tying a strong waxed thread round the root, tightening it now and then as it gets loose till the wart drops off. It is in general not proper to remove warts by the knife, unless they are of such a firm confidence as not to bleed on being cut, and to admit of the application of cautic after cutting.

There sometimes appears on the skin of the horse, a scurfy eruption at the bending of the knee, or the bending of the hock. The eruption generally appears in both places at once, and is called by farriers, the Mallenders and Sallenders; a term which they have borrowed from the French. When considered separately, the eruption of the knee is called the mallenders, and that of the hock the fallenders.

These eruptions may generally be traced to want of cleanliness, and are, in most cases, easily removed, by washing the parts with soap and water, and applying an ointment, composed of mercurial ointment and camphor; or either of the ointments marked No. 41, and No. 70, in the receipts.

When a horse's skin is hard, dry, and unusually tight about the body, the animal is said to be hide-bound. This tightness about the skin is usually the effect of hard work and improper food; and commonly attends lingering diseases, in which the fat is gradually wasted or absorbed. It must therefore be considered rather as a symptom of disease than as a disease itself; but, as is the case with most remarkable symptoms, it has often been regarded as a primary disease; to remove which, by sweating and relaxing remedies, is the principal object of the practitioner.

The proper remedies for this affection, when it is not a symptom of some lingering disorder, are nourishing diet, with plenty of green food, particular attention to cleanliness, by frequent dressing, and the occasional use of boiled barley and warm mashes.

Horses that have a lean, unthrifty-like appearance, surfeit, with their coats looking rough and rusty, are said by the grooms to labour under a surfeit. Whence has arisen the application of this strange term to an appearance that seems so opposite to what is generally understood by a surfeit, we are not aware; but an affection of the skin, under the name of surfeit, is thus described by Mr Lawrence: Its confirmed state is attended with eruptions, and sometimes with swellings of the legs and joints, and in the latter case is usually to be looked upon, as the termination of some chronic disease, or a consequence of the improper use of mercurial physic. Surfeits are styled dry or wet; in the former, the skin is covered with a thick dry scurf, with scabs, and small hard tumours like warbles; in the latter, a sharp briny ichor issues from the poll, neck, withers, quarters, and hinder legs, in the bend of the hock, causing great stiffness and inflammation; this is probably analogous with scurvy in the human body, and will often attend cart-horses, with foul and unwholesome blood, at stated periods. The too free use of beans will produce the wet surfeit.

"The cure of surfeits depends almost entirely upon internal alternatives, with a very small attention to external applications. As to the latter, perhaps, frequent cleansing, with a good strong lather of soap, is generally sufficient, but where the eruptions are hard and fixed, and the scabs do not peel off, I know of nothing better than to rub them frequently with the strong mercurial unction, keeping the horse well clothed, and giving warm water in the interim. The warm bath if the animal is strong."

One of the most common diseases of the skin among domestic animals, is what is commonly called the mange hottes, in horses, cattle, and dogs, and the scab or itch in sheep. Its symptoms differ but little in the different species of animals, and we do not remember to have seen the disorder well described by any writer. The following description of the mange in horses by Mr Feron, is perhaps among the best that have been published. "The mange is a contagious chronic disorder which manifests itself on the skin, on which sensible eminences of a roundish figure rise up; these being scratched, a fluid oozes out, of a hot and corroding quality, that excoriates the sound skin wherever it runs, in a little time forming a dry, scaly, crusty eruption, which in its progress spreads over the whole surface of the body: and the skin becomes unequally thick, thin, hard, and soft. If the disorder has been neglected, or ill-treated, the animal falls off from his food, grows lean, and the legs swell: in this state the patient has frequent fits of shivering and trembling, and a flight fever arises, terminating in farcy or the glanders, by which he is easily destroyed."

A disease similar to this, if not of the same kind, affects cattle, especially such as are ill-fed, and not kept clean. It is commonly called, by herdsmen, the scab or Diseases, or scurf; and is thus described in a popular treatise on cow-doctoring.

Skin stiff, and sticks fast to every part of the carcass, as if too small for the body. It makes its first appearance about the head and jaws of the animal, with a scurfy, pale, and dry texture; and the beast begins to scratch against everything that comes in its way: it then shews itself along the back, and behind the shoulders; and if timely aid be not procured, the animal will tear its skin till it bleeds violently, which ought to be prevented, if possible, as the scabs which are the consequence of bleeding, much retard the efficacy of the ointment, and the loss of time confirms the disorder.

This disease is incident to sheep in some particular pastures, situations, and seasons, more than to others. The predisposing cause seems to be a relaxed habit of body, produced by poverty or leanness, though some sheep are subject to it that are fat, and otherwise in good condition. The disease seldom seems to originate with such sheep, but to be conveyed to them by infection.

Dogs are exceedingly subject to the mange, and readily catch it from each other. The appearance of the disease in dogs, is familiar to everyone, as there are few more common and disgusting sights than a mangy dog. A dog in this state is very unfit for any active exertion, as the affection of the skin renders him stiff and sore even in his limbs. A friend of ours had a greyhound, that, when he was clean, was one of the swiftest runners in the country, and had gained the prize in many a coursing match. This dog caught the mange, and while in this situation was several times sent in pursuit of a hare; but now, pugs generally escaped him.

This disease has sometimes been attributed to animalcule, such as are found in the symptoms of the itch upon the human skin; and analogy seems to be in favour of this idea. It is, however, evidently connected with poor living, and want of cleanliness.

In the treatment of the mange, we are to rely chiefly on the use of external applications, such as ointments, composed of sulphur, of some preparation of mercury, or hellebore roots. The receipts marked No. 68. and 69. are well adapted to the cure of this disease. Sometimes internal remedies, such as sulphur and gentle laxatives, are required; and the greatest attention must be paid to cleanliness, diet, and exercise. It may be necessary in some cases, especially where the animals that have caught the disease, are very full of blood, to bleed and give cooling physic previous to the application of ointment; and in all cases the skin should be thoroughly washed with soap and water, both before and after anointing. The animals should always be confined till they are quite free from the disease.

Mr Feron, who considers the mange in horses as a general affection of the system, and not merely a local disease of the skin, strongly recommends the use of blisters, which he has seen act as a specific. "The local treatment, and the only one to be depended upon (says this gentleman), consists in a judicious application of blisters, used after the following manner; viz. if the whole body is affected, the one half must be blistered one day, and the other in three days after. This must be done at different times, in order to prevent the cantharides from operating too violently upon the kidneys and bladder; but if this happens, let the animal be bled, and clysters frequently injected. But the best way to avoid this, is to leave off all kinds of internal medicines, during the action of the blisters. When they begin to operate, the skin must be fomented with warm water three times a-day, in order to wash out a quantity of yellow matter, discharged by the action of the blisters, and to encourage the growth of new hair." We do not pretend to dispute the efficacy of Mr Feron's blistering practice in removing the mange, but we doubt whether the blistering one half of the body with cantharides may not be productive of more serious consequences than the disease which it is intended to remove. At any rate, the expense of the method, and the torment which it must occasion to the poor animal, must greatly prevent the general application of the remedy.

In Mr Findlater's survey, quoted above, are the following judicious observations on the treatment of sheep labouring under the scab.

" Sheep that are regularly tarred, or smeared, are seldom infected with this disease. If the disease be partial, perhaps the best remedy would be to clip the affected parts as bare as possible, and rub them occasionally with the common smearing ointment, to which may be added a little Venice turpentine. They should also be washed, once or twice a week, with black soap and water. But if this prove ineffectual, or if the disease has gone to a great extremity, the animal should first be washed as clean as possible, in a pond, or rill of water, to purge away all the accumulated virus, or infecting matter, from the wool. A little black soap may be of great use in washing. Then the whole body may be smeared with juice of tobacco; and after the animal becomes dry, may be rubbed with butter mixed with powdered brimstone; or brimstone mixed with the smearing ointment would answer better. A little of the sulphur may meanwhile be thrown down its throat. If this treatment, being twice or thrice repeated, after an interval of several days, should prove ineffectual, recourse must be had to the mercurial ointment, composed of three ounces of hogs lard, well rubbed in a mortar, with half a drachm of finely powdered corrosive sublimate; or the same proportion of corrosive sublimate, well mixed with three ounces of the common smearing ointment, will answer equally well. The animal being smeared with this ointment, will soon be effectually cured. Meanwhile the diseased animal should be invigorated or put upon substantial food."

In a note Mr Findlater mentions an observation of Mr Loch's of Rachan, that the matter discharged in the scab mixing with the wool, and drying, forms a hard impenetrable crust, which he has observed of half an inch in thickness; that it is vain to think of curing it by any external application, till this is removed; and that you might as well attempt to cure a man of the itch, by rubbing butter and brimstone upon his coat, instead of his naked skin; that the scurf thus formed, must be removed by soaking and washing it with warm lime-water and soap, and scraping it clean to the quick with a blunt knife. It may then be successfully cured by the ointment; or, what is more cleanly and more easily prepared, by means of a lotion made by dissolving half a drachm of corrosive sublimate in a quart (chopin) bottle of whiskey and water. Mr Loch has always Among the insects which prove most troublesome to horses, sheep, and cattle, are those of the genus Oestrus, some species of which are generally known by the name of gad-fly. The best account of these insects and their effects, that we have seen, is that of Mr. Bracey Clark, published in the third volume of the Linnaean Transactions, from which the following account is chiefly taken.

Mr. Clark describes five species of Oestrus, viz., Oe. bovis, Oe. equi, Oe. hemorrhoidalis, Oe. veterinus, and Oe. ovis.

We shall at present describe the effects only of the first and last species.

The Oe. bovis, as its name imports, chiefly attacks cattle, through the skins of which it pierces, in order to deposit its eggs. The pain which it inflicts in depositing its eggs appears to be much more severe than what is excited by any of the other species. When one of the cattle is attacked by this fly, it is easily known by the extreme terror and agitation that seizes the whole herd. The unfortunate object of attack runs bellowing from among his fellows, to some distant part of the pasture, or to the nearest water, holding his tail, from the severity of the pain, extended straight from the body, in a line with his back, with a tremulous motion, and stretching out his head and neck to the utmost. The rest of the herd, infected with the like fear, though not attacked, fly also to the water, or disappear to different parts of the pasture. "Such is the dread and apprehension of the cattle for this fly," says Mr. Clark, "that I have seen one of them meet the herd when almost driven home, and turn them back, regardless of the stones, sticks, and noise of their drivers; nor could they be stopped till they reached their accustomed retreat in the water."

When one of these flies happens to attack oxen that are yoked in the plough, there is often considerable danger, as the animals become quite ungovernable, and will often run directly forwards with the plough, through hedges, or whatever opposes their career.

Heifers, steers, and the younger cattle, are in general most frequently attacked by this fly, the strongest and most healthy beasts seem constantly to be preferred by it, and this circumstance is said to be a criterion of goodness held in much esteem by the dealers in cattle. Tanners also have remarked, that their best and strongest hides have generally the greatest number of holes in them.

The larvae of this species, as of most of those we are to mention, are generally termed lice, but this name is most frequently applied to the larvae of the Oe. equi.

The complaint produced by the puncture of this insect in the skins of cattle, is called puckeridge, and is not unfrequently attributed to the bite of the goat-fucker. For the destruction of the larvae thus deposited, it has been recommended to insert a red hot wire into each of the holes made in the skin; but this is a formidable remedy, and will probably do as much harm to the skin as the bots themselves. A more rational practice that is sometimes in use, is to press the parts, and rub them well with a little oil of turpentine, or some other stimulating application, or a little oil of turpentine may be injected into each hole. The larvae of the *Oe. bovis* are commonly known to the country people by the names of *wormils*, or *worms*, or *warbles*.

During the summer, sheep are often observed to gather together in clutters, endeavouring carefully to guard their heads. Mr Blaine says that this is to protect themselves against the attacks of this insect, which attempts to lay its eggs on the inner margin of the nose, which when it has effected, these eggs become larvae, and creep up into the frontal and maxillary sinuses.

It is not easy to discover the manner in which this insect deposits its eggs, owing to its obscure colour and rapid motions, and to the great agitation into which the sheep are thrown by its attack; but the subsequent motion of the sheep, and the manner in which they attempt to defend themselves against their enemy, leave no room to doubt, that the eggs are deposited on the inner margin of the nostrils.

The moment the fly touches this part of the sheep, they shake their heads, and strike the ground violently with their fore feet, at the same time holding their noses close to the earth; they run away, looking about them on every side, to see whether the fly pursues: they also smell to the grass, as they go, lest one should be lying in wait for them. As they cannot, like horses, take refuge in the water, they have recourse to a rut, or dry dusty road, or gravel-pits, where they crowd together during the heat of the day, with their noses held close to the ground, which renders it difficult for the fly conveniently to get at the nostril.

Observations on these flies are best made in warm weather, and during the heat of the day, when by driving the sheep from their retreats to the grass, the attack of the fly, and the emotions of the sheep, are easily observed.

The nostril from repeated attacks, and the consequent rubbing against the ground, becomes highly inflamed and sore, which occasions their touch to be so much dreaded by the sheep.

It is said that this fly also deposits its eggs in the skin of the sheep, but we are not certain how far this has been proved by experience; although there is no doubt that there are sometimes found in the sheep's skin, maggots that must have been produced from eggs deposited by some insect. They prove extremely troublesome to the animal, eating into the skin, and producing ulcers. If not discovered in time, they may even destroy the life of the sheep. The remedy is to clip the infected parts bare, wash them well with black soap and water, and apply the finemaring ointment. If this does not succeed, recourse must be had to the method recommended in No 337.

When sheep have lain about for a long time in wet and marshy pastures, or have been kept in woods or copses in a starving condition, their fleeces become so completely soaked with water, that the wool rots off from the skin. This is what is called the *pell-rot*. If sheep be suffered to continue long in this condition, they become heavy and low-spirited, and will sooner or later be destroyed. If, however, they be attended to in proper time, they may be saved by driving them to a good straw-yard, pulling off their ragged and rotten wool, and rubbing on a good coat of tar, grease, and turpentine. Care must also be taken, to provide them with plenty of good wholesome nourishment.

The skin of all animals, especially on the most delicate parts of it, is subject to excoriation or chafing. This is of most consequence in the backs of horses fretted with the saddle, and the udders of cows by rubbing against their thighs, when they are cat-hammed, &c., and go close behind. Both the udder and thighs of the cow are sometimes quite raw, and ulcerated. The best remedy in these cases, is to wash the parts well with warm soap and water, and afterwards bathe them frequently with a mixture of Goulard, and camphorated spirits.

The teats of cows are sometimes chapped, which is commonly owing to want of cleanliness in the milkers. When this happens, the treatment recommended above for chapping may be followed, or, if this does not succeed, the teats may be anointed with what is called unguentum nutritum. If the teats are very painful, the cracks may first be bathed with a little laudanum, and afterwards filled up with finely powdered prepared chalk.

There are many other diseases that affect the skin of these animals; but some of them are so trifling as not to require particular notice, and others being intimately connected with some general derangement of the system, fall more properly to be considered in the next section of this part.

**Chap. II. Morbid Affections of Motion.**

The function of motion may be morbidly affected in various ways, but all these tend more or less to impede or disturb the natural motions of the animal.

The muscles are often affected with irregular motions, producing violent involuntary contractions, called convulsions or spasms. These are often symptoms of some dangerous derangement of the brain or nervous system, as locked-jaw, epilepsy, canine madness, &c. Convulsions of this nature, being intimately dependent on the primary disease, can only be removed by such means, as are calculated to carry off the disease, of which they are symptoms. Irregular action of the muscles commonly attends great debility, whether it be brought on by hard work and low diet, or by disease. In either case, it is commonly a very dangerous symptom. We cannot properly consider the treatment of convulsion here; but it will be considered in the next section, when we come to treat of convulsive or spasmodic diseases.

The affection that we are chiefly called to consider of lameness in this chapter is lameness, a very comprehensive term, as it includes almost all the local affections of the extremities. Lameness is a complaint that is exceedingly common among horses and dogs, especially the former; in whom it more particularly demands attention, as it so materially affects the value of the animal. A knowledge of the nature of lameness, and the method of treating it, can only be acquired by an investigation of the cause by which it is produced.

The causes of lameness are extremely numerous and various. We shall endeavour to classify them, so as to render our inquiry as little tedious and difficult, as may be.

1st, Lameness may be produced by a stiffness of some stiffened parts of the muscles, tendons, or ligaments, arising either from excessive labour, from bruises, wounds, or some diseased affection of the joints. It is well known, that when the muscles of an animal are exerted for any unusual length of time, or in a more than ordinary degree, they become fatigued, and cannot for some time perform their functions with their accustomed ease. In general, after proper rest and careful treatment, the stiffness gradually goes off; and in a day or two the animal is able to exert himself as usual; but if care has not been taken to rub him well down, and provide him with a well littered bed, and especially if he has been exposed to cold while sweating and fatigued, this stiffness may continue for many days, or may even degenerate into permanent lameness. Animals that have acquired this permanent stiffness of their limbs, always move with considerable difficulty, when first taken out; but in general when they have been long in exercise, and are become warm, the stiffness and lameness in a great measure disappear, but they commonly return again when the exertion is over.

Where the stiffness has not continued long, it may in general be easily removed, by frequent friction of the limbs, first with a wisp of hay and the brush, and afterwards with some warm liniment or embrocation, such as has been described among the stimulant receipts.

If it does not yield to this treatment, recourse may be had to warm fomentations, and gentle exercise must be persisted in. If the lameness should still continue, it will probably be occasioned by a strain of some ligament, or an injury done to some part of the limb.

Any of the muscular parts may be bruised by falls or blows; and if the bruise takes place on the limbs, or in their neighbourhood, lameness may be the consequence. A bruise is almost always followed by a swelling of the bruised part, occasioned by the rupture of small vessels, that pour out their fluids into the cellular membrane. If the bruise is slight, the swelling will soon subside; but if the injury has been considerable, and much blood has been poured out, inflammation and consequent suppuration will take place, and the part will become an abscess. If the injury has been still greater, and the texture of the parts has been destroyed, mortification will probably come on, and if the bruise be extensive, will be attended with considerable danger.

The treatment of bruises will be different according to the degree of the injury produced. In slight cases the object will be to promote the absorption of the effused blood; and this will be best answered by bathing the part with warm vinegar and water, or camphorated spirit. If there is considerable inflammation, and it is not judged proper to encourage a suppuration, the parts must be frequently bathed with a solution of sugar of lead, with a little vinegar; or, where the part admits of a bandage, it will be better to form a cold poultice of oatmeal mixed up with such a solution, and kept constantly applied to the part and frequently moistened with the solution to prevent its becoming hard and dry. If a suppuration should appear unavoidable, it will be proper to encourage it by a frequent application of warm poultices renewed as often as they become cool, or, where these cannot be applied, by repeatedly fomenting the part with flannel wrung out of warm water. When the suppuration is complete, the swelling must be opened with a lancet, or by means of a seton; and the sore must be treated as we shall presently describe with respect to ulcers. If mortification takes place, the part must be frequently fomented with the fomentation directed in No. 57. of the receipts; and the animal's strength must be supported by nourishing food, and the occasional use of cordial and strengthening remedies. If the mortified part be very extensive, it may be necessary to make incisions towards the edges with a knife, to promote the separation of the slough; or firing may be employed, as directed for this purpose in No. 175.

It sometimes happens that after the inflammation which attended a bruise has subsided, a permanent hard tumour is left, that prevents the free motion of the muscles of the part. This may arise either from a thickening of some ligament, or the cellular texture, or it may proceed from an excrescence formed on the bone, in consequence of the bruise. The treatment in such cases will be presently described, when we come to consider splints, ring-bones, and other tumours that commonly produce lameness.

Horses are very liable to receive severe bruises in the tread, or back part of the foot, either from the tread of another overreach horse, as often happens in the army, by a horse in the rear-rank treading on the heels of one in the front-rank; or, by a horse overreaching his hind foot, and thus bruising the heels of the fore foot. From the manner in which this accident is produced, it has received the names tread, and overreach. Sometimes the bruise is so slight as to be productive of no farther ill consequence than a temporary lameness; but if the tread has been very violent, the edges of the part trodden on may be so much bruised as to produce considerable inflammations, or even a mortification. In ordinary cases it is sufficient to wash the part carefully with warm water, to clear it of dirt and gravel, then apply a pledget dipped in spirits, and bind up the foot, so as to exclude the external air; when the bruise, if slight, will probably soon heal. But in some cases matter is formed, which makes its way downwards towards the sole, forming what is called a quitter. Quitter may also take place from a puncture in the foot, by a nail or other pointed body, the effects and treatment of which will be presently described.

In a newly-formed quitter, it is of consequence to ascertain, whether it has been produced by a prick or a tread. In the former case the matter usually makes its way upwards from the punctured part towards the coronet; and here the practice generally followed by farriers is, to sear the upper orifice with a hot iron, which answers no other purpose than to confine the matter within the wound, where it must produce extensive ulceration and destruction of important parts of the foot. In the latter case, where quitter is produced by a tread, and when the sinus formed is very superficial, the use of the cautery may be very proper; and if it can be so applied as to inflame the whole extent of the wound, it may entirely carry off the disease. According to Mr Blaine, there are two general methods of curing quitter; one by removing a part of the hoof, cutting away the diseased parts, or suffering them to slough off or exfoliate. The other, to apply caustic to the diseased surfaces, introducing it within the sinuses, thus destroying the ulcerated parts, and allowing the healthy parts to throw them off. The latter is called by farriers coreing out a quitter, or as they suppose that Diseases, the core or slough that comes away formed a part of the complaint. Mr Blaine objects to removing the hoof, as it would take up a considerable time before new horn can be formed; and it is probable that in the new hoof there will be a false quarter, which will render the horse unfound, besides that, during the formation of the new hoof, fresh sinuses may be produced.

In the method of cure by caustic, he thinks that the disease may be completely removed in three or four weeks, whereas the other method may require as many months. The mode of applying the caustic is, to examine carefully the extent and direction of the sinuses, and then to fill them up with powdered blue vitriol, verdigris, or corrosive sublimate. Mr Blaine has found that a paste made of corrosive sublimate, mixed up with flour and butter, forms a very good caustic for this purpose. Some of it is to be introduced by means of a probe, to which a piece of sponge is fastened, which must be carefully introduced in every direction, so as to touch all the diseased parts, after which the whole foot is to be bound up; but the bandage must not be applied too tightly. In two or three days the dressings are to be renewed, and this is to be repeated at intervals till the sloughs come away, when a healthy action of the parts will take place, and the cure soon be completed. Another method of introducing caustic, by which the sinuses may be completely filled, is to mix up the caustic with hog's lard, and roll the mass into small pellets within gauze-paper, which may be easily introduced into the cavities.

Many farriers have fallen into a mistake with respect to the nature and treatment of quittor, that has been the ruin of many horses. They suppose, that during the progress of this disease, a bone is formed which they call a quittor bone; and they think it necessary to remove this bone, before a cure can be completed. This error seems to have arisen from an opinion of Lafole, who conceived that the derangement which accompanied this disease originated in the cartilages being affected; which he affirmed were capable of being thus dislocated, but incapable either of exfoliating like bone, or sloughing like ligament; and therefore that to promote a cure, the whole of the lateral cartilage on the affected side must be removed. But his first premises were erroneous, for cartilages are vascular, as we know by their being tinged with bile, and by their being at times absorbed; this is particularly the case with the lateral cartilages, which in almost all old horses are partly absorbed. As they are vascular, they must be capable of living action; though it is slow, and hence, where disease exists, they will exfoliate like other parts. This practice of Lafole has in this country been for some time tried among many of the more intelligent farriers, and was still further propagated by the late Professor St Bel. Many horses have been ruined by this injudicious practice; for the future elasticity of the foot, which is in a great measure dependent on these cartilages, must be lost; besides the necessary removal of the hoof to get at the cartilage, a false quarter almost always remains.

Wounds are frequently inflicted in the soft parts of horses and dogs, and these are more common in the legs, feet, and joints, than in any other parts. The treatment of wounds must depend in a great measure on the part where they are inflicted, and the form of the instrument that produced them. A clean cut made in the muscular parts is easily healed, by applying slips of sticking plaster as soon as possible, so as to keep the edges of the wound close together; or where plaster cannot readily be applied, by taking a stitch or two through the edges of the wound, and tying the strings gently together. When the edges are found to adhere, the strings must be cut away, and the holes which they made will soon fill up. If any considerable blood-vein has been wounded, it will be proper to secure it, if possible, by means of ligature, rather than by applying any lyptic substance. All wounds should be made as clean as possible, before any attempt is made to heal them. Sometimes the wound is so situated that it will not admit of being sewed up; but in these cases we may in general pass silver or steel pins from the edges, at about an inch distance from each other, and twist a thread crosswise from one to the other, so as to form what is called the twisted-suture. In all cases where sutures are used, it will be proper to apply a sticking plaster over the edges of the wound. If the wound should not heal by these means, a formation of matter will take place, and then the sore is to be treated as a common ulcer, taking care that its edges be always kept as near together as may be, by sticking plaster or a bandage.

If the wound is very large, it may excite considerable inflammation and fever. In these cases, if the animal is plethoric, it will be proper to bleed him, or at any rate to administer cooling remedies. If, on the other hand, there has been much loss of blood, or if the wound shows no disposition to heal, and the matter formed is thin and ichorous, an opposite plan of treatment will be required. The animal must be supported by nourishing food, and strengthening remedies.

The most troublesome wounds are those of the feet and joints, as they are in general very difficult to be healed.

Wounds in the feet are not uncommonly produced by the horse treading on sharp stones, broken glass, the feet, sharp bones or nails. These are generally punctured wounds, and will be considered presently. Sometimes a deep wound is made on the coronet, by a sharp part of the heel of the shoe on the opposite foot, or any other substance penetrating downwards between the coffin-bone and the hoof, or between the lateral cartilages of the coffin-bone and the joint. Wounds of this kind are attended with much danger, from the difficulty of evacuating the matter that may be formed, or of producing that healthy action in the parts that is necessary to make them heal. In such cases Mr Feron recommends the application of a blister, extending from the fetlock to the foot, so as to produce external irritation, which may relieve the internal parts. In the mean time the foot is to be kept in a vessel of warm water all day, and a large warm poultice of bran and water is to be applied round it at night. The intention of this practice is to prevent suppuration, but if this should nevertheless take place, and if matter should be formed between the hoof and the sensible laminae; the suppuration is to be encouraged, and we are to endeavour to prevent the formation of sinuses, by rasping the hoof very thin, just below the seat of the wound, so that we may be able to make an orifice for the evacuation of the matter downwards. Mr Feron advises... Diseases, advises to delay this opening as long as possible, and when it is performed, to take care that the lamina be properly pressed after the operation, to prevent coming out through the hoof, and forming an incurable sand-crack, or false-quarter. The bathing the foot in warm water, and the application of the bran poultice, must be continued till the foot is perfectly healed. If proud flesh should appear through the opening that has been made in the hoof, it is to be pared away with a sharp knife, then fired, and covered with a small pledget spread with soft ointment, on which is sprinkled a little powdered blue vitriol. It is evident that, during the cure, the horse must be kept perfectly at rest; and it is recommended to administer diuretics, and now and then a gentle dose of physic, to keep the bowels moderately open.

Wounds in the joints are commonly attended with very serious consequences, as it frequently happens that the capsular ligament is divided, and in this case the synovia or joint-oil constantly exuding through the opening, prevents the disposition to heal. A wound in the joints is common among horses in the army, and such as are employed in hunting; and a horse that has received such a wound in general becomes perfectly useless, from the improper method of treating these wounds that has in general prevailed among farriers. By their treatment, either an incurable sinus is produced, or a secretion of bony matter takes place within the joint, forming what is called an anchylosis or stiff joint. The method generally practised by ordinary farriers is, to inject within the joint a mixture of turpentine and oil of vitriol, a solution of corrosive sublimate and lime water, or some other corrosive substance. The more rational of them content themselves with an injection of tincture of myrrh. All these substances produce such a high degree of inflammation within the joint, as not unfrequently to destroy the animal.

Of late, a much more rational mode of treatment has been adopted by Mr Coleman, and is described in the first number of the Veterinary Transactions.

The following is the method recommended by Mr Coleman for treating wounds of the joints and capsules.

"Where a joint, a mucous capsule, or the fleath of a tendon is opened, the first application necessary is the actual cautery. The instrument most proper for the operation should be made of iron, two feet in length, rounded at the extremity about the size of a small button, with a wooden handle. The temperature of the iron should be moderately red. If it be black, the heat will not be sufficient to produce a proper discharge of lymph, to close up the wound; and if it is white, it will destroy too much of the surrounding parts, and perhaps do mischief to the ligament. Although the operation in itself is very simple, yet some knowledge of the structure and economy of the parts, for the purpose of applying the cautery with the best possible effect, is necessary. The object in view is to produce a glutinous substance to close up the cavity, and before the slough is removed, for granulations below to supply the place of the lymph; but if the ligament itself be destroyed by the cautery, it must, like other dead parts, separate from the living and come away, and then the joint will still be opened. It is, therefore, of importance not to destroy the ligament of joints with the hot iron, but confine its application to the external soft parts. In these cases, it is generally proper to cauterize the whole external surface of the wound; and if the discharge is not immediately stopped, the iron has probably not been applied sufficiently deep, or too cold, to produce a proper discharge of lymph. Where a cure is possible to be effected, the actual cautery will frequently close the cavity and stop the discharge. Sometimes, however, in the course of one, two, or three days, the discharge appears again by the sides of the lymph, and then the same operation should be repeated. In some instances Mr Coleman has had occasion to apply the hot iron five or six times, and nevertheless succeeded ultimately, without the least lameness. The same treatment is likewise to be recommended for penetrating wounds into the chest and abdomen. The lips of the wound should be cauterized, and, if requisite, repeated in the same manner as is recommended for wounds of other cavities. When the cavities of veins become inflamed, some little variation is necessary in the treatment, as accidents of that nature are frequently attended with consequences different from the opening of other cavities, and require a trifling alteration in the treatment. When a hemorrhage takes place, it may be very generally stopped by the application of the cautery; but if this fails, and the parts are too much swelled to admit of a pin, there is no other remedy than to take up the vein by a ligature above the diseased parts; and there may be instances in which it may be advisable to tie up the vein below. In general, however, the actual cautery will prevent the necessity of a ligature; and if it fails, tying up the vein will succeed only in those cases where the vein above is free from disease. In general, the vein is thickened and inflamed, and if a ligature be applied on a vessel in a state of inflammation, the disease will be formed, and the vein inflamed above. In a case that occurred to Mr Goodwin, veterinary surgeon at Oxford, where the jugular vein was tied, an abscess took place over the occipital bone, commonly termed the poll evil. That disease, however, most probably did not originate in consequence of the tube being obliterated, for in most successful cases of inflamed veins, the sides of the vein unite and destroy the cavity. After the orifice of the inflamed vein, from the application of the actual cautery, is closed, a considerable degree of swelling frequently remains, and this may be removed by a blister. When abscesses form in the adjacent parts, they should be treated in the same manner as common abscesses."

A puncture of some part of the lower surface of the foot is a frequent occurrence. It may arise from the prick of a nail in shoeing, from a nail picked up in travelling; or from glass, flint, or any other sharp body. Injuries of this kind are proportioned in their effects, to the parts punctured, and not entirely to the depth of the wound. A puncture of the frog penetrating even to the fleshy frog, is not usually serious, as that which penetrates the sole; hence a wound anywhere at the hinder part may penetrate deeper with impunity than towards the centre, and likewise in the front, though considerable inflammation usually follows from this last. When the capsular ligament is wounded in these cases, the consequence may be very serious, as a stiff joint is commonly produced. When it is found that the capsular ligament has been wounded, the external opening must be enlarged, and a hot iron must be applied to the the surface of the skin that covers the wounded part of the ligament, in order to heal up the internal opening. Considerable irritation commonly attends a punctured wound of the tendon, or its sheath; and it is best removed by enlarging the wound that is made through the horny part, and keeping the feet for some time in warm water. When matter appears in either of these cases, it must be let out, and the wound must be healed in the usual manner.

The most usual case of punctures is that which arises from a nail in shoeing taking a wrong direction, when instead of penetrating the outer surface of the crust, it turns inwards, and thus wounds the sensitive laminae. This is known to the smith at the time by a peculiar feel in the stroke he gives, and by flinching; when, if the nail is immediately removed, and has not penetrated far, the wound heals by the first intention; but if it is suffered to remain, it produces inflammation and suppuration. As soon as this is discovered, a depending orifice should be made for the matter, by making an opening in the line of the hole at which the nail entered. It is always prudent, when a nail has penetrated, and lameness follows without matter appearing, to remove the shoe, and enlarging the opening, to apply a pledget of tow dipped in spirits of wine, which will frequently prevent any future effects; but whenever matter has formed, it is indispensably necessary; for otherwise the matter will proceed upwards, and coming out at an opening on the coronet, it will form a quitter. When by this treatment the matter has gained a depending situation, and the inflammation has subsided, the part may be dressed with any mild ointment; but if the matter should increase in quantity, it will be proper to pour a solution of white vitriol within to promote a stoppage of the discharge, and of the extension of the ulcerative process. In every puncture, when the heat and inflammation appear considerable, bleeding at the toe is a prudent measure, as it unloads the vessels.

Dogs are frequently wounded with thorns in their feet or knees, and the thorn may be so deeply lodged, that it cannot easily be extracted. When the foot is wounded with a thorn, the best application is a plaster of black pitch, which is said to have succeeded when everything else has failed. If there is much inflammation, it will be proper to apply a poultice over the plaster. When a dog is wounded in the knee, if there is reason to suppose that a thorn is left in the wound, the same applications will be proper; and when the thorn comes away, if there is still an oozing of fluid from the orifice, a red-hot iron must be applied, as in the wounds of the joints in horses. If no thorn is left in the wound, a little digestive ointment rubbed upon the part, and a subsequent application of a poultice made with Goulard and crumbs of bread, with proper rest, will probably soon effect a cure.

Lameness is not unfrequently produced by a stiff joint, or what the surgeons call ankylosis. This is generally the effect of an injury done to the articulating surfaces of the bones that compose the joint, causing the formation of new bony matter, which gets between the bones, and unites them together. A stiff joint may perhaps be sometimes prevented by the timely use of blisters and firing; but when completely formed, the lameness is incurable.

2. The second head of causes that produce lamenesses will comprehend strains, fractures, and luxations.

Strains may take place in any of the muscular parts or ligaments, but they most commonly happen in the fleshly part of the shoulder, or in some of the ligaments of the feet.

A strain in the muscles of the shoulder, has been generally called a shoulder-slip, under the idea that the slip-shoulder-bone has been disjointed, or the blade-bone pushed out of its place; but the structure of the parts shews that the former of these accidents can scarcely happen, on account of the great strength of the capsular and other ligaments that surround the shoulder joint; and a dislocation of the blade-bone is, by the extent and strength of the muscles that unite it with the ribs, nearly impossible, unless by such a force as is sufficient to destroy the texture of the muscles, and tear the limb from the body. A strain of these muscles and of the ligaments that surround the shoulder joint, is, however, by no means an unfrequent occurrence, but affections of other parts are often mistaken for a shoulder strain, as we shall see presently. A strain in the shoulder, when first received, is generally attended with considerable inflammation and swelling of the part, which are usually sufficient to distinguish it from other affections. When the strain has continued long, and the inflammation has subsided, the distinction is not so easy.

In cases of recent shoulder strains, it will be proper to draw blood from the plate vein, and if the inflammation is extensive, to administer a purge, and keep the animal rather low, to keep down the inflammation as much as possible; and it will be proper to bathe the parts frequently, with some astringent lotion, or with a warm fomentation, as directed under bruises. A rowel may also be placed in the chest, or a feton in the inside of the fore-leg. Complete rest is necessary; and to render this the more perfect, the horse should be fitted with a patten shoe, and should have a bed of litter constantly below him. When the inflammation has subsided, gentle friction, and the occasional use of astringent lotions, will in general soon restore the use of the limb; and as soon as the horse can bear it, moderate exercise may be employed.

Injuries done to the ligaments and tendons, are also usually called strains; but if we understand by this term, an extension of the strained part, the appellation is improper, since the tendons appear to be entirely without elasticity, and the ligaments nearly so. These parts cannot, therefore, be properly strained, though by unusual exertion, their texture may be so far injured as to produce stiffness, inflammation, and swelling, but will have the same effect in causing lameness, as a strain.

Injuries of this kind are more dangerous than mere muscular strains, their treatment is more difficult, and the cure more tedious. The treatment usually adopted by ordinary farriers, is to apply the same astringent and stimulating lotions, as in strains; but here they commonly do harm, as they generally produce a greater secretion of coagulable lymph, which still more obstructs the motion of the part, and renders the lameness permanent.

One of the worst cases of these injuries, is what farriers FAR R I E R Y.

Diseases.

When a horse trips or stumbles, and makes an unusual effort to save himself from falling, or when the heels are lowered in shoeing too suddenly, or too much at once, so as to throw too great a weight upon them, there often happens such a sudden or violent contraction of the flexor muscles as may produce a partial laceration, or even rupture of the flexor tendon, or its sheath. This injury is attended with considerable inflammation, and the consequent lameness is of the worst kind. A great stiffness and swelling is produced, and there is commonly an effusion of fluid, which is at first serous, and may again be taken up by the absorbent vessels; but if improper applications are employed, coagulable lymph may be poured out, so as to obstruct the motion of the part, and produce that swelling, or permanent enlargement, that we sometimes see in the neighborhood of the tendon, after what is called a strain of the back sinews.

When a horse is strained in the back sinews, he puts forward his leg and foot in a looey, faint, and faltering manner. Mr Lawrence gives the following directions for ascertaining whether or not a horse is injured in the back sinews. To try how far the horse has been injured, let him be walked about for half an hour, when the swelling of his legs will in all probability subside. If you then observe the tendo achillis, or main sinew, distinct from the flank; if, on pressing it with the finger towards the bone, you find it firm and tense; if you discover by the feel, no soft spongy sinews between the flank and the tendon, no extraordinary pulsation, but that all is well braced and wiry, you may conclude the swellings not dangerous. A person of experience, with a nice discriminating finger, will scarce ever fail to detect lameness in the back sinews.

Mr Feron is of opinion that the injury which we have described is not done to the flexor tendon, but to the ligaments of the neighboring joints. He says, that "on the dislocation of a strain supposed to be in the back sinews, we discover no affection in the substance of this part, which on the contrary appears perfectly sound. But on examining the ligaments of the fetlock, coronet, and foot, we find them to be the seat of the disease; we find also, that if the accident has been violent, and of long duration, the whole vascular system of the leg is found affected, but never, or very seldom, the back sinews; it is in this violent state that we observe sometimes one or two swellings along the tendons. It is also on this account that the pain is so great, and so hard to be cured, in consequence of the considerable irritation which takes place in the surrounding parts. So the increase of thickness of the leg, is nothing more than the effect of the disease; but not the disease itself, as farriers, grooms, &c., suppose it to be. Nevertheless, we said before that the back sinews or tendons were void of feeling in a state of health and incapable of extension.*" It may be very true that this injury is not commonly seated in the tendon; but we cannot agree with Mr Feron, that this part is never the seat of it, especially as he himself allows that a rupture of the tendon may take place, of which he has seen different instances. It is not difficult to conceive that the same exertion which when in a great degree is capable of rupturing the tendon, may in a smaller degree produce a partial laceration or a strain in the back sinews.

A horse labouring under this injury, even after the inflammation has subsided, is extremely weak and stiff in the joints of the foot; but when he has been for some time at work, the lameness in some measure goes off. This has led some persons to suppose that a strained horse may be worked sound; but this is a very erroneous opinion, and the practice of continuing to work a horse that has been newly strained, under the idea of removing the stiffness, is equally cruel and injudicious.

The treatment of strains or injuries of the ligaments or tendons must be such as will most effectually prevent inflammation, and promote the absorption of the effused fluid. Local bleeding from the veins of the part, and warm fomentations frequently repeated, seem to be the most advisable; and a bandage should be always applied where the nature of the parts will admit of it, and should be continued till the lameness is removed. Various stimulating applications have been recommended in these cases, as soon as the inflammation has subsided, such as oil of turpentine, camphorated spirit, verjuice, &c., but they must not be employed while any considerable inflammation remains. It is somewhat remarkable that Mr Feron recommends astringent and stimulating applications in the text of his work, and says there that they may be employed with safety; but, in a note at the foot of the page, he speaks of having inserted those astringent prescriptions for the purpose of satisfying the different opinions, but that he is fully convinced, by a long experience, that warm fomentations and warm poultices of bran and water, are infinitely preferable in strains or contusions, to these expensive prescriptions, and are always to be tried first.

It will be proper to elevate the heels of the horse's shoe by calkins, and Mr Blaine recommends that the heels of the hoof be encouraged to grow, or that a thick-heeled shoe be used. If there still remains much swelling, firing will prove one of the most effectual remedies, as it will both promote the absorption of the effused fluid, and will produce such a degree of constriction of the skin as will answer the purpose of a permanent bandage. In such cases the cautery must be applied, so as to make perpendicular lines on the skin.

Dogs are very subject to strains; and where these are strains of flight, a mixture of spirit of wine and oil of turpentine, the fluffia or Strong Goulard, applied before a fire, is the most useful remedy. Sometimes from blows or other accidents, such as slipping their hind-legs, or getting them entangled in the bars of a gate, hounds are lamed in their fluffia, as it is called. In general the above applications and long rest will remove the lameness; but when a considerable quantity of coagulable lymph has been effused, it is not easily re-absorbed, and the lameness continues. When this happens, some huntsmen recommend the operation of cutting for the fluffia, and Mr Daniel speaks of a huntsman who used to perform this operation very dexterously in the following manner. The bone is laid bare by a transverse cut, and upon it is found a substance like a stiff jelly, which is the cause of the lameness, and is in fact the coagulable lymph that has been effused. This jelly is taken away, and a wire is run through the ball of the hind foot on the contrary side, and twisted in such a manner as to keep that leg from touching the ground, so that the hound may be compelled to use the stifled leg. In this way the dogs were always cured. The same huntsman recommended that that when a dog had been entangled in a gate or file, he should, as soon as released, be taken by the hind-feet, and twisted round five or six times, turning with him; and it is said that this prevented any ill consequence from the bruises that he received in the file, while endeavouring to disengage himself.

Some of the ligaments or tendons of the extremities are now and then ruptured. This is not a common case, but it may happen, either to the suspensory ligament, or the back sinew.

A rupture of the suspensory ligament is found most likely to happen to young horses while breaking, and to cavalry horses while under training. The accident is generally called breaking down, as, when it happens the horse appears unable to support himself. The fetlock is brought almost to the ground, and the limb is evidently exceedingly weak; but the horse can bend his foot when he raises it. This circumstance distinguishes a rupture of the suspensory ligament from that of the flexor tendon or back sinew; as, in the latter case, the power of the flexor muscle being destroyed, the horse is unable to bend the foot.

It appears from the observations of Mr Coleman, and some experiments that have been made by Mr Feron, that the flexor tendon has little or no effect in giving support to the heels; but that this office is almost entirely performed by the suspensory ligament. Hence, when this is ruptured, the horse loses one of his principal stays, and the foot is of course unable to support its usual weight, whence the horse breaks down.

A perfect cure of this accident can seldom be expected; and the only way to relieve the animal will be to obviate the inflammation as much as possible, and to elevate the limb, and especially to raise the heels, in order to relax the injured parts. An intermediate subsidence will in time be produced between the two parts of the broken ligament, that will enable the horse to walk and perform some of his functions, but he can never afterwards be depended on for the road or the field.

When it is ascertained that the back sinew has been ruptured, which is discovered by the inability of the horse to bend his foot backwards, it is generally recommended to kill the horse, as a cure is by most deemed impracticable. Mr Blaine recommends to bend the limb from the ankle downwards, and to keep it in that situation by throwing the animal, when he thinks that a perfect cure might be made. There would, however, be considerable difficulty in keeping the limb in such a confined situation for so long a time as would be necessary to unite the ruptured tendon; and after all, there is the greatest probability that a very slight exertion would produce a fresh rupture.

Fractures of the bones may take place in any part of these animals, but they are most common in the feet of horses and the legs of dogs.

The navicular, coffin, and small pattern bones of a horse are not unfrequently fractured, and Mr Feron speaks of a small pattern bone being broken into seven pieces. It is not surprising that these bones should be broken, when we consider the immense weight that is generally sustained by them, and the great exertions which a horse sometimes makes to recover a false step.

These bones, when broken, will be united by a callus, provided that the limb be kept in such a situation as to prevent motion; but this can rarely be effected, even in cases where the bones of the foot are fractured, still less in these cases where a fracture of the larger bones has taken place.

One of the most common fractures of the bones in a horse is that of the ridge of the ilium, or haunch-bone. This bone, from the projecting angle formed by its ridge, is peculiarly exposed to injury; and when the ridge is unusually prominent, as sometimes happens, or when the horse is more than commonly lean, the probability of fracturing this bone is still further increased.

Fractures of the haunch-bone may be occasioned by falls, by blows, which are often given by brutal riders and carters, with the butt end of a large whip, or perhaps a broomstick, and they are very commonly produced by striking the haunch violently against a post, or the edge of a wall, when the horse turns too sharply round a corner, or passes swiftly through a narrow gateway.

It may be ascertained that such an accident has taken place, by the pain the horse feels in the part, and where the fracture is considerable, by the cracking of the parts of the broken bone against each other, but still more certainly by an evident cavity of the haunch, from the depression of the ridge. The muscles of the belly in the upper part of the flank will appear sunk in, especially when the horse lies down, and will form a sort of hollow between the haunch and the ribs. The horse, when he attempts to move, will be as lame as if one of the bones of the leg were broken, owing to the extreme pain that motion excites in the muscles, that before being feverishly bruised, have lost one of their principal attachments.

When an accident of this kind has happened, it is necessary to keep the animal perfectly at rest, as nothing but repose can produce a reunion of the fractured bone. The parts may be gently rubbed with some stimulating liniment, as in other cases of bruises, and some recommend the application of a charge, or strengthening plaster. It sometimes happens, where only a small part of the bone has been broken off, the horse completely recovers his former activity; but more commonly such a deformity is produced by the ridge of one haunch remaining lower than that of the other, and by the callus that forms between the end of the divided bone, as to render the horse more or less permanently lame.

When the legs of a dog are broken, it is easy by means of splints, to keep the limb in such a situation as to effect a union of the broken bone; and we have not unfrequently met with cases of this kind, where a complete cure has been effected in the course of a few weeks.

The ribs of a horse are sometimes broken, either by falls, or from the brutality of their keepers, as by striking them with the heavy handle of a whip or cudgel. If the end of the fractured rib does not penetrate into the chest, so as to wound the lungs, a cure may in general be readily effected, by fastening a bandage round the body over the seat of the fractured rib, and keeping the horse at rest and on a low diet.

Luxations or dislocations of bones are exceedingly uncommon in the horse, owing to the great strength of the the ligaments that surround the joints. These may, however, sometimes happen, and we are by no means of Mr Blaine's opinion, that the immense strength of the muscles in a horse would prove any obstacle to the complete reduction of such a luxation. If, indeed, we endeavour to reduce the luxation by pulling and hauling at the luxated limb, in order to overcome the power of the muscles, and thus produce a counter extension, which is still, we believe, the method generally employed by surgeons to set a dislocated limb in the human body, we shall most certainly be disappointed. But if, instead of this vain attempt, we place the limb in such a situation as that the power of those muscles which are the antagonists of the muscles that keep the limb in its dislocated place, may be fairly exerted, there will probably be little difficulty in replacing the bone in its socket, as the very strength of the muscles will assist us in the operation.

3. Lameness is very commonly the effect of tumours of the mucous bags or capsules, or of excrescences formed on the bones of the legs and feet, or on the hoof.

In most of the joints there are appendages or membranous bags, called burce mucosae, or mucous bags, that are filled with a mucous fluid secreted into their cavities, for the purpose of assiting the motions of the muscles and tendons near the joint. It often happens that these mucous capsules are enlarged either from hard work, which is a very common cause of their enlargement, or from some injury done to the neighbouring parts. When the enlargement is but small, it is of little consequence, but when the bags become unusually distended, their size impedes the motion of the joints. These tumours have received different names among grooms and farriers, according to the place where they are seated.

When the mucous bags that are situated near the paterns become enlarged, the tumours are called wind-galls.

When the enlargement takes place in the mucous bags on the inner side of the hock, the disease is called bog-spavin.

When the tumours are seated in the upper and back part of the hock, between the gemelli muscle and the tendons of the great flexor muscle of the foot, the affection is called thorough-pin.

When the swelling is situated at that part where the tendon of the gemelli muscles is inserted into the point of the hock, it is called capulet or capped hock.

Of all the various swellings, the wind-galls are the most likely to produce lameness, and next to them the bog-spavin. The capulet and thorough-pin are seldom of much consequence.

In the treatment of wind-galls and similar tumours, the object is to remove the unusual swelling, and to prevent its return. The swelling can be removed only by evacuating the contents of the tumour, or by promoting its absorption. The former was recommended by Dr Bracken, and appears to have been successful in a few cases. The tumour is opened with a sharp knife; and when the fluid has been evacuated, an atherotic substance composed of burnt alum, white vitriol, and red precipitate, is applied to the wound, to produce such a degree of inflammation as may contract its cavity. Probably firing would have a better effect. Mr Coleman and the elders of the veterinary college, are much adverse to this operation, and certainly where it can be avoided it is not desirable. Absorption of the accumulated fluid may often be produced by the application of blisters, and other stimulating applications; but this is most certainly effected by producing pressure on the tumour, by means of a bandage applied round the part, with a bolster or compress immediately over the swelling. When the unusual enlargement has been reduced, its return is best prevented by firing the skin, so as to produce a considerable degree of contraction.

Horses are subject to various excrescences on the Splints, bones, or exostoses, as they are called, which, when they form near the joints, or below the tendons of the muscles, generally produce lameness. These excrescences have received various names, according to their situation. When they are formed about some part of the knee or cannon bone, they are generally called splints, though farriers often call the excrescences at the knee oleflecta; and when there are two small bony enlargements near each other, they are called fuzes. The excrescences at the knee are not very common, and when they occur, are generally the effect of a wound; but splints about the cannon bone are very common, especially among young horses, owing to the blood-vessels in them being larger in proportion to the absorbents than in old horses; and hence the deposition of bony matter may, in certain cases of injury, be greater than what the absorbents are able to take up again. These excrescences are easily produced in young horses, by any blow or other injury that is capable of producing considerable inflammation; as striking part of the cannon bone which is the usual seat of splints in what is called the speedy cut, or by producing unequal pressure on one side more than on the other. Although a splint may not be in the neighbourhood of any material tendon, it may still produce lameness by the pain which it excites; but when it interferes with a tendon, or some important ligament, lameness must in general be the consequence.

When an excrescence appears on any of the bones Bone-spin, that enter into the formation of the hough, it is called vin, a bone-spavin. It is most frequently found on the upper and inner part of the small metacarpal bone, or on some of the wedge-like bones on the inside of the hock. In the former situation it is often produced in consequence of the outer heel having been raised by calkins; and in what are called cat, cow, or sickle hocked horses, it is often brought on by their natural deformity, though in these latter cases the excrescence is most commonly formed on the inside of the hock.

An excrescence situated on the back part of the Curd-hock towards its point, is called a curb. This is sometimes formed on the bone, but it is frequently only an unusual hardness and swelling of some of the ligaments.

When an exostosis forms on the lesser pattern bone, Ring-bone, producing a hard swelling round the coronet, it is called a ring-bone. A deposition of bone over the lateral cartilages is sometimes also called by the same name.

The treatment of all these excrescences is much the Treatment, same, and our object must be, either to excite the absorbent vessels to increased action, so as to remove the bony excrescence, or to take this away by means of an operation. The former of these is not likely to be successful, Diseases, except in the early stage of the complaint, when the bony matter is not completely hardened. If the excrecence be discovered in time, blisters are to be applied over the part, and repeated frequently, and strong mercurial ointment, or an ointment composed of corrosive sublimate and blistering ointment, is to be applied over the part, and gentle friction should be frequently employed on those parts of the limb that are above and below the swelling. By these means the excrecences may sometimes be removed; but when they have become too hard, these stimulating applications will scarcely excite the absorbents to sufficient action. The only method to which we can then have recourse is an operation long ago practised by the old farriers, apparently with considerable success. The bony excrecence is laid bare, by making an incision through the integuments, and then the excrecence is cut off by means of a sharp chisel struck by a mallet. After this the skin is to be laid down over the part, and we are to endeavour to heal the wound as soon as possible, by sticking plaster and a proper bandage. Firing is much employed by the French for the removal of ring-bones and other excrecences. Mr Lawrence recommends that in firing a ring-bone, the instrument employed should be thinner than usual, and that the lines described should not be more than one-fourth of an inch distant from each other, being crossed obliquely like a chain.

Sometimes an inflammation takes place on the lower part of the hoof, between the sensible and horny soles, or between the outer crust and the binders, producing a slight effusion of blood, and leaving a considerable tenderness in the part. When the hoof is examined after being perfectly cleaned, there is commonly seen a discoloured spot, sometimes red, but more usually blue, or blackish, like what is seen below one's nail, when the finger is jammed. This affection is commonly called by farriers a corn, (in Scotland, we believe it is called a stone-crop), though it is by no means similar to a corn in the human foot. Horny excrecences which might properly be called corns, are sometimes however produced on the horse's hoof; and of this nature, we suppose, were the corns on the feet of Caesar's horse.

This complaint is always owing to an improper pressure on the horny sole, by which the sensible sole is squeezed between it and the coffin-bone. Hence a quantity of blood is effused from the vessels of the sensible sole, which, if it remains for any length of time, produces an unusual tenderness in that part of the hoof. Corns are generally produced by shoes that are too hollow next the hoof, so as to allow a stone to get between the shoe and the sole, and thus press upon the latter; or it may be produced by the shoe being made too short or too narrow, and thus indenting itself upon the sole between the binders and the crust.

The best manner of treating a corn appears to be, to remove that part of the sole which is immediately below the seat of the affection with a drawing knife, taking care to cut farther than the seat of the effused blood; then to insert a pledgit dipped in tincture of myrrh, into the opening. No pressure must be applied upon the part, and a piece of the shoe opposite the corn should be cut out, to prevent pressure from taking place. The horse must be allowed to stand quiet, on a level surface, and must not be worked till the horny part of the sole that has been cut away shall be renewed; and even then it would be proper to turn him to grass for some time, without shoes, or with very small tips of iron at the toes.

4. Lameness may be produced by many injuries of the feet, brought on by hard work, bad shoeing, or other ill treatment.

When horses are ridden hard on pavement, or hard dry roads, especially if the frog has been pared down, or even the crust cut away too much in shoeing, the battering produced on the hoof frequently brings on an inflammation of the sensible part within. This may happen also to cart horses made to draw heavy loads, under similar circumstances.

When the horse's hoof is not very delicate or tender, this battering sometimes only produces a stiffness, or swelling of the legs, and contraction of the finews. This state is commonly called grogging, or a horse that has his feet thus battered, is said to be groggy.

If inflammation is excited within the hoof, a most painful species of lameness is produced commonly called founder, or the horse thus lamed is said to be foundered. The complaint is also called foot-founder, to distinguish it from a disease which we shall describe hereafter, and to which farriers sometimes give the name of body-founder. This inflammation may take place in any of the feet, or in all; but it is most commonly produced in the fore-feet; and as, from the pain which the horse experiences, he endeavours to throw as much as possible of his weight upon his hind-feet, and appears unable to support himself on his fore-feet, he is said to be down before.

This complaint most commonly takes place in horses; but it may take place in cattle or sheep, brought on by hard driving, on hard stony roads, when sent to fairs, or markets. In these animals, however, the complaint seldom proceeds to such a height as in horses; and it is in them more easily relieved.

The symptoms of founder are thus described by Mr Symptoms. Feron. "Foundered horses have a general stiffness of the fore-hand, attended with a considerable acute pain of the joints, ligaments, and muscles, connected with it. The pain which the animal suffers on moving the joints, obliges him to keep the flexor muscles in a constant relaxed state, which position ultimately produces an entire debility and stiffness of every joint which composes the fore extremity of the animal. If the horse has been neglected, or the disease so rapid in its progress that it cannot be removed, the symptoms will increase so rapidly, that in a very little time we may observe the cuticular veins become turgid and varicose, similar to the lymphatic enlargement in farcy. In this state, exercise considerably increases the pain and violence of the symptoms, the animal falls off his food, his health becomes very much impaired, and a general decay of the whole limbs, particularly observable in the extensor muscles of the fore-arm, soon renders the animal useless for activity."

When the complaint affects the fore-feet, the horse throws his hind-feet as far forward as possible, which leads those who do not understand the nature of the complaint to suppose that the horse is affected with a weakness in his loins. When it is located in the hind-feet the horse throws his body forward, in order to relieve Diseases. lieve the hind feet of their weight. In this case the horse is supposed to labour under an affection of the chest, which has been called chest-founder.

The complaint usually comes on very rapidly, and sometimes appears a few hours after hard riding, or after the application of other causes, that will immediately be mentioned.

It may be easily known that a horse is foundered, as he can scarcely walk on first coming out of the stable, and evidently labours under great pain. Like many other affections that produce lameness, the horse appears to be relieved by exercise, but this relief is only temporary; and exercise only tends to increase the disease.

Mr Feron says, that, on distending the feet of foundered horses, he has frequently found the membranes of the joints thicker than in their natural state, and sometimes a disposition to anchyloysis, or stiff joint; which in some of the joints was evidently observed.

The founder is very commonly produced by battering the hoofs on hard ground. It may be brought on by any causes that are capable of exciting inflammation in the internal sensible parts of the foot. It is frequently produced by walking the legs of a horse, while sweating; and according to Mr Feron, this is so evident, that if we observe the horses belonging to public coaches, in whom this practice is very common, we shall see that fifteen out of twenty labour under the torture of this disease. Founder may also proceed from allowing the horse, while sweating and fatigued, to stand long in a cold, damp air.

In the treatment of founder, the great object is to remove the inflammation, which is best done by bleeding in the veins of the foot, and the application of blisters about the joints. The shoe of the affected foot must be removed, and the toe of the crust may then be pared to the quick, in order to produce a discharge of blood from the vessels of the affected part. It will be proper to pare the whole of the crust as thin as possible, especially at the heels and quarters, in order to allow the frog to come in contact with the ground. Blisters are now to be applied round the fetlock, down to the foot. Mr Feron recommends immersing the feet in warm water 14 hours after blistering, keeping them there all day, and applying a large warm poultice of bran and water at night. Mr Blaine, on the other hand, advises the use of cold astringent lotions, as Goulard or sal ammoniac in vinegar. Sometimes the pain in the feet is so violent, that the horse can scarcely bear to support himself upon them, and indeed if he could remain quiet, it would be better to let him lie down. But if he proves restless, he may be partly supported by means of a sheet drawn round him, with its corners pulled up to the ceiling of the stable by pulleys, so as to let the horse's feet just touch the ground.

The horse must be kept rather low, and if the inflammation is very great, or if there is any fever, it will be proper to administer cooling remedies, such as the drenches marked 22 and 25 in the receipts. The belly must be kept moderately open, and all exercise must be avoided.

Sometimes after the inflammation has subsided, the lameness still continues. This may be owing to the formation of horny matter between the sensible and horny sole. Mr Blaine recommends that this be removed by cutting away the horny sole; but we much doubt whether this operation would be attended with the desired effect.

Founder, properly so called, can take place only in those animals that have horny hoofs; but a similar affection not unfrequently occurs in the feet of hounds, dogs, after a long and fatiguing chase. It consists in an inflamed state of the feet, produced by long running, especially over hard or stony ground. When the dogs come home, their feet are hurt and swollen, inflamed, and sometimes cracked or chapped. The dog evidently feels considerable pain, and if he lies down for a little, he can scarcely be made to rise again. Dogs in this state are said to be stubbed in the feet, and are often so much lamed, that they cannot be taken out again for some days.

When the inflammation is but slight, it requires but little attention, as the dog will himself allay the swelling and pain by constant licking. When, however, the feet have been much bruised, the cracks pour out a bloody or purulent matter, and the case requires greater attention. The feet should be first bathed with warm water, and great care taken that no dirt or gravel be suffered to remain between the claws or in the cracks. After bathing, the feet may be rubbed with some digestive ointment, and a cold poultice composed of crumbs of bread well moistened with vinegar and water, should be tied round the affected foot.

The hoof of the horse frequently becomes lengthened, and contracted at the heels and quarters. This unnatural shape is commonly the effect of bad shoeing, by which the frog is deprived of the necessary pressure on the ground, and thus the heels are prevented from expanding, while the nails that are fixed in the quarters contribute to prevent expansion there, and thus the hoof is unnaturally lengthened at the toe. This contraction is considerably increased by the heat of ordinary stables, and by the evaporation that takes place from the hoof while the horse stands within doors, on account of the vacancy left below the frog, while the heels are elevated above the ground. Contraction of the hoof causes lameness, by producing an unnatural degree of pressure on the sensible parts within, especially on the sensible frog, which is not unfrequently inflamed in these cases.

The remedy for this defect is, to bring the frog gradually to press upon the ground, by lowering the heels; but as, in the very sensible state to which the feet are commonly brought by contraction, it might be dangerous to apply pressure to the frog at once, it is advisable to lower the heels gradually, in the manner directed in No 146. If the frog is much diseased, as sometimes happens, a bar shoe should be employed, by which means slight pressure may be made by fixing an iron plate from the heels of the shoe towards the toe. The best means of producing pressure in these cases would probably be to employ Mr Coleman's artificial frog. The upper part of the hoof should be raised thin, especially at the quarters, as these parts of the hoof will then be more easily expanded by the motion of the lateral cartilages. The lower part of the hoof should also be kept moist, especially the frog.

Mr Blaine remarks, that dark chestnut horses are more subject to contracted feet than others, and he relates a case of a mare belonging to himself, who had all her feet contracted. There he endeavoured to expand Diseases by means of jointed shoes, furnished with a sliding bar, which was kept in its situation by means of pegs, so that in this way the heels of the shoe might be gradually widened, by moving the cross bar farther on towards the toe. This method is very ingenious, but Mr Blaine acknowledges that it did not fully answer his purpose.

When the heels have been gradually lowered so far, that the frog can bear the proper pressure, the horse should continue to wear a thin-heeled shoe; but if he is not required to be worked, it would be better to send him out to graze without shoes, where the pasture is not too dry.

It often happens in cases of contracted feet, and in some other cases, when the frog does not receive the due degree of pressure, that a running takes place from the cleft of the horny frog, occasioned by a degree of inflammation which is followed by a secretion of purulent matter. This complaint is commonly called a running thrush. While it extends no farther than the horny frog, it is seldom attended with any serious consequences; but if it be neglected, the matter extends through the horny to the sensitive frog and sensitive sole, and produces canker or quitter.

Some horses have naturally a running from the cleft of the frog; and so long as this is slight, and the parts are kept clean, it is of little consequence. We know there are some persons who conceive a slight running thrush, as rather beneficial to a horse, and do not esteem it as a mark of unkindness; but we cannot agree with these gentlemen in either particular, as, though the complaint does not in itself absolutely render a horse lame, so long as his feet are properly attended to, it will, if neglected, degenerate into a foul ulcer, the matter of which may easily penetrate into the internal parts of the foot. A running thrush is very commonly the consequence of bad grooming, and suffering dirt and gravel to lodge in the cleft of the frog; and it is still more frequently produced in the common method of shoeing, by cutting and paring away the frog.

In the treatment of a running thrush, the principal objects are, to remove the cause that first produced it, and to stop the discharge of purulent matter. The latter is easily effected by applying to the part some stimulating liniment. Mr Blaine recommends for this purpose a composition of two ounces of tar, with six drachms of vitriolic acid, which is to be applied hot every day, by pouring it into the cleft of the frog from a spoon. The discharge, though easily stopped in this way, will soon return, unless the proper degree of pressure be given to the frog; and this is to be brought about by proper attention to shoeing the horse with thin heeled shoes, taking care that the heels be lowered gradually, and slight artificial pressure be made on the frog, till it becomes sufficiently healthy to bear the natural pressure of the ground.

When the matter of a running thrush insinuates itself upwards to the sensitive part of the foot, it forms what is called canker, in which there is a considerable inflammation, producing a luxuriant unhealthy fungus, springing up from all the diseased surface that is exposed, and producing a great degree of tenderness, and what may be called a rottenness of the hoof. If this disease continues for any considerable time, it attacks the whole substance of the foot, extending to the tendons, ligaments, and bones, till at last the foot may absolutely drop off with disease. Mr Coleman considers canker as generally the effect of too much moisture applied to the foot or hoof.

To check the progress of a canker, the whole of the excrecence that appears on the external part of the hoof, is to be cut away close to the surface from which it springs, and such parts of the horny sole as appear to be detached from the sensitive sole, should be removed, to prevent the matter from lodging in the internal parts. When the diseased part is fairly exposed to view, it is to be washed with a solution of some metallic caustic, such as nitrate of mercury, No. 49, of the receipts, or a solution of lunar caustic, in the proportion of a drachm to two ounces of soft water. This is best applied by moistening a pledget of lint or tow, and confining this upon the cankered surface, by applying a regular pressure by means of cross bars of iron introduced beneath the shoe. A continuance of these applications, while the frog is gradually exposed to pressure, will in general soon stop the progress of the disease, and when this is removed, the horny parts of the hoof that had been cut away will be gradually removed; and by shoeing the horse properly afterwards, the disease will be prevented from returning.

Cattle and sheep are subject to a disease very similar to canker in the horse, producing a discharge of fetid matter from between the claws of the hoof, or sometimes from only one claw.

This affection in cattle is commonly called the fouls, Fouls, or the cattle are said to be foul in the foot. Managers of cattle commonly divide this disease into two kinds, the soft, and the horny, which are said to require different modes of treatment. In the soft fouls, a running of very offensive matter takes place from the heels, or between the claws of the hoof; and the animal appears exceedingly lame. The treatment in this case consists in cutting away all the soft and spongy parts, and then applying a caustic liquid, such as will presently be described, for the foot-rot in sheep. The parts are then to be covered with a pledget spread with mild ointment, or, what is very common among farmers, a piece of fat bacon may be wrapped round the part, tied on the foot, and suffered to remain for two or three days. In the mean time the animal should stand very clean, and be allowed to rest as much as possible.

The horny fouls seem to be very analogous to corns in horses. The animal is very lame, and, on examining the foot, the hoof feels very hot, and, when hard pressed, the beast evidently feels much pain. There will commonly be found some part of the horn penetrating into the softer parts of the foot, either at the heel, or between the hoofs. In the treatment it is necessary to cut away these parts of the horn, as well as any part under which there appears much inflammation. For this purpose, it will probably be necessary to cast the animal, but care should be taken that he be thrown on a soft place. After the hoof has been pared away, a rag moistened with vinegar and water should be tied on, and the animal must be sent to graze in a soft smooth pasture. If the inflammation and pain are very great, it may be necessary to bleed from the veins of the foot. In sheep it is called the foot-rot, and is generally produced by their being kept on a wet foil. It is remarkable that salt marshes do not produce it. According to Mr Lawrence, frequent travelling to and from the fold, or by suckling ewes from the hot dung of a sheephouse, will occasion it. Some are of opinion, that it originates from the same cause which occasions chilblains in the human feet; and this opinion is maintained in the essay on the diseases of sheep, affixed to Mr Findlater's Survey of Peebles, where it is stated, that the remote cause of the disease is weakness, and the immediate cause cold and wet, as standing in cold weather upon wet pastures, with the feet constantly soaked in water. Dr Wilkinson of Enfield considers moisture as the predisposing cause, and has found the disease to be produced from the sheep continuing in long grazes during a mild winter. The same cause generally, although perhaps gradually, operates upon the whole flock, and then it has been supposed that the disease is contagious. The late Lord Somerville had a piece of pasture which always produced the foot-rot on any sheep that were put into it; but the disease was entirely prevented or rooted out by a careful selection of the sheep in order, by paring the hoofs of those that began to be affected, and by the use of caustics not too corrosive. These appeared to be the most proper means of stopping the complaint, and the best caustic application is said to be the nitrate of mercury. It is evident, that during the application, the hoofs of the sheep should be kept as clean as possible. Whether its greater or less prevalence depends on the less or greater attention paid to the sheep, is not perhaps fully ascertained. It is, however, certain that the sheep of some districts are entirely free from it. We are informed, that in Tweeddale the complaint is scarcely known.

There is a disease in the horse's foot, in which the coffin-bone is forced backwards, and made to press unnaturally upon the heels, by which its edges being subjected to unusual pressure, become partly absorbed. Hence this bone, losing its support, becomes pressed in its concave part, where inflammation is produced, and bony matter is thrown out, rendering the lower part of the coffin-bone convex instead of concave, and the sole is rendered unusually thin. This disease is called pummeled feet, and may be brought on in three ways; from improper shoeing, from inflammation, as in case of founders, and from a natural defect in the foot itself. It is said to be very common in wet soils. It is very commonly produced by applying the shoe red hot to the horse's foot. Its immediate cause appears to be an inflammation of the sensible laminae, by which a quantity of coagulated lymph or of bony matter is thrown out, that forces back the coffin bone in the manner above described. When the disease is completely formed, it does not appear capable of being radically cured, but only admits of palliation. Mr Blaine recommends, that the growth of the sole should be encouraged by every means, but the foot should not be kept improperly moist. The best means would be, the turning the horse out without shoes in a dry pasture. No part of the heels or sole should be removed in this case, as the parts are already too slight. A shoe should be formed, if possible, that presents a hollow surface to the foot, and a plain one to the ground. This may be done, by making it of rather an increased thickness, which will admit of its being hollowed within, and bevelled from the outer to the inner edge of the web.

Sometimes perpendicular fissures or cracks are seen in the hoof extending between the fibres in a parallel direction from above downwards. These are called sand-cracks, and generally take place near the quarter, more frequently on the outer than the inner side, and oftener in the fore than the hind foot. These cracks sometimes come on suddenly, and then generally denote a contraction of the hoof. They are also said to have arisen from a wound in the vessel or part of the coronary ligament, bringing on a secretion of horny matter, which gets between the fibres of the hoof, and causes them to separate.

The means of preventing the crack from extending, are to thin the hoof where the crack has taken place as much as possible, and to make a transverse section a little way across at the upper part. If the crack should still continue to gape, it must be carefully covered, and the hoof bound round, so as to close it as much as may be, and the portion of the crust that rests on the shoe should be chamfered away a little, by which means the divided parts will be more likely to come together.

When a wound has been inflicted on the coronet, the coronary ligament commonly becomes injured, and its vascular part does not secrete so much bony matter as usual. Hence there is a space left between the old horny matter of the hoof, and the new that is formed from other parts; and this produces what is commonly called a false quarter. A false quarter may also be produced, in consequence of a quittor extending upwards through the coronet. As the sensible laminae within the hoof are liable to be pressed in this vacant space between the horny edges, thus causing violent pain, the false quarter is attended with a lameness of the worst kind; for as this interference of the lamina sometimes takes place suddenly, while the animal is in motion, the pain makes him shrink, and he not unfrequently comes down.

The only way of remedying this defect is, to excite such an action in the coronary ligament as may dispose it to throw out new horny matter, and thus fill up the vacant space. This is best effected by removing the surrounding horn, and applying blisters to the coronet, while the part of the hoof that is opposed to the shoe should be hollowed away as much as possible, to admit of the separated parts approaching each other.

When a horse in motion, especially in trotting, brings cutting, one foot so near another as to interfere, and thereby graze or wound one of the feet, he is said to cut. Sometimes the feet of a horse are in this way severely wounded, and temporary lameness is produced. In cutting, the horse may either wound the heels of the fore feet, with the toe, or side of the hind shoe, which is the most common case; or he may wound the fore part of the hind-foot, just above the hoof, by striking it against the heel of the fore shoe; or, lastly, he may bring two of the feet so closely together, as to wound the inner side of either.

Cutting may arise from a bad habit, or from a natural deformity of the feet, but it is very commonly the consequence of bad shoeing. When horses cut from turning out their toes, which is by much the most common cause, they are observed to have the inner quarter of the "hoof lower than the outer, and the fetlock joints are thus nearer each other than those of horses which have their limbs straight. These facts led farriers to a conclusion, that if the inner quarters were raised to a level with the outer, and especially if made even examined with the strictest attention, the hoof should be made perfectly clean, especially in its under surface, to see whether there be any crack or fissure, any discoloration, any particular heat, &c. The pattern and all round the coronet should be also carefully inspected; and, if nothing is found, the examination should be repeated next day, or even a third time. The foot is more particularly to be suspected of being the seat of the complaint, when the lameness makes its appearance soon after the horse has been shod, or has had his shoes fastened; as the foot may be lamed by a nail in shoeing, though the point of the nail has not penetrated to the quick. The nail may be so thick, or may pass so near the quick, as to press in a small part of the hoof upon the soft parts, thus producing exquisite pain, and perhaps inflammation. It is therefore proper also to remove the shoe from the foot of the affected limb, and if the cause of lameness is not very evident, to wait a few days to see whether the removal of the shoe has produced any alteration for the better.

No certain rule can be laid down for judging of the seat of lameness from the motion of the affected limb, though this is considered by some as one of the surest marks. The deranged motion in one part of the limb very commonly arises from sympathy with another part that is the real seat of the affection.

We have now, we believe, mentioned all the important cases of lameness, except the string-halt, or click-spavin. This is an affection of the hind quarters, producing a sudden jerking of the legs upwards, when the horse attempts to move. It appears to be a nervous affection, and seems to be somewhat analogous to the chorea, or St Vitus's dance, in children. We do not know that this affection has ever been cured, but it is said that it may be palliated by allowing the horse to run much at large, and letting him remain untied in a large stable. Mr Lawrence recommends that, after a hard day's work, both hind legs be immersed in a warm bath up to the hocks, and kept there as long as the water continues warm, when they are to be rubbed perfectly dry, and the same bath and rubbing repeated in the morning. He also advises anointing the back finewas, and about the hocks, with strong camphorated ointment.

We have occasionally, in this and the preceding chapters, spoken of abscesses and ulcers, and their treatment; and we can add little here on that subject, as it will be fully treated of in the article Surgery; and the instructions to be there laid down will apply nearly as properly to the inferior animals as to man. We may just remark, that foul ulcers, and such as do not heal kindly, are perhaps more common in some of the inferior animals than in man; and hence they require in the former applications of a more stimulating nature, to excite a proper degree of healthy action in the ulcerated part. There are a few particular ulcers which call for consideration in this article, and we cannot, perhaps, treat of them in any part of the treatise more properly than under the morbid affections of motion.

There sometimes takes place an inflammation, and consequent suppuration in the mucous capsules, at the articulation of the head with the first vertebra of the neck, near the insertion of the cervical ligament. This affection is commonly called the poll-evil. It is almost always always the consequence of an injury done to the back of the head, by a horse's hanging back in his collar, by striking his head against the rack or manger; and is very frequently produced by a blow given on the head by brutal coachmen or carters. An ulcer in this part is often very difficult to heal, and when it extends beyond the skin, the matter sometimes infuses itself below the ligament of the neck, and on each side of it, and it not unfrequently produces a caries or rottenness of the vertebrae. The cure of the poll evil is most easily effected when the inflammation is first discovered, before a suppuration takes place; as, when once matter is formed, it commonly produces sinuses in the loose cellular substance about that part of the head, and these are not easily healed. When, therefore, we have reason to suppose that inflammation has begun in the skin of this part of the neck, every means must be employed to prevent its progress towards suppuration. A blister should be immediately applied over the part, and when this has done its duty, a solution of sal ammoniac in vinegar, or vinegar and water, should be applied by means of a cloth kept constantly wet. If a suppuration appears inevitable, it must be encouraged by fomenting the part frequently with warm water, or by the repeated application of warm poultices; and when the swelling appears sufficiently ripe, it must be opened, which is best done by introducing a seton from the highest to the most depending part of the tumour, as directed in No 173. The cord of the seton must be examined every day, wiped dry, and rubbed with a little digestive ointment, and the fore should be carefully excluded from the air.

If the suppuration has proceeded any length, before it is discovered, there will probably be a number of sinuses, or pustules, as they are called, with matter lodging in each. If it can be easily affected, it would be proper to lay these open, and make them communicate with each other, or, if their direction can be ascertained, a seton may be passed through each. When a proper opening has been made for the matter, and care taken that none of it lodges, the sore will soon heal, by the application of the proper stimulating ointments.

It is sometimes necessary to employ the knife in this case; but when this is done, the greatest care should be taken not to wound the ligament, or, as the farriers call it, the fix fax of the neck. The best method of avoiding this is, to have the animal's head fastened very high to the rack, by which the ligament will be more slack, and the finger can be easily introduced below it, so as to be a guide to the knife.

We mentioned in No 341. the chafing of the back with the saddle. There is another injury of a similar kind, that is often suffered by the withers, from the saddle being allowed to press on them too long. This pressure and rubbing sometimes produces an inflammatory swelling, which, if it be not soon disinfected, goes on to suppuration, and produces a sore which farriers call fitfulous withers, or a fistula in the withers. This is also a very troublesome ulcer, as the matter sometimes penetrates below the shoulder, and makes its way down the bones of the fore leg; or, by infusing itself among the vertebrae of the back, renders them carious. The treatment in this case is much the same as in the last; the inflammation should be discussed as soon as possible, and if matter forms, it should be evacuated by means of setons. It is frequently required to pass a seton through the tumour on each side of the withers, in order to produce a proper inclination of the orifice, to carry off the matter. When sinuses form, they must be opened, as in the case of poll-evil.

There is sometimes a species of ill-disposed ulcers in the external part of the ears of dogs, very difficult to heal. It is generally called canker. These, when they dogs heal, leave hardened edges, which frequently break out again in the course of a few months. The best application in this case is lunar caustic applied to the edges, to encourage them to slough off; but if this should not be found sufficient, the best remedy will be to tear off the diseased parts with a red-hot knife, or they may be cut by a simple incision.

**Chap. III. Morbid Affections of Digestion.**

In order that the food may be well digested, when received into the stomach, it is necessary that it undergo the previous operation of chewing; unless it be of such a nature, as to be easily soluble in the gastric juice, without this previous preparation. The latter is the case only with dogs, whose food consisting almost entirely of animal matter, requires little or no chewing. But the food of horses, sheep, and cattle in general, requires to be well chewed, either when first swallowed, or in sheep and cattle by subsequent rumination.

The mouth in these animals is sometimes so swollen, sore-mouthed, or otherwise affected with sores or cracks, that it is with difficulty the animals can chew their food. Sometimes there are bloody chinks or chops in the palate, occasioned by thistles or other prickly plants, which are mixed with the hay, or grow up among the grass. These should be washed on their first appearance with salt and vinegar, applied by means of a rag tied to a stick. If neglected, these chops frequently become inflamed and ulcerated. If pimples arise, they must be opened when they begin to suppurate, by means of a pointed cautery.

There are sometimes found within-side the lip of cart horses and other ordinary cattle, soft tumours, or pustules with black heads, which are called gizzigs, bladders, or flaps in the mouth. They do not always occasion much inconvenience, but sometimes they grow to a large size, so as to grow troublesome, and prevent chewing. When this is the case, they must be removed, either by fastening a thread about their roots, as directed in the treatment of warts, where they are of such a form as to admit of a ligature; or by the knife, applying afterwards the hot iron or cautery. In performing this operation, care must be taken to draw the tongue to one side, so that it may not be wounded. After removing these excrescences with the knife and cautery, the mouth may be washed with a solution of white vitriol or alum.

Excrescences of a similar kind, called barbs or paps, sometimes grow below the tongue, and must be removed where practicable by means of a ligature, as it is dangerous to employ the knife. When these excrescences are neglected, there sometimes arise in the mouth little ulcers with white specks, very similar to the aphthous crusts that form in the human mouth. It is recommended by some writers to use the cautery on these occasions; but probably a detergent lotion, such as we have just recommended, will answer the purpose of removing them. The mouth or tongue of horses is sometimes wounded with the bit or curb. When this happens, a lotion made with alum dissolved in water, and sweetened with honey, may be employed; and the bit should not be used again till the mouth is healed.

Many veterinary writers have described the disease in the horse's mouth called the lamppat, which is stated to be an inflammation and swelling of the first bar of the mouth in a young horse, so as to prevent his chewing. We believe that Laflotte and Dr Bracken were the first to deny the existence of such a complaint, which is now generally discredited among most of our modern writers. We have no doubt that such a swelling may take place; but it can scarcely be attended with the ill consequences commonly attributed to it, or require such vigorous treatment as is usually recommended.

It may happen, that any of these animals shall have a difficulty of swallowing, from various causes; either from an unusual narrowness in the gullet, or from the morsel attempted to be swallowed being too large. The latter very frequently happens to cattle who are fed upon turnips or potatoes; and the choking thus produced sometimes proves very dangerous, as, if the obstruction is not speedily removed, the animal will die for want of breath. The method commonly employed among country farmers for unchoking cattle, as they term it, is to thrust down the throat a large stiff rope, ravelled at the end, and well greased. This often succeeds, but it is a clumsy method; and if the rope, by having been long used, or becoming dry, should lose its stiffness, it will be bent in endeavouring to force down the obstruction; or, if the ravelled end be not pretty large, or the obstructing morsel of an irregular shape, the rope may pass between the side of the gullet and the obstruction, without this being removed. Several intelligent farmers have therefore laid aside the use of the rope, and have contrived an instrument similar to the probang employed by surgeons. An instrument of this kind has been already mentioned, in the description of Mr Hunter's feeding byre in No. 236. An account of one that appears to us to be more useful and ingenious, has been communicated to us by the reverend Charles Findlater, minister of Newlands in Tweeddale. It is the contrivance of Mr Charles Alexander, a farmer in Mr Findlater's neighbourhood, and has long been employed by him for the purpose of relieving choked cattle. The following is Mr Alexander's construction of his instrument, as politely described to us by Mr Findlater.

Take three small canes, of the thickness of the little finger, or thereabouts, of the length of 5½ feet, that they may reach down the throat, and into the stomach of the largest ox. These canes are to be bound together by strong smooth twine rolled tightly about them (the circles of the twine touching each other), from top to bottom. Bees wax is then to be rubbed along the twine, to fill up any inequalities, and the whole rod is to be well oiled before it is used. There is a round knob at each end, the larger 2½ inches in diameter for larger cattle; the other less for lesser cattle. These knobs are formed of the twine rolled hard, and when formed may be strengthened in their position, by being sewed by means of a shoemaker's awl or frog, and a wax bristled thread, such as they employ. The thread knobs are made tapering up the canes from their broad extremity; but it must be remarked that the surface of this extremity is not rounded like a clue, but hollowed into the form of a cup. The intention of this hollowed form is, to make certain of catching hold of the obstructing body; as, if the knob was round, it might pass by it. After the knobs are formed, they are covered with soft leather, which by its flexibility will adapt itself to the hollow end of the knob as soon as it reaches an obstacle. The knobs must be securely fixed to the canes, for if they fall off, they leave an indigestible substance in the stomach. Such is Mr Alexander's probang, the only improvements on which that we would advise are, to make the knobs of sponge, firmly fastened to the canes, by passing twine through holes bored in them, and adding at each end two or three bights of twine, for the purpose of catching hold of any obstacle, thus making the instrument almost exactly like a surgeon's probang. We think the sponge preferable to the twine, as it will not be so liable to injure the animal's throat by its hardness, will adapt itself more readily to the form of the obstacle, and may be more firmly fixed to the canes.

When cattle are put into a field of young clover, or overfeed-rich grass, especially if they have previously been kept on poor or dry fodder, they are apt to eat voraciously of their new repast, and the young succulent food, when received into the stomach, soon ferments, and produces such a quantity of air, as to swell the stomach to a violent and dangerous degree. Cattle thus affected are said to be over-fed, hove, or blown; or the affection of the stomach thus produced, is called over-feeding, or sometimes fog-sickness. If not speedily relieved, the animal's stomach not unfrequently bursts, from the inability to evacuate the accumulated air; for there seems, in these cases, to be a constriction of the gullet, so that the air cannot escape upwards, while the number of stomachs, and the spasmodic contraction produced by the unusual distention, prevents its passage by the anus.

The necessity of speedily relieving the animal, prompted the employment of what must at first have been considered as a very desperate remedy; namely, stabbing the animal. An opening is made with a sharp penknife into the paunch, in the thin part between the last rib and the huckle bone; and through this the air rapidly escapes. Sometimes the barrel of a quill is inserted into the wound, to prevent its closing before all the air that is produced during the fermentation of the food, has escaped.

Stabbing the animal, is a remedy that should not be had recourse to, but on the most urgent necessity; as the wound can seldom be made with such nicety as not to wound some important organ, especially some large blood-vessel. Indeed frequently the distention of the stomach, and consequently of the skin and mucilages of the belly, is so great, that the moment the knife is introduced, a dreadful rent takes place, producing such a wound as may be attended with fatal consequences.

Happily this operation is not often necessary, as it is found that the administration of some internal (stimulating) medicine will check the fermentation of the green fodder, and promote the absorption of the extricated air. Many farmers have for some time given tar with this intention, administering an egg shell full to each beast; of late, however, the use of ardent spirits has been introduced, and it is found that a pint or muttonkin of of whisky or gin, mixed with an equal quantity of water, is the most efficacious remedy. Laudanum has also been recommended, but probably it is not superior to common spirits (D).

It has been the practice with some farmers, to introduce on these occasions, the common rope employed in cases of choking, into the stomach, and move it up and down, so as to produce a gradual evacuation of the air; but we should suppose that the evacuation produced in this way must be extremely slow.

Dr Monro senior, professor of anatomy in the university of Edinburgh, some years ago contrived an elastic tube, that might be introduced down the throat into the stomach of the animal, and thus speedily and effectually evacuate the air. A description of this instrument, and the manner of employing it, appeared in an Edinburgh newspaper, we believe, with the doctor's authority. It has since been published in a popular treatise on the diseases of black cattle, entitled "Rowlin's Complete Cow-Doctor," from which we have taken it.

The doctor begins by observing, that the swelling of the belly is owing to the distention of the stomachs by fixed air, disengaged from the succulent grass in consequence of fermentation, the discharge of which by the mouth seems to be prevented by a spasmodic contraction of the upper orifice of the stomach. He concludes that the cattle may with certainty be saved, if the air be drawn off in due time, without injuring the stomach and bowels; and he affirms that this may be done with great ease by passing a flexible tube down the gullet into the stomach.

The tube is to be composed of iron wire, as large as a common stocking wire, or about one-sixteenth part of an inch diameter, twisted round a smooth iron rod, three eighths of an inch diameter, in order to give it a cylindrical form; and after taking it off the rod, it is to be covered with smooth leather.

To the end of the tube, which is intended to be passed into the stomach, a brass pipe, two inches long, of the same size as the tube, and pierced with a number of large holes, is to be firmly connected.

To prevent the tube from bending too much, within the mouth or gullet, in time of passing it down into the stomach, an iron wire, one-eighth of an inch diameter, and of the same length as the tube, is put within it, which is to be withdrawn, when the tube has entered the stomach.

He has found that the space from the fore teeth of the under jaw, to the bottom of the first stomach of a large ox, measures about six feet, and he has passed such a tube, five feet and nine inches long into the gullet and stomach of a living ox. The tube ought therefore to be six feet long, that we may be sure of its answering in the largest oxen.

After the tube is passed into the stomach, it may be allowed to remain for any length of time; as when it is pressed to one side of the throat, it does not intercept the breathing of the animal. The greatest part of the elastic and condensed fixed air, will be readily discharged through the tube; and if it be thought necessary, the remainder of it, or the superfluous drink, may be sucked out, by a bellows fixed to the upper end of the tube, with a couple of valves, one at its muzzle, and the other at the side of it, disposed as to allow the air to pass in the direction from the stomach upwards.

By means of such a tube, the air is not only more certainly discharged than by stabbing the animal; but the dangers avoided which the stabbing occasions, not so much by the irritation which the wound creates, as that the air, and the other contents of the stomach, getting into the cavity of the belly, between the containing parts of the bowels, excite such a degree of inflammation as frequently proves fatal to the animal. This tube may be also useful for the purpose of introducing stimulant medicines in the stomach, when the contraction at the upper orifice would prevent their being given without some such contrivance.

An instrument of this kind is sold in London, at Macdougall's, No 15, Great Wind-Mill Street. It should be made of various sizes, for sheep as well as cattle. According to Mr Blaine, Mr Eages of Graffham farm, near Guildford, has simplified this mode of relief much, by the invention of an instrument, for which he was rewarded by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, with fifty guineas. This is simply a cane of considerable diameter, and six feet in length for oxen; to which is affixed a knob of wood, at the end to be introduced into the stomach. That for sheep is considerably smaller, and three feet long. This instrument, for its simplicity, is much to be preferred, as it is found to occasion the evacuation of the air as effectually as the other. In cases of emergency, and in a judicious hand, the flexible part of a common cart whip might answer the end.

Flatulence may be produced in horses, by eating greedily of rich food, to which they have been unaccustomed, or after having fasted long; especially if they drink much water immediately after. A horse in this state should not be taken out to work, as, from the distention of the stomach, there is danger of injuring the horse's wind, or even in some cases of bursting the stomach. If the distention has not proceeded to a great length, and if the horse is not colicive, gentle friction on the belly, and administering a ball made of some of the cordial feeds, will generally procure relief; but if the complaint proceeds to a great height, and there is gripping pain, attended with coliciveness, it becomes a case of flatulent colic; the descriptions and treatment of which will be considered in the next section.

When this flatulence comes to a great height, it forms the disease that is commonly called acute indigestion. It very commonly arises from the horse eating voraciously, after having been kept without food for many hours; especially if the food then given him be of a flatulent kind, such as grains or draft, young sweet grass, clover, or the like. The horse's stomach being naturally small, is easily distended by an unusual quantity of food, or by the air disengaged from such as easily runs into fermentation. Hence arise swelling and tightness of the stomach, and acute pain. The horse discontinues eating,

(D) The use of spirits in these cases was, we believe, first introduced by Dr Whytt of Edinburgh, who was in the habit of administering a pint (mutchkin) of gin on these occasions. eating, holds out his head, and appears exceedingly dittrifled; he looks anxiously and mournfully at his feet, stamps with his feet, and breaks out into cold sweats. If he is not soon relieved, the head becomes affected, and there appear evident marks of pressure on the brain. Symptoms very similar to those of staggers follow, and the horse commonly dies apoplectic, or the stomach bursts.

As this affection is so dangerous, immediate relief is necessary. Stimulant medicines, such as are called carminatives, as oil of aniseeds, essence of peppermint, or oil of turpentine, should be immediately administered; and if there appears much determination of blood to the head, which may be known by a swelling and heaviness of the eyes, and the violent throbbing of the arteries of the temples, it will be necessary to draw blood pretty largely by opening one of these arteries. If the horse is bound in the belly, he must be raked, and have a strong purgative clyster with some aromatic substance in it, as aniseeds, or caraway seeds.

All these animals may occasionally swallow poison, and the treatment in these cases must depend in a great measure on the nature of the poisonous substance, where this can be ascertained. It is seldom that a horse, cow, or sheep is poisoned; but in the dog, this may frequently happen, either from accident, or design. Dogs often pick up nux vomica, (which is the poison mostly used by warreners), and which usually causes convulsive fits, and soon kills. Apply immediately the following remedy. As much common salt as can be got down; hold the head upwards, and force open the mouth, and by fixing a stick across, prevent its fluttering, whilst the throat is filled with salt; a sufficient quantity to purge and vomit will soon dissolve, and be swallowed; the stomach once cleared by a free passage obtained by a stool, warm broth should frequently be given to prevent the faintness which might otherwise prove fatal. Two tablespoonfuls of castor oil, added to the salt, would very much accelerate its action downwards*.

Arsenic is frequently given to dogs by design, or it may be picked up by them in places where it has been laid for rats. If the accident is discovered soon, the dog may sometimes be recovered by giving him a vomit of white vitriol, and drenching him well with sweet oil and milk; and when most of the poison appears to have been thrown up, the rest may probably be rendered harmless by repeated doses of liver of sulphur.

If a horse is poisoned, the danger is very great, as from his inability to vomit, the stomach cannot be cleared of the poison. But fortunately this accident scarcely ever happens; as arsenic, the most common poisonous substance, will produce little effect on the horse, unless given in a very large dose.

The stomach and bowels of all these animals may be infested by worms, but these are most common in the horse and dog.

The worms that most commonly infest the horse are what are commonly called the bots. They are not properly worms, but are the larvae of several species of the Oxytrix or Gadfly mentioned in No. 337.

The horse is attacked by 2 or 3 species of Oxytrix, but more especially by the Oe. equi, which deposits its eggs in such a manner as that they shall be received into the animal's stomach, where they form the bots.

The method pursued by the parent fly, in order to lay its eggs in the most favourable situation for being received into the stomach of the horse, is extremely curious. It is thus related by Mr. Bracey Clark, who appears to have witnessed the process.

"When the female has been impregnated, and the eggs are sufficiently matured, she seeks among the horses a subject for her purpose, and approaching it on the wing, she holds her body nearly upright in the air, and her tail, which is lengthened for the purpose, carried inwards and upwards. In this way she approaches the part where she designs to deposit the eggs, and suspending herself for a few seconds before it, suddenly darts upon it, and leaves the egg adhering to the hair, by means of a glutinous liquor secreted with it. She then leaves the horse at a small distance, and prepares a second egg, and poising herself before the part, deposits it in the same way. The liquor dries, and the egg becomes firmly glued to the hair. This is repeated by various flies, till four or five hundred eggs are sometimes deposited on one horse. The skin of the horse is always thrown into a tremulous motion on the touch of this insect, arising from the very great irritability of the skin and muscles at that season of the year, occasioned by the continual teasing of the flies. The inside of the knee is the part on which these flies seem to prefer depositing their eggs, and next to this the side, and back part of the shoulder. It is curious that these parts are what are most exposed to be licked by the animal. In licking, the eggs adhere to the animal's tongue, and are carried into the stomach with the saliva.

"The bots attach themselves to every part of the horse's stomach, but are usually more numerous about its farther orifice, and are sometimes, though less frequently, found in the bowels. Their number varies considerably; sometimes there are not above half a dozen; at others they exceed 100. They most usually hang in clutches, fixed by the small end to the inner membrane of the stomach, to which they adhere by means of two small hooks.

"The body of the larva is composed of eleven segments, all of which, except the two last, are surrounded with a double row of thorny bristles, directed towards the truncated end, and are of a reddish colour, except the points, which are black. These larvae evidently receive their food at the small end by a longitudinal aperture which is situated between the two hooks or tentacula. The lips of this aperture appear somewhat hard, horny, and irregular.

"Their food is probably the chyle, which being nearly pure aliment, may go wholly to the composition of their bodies without any excrementitious residue, though on dissection the intestine is found to contain a yellow or greenish matter, which is derived from the colour of their food, and shows that the chyle as they receive it is not perfectly pure.

"The slowness of their growth and the purity of their food must occasion, what they receive in a given time to be proportionally small; from which probably arises the extreme difficulty there is found in destroying them by any medicine or poison thrown into the stomach. After opium had been administered to a horse labouring under a case of locked jaw for a week, in doses of one ounce every day, on the death of the animal I have found the bots in the stomach perfectly alive. Tobacco has has been employed in much larger quantities in the same complaint, and has been also longer continued, without destroying them. They are also but rarely affected by the drastic purgatives, which bring away in abundance the Teniae and Aesculides.*

Mr Clark does not apprehend they are so very injurious to the horses as is generally conceived. When removed from the stomach a deep impression remains where they adhered, but whether they ever irritate it so as to bring on a fatal spasm of the stomach itself, or of the pylorus, or, by collecting round this passage, prevent the food from entering the intestine, has never been investigated with sufficient accuracy. The ignorant surprise of farriers on opening the stomach after death, and being presented with so singular an appearance as the bots, has without doubt very often occasioned the death to be attributed to these, though it is certain but few horses on our commons can escape them.

Instances have occurred of violent inflammation excited in the stomach by the bots. An example of this is related by Mr James Clark. He was once desired by a farrier in the neighbourhood who was indisposed, to visit a horse that had been a patient of his for some days, and report the situation he was in. When Mr Clark entered the stable, the servant was giving the horse a drink, which he was afterwards informed was composed of an infusion of linseed, in which was dissolved one ounce of nitre, with honey to sweeten it; and in the last horrid was poured, from a small phial, about half an ounce, or more, of spirits of hawthorn. The horse seemed very uneasy after the drink, he was soon seized with a violent trembling and shaking, a profuse sweat broke out over all his body, and run down his sides, as if water had been poured on him; at the same time his legs and ears were quite cold; he lay down seemingly in great agony; he was soon after convulsed all over, and died in about half an hour from the time the drink was swallowed. Mr Clark obtained leave to take out his stomach where he was, on condition he should sew up the skin afterwards, in order to prevent any bad smell in the stable, till he could be carried off. On inspecting the stomach, the coats of it were found greatly inflamed, and a mortification had taken place on one side, where it appeared of a darker colour, and here there was a small hole, through which a lead probe passed into the cavity of the stomach from the outside; the coats of the stomach were considerably thickened, and of a darkish red colour resembling the liver; at the same time the stomach was considerably distended and full of food: on turning it inside out, an incredible number of bots were found sticking all round the sides and lower part of it, so that it appeared entirely covered with them, sticking as closely to one another as bees in a honeycomb; and so firmly were the heads of these vermin fixed in the coats of the stomach, that endeavouring to pull some of them off when alive, they broke in two, and their heads remained sticking in the coats of the stomach.

The great irritation produced by such a number of these worms sticking in the coats of the stomach had no doubt occasioned at first an inflammation there, and from its continuance this was tending to a mortification, before the drench was given, and would have occasioned the horse's death.

Another species of Oestrus, viz. the haemorrhoidalis, also produces eggs, which when received into the stomach of the horse become bots. This insect has been termed haemorrhoidalis from the appearance of the bots when coming out of the anus of the horse, when they are very like the swelling produced by the piles or hemorrhoids. It was supposed by Linnæus and some other naturalists, that this and the last species introduced their eggs into the bowels of the horse, by entering the rectum, mire per anus intrans; but this opinion is now fully refuted.

The part chosen by this insect for this purpose, is the lips of the horse, which is very distressing to the animal from the excessive titillation it occasions; for he immediately after rubs his mouth against the ground, his forelegs, or sometimes against a tree; or if two are standing together, they often rub themselves against each other. At the sight of this fly, the horse appears much agitated, and moves his head backwards and forwards in the air, to baulk its touch, and prevent its darting on the lips; but the fly, watching for a favourable opportunity, continues to repeat the operation from time to time; till at length finding this mode of defence insufficient, the enraged animal endeavours to avoid it, by galloping away to a distant part of the field. If it still continues to follow and tease him, his last resource is in the water, where the Oestrus is never observed to follow him.

The teasing of other flies will sometimes occasion a motion of the head similar to this; but it should not be mistaken for it, as it is never in any degree so violent, as during the attack of the Oestrus.

At other times the Oestrus gets between the fore legs of the horse while he is grazing, and thus makes its attack on the lower lip; the titillation occasions the horse to stamp violently with his fore feet against the ground, and often strike with his foot, as aiming a blow at the fly. They also sometimes hide themselves in the grass; and as the horse stoops to graze, they dart on the mouth, or lips, and are always observed to poise themselves a few seconds in the air, while the egg is preparing on the point of the abdomen.

When several of these flies are confined in a close place, they have a particularly strong foetid smell; and I have observed both sheep, and horses, when teased by them, to look into the grass, and smell to it very anxiously; and if they by these means discover the fly, they immediately turn aside, and hasten to a distant part of the field.

The eggs of this species appear of a darker colour than the former, and we are unacquainted with the circumstances attending their passage to the stomach.

The larvae of the Oestrus haemorrhoidalis, as well as the former species, appear to have been termed among the Romans, coffus, which seems to have been a general expression for any kind of soft imperfect animal, and to have been very analogous, and as extensively applied as the word grub is at present in the English language.

The presence of cots in the horse's stomach and bowels, is not always easily ascertained, as it is certain that great numbers have been found in the stomach after death, without appearing to have produced any unusual symptoms in the animal while alive. When, however, they have collected in any great numbers, or when the animal's stomach is peculiarly irritable, they are attended with the following symptoms. The horse has a disposition... position to rub his tail frequently, without any apparent humour or eruption that should make it itchy; he eats heartily, and is yet always lean and out of condition. His coat is rough and staring, such as we have describ- ed it to be in what is called a surfeit. There is also a fickly paleness of the mouth and tongue, attended with an unwholesome cadaverous smell. The horse appears tucked up in his flanks, which often heave; he turns his head now and then, and strikes his belly with his hind feet. These latter symptoms indeed, as they only indicate griping pains, and often occur in ordinary colic, are not to be relied on, unless accompanied with the former. In cases of worms, it is said that the dung is yellowish, like melted sulphur, or is otherwise dis- coloured and very offensive. The surest mark, how- ever, of the presence of bots is their being voided by the anus, where they are sometimes found sticking.

Treatment. As the bots are extremely tenacious of life, it is very difficult to expel them, and where they do not occasion any considerable irritation or other bad symptoms, it will be better to let them alone till they come away spontaneously. But when it is judged necessary to at- tempt their expulsion, this may be done by administra- ting the salinum, as directed in No. 60. of the receipts, and after it a strong dose of calomel and aloes.

We have said the bots are not properly worms; but there are several species of worms that are very frequent in dogs, and are now and then found in the horse. These are the lumbrici, or long round worms; the acarides, or thread worms; and the tenia, or tape- worms.

The long round worms are seldom met with in these animals; but when they occur in the horse, they pro- duce much uneasiness, and sometimes occasion colic and inflammation of the bowels. It is very difficult to ex- pel these worms, as the only remedies by which this could be properly attempted, such as powdered tin and strong purgatives, cannot with propriety be often given to a horse, as, from the structure of his stomach, the former might produce considerable injury, and the latter are extremely debilitating.

Acarides are now and then found in the great guts of the horse, and sometimes prove troublesome, but are seldom or never dangerous. They are best remov- ed by clysters of lime-water, followed by purgative clysters.

The tape-worm is seldom found but in dogs, where they are sometimes the cause of fatal diseases, especially to puppies. The symptoms of worms in dogs are, an itchiness of the nose and at the anus, both of which they are perpetually rubbing against every thing; swelling and hardness of the belly, lameness, running at the eyes and nose, and frequent purging of a slimy or stringy matter. There is also a peculiar staring appearance of the hair, which points the wrong way.

Mr Blaine says that the bowels of dogs are so irri- table, that they will seldom bear strong physic, and that he knows of nothing that will certainly destroy the worms in their intestines. He has tried with vari- able success, tin, quicksilver, pewter, calomel, and fa- rine, with other substances, but none of them appeared sufficiently certain to demand his confidence. When the worms are early detected, he thinks that purging doses of the compound powder of scammony with calo- mel, prove the most efficacious means. Mr Daniel re- commends aloes, hartshorn, the juice of wormwood, with some flour of brimstone, mixed together into a ball, about the size of a hazel nut, which is to be wrapped up in butter, and given three or four times a week, letting the dog fast for a few hours each time, which, he says, will destroy the worms. He also says that they may be destroyed by giving the dog as much finely powdered white glass as will lie on a sixpence, for three successive mornings, mixed up with butter; and if the worms are not voided in that time, the dose of the glass is to be increased, and it is to be repeated for three other mornings, by which time it will scarcely fail of producing the desired effect.

There is a sort of concretion often met with in the stomachs of cattle, and sometimes in that of horses, in the stom- ach, which is partly composed of a chalky substance, and partly, or sometimes almost entirely, of hair evidently arising from the animals licking off their hair and swal- lowing it with their saliva. The mass thus received in- to the stomach, being wholly indigestible, collects there, and forms these globular concretions which some- times grow to such a size as to prove fatal.

The growth of these concretions is thought to be en- couraged by the long use of dry hard food, without the animal's being allowed to feed from time to time on fresh green herbage. It is even thought that the timely use of fresh grass may prove the means of dissolving these concretions. Van Swieten, in his commentaries on Boerhaave, when speaking of chalky matters found in the liver and other organs, remarks, that sometimes there are concretions of the like sort found in this or- gan, but of a more friable texture, and of a whiter ap- pearance, like gypsum or plaster of Paris. Such incrusta- tions were often observed by Giffon in the pori bili- arii, and its larger branches dispersed through the livers of oxen that had been fed in stalls with hay and straw during the winter season and without exercise. But then these concretions are very friable, and they after- wards dissolve again, and pass out of the body when the cattle come to feed upon the fresh grass of the mea- dows; for in oxen that are slain in the spring or sum- mer, they are very rarely to be found.

"In dissecting horses," says Mr Clark, "I have fre- quently met with chalky concretions in their livers and in the lungs, especially in those that have been fed long on dry food, and likewise round balls in their stomachs, sometimes of an oval shape. The latter seem for the most part to be composed of the dust they lick from their own bodies mixed with the hair. Whether the fresh grass dissolves them is not so certain; but that it causes these concretions to pass through the intestines, I have had a full demonstration. In May 1786, a horse that had been long fed on dry food was turned out to graze; in about eight or ten days afterwards, he was seized with violent griping pains, which lasted for about 24 hours, when he died. As the horse was very fat, the man who had the charge of him wanted to make something of his grease. In searching for it, he observ- ed a large space of the intestines of a very black colour; and on feeling it, found something hard and weighty within them. He immediately cut it open with his knife, and took out a large oval hard ball, which mea- sured four inches in length, and three inches and a half in breadth, and which I have now in my pos- session. That this concretion was originally formed in the Diseases. Stomach, there can be no doubt, as they frequently upon difficulties have been found there, and nothing but its great bulk had hindered it from passing through the in- * Clark on teetines.* Prevention. The best means of obviating these concretions, is to allow the animal to feed occasionally on fresh green fodder; and, according to what has been said, this may sometimes remove them after they are formed.

Lots of appetite. Horses and other domestic animals sometimes labour under a loss of appetite. Animals may eat less than usual, or they may refuse to eat at all, either from a want of that sensation in the stomach, which we call hunger, or from a dislike that the animal takes at the food that is set before him. Want of appetite is a symptom of several diseases, particularly of fevers and internal inflammations. When this happens, it would be absurd to force food on the animal's stomach, as it could not be digested, and would only aggravate the violence of the disease.

Want of appetite very often attends very great fati- gue. It is also very frequently the effect of an im- proper use of cordial and strengthening medicines. It may, however, be the effect of weakness of the stomach, not brought on by those means. In such a case, cor- dials and tonics are very proper, and their use should be accompanied with gentle exercise.

This loss of appetite in the horse, is commonly called chronic indigestion, and is usually accompanied with a roughness and staring of the coat, the skin having the appearance which we have described in No 328. under hide-bound.

An affection of a similar kind takes place in cattle, in whom it is called loss of the cud, from their not chew- ing the cud as usual. It is known by the animal's mourning, having no inclination to eat, or dropping his food, without swallowing it. It frequently arises from the stomach being loaded with hard food that is diffi- cult of digestion, such as acorns, or coarse dry straw. It may also arise from a weakness of the stomach, which is not uncommon in hot weather, and may be brought on by confinement and want of fresh air. The treat- ment is much the same as in horses.

Horses are subject to an affection of the stomach, in which they sometimes eat voraciously, or greedily swal- low substances that are indigestible. Horses labouring under this complaint are called foul feeders, as they eat clay, mortar, dirt, foul litter, or even the dung of other animals.

This is properly a symptom of indigestion, and seems to be owing to a peculiar acrimony of the gastric juice, and in most cases there is evidently an acid upon the stomach. The best remedies are bitters, and other strengthening medicines, combined with salt of tartar, or some other antacid. The receipts marked 61. and 62. are well adapted to these cases. These remedies should be assisted by pure air and regular exercise; and where coliciveness is present, it should be obviated by the use of warm laxatives. Care should also be taken to keep the stable clean, and to have a quantity of clean straw below the manger, that the horse may not be tempted to eat other substances that are more inju- rious.

A surfeit is sometimes occasioned by hounds eating putrid flesh, or that of horses that have died, or been killed when violently affected with the farcy. Arising from the former cause, the fatality which attended the hounds of Mr Finch in Kent, is a curious instance.

In drawing the covers, the hounds met with the car- case of a diseased bullock, with which they gorged themselves; the contamination was immediate through the pack; they were generally seized with flagging convulsive fits, operating to so violent a degree, that eight couple of hounds died in the field in less than two hours, and it was supposed the whole pack would have fallen victims, but for timely application of oil and other medicines. Mr Daniel, from feeding with the flesh of horses sent from a post stable, in which the farcy and the glanders had spread their ravages, had an opportunity of speaking to the latter; the hounds broke out all over in blotches, discharging a watery humour, similar to those occasioned by the farcy; they caused great stiffness, and were extremely painful. This inocu- lation took place, notwithstanding most of the horses were sent alive to the kennel, and were properly slaugh- tered, and none of the flesh was given raw to the hounds. Physic, and taking them frequently to the salt water, and well rubbing the sores by hand with it, at length recovered them. For checking a common surfeit, ox-gall and train-oil, equal quantities; the af- fected parts to be well rubbed, and some physic taken inwardly will quickly restore them.*

There are two diseases that affect the bowels, which Rupture. we cannot consider more properly than at the end of this chapter. These are rupture and falling of the fun- dament. These may take place in any of the domestic animals, but they are more common in horses, as they are most frequently the effect of great exertion. Bur- denesses or rupture, commonly proceeds from strains in labour, kicks on the belly, high and difficult leaps, es- pecially when heavy laden. It may be produced by the gorging of oxen, by being staked, and by various other accidents. Gibbon says that he has known it pro- duced by too deep an incision being made in inserting a rowel.

The bowel may be ruptured either at the navel, or through the rings at the back part of the belly into the scrotum or cod. The tumour, when not too large, will return on being pressed, as if it were merely flatulent, and the rupture or chasm may be felt. It is easy to conceive that such a defect is incurable, excepting pos- sibly in a very flight case, and a very young subject; the intention must be to palliate, to render the animal as useful as possible, and as comfortable to itself. In a recent case, bleed, and give emollient and oily clysters, boiled barley, malt maltese, nitrated water. Foment twice a day with camphorated spirits, and vinegar warm; and poultice with oatmeal, oil, and vinegar.

Falling of the fundament is sometimes occasioned by a Falling of long-continued looseness, and is most likely to be pro- duced in such animals as are of a weak and delicate constitution, but is frequently brought on by hard rid- ing or hard driving. Mr Lawrence says that he has fre- quently seen it in hard-driven pigs. According to Soley- fel, it is in horses sometimes the consequence of docking.

When this complaint is first seen, it may in general be easily cured. The gut should be returned as soon as possible, by pushing it up with the ends of two or three fingers wrapt round with a piece of soft linen rag gently greased; but before returning the gut it should be bathed with some astringent lotion, as a solution Diseases of alum or white vitriol, or port wine and water; and a little of either of these should be frequently injected. If the gut should become inflamed, it must be anointed with some cooling liniment, such as receipt No. 28. Care must be taken to keep the animal's bowels open, by frequent bran mash. If the complaint continues obstinate, nothing will effectually remove it, but cutting off a part of the protruded gut. This may be done with a common surgeon's knife, called a scalpel, but it is sometimes performed with a sharp red-hot cautery. The wound commonly soon heals, but the animal should not be worked for some time after; but should be allowed a long run at grass, or in a straw yard.

**Chap. IV. Morbid Affections of Absorption.**

The absorbent vessels of the human body have been described in the article Anatomy; and the structure of these vessels, in the animals now under our consideration, is sufficiently similar to render a particular description of them here unnecessary. The function of absorption, and the derangements produced in it by disease, will be explained under those medical articles that have for their object physiology and pathology. It will be sufficient for us, in this place, to remark, that many of the disorders of the animal frame, are greatly influenced by the state of the absorbent system; and that some complaints seem chiefly to depend on the loss of the proper balance between the function of absorption, and that of circulation. Sometimes the absorbent vessels are too active, while the circulating system is proportionally languid; at others the absorbent system is languid, while that of the circulation is either unusually active, or continues in its natural state. The former seems to be the cause of leanness, coliciveness, and some other morbid affections; to the latter may be referred the several species of dropsy. We shall here only consider two of these affections, leanness, and swelled legs, as most of our readers will expect coliciveness treated of as a morbid affection of excretion, and most of the species of dropsy must be considered as general affections of the system; and therefore to be explained in the next section.

An unnatural degree of leanness may take place from many causes; as, 1st, From the want of a proper supply of food, whether from this being dispensed too sparingly in proportion to the labour of the animal, or from its not being sufficiently nourishing. Hence we see that such horses and dogs as are hard worked and ill fed, are extremely lean.

2nd, In stallions leanness is often the effect of being suffered to cover too often, or too long at one season.

3rd, It is a common attendant on several acute diseases, as fevers, some inflammations, especially dysentery, or what has been commonly called molten grease.

4th, Leanness is a common attendant on old age.

This symptom requires little attention, as it is seldom dangerous, except when it comes on very rapidly, and is attended with great weakness, and manifest signs of decay, in stallions that are too hard worked. It commonly soon disappears after the cause that produced it, or the complaint, of which it is a symptom, is removed.

A swelling of the legs is very common to horses that are suffered to stand long in the stable, without being worked, or in some other cases that will presently be mentioned. There is a swelling of the legs that is the consequence of hard work, strains, or other causes that excite inflammation; but what we are now considering is a dropical swelling, consisting in an accumulation of watery fluid below the skin, similar to the swelled legs of old people, and chlorotic girls. It may affect all the legs, but it is more commonly confined to the hinder extremities. The swelling generally takes place above the pattern and fetlocks; but if it continues long, it extends further up the legs, and the skin sometimes cracks, and there oozes out a watery fluid, or sometimes a purulent or greasy matter. In this last case it has degenerated into grease, which will be considered hereafter.

Swelled legs frequently take place in horses that are newly brought into the stable, or a straw yard; especially if they are not regularly worked, and their legs regularly rubbed down, at least twice a day. It is more certainly produced, if the horse should be suffered to stand long on hot litter. It is also not uncommonly the effect of wading through snow or cold water, especially when the legs are heated. It evidently depends on a decreased action of the absorbent vessels and veins of the legs.

It may in general be prevented by regular exercise, and frequent rubbing; but if it should occur in a horse that is too full of blood, it may be necessary to bleed and physic. If the swelling should continue obstinate, it will be proper to apply a blister to the part, or to rub the legs frequently with some stimulating liniment, and if the complaint is of long standing, it may be proper to infer a rowel in each leg; and the dispersion of the swelling may be assisted by rolling hay bands around the legs, by way of bandage. One of the most effectual means of preventing a return, will be firing, making perpendicular lines with the cautery from the fetlock to the coronet. Regular exercise and friction must be persisted in; and if the complaint is accompanied with general weakness of the system, a nourishing diet, and strengthening remedies must be added.

**Chap. V. Morbid Affections of Circulation.**

The pulse in the inferior animals has been very little attended to by veterinary practitioners; indeed the various common farriers and cattle doctors scarcely know whether their patients have a pulse, or where it may be most readily felt.

The strength and frequency of the pulse in its natural state, differs very much in the several species of the domestic animals. It is in general stronger according to the size of the animal; but its frequency diminishes in the same proportion, it being quicker in the smaller than in the larger animals, even of the same species. We cannot undertake to state exactly the average frequency of the pulse, in the several animals, and the accounts given by different authors vary considerably. Mr Clark says that the pulse of a horse in health, and no way terrified or alarmed, is from 36 to 40 beats in a minute. According to Mr Blaine, it ranges from 45 to 55, being generally from 45 to 50 in large horses, and from 50 to 55 in smaller horses. Dr Hales found that the pulse of an ox in health did not exceed 38 beats in a minute. Mr Blaine, in his first volume, states the medium pulse of a dog at 80 or 90; but in his second volume, p. 149, he says, that a dog has usually from 90 to 100 or 110 contractions in a minute, so that we may probably take the average at from 90 to 100. Perhaps the pulse of a sheep is slower by about 10 beats than that of a dog.

The pulse in the inferior animals may be most conveniently felt in the temporal arteries, which, as we have said in No. 164, are situated a little backwards above the outer angle of the eye. It may be felt also at the corner of the lower jaw, on each side of the fetlock joint, on the inside of the hock, and at the heart.

As much is to be learned from the pulse, reflecting the nature of many diseases, and the degree of danger which they indicate; we earnestly recommend to our practical readers, that they take every opportunity of examining the pulse of these animals, when in a state of disease. We cannot here enter with propriety into an explanation of the morbid varieties of the pulse, as it would be only to repeat what is given in the pathological part of our work, to which we refer our veterinary readers; as the observations there delivered can be easily applied to the particular cases of horses, cattle, sheep, and dogs, by keeping in view the natural state of the pulse, in each species, as above laid down.

There are two general states of the system, that may take place in all animals, and which are chiefly distinguished by the state of the circulation, as ascertained by the pulse. These are plethora, or fulness of habit; and debility, weakness, or inanition. The former is always attended with a fulness, and sometimes a hardness of the pulse; while in the latter, the pulse is weak and small, easily compressed or stooped by the finger, and is sometimes slower, but oftener much more frequent than natural.

When an animal has been kept for some time on a full nourishing diet, while he is at the same time confined within doors, and deprived of that regular exercise, which is necessary to carry off superfluities, he becomes fat, corpulent, and full of blood, or what we call plethora. In this state the veins below the skin, from their being greatly distended with blood, are very prominent, excepting in those parts where they are bedded in fat; the pulse is, as we have said, full, and commonly strong, but in some cases it feels oppressed, as if the quantity of blood were too much for the cavity of the artery. The pulse in these cases is frequently slower than natural. The animal becomes dull and flagitious, averse to motion, and if he is obliged to exert himself, evidently does so with difficulty, pants, and labours, and becomes soon fatigued.

This plethoric state is extremely common in horses and dogs that are pampered with high living, and little or no work. A horse in this state, though he may look well, is far from being in good condition, and is by no means fit for active labour. In fact, if such a horse is put to hard work, before he is properly prepared for it, there is the greatest probability that he will be completely ruined. Instances occur every day of full fed idle horses knocking up, or even dying on the road, and a long list of violent diseases is the consequence of this plethoric state of body. It lays the foundation of broken wind, inflammation of the lungs, phrensy, and above all of flaggers, or apoplexy. It is no uncommon thing to see a fat well-looking horse, fall down in convulsions, while drawing a heavy load, owing to the determination of blood to the head, from so great an exertion, while the vessels are too much distended. Most lap-dogs and others who are parlour guests, commonly die of apoplexy. A lady of our acquaintance had a fine fat lapdog, who seldom quitted the cushion that formed his bed, beside his mistress's chair, where he was fed with the nicest bits from the dinner table. Jack had been unusually heavy for a day or two, and one morning was found lying dead on his cushion; though he had the night before eaten a hearty supper.

To prevent the ill consequences that must arise from this plethoric state, these animals should be regularly exercised, and not suffered to eat too much. Where the plethora has already taken place, and where no dangerous symptoms threaten the attack of some violent disorder, the best method of bringing the animal into good condition, is to lower his diet gradually, and as gradually increase his exercise or labour; but where the symptoms are such, as indicate approaching apoplexy, or some other dangerous disorders, it will be necessary immediately to bleed and purge, and to take care that the animal be not put to any violent exertion, till he be brought into good condition.

We must here remark, that frequent bleeding with a view to obviate plethora, is extremely improper, as it tends to produce the very state against which it is employed. Bleeding, therefore, ought not to be had recourse to, except in cases of imminent danger.

There is a complaint that sometimes appears among cattle, when they are suddenly put on high feeding, hocks after having been long accustomed to a poor and sparing diet. It is called by the graziers, Hawkes or Hocks, and is probably of an inflammatory nature, but as it seems to depend entirely on a sudden distention of the blood vessels, and is speedily relieved by removing this distention, it may properly be considered in this place.

The complaint is said to begin with an uneasiness and swelling about the eyes, and about the glandular parts of the throat, which extends itself gradually over the whole body, to the legs and joints; and in cows to the barren and udder. The animal appears languid, dull, and heavy, and seems unwilling to stir from the place where he is; and when the disease has made some progress, he will not lie down till he is relieved. The legs become cold and numb, and as the swelling advances towards the hind parts, a copious secretion of saliva commonly takes place from the mouth, attended often with a swelling about the tongue. The disease is extremely rapid in its attack and progress, and if it be not speedily attended to, it will terminate in flaggers, or some violent inflammatory disease.

The cure of this affection seems to depend entirely on bleeding, which should be performed as soon as possible, taking away a quart or two of blood at first, and repeating the operation some hours after, if the swelling is not diminished. It is recommended to rub the whole body well, both before and after bleeding, and if the mouth is much affected, it will be relieved by washing it frequently with salt and water. If there is any considerable heat, it may be proper to give a drench with nitre every four hours.

Inanition is a state of body directly the opposite of what we have described; and is produced by very different Diseases, from starvation, hard work, loss of blood, or violent or long-continued diseases.

An animal in this state is lank and lean; its pulse is small and weak, his eyes hollow, his skin dry and hide-bound, his excrements small in quantity, hard, dry, and discoloured, his urine thick and turbid; he takes every opportunity of grazing by the roadside, pulling at the hedges, or eating whatever comes in his way; he becomes mangy; and if this state of debility continues long, he falls into what is called an atrophy, which commonly proves fatal.

The above description is chiefly applicable to those animals, who either from accident or neglect, are half starved. The state of inanition produced from this cause, is frequently seen in horses belonging to the lower class; and it is no uncommon thing to see dogs that have been turned out of doors, perishing in the streets in this condition. Sheep are also often found in a state of inanition at the end of a hard winter, after having been left for months to shift for themselves among the snow.

On opening the bodies of such as have died of hunger, we find the stomach and bowels much contracted, and sometimes in the former there will be a small quantity of food, scarcely masticated and indigested: Sometimes both stomach and bowels contain balls of earth or other indigestible matters; the large intestines are exceedingly diminished in size, and commonly contain a quantity of dry, hardened excrement; the caul and other membranes that surround the intestines are much shrunk, and for the most part appear completely divested of fat; the heart and large blood-vessels are flabby, and filled with a thin watery blood.

Though inanition is most frequently the effect of starving, it not unfrequently follows great loss of blood, or profuse discharges from the bladder and intestines. It also not uncommonly attends an obstruction in the gullet; in which case the animal can take little or nothing by the mouth, and the nourishment which he can receive by clysters is little more than sufficient to support his existence.

Inanition from the last cause is the most hopeless; for when it arises from starving, loss of blood, or profuse discharges, the animal may, in most cases, be brought back to good condition, by nourishing diet and strengthening remedies, with proper attention to pure air, gentle exercise when he is able to bear it, and proper shelter from the inclemencies of the weather.

It is not uncommon, either from injudiciousness or want of skill in bleeding, or from accident, for an artery to be wounded. If the wound be large, or the artery of any considerable size, so much blood may be poured out as to destroy the animal in a short time; but, if the artery be wounded by a small puncture, such as may be made by the point of a lancet passing through a vein, blood is gradually effused, and infuses itself in the cellular membrane below the skin. In this way a swelling is formed with an evident pulsation like the beat of an artery; and, as this enlarges, the skin becomes discoloured and distended, so as sometimes to burst and occasion death by a sudden loss of blood. The swelling produced by the blood effused from a wounded artery has been commonly called a false aneurism; to distinguish it from what we are immediately to mention.

The artery that is most liable to be wounded in bleeding is the external carotid, which runs below the jugular vein, or sometimes a little to one side of it. This accident will, however, seldom happen, except when a ligature is used; but when this is employed, the jugular vein is pressed so closely on the artery, that the point of the fleam or lancet may easily penetrate through the vein into the artery. M. Huzard alleges, that in this way even the wind-pipe may be wounded, together with the artery, and that the animal may be choked by the effusion of the blood from the latter into the former.

When an accident of this kind has taken place, whether from bleeding, from wounds, or from the erosion of an artery by the acid matter of a foul ulcer, it is necessary to take speedy means for preventing the ill consequences that may ensue; for, though the wounded artery be not very large, such an effusion of blood may take place from it, as may greatly weaken the animal, if it should not prove fatal. If the artery is very small, the bleeding is easily stopped, either by applying such a degree of pressure, as may be sufficient to obliterate the cavity of the wounded vessel, or, what is often more convenient, by completely dividing it; after which the divided ends will contract so much as to prevent the further effusion of blood. If the wounded artery be large, it can be secured with certainty only by means of ligature. For this purpose, pressure must be made on the artery, between the wounded part and the heart, while an incision is made through the skin and muscles down to the place where the artery has been wounded, so that this may easily be discovered. Then a pretty strong thread, doubled and waxed, is to be passed round the artery by means of a crooked needle, with a blunt point, and is then to be tied fast about an inch above the wounded part. A similar ligature is to be fixed upon the artery at about the same distance, on the other side of the orifice, and the artery is to be cut across between the two ligatures. Thus, the further effusion of blood is completely prevented, and the wound may be healed in the usual manner. The part that was supplied with blood by the wounded artery, will, if the vessel was pretty large, be colder and less sensible than usual, but it will in general be sufficiently supported by the small branches of other arteries that join with the wounded vessels beyond the ligatures; and these branches will gradually become so diffused as to supply the place of the divided artery, and restore the part to its proper functions.

It sometimes happens, that part of an artery becomes unusually dilated, forming what is called a true aneurism. This dilatation may take place in any of the arteries, but it is most common in the aorta or great artery within the body, and in the external carotid and popliteal arteries without. An aneurism of the external carotid is often seen in dogs, and sometimes in horses, especially such as are accustomed to draw heavy weights. An aneurism of an external artery is easily distinguished, by a considerable pulsation, which may be felt much more superficially than the ordinary beat of the artery, and is sometimes so remarkable, that it can be distinctly seen by the alternate heaving and sinking of the skin below which the swelling is situated. An aneurism of the aorta is not so easily distinguished in the inferior animals. The diagnostic marks by which it may be known. known in the human body, will be given in the article Surgery.

Those aneurisms are attended with considerable danger, and those of internal arteries commonly soon prove fatal. Aneurisms of external arteries are attended with a wasting of the bones over which they lie, owing to the increased absorption of bony matter produced by the pulsation of the dilated artery; and these swellings commonly burst in no long time, especially if the animal be exposed to any great labour or exertion.

The treatment of these aneurisms is exactly similar to that of a wounded artery described above. It consists in securing the dilated artery, either by pressure on the sides of the aneurism next the heart, or by means of two ligatures, one on each side of the tumour.

An effusion of blood into the cellular substance may take place from a vein, the orifice of which has not been properly closed after bleeding; or it may happen from the orifice in the vein not exactly corresponding to that in the skin, so that the skin gets over the orifice in the vein, and prevents the blood from flowing out. In this latter case there is said to be a thrombus of the vein.

When such an effusion of blood is observed, it is necessary to dilate the orifice in the skin, and to take away the clotted effused blood from below it. If the vein does not appear likely to bleed again, it will be unnecessary to pin it up; but if blood should still flow from it, it will be necessary to secure it by a pin. This, however, should not be suffered to remain too long, as it may produce inflammation and ulceration of the vein. Sometimes it is so long before the effusion of blood is observed, that the swelling is become considerable, and is attended with inflammation, or even suppuration. Where inflammation is present, but has not proceeded to suppuration, this latter may in general be prevented by keeping the part moist (after taking out the effused blood), with a solution of sugar of lead in vinegar and water. If matter is already formed, the swelling must be poulticed, or frequently fomented with warm liquors; and when the matter is let out, the sore must be treated as a common ulcer.

Sometimes the inside of a vein that has been opened in bleeding inflames, suppurates, and becomes a fistulous sore; and if this be neglected, the matter may extend to some important organ, as to the head, when the jugular vein has been opened, and produce death. When the vein is not very large, or the ulcerated part of it is inconsiderable, it may commonly be healed by means of the actual cautery, or firing, as described in No. 351.; but if the wound is very large, or the ulceration very extensive, it may be proper to secure the vein by means of ligatures applied on each side of the ulcerated part.

When the enlargement of any part of a vein takes place, without the vein having been wounded, the swelling is called by medical writers varix, or the vein is said to be varicose. This swelling seldom takes place in any of the domestic animals, except the horse, in whom sometimes the superficial vein that passes over the inside of the hock sometimes becomes varicose, and forms what farriers call a blood-spavin. The enlargement of this particular vein is always accompanied by bog-spavin, or an enlargement of the mucous capsules in the same part of the hock, and the former seems to be a consequence of the latter, being produced by the compression of the vein, by the swelling of the mucous capsule below it, whence an obstruction of the blood, and a consequent dilatation of the coats of the vein.

When the enlargement of the vein is not considerable, it requires no particular attention; but if it should increase so far as to be troublesome, methods must be taken for its removal. This may be effected, either by producing such a pressure on the vein as shall stop the circulation of the blood in it, or by tying up the vein with a ligature. In applying pressure, such a bandage should be adopted as may surround the whole hock, while the greatest pressure is made on the dilated vein. Mr Blaine recommends for this purpose a bandage including several of those elastic tubes, ladies' glove braces or tops are made of, which would occasion permanent pressure, and yet permit motion. But, should it still be found to resist this, its removal must be attempted. For this purpose, an opening should be made above the enlargement, and then including the vein within a ligature, and an opening below likewise, including the vein also at that part; the enlarged part may then be punctured, to let out the distended blood, and the remainder suffered to slough away.*

CHAP. VI. Morbid Affections of Respiration.

In many complaints, especially fevers and inflammations of the internal organs, the breathing becomes hurried, and inspiration and expiration, but especially the former, are performed more quickly than in the healthy state of the body. This hurried respiration, in the inferior animals, is known by the rapid heaving of their flanks; and when it is attended with considerable heat and dryness of the skin, it denotes considerable danger. Any particular consideration of this symptom, will, however, be more proper, when we come to treat of the particular cases in which it occurs.

The principal affections of breathing which we shall here notice, are those in which respiration is rendered difficult, without being attended with fever or inflammation. Horses are more liable than other domestic animals to difficulty of breathing, and one particular modification of it, broken wind, is peculiar to this animal.

There sometimes takes place within the nostrils a snore, or gathering of thick clotted matter, which, when it comes into any considerable height, very much obstructs respiration, and produces a snuffling noise when the air passes through the nostrils. This affection is called the snores, or snivels, and is almost peculiar to cattle. It is sometimes mistaken for a disorder of the throat, where it is imagined there is some obstruction; but when this rattling noise is found to attend the breathing of cattle, it may generally be discovered whether or not it be the disease in question, by a careful inspection of the nostrils. The swelling thus produced in the nostrils generally goes on to suppuration, and when it breaks the animal is relieved. The object of our treatment must therefore be to hasten the suppuration by the application of warm stimulating fomentations or liniments. A very common application in these cases is the oil of bays injected up into the nostrils; but perhaps the steam of warm water would answer every good purpose, and might be easily applied, by putting a warm bran malth into a canvas bag, and tying it to the animal's head; and this may may be repeated till the imposthume breaks. The animal should in the mean time be kept in a well-sheltered house, and should be fed on nourishing diet.

Cough is almost a constant attendant on colds, consumptions, inflammation of the lungs, and other pulmonary complaints; and when it occurs as a symptom of these diseases, no particular attention is to be paid to it, as our principal object is the primary affection. It frequently happens, however, that after the inflammatory affection is removed, an obstinate cough remains; and if this is attended with no considerable difficulty of breathing, and if the horse eats well, and appears thriving, the cough alone requires our attention. This kind of chronic cough is generally more considerable in the mornings and evenings, and after eating, and is generally increased by any violent exertion.

Chronic coughs, though generally a consequence of previous inflammation, may arise from a peculiar irritable state of the top of the wind-pipe; and if this be the case, the use of some narcotic substance, as opium or hemlock, may be proper. A very obstinate cough is often the consequence of preceding inflammation, and is attended with a peculiar noise, as if the aperture through which the air came was diminished. This kind of noise is called roaring, and it is found on dissection that the wind-pipe is contracted by a quantity of coagulable lymph, that has been effused during the inflammation. Mr Blaine has seen a preparation where the diameter of the wind-pipe was reduced to one-third of its original dimensions, and it has often struck him as not improbable that the grasping the wind-pipe hard, as is sometimes done to try the wind, may bring on inflammation, and occasion this affection.

These chronic coughs, especially the roarer, scarcely admit of a complete cure; but they may in general be mitigated, by keeping the animal warm, and by avoiding violent exertion. The food should be such as is easy of digestion, and does not produce much distention of the stomach. Tar is much recommended in these cases, especially for the cough, or hoarse, that sometimes occurs in cows. An ounce of tar, with the same quantity of vinegar of squills, and a little oil of aniseed, is to be given every morning, in a quart or chopin of warm ale.

One of the most common defects in a horse's breathing is that which is called broken wind; the nature of which complaint has been of late much elucidated by Mr Coleman. According to Mr Lawrence, broken wind is discovered by the quick and irregular heaving of the flanks, and a more than ordinary dilatation of the nostrils; sometimes also, by a convulsive appearance of the body. But the usual method of trying the soundness of a horse's wind, is to cough him; which is performed by pressing the upper part of the wind-pipe with the finger and thumb. The strong, clear, and full tone of the cough, prove his wind to be sound; if, on the contrary, the note be short, whistling, and husky, the horse is asthmatic and unfound. Horses labouring under the worst stage of this disease, are styled, in the language of the repertory, roarers; from the noise they make in work, of very little of which they are capable. Broken-winded mares are generally barren, although we have heard of one which bred a whole team of horses after she became so. In confirmed broken wind there is sometimes observed a palpitation of the chest, with constant contraction and dilatation, and now and then a considerable cavity or depression may be perceived.

The older writers had many strange opinions with respect to the nature of this complaint. Gibson attributed it to an enlargement of the contents of the chest, and Dr Lower thought it proceeded from a rupture of the phrenic nerve. A friend of Bartlet supposed the disease to proceed from a morbid or obstructed state of the glands and membranes of the head and throat, the enlargement of which prevented a free passage to the wind. According to Mr Osmer certain glands, which are placed upon the air-pipe, at its entrance into the lungs, are become enlarged, and thereby the diameter of the tube is lessened; hence the received air cannot so readily make its escape, nor respiration be performed, with such facility as before; from which quantity of contained air the lobes of the lungs are always enlarged, as may be seen by examining the dead carcases of broken-winded horses.

It is now satisfactorily ascertained, that the immediate cause of broken-wind is a rupture of some of the air-cells of the lungs. The cause that most commonly produces such a rupture is over distention of the stomach, attended with hard and violent exertion. The horse being an animal that is always eating, will, when hungry, eat voraciously, if he has an opportunity, and soon fills his stomach; and if, in this state, he is exercised violently, the circulation and respiration will be increased, but the lungs cannot expand sufficiently, because the diaphragm cannot descend from the pressure of the stomach. In this case, the circulation being hurried, the lungs do not undergo the necessary change, in consequence of their now being compressed. The animal then, endeavouring to take in more air, either actually occasions the cell to be ruptured, or something else to give way. If the cells are ruptured, the air escapes from them into the cellular membrane of the lungs, and there acts as foreign matter, or, at least, it cannot then produce the necessary change on the blood, when thus diffused; in consequence, difficulty of breathing arises from two causes: 1st, From the blood passing through the lungs before it has undergone its necessary alteration; and, 2ndly, from the rupture of the air-vesicles. The respiration is rendered slow, as is seen by the flanks being long in rising up, because there is no direct communication with the bronchia, as in the healthy state of the lungs; inspiration is, however, in a third of the time of expiration, which is seen by the sudden descent of the flank. The lungs, from containing more air, are specifically lighter than in the healthy state.

This local disease does not admit of a permanent cure, at least no medicine has yet had any such effect; but a temporary relief may be obtained, as we shall see hereafter. But we must not omit to mention here a most ridiculous practice which has sometimes been tried by common farriers, that of making an orifice above the rectum, and then introducing a machine similar to a musical instrument called a flagellet, with the idea of evacuating the superfluous air, or wind, which they suppose to have produced the disease.

Blistering the wind-pipe, rowelling the chest, and a small purgative of aloes and calomel now and then, have often produced a good effect.

A pound or two of shot has been strongly recommended to Mr Coleman, as a specific; but, upon trial, it has been Diseases been found to have no obvious effect; it was thought that the shot would act by its specific gravity inclining the stomach further back into the cavity of the abdomen.

The treatment must be nearly confined to diet and exercise; the animal should have little hay, and water in particular must be administered with a very sparing hand. These substances which afford most nourishment in the least compass, as carrots, corn, split beans, &c., should be given; the horse should always be worked upon an empty stomach; and, upon the whole, his diet should be small in quantity, but nourishing. By observing this method, a broken-winged horse may do a great deal of work, and be useful to the owner.*

According to Mr Blaine, internal medicines have sometimes been found useful in this complaint. Lime-water has been employed with advantage; and the use of tar is much recommended. Mr Blaine prefers a mixture composed of two gallons of lime-water, four pounds of tar, and an ounce of fresh bruised squills, or garlic, of which an English pint (or muttonkin) is to be administered every morning.

A complaint similar to the foregoing often occurs in the horse, and is called thick wind. It proceeds from a very different cause, being always the cause of previous inflammation, during which coagulable lymph has been effused, as in the roarer. Thick wind may be distinguished from broken-wind, by the inspirations and expirations being equal in the former; while in the latter the respiration is not so frequent, and the principal difficulty consists in expiration, which is of course performed in longer time than inspiration.

Little can be done towards a cure of this complaint. We may prevent the disease by good management in the administration of the aliments, exercise, &c. Calomel has been employed to produce absorption, but without any great effect; a rowel under the jaw, and frequent applications of blisters on the wind-pipe, are the only methods capable of producing absorption of the lymph. Half a drachm of the digitalis, or fox-glove, in powder, twice a day, makes an admirable remedy in this, and local diseases of the lungs.

The breathing may be completely obstructed, either by the want of a regular supply of fresh air, or by the animals being obliged to breathe such kinds of air, as are unfit for respiration. The consequence of this impeded breathing, is a suspension of the vital powers, or, if the obstruction continues long, death will sometimes be produced. As suspended animation is always attended with more or less of an apoplectic state, we shall defer the consideration of those cases till we come to treat of comatous diseases.

**CHAP. VII. Morbid Affections of Secretion and Excretion.**

The fluids that are secreted or separated from the general mass of blood, by means of the organs called glands, are in some cases secreted in an unusual quantity; in others their secretion is lessened, or their excretion or passage out of the body is obstructed. Thus in colds of the head, as they are called, in glanders, and in some other affections, an unusual running takes place from the nose; in inflammation of the eyes the secretion of tears is generally increased, sometimes diminished, while it sometimes happens that their passage from the lachrymal gland out of the eye is obstructed. Again the secreted fluids may undergo various changes in their colour, fluidity, and composition. Thus the urine is sometimes yellow, at others red, or blackish; it is sometimes extremely watery, at others very thick and muddy, and in one particular disease, the diabetes, it seems to lose altogether the properties of urine, and appears like a solution of sugar, or honey.

In the present chapter, we shall consider the morbid affections of the bile, and of the urine. We shall also make some observations on colic and purging.

The principal morbid affection of the biliary system that takes place in the inferior animals, is the jaundice, obstruction to the passage of the bile, from the liver into the bowels, producing the disease called jaundice in the human body, and commonly known to farriers and cattle-doctors, by the name of the yellow.

This disease seldom takes place in the horse, for as it is almost always the consequence of biliary concretions, or gall-stones formed within the gall bladder, and as this animal has no gall bladder, the disease in question can seldom take place. It may however happen that an obstruction may take place in the common duct or pipe, that conveys the bile from the liver, either from concretions formed in the duct, from a spasmodic contraction of the duct, or from a schirrous or hardened state of the liver. The disease is however sufficiently common in cattle and sheep; and a description of the symptoms that mark the complaint in these animals will almost equally apply to the disease when it may take place in horses. According to Mr Denny, young horses are very subject to a variety of jaundice.

Its first visible sign is a yellowish tinge in the white part of the eyes, mouth, and tongue; the mucus and saliva, from the nostrils and mouth, are of a greenish hue, bordering a little upon the yellow. The beast is dull, and heavy, loathing all kinds of food, eating no more than a bare sufficiency for the support of nature; the skin is dry and itchy, especially behind the shoulders, where it can scarcely bear the touch. The beasts have an utter aversion to exercise, or stirring from the place where they are, and if removed with the least degree of precipitation, will break into a cold sweat. Their urine is of a deeper yellow than usual, which has sometimes led to believe it was red water, or bloody urine. The dung undergoes a very considerable alteration in all stages of the disease, and its general colour is blueish or brown, and much resembling burnt clay; but it varies in colour, according to the subject, or different circumstances and seasons. If the disease continues long, the beast gradually pines away, and at last dies of a decline.

It is said that horses have sometimes died of jaundice, in two or three days; and in these violent cases a black fumous discharge has taken place from the mouth and nostrils a little before death. This is called by farriers the black jaundice, and after death the liver is found totally decayed. Mr Lawrence says that he has repeatedly seen cases of this kind. Gibson speaks of an inflammatory species of jaundice, attended with delirium and madness; but this was probably a violent inflammation of the liver.

We have said that the immediate cause of this disease is an obstruction of the gall pipe, commonly owing Diseases to the formation of gall-stones. The formation of these concretions is most likely to take place, when the animals are deprived of their regular exercise, and are at the same time allowed too full a diet, or are given food of an improper quality. It is said to be very common in some of the cold provinces on the continent, where the cattle are stall-fed during the winter; after which the most of them are attacked with it in the spring. It may sometimes be brought on by hard labour and poor living; but then it probably depends on a diseased state of the liver.

In the treatment of jaundice, our chief reliance is to be placed on the use of purgative medicines; and of these rhubarb, calomel, and aloes, seem to be the most proper; and during their exhibition, gentle exercise should be employed. Mr Denny says that much relief is often afforded in the jaundice of young horses, by giving a ball composed of an ounce of aloes, half an ounce of Venetian soap, and a drachm of calomel; every second or third night, and giving on the intervening mornings a ball of half an ounce of nitre, with the same quantity of powdered rosin, and of common soap. Mashes and warm water are to be given plentifully, and the horse must be kept warm by clothing, and fully exercised.

In cattle, a vomit of emetic tartar may be tried at the first appearance of the disease, as the effort of vomiting may assist in promoting the passage of the gallstone. If, however, the disease should arise in consequence of previous inflammation of the liver, vomits will be of no use, and the best remedies will be mercurial purgatives with soap. The food should consist of succulent and watery substances, especially of fresh grass; as it is found that when cattle affected with this disease are sent to pasture they commonly soon recover. Warm mashes of bran or malt should be given frequently, both to obviate costiveness, and as being good articles of diet. If the disease should continue obstinate, and the use of mercurial medicines should be found necessary, the animal must be confined within doors, during night and bad weather; and a horse should during the exhibition of the medicines be covered with a single cloth. It will be proper, whenever the weather and other circumstances permit, to give the animal regular exercise in the open air; but if necessity obliges us to keep him within doors, the whole body, but especially the belly, should be well rubbed for a considerable time, twice or thrice a day. This friction will be proper, even though regular exercise can be taken in the open air.

Horses, and sometimes cattle, are subject to a profuse discharge of urine; but as the complaint of which this is a principal symptom, seems not to be seated in the urinary organs, we shall not consider it here, but shall treat of it among the general and more important diseases.

It often happens that there is an inability in these animals to retain their urine for any length of time; they are either obliged to void it very frequently, and in small quantities, or, what is more frequent, it drops away imperceptibly and involuntarily, forming the complaint called incontinence of urine. This complaint differs from diabetes, or profuse flaling, in the urine coming away by drops, or in very small quantities at a time, whereas in diabetes it passes off in a full and copious stream.

Incontinence of urine is extremely common to dogs, and often arises in these animals from excessive venery, or from the violent efforts which they are sometimes, by the brutality of bystanders, obliged to make to separate themselves from the females. It is also not uncommonly owing to the presence of a stone in the bladder. M. Barruel, professor of the veterinary school of Allfort, had a little Spanish bitch, not above five inches high, and about seven years old, who was troubled with an incontinence of urine, unaccompanied by any other symptom; she was sprightly and well, and was in good condition. Not knowing to what to attribute the complaint, M. Barruel tried a number of remedies, such as warm bathing and clysters of various kinds, but without effect; at last he killed the bitch, and found in her bladder a stone that weighed an ounce and 40 grains, a very considerable bulk, if we advert to the small size of the animal.

This complaint is less common in the horse, but it may arise in any of these animals from a paralytic affection of the sphincter muscle at the neck of the bladder; which is sometimes the consequence of the bladder's being unusually distended with urine. When there is reason to suppose that it is owing to this cause, the best remedy is a blister applied above the pubis, or the frequent application of stimulating liniments to the same part.

A difficulty of making water, or even an entire suppression of urine, is a very common disease among horses, of urine, and frequently occurs in them. The symptoms accompanying this affection, differ somewhat according to the causes which have produced it; we shall therefore consider it under several heads. One of the most common causes of a suppression of urine, is suffering the animal to travel for a long time without stopping him to allow him to stale; a circumstance which is often neglected by thoughtless people, while on a journey. From the urine being so long retained, the bladder becomes excessively distended; considerable irritation takes place, and when the distention has proceeded to a great height, the animal, though constantly stimulated to relieve nature, is not able to effect his purpose, owing to a paralytic affection that has taken place in the muscular coat of the body of the bladder, attended probably with spasmodic contraction of the sphincter. If the animal be not soon relieved, a considerable swelling appears above the pubis, accompanied with great uneasiness; the urine becomes absorbed, and is carried through the circulation to various parts of the body, producing an itching of the skin, and generally, in no long time, apoplexy and death.

Sometimes, however, before any considerable absorption can take place, the bladder either becomes inflamed, or bursts, and discharges its contents into the belly, producing there inflammation and mortification.

This complaint is, as we have said, very common among sheep, constituting an affection which in Scotland is called the watery braxy. It is said that young and vigorous sheep are most liable to it; and according to the writers of the ingenious appendix to Mr Findlater's survey, the immediate cause of the disease, is feeding too freely on succulent diuretic food, and resting too long. Diseases long in their laires in the morning. It has been frequently observed, that this species of braxy is most apt to make its attacks upon Sundays, because shepherds generally sleep longer on Sunday mornings than other days of the week, and, of course, allow the sheep to remain too long in their laires. This disease may be prevented by avoiding too free a use of succulent diuretic food, and by moving the animals from their laires early in the morning, making them walk about for some time, in order to encourage them to pass their urine and purl.

In attempting to effect a cure, it may be known whether the bladder is affected, by a great fulness in the lower part of the belly, immediately above the pubis. The seat of the distemper being ascertained, a female silver catheter, or one of elastic gum, ought instantly to be passed through the urethra into the bladder of females. This will draw off the urine, and give immediate relief. But this will be attended with greater difficulty in males; and if attempted, must be done with a long and properly bent catheter or bougie. In either case, when this cannot be accomplished, a puncture may be made into the bladder with a trocar, directly above the pubis; taking care not to wound the intestines. By either of these methods, the urine may be discharged, and the animal relieved. In other respects, with a view to allay or prevent inflammation, evacuations should be procured by clysters and warm injections into the great gut.

2. In the case which we have been considering, the urine, though secreted as usual, could not be discharged; but a suppression of urine sometimes takes place from the secretion not going on as usual, owing to some affection of the kidneys, commonly an inflammation of those organs. We can scarcely with propriety consider this case here, but shall treat of it among the other inflammations in the second chapter of the next section.

3. Another cause that may produce a suppression of urine, or a difficulty in staling, is a stone in the bladder, or gravelly concretions passing from the kidneys through the ureters or urinary pipes. We have just seen that a stone is sometimes found in the bladder of dogs; but doubts have arisen, whether this could take place in the horse. Examples of it are no doubt very rare, but we have sufficient proof that it may take place. Mr Clark of Edinburgh mentions that he has several stones taken out of different horses; and it is said that Dr Mead had in his cabinet one that weighed 11 ounces. M. Huzard gives an account of a distention that he made of a horse that died of a suppression of urine, in whom the following appearances were observed. The bladder contained a considerable quantity of red and bloody urine. Its internal membrane was thickened, especially at its lower part; and it was also inflamed and gangrenous in several points. The ureter contained at about its middle, a fragment of a stone that entirely blocked up the passage of the urine, and had no doubt been the cause of this suppression. The stone was imbedded in a cavernous body like the kernel of a fruit. Within the bladder there was also a stone about the size of a large pullet's egg, broken into two portions.

If we consider that symptoms of gravel are by no means uncommon in the horse, that gravel is often found in his urine, and that calculous concretions have been frequently observed in his kidneys, we shall easily see that these cases are not so extraordinary as some may imagine. There is no doubt, however, that cases of a stone in the bladder cannot so frequently happen in quadrupeds, from their horizontal position, which prevents the stone from passing from the kidney into the bladder so readily as in the human subject. Hence the kidneys have often been found to contain stones of a considerable size, without the horse having been during life affected with symptoms of calculus.

When concretions form in the kidneys, they generally produce a great degree of irritation, and consequent inflammation; but if a horse is affected with a suppression of urine, there is reason to suppose that a stone is lodged in the bladder. The certainty of this having taken place may be very readily ascertained, by introducing the hand within the rectum, as the stone will, for the most part, be felt below the finger.

It is not probable that internal remedies can have any effect in cases of calculus in the horse. In the beginning of the complaint, when the symptoms are very slight, diuretic medicines may be tried, and will perhaps bring away the small sandy particles; but if a stone of any considerable size be lodged in the kidneys, the case is incurable. If the stone has got into the bladder, it may be extracted by making a cut into the bladder above the pubis, and taking out the stone by means of forceps, such as are employed by surgeons in the operation for the stone. In the mean time the animal may be relieved, by drawing off the urine from time to time by means of a catheter, which is easily used in the mare, and by preventing coition. Too much labour or over exertion should also be avoided, and the animal should live chiefly on succulent food.

4. A suppression of urine may arise from an obstruction in or about the neck of the bladder. A curious at the neck case of this kind occurred to M. Huzard, and he has of the bladder-related appearances on distention, which were as follows.

There was at the base of the spermatic arteries, on the right side, a glandulous body about the bigness of one's fist, through which oozed a lymphatic fluid, that was whitish and thick, in some places appearing like pus. The bladder was enormously distended with urine, and extended into the belly beyond its usual limits; it was inflamed and thickened; the urine was nearly in its natural state. The neck of the bladder was filled with varicose excrescences, that completely obstructed the passage. These excrescences were red, and so hard as to resist the knife; they contained each a small particle of hardened blood, in which two parts were distinguishable. The bottom of the bladder was very black, and its surface of a reddish yellow; the whole of the urethra was red and inflamed.

It will be pretty evident, that, should a case like this occur, it is incurable. It sometimes happens that the urine, or urine appears unusually red, as if bloody. This affected water may take place in any of these animals, and it is called bloody urine, pissing of blood, or red water. It is most common among cattle. It may arise from falls or bruises, from overtraining at hard work, as in horses from a hard-run heat in racing, or after any violent exertion, such as a desperate leap; or it may proceed from inflammation of the kidneys.

When it takes place in cattle, the animals are affected with an almost incessant desire to stale; sometimes they they make but little water at once; sometimes the urine comes away in its usual quantity. In this latter case, if the urine be deeply tinged, it is considered as a very dangerous symptom, and when it happens, the beasts leave the herd, and appear to feel considerable pain; they hold up their tail, and sometimes hold their back higher than common. In fact, these symptoms, which do not seem well understood by the cattle doctors, indicate an inflammation of the kidneys.

When this disease is occasioned by strains, bruises, or any violent exertion, there is reason to fear that inflammation may take place. This must therefore be guarded against by bleeding, cooling drinks, and succulent food; by avoiding exercise and every thing that can heat or irritate. It is a common custom to give nitre and other saline substances in these cases; but when there is any inflammatory affection in the kidneys, these salts are improper, as they tend to increase the irritation of these organs. The best drinks in such cases will therefore be thin gruel, linseed-tea, or bran-water.

Cattle are said to be most subject to the red water in the spring, or summer, while at grass; and it is supposed to be produced sometimes by sudden changes of the weather, by want of water, or the use of such as is unwholesome. Young cattle are more subject to it than those of more advanced age; hence particular attention should be paid to these young animals; and when the affection has once taken place, it is considered as highly dangerous. These are the opinions of cattle doctors, and we suppose they refer chiefly to inflammation of the kidneys, of which bloody urine is, as we have said, a prevalent symptom. This formidable disease will be considered more at large hereafter.

It appears that when cattle are sent from Europe to the West Indies, the bulls when first put on shore are extremely liable to this complaint, which often proves fatal. It is attributed to the eager desire which these animals, after having been so long confined to a dry diet on board, have for green succulent food, in which they will of course indulge to excess the first opportunity. The remedies found most effectual are bleeding, and the administering of nitre and purging salts; but it might probably be prevented by housing the cattle immediately after they are brought on shore, and accustoming them gradually to their change of diet.

Sometimes the colour of the urine in sheep and cattle is nearly black, and they are then said to labour under the black water. This affection is not well understood, but it is probably a variety of the last. It is said to be produced by feeding on cold, wet land, and that simple removal of the cattle to a more favourable situation will often effect a cure. Mr Lawrence considers the black water as a symptom of incipient mortification of the kidneys, and commends bleeding, (unless in a cow), cordials and tonics, such as iron filings, with bark, opium, nitre, in strong beer, if the progress of mortification be apprehended. We may remark, that, if mortification of the kidneys has taken place, which may in general be known by the stinking smell of the urine; all these remedies could produce no effect; and it would be much better to kill the animal at once, than be at the expense of time, labour, and medicines, in attempting to effect a hopeless cure.

A scouring or purging is a very common disease in all our domestic animals; and in some of them it is very dangerous, and very difficult to cure. The complaint is somewhat different in the several species, so as to require a particular description in each. Some horses are liable to be affected with a purging from the slightest cause, and on every exertion. These horses are called by grooms "wetty horses," and they are said to have narrower chests and lanker bellies than others; and it is to this unusual deformity that the purging is generally attributed. Some horses are said to labour under a nervous diarrhoea; those that are chiefly subject to it are young, and of a weak and irritable habit. The complaint generally appears on them only when at work; and when they are suffered to remain idle, their bowels are sufficiently healthy. Mr Lawrence had a favourite young horse that was subject to this nervous scouring, and on whom he tried a variety of medicines to no purpose, as it was found that nothing but indigestion could arrest the complaint. To use Mr Lawrence's words, "the nag whilst at play, was always fat as bacon, and very firm in body; but a week's work reduced his flesh, and caused him to dung like a cow." Horses of this delicate constitution require great care and attention, or they will not be of much use to the owner. They should have strong nourishment, but it should be given in small quantities at a time. Mr Lawrence recommends good old beans mixed with their oats, lucerne, or strong upland hay, with rice mash, carrots, and occasional runs of grass.

A purging may be brought on in horses by a sudden change of diet, as from hay to grass, or from grass to hay. Hence, in such horses as are liable to disorders of the bowels, these changes should always be made very gradually. It is very commonly the effect of exposure to cold while the body is heated, and is one of the least dangerous affections arising from that cause. A purging may also be owing to irritating substances, such as crude, unwholesome, or undigested food remaining in the bowels; and in these cases it is often attended with pain, from the formation of an acid in the bowels.

A purging in horses is seldom dangerous, except when it arises to a great height, or continues very long, so as to produce a great waste of flesh, or very considerable weakness.

In general it is sufficient, in order to carry off a purging in horses, to avoid the causes which have produced it, where these can be ascertained; to wash away irritating substances from the bowels, by giving plentifully of diluting liquors, such as water gruel and linseed tea, or gradually to change the diet, if the purging seems to have arisen from improper feeding. If, however, the disease should continue obstinate, or be attended with unpleasant symptoms, means must be taken for checking or removing it. Some caution is requisite as to the plan of treatment to be adopted; as, if the complaint be checked too suddenly, some other dangerous affection might be produced. Veterinary writers differ considerably with respect to the treatment of diarrhoea in horses; some recommending gentle laxatives, as rhubarb, which Mr Lawrence considers as the best anchor in these cases; whilst others strenuously advise against the use of purgatives, and recommend opium and astringents. Probably in most cases there is little need of laxatives, and after plentiful diluting, one of the best remedies will be clutters of starch or water gruel, with a small quantity of laudanum. If there is acidity in the stomach... Diseases. Stomach and bowels, prepared chalk or lime water may be given with advantage; and if there is considerable weakness, the strengthening astringent medicines may, in the latter stages, be used without hesitation. We agree with Mr Blaine, that these are less proper at the commencement of the disease.

In cattle this complaint is sometimes very serious, and farmers not unfrequently lose several of these animals by it in a season. This has induced them to call it the scouring rot. When the purging has continued long, it produces in these animals a general weakness and loss of flesh. Their skin sometimes hangs loose about the body; in other cases they appear hide-bound; their hair turns sandy, or of a grayish colour; their eyes grow pale; the pulse becomes weak and irregular; their excretions thin and slimy, and frequently change colour, especially in the early stages of the disease; but when the complaint is pretty far advanced, the dung appears like half-chewed food; and in fact, in these cases the food appears to pass through the bowels without undergoing the digestive process. It is said that when the animals have been long affected with this scouring rot, they feel a great degree of distress and pain, when grasped on each side of the back-bone, just behind the shoulders; and this is considered as a sure mark that the beast has become tainted or uncleaned, from the scouring rot.

This complaint in cattle may arise from most of the causes that have been stated to produce it in the horse; but it is considered as being most commonly owing to their being overheated in driving, and to want of sufficient nourishment, either with respect to quantity or quality. It may be produced in cows, by their being constantly and too frequently milked, while they are deprived of proper nourishment; and it is not uncommonly produced by lodging on wet ground in autumn, and feeding on coarse, unwholesome food.

In the treatment of this complaint in cattle, a number of strange remedies have been employed, such as hogs' dung, turpentine and butter-milk; duck root boiled in salt and water, and nettle root boiled in forge water. Among the most sensible receipts that we have seen, is one in Rowlinson's Cow-doctor, composed of three ounces of bole armoniac, with two ounces of bay berries, and the same quantity of alum, of shavings of ivory, and powdered comfrey root, boiled in two quarts of skimmed milk, adding while boiling a handful of starch. This is to be given for a dose, for which, however, it is perhaps rather too strong. Mr Lawrence recommends that, on the first appearance of the scouring, the cattle should be taken to the home fold, and put on dry food, which will generally supersede the necessity of medicine. The remedy which Mr Blaine seems chiefly to rely on, is a decoction of an ounce of ipecacuanha, a drachm and a half of nux vomica, half an ounce of galls, two drachms of alum, and 20 grains of white vitriol, in a quart of water boiled to a pint. Perhaps this decoction is rather too complex, and some of its ingredients may be spared. The receipt, No. 30, is well suited to these cases. It may be supposed that where the scouring has continued for any considerable time, the bowels are become extremely loose and tender. In this case, mucilaginous or oily substances would be of advantage, and they should be given frequently, both by the mouth and by way of clyster. Mr Lawrence recommends a pound of fresh mutton suet boiled in 3 quarts of milk until the suet is dissolved, to form a drink to be given warm. This, we doubt not, will answer extremely well. If the disease should go to an alarming height, starch clutters with laudanum may be given as a last resource. Mr Blaine remarks, that in these cases, he should be disposed to try animal food altogether; giving broth to drink, or the blood of other animals, with meat balls forced down the throat; as he thinks it not improbable that thus a change might be effected in the constitution, which might pave the way to a cure.

Dr Dickson thinks that much advantage may be derived in these cases, from a strong decoction of hartshorn shavings and casia, with powdered chalk, in the proportion of half a pound of chalk, four ounces of shavings, and an ounce of casia, to be boiled together in two quarts (chopins) of water to three pints, (mutchkins), adding the casia towards the close of the boiling. A hornful of this mixture is to be given several times in the day, shaking it well every time.

Calves, when first weaned, are subject to a species of purging which sometimes proves extremely obstinate; and it is said that the principal reason of the calf-feeders giving them chalk to lick, is to prevent this purging. It appears that this disease will take place in calves, when they are fed on the milk of some particular cows; and that when the milk is changed the complaint goes off. The purging may in general be checked by boiling starch and bean flour in their milk; and if it still continues obstinate, a little ginger and laudanum may be added.

This disease is extremely incident to young lambs, and it is called by the shepherds pinning, because when the purging has continued for any time, there flows from the fundament a glutinous matter that fattens or pins down the tail to the hips, and prevents any farther evacuation. When this is observed by the shepherds, they commonly seize the lamb, and after washing away the glutinous matter from the tail, so as to disengage it from the hips, they rub the parts with fine earth, or other fine powdery matter, to prevent their sticking in future. Something of this kind is very proper, but hogs lard, or any other greasy substance, would answer the purpose much better. The disease is said to be produced by wet and cold in spring, together with the ewes eating too greedily of soft moist grass. It may be prevented or cured, by removing the flock to healthy or poorer pastures, that abound with astringent or aromatic plants.

Mr Findlater remarks that among lambs fed with their dams, upon the rich improved pasture of Lothian parks, pinning never occurs; whence it is probable that it originates from milk concocted from poorer pasture, which gives more curd than cream to the milk, rendering the excrements of the lamb more viscid. When the mothers have little milk, the lambs are very rarely pinned. Pinning is therefore considered as a favourable symptom of the lamb's being well nursed. It is not considered as a disease in Tweeddale; though, if not redressed, it would be productive of disease. It is considered as an accident to be guarded against, and which, like other accidents to which sheep are liable, requires the shepherd to be constantly walking through his flock. No Tweeddale farmer would, on this account, remove his ewes and lambs to poorer pasture, where the lambs lambs would be worse nursed; as he knows, that if the pinned lamb is timely noticed, and relieved by pulling up the tail, all danger is removed.

Dogs are also very subject to this complaint, and it may be brought on in these animals by any of the causes which we have mentioned as producing it in the other species. In young dogs it is often the effect of worms, and in this case the stools are slimy, greenish, and sometimes bloody. Common looseness in dogs may be removed by much the same remedies as in other animals, as by ipecacuanha, opium, with starch, or arrow root clysters, and prepared chalk, if there is any acidity in the bowels; but where it proceeds from worms, it cannot be effectually removed till they are expelled.

Purging must be carefully distinguished from dysentery, or what is called bloody flux in the human species, and brake-flux in sheep, as in this latter there are symptoms of inflammation, and commonly more or less of fever. The distinguishing marks of this disease will be considered hereafter, as we cannot properly treat of it in this place.

Cotitiveness, or binding of the belly, occurs occasionally in all these animals; but it chiefly calls for attention in the horse, as in him it is more frequent and more dangerous. It arises for the most part from want of exercise, when the horse is kept upon hard dry food, as oats or beans. It is a constant symptom of colic and of inflammation in the bowels, and the continuance of it always aggravates these complaints, and seldom fails to produce them where they were not before present.

It is best prevented by occasional change of diet; by giving the horse barley boiled, or green food now and then, where he cannot be frequently sent to pasture; and every night or two allowing him a mash of bran, or, if he is of a very captive habit, of malt. Regular exercise and good dressing, especially friction on the belly some time after feeding, are also good preventives. If it should arise to any considerable height, the bowels must be emptied by back-raking, and the administration of softening, laxative clysters, which may be repeated every three or four hours till the bowels become sufficiently regular. Purges given by the mouth, though they may, after some hours, remove the cotitiveness, seldom fail to do more harm than good; especially if the complaint has continued long, and there is considerable heat of the body, fulness of the pulse, pain in the bowels, or great irritation. In these cases, while the bowels are opened by clysters, it may be proper to take away a little blood.

Suckling calves are sometimes subject to cotitiveness. When this happens, the chalk should be taken away, and half an ounce or an ounce of magnesia be given them in a pint of warm gruel; or if the cotitiveness continue, a little rhubarb may be added.

**Chap. VIII. Morbid Affections of Generation.**

It has been wisely ordained by nature, that the inferior animals shall feel the passion of desire only at certain seasons; and these periods are generally so adapted, that delivery shall take place at such a time of the year as will be best suited to the rearing and feeding of the young animal. It is probable that in a state of nature these animals, whether male or female, do not experience inordinate desire, except at the proper periods; and when domesticated, the females are scarcely ever lascivious, except at these times. The males of these animals, however, in the domestic state, especially dogs, are occasionally subject to excessive lust, and all of them, during the periods assigned by nature, become sometimes very unruly, if not permitted to indulge their natural appetite. Should circumstances render it necessary to prevent them from indulging this propensity, they must be kept on a lower diet than usual, or have such food as contains least nourishment in the same quantity; and must be made to use more exercise than common. They must also be kept extremely cool, and horses should at these times have less litter to sleep on than usual.

It is of considerable consequence to those who make indifferently breeding an object, that the animals who are to copulate once should not be indifferent to the act in which they are to engage. It sometimes happens that either the male or the female betrays a coolness or indifference, which may defeat the object of the breeder. When it appears that a stallion or a bull regards the mare or cow presented to him with tranquil air, or turns from her when he ought to do his duty, it is clear that something is wrong, and that the issue of such a forced connection would scarcely be worth the trouble of rearing. It is said that Spanish stallions are more subject to this indifference than others.

If an indifference of this kind should take place in an animal that is generally keen and vigorous, it would be wrong to employ any incitement to stimulate him to an action for which he has perhaps been unfitted by too much exertion of the same kind during the season; but where the animal is naturally thus cool, and has otherwise the requisite qualities of a good stallion or bull, it may not be amiss to employ some stimulating means before leading him to the female. He should be kept on a generous diet, and when particularly required, he may have a cordial ball given him, with a quart of good ale after it. This will generally answer the purpose, or if it does not, the animal is unfit for his office, and should be discarded. It is a common practice among some grooms to infuse a slice of ginger into the fundament of an indifferent horse, and this is said to have the effect of raising his latent powers.

Indifference for coition is more likely to take place in the females of these animals, and it is no uncommon thing for a mare or cow to refuse the male. In general this is owing to a poorness of diet; and these females should, like the males, before being taken to be covered, be put on a generous diet with moderate exercise. Probably all strong, stimulating remedies, such as cantharides, which are sometimes given, do more harm than good, as they may produce inflammation of some internal organ, without producing completely the desired effect. The cordial ball and strong ale are the most innocent remedies in these cases, and where nature is tolerably sufficient, they will be the most efficacious.

The parts of generation in these animals are subject to certain accidents or diseases, and it is necessary that we should notice the more common of these.

The horse is subject to what is called a falling of the penis. This consists in a relaxation, and total weakness of the parts destined to sustain and support it in its natural FAR R I E R Y.

Diseases, and is in fact a kind of paralysis of the erectors and accelerator muscles, or a total atony of the suspensory ligament.

It may be produced by various causes, as by too great exertion in labour; hence it is common to draught horses that are hard worked. It may also depend on a violent spasm of the muscles of these parts, as this is always succeeded by a proportionate relaxation and atony. It is not unfrequently produced when a stallion is made to cover too many mares in one season.

When the case is slight, after returning the penis within the sheath, which should always be done, a pail or two of cold water, or of salt and water, may be thrown over it several times in the day, and the muscles may be anointed with some stimulating liniment. It has been advised to make superficial punctures about the yard with a sharp needle, and then to wash it with distilled vinegar; but we do not know whether this plan has been attended with the desired success. If the complaint continues obstinate, the penis must be bolstered up, and a charge applied over the back part of the sheath so as to leave sufficient room for the horse to make water. If the complaint is attended with a general weakness, tonics and cordial remedies must be applied.

When a cow has been delivered with more than usual difficulty, or has been very long in labour before procuring assistance, it not unfrequently happens that the womb is inverted, or, as it is commonly expressed, the calf-bed comes down. This accident is more likely to happen to some cows than to others, and is more especially incident to those of a weak habit of body, and such as are unusually wide between the thighs. In such cows it would be proper to pay more than usual attention about the time when labour is expected to take place, and the stall in which they are left should be made very commodious, that they may frequently lie down, as the great weight of their burden will have most effect while they are standing. When the calf-bed is come down, it should be returned as soon as possible, by the operator clenching his fist after grasping it and putting it to the middle part of the womb, which he is thus to push gently into its place, and when it is up, he must take care not to withdraw his hand too suddenly; but it would be better to keep it within the womb for a little, as it will stimulate the adjacent muscles to preserve the parts in the proper situation. After withdrawing the hand gently, the external parts should be bathed with camphorated spirits, and the heat must be watched, to prevent the same accident from taking place again. It is the practice with some to lead the cow down a hill after returning the womb, as it is supposed that this is greatly advantageous to the parts recovering their proper position. If proper assistance cannot soon be procured, the inverted womb should be laid on a clean soft linen sheet, and carefully covered from the air, the irritation of which might produce an inflammation. If the relaxation of the parts is so great that the womb still comes down, recourse must be had to a stay, to put behind, to prevent the womb from falling down; and some have recommended stitching it to the adjacent parts with a wax thread. Probably this operation would be attended with more danger than benefit.

Cows and mares sometimes suffer abortion, or, as it is called, slip their calf or foal, before the usual time of labour. This accident may be brought on by violent exercise, especially by leaping hedges and ditches; by sudden frights, knocks, or bruises; and it is also said that it may arise from bad smells, and ardent desire in the mare or cow; but these latter causes are probably imaginary. It is advised by some to keep cows who have slipt their calves as free from having any communication with the rest of the cattle as possible, under the idea that the accident may become infectious; and it is declared that experience has shown, that without great care and management it may go through the whole stock, and even return the next season, if the same cattle are kept. We cannot vouch for the truth of these assertions, but if true, the circumstance is very remarkable.

When a cow or mare has slipt her young, unless this accident has been occasioned by great exertion, it is a proof that the animal is extremely weak, and she must be put on a more nourishing diet, and have strengthening remedies; but in general little is required after such an accident, but rest, and perhaps a warm bran mash. This latter may be frequently given to mares or cows during pregnancy, as coltiveness may be a great means of producing abortion.

SECT. II. OF COMPLICATED DISEASES.

Many of the diseases, that have been treated of in the last section, are very important, and several of them highly dangerous; but those which we are now to consider, have a superior claim to our attention, either from their fatality, the rapidity of their progress, or their intimate connection with some of the most important or destructive maladies that affect the human race. They will, therefore, require a somewhat fuller discussion than we have thought it necessary to give to the diseases described in the last section.

We shall class them under the several heads of Fevers and Febrile Eructions; Inflammations; Lethargic diseases; Spasmodic diseases; Dropsies; and Anomalous diseases; which will form the titles of as many chapters, the last comprehending those affections, of which the nature or causes have not been fully ascertained, with those that could not properly be reduced under any of the former heads.

For the general doctrine of fevers, inflammations, comata, spasms, and dropsy, we must refer to the medical articles of this work.

CHAP. I. Of Fevers and Febrile Eructions.

All the domestic animals may be affected with pri-Infammatory fever; and this may be either of an inflammatory or putrid kind.

1. INFLAMMATORY FEVER. Synocha.

Inflammatory fever is, we believe, seldom seen in a primary or idiopathic complaint, except in the horse; and to the consideration of this fever, in that animal, we shall here confine ourselves. The symptoms are thus described by Mr Blaine:

"It is not easy to say what is the first symptom of fever in the horse; but from the effects that we see arise in some cases, it may be presumed that it is a cold fit. It is usual however first to observe this complaint, Diseases, by the loss of appetite, and dull heavy appearance of the animal; the extremities are cold, and the trunk hot, or the body is cold, and ears are hot. If a horse is attacked with common fever, while he is at grass, he is found restless, roving about the field, with an unsteady staggering air, and his head held low; if in the stable, frequently shifting his position, and is evidently restless and uneasy. His pulse is generally full, frequent, and hard, the two latter states of it are almost always present, but the former may vary. If the mouth is examined, it will be found hot and dry, and frequently smells strong; the breath is particularly hot, and there is often an increased redness of the inner membrane of the nose, even though there should be no primary affection of the lungs. The eyes are dull, heavy, and sometimes inflamed, and the horse starts, and is at times drowsy, but has no regular sleep. In this fever the secretions are generally diminished, therefore the dung is hard, and in small quantities; the urine sparingly made, and high coloured, and the excretions from the skin equally confined, giving it a dry harsh feel. The respiration is quickened, which is shown by the heaving at the flanks, and which must be distinguished from that difficulty accompanying inflammation of the lungs; in which case the air appears drawn through a part too small for it, as though we were to breathe through a quill; but in fever it is usually only simply accelerated.

"This forms the first stage of the complaint, and sometimes immediately succeeding to this, is an attack on some one particular organ, as the brain, lungs, bowels, or kidneys: in which case it ceases its primary affection, and becomes secondary and symptomatic; but when it remains purely of the febrile type, as the disease advances the symptoms become more irregular, seldom appearing the same in any two objects, arising from particular states in the individual bodies, varieties in the treatment, or from some peculiarities in the disease itself. The pulse in this second stage continues hard, but loses some of its fulness, and increases in frequency; the skin becomes moister, the urine is secreted in rather larger quantities, and sometimes to these succeeds a purging; the watchfulness increases, and the horse is often observed in these cases to chew a lock of hay, and let it fall from his mouth again, as though insensible of its escape.

"This disease seldom remains very long in this state; but there either succeeds a gradual abatement in the hardness and frequency of the pulse, the countenance becomes more lively, the muscular weakness increases, but the irritability lessens; the animal appears more tranquil; the secretions gradually return to their natural state; the mouth becomes moist, and the heat regular and equable; and thus is formed a resolution of the fever. This kind of fever, I believe, seldom terminates in a crisis, nor often by sweating; perhaps it may sometimes by purging.

"But when to the foregoing symptoms, instead of their latter appearances, there succeeds great restlessness, or sometimes constant drowsiness, the pulse becoming very quick, as from 70 to 80 pulsations in a minute, preserving some of its hardness, and accompanied with profuse salting, though at others the urine remains high coloured, and small in quantity, and the thirst unabated; when to these are added great prostration of strength, a fatal termination may be expected."

We have said that simple fever is not common in diseases of sheep or cattle; but when it occurs in these animals, the symptoms differ little from those above described.

It must be remarked, that though the foregoing description will apply to most cases in horses, all the symptoms here laid down will not often be found in the same case; but they will vary according to the constitution of the animal and other circumstances. Sometimes the fever will have less of the inflammatory type, and will approach to what is called a low or nervous fever. Cases of low nervous fever are, however, very uncommon among horses. Mr Blaine says that he has met with no instance of this kind, but that he was assured by a Mr Bloxham, a veterinary practitioner of considerable observation, that he had met with a well-marked case of typhus fever. In cases that approach this low type, the heat of the body is more irregular than in the pure inflammatory fever, and the mouth often continues moist though drink be refused; and the secretions and excretions are usually not so much affected. Sometimes there takes place a discharge of glutinous matter from the nose, and the eyes are watery. The pulse in these cases usually ceases to be full after the first 24 or 36 hours; and though it still continues hard, it is more frequent than before, and becomes small and irregular as the disease advances. This low variety of fever is more dangerous than the true inflammatory fever, and requires more particular attention.

Inflammatory fever may be produced by any cause that violently agitates the body, and unusually accelerates the motion of the blood. It may be produced by excessive exertion and fatigue, or by an exposure to cold while the body is overheated. It is said to have been sometimes brought on by a sudden fright. A very common cause in hot climates, is long exposure to the direct rays of the sun. Pure inflammatory fever is certainly not contagious.

In the cure of inflammatory fever it is necessary to draw blood as soon as possible; and the quantity of blood taken away should be in proportion to the violence of the inflammatory symptoms. We are disposed, however, to think, that a less quantity than is usually recommended, perhaps not more than two quarts at once, will be sufficient, as the weakness that comes on in the latter stages of all fevers, will be greatly increased by too much loss of blood. The blood should be preserved in a proper vessel, as directed in No. 162, that it may be ascertained how far it will be proper to repeat the operation. When blood has been drawn, the horse should be back-raked, or a hand passed up the rectum, and the dung drawn carefully away, after which a clyster should be thrown up, such as No. 17, of the receipts. It should be blood-warm, and should be passed up carefully and gently. If there is much determination to the head, a blister may be applied to the neck, or a feton inserted near the head as may be. Cooling medicines may be administered, such as the drenches, No. 22, and No. 26. All heating or cordial medicines, and stimulating food should, in the early stage of the fever, be carefully avoided. The diet should consist of light food that is easily digested, such as sweet hay, or, if that can be procured, lucerne or sainfoin; bran mash, and, by way of drink, thin gruel.

The rational mode of treating fevers, lately introduced Diseases ced into human medicine, will probably not soon be transferred to the stable. Grooms and farriers will not easily believe that it is necessary to keep a feverish horse cool, and allow him to breathe a free, pure air. The practice usually followed in these cases is to shut up the stable as closely as possible, and even to stop every cranny in the door and windows. This practice is not only sufficient to increase the disorder of the feverish horse, but even to excite fever in such horses as happen to be in the same stable. It is, besides, customary to cover up the horse with a load of body-clothes, in order that he may sweat off the fever; and probably these clothes are girded tight round his body by means of rollers.

Instead of this absurd method of treatment, a feverish horse should, if possible, be put into a stable where there is not more than one horse. As these animals naturally love society, it is better that he should not be quite solitary, otherwise he might be put in a stable by himself. The stable should be roomy and airy, and should be regularly cleaned. The horse may have a light cloth thrown over him, but this should not be fastened more than is sufficient to keep it from falling off his body.

When the inflammatory symptoms have subsided, and signs of debility begin to make their appearance, as they never fail to do in the course of a few days, a different plan of treatment will be required, as far as respects the administration of internal remedies. A horse labouring under fever must be carefully watched, in order to mark the time at which the inflammatory symptoms begin to give way to those of lowness and debility; and as the change is often very sudden, the horse should be visited at least twice a day, or oftener if possible, as were the groom or other attendant to continue the debilitating treatment after the symptoms of debility come on, such a degree of weakness may be produced as will not easily be recovered. The change will be discovered chiefly by the alteration of the pulse, which, from being hard and full, becomes softer and in general weaker. This is the time to exhibit strengthening medicines; but these at first should be of the gentler kind, such as Peruvian bark, or willow bark, which may be given at first in moderate doses; and if the debility continues, the dose must be increased, and the medicine administered more frequently. During the whole treatment, care must be taken that the horse be not suffered to remain costive, and his bowels may be kept moderately open, by giving him a warm bath every night. If the weakness becomes very great, and there appears much restlessness or heaviness, while the pulse continues low, it will be proper to administer some of the more powerful stimulant medicines, as camphor and opium, ammonia, or snake-root, as directed in the receipts No. 35 and 38. As the horse becomes convalescent, the stronger tonics, as oak bark, with ginger, may be administered twice or thrice a day; and as his appetite returns, he may be indulged with his usual food, with gentle exercise. It will be proper, however, to avoid any considerable exertion for a long time after the animal has become convalescent, as a considerable period must elapse before the body can recover its usual strength and vigour.

Inflammatory fever precedes or accompanies most violent inflammations, especially those of the brain and other viscera, and it generally usher in several of the eruptive diseases. In some of these complaints the fever demands particular attention; but in most of them it is merely a secondary symptom, and yields to the general treatment of the disease.

2. EPIDEMIC PUTRID FEVER. Typhus. Murrain, Pest, Garble. Epizootée, Fr.

Putrid fever does not commonly attack horses, though it has occasionally raged epidemically among these animals. Lancisi, an Italian physician, has described an epidemic fever that raged among horses in Italy about the year 1712, and Mr Olmer mentions an epidemic of a similar kind, attended with critical affections. He calls it the distemper, and says that it had raged at different periods for more than 50 years.

The most ferocious epidemic fevers that have ever appeared among domestic animals, are those which, from their violence and fatality, have been called murrains or pestis, and which have raged occasionally from the earliest historical accounts.

Columella mentions a contagious disease, which he calls cruditas, that scarcely differs in its symptoms from the murrains that we are presently to describe. The following is his description. "Cerebrum rutilans, ac ventris fumoris, faetidae cibi, nervorum intenso, habitas oculi, propter quae bos neque ruminat, neque lingua fe detegit." He advises bleeding in the tail, and back-raking, and clysters; and if it appears that the disease is contagious, he recommends the infected cattle to be separated from the rest of the herd.

A similar disease is also described by Vegetius, who recommends a similar treatment, with the additional advice: "Mortua cadavera ultra fines villarum proicienda sunt, et altissime obruenda sub terris." To carry the carcases to a distance from the farm, and bury them deep in the earth.

Marius, a Burgundian ecclesiastic, who wrote in the 6th century, mentions a disease, which he considers as the smallpox, that destroyed great numbers of cattle. "Hoc anno (570) morbus validus, cum profusivo ventris et variola, Italiam, Galliamque valde affixit, et animalia bubula per loca superscripta maxima interierunt."

The first accounts that we have of any disorder of this kind, since the beginning of the present century, Low Countries are related by Ramazini and Lancisi, two physicians strict, then living in Italy, where this disorder first broke out, in the year 1711, in the territories of the republic of Venice, in the country round Padua; and was said to have been brought from Dalmatia, a province of Turkey, by some merchants importing living cattle, according to their annual custom, from that and the neighbouring parts. The disease soon spread itself through most parts of Italy beyond the river Po, and appeared two years after in the duchy of Ferrara, where it ravaged the country, in the years 1713 and 1714, that Lannonius, a celebrated physician of that time, informs us, it was a prevalent opinion, that the whole species would quickly become extinct. From Italy it travelled through the Tyrol into France. Shortly after Germany suffered, as well as the Low Countries; and from these parts it was supposed to have been transported into Great Britain and Ireland. But there is no no record of a new infection in this country since the year 1714, till the middle of last century, when we probably received the infection from Holland, where this disorder then reigned, having received the infection from some of the neighbouring parts of Germany and Flanders.

About the year 1744, it was reported to have been brought by some traders into Essex, who had purchased calves in Holland, or some other of the provinces of the low countries, which had the infection, and spread through several counties, till it became a matter of importance to the state; and on the 13th of February 1745 gave occasion to the passing of an act of parliament, commanding that every probable, or even possible, means should be employed, by officers appointed for that purpose, to prevent the farther spreading of it. Premiums were given to those who killed their cattle as soon as the infection made its appearance; and fines were imposed upon every one who acted in opposition to the established laws, respecting driving, exposing, or selling cattle, supposed or found to have caught the disorder. Every precaution, however, which could be suggested at that time, proved ineffectual; and fresh orders were issued by his majesty in council, which for some time were also found to produce very little effect. It became so alarming to the country, that many eminent medical characters in different parts of England, closely applied themselves to the study of remedies for this calamitous distemper. They differed in opinion, whether it was a disease of an infectious nature, or proceeded from a malignancy in the state of the atmosphere, or some peculiarity in the nature of their food. The contradictory opinions which prevailed among them, nearly prevented some of the ablest professional men from appearing in behalf of the public; especially Mr Barker, who wrote an ingenious pamphlet on the subject, and whose mode of treatment proved more successful than that of many others, whose pretensions were given to the public in a more confident manner, and more strenuously supported.

From the several histories that have been given of the disorder, it appears to have differed in its symptoms and effects, according to the countries in which it appeared, the various seasons in which it commenced its ravages, and some other circumstances not fully ascertained. There seems to have been no doubt that the disease was infectious, or at least that it was easily propagated among the species of animals which it attacked; but it does not appear to have been capable of spreading to other species; as men, horses, sheep, and dogs, that lived in the neighbourhood of the infected cattle, showed no marks of having received the contagion.

In the historical sketch of the writers on veterinary medicine, we mentioned several works on the subject of the murrains that prevailed over Europe in the last century; and of these it will have appeared that the greater part were the production of foreigners. The most celebrated of these foreign publications were those of Sauvages, Goëlicke, and Camper. The work of the latter upon this subject is extremely valuable; and as it was written for the instruction of people in general, having been delivered in the form of lectures before a crowded audience, it is preferable to many others that have appeared on the subject. It is given in the third volume of Camper's works on natural history, physiology, and comparative anatomy, lately published at Paris. Camper delivered four lectures; in the first of which he explains to his hearers the structure and direction of the principal blood-vessels of the neck and extremities in cattle, and the natural position and appearance of the entrails of these animals. In the second he describes the natural structure of the four stomachs, the liver, and the spleen, and of the heart and lungs. In the third he explains the function of rumination, or chewing the cud, in all ruminating animals, but especially in cattle. In the fourth lecture he gives an account of the several writings that had appeared on the subject of epizootic diseases; among which he particularly recommends a German work by Dr Kruunetz, that of Goeëlicke, and those of our countrymen Brocklesby and Layard. In the same lecture he gives a very accurate detail of the symptoms of the disease as it appeared in the province of Groningen in the year 1768, with the appearances on diffusion; his own opinion with respect to the nature of the malady, and an account of the most approved method of treating it. We regret that this work came into our hands too late for us to make any considerable use of it in this article.

The medical practitioners in England, to whom we are most indebted for an accurate account of the symptoms of this disorder, and a rational mode of treating it, are Dr Brocklesby and Dr Layard. As the account given by these gentlemen differs in several particulars, though there can be no doubt that both describe the appearances which fell under their own observations, we shall extract a few particulars from both their publications. The following is Dr Brocklesby's account of the disease.

For ten days or a fortnight the cattle were troubled with a dry cough, which is indeed not an uncommon symptom among cattle, at that time of the year, and therefore Dr Brocklesby did not consider it belonging to the present disorder; the hair was rougher on the skin than ordinary; their eyes looked heavy, and, when the principal disorder appeared, they refused fodder, but had an insatiable thirst for a time: The milk cows decreased in their milk, which remained to a certain quantity, sometimes for two days, before it changed colour, but at length often dried up. Upon ceasing to chew the cud, a shivering seized them all over, and a high fever immediately came on; the milk, if any remained to that time, curdled over the fire, but did not in the first of the disorder. At first the belly was coltive, but for the most part a looseness succeeded within forty-eight hours after the shivering fit. The stools were first green and watery, and of a stinking smell; their constipation, however, altered afterwards to a viscid, flinty matter, the purging accompanied till about the seventh day, and about that time the excrements became thicker, in such as recovered; and these soon chewed their cud again, and tasted of fodder, which they had before absolutely refused through the whole disease. All that had not the looseness before the third day died. The urine was very high coloured, and in smaller quantities. The degree of fever was observed very high; upon the third day the pulse beat near a hundred times in a minute, whereas the ingenious Dr Hales found a sound ox's artery not to exceed 38 pulses, in the same time. At different inter- Diseases. vals, after the attack, they all laboured under a prodigious difficulty and panting for breath; some suffered these after the first day, others not before the third. But this disorder suffered remissions, and seemed to be augmented towards evening, and at night. Several beasts discharged, towards the fourth or fifth day, when ill, a very great quantity of a frothy matter from the mouth and eyes; others ran actually purulent matter from the nostrils. As the disorder advanced, the eyes sunk more in their orbits, and some were observed to be quite blind. Towards the conclusion, the fore parts of the body, and particularly the glands about the head, were prodigiously swelled, and several beasts had a universal emphysema, or crackling of air beneath their skin; those that were not blooded, equally with such as were. Frequently one might observe pustules break out on the fifth or sixth days, all over the neck and fore parts. Some cattle were raging mad on the first day; such were necessarily killed; some dropped down suddenly; others died on the third, most on the fifth or seventh, very few alive to the fourteenth day; before death the horns and legs grew remarkably cold.

The appearances in the dead bodies of eight different cows were as follow: The flesh was of a sound colour, and everywhere lined with fat, the cellular membrane between the skin and flesh was distended with air to above the thickness of three inches. The paunch was prodigiously distended with food, in all of them, but it contained not any thing preternatural; nor indeed in the reticulum or second stomach, were there any morbid appearances; but, upon incision of the omasus, or third stomach, in which the food is naturally without much juice, a most offensive stench rushed out, with a large quantity of thin greenish water.

The blood-vessels on the inner surface of the ventricle were very full. The abomasus and part of the intestines discovered the like morbid phenomena. The liver, spleen, and kidneys, were as usual; but the gall-bladder seemed to be in the greater number fuller than ordinary; the consistence of some was thicker than the rest, and the gall tasted disagreeably sweetish. Dr Brockleby did not observe any purulent matter infecting the inner surface of the intestines, though other gentlemen discovered such, in some cattle, if he was rightly informed; but there appeared in some a slimy mucus, all along the intestinal canal.

The lungs universally showed the strongest signs of a preceding high inflammation; most of them were turgid with red blood, while the smallest vesicles of the bronchia, or air-vesicles, were very much inflated. Some few arterious vessels were replete with a gelatinous, glairy mucus, and all the lungs appeared larger than they do in common. The whole inner surface of the trachea, or wind-pipe, was covered with a frothy mucus; but he never found any ulcers with purulent matter either at the root of the tongue, or in the lungs. Upon opening two or three heads, he found large quantities of extravasated serum; and the blood retained fluidity in the larger vessels long after death.

The method of treating the cattle recommended by Dr Brockleby is as follows: Before the cattle are seized, he advises two fetons, or pegs, to be put deep into the dewlap, and into the under part of the neck; and immediately upon refusing fodder, the beasts should have three quarts of blood taken away; and, after twelve hours, two quarts more; after the next twelve hours about three pints may be let out; and after the following twelve hours, diminish a pint of blood from the quantity taken away at the preceding blood-letting; lastly, about a single pint should be taken away in less than twelve hours after the former bleeding; so that when the beast has been blooded five times, in the manner here proposed, the worst symptoms will, it is hoped, abate; but if the difficulty and panting for breath continue very great, he sees no reason against repeating bleeding, or at least against taking away the fifth time, instead of a single pound, twice that quantity.

In the mean time the fetons or pegs should be daily promoted to suppuration by moving the chord; and the cattle should have as much bran-water as they choose to drink luke-warm. This should be made a little tart or sourish, either with common vinegar or spirit of vitriol; and immediately after the first bleeding they should have a drench composed of a drachm and a half of camphor, well rubbed with two ounces of honey, adding an ounce and a half of nitre, and about a quart of water-gruel.

It is extraordinary that this treatment, with a little variation in the internal medicine, is recommended by Mr Feron as the result of his own experience, in what he calls the general inflammation of cattle. It is a curious coincidence; as we suppose that Mr Feron, from his not noticing Dr Brockleby's pamphlet, has never seen it.

The doctor recommends keeping the cattle very warm, and guarding against the admission of any cool air, a practice in which he will scarcely be followed at the present day.

The symptoms of this distemper as described by Dr Layard, Layard are, on the first appearance of the infection, a decrease of appetite; a poking out of the neck, implying some difficulty in deglutition, a shaking of the head, as if the ears were tickled; a hanging down of the ears, and deafness; dimness of the eyes; and a moving to and fro in a constant uneasiness. All these signs, except the last, increase till the fourth day. Then a flippidity and unwillingness to move, great debility, total loss of appetite, a running at the eyes and the nose, sometimes sickness and throwing up of bile, a hulky cough and shivering. The head, horns, and breath are very hot, while the body and limbs are cold. The fever, which was continued the three first days, now rises and increases towards evening; the pulse is all along quick, contracted, and irregular. A constant diarrhoea, or scouring of fetid green faeces, a stinking breath, and nauseous steams from the skin, infect the air they are placed in. The blood is very florid, hot, and frothy. The urine, or stale, is highly coloured; the roofs of their mouths, and their backs, are ulcerated. Tumours, or boils, are to be felt under the panniculus carnosus, or flabby membrane of the skin; and eruptions appear all along their limbs, and about their legs. If a new milch-cow be thus ill, her milk dries up gradually, her purging is more violent, and on the fourth day she is commonly dry. There is such acrimony or sharpness in their dung, that a visible irritation is to be observed during some time in ano. They groan much, are worse in the evening, and mostly lying down. These symptoms continue increasing till the seventh day from the invasion, on which generally, though... though sometimes protracted till the ninth, the crisis or turn takes place.

If after the seventh day from the invasion (at which time a crisis may be expected), the eruptions, boils, or abscesses are decreased in bulk, or totally disappear, without having broken or discharged outwardly, or an aggravation of the symptoms already mentioned, with no intermission; it may be assuredly pronounced, that the beast will die.

As to the cure, immediately upon the first appearance of the distemper, the beast should be put into some place where it may be kept clean, warm, and as free as possible from infectious streams of other beasts in the same condition. The beast must be bled in proportion to its strength, washed with warm water and vinegar, to clear the hair from filth and insects, and rubbed every morning and evening, for a quarter of an hour, with a dry linen or woollen cloth, or straw, to promote perspiration. A rowel also is to be made in the dewlap, which is to be dressed twice every day, which rowel is also to be kept in a month at least after the recovery of the beast.

Should the beast be hot, hang down his head, breathe with difficulty after the bleeding, dung hard, and the skin feel tight and thick; then it will be very proper to give a gentle, cooling purge in this first stage. When the beast has voided the hardened dung, or if it should not have wanted purging, the following drench is to be given. Take of madder-root, three ounces; of turmeric and horse-radish-root, each one ounce; of fenugreek-seeds, bruised, two ounces; of chamomile-flowers, dried leaves of feverfew, rue, and sage, of each one handful. Boil them half an hour in a gallon of small ale, well hopped, to three quarts; then strain the liquor, and give the beast three pints in the morning, and the remainder in the evening. No dry or solid fodder is to be offered till the beast chews the cud again. Between these drenches a quart or two of diluted vinegar-whey must be given frequently in the day, to dilute the hard fodder, and strengthen the coats of the stomach; and hay-water may be also given. Great care must be taken, twice or thrice a day, to cleanse the mouth, barbs, and nostrils of the distempered cattle, with some abfierging acidulated liquor. On the fourth day, if the beast be heavy, dull, shivering, no pimples or knots arise, and a purging be coming on, the following drench must be given at about eight in the evening, and repeated three or four nights, as occasion requires.

Take of Virginian snake-root, contrayerva root, chamomile flowers powdered, of each half an ounce; Venice treacle, six drachms: Mix all these in three pints of vinegar-whey, and give the drench lukewarm. Let a person sit up all night with the beast, and give it frequently a quart of vinegar whey. Venice treacle may also be serviceable; and if there be any signs of mortification from the dark and relaxed appearance of the mouth, the coldness of the skin, the black fetid dung, insensibility, &c., the Peruvian bark must be instantly given every four or five hours, as occasion may require, taking the usual medicines in the intervals. In the last stage, let the swellings that puff up the skin be opened and digested; and after the crisis takes place, if a scouring should ensue, it is not to be hastily stopped, though diligently watched and restrained, lest it weaken the beast too much; and to cleanse the stomach and bowels, let a purge of rhubarb, fennel, &c., be given. Dr Layard advises to let the beast drink water-gruel lukewarm, and keep it on dry meat, though sparingly; and at night to give an ounce of electuary of discordium, in a quart or three pints of small ale, warm. But if after the crisis the beast is costive, and the skin dry, harsh, and tight on the flesh; dunging may be procured by giving in the evening a mahl of bran, with a handful of beans bruised, and an ounce of Epsom salt. He recommends, however, the greatest exactness in observing when the crisis is over; for the least laxative medicine, or opening food, at the height of the disease, and consequently in the former stages of expulsion and maturation, will certainly bring on a fouling, attended with fatal consequences, or at least very difficult to be removed. In winter time, the cattle, upon recovery, should not be turned out at once to the pasture grounds, let these be ever so dry; but towards the middle of the day, in fair weather, turning them out two hours, and then bringing them in again, will gradually use them to the open air. In summer, morning and evening will be the most suitable times; for the heat of the sun, or cold, may bring on other disorders.

"A farmer," says Dr Layard, "lost ten head of cattle, and two more were dying, and seven others ill, when I took upon me the direction of the seven which were last fallen ill. By the preceding treatment five of these recovered. One cow, very near her time of calving, died; and the seventh was certainly lost for want of observing the due time of the crisis, and purging too soon."

Such are the accounts given by Brockleby and Layard, of the symptoms and treatment of this destructive malady; and it will be seen that their accounts differ no more than what may be expected from two different persons describing a similar disease that occurred at two different periods; for the murrain described by Dr Brockleby appeared in the years 1744 and 1745, while that of which Dr Layard has given an account occurred between 1739 and 1760.

The causes and nature of this disease have not been exactly ascertained. Some have supposed it connected with a peculiar state of the atmosphere, and that it did not originate in contagion. Many considered the principal cause of the disease to be previous hard winters, obstructed perspiration, worms in the liver, and corrupted food.

Hard winters have been considered as a cause of this disease, because it was in 1710, after the hard winter in 1709 that the great mortality among the cattle was observed; and because the hard winter in 1740 was followed by the contagion in 1741, which spread over the most part of Europe. Not to mention many others, the murrain in 1768, followed immediately after a pretty hard winter in 1767. On the other hand Camper remarks, that the hard winter in 1727 was not followed by the contagion; from which it would appear that the epidemic does not necessarily depend on the severity or mildness of the preceding winter.

It was attributed by many to obstructed perspiration; and to prevent its attack, it was proposed to cover the cattle during the nights of autumn, and to make them sleep within doors during the spring nights. Diseases. It may, however, be observed, that if this reasoning were true, the disease ought to have been less prevalent, or ought not to have appeared at all, in those provinces where, for the sake of saving the dung, they house the cattle at night, even in the summer as well as in the spring and autumn. Besides it appears that the contagion was not known at Bern, though the cattle in that district lay all night in the field whenever the weather would permit.

Camper justly ridicules the idea of the disease originating from worms.

"If (says Camper), you demand of me to what I attribute the first of the distemper, I shall answer, as it were to be wished that all naturalists would do in similar cases, that I do not know; that the subject is above my comprehension, and doubtless above that of every man."

There seems no doubt, however, that the complaint was infectious, and that, provided proper means were taken to prevent infection, the distemper would not spread. The means proposed by Dr Layard and some other medical practitioners, to destroy the contagion, was to bury the carcases of the infected animals, and to slaughter all that appeared to have received the infection. Inoculation was proposed by some, as a means of diminishing the ravages of the murrain; and is said to have been practised in Denmark with considerable success: but if this be true, it is probable that the epizootic disease that raged in Denmark was of a different nature from that which appeared in Britain, and on some parts of the continent; as inoculation seems to have been tried in these places without effect. What probably led to the proposal of inoculation was, that the disease was considered by some as exactly similar to the smallpox in the human body. This opinion was adopted by Dr Layard, and seems to have arisen from the boils or suppurating tumours which appeared on the bodies of most of the affected cattle; but these tumours do not appear to be similar to the eruption that takes place in smallpox, but rather resemble the boils or buboes that take place in the plague and some other highly infectious fevers. On the whole, it seems to us pretty evident, that the disease is of the nature of putrid fever, and we have therefore ranked it under this head.

It appears from Camper's works, that inoculation was attended with so much success in many cases on the continent, that a great number of cattle was saved by it, who probably could not have been recovered from the natural disease. The advantages attending inoculation according to Camper are,

1st, That we can expose to the danger of contagion such calves and heifers only as are of a moderate price.

2nd, That the heifers pass through the disease before they take the bull, and consequently before they are pregnant. This is attended with more advantages than may appear at first sight; for when the contagion attacks a whole herd, all at once, oxen, calves, heifers, and cows are seized without distinction. Such cows as are pregnant generally slip their calf, and even if they should perfectly recover, their womb is so disordered that it will never afterwards be capable of retaining the calf; besides, that afterwards it is a long time before they come in heat, so that the proprietor is obliged to keep them for a whole year without deriving from them any benefit, except he fatten them for the butcher.

If the success of inoculation, as well as the certainty of the cattle being incapable of a second infection, were fully ascertained, the plan of inoculation would be extremely proper. If these points were fully established, would they not, however, considerably militate against the opinion that is entertained by the best writers on the subject, even by Camper himself, that this disease is an idiopathic putrid fever, and not an eruptive complaint like the smallpox.

Considering the disease as one that is highly contagious, every method should be taken to check the progress of the infection. For this purpose the houses where the cattle are stabled, should be kept perfectly clean, and well ventilated. It would also be proper to fumigate these places twice a day with the vapours of some mineral acid, such as the nitrous or muriatic acids, as has been recommended by Dr Johnstone, Guyon Morveau, and Dr Carmichael Smith. This fumigation may be easily effected by placing pinkpins of warm sand in various parts of the cattle-houses, and particularly at the doors, and placing on the sand a cup containing common salt or pounded nitre, on which is to be poured a sufficient quantity of sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol, stirring the mass now and then with a glass rod, to promote the escape of the acid vapours.

We shall conclude this subject with a series of queries that were circulated among medical men on the continent by the Society of Medicine at Paris, for the purpose of gaining every necessary information respecting this alarming pestilence, as they may tend to direct the inquiries of those who shall in future have an opportunity of observing the distemper.

1. What is the situation of the country in which the epidemic appears, and what is the nature of the soil?

2. Of what quality are the waters which the cattle usually drink, and of what dimensions are the reservoirs that contain them?

3. What is the quality of the pasturage, and what are the plants which most constantly grow in the pastures?

4. Of what nature is the fodder and the grain that are given to the cattle within doors?

5. Have there been any abundant rains or inundations; has the water continued for a long time on the ground, and what are the effects it has produced on the fodder?

6. Or has there on the contrary been any great drought, and how long has it continued?

7. What has been the season for getting in the hay, and for harvest; and what effect does the season seem to have had on the hay and other fodder?

8. What circumstances seem to have rendered it necessary for the cattle to work?

9. Has the distemper been announced by any previous symptoms; and what were they?

10. Did the disease come on with shivering, with coldness of the horns and ears, and with the loss of appetite?

11. Did the heat come on soon after the cold fit, or was it not preceded by a cold fit?

12. Do the animals continue lying, without being able to raise themselves on their legs?

13. When 13. When they are lying, is their head low, or how do they hold it? 14. Are their eyes red, watery, and hot? 15. Are their nostrils dry, or does there ooze from them a mucous matter? 16. Is their tongue in the natural state, or is it very red, or is it covered with a yellow or brown mucus; is it moist or dry, or are there on it any tubercles? 17. Is their throat inflamed, or are there on it any aphthous crusts? 18. Is the animal fatigued with a cough, and is this cough very frequent? 19. Do the flanks heave or not? 20. Does the animal seem to feel any great pain when he is touched in the flanks, or the belly, on the spine, or on the rump? 21. Are there any pustules or tumours on the surface of the body? 22. Is the hair smooth or staring, or does it easily come off when the skin is curried, or even when the body is rubbed with a wisp of straw? 23. Does the animal feel much disordered, or does he refuse every sort of drink? 24. Does he chew the cud? 25. Has he a frequent discharge of urine, and what is the colour and consistence of it? 26. Has he a discharge by stool more frequently or less than usual, and are the excrements natural, or very dry or very liquid; what is their colour and odour, and is their discharge preceded or accompanied with a frequent explosion of wind? 27. Are there to be observed any little convulsions below the skin, especially about the neck? 28. Is the belly in its natural state, or is it swelled; is it soft, or hard and tense? 29. At what periods do these several circumstances take place? 30. How does the distemper terminate; what are the symptoms that announce a healthy termination, and what are those which precede death? 31. In what state after death are found the stomachs, the bowels, the liver, the spleen, the lungs, the heart, and the brain? 32. What remedies have been administered to the diseased beast? 33. What sensible effects have these remedies produced? 34. Lastly, what regimen has been observed in the convalescent state?

The eruptive diseases incident to domestic animals are but few, when compared with the exanthemata that take place in the human body. Many such diseases are, however, described by veterinary writers, especially on the continent, where they seem to be much more prevalent than among us. In particular, it appears, that in the southern parts of Europe the sheep are frequently affected with an eruptive disease that nearly resembles the smallpox; and, like this disease in the human subject, there are two varieties of this affection, a distinct and a confluent. A very particular account of this disease, as it occurred at Cauterets in the department of the Lower Pyrenees in France, was drawn up by M. Tenon, and communicated by him to the agricultural society at Paris; and a translation of it has been published in the Farmer's Magazine for May, 1804, from which we have taken it.

3. Sheep-pox. Claveau, Fr.

This distemper, which at Cauterets is called the Sheep-pox, smallpox, is contagious; and indiscriminately attacks wethers, ewes, lambs, and goats, more especially when shut up during winter in confined cots, the animals are kept very hot. It is a very singular circumstance, that this distemper should only appear at Cauterets, after intervals of twelve, fifteen, or twenty years; while in Guienne, and the Higher Languedoc, it rages every year. Besides, that in the former mountainous tracts, the weather is colder than in the plains of the latter districts, the sheep of the Pyrenees are kept more apart from each other than in the low countries, and the different flocks are much less liable to meet together, or to pass through the same roads, by which they are not nearly so much exposed to the danger of infection.

When seized with this distemper, the sheep become dull and weak, and they loathe their food; the head, eyes, ears, and gums, are swelled; and hard white tumours appear in the groins and under the joint of the shoulder. Three or four days after the appearance of these tumours, pimples break out in different parts of the body. At first, these are situated on the naked skin between the thighs, and on the places where the wool is short and scanty; afterwards, they break out about the head, and successively over the whole body, even on the eye-lids, ears and throat. In this stage of the disease the animal swallows with pain, being obliged to hold back the head, and to stretch out the neck for the purpose, and it breathes with great difficulty. As the disease goes on, the pimples enlarge, and become inflamed, particularly at their bases; they suppurate and burst; the matter which runs out mixes with the wool, and mats along with it into hard lumps, but afterwards dries and falls to powder; the wool falls off in locks; and even the scarf skin peels off in large pieces, which are full of holes. When the distemper begins to abate, the sheep rub themselves on the posts of the racks, or any other hard substance which comes in their way; and by this means the wool, along with the loose skin and dried pus, are rubbed off. If proper precautions were not employed, this would infallibly spread the contagion by infecting any other sheep that might be brought into the same cots; but, on purpose to destroy the infection, new cribs are either substituted for the old ones, which are pulled down and burnt, or else the infected cribs are washed with cream of lime, and the cots are thoroughly fumigated with burning juniper and other aromatic plants.

There are several varieties of this disorder. In some of these the eruption of pustules is by no means complete as above described; sometimes the pimples grow black, and dry up without coming to suppuration; at other times the disease is of a complicated nature. But as the disorder only appears at distant periods among the sheep at Cauterets, we are not to expect very full information concerning its various degrees from the shepherds of that district; neither have they any decided experience of the effects of sulphur, or fetons, or Diseases of blisters, in the cure of this distemper. Blisters are said to have scarcely any effect upon the skins of sheep.

It is certain, that the flesh of such sheep, as have died of this disorder, is very unwholesome, has a very bad taste, and is even dangerous to eat; and they add, that when dogs happen to feed on it, they catch the disease, and spread it by infection. Three cats, by eating this food, had their heads affected with an eruption of pustules, by which they were first blinded, and afterwards lost their lives. Hence the necessity of the precaution which is taken at Cauterets to bury deeply the carcases of sheep which die of this disease.

I had an opportunity, says M. Tenon, at a butcher's in Paris, to examine some sheep which had died of this disorder. The skins were covered with suppurated pustules, which penetrated as far as the cellular membrane, and the fat in their neighbourhood was affected for a considerable distance all round, being browner and firmer than the ordinary fat; and this alteration penetrated even to the flesh.

The inhabitants of Cauterets affirm, that these pustules are found on the liver and other internal parts of the body.

M. Tenon made every possible inquiry to learn whether this disease was ever communicated from the sheep to mankind, but he could learn no instances of such infection: it is believed, however, in Languedoc, that it is communicated from sheep to rabbits. He could not learn whether the sheep were ever affected a second time with the same disorder; but we cannot expect information at Cauterets on this part of the subject, since the disease only appears there for a single season, after intervals of twelve, fifteen, or twenty years, while the sheep live but eight, or at most, ten years; so that any of them, which have once been diseased, cannot be alive when the next period of contagion comes round.

Whenever the disorder appears in the flock, the infected animals are separated from the rest, and shut up in warm cots, having plenty of wheat or barley straw given them for litter; they are fed with hay and aftermath which have been made on a dry field, with a little salt, and are allowed lukewarm water for drink.

In the flat country at Tarbes, which is ten leagues distant from Cauterets, and considerably warmer than in the Pyrenees, and where this distemper is much more frequent, a different method of treatment is followed. At the beginning of the disease blood is drawn by cutting the ear; the cots are fumigated for five or six successive days, by burning aromatic and strong-smelling herbs, preferring the dried stems of garlic for this purpose; these are burnt on a large stone in the middle of the cot, while all the vent holes are carefully stopped, to prevent, as much as possible, the smoke from escaping. The shepherds of Tarbes have great confidence in the beneficial effects of fumigating with garlic stems, which occasions a great discharge from the nostrils, especially in such cases of the disease as are complicated with catarrhal disorders, and with the flaggers or vertigo.

At Bellegarde, near Auch, they give to each beast a double handful of white mulberry leaves, which they allege is a most effectual cure, and serves excellently for preventing the attacks of the disease.

When, at Cauterets, the disorder begins to abate, whatever be the season of the year, the animals are clipped, on purpose to assist the drying of the pustules, and to favour the growth of a new fleece. After this the sheep fatten very quickly; and it is worth while to remark, that the fleece which immediately succeeds this disease is finer and more silky than any former or future fleece on the same beasts.

Formerly this disease made great ravages among the sheep at Carcassonne, till a method was fallen on to inoculate the disease. M. Tenon learned this fact in 1762 from Dr French, an Irish physician, who lived in Languedoc for several years; but it was not till 1763 that he received particular information on this curious subject from M. Bertra, mayor of Carcassonne, to whom he had written for information, and who procured him a memoir on the diseases of sheep in that part of the country. From this memoir the following account of inoculating the sheep-pox is extracted.

"The seigneur de Maux, in the diocese of Narbonne is the first, and almost the only person who has practised inoculating the smallpox on his flocks; and having been successful during ten years experience of the practice, his widow has ever since continued to follow his example.

"In the month of September, when the heat of summer is past, and before there is any danger of very cold weather; while the pastures are still in good order, and the lambs, which are now six or seven months old, are strong enough for withstanding the force of the disease, this season is chosen as the fittest for communicating the smallpox to the sheep. For this purpose the fresh skin of a sheep, either ewe, wether, or lamb, which has died of the disease, or, instead of that, one taken from a sheep which has been killed while affected by it, is placed on the floor of the cot. Into this cot all the young sheep of the year are driven, and they voluntarily rub and roll themselves on the diseased skin. Very soon afterwards the symptoms of the disease begin to appear; they have a dull and heavy appearance, hold down their heads, are somewhat fevered, and loathe their food. On purpose to aid the eruption of the pustules, bread dipped in wine is given to the sheep; they are anxiously preserved from being exposed to great heat or great cold, and particularly from rain. By these precautions they speedily recover, and it very rarely happens that even one dies out of a flock of three hundred.

Although the disorder has often spread over the districts in the neighbourhood of the estate where this practice prevails, there has been no instance of a single sheep, after undergoing the above described operation, having been infected a second time. It ought to have been noticed, that the inoculated flock is carefully prevented from mixing with any other sheep, by keeping it in a separate cot, and on a particular pasture, the other shepherds being forbidden to use either for the flocks under their charge. By these precautions, the disease is prevented from spreading, and such proprietors as do not wish to have their sheep artificially infected, have themselves to blame if they do not avoid the place where the diseased sheep are kept. Since this practice has been followed, it has been observed that the disorder has not returned so frequently, but that it has not proved proved in the least degree destructive to the flocks which have not been inoculated.

M. Berra adds, that the lambs never lose their wool under the influence of the inoculated disorder, and that their fleeces are equally good in every respect with those of the uninfected, so that no difference can be perceived.

This disease was once pretty common in Britain, but is now scarcely known among us. It is, however, justly apprehended, that importation of sheep from the continent may again introduce it; and Sir Joseph Banks has taken much pains to caution the public against the danger of such an introduction.

4. Cow-pox, or Kine-pox. Vaccina.

A greater blessing was never procured to mankind than what has been already derived, and will, we trust, be ultimately derived, from the invaluable discovery of the inoculated cow-pox, in preventing the person who has received it from being afterwards liable to various contagion. For this blessing we are certainly indebted to the labours and experiments of Dr Edward Jenner.

There is no doubt that the disease was known many years ago in some of our principal dairy districts; but Dr Jenner has all the merit of having extensively circulated the discovery, and of having first applied it to those valuable purposes to which an almost universal experience has shown it to be well adapted.

The symptoms and origin of this disease amongst cows, have been briefly described by Dr Jenner in his publications on the subject. The first of these appeared in 1798, while Dr Jenner was practising in Berkely in Gloucestershire, where he had an opportunity of frequently seeing the disease.

"In this dairy country, (says Dr Jenner) a great number of cows are kept, and the office of milking is performed indiscriminately by men and maid servants. One of the former having been appointed to apply dressings to the heels of a horse affected with the grease, and not paying due attention to cleanliness, inadvertently bears his part in milking the cows with some particles of the infectious matter adhering to his fingers. When this is the case, it commonly happens that a disease is communicated to the cows, and from the cows to the dairy maids, which spreads through the farm, until most of the cattle and domestics feel its unpleasant consequences. This disease has obtained the name of cow-pox. It appears on the nipples of the cows in the form of irregular pustules. At their first appearance they are commonly of a palish blue, or rather of a colour somewhat approaching to livid, and are surrounded by an erysipelas-like inflammation. These pustules, unless a timely remedy be applied, frequently degenerate into phagedenic ulcers, which prove extremely troublesome. The animals become indisposed, and the secretion of milk is much lessened."

There sometimes appear another kind of eruption on the udder of the cow, which on a superficial view may be mistaken for cow-pox. It consists of a number of white blisters on the nipples, and these blisters are filled with a whitish serous fluid. They are to be distinguished from the pustules that take place in the cow-pox, by their not having the bluish colour of the latter, and by their never eating into the fleshy parts, being confined to the skin, and ending in scabs. This eruption also appears to be infectious, but not nearly in so great a degree as the true cow-pox.

Dr Jenner considers this spurious eruption as being chiefly produced by the transition which is made by the cow, in the spring, from a poor diet to one that is more nourishing, by which the udder at this season becomes more than usually vascular for the supply of milk. There is, however, another sort of inflammation and pustules, which appears to be not uncommon in all the dairy counties in the west of England. A cow intended to be exposed for sale, and having naturally a small udder, is for a day or two previously neither milked by the milker, nor is her calf suffered to have access to her; thus the milk is preternaturally accumulated, and the udder and nipple become greatly distended. The consequences frequently are inflammation and pustular eruption.

As the eruption of the cow-pox disappears in a few days, little more is required than to keep the teats clean, and handle them as carefully as possible during milking.

The fact of cow-pox originating from the matter of grease, or of the latter being capable of producing the former, was, we believe, first discovered by Dr Jenner; but the opinion was for some time considered as fallacious. Many unsuccessful attempts were made by Dr Woodville and by Mr Coleman to produce cow-pox by inoculating the udders of cows with matter from greasy heels. Some experiments made by Mr Simmons tended still farther to disprove Dr Jenner's opinion. But about five years ago, Dr John Loy published a small pamphlet, in which he has related some experiments made by himself, with a view to determine this controverted point. He was led to make these experiments from some cases that fell under his observation, of a disease very similar to the cow-pox appearing on persons who must certainly have derived it from the matter of grease. Dr Loy's experiments fully confirmed the opinion of Dr Jenner, and proved that the matter of grease would, by inoculation, produce in the human body a disease exactly resembling cow-pox, and like it capable of protecting the inoculated person from an invasion of the smallpox. Dr Loy also proved, that in some cases, the cow-pox might be produced in cows by the immediate application of the matter of grease, but that this experiment did not succeed unless the horse had also a general affection of the system. This led Dr Loy to suppose that there exist two species of grease, the one merely a local affection, the other a general affection of the system.

The reasons that induced Dr Jenner to suppose that cow-pox originates in grease are thus stated by himself, in his second publication on the subject of cow-pox.

Firstly, He conceived grease to be the source of cow-pox, from observing that where the cow-pox had appeared among the dairies in Gloucestershire (unless it could be traced to the introduction of an infected cow or servant), it had been preceded at the farm by a horse labouring under grease, which horse had been attended by some of the milkers.

Secondly, From its being a popular opinion through that dairy country, and from its being insisted on by those who there attend sick cattle.

Thirdly, From the total absence of the disease in Scotland and Ireland (as the doctor was informed from the best authority) where the men servants are not employed in the dairies.

Fourthly, Fourthly, From having observed that morbid matter generated by the horse, frequently communicates in a casual way, a disease to the human subject so like the cow-pox, that in many cases it would be difficult to mark the distinction between the one and the other. The truth of this observation is well illustrated by the above experiments of Dr Loy.

Fifthly, From his being induced to believe from experiments, that some of those who had been thus infected by the horse, resisted the smallpox.

Sixthly, From the progress and general appearance of a pustule on the arm of a boy whom he inoculated with matter taken from the hand of a man that had been infected by a horse, and from the similarity to the further observation of the general constitutional symptoms which followed.*

5. LE LOUVET.

Continental writers describe a variety of eruptions under the general name of charbon, or carbuncle, which affect various parts of the body, and have received different names according to the part which they attack. We shall here only notice one of these which raged epidemically about the middle of the last century in Switzerland, where it is called le Louvet.

It affected both cattle and horses, but seems to have been attended with different symptoms in each. According to M. Reynier, a physician at Lausanne, who published an account of the distemper, when an ox is seized with it, he suddenly loses his strength, trembles, seems desirous of lying constantly on the ground, whence he seldom moves except to refresh himself; he carries his head low, and his ears flouncing; he is sad, and moans; his eyes red, his skin very hot and dry, and his breathing frequent and difficult. When the disease has made some progress, expiration is always followed with a considerable depression of the flanks; there is a frequent cough; the breath is very fetid; the heart and arteries beat violently; the tongue and palate are dry and become blackish; the animal loses his appetite and ceases to chew the cud; there is considerable thirst; the urine is scanty, reddish, and the excrement hard and blackish towards the beginning of the disease, and sometimes limpid and bloody. Cows lose their milk. On most of the animals inflammatory tumours are produced, which appear sometimes on the chest, sometimes on the vertebrae of the neck, and on the belly; at others on the udder, and the parts of generation. At other times they entirely cover the skin in pimples, like those of the mange or scab.

All these symptoms do not often appear on the same subject; but in proportion as more of them occur, the disease is the more fatal. In general, death takes place on the fourth day, when the symptoms are violent; if they pass the fourth day, and are not worse on the seventh, their recovery is pretty certain, though they are often not convalescent before the fifteenth day.

When the urine is turbid, and deposits a whitish sediment; when the excrements are more abundant than in the natural state, moist and not very offensive; when the skin is black and relaxed, the pimples filled with whitish matter, the thirst alleviated; when the appetite and rumination returns, and when the pustules begin to dry up, a perfect recovery may be expected; but on the contrary, when there is much swelling of the belly, when the animals moan much, when there appear great debility, trembling, convulsions, retention of urine, diarrhoea or dysentery, a fatal termination may be looked for.

On opening the bodies of such animals as die of this disease, there appear on the skin numerous black tumours, full of yellow serous fluid that effervesces with acids; the muscles are livid, soft and flaccid; the lungs wasted, full of tubercles and little ulcers, especially on those animals which died on the fourth day. The stomach and bowels are beset with red tumours, full of a tenacious clammy fluid.

M. Reynier considers the predisposing cause of this disease to be the bad quality of the water, which the beasts drank, the corrupted state of their food, excessive fatigue, low and ill-aired stables, deficiency of herbage, and tempestuous weather. Like many other medical men of his time, he held the immediate cause of the disease to consist in an alkaline state of the blood. The method of cure consisted in giving drenches of emollient decoctions, elixirs of the same substances, with nitre and vinegar mixed with honey; and towards the latter stage of the disease, the Peruvian bark and camphor were administered. This was a very innocent and gentle treatment, and it is no wonder that so many of the cattle died.

6. STRANGLES.

The disease called strangles in horses, is considered by Mr Blaine as a specific fever, accompanied with a disposition to inflammation in the glands of the head and throat. It most commonly attacks horses betwixt four and five years of age, though it may occur at any period before six; but rarely appears after that age. Young horses are most subject to it when first brought to labour, and put on the nourishing diet of the stable, though Mr Lawrence has seen it in unbroken colts in the field. It seems that few horses escape having it once in their life.

It commences with a considerable degree of fever; the breath is hot, the eyes are heavy and languid, the horse thrusts out his nose, has a hoarse cough, and labours under some difficulty in swallowing. There soon appears a swelling between the jaws, or on the inside of the lower jaw, which usually extends to the parotid glands. These swellings, if left to themselves, go on to suppuration; and about the fifth or sixth day they break and discharge a considerable quantity of matter; but sometimes the heat, hardness, and swelling of the glands continue for a long time. These symptoms are usually attended with a running at the nose, which is considered as a favourable sign.

This complaint is seldom dangerous, though now and then there is some risk of suffocation, and sometimes it degenerates into glanders. Of this Mr Lawrence has seen several instances. It appears to be contagious, and may be propagated by inoculation, which has induced us to consider it among the febrile eruptions.

The writers on farriery have strangely differed with respect to the nature of this affection. The elder Laforet considered it as analogous to the smallpox; Bracken, as a species of cynanche, or quinsy; and it certainly nearly resembles the cynanche paroidea, or mumps. Others have supposed it to be like the chickenpox, or measles.

It is not agreed on whether it is better to check the inflammation inflammation of the glands, or to encourage their suppuration. Mr Blaine recommends the former plan, which is best effected by bleeding, purging, and the use of diuretics; while a solution of sugar of lead is applied to the swelling externally; but if the swellings continue hard and hot, it will be proper to encourage suppuration by the frequent application of warm poultices. If there is much soreness and swelling of the throat, a large blister should be applied to it. If there is much fever, nitre or emetic tartar may be added to the horse's water; for it would be wrong to give him medicine in the form of a ball or drench. He may have frequent warm baths; and to encourage the running at the nose, there should be hung to it a bag containing a warm bath, which should be frequently renewed. The horse's head should be kept warm, and currents of cold air should be avoided. When the tumours break, the discharge should be assisted by enlarging the opening and applying warm poultices, and the ulcers may be dressed with the common digestive ointment. If the discharge proceeds by the mouth, the parts should be frequently washed with vinegar and water sweetened with honey.

5. Grease. Eaux aux Jambes, Fr. Greasy heels.

In the fourth chapter of the last section, No 423, we made a few observations on swelling of the legs, and we remarked that this complaint often terminated in grease.

Grease is a complaint that is extremely common among horses, to whom it is peculiar, not being known to affect any other species of animals, or at least there is no other animal in whom that peculiar secretion which constitutes the matter of grease in horses is found to take place. There appears to be two varieties of grease, the one a mere local affection, the other a more general affection of the system attended with fever.

The complaint first appears by a slight swelling about the coronet and pastern, sometimes accompanied with pain or itching, so that the horse rubs his feet against each other, or stamps and shifts himself from side to side. On feeling the swollen part, it is commonly found much hotter than usual, and is evidently red and inflamed. Very soon there may be perceived an oozing through the skin, of a yellowish fluid that is very offensive, and of an unctuous greasy feel. This swelling gradually extends up the cannon towards the knee, and when the horse is taken out to work, he appears stiff and lame till he becomes heated; and when he returns from work, the leg appears hot and inflamed. The swelling and oozing of fetid greasy fluid gradually increase till cracks begin to make their appearance in the skin about the heels, the hairs about these parts fall off, and the skin below appears puffy, of a whitish or livid colour; and on it are generally seen little bladders, from which a matter of the same kind as what we have described oozes out. These vesicles soon become ulcers, and the matter they contain affumes the appearance of pus, which irritates and inflames the neighbouring parts, fretting and excoriating the skin. Generally a number of red granulations or excrements appear within the ulcer, and from their form are commonly called grapes; and if the complaint continues long, the hoof becomes fungous, or there is a luxuriant growth of soft spongy horn. If the complaint be neglected, the ulceration of the part increases, and extends even to the bones, which become soft, spongy, and at last carious.

In what is called the confirmed state of grease, the affected parts are exquisitely sensible, and they bleed on the slightest touch, and there are commonly produced a number of horny excrescences about the fetlock. The hair stands erect, and the horse becomes lean, weak, and excessively irritable.

Such are the general appearances and progress of grease; but there are often some little varieties in both. Sometimes the cracks appear very early in the disease, and sometimes there is considerable fever; but whether this precedes the appearance of the vesicles, or is occasioned only by the pain and irritation that accompany the complaint, we are uncertain. It should seem, from the observations of Dr Loy and others, that a fever, such as accompanies eruptive diseases, frequently attends grease; and in this case, as we have said, it is to be considered as a general affection. It is described as such by Huzard, and other continental writers; and they even speak of the appearances that have been found on dissection of horses that have died when affected with this complaint, of the repercussion of the eruption from cold, &c. On the other hand, there is no doubt that fever may be excited by the irritation of the parts, especially if the horse is obliged to work. It may take place in any of the legs, but is more common in the hind legs.

Such horses as have round fleshy legs, such as have white hair upon their legs, and in general, such horses as are weak and phlegmatic, are more subject than others to grease.

It may be brought on by various causes. It is very commonly produced by allowing horses to stand long idle in the stable. In this way the circulation, which is naturally more languid in the legs, especially in the hinder legs, than in other parts of the body, becomes languid in the heels, that the veins cannot readily propel forward their contents, and consequently an accumulation takes place in the minute capillary branches; whence swelling and inflammation. This accumulation is assisted by the perpendicular situation of the legs, by which a column of blood, that for want of the action of the muscles is moved with difficulty, continually presses on the lower parts. Hence we find, that when horses are not allowed to stretch themselves at their ease, they are extremely subject to swelled legs and grease. The languid circulation is still greater in horses that are naturally of a weak constitution, or who have been debilitated by disease. So great is the effect of diminished exercise in producing swelled legs in grease, that some horses are always affected with this complaint when brought into the stable, and can be preserved from it, only by being regularly turned out into the field after work. It is very commonly observed, that when horses first come up from pasture, or from a straw yard, they are all more or less affected with swelled legs; and if these are not diligently attended to, they soon have greasy heels. It is certain that horses in their natural state, or while kept constantly at pasture, are never affected with grease.

Sudden changes from heat to cold, or vice versa, frequently produce this complaint; but, according to Mr Feron, it is more commonly produced by sudden changes from cold to heat. "If (says he) a colt is taken from grass, and immediately kept in a warm stable, after having been used to the severity of the atmosphere, he then gets the disorder. When old horses are troubled with the grease, we shall find that their feet have been exposed first to cold, and afterwards to heat, as when they have been in cold water or snow for a long time, and on coming into the stable have a large bed of straw, or perhaps hot dung, to stand upon. This sudden transition from cold to heat, produces a weakness in the legs, particularly in the skin; when inflammation and cracks, similar to chilblains in the human subject, take place, and are called the grease in horses."

Nothing contributes more to the production of grease than negligence, with respect to keeping the legs clean, and rubbing them often. It is a disputed point, whether the hair that grows about the fetlock is prejudicial or not to horses that are subject to grease. It is contended by Mr Richard Lawrence, that grease is a very common consequence of removing the hair; and considering that the hair is a good preservative against sudden transitions from heat to cold, we are disposed to think its removal improper, where the heels are not already ulcerated. On the other hand, Mr Blaine remarks, that whenever accidental wet occurs, this hair must retain a large quantity of it, and hence be long in drying, occasioning a copious evaporation, and thus producing much cold, and that the hair renders it difficult to keep the legs so clean, as they might be preserved without it. Even supposing these arguments to be just, they only show the necessity of greater care and attention in rubbing the heels dry and keeping the hair free from dirt.

Grease may also be produced by too much hard work, after which the legs swell, and if the swelling be neglected the heels may become greasy. This, however, is probably not a very common cause.

Grease is said to be most common in spring and autumn, when horses are moulting or casting their coats.

On the whole, it appears that this complaint may take place in two different states of the body; a state of general weakness, the effect of constitution or disease; and a state of plethora, attended with proportional languid circulation in the vessels of the legs or feet.

In the treatment of grease, we must consider whether it be merely a local affection, or be connected with some general morbid affection of the body; and we must also attend to the state of the affection, as the nature of the local applications will depend much on the progress that the disease has made.

In the early stage of the complaint, when the inflammation is slight, and the skin is not yet broken, if it has been owing to want of exercise and plethora, it may be proper to draw blood from the veins of the thighs, and a diuretic bath, such as No. 12. or 13., should be given, and repeated every two or three days. The hair must be cut close, and the heels well washed with warm soap and water, after which they must be gently rubbed till they are perfectly dry, and bathed with some stimulating liniment. This plan, with gentle exercise and a cooling diet, especially bran mash, with an ounce of nitre in each, every night, will probably prevent the complaint from going any farther. If the inflammation be very considerable, and the horse is plethoric, he must be bled pretty largely from the jugular vein, and have a mild purge. Cloths, dipped in vinegar and water, or in a solution of sugar of lead, should be applied to the heels after washing, and kept constantly moist with the same liquor. More than walking exercise here will be improper; but if it is dry weather, a run for a few hours a-day in a field will greatly contribute to removing the swelling. Mr Feron, who is a great advocate for warm fomentations in inflammatory affections of the feet and legs, recommends the legs to be kept the whole day in warm water; and when they are taken from the bath, to be well wrapped up in a warm poultice of bran and water. If by these means the inflammation subsides, the legs may be washed with a solution of alum.

If cracks appear, great attention must be paid to keep them clean from dirt, and they should be frequently washed with a solution of blue vitriol. If grapes appear, they may be touched with blue vitriol, or burnt alum; or if they become large, they must be cut away with a sharp knife, and afterwards seared with a hot iron. If the ulcers are foul, one of the best applications will be a solution of verdigrife, or the ointment commonly called Egyptianum, of which verdigrife forms one of the principal ingredients.

The strictest attention to diet, regimen, and cleanliness, must be observed during the whole treatment, and gentle exercise must be permitted in. The best diet on these occasions will be cut grass, lucerne, fresh clover, carrots, or good sweet hay, and an occasional feed of corn. The horse should not be tied up in the stall, but should stand loose while he is in the stable, and should be allowed no litter, except at night. The stable should be kept perfectly clean and well aired, and not too warm.

Sometimes, even though the complaint should not at first have originated in debility, there will, if the disease is of long standing, be produced a considerable degree of weakness. In these cases the cure will be greatly assisted by giving strengthening remedies, such as bark, horse-chestnut bark, &c. And as in this weak state of the body the discharge from the ulcerated surface is commonly thin and ichorous, the sore must be dressed with stimulating ointment; and if there appears a tendency to mortification, as sometimes happens, a powder of equal parts of Peruvian bark and opium should be sprinkled on the sores, before applying the plaster. If the discharge is very offensive, a fermenting poultice, such as No. 64., may be applied over the dressings.

It will readily appear, that the best means of preventing grease, will be to give the horse regular exercise, to dress him well, and especially to keep his legs dry and clean, and to avoid the extremes of heat and cold.

Grease might perhaps have been considered under the head of specific inflammation; but as it is sometimes attended with a general affection of the body, and is ultimately connected with one of the most interesting eruptive diseases, we thought it best to treat of it in this place. **CHAP. II. Of Inflammatory Diseases.**

1. **Inflammation of the Brain.** Phrenitis. Mad Staggers, Phrenzy, Megrim, or Sough. Mal de feu ou d'Espagne, Fr.

This is one of the most serious and fatal inflammations which affect the animal system. It attacks occasionally all the domestic animals, but horses and cattle are the most subject to it. In the former it is generally called the mad flaggers, to distinguish it from apoplexy, or sleepy flaggers; when it occurs in cattle, it usually takes one of the other names which we have given as synonyms.

Inflammation of the brain is sometimes preceded by giddiness and partial blindness; the animal holds his head low, or rests it against the manger; he appears dull, heavy, and sleepy; gradually, however, these symptoms go off, and are succeeded by others of a very different nature. His eyes appear red, fiery, and sparkling; he now holds his head higher, and appears for some time to look constantly at any object before him: soon he becomes very restless, till by degrees he is quite unmanageable. He sometimes lies down, and tumbles about, and then remains quiet for a while; but he soon gets up again, and is as ungovernable as before, rendering it dangerous for any person to approach him. The pulse in this disease is full and hard, and there is considerable throbbing of the temporal arteries. The pulse is not always the same in every case, being in general less frequent than in health, but sometimes more so. There is always a considerable degree of fever, and the head seems peculiarly affected. The secretions and excretions are generally diminished, but it is said that they are sometimes increased.

Such are the symptoms as they generally appear in the horse; those which take place in cattle, as they are described in the best books on the subject of cattle medicine, differ in a few particulars.

The animal is described as looking frightfully, being unusually watchful, starting often, groaning vehemently, as if affected with sudden and violent pain; his respiration slow, but he sometimes makes very long inspirations, and appears for a time as if his breathing was entirely suspended. Suddenly the beast will rise, turn about, and instantly lie down again, showing marks of great restlessness and delirium. When the frenzy is high, the eyes look red and furious; at other times they border on languor and stupefaction; but the beast always appears to labour under considerable fear, and dreads the approach of every thing; he is often quite ungovernable, and scarcely ever inclines to rest, except in the latter stage of the disease, when, if it has been neglected, or has not yielded to the usual remedies, a lethargy takes place, and the animal sinks. Sometimes the urine is hot and high-coloured; but it is said that before a fit of phrenzy takes place, the urine is often of a pale colour, and thinner than natural.

When the symptoms of fury or irritation suddenly cease, and a lethargy takes place, while the pulse becomes feeble, and the strength diminishes, the case is pretty certainly hopeless; but if the fever, redness, and flashing of the eyes gradually subside, without the pulse sinking, or great debility coming on, the beast may generally be pronounced recovering.

On opening the head of such animals as have died of this complaint, very evident marks of inflammation appear about the membranes of the brain, and very frequently in the substance of the brain itself. All the vessels are turgid with blood; and on cutting into the brain, innumerable little red points are to be seen, which do not appear in the natural state. Very commonly an effusion of blood, or of purulent matter, is found to have taken place into the cavities of the brain, or in some part near its surface.

The causes of inflammation of the brain are generally the same that produce inflammatory fever, applied in a greater degree; as great heat, excessive exercise, a sudden change from a poor to a rich diet.

The cure of this complaint requires the most prompt and decisive measures. Blood must be taken in large quantities from the jugular vein or temporal artery. Not less than three quarts should be taken from an ordinary horse, ox, or cow; and if the animal is very large, four may be taken; and the bleeding must be repeated a few hours after, if the symptoms do not abate. When the beast is very furious, it is often dangerous to bleed in a very deliberate way; but as his recovery will almost certainly depend on a sufficient loss of blood in the early part of the disease, it will not be amiss to bleed him in the manner described by Mr Blaine, as having been practised by an eminent veterinary surgeon, who being called to a horse affected with flaggers, and in such a state of delirium that none of the ordinary precautions for securing him could be adopted, plunged a lancet into each jugular, and permitted the animal to bleed till he fainted, by which means, though the disease was far advanced, he saved the horse. After bleeding, a stimulant blister should be applied to the top of the head, and the sides of the neck should be well rubbed with a mixture of powdered cantharides and oil of turpentine, and other means used to promote external inflammation, for the purpose of determining the blood from the head. Mr Coleman is said to recommend in these cases the pouring of boiling water on the paws, by which means blistering will speedily be produced in these parts. In desperate cases the determination of blood to the head may be most effectually stopped, by tying a ligature about one of the external carotid arteries; but in doing this great care must be taken not to include within the ligature the nerves that run near the artery, as these nerves are the principal branches that supply the stomach; and if they be included in the ligature, the functions of that organ will be in a great measure destroyed. In addition to these means coffinews must be carefully guarded against. After back raking, a stimulating purging clyster should be injected as soon as possible, and if an interval of quiet will permit, a purging ball, such as No 15, may be given by the mouth. If the above means are adopted in proper time, the animal will generally be saved; but if some days have elapsed before vigorous steps are taken, there can be little hope of a cure.

Mr Downing, in his work on cattle-doctoring, mentioned in No 87, advises a method of treating inflammation of the brain in cattle, that is extremely contradictory and inconsistent. He at first very properly advises bleeding; but he directs this to be followed by giving diapente, a very powerful cordial medicine, the administration of which completely counteracts the effects of the bleeding. Dr Downing describes a fever of the brain brain as distinct from inflammation; and he then treats of a sleepy fever. These are evidently symptomatic affec- tions, and should have been given as such, as well as gids- dinefs, or swimming in the head, which is described by Dr Downing "as a distemper belonging to the cavities of the eyes and optic nerves. It gives a wavering mo- tion to the body. For if the optic nerve, or its expan- sion on the bottom of the eye called retina, be agitated by any preternatural heat or other emotion, objects will change their situation; therefore this disease is a fever affecting the cavities of the eyes, or the optic nerves."

2. INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. Ophthalmia Membran- arum. Moon-blindness.

Though in the human subject there are several spe- cies of ophthalmia, in the horse there is but one, which is in a great measure synonymous to what has been cal- led ophthalmia membranarum by medical writers. This disease in the horse is of considerable importance, as it is not merely a local disease, but appears to be connected with some constitutional affection. Before we de- scribe the symptoms and treatment of this complaint, it will be proper to remark, that in the eye of the horse there is a firm cartilaginous substance, situated at the inner corner of the eye, the greater part of which is hidden by the eyelids, but a small portion projects beyond them, and may be distinguished by its black colour. This is commonly called the haw, and by anatomists the membrana nictans, and is supposed to be a production of the retractor muscle. Our reason for mentioning this part will appear immediately.

Inflammation of the eye sometimes makes its appear- ance very suddenly; at others it is gradual in its attack. In general, one of the earliest symptoms of it is a swel- ling of the eyelids, especially of the upper, which is with difficulty held open; the eyes water considerably, and drops of tears may be seen at the extremity of the lachrymal duct, which do not appear in the healthy state of the eye. The external transparent parts of the eye become discoloured and obscured, appearing of a blackish glaify hue; sometimes of a dull white, at others brown or bluish. Red veffels may be seen running over the white of the eye, especially at the corners, and sometimes reaching to the centre of the eye. The cor- nea is said to be most obscured on its upper part; but this is probably owing to the situation of the person who looks at the eye, who being below it, sees directly through the lower part of the cornea, and but obliquely through the upper. When the eyes are in this state, the horse is very impatient of light, and holds his head down to guard against it. The eyelids and ball of the eye are evidently much hotter than usual, and some- times there may be seen through the cornea, a small quantity of thickish matter called pus, in the lower part of the anterior chamber of the eye. The cartilaginous membrane or haw is now much more visible, and projects forward considerably outward from the corner of the eye.

It not unfrequently happens, when the disease has not proceeded farther than we have described, that it gradually, sometimes pretty suddenly, disappears, and is seen again in the course of a few weeks, although some- times it comes back in the course of a few days. The dif- ference of inflammation in the eye of the horse is sometimes so sudden, that the eye, which one day is considerably inflamed, will appear the next perfectly clear and healthy. Sometimes it seems to appear and disappear periodically; and it has been supposed by ig- norant people, that in these periods it follows the changes of the moon, whence it has received the name of lunar blindness. If the disease does not thus disap- pear, or if it appears again, and reaches the height be- fore described, the inflammation goes on, and the cor- nea becomes more obscure; or, what very frequently happens, the cornea recovers its transparency, and the crystalline humour becomes opaque, forming the disease already spoken of in No. 325.

In the horse, one eye frequently only is affected, whereas in man, both eyes are generally inflamed at the same time. This disease more frequently occurs in young horses of five or six years old, than in those of a more advanced period. It is said that horses are never affected with inflammation of the eyes till they are bro- ken, or taken up from the pasture where they have re- mained from their birth.

A plethoric state of the body seems very much to predispose to inflammation of the eye, and this seems to account for its occurring so frequently in horses of five or six years old, as at that age they generally cease to grow, and are, of course, more dilated than at other times to fulness of blood. Sudden changes of tempera- ture form a very common exciting cause of this disease, and the heat and foul air of a close stable frequently produce it. Such horses as are kept in dark stables are also more subject to it, from the effect of sudden expo- sure to broad day-light. Want of exercise, or extremes of idleness and hard work, may also assist in producing it. Mr Coleman considers this disease in the horse as an inflammation of a specific nature, very different from any that occurs in other animals. The principal reasons for supposing that the constitution is affected are, that a horse affected with an inflammation of the eye either does not perspire, or sweats profusely, indicating a slow fever. If the animal is bled or purged, the eye speedily becomes clear; and if the same causes are applied, the same eye, or more commonly the other, becomes inflamed, and sometimes the disease appears alternately in each eye.

Provided the proper means be taken in the early stage of the disease, the inflammation is commonly soon removed; but when the crystalline humour becomes opaque, no means hitherto employed have, as we shall presently see, produced any benefit.

In the treatment of this affection, it must be remem- bered, that the constitution is deranged, and that our remedies must therefore not be confined to local appli- cations to the eye. General blood-letting will almost always be required; but, unless the horse is very fat or plethoric, this need not be repeated. It will be proper also to apply a blister or two to the head, as near the eye as possible, and the veins at the corners of the eye should be opened, to draw blood from that part. The horse must be put on lower diet, and should use only very moderate exercise; the stable should be kept well aired and cool; and if the horse's eyes are very sensi- ble, and the stable happen to have windows, these should be darkened. It will generally be advisable to give a purgative medicine; and the horse may drink frequently of some cooling liquor, especially of water, with nitre dissolved in it. Rowels have been sometimes recommended; and it is said that considerable benefit has has followed the insertion of setons as near the eye as possible. They have sometimes been palled through the white of the eye, just below the transparent cornea; but to this we should object, as being liable to produce specks that may extend to the cornea. As there is generally considerable dryness of the skin in this complaint, it may be useful in some cases to administer a gentle sudorific, such as a solution of two drachms of emetic tartar, or No. 22, of the receipts may be given.

With respect to the applications to the eye itself, those which appear the most likely to be of advantage, are stimulating substances, such as tincture of opium, solution of blue vitriol, red precipitate, in the form of a soft ointment, such as No. 40. Sometimes, however, these stimulating applications do harm; and it is found that a weak solution of sugar of lead, or acetate of zinc, as prescribed in No. 31, are most useful. We must here take notice of an absurd practice that is in use among common farriers, of cutting away the hair, which they consider as a very principal part of the complaint. There is no doubt, however, that relief may have been procured by this operation, as it will generally be attended with a pretty copious effusion of blood, that will relieve the inflamed vessels; but as this effusion can be more easily produced by scarring the red vessels of the white of the eye; and, by opening the angular veins, there is no occasion to take away a part, which is certainly of considerable use to the animal.

Sheep are sometimes affected with inflammation of the eye; but in them, as in most other animals, it is merely a local disease, and is generally relieved by topical bleeding. In the corrected agricultural report of Perth, it is stated, that the common practice in that district for relieving inflammation in the eyes of sheep is, to open the veins in the corner of the eye; and hold down the animal's head, so as to allow the blood to get within the eye. There is no doubt that this bleeding does good; and the introduction of the blood within the eye may, we believe, also be of service; not, however, in the way supposed by the reporter, but because it acts as a gentle stimulus.

We have already, in No. 324, made some observations on catarrh, and noticed the inefficacy of all the usual methods of treatment. It may not be improper here to add the result of Mr Coleman's experimental attempts to relieve this complaint, as stated by Mr Feron.

"The professor has begun with bleeding from the jugular or angular veins, and, at the same time, employing purgatives frequently repeated, as well as diuretics administered one after another. After which he has tried all the medicines of Messrs Phipps and Wathen, but without any degree of permanent success. The local and surgical treatment has been as follows, viz.

"1st, He has ordered scarifications, and to pass a seton through the membrana conjunctiva; but without effect.

"2ndly, We have removed some of the larger vessels going to the cornea, and divided them with the actual cautery, but with no success.

"3rdly, We have applied leeches to the conjunctiva, but without effect.

"Lastly, we have taken up both carotid arteries, which was of no avail, from the anastomoses which the vertebral arteries form with them.

"Therefore, the treatment is confined entirely to bleeding, purging, and diuretics; fomentations of warm water, in order to diminish the irritation from the tears that run over the cheek; and plenty of moderate and continual exercise, so as to increase the perspiration."

3. CATARRH. Catarrhus. Mor Foundering, or Common Cold.

Catarrh has been placed by Dr Cullen among the catarrh, or profusivum, or fluxes attended with fever; we have vented, with some modern authors, to rank it as an inflammation, because the increased secretion of mucus, which might entitle it to be called a profusivum, though sometimes pretty considerable, is not a constant, or often a very remarkable symptom of the disease; and in all cases appears to be the effect of an inflammatory state of the pituitary membrane. There are generally reckoned two species of catarrh, simple cold, and epidemic catarrh, or influenza. Though in the latter of these the catarrh is probably only symptomatic, we shall, in compliance with the usual custom, consider it immediately after common catarrh.

This disease attacks all the domestic animals; but horses and dogs are most liable to it, and in them the symptoms are most severe. It usually commences by a general dulness and heaviness, a dryness and increased redness of the inside of the nostrils, from which there soon proceeds an unusual secretion of mucus; a dryness of the eyes, or sometimes an increased effusion of tears. In a short time there is generally added some degree of cough and difficulty of breathing; and sometimes there is with these symptoms a considerable degree of heat and dryness of the skin; increased thirst, and not unfrequently a loss of appetite. At first the cough is dry, and sometimes continues so; but more frequently, when the complaint has remained for some time, a frothy whitish mucus is coughed up. The pulse is not always much affected in this disease; but in general it is fuller and harder than natural. The first symptom of the disease is not unfrequently a chilliness and trembling.

The principal causes of catarrh in domestic animals, as well as in man, are sudden changes of temperature, especially cold applied when the body is in a state of perspiration, or entering a warm apartment after having been long exposed to a cold air. Drinking cold water, when sweating, is also a common cause; and these causes are the more likely to produce their effect when the animal is in a plethoric state.

If neglected, catarrh may go on to inflammation of the lungs; in the horse it may produce thick wind, or even broken wind; in cattle it may end in chronic cough; and in sheep it may lay the foundation of consumption or pulmonary rot. It is also not unfrequently followed by the complaint called glanders, which we are presently to describe. An improper mode of treatment, especially giving cordials and other hot medicines, will hasten on these terminations of the disease. If attended to in time, and if the proper mode of treatment be adopted, the symptoms are, in general, soon removed.

If the complaint is slight, and there is little fever, it will often be sufficient to take the animal within doors into a warm stable, give him a warm bath, and put a cloth over him, when he will perspire through the night. Diseases, night, and be nearly well next morning. This plan will also answer, if it be adopted immediately, on perceiving the chilliness, or shivering. If, however, considerable fever has taken place, and the animal's pulse is hard, it will be proper to draw blood, according to the urgency of the symptoms, before giving any internal remedy, or using warm clothing. After bleeding, a drench, composed of warm ale, with a drachm or two of salt of hartshorn, or half an ounce of spirit of hartshorn sweetened with molasses, will prove an excellent remedy; after taking which, the animal should be well rubbed down, and clothed as before. If the animal is coughing, back-raking, followed by clysters, will be advisable; and throughout the treatment coughing must be avoided. If there is considerable fever, the drench, No. 22. or 26. where coughing is to be obviated, should be given every six hours. Some practitioners advise balls in these cases, as in most others; but as there is often some swelling of the throat, and always considerable irritation about the faucets, it is better to give the remedies in the form of drenches. The cough seldom needs particular attention during the inflammatory state of the disease, as it will generally go off when the inflammation is removed; if it should continue obstinate, it becomes a chronic cough, and must be treated as directed under No. 436.

4. Influenza, or Epidemic Catarrh.

The epidemic catarrh also affects all these animals, and has sometimes been known to attack a whole yard of oxen, horses, and cows, in one night. It differs from common catarrh in the degree of fever, which, in this complaint, is always very considerable, and is one of the first symptoms. There is a smart shivering, followed by considerable heat and dryness of the skin, and the fever is commonly attended with great heaviness and pain of the head, and affection of the eyes. In this complaint there is also a great degree of weakness, which comes on pretty early in the disease, and this weakness not unfrequently brings on a fatal termination of the disease. Sometimes there is a considerable discharge from the nostrils; at others this discharge is either trifling, or the nostrils are dry, in which cases the fever is most considerable.

The epidemic catarrh appears to depend on some peculiar state of the atmosphere; but there is no doubt that it is capable of being propagated by contagion. It is more prevalent in the spring, especially when this has been preceded by a mild winter. It is said, that when cattle are at these times exposed to currents of air from the north-east, they are most likely to be affected with it.

In the commencement of this disease, it will be proper to house the animals; but too much warmth must be avoided, as it would tend to increase the weakness that forms a principal part of the disease. It may sometimes be necessary, when the fever runs very high, to draw blood once; and, at any rate, it will be proper to apply a blister to the head, or on each side the neck. Though warmth must be avoided, great care should be taken not to expose the animals to a draught of air. Warm baths may be given as in common catarrh, but when the fever has subsided, cordials and strengthening remedies will be required; and if the appetite is tolerably good, the diet may be more nourishing than usual. The animals should on no account be hard worked, but be allowed to rest from the time the disease is first noticed, except taking gentle exercise when their strength will admit of it.

What is commonly called the distemper in dogs is now pretty generally considered as a sort of epidemic or contagious catarrh. We shall therefore treat of it in this place.

5. Of the Distemper in Dogs.

No disorder is more general among dogs than that distemper which is generally known by the name of the distemper in dogs, and none is so destructive. It is asserted that, except the plague, no disease is so fatal to the animal which it attacks.

It appears that this disorder has not been known in Britain till within the last 50 years, but, during that time, it is astonishing what numbers of dogs have fallen victims to it. For these last fifteen or twenty years, however, the distemper has been less frequent, and has assumed a milder form.

The symptoms of the distemper are not alike in every case. The following are, according to Mr. Blaine, its usual appearances. It generally begins with a dry husky cough, attended with dulness and want of appetite, a running from the eyes and nose, and loss of flesh. As the disease advances, the dog appears much emaciated, and grows excessively weak, particularly in the loins and hind legs. Convulsive twitchings of different parts, especially of the head, come on, attended with diarrhoea of flight; and, as the disease proceeds, and puts on a more virulent form, these twitchings degenerate into strong convulsive fits, which continue for a long time, and repeatedly return. In these fits the dog foams at the mouth, runs round, and appears to be in great pain, and to have a constant desire to dung. This is sometimes attended with obstinate coughing, at others with violent purging. The stomach is extremely irritable; everything that the animal takes being immediately thrown up. When the disease has reached this stage, the animal seldom recovers, and is usually carried off in one of the convulsive fits.

In every part of this disease there prevails a want of energy, and a particular paralytic affection of the nerves. This latter symptom, in some instances, remains long after the disease has been otherwise removed; but, in general, the strength returns almost immediately on the removal of the other symptoms.

The distemper in its worst form is often mistaken for canine madness; but they may in general be distinguished, by attending to the following points.

1st. The distemper seldom occurs except in puppies, its most common period being from six to twelve months. Madness may occur at any age, but seldom attacks puppies.

2nd. In the distemper dogs drink freely; in madness, though they often attempt to drink, it does not appear that they are capable of swallowing the water.

3rd. In the distemper the animal does not attempt to bite; but, in madness, the propensity to biting seems to be incessant.

4th. In madness there appears to be a loss of reason at all times, though, as is said, they are so sensible, as to know their master; but in the distemper, though there is sometimes a loss of reason, it lasts no longer. If, therefore, a young dog will drink, as soon as the effect of the convulsion is removed, but more particularly when his weakness is excessive, and strongly apparent in the intervals between the fits, it may be pretty safely concluded, that he is affected with the distemper, and not with madness. These circumstances, says Mr Blaine, should be carefully remarked, as they are unerring, and may save many a valuable animal from destruction, and many a timid mind from the most dreadful apprehensions.

The cause of the distemper is difficult to explain; nor do the most careful dissections, in every stage of the complaint, ascertain more than that there is a general inflammation of the mucous membrane; but whether the true seat of the disease is confined to that membrane, and all the other symptoms are the consequences of it, or are real affections of other parts, is an undecided point, although it is certain that its first appearance is by an inflammation of the pituitary membrane, which is one of the most lasting, as well as constant symptoms. That this inflammation is given from the membrane of the nose, to the upper part of the gullet and wind-pipe, is evident by the swelling of the glands of the throat, the tenderness and dry cough; and that this inflammation extends from thence to the same membrane of the stomach and intestines, is equally so, producing vomiting, colic, purging. It has generally, as we have said, been considered as a species of catarrh; but it has been suggested to us, by an ingenious friend, that, from several symptoms, as well as from its attacking dogs only once in their lives, it is more analogous to pertussis, or chincough, in the human subject.

With respect to the cure of the distemper, Mr Blaine's directions and remedies appear to have been tolerably successful. With the nature of his remedy we are unacquainted, but believe it to be a preparation of mercury. This medicine has been made known by extensively advertising it, and although certificates of its utility are numerous, they make no part of the advertisement, but are to be seen at Mr Boofey's, in Old Bond Street, London, the wholesale agent; the form is a powder. Explicit instructions accompany it; and the price, considered with its asserted efficacy, bears no proportion, as no sportsman would think five times the sum too much for the preservation of a valuable animal. Although so efficacious, it is nevertheless innocent enough for a child to take; nor must those who are advocates for strong remedies imagine, that, because the effects of this shake not the whole constitution, that the disease will not be eradicated by it. When the disorder is strong, after it is given, there is for the most part a gradual decrease of the symptoms, and nothing but a small moisture at the nose remains, which speedily disappears the next day. If the attack is slight, no more is seen of it, and the animal is at once well.

From the varieties in the size, and consequent strength of dogs, a difference in the quantity of the medicine is necessary; the packets are therefore marked 1, 2, and 3. For a mastiff, pointer, setter, or dog of a large size, No. 1. should be procured. Hounds, spaniels, and those of a middling size, require No. 2.; and all the lesser dogs, No. 3.

It has been already observed, that, in the severity of the disorder, there is frequently so great an irritability of the stomach, that every thing taken into it is instantly thrown up; in such cases, the powder should be carefully mixed with a small piece of butter, at the same time adding to it thirty, forty, or fifty drops of laudanum, according to the age, size, and strength of the dog; who is to be watched, whether the medicine is retained, and kept as still as possible; but should it be thrown up, notwithstanding this addition, in two hours after the same quantity of laudanum should be given with the powder, in a little broth or milk, and half an hour afterwards the powder mixed into a paste with treacle, honey, or flour, and thus the vomiting will be prevented. Should there be at the same time obstinate colic, it is probable that sickness may be the consequence of it, and must be removed before it will cease; twenty grains of jalap, or, in preference, fifteen grains of calomel, with four or five drops of laudanum, may be given in a small ball; or two table-spoonfuls of castor oil may, if more convenient, be used. Should these not stay on the stomach, a clyster with milk, salt, and oil, seldom fails to remove the colic, after which the powder should be given, if there has been great sickness, with the laudanum; if not, without it.

When, likewise, extensive purging accompanies the complaint, the laudanum should not be omitted; as by running off rapidly by stool, the effect of the medicine is equally lost, as if it were vomited up. In such cases it will be proper to give before the powder thirty or forty drops of laudanum, with two ounces of olive oil. We should always attempt to remove the sickness and purging, or colic, before administering the powder, as the effect of this will be then more certain. In the milder form of the disease, however, nothing is requisite but to give the powder in such a way, as that the dog may take the whole of it; for which purpose the powder should be well mixed with a small quantity of any thing that the dog will eat, or, if he is averse to eating, it should be made up into a small ball with honey, treacle, or butter, and forced down his throat. It must not be mixed with any liquid, as it is so heavy that it would fall to the bottom, and thus will probably be lost. Care should be taken to give the medicine on an empty stomach, as the effect will otherwise be lessened or destroyed; and the dog should be carefully watched to see if the medicine be thrown up, as, if this is the case, or if there is reason to suppose that the whole dose is not given, a second should be administered. Mr Blaine concludes with observing, that the symptoms remove without any particular appearance; yet so quickly, as that there is seldom any remains of the disease two hours after the medicines have been administered.

Mr Daniel has witnessed the extraordinary effects in the distemper, from Dr James's powder, given in the following manner. When the symptoms of the distemper are apparent, a third part of one of the parcels inclosed in the half-crown packets is to be given, mixed with a little butter, and the dog is to have plenty of warm broth, or milk and water, and, if possible, he is to be near a fire, or at least kept very warm. Two hours afterwards another third part is to be administered; and should neither of these operate by vomiting or purging, Diseases, at the end of four hours, give the remaining third. Should the two first portions have the effect, the remaining third should not be given until four or five hours (according to the evacuations) after the expiration of the four hours; in the interim the dog is to be encouraged to lap, and if he refuses, be forced to take plentifully of warm broth, or milk and water. Very seldom, even when the case is inveterate, but the evacuations are brought on by the taking of one packet, generally by the second dose; but should it so happen that there is no such proof of the powder's effect, the second parcel should be divided into similar proportions, and applied in the same manner, until the stomach is emptied. Warmth and warm liquids will quickly perfect the recovery. As soon as the dog's appetite returns, let him be fed (at first rather sparingly) with animal food.

Dr Darwin advises, that the dog be permitted to go about freely in the open air, and have constant access to fresh water. The use of being as much as may be in the air is evident, because all the air which we breathe passes twice over the putrid floughs of the mortified parts of the membrane which lines the nostrils, and the maxillary and frontal cavities; that is, both during inspiration and expiration, and must therefore be loaded with contagious particles. Fresh new milk and fresh broth should be given them very frequently, and they should be suffered to go among the grass, which they sometimes eat for the purpose of an emetic, and, if possible, should have access to a running stream of water, as the contagious mucus of the nostrils, both of these animals and horses, generally drops into the water when they attempt to drink. Bits of raw flesh, if the dog will eat them, are preferred to cooked meat; and from five to ten drops of opium may be given with advantage, when symptoms of debility are evident, according to the size of the dog, every six hours. If floughs can be seen in the nostrils, they should be moistened twice a day with a solution of sugar of lead, or of alum, by means of a sponge fixed on a bit of whalebone, or by a syringe. The lotion may be made by dissolving half an ounce of sugar of lead in a pint of water.

6. Rheumatism.

There seems no doubt that horses, and perhaps cattle, are affected with rheumatism, but it is sometimes difficult to ascertain the presence of the complaint, or to distinguish it from other causes that produce lameness. It may take place in any of the limbs, but it is more frequently observed to affect the hip-joint and the adjacent membranes; and when seated here, it is called the sciatica, and sometimes the hip-gout. It will require considerable judgment to distinguish this complaint; but it may generally be known by attentively examining the limb in which the lameness is seated, from the hip down to the foot, and by attending to the causes that seem likely to have produced the lameness. In rheumatism, the skin will be found dry, and the affected part swollen, and the lameness attendant on it will be more readily removed by exercise than that which has its cause seated in the foot, or which arises from bony excrescences. Rheumatism in the horse, as in the human subject, may be either acute or chronic, and the latter is the more obstinate.

Rheumatism, like catarrh, is produced by sudden changes of temperature, and by exposure to a cold moist atmosphere. It is no otherwise dangerous than as it renders the animal lame.

The cure of rheumatism differs according to its state. In the acute one bleeding may be proper; after which a warm bath, with two drachms of emetic tartar dissolved in the water, should be given, and the horse treated as directed under Catarrh. If a sweat is produced, and kept up for some hours, the complaint will probably disappear, and its return may be prevented by frequent friction of the affected part, regular exercise, a nourishing diet, and attention to avoid changes of temperature. In the chronic rheumatism, bleeding will be improper; and the most likely means of relief will be, to rub the affected parts several times a day with some stimulating liniment, or, if convenient, to use the warm bath for a considerable time together, or to foment the affected limb for an hour or two every night, after which the limb must be rubbed perfectly dry. Pretty constant exercise will also contribute greatly to the cure, and coquines must be avoided. A blister applied over the affected part will sometimes do good. According to Mr Lawrence, the only cure to be depended on is a month's run of salt marshes in the spring, and being continued abroad in some shady place till autumn, afterwards mercurial physic, and the best stable care.

7. Inflammation of the Lungs. Pleuritis. Peripneumonia. Pleurify. Peripneumony. Rising of the Lights. Rot.

The lungs are frequently inflamed in the domestic animals; and, as in man, the inflammation may be seated in either the membrane covering the lungs and lining lungs, the chest, or the pleura, or in the substance of the lungs, constituting the two varieties, pleurify and peripneumony. The disease has been called by common carriers, rising of the lights, from an idea that the lungs protruded against the throat, and caused that difficulty of breathing which is one of the principal symptoms of this complaint. The other vulgar appellation of rot seems to owe its origin to the appearance which the lungs sometimes present on dissection, being found in a state of mortification, and partial decomposition, as if they were rotten. It is of little consequence to distinguish the two varieties of the disease, as the treatment is the same in both.

According to Mr Feron, the symptoms of inflammation of the lungs in the horse are invariably as follow. The respiration is quick, the breath hot, the extremities cold, the tongue dry and hot, the flanks heaving, the patient never lying down, which forms a very characteristic symptom; and sometimes he hangs down his head. If nothing has been done, it is hardly possible to save his life, after three days have elapsed; and, after death, the right side of the heart is found to have been inflamed, and, on some occasions, to much diffused with blood as actually to burst, and the lungs are found to resemble putrid liver, the cells filled with blood, from the great diffusion of the pulmonary arteries, and perhaps sometimes effusions take place; the pulse is oppressed, from the great dilution occasioned by the blood in the right side of the heart, while the left side of that organ is weak from want of sufficient blood.

To Mr Feron's account it may be added, that the pulse, Diseases, pulse, at the commencement of the disease, is generally more full, harder, and more frequent than natural; but, as soon as the disease reaches the stage at which it is usually first observed, the pulse has become small and oppressed, and but little increased in frequency; the veins of the neck are swollen and prominent, and the eyes are generally red and starting. There is sometimes cough, at others none; but the difficulty of breathing is always great, and the horse stands extended, panting for breath, with heaving flanks and open nostrils, till, no longer able to support himself, he drops down and dies. This fatal termination sometimes takes place in a very short period; in 48, 36, or even 24 hours.

The only disease with which this can easily be confounded, is colic; and the discriminating marks will be mentioned when we treat of this disease. At present it will be sufficient to remark, that when a horse appears dull, holds his head very low, breathes with difficulty, especially during inspiration, stands constantly, has a quick heaving of the flanks, a fulness of the eyes, and redness of the inside of the nostrils, and when the pulse is small and oppressed, he may almost certainly be declared affected with inflammation of the lungs.

It may not be improper to give a brief explanation of the symptoms which we have enumerated; and they are chiefly to be explained from the difficulty with which the blood passes through the lungs, on account of the unusual accumulation in the pulmonary vessels. Hence the difficulty of breathing, and the aversion that the horse expresses to lie down; for it is evident, that he will breathe more easily in a standing posture than if he were lying; because, as was remarked in the table of the extremities of the muscles, some of these act on the chest, when the fore legs are fixed, and thus assist in carrying forward the ribs, and thus increasing the cavity of the chest. The impeded passage of the blood through the lungs also explains why the pulse is weak and oppressed; and hence, when this obstruction is relieved by lessening the quantity of blood, the pulse never fails to become stronger and fuller.

The causes of inflammation of the lungs are doubtless sudden changes of temperature, especially when the animal is plethoric; it is probable that the most common cause is a sudden change from heat to cold and moisture. It is at present, however, more fashionable to consider the reverse of this as the general cause of pulmonary complaints; and we understand that Mr Coleman goes so far as to say, that horses are never attacked with inflammation of the lungs from exposure to simple cold, for, that the turning of horses to graze without preparation, though it may render them emaciated, seldom produces the complaint in question. Mr Feron also, who may be considered as a pupil of the veterinary college, is of opinion, that inflammation of the internal viscera proceeds from a sudden transition from a cold to a hot temperature, but seldom or never from a hot to a cold one. We are aware that these gentlemen have borrowed their theory from Dr Beddoes, and it is of little consequence to our present purpose, whether it be correct or not.

The judgment to be formed with respect to the termination of this disease, which is always highly dangerous, will depend on the urgency of the symptoms, and on the changes that take place after the exhibition of the usual remedies. If the pulse becomes fuller and stronger after bleeding; if the breathing becomes less difficult; if the parts where blisters have been laid inflame soon, and the blisters rise well; and, in particular, if the horse lies down, and seems less distressed, we may hope that the danger is lessened; and if these favourable signs continue for 24 hours, we may consider a cure as pretty certain: but, if the pulse still continues small and oppressed, more especially, if it becomes quick and irregular; if the difficulty of breathing continues or increases; if there is a rattling in the throat, with partial cold sweats and extreme dejection; a fatal termination must be looked for, which will speedily take place, if the breath becomes cold or fetid. It is considered as a very unfavourable symptom when the horse appears insensible to external stimuli; as when blisters do not rise well, nor rowsels easily suppurate.

In the cure of inflammation of the lungs, everything will depend on the speedy adoption of the most vigorous measures, and the first and principal remedy is bleeding. This should be performed as soon as possible, and to a greater extent than in most inflammatory diseases. It will scarcely be proper to take less than five or perhaps six quarts at first, and the bleeding must be repeated, though less copiously, some hours after, if a considerable remission of the symptoms does not take place. It must not be expected that the pulse will rise much after a second or third bleeding; but, if it is not considerably weakened, and if the oppressed feel of it is removed, we may be sure that the bleeding has not been carried too far. Another principal means of checking the internal inflammation is, to excite an inflammation externally near the seat of the complaint, by every means in our power. A large blister should be applied on each side of the chest, and to the inside of the fore legs; a rowel should be inserted below the chest, and if the symptoms are very urgent, another near the belly. Mr Coleman recommends inflating the cellular membrane below the skin with air, so as to bring on an inflammation between the skin and muscles; and if this does not succeed, he advises that some stimulating fluid, such as oil of turpentine, be injected. We should suppose this carrying inflammation rather too near the lungs; but from some trials that Mr Coleman has made, and some others of Mr Feron, this method seems to have been attended with considerable advantage. In addition to these means, the fore legs should be well rubbed two or three times a day with oil of turpentine, or the liniment in No. 42. of the receipts. These are the external means that are chiefly to be relied on; and if these be followed up speedily, and with proper attention, there will be seldom any occasion for internal remedies. If these be given, they must be such as are calculated to cool the body, and to check inflammation, such as the drenches No. 22. and 26. especially the latter, as it is necessary to keep the bowels open. Perhaps foxglove might here be given with advantage, as directed under that article, at 290. Mr Feron recommends diuretics, and a ball composed of an ounce and a half of emetic tartar, a drachm of opium, and 15 or 20 grains of calomel. We do not know whether this is the practice of the veterinary college, but it appears to us to be inconsistent with the bleeding and other evacuants which are generally found most successful. As coltiveneels would tend to increase the inflammatory symptoms, back-raking and the occasional use of mild clysters, clysters, will be requisite. In general, warm water, or this with a little Glauber salt dissolved in it, will be sufficient, as all heating purgatives would do harm. The horse should be kept rather warm, should be clothed, and should drink frequently of warm gruel. Food will not be requisite, and, if set before him, he would probably not touch it. Exercise of every kind must be avoided, at least so long as the inflammatory symptoms continue.

The most favourable termination of this complaint is by resolution, when the inflammatory symptoms go off without producing suppuration or ulceration of the lungs; but sometimes this state is unavoidable, an ulcer is produced, and, if the matter is not thrown off, it may either produce suffocation, or bring on hectic fever and consumption. When it is found that a cough remains after the inflammation has subsided, and a quantity of mucus is thrown off, the evacuation of this should be promoted by gentle expectorants, and the horse must still be kept warm. Though the matter may be completely expectorated, there will generally remain a difficulty of breathing, or thick wind, when inflammation of the lungs terminates by suppuration. Sometimes there is left an anaerobic or drophical state of the lungs, and in these cases it is said that blue vitriol and turpentine, to the amount of two drachms of each, mixed into a ball, with a proper quantity of linseed powder, and given every morning, have been beneficial. It may also be proper to apply a blister over the wind-pipe.

Inflammation of the lungs in cattle differs little in symptoms, and nothing in the treatment, from that which we have been describing in the horse.

The lungs of sheep are very frequently affected with inflammation, which forms one of the diseases that has been confounded under the name of rot. It most frequently attacks young sheep, especially those of the more delicate breeds; and it is most prevalent in damp pastures, and during unfavourable seasons. The symptoms of this disease in sheep have not been well described, but they probably differ from those in horses and cattle, only in degree. It does not appear to be so speedily fatal, although the animals seldom or never recover from it. Towards the latter stage of the disease there is considerable weakness; and at this time there appears below the jaw an edematous swelling, containing a quantity of fluid, which is easily evacuated by piercing the tumour. This tumour is called the poch in Scotland. On opening the bodies of sheep that have died of this species of rot, the lungs are found full of knots or tubercles, similar to those which appear in human subjects that have died of pulmonary consumption, and sometimes the lungs appear mortified or rotten. The liver, however, in these cases, is found, which distinguishes this variety from the other diseases called rot.

We do not know that this disease admits of a cure in sheep, though it might probably be prevented by housing them, or affording them shelter, at those seasons when it is most likely to occur.

Inflammation of the lungs occurs sometimes in dogs, but it does not seem to be very frequent in these animals. It requires pretty much the same treatment as in the horse, except that here emetic tartar may be given in such a quantity as to excite considerable sickness, without vomiting. This would be improper in the horse, as it would be difficult to regulate the dose of the medicine, so as not to produce such an irritation of the stomach as might considerably increase the animal's distress, and augment the difficulty of breathing.

8. INFLAMMATION of the Liver. Hepatitis.

We have no doubt that inflammation of the liver takes place occasionally in most of our domestic animals; and it is probably a more frequent disease than is generally supposed. Both species of it, viz., the acute and chronic, may appear in these animals, and it will appear presently, that the latter is a very common disease among sheep. Though description has clearly shown, that the liver in cows, horses, and sheep, has been affected with inflammation during the life of the animal, yet any account of the symptoms of this disease that is given us by the veterinary writers, is so obscure, that we cannot pretend to give anything like a perspicuous history.

According to Mr Blaine, this disease, considered as a distinct affection, is seldom met with in the horse, though, when great abdominal inflammation exists, the liver often partakes of the general disease. In the description of the symptoms, this author states that it is usually accompanied with costiveness, for the gland ceases to secrete the bile from its being in an inflamed state; and that bile which was secreted, is not poured into the intestines, but becomes deposited in the skin, producing jaundice, which is known by the yellowness of the eyes and the tongue. The pulse is generally full, hard, and frequent, but the pain not very intense. It would be difficult to detect it, unless by the symptoms of fever, accompanied with yellowness of the mouth and eyes. There would possibly be pain in the shoulder as in the human, in which case the horse might on trial be found lame.

It is easy to see, that this description is a fanciful picture of the disease, drawn from the analogy that the author supposes to exist between inflammation of the liver in man and the same disease in horses; and it is probably not to be depended upon.

The writers on cattle medicine describe the symptoms of the disease in cattle to be a difficulty of breathing, evident marks of fever, yellowness of urine, a swelling about the flint ribs, and an unusual distention about the barren or womb. Here the symptoms of an acute and chronic distemper seem to be confounded.

As for the symptoms of the disease in sheep, in whom it forms one of the varieties of rot, we have seen no such in sheep, count of them any further than as they are confounded with those of the other varieties of rot, and, as such, they will be noticed when we come to treat of the rot in general. If this disease could be detected in its acute state, the cure would probably not be difficult; but when it appears in the chronic form, it is, we believe, seldom removed.

When the bodies of such animals as have died of inflammation of the liver are opened, the liver has been found in various states of disease; sometimes it is harder and firmer than usual, and very frequently there are parts of it that are scirrhouss and discoloured, resisting the knife when we attempt to cut through them. Sometimes the biliary ducts are almost bony, and there is commonly found in them, and sometimes in other parts of the liver, a species of worm called fluke; the fasciola hepatica. hepatica of naturalists. Sometimes there are ulcers or abscesses formed in the liver, and frequently, especially in sheep, this organ is mortified or decayed.

The causes of this disease are very obscure; in horses and cattle it is said to be most common in hot seasons and warm climates, and that such of these animals as are fat are more exposed to its attacks. It may also be brought on by blows or bruises on the short ribs, by which the liver may have received some injury. In sheep it is said to be more common in dry weather, especially when the animals have but a scanty supply of food, and when they are of a costive habit. It is supposed by many, that this species of rot owes its origin to the flukes that we have described, as found in the liver after death; but, as these flukes have been found in the livers of sheep that had never been apparently affected with the rot, and, as they are frequently found in the livers of old sheep, this cause is probably rather fanciful; though when these animals are very numerous, or when they are situated in a very sensible part of the liver, they may excite a degree of irritation, and consequent inflammation, just as a great quantity of bots in the stomach of horses have been found to bring on inflammation of that organ.

In attempting the cure of this disease, when it is ascertained to be present, we must consider whether it is acute or chronic. When it occurs from injuries, it will probably be of the former kind, but in most other cases it will be chronic. Acute inflammation will require bleeding, purging, blisters, and low diet, as in all other cases of internal inflammation; but, in chronic hepatitis, the most likely remedy is mercury, which may be administered either internally, in the form of calomel or corrosive sublimate, or externally rubbed into the skin on some parts of the animal's body. This mercurial friction may be performed with tolerable ease on the sheep, by pulling off the wool from the inside of the thighs, and rubbing a drachm or two of the strongest mercurial ointment upon these parts every night, till the general system becomes affected, which may be known by the swelling of the gums, offensive smell of the breath, and increased flow of saliva from the mouth. This, however, would be an expensive and tedious cure; and if many of the flock appear affected, it would be better to kill them as fast as possible, before the disease has made such a progress as to render the animals lean. If a mercurial course should be attempted, the animals should be housed during the course, and should be kept on good nourishing food. Costiveness must be avoided in all these cases, by the administration of gentle clysters, or occasional doses of opening physic. A very good medicine, in all cases of liver complaints, is a ball composed of calomel and soap, as directed under jaundice, No. 441.

9. INFLAMMATION of the STOMACH. Gastritis.

The stomach may be inflamed, both in horses and cattle, from various causes; but this is a disease, the existence of which is not easily detected. Here also Mr Blaine has supplied the want of observed symptoms by analogy, and has supposed that there would probably be unsuccessful efforts to vomit; and, as the stomach is so essential an organ, the pulse would probably be affected even more than in inflammation of the bowels; that the animal would perhaps point to the left side about the tenth or eleventh rib; that there would be great distress evident in the countenance and manner, and that the loss of strength would be very great.

In cattle there are generally reckoned two species of inflammation of the stomach, one affecting the first stomach or paunch, and the other the third stomach or the manypies. This latter is commonly denominated lake-burn. The symptoms of the disease in these animals are also very obscure, but they are probably similar to what have been described above.

If the reader looks back to No. 409, he will see detailed, a case that occurred to Mr Clark, in which inflammation of the stomach was observed, and detected after death; and though the symptoms there described are few, they are probably more characteristic of the disease in question, than any imaginary description which we can copy from writers who have never seen the complaint.

This disease is extremely dangerous, and will not admit of a cure, unless effectual means are taken at its commencement.

Inflammation of the stomach is commonly produced by some acid irritating substance which the animal has swallowed, and this is the effect produced by most poisons. A large quantity of cold water drunk while the animal is in a violent perspiration, will also produce it. It not unfrequently accompanies inflammation of the bowels, which we are immediately to describe. It is said to be sometimes produced in cattle by the giving of too strong a dose of astringent medicines to cure the red water or bloody urine; and as we have seen in No. 409, it may sometimes be occasioned by bots.

The disease can only be cured by very copious bleeding, frequently repeated; by giving mucilaginous drinks, such as water gruel or linseed tea, applying a large blister just behind the short ribs, and the frequent administration of relaxing clysters. If poison has been swallowed, we must proceed as recommended under No. 407, though in most cases of inflammation of the stomach, it will be the most humane plan to effect a radical cure by throttling the animal through the head, or cutting his throat.

10. INFLAMMATION of the BOWELS. Enteritis. Red Colic. Inflammatory Colic. Dry Braxy in Sheep. Tranchée Inflammatoire ou Rouge, Fr.

This is a disease, to which all the domestic animals are subject, but it is attended with somewhat different symptoms, in the several species.

It is generally preceded by more or less fever. In horses, the first remarkable symptoms that appear, are a great degree of restlessness, with loss of appetite, thirst, with considerable heat, and dryness of the mouth. The animal evidently labours under violent pain, and is perpetually lying down and getting up again, scraping and flapping with his feet, with which he sometimes strikes his belly. When the belly is touched with the hand, the horse betrays extreme sensibility, and shrinks from the touch. The pulse is always increased in frequency, and is hard, giving the sensation of a cord below the finger. The skin feels unusually hot, all over the body, except at the ears, which are said to be cold. The tongue is commonly covered with a white fur. Costiveness is almost a constant symptom of this disease, and till the inflammation is subdued, this continues very obstinate, or, if the animal dungs, it is in very small quantity, and the excrement is very hard. The urine is voided in very small quantities, and with great pain, especially towards the latter period of the disease. The symptoms go on with more or less rapidity, till the inflammation is subdued by the proper remedies, or till it terminate in the death of the horse.

Returning health may be expected when the heat of the body gradually lessens, while the pulse becomes full, regular, and of the natural frequency, when the horse dungs freely, and returns to his usual appetite, and cheerfulness. But when there appears a sudden relief from pain, with a soft, feeble, or irregular pulse, and a purging of offensive black matter comes on, mortification of the bowels has taken place, and the horse will expire in a few hours.

On opening the body, evident marks of high inflammation appear in many parts of the bowels, the outer or membranous and muscular coats of which will be found red, and in some parts black. The inflammation is frequently found to have extended to other parts, as the stomach, liver, or bladder; to some of which the guts will be frequently found adhering. On opening into the cavity of the bowels, there will be found greatly distended with air, and the great guts loaded with hardened excrement; and sometimes the inner membrane will appear highly inflamed, or even corroded, shewing evident marks of its having suffered considerable irritation, from some acid substance.

Inflammation of the bowels is distinguished from colic, by the frequency and cord-like feeling of the pulse, by the presence of fever, by the tenderness of the belly, and by there being little or no remission of the pain. It is said that in colic the horse rolls much on his back, but is not so apt to do this in inflammation of the bowels. It will be seen by and by, that a long protracted colic frequently terminates in inflammation.

Inflammation of the bowels may be produced by acrid or poisonous substances taken into the stomach. It has been sometimes produced by giving hellebore to horses, as a purge; and it is said to arise sometimes from giving purgatives at improper times, or in too large a dose. It is very commonly brought on by giving the horse cold water, when he is much fatigued, and too much over-heated, as to be in a profuse sweat, or by dashing cold water upon him, by wading in cold water, or by standing in a draught of cold air, under similar circumstances of fatigue and sweating. Costiveness too long neglected, or entangled rupture, is also not an uncommon cause.

In the treatment of the inflammation of the bowels, as in all other internal inflammations, we must begin with copious and repeated bloodletting, after which a free evacuation of the bowels must be attempted by back-raking and the injection of softening clysters, such as warm water-gruel, mixed with half an English pint of castor oil. All acrid clysters must be avoided, as they will only tend to increase the inflammatory affection of the bowels, and even Glauber salts and other saline purgatives are scarcely proper, from the irritation they may produce. After bleeding and evacuating the bowels, warm fomentations applied to the belly may be of service, and the cloths should be applied as hot as possible. After the fomentation, the belly may be rubbed with some stimulating liniment, such as oil of turpentine, or essence of mustard. Firing has been recommended below the belly, as also frequent friction with the curry-comb, so as to irritate the skin, and almost make it bleed. Probably no medicine should be given by the mouth, farther than softening, diluting drinks, such as warm water-gruel or linseed tea. Food at the beginning of the disease is out of the question; but when the inflammation is a little relieved, the horse may have a bran mash. The body should be kept warm by clothing, and all exercise should be avoided.

Inflammation of the bowels in sheep is called dry braxy in Scotland, and of this disease we have an excellent account in Mr Findlater's survey of Peebles.

This disease is most fatal to young and robust sheep about six or seven months old, called in many parts of the island hogs. It is more destructive upon some farms than others; and even upon these, in some cases more than another. In a hog fence, or pasture capable of keeping 30 score of hogs, there is in some years a loss from three to four score. This is a very serious matter, as each of these would sell in the spring, or beginning of summer, for half a guinea or £1s. This disease begins at those times when inflammatory disorders are most apt to prevail, in the months of October and November, and is produced by the common causes of inflammation, cold, exertions, external injury, &c. During these months, flight frosts set in, and the ground in the morning is often covered with hoar frost, or what is called in some parts of Scotland rhine. It is probable, that eating grass covered with hoar frost, may be one cause of the disorder. If so, moving the animals about, and preventing them from eating, until the frost is melted by the sun, may tend to prevent the disease.

This disease runs its course very rapidly. When the shepherd leaves his flock at night upon their laires, he sometimes observes a hog look dull, loitering behind, and restless; sometimes lying down and suddenly getting up again; and in the morning, he will often find it dead, or nearly so. At other times he will discover no apparent ailment among his flock; and in the morning, he may find one or two dead or dying. From this it appears that the disease is very acute.

This is further evinced by the appearances after death, when the carcases are opened. Their bellies are excessively swelled, and distended with a putrid air: the whole intestines being red and inflamed, gangrenous, and in some degree mortified. This putrid taint seems to be communicated to the whole carcass, as all the muscular parts, and fat, smell strongly of corruption. The hogs that die of this disease, are frequently fat and in good order, which shows that the disease is of short duration.

We have already mentioned the eating of grass, which is covered with hoar frost, as a very probable immediate cause of this disorder. But is there any predisposing cause?

In answer to this question, we shall adduce a fact which is well authenticated. Many parts of the western Highlands of Scotland, had been for ages occupied by horses and horned cattle. At the introduction of sheep into those districts, the best grass was that which had sprung from the tath and excrements of these animals. During many years after these districts were converted into sheep farms, braxy remained unknown. It crept Diseases, in at last, and the severity of the disease was long in proportion to the length of time the pastures had been occupied by sheep.

From these we would infer that pasturing upon their own tath, is a predisposing cause of braxy among sheep; and that a frequent alteration of the species of stock, upon every sheep pasture, might serve to prevent the evil. This idea corresponds with the general laws of the Supreme Being, who certainly never intended that this earth should be monopolized by any particular species of animals; but has so ordered matters, that the happiness of individuals shall result from the happiness of the whole family of animated beings.

Hence it would appear a beneficial practice in store farmers, in place of one fence, to keep two or more enclosures of this description, and change the stock upon them every season. This we know to be contrary to general practice, and that what is called the hogs fence, is carefully guarded against the intrusion of every other animal.

Lambs, immediately after they are weaned, are frequently sent to poor pasture, which is called burning them. Now this appears to be a very bad practice; for the consequence is, that they fall off considerably, before they get at the rich grass in the hog's fence, of which they eat too freely; and thus become disposed to the disease treated of. Children, and all domesticated animals, are carefully fed with nourishing food for a considerable time after they are weaned; and yet they fall off for some time. It would certainly be better to give the lambs the hogs fence at once, and use every precaution to prevent them from falling off.

As the disease is generally advanced to a dangerous height before it is observed, we fear that medicine affords but a very faint hope of cure. The disease being inflammatory, the shepherd should attempt to bleed the distressed creature as soon as possible; which he can easily do, by cutting off part of the tail, or by nicking it underneath, or by cutting off part of the ears. The animal should then be removed to a house or shed, and attempts made to produce evacuations. In brute animals, it is difficult to produce these by medicines administered by the mouth. The speediest and most effectual method, is by injections into the rectum or anus. Such injection may consist of a small handful of chamomile flowers, two spoonfuls of aniseed, and as much caraway seeds; to be boiled slowly in a Scotch muttonkin or English pint of milk and water, until the half is evaporated. The liquor should then be strained off, and two tea spoonfuls of castor oil added, or if this is not at hand, the same quantity of sweet oil may be used. This should be administered warm by an injection bag and pipe, or by an elastic gum bottle with a pipe properly fitted. Nothing can be easier, than to give a sheep a clyster in this way; and in all probability it will have a happy effect in evacuating the bowels and procuring relief.

If this does not appear very soon, it may be repeated an hour after, and a large spoonful of common salt added to the former ingredients. If, after all, the animal does not seem relieved, another clyster may be given, consisting of a small tea cupful of warm milk and water, to which are added from 20 to 25 drops of laudanum.

As there is a great distention of the stomach and bowels, arising from airs or elastic vapours, generated in the intestines, Mr Walker of Cumberland, in a treatise he wrote upon the diseases of brute animals, has suggested a remedy for this disorder, which has often proved successful in his district. It consists in pushing down their throats a flexible tube, such as Dr Monro has recommended, and which has proved successful in relieving cows that had over gorged themselves with red clover early in the season (see No 405). This seems a probable means of affording temporary relief, and every shepherd that has the care of the hog flock, should be furnished with one of these tubes, adapted to the size of the sheep, for trying the experiment upon those that labour under the disease.

"In regard to the quality of pasture (adds Mr Findlater) as a cause of sickness, Tweeddale farmers seem of opinion that it arises from the foulness of the grass at the root in the hogs fences, which are never eaten bare. Some, therefore, take care to have the land to be saved for the hog fence, once eaten as bare as possible early in summer, by the black cattle upon the farm, or by old sheep.

"It seems ascertained in Tweeddale, that land which has been in use to be pastured by older sheep, when converted into a hog fence, is not liable for some time to produce sickness. Two accidental experiments occurring in which this practice took place, in consequence of new arrangements in the farms of Harehop in Edendale parish, and of Lyne in Lyne parish, confirm this conclusion. It is farther confirmed by an experiment of Mr Murray, tenant in Flemington mill. About 20 years ago, he bought in different parcels of lambs for hogs, and laid them upon the hog fence of his farm of Broughton-haup, in Broughton parish. In one of the parcels of much higher condition than the rest, the sickness broke out to such extent, that they were dying at the rate of two or three daily; so that the whole parcel seemed in imminent risk. He transferred this whole parcel to the farm of Finngland in Newlands parish, where only old sheep were kept, putting them on some of the lower pasture of that farm, which had been hain'd for feeding the crock ewes, and transferring a proportional quantity of these ewes to Broughton-haup hog fence. Not one of the lambs died upon Finngland. To the same effect, it deserves attention, that in small farms, not admitting of distinct hirling, where, of course, old and young sheep pasture mixed together, hogs are very little liable to sickness, though perhaps worse in other respects.

"From November at shearing time till Christmas (1797), two facts with regard to the mode of cure have been stated to me, and which I am disposed to think authentic. In the farm of Drummelzier, parish of Drummelzier, three hogs (out of four upon which the experiment was tried) recovered, upon bleeding, and having poured down their throats, a decoction of tobacco; about a finger's length of twist tobacco boiled in water till the water has diminished to a gill, being the dose for each. In the farm of Broughton-haup, parish of Broughton, within the same space of time, nine or ten (out of 16 or 17 upon whom the experiment was made) recovered upon bleeding, and having an injection of tobacco smoke administered from a common tobacco pipe, by kindling the tobacco, inserting the pipe shank into the anus, and blowing; the experiment, however, was not so successful." ful in some later instances. I have long ago seen a ewe cured by bleeding, and injection of Glauber salts from a common clyster-bag and pipe. When braxy breaks out, it might be useful, where attainable, to lay the hogs, nightly, upon a dry ground, if the hog fence is wet, the chilliness of wet ground contributing no doubt to the production of inflammation. Clover fodderage or turnips might be good preventatives, from inducing a lax habit.*

II. DYSENTERY. Molten-grease, or Body-founder. Break-bow, (in sheep). Gras fondu, Fr.

Dysentery is the other disease that, with catarrh, forms Dr Cullen's order of profusia; but as there are evident marks of inflammation of the bowels observed on inspecting the bodies of such animals as have died of this complaint, we have placed it immediately after inflammation of the bowels, in which we have followed M. Pinel and some other late writers.

This disease is not uncommon in the horse, and probably it is still more frequent in cattle and sheep. It very commonly begins with some degree of fever, as a trembling, dryness of the mouth, loss of appetite, a great degree of weakness, drooping of the head and ears, sometimes a copious sweating, but more commonly dryness and heat of the skin. There is usually a heaving of the flanks, and the animal turns his head towards them, as if gripped. There are frequent defecations from the anus, but these seldom consist of the natural excrement, but of a mucous, slimy discharge, accompanied with a peculiar fatty substance, like soft suet. There is evidently much distress during these evacuations, and sometimes the fundament appears excoriated. It is not uncommon to see blood pass with the stools, generally in streaks, but sometimes in such a quantity as to tinge the whole discharge of a red colour; and in the latter stages of the disease there generally appear membranous, filmy substances, which have been compared to soaked leather. These substances have been supposed to be the inner membrane of the bowels that has been eroded and thrown off by the violence of the purging; but they are merely coagulated lymph, such as is very commonly thrown off from inflamed surfaces. The pulse, towards the beginning of the disease, is commonly hard and full, but as the complaint goes on, it becomes quick, small, and sometimes irregular. The animal is very stiff, and much averse to motion, and if the disease continues long, there usually comes on a swelling of the legs.

When animals that have died of this disease are dissected, the inner coat of the bowels is found inflamed, in some places covered with coagulated lymph, such as we have described as being thrown out in the discharge, and not unfrequently ulcerated in various parts, sometimes mortified and corroded.

This disease does not appear so dangerous among the inferior animals in this climate, as in warmer countries; but it sometimes proves fatal, or terminates in a weakness of the bowels and scouring, that are not easily removed. If the fever is but little or soon abates, if the animal appears not to labour under much pain, and if the discharge of natural excrement soon returns, the disease will probably terminate favourably in a short time; but if there is great pain and fever, with excessive weakness, and if the mucous discharges continue very frequent, and mixed with much blood, the danger is considerable.

It is necessary to distinguish this complaint from the common purging or scouring, with which it is very generally confounded. It must therefore be observed, that in scouring, there is no fever, whereas this is common in dysentery; that the discharge in scouring, though thin, has almost always the appearance of excrement, is not bloody, and is scarcely ever mixed with fatty matter.

Dysentery is more common in hot weather, and in hot seasons, than at other times; but is very commonly produced by the sudden application of cold, especially to the legs or belly, while the body is overheated and fatigued: hence swimming in autumn, drinking large quantities of cold water while in a profuse sweat, or other sudden changes from heat to cold, have commonly produced it. It is said to be frequently brought on by riding a horse very hard in hot weather. Mr Lawrence says that when a boy, he rode a horse that had a great deal of loose froth flesh about him, 21 miles in a warm summer morning, and thus brought on an attack of molten grease. It is also not an uncommon disease among polo horses.

From the appearance of the fatty matter in the discharge that takes place in this complaint, the older writers on farriery were induced to give it the name of molten grease, conceiving that a principal part of the disease consisted in a melting down of the fat of the animal, which being conveyed by the absorbents into the circulation, is thrown out by the exhalants on the bowels, and carried off with the dung. Mr Blaine laughs very heartily at this idea, and seems to pride himself on the discovery, that what has been mistaken for fat, is nothing more than an increased secretion of the mucus of the intestines, and is as liable to a horse with little fat, as to one with much. Mr Lawrence, on the other hand, argues strenuously that this matter is really greasy, and says, that "with respect to the evidence of fenfe, had Mr Blaine ever seen a horse under the discharge of molten grease, he might have found on experiment, that part of the discharge in question is inflammable and liquefiable, which are not the characters of albumen, but of real grease; and, (continues Mr Lawrence) viewing the matter through the medium of experience, I can see no sort of improbability in a colliquation of loofe, substantial, internal fat, by sudden inflammation, and its consequent effusion and discharge by an unusual emunctory." Gibbon gives an instance which convinced him (apparently incredulous before) of the possibility of a horse's grease being melted. He found the fat melted and turned into an oil, and drawn off from its proper cells into the blood vessels. He says farther, this disease is not unlike the greasy diarrhoea which happens to men." Not having ourselves seen a case of dysentery in horses, we are not prepared to decide the difference between these two champions of the old and new school; but as Mr Lawrence is very worthy of credit in whatever has passed under his own observation, we have no doubt that this debated substance is of a fatty nature.

As it seems certain that dysentery is of an inflammatory nature, it is proper to begin the cure by bleeding, especially if the horse is plethoric, or if the pulse is full and hard. It will then be proper to clear the bowels Diseases, by a laxative clyster, and to give internally a drench composed of five or six ounces of Glauber's salt dissolved in a quart of water-gruel, or the drench No. 26, of the receipts; and this may be repeated every three or four hours. This will probably, in the course of the day, produce a plentiful discharge of excrement, and when the bowels appear well cleared, the horse may have a warm bath, be covered up warm, and perhaps a perspiration will be brought on, which, if the disease is slight, will probably complete the cure. If the disease should continue, an English pint, or pint and a half, of castor oil may be given, and clysters, composed of water-gruel, or starch boiled in water, should be given warm very frequently. When by these means a pretty copious discharge of excrement has been produced, the horse may have a ball composed of two drachms of opium, and half an ounce of ipecacuanha, or a drachm of emetic tartar, washed down with a quart of good porter. If there is considerable pain, it may be advisable to foment the belly for half an hour at a time, with flannels wrung out of a warm decoction of poppy heads. During this treatment the horse should be kept clothed, and currents of air in the stable should be avoided. When the disease is subdued, as the horse will probably remain very weak, it will be proper to revive him by nourishing diet, and cordial and strengthening remedies.

The appearances of dysentery in cattle are not unlike those that occur in the horse, only that perhaps in them there is not so much of the gras fondu. The disease among these animals is commonly called fardel bound. The treatment is the same as above described.

This disease is not uncommon in sheep, by the name of break/bow; but shepherds very commonly confound it with diarrhoea or purging. Mr. Loch of Rachan very properly distinguishes between them, and observes that the break/bow is analogous to dysentery in the human species, and occurs most commonly in the end of wet summers. The discharge is thin and greenish (Mr. Loch supposes from the wet grass becoming acid in the stomach, and turning the gall green); it is more or less mixed with blood, sometimes florid, sometimes black and grumous; the animal pines for a week or two, and dies, though sometimes he recovers. The cure commonly employed by Mr. Loch's herd, is warm milk poured down the animal's throat; but Mr. Loch proposes to try, in addition to this, nitre in half drachm doses, with chalk or some other absorbent powder, and 20 or 30 drops of laudanum twice or thrice a-day, with frequent injections of warm milk and water. This plan seems best adapted to the latter stages of the disease. According to Mr. Gillespie of Glenquich (quoted by Mr. Findlater), this disease is often produced by overheating, when the sheep are hunted by dogs, in folding them, &c., or when otherwise scared and terrified. It is stated by Mr. Gillespie to be considerably infectious; and he considers tarring part of the flock to be the best means of checking the infection, under the idea that the smell of the tar will overcome that of the contagion.

12. Inflammation of the Kidneys. Nephritis. Strain of the Kidneys.

This disease is not uncommon among horses and cattle; but it is more frequent in the former, as they are more exposed to those causes that appear generally to produce it.

The symptoms of this disease in horses, are tolerably well marked. The horse stands wide with his hind-legs, appears dull, and expresses considerable pain, often looking at his flanks. When pressure is made on his loins the horse flinches, and is evidently much distressed; the pulse is hard and full, and commonly more frequent than natural. When both kidneys are inflamed, little or no urine is secreted, and what little is evacuated is generally bloody; but when only one kidney is inflamed, the other continues to secrete urine, but the natural quantity is on the whole much diminished, and there is commonly considerable pain during the evacuation.

Inflammation of the kidneys is liable to be confounded with inflammation of the neck of the bladder; and the best means of distinguishing them, is to pass the hand up the fundament, by which the state of the bladder beneath may be easily ascertained. If the bladder be considerably distended with urine, the inflammation is almost certainly seated in the neck of the bladder; but if the bladder be shrunk and empty, the disease is probably situated in the kidneys. It must be allowed, however, that this mark of discrimination will not hold good till the disease of the kidneys is pretty far advanced, as it very commonly happens that when a gland is inflamed, its secretion is at first increased. At the commencement of the disease, therefore, the symptoms which we have enumerated, especially the sensibility which the horse evinces on touching his loins, are chiefly to be depended on. It must be remarked that one of the kidneys has been found diseased, and even purulent, after death, when it showed no marks of inflammation during life. This disease is attended with considerable danger, and unless the inflammation be speedily removed, matter will be formed, which, if it does not pass off by the urinary pipes into the bladder, will find a passage into the belly, or behind the peritoneum, and produce hectic fever and consumption, or the kidney may mortify, and death will soon follow.

The kidneys may become inflamed, either from external injury, or from irritating substances that pass through them in the course of the circulation. Inflammation of these organs is frequently produced by placing the saddle too far back upon the loins, and riding hard for a long time while it is in this position. It is sometimes the effect of throwing cold water upon the body while it is in a sweat; but according to Mr. Blaine and Mr. Feron, it is most frequently produced by the indiscriminate use of strong diuretic medicines.

In the treatment of this disease, we must vigorously employ the means that we have so often recommended for the cure of internal inflammations; bleeding in its full extent, emollient clysters, and the production of external inflammation: but it is necessary in this disease to caution the practitioner against the use of blisters, as the matter of cantharides, when taken into the circulation, and carried to the kidneys, will considerably increase the inflammation and distresses. A good substitute for blisters of cantharides would be, to pour hot water on the loins, so as to raise a blister on each side, which, however cruel it may appear, could not produce so much pain, as the animal already feels from the disease. It has been recommended, to excite a degree of inflammation in the external part of the loins, by means of firing; but probably the hot water will do as well, and is less painful. No medicine should be given by the mouth, that is in the least heating or irritating; and nitre, turpentine, balsam of copaiva, &c., so warmly recommended by most of the writers on farriery, would only serve to aggravate the disease. The horse may drink frequently of water gruel, linseed tea, or such other mild, mucilaginous liquors; and if he seems to require food, bran mash will be the most proper article of diet. If there is much coliciveness, purgative clysters may be given, or in cases of necessity, six or seven drachms of siccotrine aloes in a ball. All exercise must be avoided, and the horse should have a good bed of litter, on which he may lie down when fatigued.

13. Inflammation of the Bladder. Cystitis.

The bladder may be inflamed either in its body, or in its neck, and the symptoms differ somewhat in these two varieties. When the body of the bladder is inflamed, there is produced such a degree of irritation, that the bladder becomes incapable of retaining its contents for any length of time; and the animal is perpetually making small quantities of urine. He also makes frequent attempts to dung. On passing the hand up the fundament, the bladder will be found very hot and sensible; and in this variety of the complaint, as in inflammation of the kidneys, it is empty and collapsed.

When the neck of the bladder is inflamed, there is at first a suppression of the urine, but afterwards it is continually passing off in drops; and on examining the bladder by the fundament, it will be found more or less distended, according to the continuance of the complaint. There is usually considerable fever in both cases. The pulse is hard and full at the beginning of the disease, but after this has continued for some time, the pulse becomes small and oppressed.

Inflammation of the bladder takes place more frequently in male than in female animals; but it is said to be sometimes produced in the latter, at least in mares, by passing some irritating substance up the urethra, in order to make them hasty. Both cases of this disease are attended with considerable danger; but the latter is generally the most dangerous; but in a mare a cure is generally easier than in a horse.

The treatment of this complaint differs little from that of the inflammation of the kidneys, and chiefly consists in bleeding, the frequent use of softening clysters, low diet, and the production of external inflammation by any other means than the use of cantharides blisters. If the bladder be found considerably distended, it will be necessary to evacuate the urine, either by the means of a catheter, which may be easily passed up in a mare, or by making an opening into the bladder; for performing which in the male, Mr Feron gives the following directions. "It happens that the urethra is so constructed, that it is not in our power to introduce an instrument immediately into the bladder, without performing an operation; for the urethra of the horse forms two curvatures or angles, before it reaches the bladder, and therefore it is not possible to introduce an instrument into the bladder, which will preserve its curvity all the way. We therefore introduce a staff of a pliable wood, or whalebone, to the angle at the os pubis, as near the rectum as possible with safety; we make a cut upon it, and then introduce the female catheter, or some similar tube, without however removing the staff to prevent our losing the incision, taking care to avoid the instrument's passing into the cellular membrane, instead of entering the bladder. If such an accident was likely to happen, it is advisable not to attempt the operation, but to continue and insist upon all the emollient remedies.

"We may also puncture the bladder with a trocar, by the rectum, or through the inferior part of the abdomen.

"In either case we are likewise directed by Mr Coleman, to make the puncture as near the os pubis as possible, that we may not wound the peritoneum anteriorly. By this method the operation recommended through the rectum may be performed without exposing or opening the cavity of the abdomen."

In the female an opening may be easily made into the bladder, with a trocar, introduced by the vagina. It has been recommended in the mare to throw up an injection of some oily or mucilaginous fluid, to supply the place of mucus, in soothing the bladder from the irritation of urine. As in the inflammation of the kidneys, every thing that can heat or irritate the urinary organs must be carefully avoided.

14. Cords.

It is well known in most breeding countries, that a great many calves die every year, of an unknown disease, with which they are affected very shortly after birth. The common name which this disease receives in Scotland, is the cords; and while its fatal and widespread effects are the subject of just regret, the disease itself is looked on as incurable, and no pains are taken to investigate its nature, symptoms and causes, and no remedies suggested as a cure or preventive. Whatever be its nature, this disease is exceedingly dangerous, and so extremely rapid, (terminating frequently in a night's time), that all means of relief are commonly useless even before it is observed.

Almost all calves, that are said to have died of the cords, appear, when they are opened up, exceedingly red, and the small leaders, or ligaments, are considerably swelled, and have some resemblance to strings passing through the internal parts, from which probably the disease has its name. Every symptom indicates a considerable degree of plethora, if not a very high degree of inflammation.

It is commonly observed, that calves are most liable to be affected during the first days, or weeks, after they are calved. If they outlive five or six weeks, they are seldom in any danger.

Calves that suck their mothers, we believe, it will be found, are not so liable to the disease, as those who are fed by the hand.

The greatest number of calves who fall a sacrifice to this disease, if not the whole of them, are those who are closely confined to the house from their birth, without ever being exposed to the free open air without doors. It is a well known fact, that calves who are dropt without, and remain in the fields, are in little or no danger. Cows that are laid on to graze for beef frequently turn out to be in calf; and it is no uncommon thing to see them drop their calves in the midst of frost and snow, and yet Diseases. These young creatures, if they can once get to their feet, without being frozen to the ground, are hearty and well. Calves, lambs, and foals, require exercise and fresh air; and nature directs them to take a great deal. It is astonishing to see with what force and vigour, (particularly the calf), and how long, they will run. But this free, unconstrained, and feverish exercise without doors, seems to be the very thing that makes them thrive, and to be necessary to their very existence.

The great object is to prevent this disease; and the following method of treating the new-born calves, practised by a correspondent of the Farmer's Magazine, seems to be attended with complete success.

The time when this gentleman's cows are bulled is regularly noted down in a book; and when they are near calving, they are watched frequently night and day. As soon as the calf is dropped, it is received into a large basket or skull, made of willows, with a handle at each end, and plenty of clean straw in it. It is then carried by two persons to the stall in the calf-house, where it is gently rubbed with straw. The calf-house is next to the cow-hyde; and is fitted up with stalls like a stable, about three feet wide, and about five feet long. Every stall shuts in by itself, with a door and hinges, for fear of the calf lying back too far, to choke itself in its binding. As soon as the mother has had a little rest after calving, she is milked, and a little of the milk given to the calf as early as possible. If the weather is cold, and the mother long in giving milk, it is taken to the fire, and warmed in a pan until it is blood-warm, and then given to the calf; about six or eight gills, according to the size of the calf, and repeated four times in 24 hours. As the calf gathers strength, the quantity may be increased; but too much milk at one time is as bad as too little, until it is a month or six weeks old. When the calf is able to stand, it is tied to a stake; as it is more in the power of the servants to give it milk in that situation, than when going about loose. If a calf gets cold milk, it is sure to bring on a trembling; and the cords or some other malady follows; which he has often seen exemplified amongst the neighbouring young flock.

15. Farcy. Le Farcin, Fr.

We shall conclude this chapter with a brief account of two diseases; or rather, as it should seem, of two modifications of the same disease, that frequently take place in the horse, to whom they are almost peculiar; though something like them is occasionally found in other animals. We shall hereafter take notice of what farriers call the water farcy, which we consider as similar to anaemia in the human body; but the disease we are about to describe, appears to be rather a peculiar inflammatory affection of the absorbent vessels below the skin. There seem to be two varieties of farcy, acute and chronic; or rather a mild and a malignant variety.

The commencement of farcy appears to be rather obscure, and probably it is seldom observed in the beginning of the inflammation. The first appearances that are described by writers, are a number of swellings that rise in almost every part of the body, particularly the head, neck, and extremities. The lymphatic vessels below the skin appear like knotted cords; and this appearance is found to be owing to a dilatation and inflammation that take place in these vessels, especially at their valves, where the knots are produced. As the disease proceeds, these knotted swellings burst, and ulcers are formed which are very difficult to heal. The formation of these ulcers may be considered as terminating the mild stage, and commencing the malignant form of the disease; in which the horse loses his appetite, grows lean and weak, and commonly has a degree of hectic fever. If the progress of the disease has not been arrested, a swelling takes place in the head and nose, and there comes on from the latter a copious discharge of a peculiar glairy mucus, which shows that the disease has degenerated into glanders, under which name we shall proceed to describe it; and shall afterwards consider the nature, causes, and treatment of both.

16. Glanders. Le Morve, Fr.

According to Mr Blaine, the usual symptoms of glanders are an increased secretion of the mucus of the nose, which is at first thick, and like the white of an egg. He has seen it continue so, while at other times it becomes purulent; but there is usually a degree of viscidity and glueiness about the matter, that as it were fixes the sides of the nostrils together, and is strongly characteristic of this disease. On examining the nostrils, there may generally be perceived a number of ulcerated surfaces, very similar to chancre that occur in the venereal disease. These ulcers do not always appear soon; but they are produced in all virulent cases, and never fail to appear when the disease terminates fatally. They are at first small, and disposed in lines along the lymphatic vessels; but as the ulceration proceeds, it becomes more extensive, till the whole inner surface of the nostrils is affected, and at length the bones of the nose are affected, and become carious. When the ulcers have continued for some time, the matter changes its glairy appearance, and becomes bloody and offensive; and this is more particularly the case when the bones become diseased. In the latter stages of the complaint, the emaciation and weakness of the animal are greatly increased; he becomes affected with a short tickling cough; the hair grows dry and harsh, and falls off on the slightest touch, and thus the horse gradually pines away.

Sometimes only one side of the head is affected, but more commonly both at the same time.

The best account of the appearances of glanders on dissection, has been given by M. Chabert, in a work which he published in 1785, on the means of ascertaining the existence of glanders, and of preventing their effects. From the numerous bodies which he opened, M. Chabert has drawn up the following general account of the morbid appearances.

The lungs are generally more affected than any other of the viscera; we find them often swollen and filled with hydatids, tubercles, and obstructions. The bronchial glands are very often swollen and ulcerated, and this is sometimes the only injury that we can perceive on dissections. The membrane that lines the bronchia and the wind-pipe, is most commonly inflamed and ulcerated; the bronchia are filled with a thick matter, that commonly resembles what the animal discharges by the nostrils. The internal surface of the bones that form the different cavities of the nose, and the gristy partition of the nostrils, are often carious, and covered with purulent matter; and the membrane which lines the nostrils... nostrils is ulcerated. The spleen, the liver, and the kidneys, are also sometimes considerably diseased; and the ulcerated state of the kidneys, not unfrequently appears during life, by the purulent matter that is discharged with the urine. On opening the head, we sometimes find the brain softer and more flaccid than in a healthy animal. There is often a great quantity of serum in its cavities, and the glands are much swollen.

The glanders is liable to be confounded with several of those diseases, in which an unusual discharge proceeds from the nostrils; as catarrh, strangles, and consumption; but chiefly with the two former. It may be distinguished from catarrh, by the absence of fever in the early stage; by the matter discharged from the nostrils being thick and glairy from the first; whereas, in catarrh, there is almost always considerable fever in the beginning, and the discharge is at first watery. In a common cold the general health is also more or less affected, and from the first there is usually a cough and loss of appetite; whereas, these symptoms scarcely ever come on in glanders, till the disease has subsided for a considerable time. Glanders may be distinguished from strangles by the high fever which commences the latter, and by the swelling and speedy suppuration of the glands of the mouth and throat.

Of these two affections, glanders is the most dangerous; as farcy, when taken at its commencement, may frequently be removed; but we believe the instances of a perfect cure in glanders are very rare.

The causes of these complaints are very obscure. It is said that farcy may be brought on by the same causes that predispose to mange, as want of cleanliness, hard work, and low diet; and there is no doubt that this disease, as well as glanders, is contagious. Glanders, besides being produced by contagion, may also be the termination of several disorders, as of catarrh, strangles, and consumption, however different from these diseases in their commencement.

The nature of glanders is not well understood, although, of late, many ingenious men have investigated the subject, and made considerable discoveries. It is not certain when the disease was first known. Mr Lawrence dates it from the same period with the Lues Venerea; but there seems no doubt that the disease was known to the ancients, though we do not know by what name it was called. Vegetius speaks of a disease which he calls humiditas, which Mr Blaine supposes to be the same with our glanders; but which the learned Camper considers as analogous to the murrain, see No. 466. Blundevil, and after him Markham, give the following description of its rise, progress, and completion. "Of cold first cometh the pofe, (that is stoppage of the head), and the cough, and then the glanders, and last of all the mourning of the chine." The two Messieurs Lafoffe, made, as we have seen, several discoveries with respect to glanders, especially the father, who, in 1749, demonstrated before the academy of sciences at Paris, that the seat of the disease is wholly in the pituitary membrane; and he proposed curing it by injecting the whole of this membrane through openings made with the trepan, into the frontal, nasal, and maxillary sinuses. Lafoffe divided the disease into several species; but it appears that all these may be reduced to two, the mild and malignant, or the chronic and acute; the chronic being that in which the running of the nose is trifling, and of a transparent colour, with no appearance of ulceration in the nostrils; while in the acute or malignant variety, there is considerable ulceration; the discharge is very offensive; there is a swelling below the under jaw, and the bones of the nose are various.

The best of the English writers on farriery appear to have known little or nothing of the disease more than the symptoms. Dr Bracken considered it as not contagious, and Gibbon gives but a poor account of it, for which he seems indebted to Snape.

"The late professor of the veterinary college (says Mr Blaine), published his remarks on this disease; but it is evident that he knew little or nothing relating to it, but what he gained from Lafoffe, and consequently his opinions offered nothing new. The present professor has prosecuted the inquiries relative to it much farther, and by an extensive course of experiment has thrown very considerable light on the nature of the disease; and though we are not yet much more successful in attempts at the cure, yet we have less reason to despair. By Mr Coleman's experiments it is proved beyond a doubt that farcy and glanders are specifically the same disease, but affecting different parts: to establish this, horses have been inoculated with the matter of farcy, and glanders has been produced; which puts the matter beyond a doubt. Farther, Mr Coleman produced glanders in a sound animal by the inoculation with the matter of glanders. This M. St Bel affected could not be done. Farcy has likewise been produced by the same means, but it appears that it was some time before it could be effected; but it has been produced by Mr White. It cannot therefore be inferred, that because the farcy and glanders are so different in their apparent situations they are distinct diseases: every poison has its preference of parts; and likewise the same poison, under different modifications, affects different parts.

Mr Coleman is of opinion, that in glanders, the whole circulating fluids are affected. To prove this, he bled an ass from the jugular vein till he was to all appearance dead, when he introduced the blood from the carotid artery of a horse labouring under glanders, till the ass was reanimated. In a few days the most malignant glanders appeared. I believe another ass was inoculated from this, which became glandered. This experiment, I think, (adds Mr Blaine), throws great light on this complaint, and indeed on pathology in general; and we may hence be led to hope, that internal remedies may be more useful than external, which have been thought to be the only means by which we could hope for a cure; for provided we could destroy the poison existing in the blood, and keeping up the action in the part; the action, or at least the specific part of it, might cease in the affected part, and we might induce a healing process by the usual means. As such, our only hope must consist in exciting a new action in the system, whereby the glandereous one will be suspended, till by the continuance of the new action the virus of glanders is completely expelled by the change of the fluids naturally undergone."

The treatment of these diseases will differ according to their state and degree of malignity. For the cure... Diseases of farcy, blisters are much extolled by Mr Feron, and the actual cautery is very generally employed to destroy the swellings of the lymphatics, and to excite these vessels into greater action. To assist this purpose, diuretics are to be administered, and the horse should take as much exercise, especially draught labour, as he will bear without considerable fatigue. Two remedies have of late been employed internally, when the system becomes considerably affected; these are verdigrife, and corrosive sublimate. Mr Feron directs the former to be given in the following manner. A ball composed of one drachm of verdigrife, and a quarter of an ounce of common turpentine, is to be given every night and morning, gradually increasing the quantity of verdigrife till the horse can take from three drachms to half an ounce in the course of the day. If the animal becomes cestive, he is to have a clyster night and morning, and a purgative ball of seven drachms of aloes, and half a drachm of calomel, once a week. After having gone through a regular course of physic, he is to have the following balls. An ounce of green copperas (E) in powder is to be mixed up with Venice turpentine, and a sufficient quantity of linseed powder, to make eight balls, one of which is to be given every morning, while cothurnesis is to be avoided as before directed.

In giving the corrosive sublimate, we should begin with a small dose (see Stimulants), and gradually increase it so long as the stomach will easily bear it. As mercury in some form seems to be the best remedy that can be employed in these affections, calomel, or the common blue pill, may be given instead of the corrosive sublimate, if the latter should occasion much disorder, or if the horse is very much weakened. During this course the animal must be supported by nourishing diet, but should frequently have a change of succulent vegetable food. Mr Blaine speaks of a horse that was so far reduced (by glanders, we suppose) as not to be able to stand, and who was drawn into a field of tares, and suffered to take his chance; the consequence was, that when he had eaten all within his reach, he was able to rise and search for more, and eventually recovered.

The treatment recommended above has, it seems, often been successful in farcy, and the same internal remedies have been recommended in glanders, but we believe they have been employed with little success. Mr Feron advises to draw blood in the beginning of glanders, while the disease is still local, and to keep the animal upon warm mashes of bran, putting the same into a nose-bag, for the purpose of fomenting the nostrils. He is then to go through a course of gentle physic, while strict attention is paid to the necessary direction of the food, exercise, dressing, cleanliness, and water. The water must be always warm, and made white with bran or gruel. After this course, he recommends balls made of opium, arsenic, and sulphur, or of extract of hemlock, calomel, &c., avoiding cothurnesis during their exhibition. He thinks it necessary to infert two rowels, one below the under jaw near the swelling, and another under the chest; and he recommends frequently syringing the nostrils with a lotion made of two ounces of spirit of wine, and the same quantity of vinegar, mixed with a gallon of water; or with a solution of corrosive sublimate. According to this gentleman, if the disorder is attacked in its infancy, it will generally submit to the above course of treatment; but if the disorder is so far advanced as to exhibit the symptoms of virulence, which we have described as constituting the acute or malignant stage of it, it will increase in opposition to all art, and it will be necessary to take away a life that every degree of affluency would not render worth preservation.

As the farcy is probably contagious, and the glanders in most cases is certainly so, it is proper, as soon as a horse is affected with either of these diseases, to keep him in a separate stable, and to take care that he does not come near any other horses; and no part of his harness, or furniture should be used for any other horse, till it has been well washed with soap and water, and exposed for a long time to the pure air.

Glanders is considered by Dr Darwin, and some other writers, as a contagious catarrh, and in some cases it certainly is so; but when it is the consequence of farcy, or of dangerous chronic diseases, it appears to be an affection of a peculiar kind. Mr Lawrence considers the glanders as so perfectly incurable, that he recommends the colormakers knife as the safest, cheapest, and most infallible remedy.

**CHAP. III. Of Lethargic or Comatose Diseases.**

1. **APOPLEXY.** Vertigo, Fr. Staggers, Sleepy Stage, Apoplexy gers, Lethargy, or Vertigo.

Staggers is one of the most comprehensive terms in farriery; and under it are confounded almost every affection of the brain, or all those diseases in which there take place giddiness, unusual heaviness, drowsiness, or convulsions. We have already seen the term applied to inflammation of the brain, and we have no doubt that many cases are described as staggers, which are really instances of epilepsy. Of this kind we consider the case so humorously related by Mr Lawrence in his treatise on horses, vol. ii. p. 406. "Walking upon Fleet-street, I observed a crowd of people wonderfully diverted with the agonies of a cart-horse beating himself almost to pieces, in, I think, the most violent convulsions I ever witnessed. He threw himself repeatedly upon the foot-path, and was very near going headlong into a shop," &c.

Mr Feron, who in general keeps very clear of the errors of ordinary farriers, which he often ridicules with much success, has confounded inflammation of the brain and apoplexy, under the general name of staggers, considering them as both inflammatory, and merely modifications of the same disease. Even Mr Bisine, who, as Mr Lawrence expresses himself, seems upon every occasion eager to catch the dernier goût de science, has described this merely a typographical error, for copperas, or sulphate of iron; and we have therefore ordered it by this name, as sulphate of iron is a good tonic, and may be very properly employed in this disease. described staggers under the name of lethargy, and does not even mention its identity with apoplexy in the human body.

We consider staggers properly so called, as the same with apoplexy; the appearances, the causes, and the treatment of both are the same, making allowance for some slight variations in the structure and economy of the different animals whom they affect.

This complaint sometimes comes on suddenly; but in general it is preceded by symptoms that mark a considerable determination of blood to the head, such as heaviness, drowsiness, insensibility, (see No. 317.) occasional fits of giddiness, (see No. 318.) and partial blindness, (see No. 321.) There seems no doubt that the horse is sometimes affected with headache, which appears by the animal's hanging down his head and drooping his ears, by the eyes being dull and watery, by dropping of urine, and costiveness. These symptoms often precede an attack of apoplexy, though they are sometimes only signs of a disordered stomach.

When a fit of staggers comes on, the animal falls suddenly, and is perhaps convulsed for a few minutes, but more commonly appears quite insensible. The pulse during the fit is usually slower than natural, and much oppressed; the breathing is slow, heavy, and laboured, and there is evidently an increased accumulation of blood in the vessels of the head. The animal remains for a longer or shorter time in the fit, and sometimes he never recovers; but, in general, in eight or ten minutes the fit goes off, and the animal rises. Sometimes after a fit of the staggers, the animal appears for a time more active and lively than before; but very often he remains heavy and sleepy, especially after repeated attacks, and sometimes a paralytic affection of some of the limbs is the consequence of the fit.

Apoplexy may be distinguished from inflammation of the brain, by the fever, restlessness, and fiery appearance of the eyes, that never fail to usher in the latter complaint. We would distinguish it from epilepsy, by the foaming at the mouth, and strong convulsions, by which this latter is always accompanied.

An apoplectic fit may be the consequence of an overloaded or otherwise disordered stomach; and is not uncommon termination of several diseases, as epilepsy, locked jaw, &c. But it is generally the consequence of too much fullness of blood, brought on by a full diet, attended by idleness or want of exercise. It is more common to old than to young animals, especially such as have large heads and short necks. For the immediate and many of the exciting causes of this complaint, see Apoplexy, Medicine Index.

A fit of apoplexy is often produced in an animal that is predisposed to it, by some sudden or violent exertion, such as drawing a heavy load, &c.

The means of preventing apoplexy when an attack of it is threatened, have been already explained (in No. 317, 318, and 407.). When a fit of apoplexy takes place, if the animal is full of blood, which generally happens, it will be proper to bleed, from the temporal artery, or jugular vein, to an extent proportioned to the state of the animal. If the animal appears weak, bleeding should not be attempted; but the determination of blood to the head may be effectually checked by making pressure upon the carotid artery, taking care at the same time, not to include the jugular veins. Mr Coleman recommends tying up the carotid arteries in dangerous cases of staggers, and Mr Feron says, that he has often repeated this experiment with success. The bowels should be emptied in the usual manner, as soon as possible; and a strong stimulating elixir should be injected. When the animal comes to himself, if fat and plethoric, he should have a good strong purgative ball, and afterwards some gentle diuretic medicines. He should be kept quiet for some hours after the fit; but when the physic has properly wrought, he should have gentle exercise, which must be gradually increased, according as he is able to bear it; and great care should be taken to keep the bowels open, and to prevent too great an accumulation of blood.

2. Palsy. Paralysis. Throat-ill, (in sheep.)

The inferior animals sometimes become paralytic, Palsy, and we have seen that a palsy in the hind legs is one of the principal symptoms of the distemper in dogs. A paralytic disorder is not uncommon among sheep, and is called by the shepherds the throat-ill. It sometimes arises from their having eaten some poisonous or narcotic plants, but is very generally the effect of great weakness produced by want of proper nourishment. The best remedy seems to be white vitriol, given three times a day; and the food should be of the most wholesome and nourishing kind.

We had intended in this chapter to consider pretty much at large, the various cases of suspended animation, or ofphyxia, such as drowning, hanging, suffocation from fixed air or other noxious gases, as torpor from cold; but this article has already swelled to an unexpected length, and we have yet much important matter on our hands. We must therefore refer our veterinary readers to the article Medicine; as the means to be there directed for restoring suspended animation in man will, with some little modification, apply to similar cases in the domestic animals.

CHAP. IV. Of Spaedemic Diseases.

1. Locked Jaw. Tetanus. Stag-evil. Mal de Cerf.

It has been remarked in No. 10. that horses are extremely subject to the locked jaw, which proves one of the most obtrusive and fatal diseases by which they are affected. It seems also occasionally to appear among cattle, but it occurs to them much less frequently than to horses. We do not know that any writer has described this disease in the horse better than Mr Gibbon, whose description we shall therefore copy, though it is expressed in rather an uncouth style.

"As soon as a horse is seized in this manner, his head is raised with his nose towards his rack, his ears pricked up, and his tail cocked, looking with an eagerness, as an hungry horse when hay is put down to him, or like an high-spirited one, when upon his mettle; in so much that those who are strangers to such things, when they see a horse stand in this manner, will scarce believe anything of consequence ails him; and I have seen such persons greatly surprized when they have been told of the danger. But they are soon convinced, when they see other symptoms come on apace; that his neck grows..." Diseases grows stiff, cramped, and almost immovable; and if a horse in this condition lives a few days, several knots and ganglions will rise on the tendinous parts thereof; and all the muscles, both before and behind, will be so pulled and cramped and stretched, that he looks as if he was nailed to the pavement, with his legs stiff, wide, and straddling; his skin so tight on all parts of his body, that it is almost impossible to move it; and if trial be made to make him walk, he is ready to fall at every step, unless he be carefully supported; his eyes are so fixed with the inaction of the muscles, as gives him a deadness in his looks. He snorts and sneezes often, pants continually with shortness of breath; and this symptom increases till he drops down dead, which generally happens in a few days, unless some very sudden and effectual turn can be given to the distemper.

This disease is generally primary or idiopathic; but it is sometimes symptomatic. The pulse is not always much affected; there is seldom any fever, and the internal functions are seldom impaired till towards the latter stages of the disease.

We have not many accounts of the appearances that have been discovered on dissecting horses which have died of this disease. In two dissections by M. Huzard, the bowels within the belly, especially the stomach and large intestines, were considerably inflamed; the liver was full of black and fluid blood, and in one case a considerable quantity of blood had escaped into the cavity of the belly; the substance of the liver was very tender, as if it were decomposed or rotten. The other viscera of the belly, and the heart and lungs, were in their natural state. On opening the head, considerable marks of inflammation appeared in the brain, the choroid plexus was distended with blood, and in one case the maxillary and frontal sinuses of the right side were full of black blood; the dura mater was inflamed, and its vessels, as well as those of the brain, were turgid with blood; the ventricles of the brain contained a quantity of serous fluid. In one of the cases the inflammation had extended even to the periosteum on the right side, which was much redder than that on the left.

It is difficult to say whether the disease depended on an inflammatory affection of the brain, or whether this was the consequence of the violent spasmodic contraction of the muscles during the height of the disease: but we are inclined to think the latter was the case.

Instances of recovery from this disease in horses are very rare; we shall presently give one from Mr. Gibbon, which is rather remarkable. A cautious opinion ought therefore to be given in every case of locked-jaw.

This affection may be produced by various causes, particularly from wounds, where the nerve is partially divided; from cold, when the body is in a profuse sweat. It may arise also from internal irritation, as from worms, which, in Mr. Gibbon's opinion, are a very common cause of it. Probably it more frequently proceeds from wounds, as a puncture in the foot or any other part; and it has certainly often been brought on by the barbarous operations of docking and nicking. There seems no doubt that the brain is the principal seat of the affection.

In the treatment of locked jaw, it is necessary to use some vigorous measures as early as possible; but unhappily no method hitherto adopted has proved successful, even in a few cases. Opium, aconite, heliobore, &c., have been tried in the veterinary college in very large doses, but without any beneficial effects. From considering it as a disease of the brain, trepanning has been used, with the view of making pressure on the brain, and this has sometimes appeared to take off the spasm of the muscles; but as soon as the pressure was removed, the spasms returned with nearly equal violence. An infusion of tobacco, to the amount of two pounds, has been given by Mr. Coleman, but the symptoms appeared to be aggravated. Mr. Feron recommends bleeding, and immersing the animal in a warm bath at 90° of Fahrenheit, so as to keep the whole body covered with the water for two or three hours, which he has known to be successful; but the horse must afterwards be clothed and kept very warm. The most probable means to relieve the animal seem to be giving opium in large doses by way of clyster, frequently repeated, and rubbing the whole body frequently with some stimulating liniment, such as oil of turpentine and tincture of camphorides. Mr. Blaine recommends a clyster composed of a strong decoction of poppy heads, with two ounces of camphire dissolved in brandy; or if this be thought too expensive, one with two ounces of spirit of hartshorn and four ounces of oil of turpentine, mixed with two or three yolks of eggs, and a pint of ale. The cold bath is found one of the most effectual remedies in the human body, and we should conceive that it is more likely than any other means to do good in the horse; but it will be necessary to rub him as dry as possible after throwing the water over him.

If it is ascertained that the disease proceeds from a punctured or lacerated wound, it will be proper immediately to scarify the wounded part, so as, if possible, completely to divide the affected nerve, as in some cases where this has been done, the spasms have been removed. It must be confessed, however, that even this has frequently failed. If it has proceeded from a punctured wound in the foot, Mr. Blaine thinks it advisable to take up the nerves of that foot on each side; for though this might occasion temporary lameness, yet, if the horse were saved, this might be removed in a few weeks.

The following case related by Mr. Gibbon, in his last work on the diseases of horses, is very instructive; even though it should be contended that the cure was effected by nature, and not by Mr. Gibbon's remedies.

A young troop horse was suddenly seized with this kind of convulsion, which was first discovered as he was leading out to water, at the afternoon's watering time. "I happened," (says Mr. Gibbon), "to be then present, and perceived him come reeling along with his nose turned out, his eyes fixed and immovable, with all the other signs that usually attend this fatal distemper; and when he came to the trough he could not reach the water because of the cramp and stiffness of his neck; and when it was held to him in a pail, could not drink, though he showed an eagerness for it; his mouth being shut up so close, that it was scarce possible to put a knife between his teeth. When we found it impossible to administer any kind of medicine, till by rubbing his cheeks, jaws, and temples, and his whole neck, for a considerable time, we made a shift, with great difficulty, to thrust down part of a calomel ball, on the end of a small stick, and then to put into his nostrils, a very small portion of a strong cephalic drink, thinking by that means..." Diseases, to convey the ball downwards into his stomach, which however had but little effect, any farther than this, that he had not such sudden fits and agitations as I have seen in others in the like circumstances, but continued more quiet; neither did his fever increase, as usually happens when the distemper is gaining ground; but all this while his mouth continued so much shut, that he could neither eat nor drink for three weeks; only by continually rubbing his jaws and neck, he would sometimes make a shift to suck a handful of scalded bran, or sometimes a little oat-meal, moistened with warm water; but in so small a quantity, that it is possible he might have starved, if other methods had not been taken to keep him alive.

"I have often observed that the forcing the jaws open by violent means, puts a horse into such agonies, that it rather increases than abates the symptoms; and therefore I contrived to give him both food and physic by the fundament, through a pipe fourteen inches long, by which he seemed to receive great benefit; for we could perceive the symptoms to abate daily. His flanks grew more quiet, he stood more still, and free from sudden fits and startings; all which symptoms are usual in the continuance and increase of the distemper. The clysters were contrived in the following manner.

"Rue, pennyroyal, and chamomile flowers, of each a handful; savin and box, of each a handful; garlic, an ounce; castor and affaefictida, of each half an ounce.

"In making this clyster, the herbs are to be boiled first, in two quarts of water, in a covered vessel, the space of ten or fifteen minutes, with the castor and affaefictida cut in small pieces, and tied in a rag; not only to save the castor from waste, but that it may be squeezed into several clysters. Then the garlic to be added and continued, close covered, over the fire the space of ten minutes longer; after this the liquor to be poured off into a pan, or any other convenient vessel; then add of linseed oil and treacle, of each four ounces, with half an ounce of unrectified oil of amber; the treacle and the oils are to be mixed with the decoction, when it is put into the bag.

"This clyster was repeated once a day for a fortnight; and by way of diet, was given every day three or four quarts of milk, boiled with oat-meal and water, a bag with a long pipe being left in the stable for that purpose. He retained every thing that was administered that way, which he generally sucked up of himself without force. This perhaps was in some measure owing to the nature of this universal convulsion, which causes such irregular motions in the midriff and muscles of respiration, as in some measure inverts the natural motion of the guts; and for the same reason horses in this condition seldom dung, but stale often; and when they dung, it drops from them in a manner insensibly, and often no more than one or two balls at a time; and therefore as this horse could receive little or no sustenance by the mouth, I was determined to make trial how far he might receive nourishment by way of injection backwards; whether a thin diluted food thrown into the straight gut, and from thence over into the small guts, by the help of a long pipe, might not find a passage into the blood through the lacteals, especially the experiments of this kind made on the human body, both in administering food and physic, particularly in giving the bark, by way of clyster, in agues and intermitting fevers, which has been found successful where the stomach was not able to bear its austerity. It was upon this footing that I treated him in the manner I have described, which I imagined was not altogether without effect; for he scarce ate in three weeks what was sufficient to sustain him one day; so that it was impossible for him to have lived, had he not been supported by what was thrown into his bowels; and though by this means he lost his flesh very sensibly, yet he still retained a good deal of vigour and vivacity. He had two men constantly to look after him, and these relieved by others, who had orders to rub his whole body often, which greatly helped to relax his skin, and remove the crampfolds of his muscles; and though he had not for the first fortnight recovered the use of his jaws, yet we observed him daily to move with less stiffness, and often to lick in his manger, as if he craved after food. He also breathed with less difficulty, and had several other good signs. This encouraged me to try another experiment with opium, from the known quality of that drug in relaxing the animal fibres; which I therefore thought might be of service to remove the contractions of the muscles about his mouth and jaws, which all this while continued in some measure obstinate, and without some powerful relief, might prove fatal, even though the original cause was in a great measure taken away; therefore I caused an ounce of crude opium to be dissolved in one of his clysters, which was followed with these circumstances, that the horse soon lay down, began to point his ears backwards and forwards, and could move his neck pretty freely, and his mouth was so far at liberty, that he took his drink with little or no difficulty, and could eat hay and bran sufficient to sustain him. He likewise moved his whole body so readily, that we could walk him an hour every day; and that I might follow what I imagined had been so successfully begun by the opiate clyster, I ordered him some days after an ounce of the common Matthew's pill, which contains about two drachms of opium, and the same quantity of affaefictida, made into a ball, which was given at his mouth, and walked down with a hornful of gruel, which was done with great ease, his mouth being grown pretty pliable. This ball being once more repeated, he recovered daily, being continued for some time in the use of the drinks, which were now administered only twice a-week, with a good rubbing; and as soon as he began to recover his flesh, he was gently purged. By these means he was perfectly cured, without any other ill effect than a blemish upon one eye, caused by the violent and strong contraction of the muscles during the convulsions, which indeed were as bad as any I ever saw, even where they proved the most fatal."

We have related the above case thus particularly, in the author's own words, because we have scarcely ever seen a case of locked-jaw in horses so well described, both as to its progress and treatment. Whatever might have been the cause that produced the complaint in this horse, it was evident that it did not depend upon any congestion of blood in the head, and Gibbon judged very properly in not employing bleeding, purging, and rowels, which appear to have been the indiscriminate practice of farriers in his time; and which might be very proper where the convulsions proceed originally from Gibson says, that he has seen the farriers in such cases put a rowel on each side of the neck, one on the belly, one on the forehead, and one on each side. It appears, however, that this practice met with but little success, as in this complaint the skin is drawn too tight in all parts that the rowels seldom suppurate kindly, but very commonly produce a mortification, and thus increase the animal's distress.

2. Epilepsy, or Falling-sickness. Convulsions.

We have already stated our opinion, that several cases that are commonly called flaggers are really instances of epilepsy, and we have no doubt that several strange convulsive disorders that are described as affecting domestic animals may be referred to the same head. Of this kind we consider the skipping complaint among lambs described by Mr Lawrence; "I remember in former days, (says he), on the borders of Suffolk, several scores of lambs were seized with an uncommon malady, leaping and jumping about the fold-yard in a strange manner; and a dung-heap being raised to the level of the eaves of a low tiled barn, a number of the lambs ran skipping up to the top of the roof, as though they had been possessed by more devils than Mary Magdalen, or even the nuns of Loudun. The whole parish wisely concluded they were bewitched, and a wretched and aged pauper became the object of their suspicions and their deadly hatred. I do not precisely recollect, but I fear the brutal, senseless, and infernal supposed preventive of witchcraft was recourse to, burning one of the poor animals alive." We should be disposed to account for so many animals being seized with it at once, on the principle of imitation, just as we have seen a number of children at school fall into fits from seeing one of their number affected with epilepsy. The treatment of this complaint must be regulated by the state of the body at that time. If this is plethoric, bleeding, purging, and low diet, will be necessary; if it is weak, a strengthening plan must be adopted.

3. Canine Madness. Hydrophobia. Rabies Canina. La Rage, Fr.

Of this most dreadful malady, the nature of which is so little understood, and of which the cure still remains a deficatum in medicine, the accounts hitherto given are very imperfect.

Our principal object should certainly be to ascertain the origin and progress of the symptoms, as they appear in the dog, in whom the disease appears to originate. The account of these symptoms, as given by different authors, is exceedingly contradictory. The best account that we have seen is that of Meynell of Quorn-don in the county of Leicestershire, and which is published by Dr Arnold in his account of a case of hydrophobia. Before we give Mr Meynell's view of the symptoms, we shall quote a passage from that part of Mr Lawrence's treatise on horses, in which he speaks of canine madness. The passage is as follows. "The diagnostics of canine madness are, hunger and thirst, without power to eat or drink; trembling, eyes fierce and flaming, hanging of the ears and tail, which is bent inwards; lolling of the tongue, foaming, barking of the dog at his own shadow, panting, running a straight and heedless course against anything in his way, biting with violence; other dogs fly him by instinct."

By comparing the above diagnostics with the following account of Mr Meynell's, it will be seen how little dependence is to be placed on the description of those who have not written from their own actual observation. We doubt not that Mr Lawrence derives his account from what he conceived to be the best information, and he is therefore not accountable for his errors.

According to Mr Meynell, the first symptom of canine madness in dogs appears to be a failure of appetite in a small degree, that is, the dog does not eat count of his usual food with his usual eagerness, though, if better food be offered him, he may eat it greedily. A disposition to quarrel with other dogs comes on early in the disease. A total loss of appetite generally succeeds, though dogs sometimes eat and lap water the day before their death, which generally happens between seven and ten days after the first symptoms have appeared. A mad dog will not cry out on being struck, or show any sign of fear on being threatened; though he will, very late in the disease, appear sensible of kind treatment. A mad dog, in the height of the disorder, has a disposition to bite all other dogs, animals, or men. When not provoked, he usually attacks only such as come in his way; but having no fear, it is peculiarly dangerous to strike at or provoke him.

Mad dogs appear to be capable of communicating the infection early in the disorder, and as soon as they begin to quarrel with and bite other dogs.

The eyes of mad dogs do not look red or fierce, but dull, and have a peculiar appearance, which is easily distinguished by such as have been used to observe it, but which is not easy to be described.

Mad dogs never bark, but occasionally utter a most dismal and plaintive howl, expressive of extreme distress, and which they who have once heard can never forget. So that dogs may be known to be going mad without being seen, when only this dismal howl is heard from the kennel.

Mad dogs do not foam or froth at the mouth, but their lips and tongue appear dry and foul or slimy.

Mad dogs are generally sufficiently sensible to know those to whom they have been accustomed.

Mr Meynell is confident that dread of water is not a symptom of this disease in dogs.

Though mad dogs generally refuse both food and drink, in the latter stage of the disorder, yet they never show any abhorrence or dread of water, will pass through it without difficulty, and lap eagerly to the last. But it is remarkable, that though they will lap water for a long time, and eagerly, and do not seem to experience any uneasiness from it, yet they do not appear to swallow a single drop of it; for however long they may continue lapping it, no diminution of quantity can be perceived.

He has never known a dog shew symptoms of the disease in less time after the bite than ten days; and he has known many instances of dogs having died mad as late as eight months after the bite. The symptoms generally appear between three and eight weeks after the bite.

A dog had been bitten, and confined by accident, and Diseases, and not from any suspicion of danger, for a whole year, so as to have no communication with any other dog all the time; and went mad at the end of that period.

Mr Meynell makes the following additional observations. "I am persuaded that the disorder never originates from hot weather, putrid provisions, or from any other cause but the bite. For however dogs may have been confined, however fed, or whatever may have been the heat of the season, I never knew the disorder commence, without being able to trace it to that cause; and it was never introduced into the kennel but by the bite of a mad dog. I do not say that I am certain that the disorder never originated from any cause except the bite; but I say that I never knew a dog go mad that I had no reason to believe had been bitten.

"Some dogs, in the last stage of the disorder, have a locked jaw.

"I do not recollect ever to have heard a dog bark after I have perceived symptoms of madness upon him.

"I consider an unusual disposition to quarrel with other dogs as a certain sign of beginning madness; and it is the only one I know.

"I believe the disorder always comes on so gradually that mischief may be prevented by proper care.

"I believe after symptoms have ever appeared, they never go entirely off; and that the disease, though sometimes very slow in its progress, always terminates in death.

"Dogs known to have been bitten frequently escape, but I believe not near so frequently as men.

"Almost all the mad dogs that I have seen have been confined.

"The hairs of a mad dog do not stand erect more than those of other dogs.

"I do not know that there is anything remarkable in the manner of a mad dog's carrying his head or his tail.

"I do not know that there is anything fierce in the appearance of the eyes of a mad dog. I believe I should know a mad dog to be mad from the appearance of his eyes, but I cannot describe this appearance.

"I do not know that a dog in the beginning of this disorder, is disposed to sneak away growling, or to shun the society of other dogs; but if I observed anything particular in the manner of a dog, I should certainly confine him.

"I do not believe that dogs are more afraid of a mad dog than they are of any other dog that seems disposed to attack them."

(Mr Daniel was witness to an instance of this innate dread of a mad dog in other dogs, at Bradwell in Essex, where he was hunting with the reverend H. Bate Dudley. Mr Dudley walked his hounds to the water to swim them; he had himself swam over to an island about a hundred yards from the shore, and most of the hounds had followed him, but some of them could not be compelled to do so. At this juncture an alarm of a mad dog was given, who had been pursued many miles, and done variety of mischief in his progress; he seized one of the hounds that would not go into the water, and the remainder, to the number of seven or eight, immediately upon his approach to them, took to the water, and swam across to those in the island.)

"There are two kinds of madness, both of which I have known to originate from the bite of the same dog. Among huntmen, one is known by the name of raging, the other by that of dumb madness. In dumb madness, the nether jaw drops, and fixes; the tongue hangs out of the mouth, and slaver drops from it. In raging madness, I believe the mouth is shut, except when the dog snaps or howls, and that no moisture drops from it."

The following facts and observations upon the consequences of the madness among Earl Fitzwilliam's hounds, perhaps mark the attack and symptoms of this disorder more accurately than any other description of a similar accident.

In the night of the 8th of June 1791, the man who slept in the kennel was unusually disturbed by the hounds fighting; he got up to quiet them several times, and always found the same hound quarrelling. Noticing the riotous behaviour of this particular hound, and at the same time an appearance of stupidity in him, he was induced to suppose that he was going mad, and accordingly confined him in a place by himself, after which the pack was quiet the remainder of the night. When the huntsman came to the kennel in the morning, he was told what passed, and the supposed mad hound shewn to him; his appearance was suspicious; some meat was given to him, part of which he ate, although there was an apparent difficulty in swallowing. Two days passed in fulness; but at the end of the third day his disorder was confirmed; and at the end of the fifth day he died mad. Immediate preparations were made for confining 42 couple of hounds separately, until the month of September, which was rigidly adhered to. By this means, Mr Hopkinson, a medical gentleman of Peterborough, had an opportunity wherein he very skilfully and exactly minutely the symptoms and progress of this disease.

Six hounds went mad in the following order.

| No | Attacked | Date | |----|----------------|------------| | 1 | | July 1st | | 2 | | August 3rd | | 3 | | September 3rd | | 4 | | Ditto 4th | | 5 | | November 10th | | 6 | | December 8th |

The hounds were first taken from their chains in September, and exercised for about half an hour together, not more than four or five couple at a time, and not trusted out of the sight of the attendant. When this exercise was over, they were again confined separately, and fed at separate troughs. In the beginning of October, they were taken out ten couple at a time; at the latter end of that month, twenty couple; still observing the same caution with respect to separate confinement after they returned from exercise. In the beginning of November they were hunted, but were chained up, as at first, after hunting, until the third week of that month, when they were let loose in different apartments of one, two, three, four, and five couple together. This regulation was continued till the month of June 1792, as the huntsman, who has had much experience in this disease did not deem them safe under a year.

The only remedy employed was mercurial ointment; and all the hounds, except the bitches that were in whelp, whelp, underwent two frictions, so as to produce in some of them a violent salivation.

Mr Hopkinson remarks, that from the above statement it seems that the disorder is as virulent, as to the power of inoculation (by which process it is always communicated) at its commencement, as at the advanced stage of it; for all the six dogs that went mad were probably infected on the 8th of June, within a few hours of each other.

It is a common opinion, that when a dog is bitten by one that is mad, a few weeks confinement, sea-bathing, or the popular nostrums, are either of them sufficient to prevent his taking the disease, and from spreading its mischievous effects; but in this case, there was a fair opportunity of proving that there is no security after five months, perhaps not after twelve; that mercury has no certain power to prevent it; and it appears that the huntsman had repeatedly employed all the popular remedies, without any effect whatever. He had also observed nearly the same progress of the disease in several packs of hounds, where no expense had been spared, for every medicine in use, sea-bathing, &c. In the present instance, there was this remarkable difference, that no internal medicine had been given, and the huntsman never knew fewer hounds attacked with the disease.

The result of the huntsman's experience in the preventive plan is therefore in favour of a separate confinement; for whenever he had depended on medicine, and not on the above plan of treatment, the disease had made dreadful havoc.

There is no reason to suppose that the hound which first went mad, was not bitten by any other dog, but that it was in him a spontaneous disease. The whole pack were examined very attentively, and bites found upon four couple, one of which was seen fighting with the mad hound twice; he underwent a longer confinement than the rest; however, none of them were attacked by the disease, and it is singular that no bites were discovered upon the six hounds that went mad. The infection taking place or not, is therefore perhaps the result of chance; yet, although no bites were perceived upon the hounds which went mad, there is every ground to believe they were bitten, but that the wounds being small, were concealed by the hair. Mr Daniel suggests, that most probably there were bites within side of the lips or jaws, where the venomous saliva might be more fatally and quickly absorbed into the habit, than where the teeth had to penetrate through the thick outer skin of the dog.

Mr Hopkinson continues his remarks with respect to the symptoms of madness in dogs, and states that those which distinguish the attack of the hydrophobia, are in general a loathing of food, although this is not universal, as they will sometimes eat solid food, but refuse liquid. The first and only symptom that No. 3. had of the disease, was eating his own excrement when food stood by him; the feeder knowing this to be contrary to what the dog would do if he were well, he immediately confined him. For a day or two he was in some doubt whether his suspicions were well founded; but he proved right, for the dog died raving mad upon the fifth day.

At the commencement of the disorder, the mad dog has a particular tendency (if loose) to lick and smell the penis and fundament of another dog; this should be looked upon as a very suspicious symptom. The huntsman speaks of this as an almost never failing one.

There seems for the first two or three days to be intervals of sense; and during that time they usually recognize their master, their eyes look clear and well, their tongues moist, and of the proper colour; but if a dog is loose at this time, he will in general bite everything he meets with. He will sometimes, during this stage of the disease, leave his home for several hours, spread his disorder by biting men and beasts, and return home again. The mad dog, when confined, seldom survives the fifth day from the first attack; if suffered to run about, there is reason to believe his death is hastened by a day or two. At the end of the third or fourth day, his appearance is much altered, his eyes are sunk, his tongue black and dry, he makes horrid howlings, and seems much disturbed; indeed the concluding scene is dreadful to witness. In the first stage of the canine madness, it is difficult for a person not conversant with the disposition of dogs in general, and of the mad dog in particular, to ascertain whether the dog is really mad or not; even Lord Fitzwilliam's huntsman was doubtful for a day or two respecting the hound mentioned in this account, as being the first attacked with the disease; however, in the advanced stage of it, no one can be mistaken.

It is the generally received opinion, that mad dogs will not take the water; but in the summer of 1791, there occurred in the neighbourhood of Petersborough, two instances of mad dogs, when closely pursued, swimming a large navigable river. A doubt might have arisen, as to their being mad, but that two hogs went mad from the bite of one, and the other was pursued for many miles by Lord Fitzwilliam's huntsman, who, from his experience in the disease, was not likely to be mistaken. Both dogs completely swam the river.

Of all the remedies that have been employed for the cure of this dreadful disorder, none seems so likely to be successful as the cold bath. This remedy was recommended about 200 years ago by the Seigneur d'Esparron, in his "Fauconnerie," and he gives a curious instance of its success in the cure of a mad dog. "I will relate (says he), what happened to a gentleman of my acquaintance. He discovered that some of his dogs had been bitten by a mad dog; and after some time, several of them betrayed symptoms of the disease. They ordered to be killed; but it happened that one which was a great favourite was seized, and he discharged his servant to throw him into the river. By chance, the dog in coming up from the bottom, got entangled in the roots of a tree by the cord with which he had been tied, but in such a manner that his nose just remained above the water. In this situation he remained for three days, at the end of which period he got loose and returned to the house, to the great astonishment of his master; and here I afterwards saw him, as cheerful and healthy as before. I have no doubt (continues d'Esparron) that if mad dogs could be plunged into water without danger of their biting, they would all recover; and I believe that if the same practice were pursued with men, which might easily be done, many an unfortunate wretch might be saved. The danger of being bitten might be prevented by first putting a muzzle on the animal, and he might then be retained..." Diseases. tained in the water, as long as may be judged prudent or necessary.*

Another writer, Defouilloux, who published a work on hunting in 1583, recommends plunging into salt-water such dogs as have been bitten, for the purpose of preserving them from the effects of the disease.

As the effect of remedies when the complaint once appears is so uncertain, it should be our principal object to use all the preventive means in our power. When, therefore, it is discovered that an animal has been bitten by one that is mad, the wounded part should immediately be cut out, where this can be done with safety, or at least should be deeply scarified to the very bottom of the bite. The wound should then be repeatedly washed with soap and water, or with a solution of soda poured upon it in a stream from a considerable height; and afterwards the wound should be seared to the bottom with a hot iron; or where this cannot conveniently be done, a quantity of aquafortis, or oil of vitriol, should be poured into it, so as to destroy all the remains of the virus or poison. If the part bitten be the ear, it should be cut off and seared. After these means, it will be proper to plunge the animal once a day into cold water, or where convenient into the sea; and he should be strictly watched, that if these means should have proved unsuccessful, the earliest appearance of the disease may be perceived.

Dr Arnold, to whom we are indebted for Mr Meynell's account of the symptoms of madness in dogs, gives the following advice with respect to the method of treating a dog that is suspected of being mad.

"Though every dog that is bitten does not receive the disorder, yet, as the time of its appearance after the bite is so very uncertain, and as a great proportion of those that are bitten do actually receive it, and as there is no criterion by which we can ascertain whether a dog has or has not received the infection, but the breaking out of the disorder, it is earnestly to be wished that all owners of dogs would immediately destroy, or secure for a great length of time, every dog known, or but suspected, to have been bitten by a mad dog.

"It is also earnestly to be wished, that all persons possessing dogs would immediately tie up or destroy such of their dogs, whether known to be bitten or not, as shall begin to be disordered in any way, of which the nature and cause is not perfectly obvious; and especially if there be the smallest reason to suspect that the dog was bitten, and that the disorder is really an incipient madness.

"It is still more to be wished that they would immediately destroy all dogs known to be in any state of madness, if it be at the same time known that they have not yet bitten any other animal, and particularly no person whatsoever; and that no dog that has bitten any animal or person be destroyed as a mad dog if it can be avoided, but that every dog be secured and tied up, that it may be certainly known whether he be mad or not. If he has the symptoms of confirmed madness, they will plainly discover themselves, and he will die in ten days and less; if he is not, he may be safely enlarged in the space of a fortnight, and the person bitten will be freed from the most distressing apprehensions."

Before we dismiss the subject of canine madness, it will be expected that we should take some notice of the operation of worming dogs, so celebrated among huntmen and breeders of dogs, as a supposed preventive of this dreadful malady. This operation is as old as the days of Pliny, and has ever since been more or less esteemed among the vulgar. But neither the operation itself, nor its effect, seem to have been well understood. The idea of a worm being lodged in the tongue of the puppy, the extraction of which is to prevent the animal from going mad, is truly ridiculous; and as such has been deservedly laughed at by sensible people in all ages. But though it is neither a worm that is extracted, nor is the extraction a preventive of madness, it seems, however, pretty well ascertained, that the performing of this operation is productive of considerable advantage, in preventing the dog from doing mischief, even though he should run mad. It seems that in dogs who have been wormed, and are afterwards seized with hydrophobia, the tongue swells to such a degree as to prevent the animal from closing his jaws upon the object which he attempts to bite. The following observations of a late ingenious and entertaining writer on the subject are entitled to much attention.

Very strong proofs have been adduced of its utility; nor is it natural to imagine, that so easy and effective an operation would have been omitted, had no more virtue been attributed to it than it really possesses; and wherein it failed, the absolute prevention of madness was said to be the consequence; whereas the fact was and is, that taking out the worm hath nothing to do with annihilating the disorder, although it will most certainly hinder the dog, seized with it, from doing any hurt to man or beast. A late author affirms, he had three dogs, that were wormed, bit by mad dogs at three several periods, yet notwithstanding they all died mad, they did not bite to do any mischief; that being determined to make a full experiment, he shut one of the dogs up in a kennel, and put to him a dog he did not value; the mad dog often ran at the other to bite him, but his tongue so swelled, that he could not make his teeth meet. The dog was kept in the kennel until the mad one died, and was purposely reserved for two years afterwards, to note the effect, but he never ailed any thing, although no remedies were applied to check any infection that might have been received from the contact of the mad dog.

Mr Daniel has had various opportunities of proving the usefulness of worming, and infests three of the most striking instances, under the hope of inducing its general practice.

A terrier bitch went mad that was kept in the kennel with 40 couple of hounds: not a single one was bitten, nor was she seen to offer to bite. The bitch being of a peculiar sort, every attention was paid to her, and the gradations of the disease, (which were extremely rapid) minutely noted. The hydrophobia was fast approaching before she was separated from the hounds, and she died the second day after. At first warm milk was placed before her, which she attempted to lap, but the throat refused its functions; from this period she never tried to eat or drink; seldom rose up, or even moved; the tongue swelled very much, and long before her death the jaws were distended by it.

A spaniel was observed to be seized by a strange dog, and was bit in the lip; the servant who ran up to Diseases, part them, narrowly escaped, as the dog twice flew at him; a few minutes after the dog had quit the yard, the people who had pursued gave notice of the dog's madness, who had made terrible havoc in a course of ten miles from whence he had set off. The spaniel was a great favourite, had medicine applied, and every precaution taken; upon the fourteenth day he appeared to loathe his food, and his eyes looked unusually heavy; the day following he endeavoured to lap milk, but could swallow none; from that time the tongue began to swell, he moved himself but seldom, and on the third day he died. For many hours previous to his death, the tongue was so enlarged, that the fangs or canine teeth could not meet each other by upwards of an inch.

The hounds were some years after parted with, and were sold in lots. A madness broke out in the kennel of the gentleman who purchased many of them; although several of these hounds were bitten and went mad, only one of them ever attempted to bite, and that was a hound from the duke of Portland's, who, in the operation of worming, had the worm broke by his struggling, and was so troublesome that one half of it was suffered to remain; the others all died with symptoms similar to the terrier and spaniel, viz. a violent swelling of the tongue, and a stupor rendering them nearly motionless, and both which symptoms seemed to increase with the disease.

The idea that worming prevents a dog from receiving the infection when bitten should be exploded; but the foregoing facts show how far it may be recommended for the restriction of a malady horrid in its effects where a human being is concerned, and which to the sportsman and the farmer is attended with such dangerous and expensive consequences.

We cannot pretend to say, what it is that the wormers of dogs take away from the tongue; but we cannot suppose, that Mr Daniel, though he calls it a worm, really believes that it is so. The following are his directions for performing the operation.

"The worming of whelps should be previous to their being sent out to quarters; this operation is to be performed with a lancet, to slit the thin skin which immediately covers the worm; a small awl is then to be introduced under the centre of the worm, to raise it up; the further end of the worm will with very little force make its appearance, and with a cloth taking hold of that end, the other will be drawn out easily. Care must be taken that the whole of the worm comes away without breaking; and it rarely breaks, unless cut into by the lancet, or wounded by the awl."

4. Colic. Colica. Spasmodic or Flatulent Colic, Gripes, Bats, Fret, or Guillot. Tranché, Fr.

This is one of the most painful disorders with which horses are affected; and it seems to occasion them as much distress as inflammation in the bowels, with which it is very commonly confounded by ordinary farriers.

In this disease the horse expresses his pain, by frequently lying down and rolling on his back, and after having remained a short time in this position, starting up again. The hair is staring, and there are sometimes cold sweats. He frequently makes attempts to stale, looks anxiously at his flanks, and sometimes strikes his belly with his hind feet. There is seldom any fever in this disease; and when it does occur, it is only after the disease has existed for some time. The pulse is seldom affected; but when the pain is very great, it is a little quicker than natural. The belly commonly feels hard and tense. Colic is almost always accompanied with coliciveness, though gripping pains not unfrequently attend severe scouring.

If the above symptoms are attentively examined, they will commonly serve to distinguish this disease from inflammation of the bowels. It is generally observed, that the pain in colic returns only at intervals, and the extremities are seldom cold. It must not be overlooked, however, that when colic continues for a considerable time, it may terminate in inflammation, so that the distinguishing symptoms mentioned here and in No. 497, are to be depended on, only in the early stage of the disease.

Cattle are extremely subject to colic; but it is said to be more common in young than in old cattle. The symptoms do not differ from what we have described, only that it is said, that these animals, when affected with gripes, strike their heads and horns against everything in their way.

Colic is easily removed, when the proper remedies are employed, before any symptoms of inflammation make their appearance; but if the remedies be delayed till inflammation takes place, the cure is very precarious.

Colic is very commonly the consequence of neglected coliciveness, and by this it is always increased. It may be ascribed to improper food, especially such as is apt to produce flatulence or sourness in the stomach or bowels; by drinking cold water immediately after eating; and by exposure to cold, during violent sweating.

As it is not always easy to distinguish flatulent colic from inflammation, it is the safest plan to begin the treatment by bleeding, to the extent of three or four English quarts; and the appearance of the blood will generally inform us whether it will be necessary to repeat the operation. See No. 162. The next circumstance to be attended to, is the evacuation of the bowels by back-raking and softening clysters. In general, after this operation, a large quantity of air will be evacuated, and considerable relief will be afforded. After these means have been employed, some stimulating aromatics, such as oil of turpentine, oil of aniseed, essence of peppermint, or some of the other stimulants enumerated in No. 285, and 286, should be given by the mouth; and if these do not procure relief, it will be proper to give a ball containing half an ounce of calomel, and immediately after it, a drench of peppermint water, with five or six drachms of laudanum. The cure will be considerably assisted by rubbing the belly gently with a warm cloth; and the animal should be gently trotted, for a considerable time, while led by the halter. Warm fomentations to the belly have been recommended; but if there is a considerable accumulation of air in the stomach and bowels, these would do harm by increasing the expansion of the air, and thus adding to the animal's distress; for it must be remembered, that a horse cannot easily belch up wind by the mouth; and where there is any obstruction backwards, every thing that can increase the expansion Diseases, expansion of the confined air, must do harm. On the contrary, every thing that is capable of diminishing the volume of air, may probably relieve the pain. It might be worth while to try how far the application of cold to the belly would be attended with advantage; and this might easily and safely be effected, by bathing the belly with strong spirit of wine, which speedily evaporating, will considerably diminish the temperature of the belly. It will be proper, where the disease continues obstinate, to administer warm softening clysters, every hour or two; as well for the purpose of obviating costiveness, as for removing the spasmodic constriction of the bowels. We are assured, that where most other means have failed of procuring relief in flatulent colic, this has been obtained by means of the smoke of tobacco drawn up the fundament. The simplest way of administering this remedy, is to introduce the small end of a tobacco pipe, after having filled the bowl and lighted it; when the smoke will infallibly be drawn up by the action of the horse's bowels.

**Chap. V. Of Dropical Diseases.**

Our domestic animals are sometimes affected with dropy; and this may be either diffused through the cellular membrane below the skin; or the water may be contained within one or more of the cavities, as the head, the chest, and the belly.

External dropy, or what medical writers call ana- farca, and farriers water farcy, is not common, unless it accompanies a dropical collection within the body. It sometimes affects particular parts, as the legs, the sheath, or the lips; and at other times it is diffused over the whole cellular membrane. It is known by the swelling of the part, which is cold, and retains the impression of the finger for some time. The urine is generally more sparing and of a deeper colour than is natural; and the animal appears considerably weak. This disease, when it has proceeded to any considerable height, and when the animal is much debilitated, is not easily removed; but when it is slight and of no long standing, it will in general yield to remedies.

All the species of dropy more commonly affect old than young animals; and such as are debilitated by any previous cause, are more subject to it. It is said that horses are more likely to become dropical in spring and autumn when they are moulting.

The cure of general dropy is to be attempted by the use of diuretic medicines, accompanied with a nourishing diet, gentle exercise, and frequent friction all over the body, especially over those parts where the accumulation of fluid is situated. The action of the diuretics must be assisted by a sufficient quantity of drink; and it will be proper to give the animal some of the more powerful strengthening remedies, such as white vitriol, oak bark, logwood, &c.

1. **Dropy of the Head. Hydrocephalus. Sturdy. Turnfick.**

Dropy of the head seldom affects horses or cattle; but a peculiar collection of water in the head is very common among sheep, in whom it is called the Sturdy, or Turnfick. One of the best accounts of this disease that we have seen is that which is given in the second appendix to Mr Findlater's survey of Peebles, which we shall give nearly in the words of the author.

This disease is peculiarly incident to young sheep, or hogs, of a year or eighteen months old. It consists of a collection of water generally formed upon the external surface of the brain, immediately below the skull; and sometimes, though not often, in the centre or ventricles of the brain. When the water forms in the last-mentioned parts, we apprehend it is almost universally mortal.

The disorder is first discovered, by the animal not keeping up with the rest of the flock, and by its appearing dull and stupid. It is afterwards observed to go round in a giddy manner; and at length it appears blind, and the pupil of the eye seems wide and relaxed. It may continue a long time in this situation before it dies; and it is believed that sheep sometimes recover from this disease without anything being done for them. They are often in good order when they die, as they continue to feed tolerably well, until near the last period. Though some recover, with or without means, perhaps it may be most advisable to kill them early in the disease, provided they be in good order, as this local temper does not affect the goodness of the mutton.

When the collection of water is on the outside of the brain, it is often cured by thrusting a sharp wire up the animal's nostrils, until it reaches the water, and opens a passage for it to run off. In other cases, it is cured by an operation which some shepherds perform very dexterously. The water is contained in a bladder, or vesicle, (a hydatid) generally about the size of a walnut. The part of the skull immediately above where it is situated, feels softer than the other parts. This the shepherd discovers, by pressing with his thumb and fingers, upon different parts of the fore and upper parts of the skull. The bone here has become thinner, and feels soft; from which he is certain that the watery collection is formed. After the disease has gone on a considerable time, and he judges it ripe for the operation, he raises the scalp, and lays the bone bare to a sufficient breadth, with a sharp knife; he then discovers more accurately the extent of the thin soft part of the bone, and with a strong and sharp-pointed knife, he makes a circular incision in the skull, raises up, and takes out the part. He then sees the clear thin bladder underneath, which he lays hold of with a small hook, or the point of a needle, and gently draws it out; taking all possible care that it be not broken, or the water spilled, which would prove unfavourable to recovery. He finds a considerable hollow in the brain where the bag was situated, over which he brings the flap of skin that was raised, so as to cover it as neatly as possible. Over the whole, he applies a plaster of tar, and leaves the rest to nature. This operation frequently proves successful.

Mr Findlater remarks, that in Tweeddale, one case in three, where a perforation is made by the pointed wire, or the trepan, usually ends favourably. Of late it has been the custom among the shepherds of that district, to bore into the skull of sheep affected with the sturdy, with a common gimlet; and however rough or apparently dangerous the operation, it seems frequently to prove successful. The perforation is made by boring from the root of the nostrils, in an oblique direction. 2. Water in the Chest. Hydrothorax.

This complaint appears but seldom in the inferior animals; but it may take place from excessive debility; and according to Mr Blaine, it is sometimes the consequence of inflammation in the lungs. Here however this writer is probably mistaken, and confounds water in the chest with empyema, or a collection of matter within the chest, which is not an uncommon termination of pneumonia.

When dropfy in the chest does occur, the animal labours under a difficulty of breathing, especially when lying down; and the pulse is feeble, and commonly irregular. The urine is scanty and high coloured. If the collection of water is pretty considerable, it may be perceived by the sound that is produced, when the chest is struck with the hand; but this is often a deceitful sign, and should not be tried till a long time after the animal has drunk; as, for some time after drinking, the water that remains in the stomach will, when the ribs are struck, produce a sound that might lead us to suppose there was water in the chest.

This complaint commonly proves fatal, both in man and animals, and probably there is no means of cure, except by evacuating the water, by an opening into the chest; an operation which is always precarious, and commonly as dangerous as the disease which it is intended to relieve. If it is determined however to try the experiment, the opening should be made between the seventh and eighth rib, near the breast bone, on that side of the chest where the water is supposed to be accumulated. In making the opening, the skin should be drawn tight towards the edge of the seventh rib; when a cut is to be made in the place above directed, with a sharp knife, not cutting too boldly, but rather scratching with the point of the knife, till the skin and the muscles are completely divided. After this, a pipe must be introduced through the opening, and fastened by a bandage round the animal; some soft linen or a piece of sponge being placed over the opening, after as much water as possible has run off, to suck up the remaining moisture, and exclude the air.

3. Water in the Belly. Ascites.

This is the most common species of dropfy, and is known by the general symptoms of dropfy that have been described in Nos. 319 and 320, attended with an unusual swelling of the belly; while the skin is cold, and very tight. When the belly is struck with one hand, while the other is held upon the opposite side, a fluctuation may be perceived, much more distinctly than in the last species.

It is brought on by the usual causes of dropfy that we have already mentioned, and is not an uncommon consequence of jaundice and other chronic disorders. It is not quite so dangerous as dropfy in the chest, but it is very apt to return after having been removed.

The treatment should be begun with diuretics, and now and then a mercurial purge, while the body is strengthened by tonic medicines, nourishing diet, and gentle exercise. If the accumulation of water becomes very great, it may be easily evacuated, by making a puncture into the belly, and introducing a pipe as in the last case. Mr Lawrence has gone into the mistake generally committed, of supposing that little drink should be given in cases of dropfy. It is now well ascertained that moderate drinking considerably increases the efficacy of diuretic medicines.

Chap. VI. Of Anomalous Diseases.

1. Diabetes. Profuse Staling, or Pissing-evil.

It sometimes happens, that horses or cattle make a profuse, much greater quantity of urine than is natural; so that ingesting the quantity evacuated exceeds the quantity of fluid drunk by the animal. Probably this disease occurs more frequently among cattle than among horses, though it is scarcely mentioned by the writers on cattle medicine, and the account that is given of it by veterinary writers is extremely imperfect. Mr Blaine describes the urine, as being five or six times the natural quantity, as milky or watery, and depositing a sediment which has the taste and appearance of sugar. As we have never observed a case of this disease in horses or cattle, we cannot say how far this description of the urine is correct; but if the urine evacuated by these animals in diabetes resembles the human urine in the same disease, it is clear and almost colourless, has the smell and taste of honey, deposits little sediment, but on being evaporated, leaves a thick substance like treacle.

Considerable thirst accompanies this disease; and when it has continued long, the animal becomes extremely weak and emaciated. The skin is usually dry and harsh, the pulse is small and quick, and the appetite in the early part of the disease is much increased.

This complaint commonly proves fatal; few instances of a recovery having been observed in man; and we do not know that any successful case in any of the domestic animals is on record.

The causes of diabetes are very obscure, especially in the inferior animals; it seems to be the consequence of great weakness, and some unusual action of the digestive organs. The various theories that have been given in explanation of this disease, as far as relates to the human body, will be noticed in the article MEDICINE; and if we shall meet with an opportunity of examining the disease in horses or cattle, we will endeavour to give a more accurate account of it, under VETERINARY Art.

In the treatment of diabetes in horses, &c., the method proposed by Dr Rollo for the cure of this disease in man, has been recommended, and we believe adopted, by Mr Coleman; with what success we cannot say. This method consists in making the animal abstain as much as possible from vegetable food; and giving him broth and balls made of flesh, mixing up with paste of wheat flour. He should have as little drink as possible. Astringent remedies are commonly employed in these cases, such as Japan earth, alum, white vitriol, muriate of iron, oak bark. See receipts, No. 29.

2. Black-Quarter, Quarter-Ill, or Black Spald.

There is a disease that proves very fatal in some districts to calves or cattle of a year or two old, the nature of which is little understood, but it seems nearly allied Mr Lawrence considers the disease as appearing under various forms, to which he gives the following names; flux of blood; vomit of blood; blood in the back; blood in the legs, or crateuch; blain in the tongue, or overflow of blood; striking-in, or rising of the blood; higham, or iron-striking; joint murrain, or garget; black quarter; quarter-evil; black leg.

We have given as a synonym the name of black spald, because we consider the disease so called in Scotland, as nearly, if not entirely, the same with the black quarter of the writers on cattle medicine. As we have not seen the disease, we shall copy what Mr Lawrence says of it, in his treatise on cattle.

"All our animals, oxen, sheep, and pigs, I have observed, are subject to sanguineous effusion or overflow of the blood, on being put, in a low and weak flate, to rich or succulent keep. They very commonly drop on a sudden, and die in the blood, as it is termed; when the carcases purify almost immediately, and are totally lost. Pigs which die in this way, have their skins so universally suffused with the blood, that they appear enveloped, or rather shrouded in Morocco leather. In oxen, chiefly young cattle, nature commonly finds a vent for the disease, in an eruption on the leg, quarter, or shoulder, attended with pneumatisms or a collection of air in the cellular membrane, or, as it is commonly termed, between the flesh and the skin; whence the crepitating or crackling noise, which is heard on pressure. Another termination of the disease, is by a deposition of matter upon the joints, whence the term of joint garget or murrain. I know not whether I am correct in referring the crateuch to this clas, which is said, in Scotland, to be a swelling and lameness in the legs; but the old writers particularly mention blood in the legs. Blain or garget in the tongue, attended with inflammation and vesicles or bladders in that part, is said to be a symptom of the disease, and also to arise from heat and fatigue.

"This disease has swept off great numbers of yearling and two-year-old cattle, and become indeed endemic in certain districts, where any such scourge was unknown, it is said, previously to the introduction of artificial grafts, with the full feeding on which the animals become surfeited; thus the improvident use of good produces evil. The breeders being alarmed at the ravages occasioned by this murrain, which generally carried off the forwardest and best of the cattle, no wonder that the fertile brains of cow-doctors were put into intestine motion, and that the ideas of the favourite engines, the knife or fire, were whirled uppermost. In effect, some skilful leech introduced the following most extraordinary operation, as a preventive of the disease in question; which I apprehend in the contemplation, either of physiology or common-senseology, could have no better prophylactic or preventive view, than shaving the animal would have; which I beg leave to recommend in the stead, as at least free from cruelty. The ill-starred beast is cast, bound to a stake, all his four legs are cut open from the claws upwards to the height of several inches, in order to find among the tendons and ligaments a strong blood vessel of a bluish colour, which said offending vessel, guilty of the original sin of producing joint murrain, being caught with a crooked needle, is cut away. It is great pity, for the sake of hypothetical uniformity, that the above-said blue blood-vessel had not been called a worm, since the brains of so many of our cattle folk have been infested with worms from very high antiquity."

After much jocose, but rather coarse ridicule of methods that have been propounded for the cure of this distemper, Mr Lawrence thus proceeds. "Prevention of this malady is the only cure worth notice; because, after the attack, the very nature of the case renders all remedy either uncertain, or of very little profit, even if successful, on account of the expense of time and money. With this view the young cattle must not be pushed too far in condition; and indeed the same precaution may be useful in some degree, with respect to the full aged. A piece of short or inferior keep should be reserved, as a digesting place, in which the cattle may be occasionally turned to empty and exercise themselves. Those observed to advance very fast may be bled monthly for several months: of the efficacy of this practice, however, I have by no means so good an opinion as that of giving medicines which prevent internal obstruction. I am well aware of the difficulty, or rather total impracticability, of such measures with a number of cattle in the field, or I am convinced, that occasional purges, or alternative medicines, would prevent those diseases which seem to take their rise in over-repletion and accumulation. Six drachms, daily, of equal parts, sulphur and antimony, in fine powder, would be sufficient for a young beast; but to be of any permanent use, it must be continued at least a month; or salt might be of use. Rowelling also might be an efficacious preventative. Keep two rowels or fetons open in each beast during several months."

In the 5th vol. of the Farmer's Magazine, is the p. 588, following communication from a practical farmer respecting the cure of this complaint.

"The first cure for this complaint that I ever saw performed, was on an ox of four and a half years of age. As he was going in the plough, I observed him a little lame in one of the hinder feet. At first I thought he had trampled upon a stone; but as it still grew worse, I soon suspected it was the quarter-ill; the more so, as there was a good year-old died of that disorder three weeks before. By the time he was got to the byre, the crackling between the skin and the flesh was very perceptible on the top joint of the off-side hinder leg. As our blacksmith had some skill among live stock, he was instantly sent for. The first thing he did was to take a little blood from a vein in the neck. He then pulled the skin from the flesh on the side that seemed most pained, still keeping the beast walking as much as possible. He then caused cold water to be poured in large quantities on the part affected, still rubbing and keeping the skin loose on the affected part. Finding the skin to adhere much to the flesh, he then made three cuts with a penknife, two inches long, into which he rubbed salt and water. In this manner he continued four hours: the one time driving him, then pouring on water, rubbing in salt, and loosening the skin from the flesh. By this time he was not near to cripple, and began to take his food. We were ordered, however, to keep him in motion all night, and in the morning he was well for his food, and never had any more signs of the disease. Since that time I have followed the blacksmith's practice, and have often been successful. Only instead of pouring water on the place, I fasten a rope..." rope about the beast's head, and take it to a deep pool, causing it to swim up and down, and drive it frequently, giving it an ounce or half an ounce of laudanum, according to the size or age of the beast, but I never did cut the skin. I have good reason to believe that the above method has been the means of curing several of my young cattle, as I never saw any that took that disease, and no means used for their recovery, but died; those I opened, had all the blood collected in the affected quarter. I find it more difficult to cure in the fore quarters than in the hinder, and if it seize the bowels, I hardly think that it will cure by any means."

3. On the Rot in Sheep. General or True Rot. Hydropic Rot.

The name of the rot in sheep, and the ravages that are annually made by it among the flocks of most sheep districts, are familiar to every one; but little pains have been taken to fix the precise meaning of the word, and the particular disease, to denote which it should be exclusively employed. Some of those who appear to have paid particular attention to the subject, have yet followed the example of shepherds and farmers, in confounding under the name of rot, several diseases which differ considerably in their nature, causes, and method of treatment. Two medical men who have lately published; the one, Dr Dickton, on the General Management of Sheep, as connected with practical agriculture; the other, Dr Harrison, on this particular subject of the rot, have still considered it as one disease. In the second appendix to Mr Findlater's Survey of Peebles, and in the fourth number of the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, the distinction of the rot into three different morbid affections, is, however, clearly marked; and there seems no doubt that these three diseases are very similar to consumption, hepatitis or inflammation of the liver, and fever, in the human body. The first of those which we have briefly noticed in No. 490, under the name of pulmonic rot, is distinguished by cough, hectic fever, wasting of flesh, and in many cases by the formation of a watery swelling below the chin. The second, mentioned by the name of hepatic rot in No. 493, is characterized by a degree of fever accompanied by inflammation, and thickening of the outer coat of the liver, or some diseased state of the biliary ducts or pipes, connected with the presence of flukes in the liver, if not sometimes produced by them. The third species has been called general rot, as in this the whole system is more or less affected; true rot, because it appears to be the most common of the three, and to be that to which the name seems more peculiarly applicable; and hydropic rot; because, if the animal is suffered to live, the disease commonly terminates in partial or general dropy. This species is what we are now to consider; and after having given as clear an account of it as we can collect from the descriptions that have been lately published, we shall make a few observations on the causes, treatment, and prevention of the rot in general, endeavouring as much as possible to discriminate between the three varieties.

It is probable that the first symptoms of the rot have seldom been observed. The earliest marks of the disease of which writers give an account, are, falling off in flesh, and unusual dullness and heaviness. The flesh feels loose and flabby, especially about the loins; and if pressure is made about the hips, a crackling is sometimes perceptible. It is said that those who are accustomed to handle the ears and legs of sheep, may in the earliest stage of rot discover symptoms of low fever, but probably this is the case only in pulmonic and hepatic rot. Now, or soon afterwards, the countenance looks pale, as do the gums and tongue. On parting the fleece, the skin is found to have lost its fine rosy colour, and is become of a pale red. As the disease advances, the skin appears dappled with yellow and black spots. The eyes have a peculiar appearance; they lose their lustre, and look like the eyes of dead fish. Mr Findlater says, that in Tweeddale, the principal mark of rottenness is taken from the appearance of the eye in the corner next the nose, when the eyeball is turned so as to look away from the nose; as the flesh that adheres to the eyeball below the eyelids, in the corner next the nose, is in a sound sheep of a florid red colour; whereas, in a rotten sheep, the flesh is of a dull appearance, and of a yellowish red colour, resembling that of a rotten egg, when the white and the yolk are confounded together. When the disease has continued long, the breath becomes fetid, the gums spongy, the teeth and sometimes the horns loose, the animal is commonly affected with a scouring, the fleece looks torn and ragged, and the wool separates from the skin with a slight pull. Great weakness and emaciation attend the latter stage of the disease; and these continually increase till the animal dies, or till dropy comes on, which always terminates fatally.

The principal appearance on dissection is presented by the liver, which is found in various states, according to the progress or severity of the disease. When a sheep is killed a few days after contracting the rot, the thin edge of the small lobe of the liver appears of a transparent white or bluish colour, and this colour spreads to a greater extent according to the severity of the complaint. Sometimes it does not extend more than an inch from the edge; at others it occupies a considerable part of the lobe. In severe cases, the whole external coat of the liver is found diseased, commonly assuming an opaque colour intermixed with lines or patches of a darker red. The upper end of the liver is sometimes found speckled like the back of a toad, to which it is said to bear a striking resemblance. Very commonly the liver is found full of hard knots, and sometimes there are ulcers in various parts of it. Are not some of these appearances peculiar to the hepatic rot? When the liver of a sheep affected with the rot is boiled, it loses its consistence, and breaks down into small pieces; whereas it is well known that a sound liver becomes by the same process firm and solid.

When sheep have died suddenly in the first stage of this disorder, there may commonly be discovered a quantity of whey-like coloured fluid in the cavity of the belly; and in these cases the outside of the liver is generally covered with a coat of coagulable lymph. This is one of the appearances described by Dr Harrison; and is similar to what is often observed in the belly of animals that have died of dropy in the belly.

In stating the causes and treatment of general rot, we we cannot perhaps do better than copy what is given on this subject in Mr Findlater's Survey of Peebles, to which we have already been so much obliged. "It arises from deficient or bad aliment, whether the food itself be bad and scanty, or the animal be incapable of digesting it properly. It is most common from the former cause, want of food; and the disease is much the same with scurvy among the human race. In addition to these causes, whatever tends to depress the spirits, frequently excites, or at least exacerbates, the malady. It is said that soldiers in a garrison have been known to be seized with the scurvy on hearing bad news; and I doubt not but terrifying sheep with dogs, or other means, may produce or aggravate this disease. We may hence see what mischief a fox chase, or any exhibition of that sort, is calculated to bring upon a flock of sheep. The disease is also said to be produced by feeding upon watered grass; and hence shepherds, in many parts of Scotland, are careful to keep off their sheep from the tender grass produced by the occasional overflowing of rivulets. Feeding also in marshy and damp pastures, is known to be a powerful cause of the rot.

"The only means of cure are, a supply of good and wholesome food, and invigorating the stomach by permitting the animal to feed on those stimulating and aromatic herbs which are agreeable to its taste. It is believed that on dry sweet pastures, where there is a sufficient quantity of furze and broom, juniper, and other shrubs that are palatable to sheep, the rot is seldom heard of. When ground is sown down for sheep pasture, parsley, thyme, peppermint, and other aromatic herbs, should be sown with the grass seeds, as these plants serve both to prevent and to cure the rot. In addition to these means of cure, every thing that tends to annoy or depress the animal in its weakly state ought to be avoided."

The following facts with respect to the production of rot, considered as a general disease, are chiefly taken from Dr Harrifon's Inquiry.

Poor, clayey, and loamy lands are most subject to rot.

Grounds that are always dry, or always under water, and such as are always sufficiently wet to preserve a constant running of water, were never known to suffer from the rot.

Ponds of living water are equally safe; but when attempts to drain lands have been made, and have not fully succeeded, sheep which feed on such lands are very much exposed to the rot.

Grounds newly laid down for pasture, or ploughed fields that have been exhausted by repeated crops, where the fward is thin, and where the water remains in patches for want of proper outlets, are peculiarly subject to the rot.

Marshes that are overflowed by the sea, and boggy situations, especially in Ireland, are seldom known to rot.

Lands that have been limed, and many soils that are chiefly composed of calcareous matter, are considered as very likely to produce the rot.

Ewes that are with lamb, or are giving suck, are less liable than other sheep to be affected with the rot.

Eight causes have been assigned for the production of rot, viz:

1. A vitiated dew. It is stated in the survey of Lincolnshire, that a shepherd, who, when young, was shepherd's boy to an old man that lived at Nettlam near Lincoln, a place famous for the rot, declared his persuasion that sheep took the rot, only in a morning before the dew was well off. His master's shepherd always kept his flock in fold till the dew was gone, and with only this attention his sheep were kept found when all his neighbours lost their flocks. Dr Harrifon remarks, that if this cause were just, the rot should appear equally on all lands.

2. The disease has been attributed to a crust or earthy sediment that adheres to the grass after wet weather, or after the overflowing of running water.

3. It has been supposed to be owing to the luxuriant and quick growing herbage that is produced in hot moist seasons. But all luxuriant pastures do not produce the rot.

4. It has been attributed to the sheep grazing on some particular herbs, such as the butterwort (pinguicula vulgaris), the white rot (hydrocotyle vulgaris), round-leaved sundew (drosera rotundifolia), and long-leaved sundew (drosera longifolia); but these plants do not grow on every rotting foil.

5. The disorder has been imputed to flukes in the liver. We have already stated our opinion, that flukes may produce the hepatic rot.

6. The rot has been supposed to depend on the infection of sheep pox. This opinion seems to have arisen from a confusion of terms.

7. M. Daubenton considered the disease to be produced by poverty of food, and too much water. There is no doubt that these causes commonly produce the last species of rot which we have mentioned.

8. Dr Harrifon is of opinion that the rot is always generated by the exhalation or effluvia produced by the sun's rays on soils that are partially covered with stagnant water. After adducing a number of ingenious arguments in support of his opinion, Dr Harrifon sums up the amount of his doctrine in the following manner.

"From the various circumstances enumerated, I think I am justified in attributing the rot in sheep and other animals to palatal effluvia; but with respect to their nature and constitution, it is very difficult to form any rational judgment, as they have hitherto eluded the most subtle and delicate inquiries. It must, however, be admitted, si causae latet, vis eft notiffima; and consequently the subject, from its great importance to the public in general, is entitled to a serious investigation.

"Without heat and moisture, no deleterious vapours can be generated; and yet it is equally certain, that both these causes are insufficient to produce either a recurrent fever, or the rot, since they are confined to particular situations. Other auxiliaries are therefore necessary; and I am inclined to believe that vegetable or earthy particles, and probably both, are required, as well as heat and moisture, to constitute the noxious emanations or gasses called mia/mata paludum.

"Probably it will be found, on further inquiry, that a great variety of animal and vegetable effluvia are extricated in different places; and that many disorders should Poisonous vapours are extremely active and sudden in their effects, of which proofs may be found in the history of every contagious and endemic disorder. We have, therefore, no reason to be surprised, that sheep and animals are so immediately affected by pasturing in moist places, where these effluvia are copiously produced in hot weather. Other causes operate slowly, and require such a long-continued application, that I do not think the rot can be introduced by them, though I am of opinion, that by occasioning general weaknesses, they make the constitution more susceptible, and lay it more open to morbid impressions. In the human body, we know that fatigue, cold, fasting, and other debilitating causes, are efficacious auxiliaries, although of themselves they are totally inadequate to produce any contagious disorder. They, therefore, seem to contribute equally, and in the same manner, to facilitate the operations of marsh miasmata, upon the human body and other animals.*

It is said, that for a short time after contracting the rot, sheep feed more heartily than usual; and for this reason, butchers and graziers, when they wish to fatten sheep speedily for the market, not unfrequently turn them into a rotting pasture.

The prevention of the rot will be easily suggested by attending to the facts and observations that have just been given, as it consists in avoiding the causes that seem to produce it, and avoiding or correcting the soil where it is found most readily to take place. It is confidently asserted, that decoctions of bitter herbs, with salt, have frequently preserved sheep from the rot. Salt is supposed to constitute part of Fleet's celebrated nostrum; and we know that bitters are deservedly recommended to prevent intermittents, the dyfentery, and other disorders, which originate from exhalations.

In Oxfordshire, Dr Lower has frequently known six or seven spoonfuls of strong brine, and stale urine, with foot steeped in it, to be given with great success. This is done at spring and fall of the year, when the dew is counted the most dangerous. This course of physic is continued eight or ten days, or till the sheep eat their meat heartily; and if they were taken in time, there seldom died any in a whole flock. For the same purpose, Ellis recommends the following medicine in his Practical Husbandry.

Take a peck or better of malt, and mash it as though you would brew it into ale or beer, and make eleven or twelve gallons of liquor; then boil in it a quantity of shepherds purse, comfrey, sage, plantain, penny-royal, wormwood, and bloodwort; add yeast, and afterwards salt, to the mixture; then turn the liquor into a vessel. After April comes in, give seven or eight spoonfuls to every sheep, once in the week, if the weather be wet; and if dry, not so often.*

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**INDEX**

| A | No 462 | |---|--------| | Abortion, | 293, b, e, f. | | Absorbents, | 304 | | Absorption, morbid, symptoms of, | 101 | | Abortus, a writer on farriery, | 27 | | Age of a horse, mode of ascertaining, | 403 | | Alexander's, Mr, probang, | 273, a. | | Albet, | 285 | | Alternatives, | 281, a, 293, a. | | Alum, | 323 | | Amaranth, | 267, a, 285, a, 293, b. | | Ammonia, | 265, a. | | Anatomy necessary to a farrier, | 13 | | Aneurism, | 431 | | Anger berries, | 326 | | Aniseed, | 285, c. | | Analgesics, | 286 | | Antalkalines, | 293, h, i, k. | | Antimonial powder, | 263, b, 267, d. | | Antimony, | 263, a, 267, c. | | Butter of, | 293, i. | | Calx or oxide of, | 267, e. | | Antiseptics, | 285, 293, a, d, k, l. | | Antipathymedics, | 285 | | Anxiety, | 314 |

| B | No 416 | |---|--------| | Appetite, loss of, | 285 | | Arteries, wounds of, | 430 | | Asafoetida, | 265, b. | | Asarabacca, | 275, a. | | Aesculides, | 413 | | Ascites, | 523 | | Astringents, | 281 | | receipts for, | 282 | | Back-raking, | 257 | | Finew, clap or strain of, | 356 | | Rupture of, | 360 | | Balls, directions for preparing, | 252 | | administering, | 253 | | Cordial, | 286 | | Balsam of copaiva, | 265, d, 269, a, 285, a. | | Peru, | 265, c. | | Sulphur, | 265, e. | | Bars of the horse's hoof, | 124 | | Barbadoes tar, | 265, f, 285, e. | | Barret's work on farriery, | 59 | | Barley, | 277, a. | | Barm, | 293, l. | | Bartlett's work on farriery, | 64 | | Bats, | 518 | | Bays, oil of, | 295, f. |

| C | No 281, b. | |---|--------| | Bifort, | 525 | | Black quarter, or black spald, | 502 | | Bladder, inflammation of, | 19 | | Blaine's instructions for studying farriery, | 91 | | works on veterinary medicine, | 159 | | Bleeding, | 161 | | Place of performing, | 165 | | Caules requiring, | 166 | | Cautions respecting, | 160 | | Danger of a ligature in, | 162 | | The blood to be fayed, | 163 | | Securing the orifice, | 164 | | In the temporal artery, | 167 | | Topical, | 319 | | Blindness, | 321 | | Partial, | 322 | | Total, | 324 | | Moon, | 285, f. | | Blistering, | 404 | | Blown in cattle, | 56 | | Blundeville's work on horses, | 366 | | Bog-spavin, | 83 | | Boardman's dictionary, | 499 | | Body-founder, | 114 | | Bones of the horse's foot, | 409, 411. | | Bots, | Bourgelat's |

* Harrifon on the Rot, p. 31. | **FAR R I E R Y.** | **Index** | |------------------|-----------| | Bourgelat's works on farriery, | No 36 | | Bowels of the horse described, | 107 | | Bracken's works on farriery, | 63 | | Brain, inflammation of, | 483 | | Braxy, watery, dry, | 446 | | Brockley's works on murrain, description of do., | 498 | | account of the appearances on dissection, method of treating it, | 471 | | Bruises, | 345 | | Buffon's natural history, | 37 | | Burdon's works on farriery, | 57 | | Burgundy pitch, | 285, n. | | Burstenef's, | 419 | | Byre, feeding, Mr Hunter's, construction of, | 236 | | Caecum of the horse, | 111 | | Calculus, | 448 | | Calomel, | 273, i. 291, c. | | Calfes, mode of rearing in Essex, | 235 | | Camper's works, | 54 | | Camphor, | 267, b. 287, a. | | Canker, | 385 | | of the ear in dogs, | 397 | | Cantharides, | 285, f. | | Canine madness. See Hydrophobia, | | | Capsicum, | 285, i. | | Capulet, or capped hock, | 368 | | Caraway, | 285, k. | | Caffia, | 285, l. | | Caffing, | 158 | | Caffor oil, | 273, b. 291, a. | | Caffration, | 181 | | when best performed, | 182 | | unsuccessfully treated, | 484 | | Catarrh, epidemic, | 485 | | Cattle, food of, | 230 | | medicine, rude state of, | 88 | | Cautifex, | 293, a, e, g, k. | | Celsus writes on farriery, | 25 | | Chabert's writings on farriery, | 46 | | Chamomile, | 277, b. | | Chaps, | 341 | | Charcoal, | 293, d. | | Chemical remedies, receipts for, | 293 | | Chemistry necessary to a farrier, | 15 | | Choking in cattle, | 402 | | Circulation, morbid, symptoms of, | 305 | | Clark's, James, works on horses, method of shoeing, | 68 | | Bracey, paper on bots, | 138 | | Cleanliness, necessity of, | 78 | | Clothing of horses, | 203, 239 | | Cloves, | 204 | | Clysters, directions for preparing, administering, | 285, m. 256 | | Coffin bone, | 119 | | Cold, common, | No 485 | | Coleman, Mr, appointed professor of the veterinary college, works of, artificial frog, method of treating wounds in the joints, | 75 | | Colon of the horse, | 351 | | Colic, inflammatory, | 518 | | Columella's writings on farriery, | 497 | | Contracted feet, | 383 | | Cooling remedies, receipts for, | 279 | | Cordials, | 280 | | Cordes, | 375 | | Corns, | 503 | | Coronary ligament, | 129 | | Cornea, opacity of, | 325 | | Cottwenefs, | 457 | | Cough, chronic, | 436 | | Cows, delivery of, London mode of feeding, cow-houses, pox, originates in grease, | 187 | | Cropping, | 237 | | Crust of the horse's hoof, | 206 | | Culley's work on cattle, | 89 | | Cummin, | 285, o. | | Curb, | 372 | | Cutting, | 391 | | Daniel's Rural Sports, remarks on the worming of dogs, | 94 | | Dark ages, state of farriery in the, Delivery, of cows in crofs positions, in cases of preternatural obstruction, | 517 | | Denny's work on horses, | 186 | | Depression of spirit, | 187 | | Diabetic, | 188 | | Diarrhoea, | 80 | | Dickson's practical agriculture, | 315 | | Diet of domestic animals, | 524 | | Digestion, morbid, symptoms of, | 452 | | Diseases of man and animals similar, classification of, | 93 | | Diastem in dogs, | 218 | | Diuretics, receipts for, | 303 | | Docking, first used in England, absurdity of, how performed, | 312 | | Dogs, food of, vegetable food, oatmeal, barley-meal, | 487 | | Dog kennels. See Kennel. | 270 | | Downing's work on cattle, | 176 | | Drenches, directions for preparing, administering, | 177 | | Dressing of horses, | 178 | | Droopy of the head, of the chest, belly, | 238 | | Drayness, | 239 | | Dysentery, | 240 | | Ears of horses should not be trimmed, | 466 | | Eggs, | 295, a. | | Elecampane, | 295, b. | | Emetics, powder for dogs, | 263 | | Emetic tartar, | 263, a. 267, d. | | Emollients, receipts for, | 277 | | Enquiries to be made by farriers, | 309 | | Epilepsy, | 511 | | Epilepsies. See Stimulants. | | | Epion salt, | 273, l. | | Errhines, | 275 | | Effex mode of rearing calves, | 287, b. | | Ether, | 275 | | Eumelus, a writer on farriery, | 27 | | Excretion, morbid, symptoms of, | 397 | | Exercise, | 243 | | Expectorants, receipts for, | 265 | | Eyes, inflammation of, glas; found, marks of, | 484 | | Failing of the fundament, of the penis, womb, | 320 | | Falfe quarter, | 423 | | Farcey, | 400 | | water, | 399 | | Farriery, origin of the term, extended application of, defined, importance of, to farriers, to farmers and country gentlemen, to medical men, much indebted to medical men, knowledge requisite for the practice of, instructions for studying, means of improving, early history of, obscure, progress of, in France, on the rest of the continent, in Britain, | 504 | | Fatigue, | 471 | | Feeders of dogs, duties of, | 316 | | Feeding, foul, | 238 | | Fennel, | 417 | | Feron's works on farriery, | 285, s. 84 | | Fever, inflammatory, putrid, | 465 | | Findlater's, | | Index.

Findlater's survey of Peebles, remarks on sheep shelter, 209 Firing, uses of, 174 Flux, 452 Fly in sheep, 336 Fog-sickness, 404 Fomentations, 261 Food of horses, 219 beans, 221 carrots, 222 times of feeding, 223 hay, 224 cut straw, 227 ground corn, 228 of cattle, 230 dogs, 238 preparation of, 243 administration of, 245 Foot of the horse, anatomy of, p. 443 its importance, N° 97 rot in sheep, 387 Fouls, 386 Founder, body, 378 Foxtongue, 499 Fractures, of the haunch-bone, 389 Freeman's work on the foot of the horse, 361 Fret, 518 Frog of the horse's foot, does not support the weight of the horse, 125 importance of its receiving preference, 127 Coleman's artificial, 156 Fundament, falling of, 420

G Gadfly, bite of, 338 Galangal, 283 Galls, 281 Gamboe, 273 Garbale, 466 Garfaut's work on horses, 40 Garlic, 265 Generation, morbid, symptoms of, 308 Gentian, 283 Gilson's works on farriery, 62 Giddiness, 318 Ginger, 276 Glanders, 505 Glaze, 295 eyes, 323 Glauber's salts, 273 Goelieke's work on murrains, 48 Goulard's extract, 379 Grain, whole, danger of giving too much of it to horses at once, 226 Grains of paradise, 285 Grease, molten, 482 Grogginess, 499 Gullion, 377 Gum ammoniac, arabic, drogant, Gutta serena, 265 H Habitations for domestic animals, 190 Harison on the rot, theory of the rot in sheep, 95 Hartmann, 53 Hoffert's work on sheep, 51 Haw of the eye, 484 Hay, heated, much relished by horses and cattle, 224 Hellebore, white, 285 Hemlock, 289 Henbane, 289 Hidebound, 328 Hierocles, a writer on farriery, 27 History of farriery, importance of, 22 Hooks, or haukes, 428 Hoof of the horse, 121 Hoofs, 436 Hop, 289 Horse, skeleton of the, age of, means of ascertaining, muscles of, stomach of, food of, chestnut, radish, 101 Hoven in cattle, 219 Hunter's feeding byre, 283 Hazurd's writings on farriery, 404 Hydrophobia, 236 symptoms of, in dogs, as related by Meynell, progres of, among a pack of hounds, effect of immersion in curring, prevention of, Hygeiology, importance of, 512 I Jalap, 273 Japan earth, 281 Jaundice, 441 Jaw, locked, 509 Jejunum and ilium of the horse little different from the human, 109 Jenner's account of cow-pox, 478 Immersion, effects of, in curing canine madness, 515 Inanition, 429 Indifference, 439 Indigestion, acute, 496 Inflammation of the brain, eyes, lungs, liver, stomach, intestines, kidneys, 483 Inflammation of the bladder, Influenza, Infertility, Intestines of the horse, small, large, inflammation of, Iron, muriate of, Itch, Kennel, construction of, duke of Richmond's, size of, lodging room of, doors of, inner court of, Kidneys, inflammation of, Kino, L Lafoffe's, fen. work on farriery, method of shoeing, jun. works on farriery, Lake-burn, Lameness, Lampas, Lard, hog's, Lawrence's, John, proposal for improving veterinary practice, works, Rich. works on horses, Layard's works on murrain, account of do., Lead, sugar of, white, Leanness, Lice and fleas, Ligaments of the horse's foot, injuries of, Ligature in bleeding, danger of, Lights, rising of the, Lime, Linne's Pan Suecicus, Linseed, Liquorice, Liver, inflammation of, Lefts above stables, improper, Logwood, Loofeefs, Louvet, Loy's experiments on the connexion of grease with cow-pox, Lumbrici, Lungs, inflammation of the, M Mallenders and fallenders, Mange in horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, treatment of, Markham's work on farriery, Marshmallows, Material FAR R I E R Y.

Materia medica, knowledge of, necessary to a farrier, 18 Medical knowledge useful to a farrier, 11 Medicines for domestic animals, 249 not to be given to horses unnecessarily, 297 Megrim, 483 Mercury, 263, c. 276, b. 285, v. red nitrate of, 49 Meynell's account of the appearances of madness in dogs, 513 Mint, 285, x. Miscellaneous remedies, 295 receipts, 296 Molten grease, 499 Monro's phialle tube, 425 Moon-blindness, 324, 484 Morecroft's work on shoeing, 90 method of shoeing, 155 Morsfoundering, 485 Motion, morbid, symptoms of, 302 Mouth, fore, wounds in, 399 Murrain, appearance of, in Europe, 467 history of, 466 appearance of, in Britain, 467 account of by Brocklesby, 469 by Layard, 472 causes of, 473 means of checking the progress of, 474 queries respecting, 475 Muscles of the horse enumerated, 102 extremities, table of, 103 Mustard, 285, a. Myrrh, 283, c.

N Narcotics. See Anodynes. Natural history useful to a farrier, 14 Navicular bone, 118 Newcastle's duke of, work on horses, 60 Nitre, 267, f. 269, c. 279, a.

O Oak bark, 281, h. 283, f. Oatmeal preferable to barley-meal for dogs, 241 Oestrus bovis, 338 ovis, 339 equi, 499 hemorrhoidalis, 410 Oil, castor, 273, b. olive, 277, i. Ointments, 259 Opium, 267, g. 287, c. 289, e. Orifice of a vein, mode of securing, in the horse, 163 Osmer's work on shoeing, 65 thoe, 136 Overfeeding, 404 Overreach, 346 Ox-houses, 208 Oxen, shoes for, 157

P Palfy, 508 Pattern bone, large, 115 Pattern bone, small, 117 Paulet's work on murrains, 45 Pelt rot, 340 Pembroke's, Lord, work on horses, 69 remarks on shoeing, 137 Pepper, 285, c. Peppermint, 285, b. Peruvian bark, 283, g. Pelagomur, a witter on farriery, 27 Peripneumony, 489 Phreny, 483 Physiology necessary to a farrier, 13 Pinning in lambs, 455 Pitting-evil, 524 of blood, 450 Plethora, 427 Pleurify, 489 Poison, 407 Pale-evil, 395 Pomegranate, 281, i. Poppy, 289, f. Potash, 269, d. Powdices, 260 Powders, 251 Pox, sheep, cow, 478 Practice of farriery, 19 Precipitate, red, 285, x. Puckridge, 338 Pulse in different animals, 424 method of feeling, 425 Pummiced feet, 388 Purges, 270 absurdity of giving to horses indiscriminately, 271 should not be preceded by strong exercise, 272 receipts for, 274 Purging in horses, 452 in cattle, 453 in calves, 454 in lambs, 455 in dogs, 456

Q Quarter-ill, 525 Quaffia, 283, h. Quitter, 347

R Resturn of the horse, 113 Refrigerants, 279 Respiration, morbid, symptoms of, 306 Reflexions, 314 Reynier's work on cattle, 51 Rheumatism, 488 Richmond's, duke of, kennel, 211 Riding's veterinary pathology, 79 Ring-bone, 373 Roarer, 436, 437 Ronden's work on farriery, 41 Rosin, 269, e Rot, pulmonic, hepatic, 490 pelt, 493 foot, 387 general, 526

S St Bel, M. account of, 73 Sal ammoniac, Indicus, 279, b. Salt, common, spirit of, 279, c. 293, h. of steel, 283, d. Sandcracks, 389 Saunier's work on horses, 49 Saunier's work on murrain, 34 Scab, 331, 332 Secretion, morbid, symptoms of, 307 Sensation, morbid, symptoms of, 307 Sensibility, morbid, 313 Sedatives. See Anodynes. Sefanoid bones, 116 Setons described, 171 use of, 172 mode of introducing, 173 Sheep cots, 109 Shoeing horses, principles of, origin of Note (D) p. 447 common method of, its defects, 133 Lafosse's method, 135 Osmer's do., 136 Lord Pembroke's do., 137 Clark's do., 138 Coleman's do., 139, 154 Morecroft's do., 155 shoe to be adapted to the hoof, 144 changes to be made gradually, 146 Coleman's ordinary shoe, 152 of oxen, 157 Shoulder-slip, 354 Sialagogues, 276 Silver, 293, f. Sinclair's, Sir J. remarks on cattle, 232 Skeleton of the horse described, 99 Slipping the calf or foal, 462 Snape's anatomy of the horse, 61 Snores or snivels, 433 Soap, 269, f. 273, s. Sole of the hoof, horny, 123 fenible, 128 Solleyfelt's work on farriery, 32 Sough, 493 Spaying, 184 Spirits, 285, d. Splints, 379 Squill, 265, h. Stables should be dry and elevated, 191 double, improper, 193 should not be low in the roof, 194 stalls of, 195 flooring of, 196 Stables, **Index**

**FAR R I E R Y.**

| Teeth of the horse described, | Urine, suppression of, from inflammation, | |-----------------------------|------------------------------------------| | Temporal artery, mode of opening, | 164 | from stone, 448 | | Tenon's account of sheep-pox, | 477 | from obstruction | | Theomener, a writer on farriery, | 27 | at the neck of | | Thorough-pin, | 367 | the bladder, 449 | | Thorter-ill, | 508 | bloody, 450 | | Thrufb, running, | 384 | W | | Ticks, | 337 | Warbles, 338 | | Tin, | 291, f. | Warts, 326 | | Tobacco, | 269, g. | Water, red, 450 | | Tonics, | 283 | black, 451 | | Topical bleeding, | 167 | Weight of horse shoes, 149 | | Tormentil, | 281, b. | for a coach horse, 150 | | Tread, | 346 | for a saddle horse, 151 | | Trimming horses ears absurd, | 180 | Wheat given to horses on the continent, 220 | | Turbit mineral, | 263, c. | White's work on the veterinary art, 81 | | Turnstick, | 318 | Wind, broken, 437 | | Turpentine, | 269, h. 285, g.g. | thick, 438 | | oil of, | 269, i. 285, g.g. | Wind-galls, 365 | | U | Withers, fitfulous, 396 | | Varix, | 433 | Womb, falling of the, 461 | | Vegetius' work on farriery, | 26 | Worms, 408 | | Veins, wounds of, | 351, 432 | Worm medicines, 291 | | Veterinary art, | 2 | receipts for, 292 | | college of Lyons, | 35 | Wormils, 338 | | of London, established, | 72 | Worming of dogs, 517 | | examining committee of, | 76 | Wounds, 348 | | regulations of, | 77 | of the feet, 349 | | method of shoeing in, | 139 | of the joints, 350 | | Vinegar, | 279, f. 293, i. | how best treated, 351 | | Vitel's work on veterinary medicine, | 43 | punctured, 352 | | Vitriol, blue, | 283, i. | in the mouth, 400 | | white, | 281, m. | of arteries, 430 | | Vitriolic acid, | 279, g. 281, b. 293, h. | of veins, 351, 432 | | Ulcers, | 394 | X | | Vomiting, why impracticable in the horse, | 105 | Xenophon's work on horsemanship, 30 | | Urine, incontinence of, | 443 | Y | | suppression of, | 444 | Yeof, 393, l. | | from distention of the bladder, 445 | Z | Zinc, 295, h. |

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**F A R**

**F A S**