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FLOWER-SPRECHER
wig Library ah

AS is
Hind’s Farriery and Stud Book—New Edition.

E HORSE and HIS DISEASES ;

A TREATISE ON THE

 

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DISEASES AND ACCIDENTS OF THE HORSE!

7 With Instructions to the Shoeing-Smith, Farrier and Groom.
Preceded by

A POPULAR DESCRIPTION of the ANIMAL FUNCTIONS in HEALTH,
And How These are to be Restored When Disordered.

By JOHN HINDS, Veterinary Surgeon.

WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS,
= By THOMAS M. SMITH,

Veterinary Surgeon, and Member of the London Veterinary Medical
Society. To which is added

Rarey’s Method of Taming ad Breaking Horses,

WITH RULES FOR SELECTING A GOOD HORSE.
There is also added

TROTTING, PACING, and RUNNING TABLES,

Showing the Fastest Times on Record.

: _ NEW YORK:
HURST & CO., PUBLISHERS.

122 NASSAU STREET.
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gy
PREFACE.

8 B Stereo

WRaATEVER person would consult these pages with profit
snould previously read the first book owith care ; for in it
he will find laid down the principles upon which all the
subsequent details are founded, how the process of nature
is carried on in health, and the cure is to be effected in
every species of derangement. Indeed, he should study
it hard, if he would become proficient in ‘‘the Art of
Farriery,”’ and not rely implicitly upon other people’s pre-
scriptions for the cure of any alleged disorder, which have
been composed for the most part without any such prepa-
ration.

From this neglect, also, symptoms of one disorder are
confounded with those of another, when the proposed reme-
dies cen not possibly effect the cure. If he be imbued with
the proper thirst after knowledge, be his station in life
about the horse what it may, he had best to comply with
the advice strenuously urged at the very outset, to examine
the internal parts of dead horses, as often as opportunity
presents itself, which, in the neighbourhood of large towns
and hunts is frequent enough. For this is the manner in
which I was myself mainly instructed; as well as by noting
down whatever then appears worthy of observation, con-
nected with the previous disease of the ceceased subject.

Such was my manner of proceeding for several years.
And next about the present volume, how I came to write
it, and what were my views in the manner of executing
the task that was rather imposed upon me by the booksel-
lers than sought after by me; and which was, in effect, oc-
easioned by the nature and quantity of veterinary facts and
observations I had a long time been in the habit of heaping
together. But had already been an author nearly a quar-
ter ot a century, having partly translated the manual of La

1*
Vv PREFACE.

Fosse, at the request of another bookseller, Mr. Badcock,
of Paternoster-row. I claim no credit for that performance,
and have already stated my present opinion of its degree
of usefulness, at pages 133 and 135. Proceeding with m
‘literary history,”’ I may here add, that a few communi-
cations in the (old) Sporting Magazines, to the Monthly
Magazine, to the Weekly Dispatak newspaper, and other
such publications, on topics connected with animal medi-
cine, preceded the essays on the structure of the horse,
which comprise the first book of this volume, and found
place in anewer and much more brilliant publication. An
accumulation of materials for these pages lay by me, with a
satent hope of publication, when the mammon of a “ten

ound prize,” bor their insertion in the Annals of Sport-
ing, and some cheering commendations that attended the
appearance of those essays, from time to time, induced me
to finish the design of a complete pocket manual for owners,
grooms and aspirants after the knowledge of horse-medi-
cine, of every degree.

Like all other practitioners of the old school, or rather
no school, my late father had long amassed together and
aaa in an immense and shapeless volume, entitled

is <¢ Receipts,”’ all the alleged remedies recommended as
eligible and found good in every variety of case: I believe
he may have tried the efficacy of each, though I am now

- tolerably well convinced that some must have failed of com.

lete success. Yet was the manuscript preserved like a
amily treasure; and destined to fill my pockets at some dis-
tant day, its contents were secluded from vulgar eyes,
though it contained nothing but prescriptions. As usual
with all similar accumulations, the proper remedies were
therein stated, without a word as to symptoms or those
anomalous cases that frequently baffle the utmost skill, for
. the practice of mediciue in any ofits departments is but an
imperfect science, even when we can ascertain the precise
ailment under which the patient labours. This necessary
preliminary is not always ae in veterinary practice
we are more frequently baffled than assisted in our inqui-
ries. Notwithstanding all this, my revered parent sus
PREFACE. v

tained a high character for successful practice; his close ob-
servation of the symptoms and attention to the operation
of his physic, supplying the want of a “ regular education,”
which no one farrier could at that time boast of: indeed,
few of them could even copy their own receipts, whicn
they Leth to carry in their memory. At a very early
period I endeavoured to repair this apparent defect b
study; with what success the reader may judge, and I will
endeavour in the next pages to make him comprehend how
my task has been executed.

The reputation of our name induced the bookseller just
named to ask my father’s opinion and mine (among others),
of a certain manuscript he held in his hand, which upon in-
spection turned out to bea treatise on the rationale of horse-
medicine, with very plain directions for ascertaining the
true symptoms of dieases before attempting to apply any
remedy, however estimable. As the expositions of the
writer agreed mainly with our own ideas, it was impossi-
ble to withhold approbation. Finally, Mr. Badcock also
consulted with W. S. Rickword, of Moor-lane, and other °
veterinary surgeons of the college, and resolved upon the
spirited publication of his new purchase, notwithstanding
he had received the uncheering disapproval of Bracy Clark,
of Smithfield, who gave for answer that «no one could
learn the treatment of horses’ diseases from printed books.’?
Yet has Bracy Clark since then printed many books. The

eat success of the publication alluded to, which was James

nite’s “Compendium of the Veterinary Art,’’ justified
our opinions of its merits, and gratified my vanity at the
early share I took in its promulgation, and the revision of
many Li with a view to simplifying the terms (in
articular); in which commendable quality, by the way,
Mr. White is not deficient, though, in other respects, a
lapse or two which have since fallen out, come un er notice
.n the course of the following pages (viz. pp. 39, 83, 111,
and 154). No man can be perfect; how fewamong us know
every thing that pertains to themselves.

Even at this moment preceding the birth of my volume,
I am not certain but I may be found similarly tripping—tu
have expressed myself obscurely, when | fancied my .an
guage most cornpletely understandable by the meanest capa-
eity; and I doubt that my familiar style may ay ap-
pear vulgar to more polished eyes and ears than mine, But]
vi PREFACE.

take credit for having moamaey avoided the use of technical
phrases, terms of science and learned dissertation, as well
as the crime of over-refinement with which I have rebuked
two cotemporaries, whose laughable sublimations are ideal-
ized at page 166.

Candour and ability for the task are not always found
combined with willingness, even among our best friends, tc
amend certain slips of the pen, or to curtail such exuber-
ances as the more mamgted writers are liable to fall into;
and I am free to aver, that the friendly assistance I have
obtained in this respect, the nature of which may be infer-
red from the note at bottom of page 50, has not always se
conded my plain meas nor adequately fulfilled my wish
es, though I am grateful for these and every act of kindness
After all my care, repetitions have crept in, and owing to
the length of time occupied in the composition, or rather
the manner in which the various particles of information
were collected together, and oo into form, great va-
riety of style may’ be discovered, though unity of purpose,
and the desire to instruct, pervades every page. The ar-
rangement is at least obvious; the principles being taught
in the first book, the details of practice follow in natural
order in the second and third books, and seem to arise out
of the preceding ** observations on the animal system of the
horse, as regards the origin of constitutional disorders.”?
The references from the latter chapters to the former, ope-
rate as exercises with those students who may have neglect-
_ ed to acquire and retain sufficient intimacy with the prin-
ciples laid down in the pages so referred to.

The diseases of brute animals are few and simple, and
easily cured when the symptoms can be distinctly traced up
to their causes; for the remedy then consists in Yittle more
than putting the animal upon a direct contrary course to
that which brought on the disorder (though not too rudely),
and health follows. For example, heat, inflammation, fever,
is the most general cause of constitutional derangement in
the horse: in a state of nature, he seeks out and employs
ine remedy himself; when domesticated and pampered, or
at least denied the use of green food, we judiciously set
about reducing the heat by cooling medicines and factitious
regimen, and the fever subsides. Again, hard work occa
tions lameness, rest restores the feet to their wonted state
PREFACE. vr

m incipient attacks, topical applications effect the reraain-
der in bad cases.

For the same reasons few medicines are necessary in ve-
terinary practice, but certain modifications of these add to
their efficacy in particular cases; though the school in which
I was first initiated, as wellas the modern writers, White,
and the Lawrences, quite overwhelm their readers with
the quantity and apparent contrariety of their prescriptions,
that frequently possess no essential variation from others
that may be applicable to a whole series of disorders.

Under such circumstances, I have been extremely chary
of puzzling the reader by merely altering the vehicle when
the active material of the prescription had been already
compounded for a similar disorder; therefore 1 have avoid-
ed repetition of such (mostly purgatives) by referring the
reader to the page where these -may be found. Notwith-
standing the apparent difficulty of this mode, yet has it cer-
tain advantages that outweigh the trouble, and compensate
for the moments thus expended. During my noviciate,
and long intercourse with persons employed about the horse,
in almost every capacity, I noticed that all those who con- .
sulted the books respecting any actual disorder, did little
more than turn to the prescription which was recommend-
ed in their particular case, and it was made up and given to
the animal without once more reading over and comparin
“the symptoms,’”? and notwithstanding they already ha
the same medicine upon the shelf. By this blind manner
of proceeding, they did but adhere more closely to the old
system of their ‘‘book of receipts,” to the entire neglect of
the anomalous symptoms, and risked the mistaking of one
disease for another, in many cases. To compel the inquirer
to study his case before he applies the remedy, I at one
time thought of adopting the method of La Fosse, and
others, who have thrown their prescriptions all together,
and referred to each numerically; but, after due considera-
tion, I adopted the middle course, and simply avoided re-
petition in this respect, as that which best suited with my
views of instruction. In some cases, the remedy is men-
tioned in general terms only; for example, at page 170, 1
aaid, ‘‘blistering ointment may be applied,” &c. The read
er will of course, in this and all similar cases, consult the
Index; and under ‘+ Blistering,’’ he will find himself refer
red to page 76.
viii PREFACE.

Throughout the volume, though I naturally evaded all
controversy, yet in a few instances it seemed necessary to
advert to certain existing errors and authorized mistakes;
to disabuse the public mind, to negative the mischiefs these
were calculated to spread of themselves, and to assure the
reader that I was not wholly unmindful of the dissonance
of opinion betwixt the authors mentioned and myself. To
the “‘Annals of Sporting,”? a monthly publication much
devoted to the natural history of animals, I have frequent-
ly referred, and often quoted; because in the course of its
earliér volumes many desirable facts, some good and useful
hints, and valuable suggestions, appeared from time to time;
some new opinions and statements were started, and met
with repulse, or were more securely placed upon their pro-
per bases.* In these respects a favourite project, first com-
municated to me by Mr. Badcock in 1802, and partially
acted upon, t was therein realized, viz. of collecting together
the scattered opinions, remarkable cases, and fugitive sug-

estions that should occur to various isolated practitioners
throughout the kingdom, in the same manner as had long
effected so much progressive good for human medicine. He
had engaged me and Mr. Rickword to assist him in this
undertaking, and wrote to Mr. White and others for their
contributions; but it failed at that period, like many other
projects of a similar nature; and I observe that the last-
named gentleman, in every successive edition of his ‘‘Com-
pendium,”’ constantly inserts his correspondents’ letters on
various topics at léngth, though it was clear to me that dis-

*In that useful publication ordinary passing events are recorded monthly,
under the head of “ Horse Intelligence,” with brief comments, accompanied
at intervals with exhortations to veterinarians to contribute their experiences
to the same stock. In one instance, a vivid appeal, in the number for Sep-
tember, 1824, page 191, produced several valuable communications concern-
ing hydrophobia, that are embodied in the present work, and acknowledged
at page 162-3. The intelligent papers of Mr. Perry, of Swaffham, and
others, also owe their origin to the same stimulus to publicity and the desire
to establish a name for ingenuity in their profession to the writers,

+ [ took occasion to advert to that project in my preface to La Fosse’s Pock-
et Manual, and to lament that ‘the want of a more liberal practice is felt as
an insuperable bar to improvement in the art of farriery, which would be best
served by communications of the discoveries made, and the mode of treatment
most successfully followed by various practitioners. This it is which of late
years has done, and is still doing, so much for other branches of medicine, and
which, for the sake of humanity, it is devoutly to be wished could be extended
(o this branch also.” Page vi.
PREFACE. id

tussions like these rather belong to periodical publications,
such as the ‘‘ Annals”? professes to be (where they admit of
refutation), than to a ‘*Compendium.” For my part, ]
was early induced to enter into the spirit of those periodi-
eal investigations, and the inquiries set on foot in that work,
and occasionally to furnish the materials for an article, or
the argument in point for a controverted doctrine, or dis-
puted ‘‘improvement.”? An offer of two premiums of ten
and five pounds for the best and second best of an “‘ Essay
on the Structure of the Horse,’’ had first induced me to la-
oour in the pages of the Annals. The award of the highest
premium to my paper* encouraged me to hearken to pro-
pone i its enlargement, and the present volume is the
result.

The volume has been a long time at press, and in October
last was fully announced by advertisement. The author
could not, therefore, satisfactorily account Hey his title
was adopted by another in the month of April of the pre-
sent year

* Divided into magazine-like portions, and inserted as convenience offered
. in many successive numbers of the Annals of Sporting

t+ The second premium was followed by the like result: the writer of it,
Mr. Percival, eum) having since then published his volume on the

Principles of the Veterinary Art.’ The utility of euch periodical works
that devote their pages to the promotion of useful arts, is thus manifest in tha
fact that to those premiums the public owe two volumes at least on animal
medicine,
INTRODUCTION.

Ag the value of the Horse is daily becoming more mani
fest, it is presumed that any attempt to reduce into a sys.
tem, the art of preserving it in health and of removing dis-
eases will not be unacceptable.

It 1s certain that at no period in the history of this coun
try, has the horse stood so high in general estimation, or
by the display of his various powers, rendered himself an
abject more worthy of our consideration.

As greater attention is now paid to the breeding of horses
‘or the different purposes of the turf, the road, &c.; so should
our anxiety for their preservation increase.

The object of this publication, is to render as plain and fa-
miliar as possible, a subject that has for a length of time
remained in obscurity; the want of a work possessing prac-

‘tical facts.and illustrations, has long been severely felt and
acknowledged.

Under this conviction I am induced to lend my aid, in
bringing forth the present volume, with such alterations
and additions as an extensive practice in this city may
warrant.

To remove long stanaing prejudices, I am aware is a dif
ficult task; still 1 venture to hope, that a careful perusal of
these pages will excite in some degree, the feelings of hu-
manity, in respect to the many sufferings to which the
generous animal is frequently liable from unmerited cruel-
ty and injudicious treatment, and that mankind may be in-
tical to view his sufferings with an eye of sympathy and
tenderness, and have recourse to a rational mode of prac-
tice, when accident or disease may require it.

I am not aware ofany publication having issued from the

2
xu INTRODUCTION

press in this country, in which the Veterinary Science, or
Art of Farriery, has been laid down in such a manner
as to be clearly understood; the present work is so familiar
in its composition, as to render it at once interesting and
intelligible to every one who may think proper to peruse
it.

To such persons who are removed at a distance from those
places where the assistance of a farrier can be had, in cases
of emergency this work must prove highly useful, as such
rules for the discovery of disease, and such a plan of treat-

-ment is revonineniles, as, if judiciously followed, will res-
eue from the danger of blind experiment, the noblest ana
most valuable quadruped in creation.

THOMAS MOORE SMITH,
VETERINARY SURGEON
CONTENTS.

-Qe-
BOOK L

The Origin and Seats of various Diseases in the Horse explained,
with a view to their Cure or Mitigation,

Isrropucrion. The necessity and advantages of veterinary know-
ledge, and the means of acquiring it, as regards prevention and cure
Explanation and practical use of the skeleton - - - - =

Caaprer 1. External formation or structure ofthe hares, and the dis-
orders originating therein - - - - * + = =

Cuaprer 11. Concerning the horse’s inside, of its conformation, the
functions of the organs of life, and the diseases to which each is lia-
ble; together with outlines of the principles upon which the cure is
tobeeflected - - - - - = + 2+ = ©

CuapTerR 11. General observations on the animal system of the
horse, with reference to the origin of constitutional diseases: recapitu-
lation and further development of veterinary practice, upon the prin-
ciples before laid down Sa Re ee

BOOK II.

The Causes and Symptoms of various Bodily Diseases incident to the
Horse ; with the most approved Remedies in every Case.

CuapTer 1. Of internal diseases : - a =
Cuapter uu. Of external disorders—abscess and tumours - .

Cuaprer i. External disorders—purulent tumours, diseases of the
glands 7 - fe fe - fe

BOOK III.
Of the Leg and Foot of the Horse ; or, Shoeing-smith’s Guide.

Cyaprer t. Structure and physiology of the foot; mode of studying
tt advantageously - 8 8 - + 2

21

59
1]
XIV , CONTENTS.

PAGE.
CHAPTER II. Disorders of the foot and leg - - 2 +» 170
CHAPTER-III. Shoeing ee | 7:)
CHAPTER Iv. Diseases of the foot = ee me ow 88

CHAPTER V. Of strains generally ee ee ee 194
On Acute Founder - - - 5 ee ee ee 209
Taming and Breaking - = = ee ee le tg

Tastest Recorded Time = ~ 5 = © ee 6S

 
THE

HORSE an us DISEASES

 

BOOK IL.

THE ORIGIN AND SEATS OF VARIOUS DISEASES IN THE HORSE EXPLAINED
WITH A VIEW TO THEIR CURE OR MITIGATION.

Inrropuction.— The necessity and advantages of veterinary knowledge,
and the means of acquiring it, as regards prevention and cure.

ALraoucu it can not be denied, that “tis better, ina humane point of view,
to prevent diseases than to cure them;” yet, looking at the fact as a veterina
rian, without furgetting my feelings as a man, I do not hesitate to say, “this
is a consummation we can not reasonably hope to arrive at, whilst the horse is
compelled to exert himself to the utmost of his power for our daily profit,”
whereby he acquires a constant disposition to create disorders. Nor would I
’ be thought to maintain, that “preventives ought never to be employed:”
the succeeding pages fully disprove such a conclusion. I merely mean to in-
culcate, that, under existing circumstances, they can not be resorted to gene-
rally: and this 1 say, notwithstanding it will be found I have here noted very
many occasions, when rest, alteratives and regimen, might be often substituted
for active medicines, more economically, (in my opinion,) beth of time and ex-
pense. The hour is not arrived, however, for me to insist too strenuously
upon an entirely new mode of treatment of the horse in health and in disease,
since that course would appear rather too theoretical for a Treatise designed
to be wholly practical.

Those are the reasons which have induced me to keep in view the readiest
way of enabling the sick animal to return to his work again, according to the
long beaten track of my practice; whilst my main purpose Is to show, by an
examination of his powers and his parts (external and internal, ) that a mode-
rate mode of treatment, in sickness and in health, would be not only more hu-
mane but more profitable, as preventive of many of those evils to which thou-
sands of horses prematurely fall victims every Mees More conducive, also, to
a profitable result to their labours would it be for the owners of horses, instead
of studying how to “ physic” their property, were they to put themselves in a
condition, as near as may be, for rejecting, with some oe diet of certainty, not
only such horses as are offered to them actually diseased, but such also as, by
their awkward built or structure, and consequent ill-formation of the internal
parts, can not fail to possess some inherent bad quality, and thereby a prone-
kess to its sree ing affliction to the end of their days. This ought to
2 HOW TO PROCEED WITH DISSECTION.

-onstitute every horseman’s first step to horse knowledge, whether he under-
ake it as an owner or as a farrier, the latter most especially; of him 1 may
justly add, that he can not be said to exercise his calling honestly as he ought,
who sullenly neglects to learn those rudiments of art and practice that teach a
knowledge of the animal economy and the functions of the horse in particular.
1 do not hesitate to insist upon the examination of the animal's internal parts,
as constituting one main item of those rudiments; and { would not avoid giving
this operation the proper name of dissection, but that I fear to alarm the gene-
ral reader with an apparent difficulty where none exists in reality. How.
without that previous knowledge, durst he venture to pronounce what parti
cular ailment, out of the numerous catalogue that pertain to the horse, his pa

tent labours under? How can he ascertain the degree, or quantity and quality
uf the attack, so as to know when it may be increasing in malignity, or its
virulence is expended? Least of all can he succeed in the cure, when so much
ncertainty hangs about his means of discriminating between one disorder and
another,—to say nothing of the usually attendant ignorance of the mode in
which medicines operate upon those internal parts that lie concealed from his
view, but upon one or the other of which they are, nevertheless, destined power-
fully toact. Ifit be allowed, that no two horses are ever affected exactly alike
n those disorders that depend upon the secretions, as | shall show at the end
cf this chapter, how is it possible that such neglectful men could ever reduce
the symptoms of any disorder, without reducing, at the same moment, the
power or functions of the part upon which their strange and ever-violent mix
tures expend their force, and thus entail upon the animal a disposition to ac-
quire some other disorder.

Every man who would make himself proficient in the knowledge of diseases
should open his own dead horses, and as many more as he can obtain access
to, and- attentively examine the state of the stomach, the liver, the lungs, the
heart, kidneys, and bladder. If the animal be recently dead, this profitable.
Inquiry will be far from disagreeable, unless the cause of death has been of
the putrid kind, spoken of in Book I]. Chap. 1. as Typhous, but which rarely
happens. In the pursuit of this necessary first step to veterinary knowledge,
he will proceed in this manner. The horse being on its back, two legs on the
same side are to be elevated by a cord passing round the fatlock of each, and
fastene@ to a nail in the ceiling or elsewhere aloft. Then with a sharp knife,
of the common shoemakers’ kind, he will draw a straight cut all the way from
the first rib or breast bone, at the intersection of O with 21 in the picture, to
the sheath, or thereabouts. If the cut be not too deep, the skin will recede a
little, and expose the membrane; cutting through this the intestines will pro-
trude, and drive forth a thin expansive membranous sac, apparently unattach-
ed, being designed for holding the guts, and preventing friction. This soon
dursts, and the blind gut (or cecum), described at section 48, appears. He
will slit open this pyuuch, and examine its contents before he quits the subject,
probably ; but his first business is with the stomach, which is depicted in the
annexed plate, as situated at the conjunction of 1K L with the figures 26—29,
Herein will be found the last drench that sent him out of life, or the last food,
that gave hopes of a prolonged existence; and on its surface, vulgarly termed
the coats of the stomach (when turned inside out), may be discovered the havoc
conwnitted by the farrier’s unskilfulness ; according to the strength of the poi-
sons so administered, will the coats show the dilapidation, or at times a nole
will have been perforated, that is the cause of instant death.

The young operator will keep in mind what is said of those parts at sec-
tiuns 45, 46, &c., if he do not turn to and read them over once more before he
takes up the knife. With the same precaution as to re-reading section 5
vc, he will proceed to examine the state and appearance of the liver and kid
APPEARANCE OF THE INSIDE. 3

neys. ‘The description of these will be found at sections 52 and 53 respective-
ly ; and they are delineated as situated in the picture, the liver between the
parallels of J—N, 22—28, and the kidneys at H, 29, 30. Returning forward
the operator will find his way to the heart and lungs obstructed by Ne maidriff
(see plate at 22 to 28, ascending slantwise from L to H) that divides and keeps
asunder these from the first-named parts, lest the guts and liver should ob-
struct the action ooo of the heart and lungs, and. vice versa. Its ap
earance has been described (sect. 35.) as resembling a drum-head; and like
It, if pricked with the knife, the cavity of the chest is instantly laid open—an
immense vacuity, that proves to what a vast extent the lungs must fill at every
inspiration of fresh air, to occupy so great a space, and further spread out the
ribs to the utmost extent of the intercostal muscle that holds them together.
In the plate the lungs are depicted in a quiescent state, at J to N, and 15 to
22; but when filled they occupy all the vacant space above, in addition to their
lateral width. Hence, the importance of this viscus (as they call each of the
vital parts above named), to which I have attached such high consideration
in the sequel, will at once be seen and appreciated. See sections 31—36,

Concerning the Heart, its structure and functions,—so much has been said
in another place, and so minute is the description of each, that I shall add no
more here, than refer to the sections, where the reader may find ample in-
structions for examining this main-spring of animal life, See sections 37 to
10. In the annexed picture, it is delineated as lying near the lungs [LMN,
19—21], to the upper paxt whereof it is attached, as described hereafter.

By pursuing this course of inquiry, the operator will discover what is, or
‘ught to be, the healthful state and appearances of the main functions of the
. animal system,—he will perceive the auxiliaries and their uses,—he will have
.nformed himself (it is hoped) of the treatment any horse has received previ- .
ously to its death; and he may thus store up in his mind, or better still, vege
paper, what dread effects may be produced by the drenches, cordials and diu-
retics that stimulate but to destroy the vitals of the animal. He will see and
compare the animals that die in health (accidentally), or after a short illness,
with those which die after protracted illness; upon the healthy ones that are
doomed, a few hours previously, he may try the experiment of some favoured
farrier’s celebrated mixture, and subsequently send hes the stomach to prove its
efficacy in “killing all disorders.” '

Happily, the cause of humanity may be served, and the interests of his own-
er promoted at the same time, by our (first) ascertaining the nature and
amount of the horse’s powers by his make, shape, or built; and, thereupon,
demanding of him no more, in the way of service, than is clearly proveable to
‘tie within his power, or putting him to those labours only to which his capa-
bilities are best adapted. In the neglect of this plain rule lies the root of all
error as regards preserving the health of horses. Some materials for making
a tolerably good estimate as to this head of information, are arranged in the
first chapter: the second being well pondered, and the facts and observations
it contains rightly stored up in the reader’s mind, he will learn what functions
belong to each part of the animal in health; or, these being deranged or ob-
structed, he will know in how much the horse is affected : and the third chap
ter being read with reference to both, I entertain the well founded hope, that
this course will enable the general reader to form tolerably accurate notions of
the nature, origin, and ‘eatery of the animals internal and constitutional
aiseases, upon which all the others depend, but which have hitherto received
but little attention any where here, and, consequently, are but imperfectly
known among us. Not onlyso, but the reader may, by these means, by study
and close observation, enable himself to demonstrate nearly to a certainty.
when 4 cure is hopeless; and further the cause of humanity. and the interests
4 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE.

of its owner at the same time, by ordering the horse to be destroyed at once,
rather than by fruitless delay, and at a heavy expense, prolonging the animal's
sufferings to no worthy purpose. 2

I have not confined my zesearches to disease only: in the first chapter, the
shoeing-smith will find explained the principles upon which depend deformi-
ties of the hoof, and he may fashion his work accordingly; whilst the choice
of a horse may be undertaken with some confidence, if the purchaser keeps in
mind the practical advice and information here collected together from various
sources, and added to my own observations, and long, extensive, and success-
ful experience, in all matters of this nature. ”

Explanation and practical use of the Skeleton annexed,

Tue references that are made to the annexed plate, and which will neces-
sarily be found rather numerous in the chapter on conformation, are so made
by means of letters and figures, corresponding with similar letters and figures
upon the plate. The letters direct the reader's eye across the Fens the
figures from top to bottom ; when he is referred both by letter, and figure, the

face of intersection is the point to which his attention ought to be directed.
Thus [G. 37.] which, by placing a flat ruler, or a piece of paper, across at “G.?
and running the finger downwards from the figure “37,” would be found to
intersect each other at the insertion or commencement of the horse’s tail;
whilst [ye 40.] would bring us to the hindermost pastern. Again, [K. L.
M.N. 14, 15, 16.] or [K—N,. 14—16.] directs the reader's attention to the
ee ene at [M. 20.] is his heart, and at [H. 29.] his kidneys are

laced,

The reader will please to observe, that the Frontispiece is meant to be, less
what is termed “a pretty picture” than a practically useful one, calculated to
facilitate his comprehension of what is said in this treatise about the living
horse, his structure, and internal formation; of his capabilities, and all of the
diseases arising from their misapplication. To this end, a mere elevation of
the skeleton was requisite; and, that this should be rendered more practically
useful, it is divided into squares, for more ready reference. The figure itself,
is that of a rather long bodied horse; the blade-bone having been lowered to
show the continuity of the vertebra, or backbone, between the shoulders, and
the elbow being bent forward for that purpose, so that the shoulder-bone
is brought to form its sharpest angle. This position of the limb, of course,
rendered the subject of the plate lower before than he would be were those
bones more straight up and down than they are. See Section 8,

. He will observe, too, that the situation only of some internal parts was re-
quired for the purpose of elucidation; thus, the heart seems unsuspended by
its vessels, as its pericardium and part of the lungs are removed; and it fol-
lows, that whoever expected to find a delineation of every viscus, perfect, has
deceived himself.—if any such there be. Respecting the poll, or bones of the
head and neck, the reader will find some remarks in Section 16,

Further, the references my readers will meet with in the midst of the text
ere necessarily as brief as they are useful, and are made to the sections, or
earts, into which the first two chapters are divided after the manner of verses,

This mode of reference will be found highly serviceable in his inquiries by .
the attentive reader, who is unused to study things of this nature, but wha
toust soon perceive the great practical advantages to be derived from so inti
mafé an acquaintance with the subject as this method of learning 1t will far
nish him the means of acquiring. If, in the prosecution of his studies, he
EXTERNAL FORMATION, DISORDERS, &c. 5

happen to Ae what has been before said, tending to the same pont of in.
formation, or he be at a loss whereabout he should look to refresh his memory,
these references supply him with the ready means of overcoming the difficulty.
By adopting this method, | have likewise avoided the repetitions inseparable
from a work of this nature, and have thus saved room.

 

CHAPTER I.
External formation or structure of the Horse, and the disorders originating
therein.

Section 1.—Scarcely any man who isin the habit of seeing many horses
perform their labour, and observing their capabilities of several kinds, but ac-
quires, thereby, some ae of the propérties conferred on the animal by
such or such points of conformation. He can tell, at first sight, nearly from
this habitude, “ what a horse can do ;” but few men reduce their observations
to writing, least of all to principles, upon which we may afterwards reason, or
draw couclusions with any degree of certainty, as to what duties a horse can
not perform properly, when wanting those points of excellence, and which
duties ought, therefore, never to be required of him; or, being so imposed
upon him improperly, are productive of certain disorders that invariably attend
such misapplication of his powers. No doubt it has happened, that a horse
with a radical defect,—in the shape of his hind quarters, for example,—yet
having a corresponding defect before, the one makes up for the other, and
such horses may occasionally perform well for a short time, but then they are
no lasters; all the while they may thus be at the full stretch of their physical
powers, straining to the utmost the immediate coverings of the bones, some
thing or other is going to wreck—of muscle or tendon, of ligature or sinew.
Sooner or later so much excessive fatigue of the deformity runs along the
solids, and reaching the vitals, occasions constitutional disease, or leave behind
it an incurable raalady of the limbs, mostly descending to the feet. Equally
true is it, that we find out new properties, or hidden powers in a horse, which
had never hitherto been known to his owners; but, then, as I shall particu-
larize by and by, no such latent powers were ever discovered in any horse,
without his possessing certain just proportions of the bones taken altogether.*
What these proportions are, as well as what they are not, I come presently to
lay down ; the integuments (or coverings) ever adapting themselves thereto, in
one case produce what is called symmetry ; butif the limb be disproportioned,
the coverings adapt themselves to that particular defect, and enlarged muscle
at these particular places becomes visible to the common observer,

The acquiring a ready mode of discovering when a horse of the one or the
other formation is presented to our notice, forms the perfection of art in pur-
chasing a horse.

2. But the horses’s achievements, or “what he can do,” under certain cit
cumstances of shape and make, would ill employ my pen at the present mo-
ment—valuable as the investigation must always be in itself—were it not for
the practical application | mean to make of it shortly, by way of illustrating
the direct contrary, or defective shape a’ 4 make, as being the harbinger o

* Eclipse, a horse whose very name is used as synonymous for speed, had none of the pro-
nortions generally deemed indispensable to great speed, and he was cast, by the Duke of Cum.
eerlan f 7 his apparent deformities when a colt; but his defects in one particular were araply
supplied by excesses in another, and, taken altogether, composed the very best bit of bone,
ol and muscle ever produced. His lineage, lateral consanguinity, and the kind of crosy tv

h he was gut- demand the breeders’ serio 1s auention,
6 THE LEGS OF A SKITTISH HORSE.

several radical disorders of his frame. Nor is thisall; some are sv evidently
ill-formed in the chest and carcase, from the moment they are foaled, that no
art of ours is equal to preventing the return of certain disorders which are sure
to attend a horse of that particular formation all his life time. As the one is
known and inevitable, so the effects of the other may be foreseen, and, in
some degree, alleviated, if so much trouble and expense be not greater than
the value of the horse. This is all that can be done for such an animal; and
since the resources of art are not equal to the obstacles of animated nature, so
no man ought unreasonably to expect, least of all, to force his beast, to per-
form any species of labour or exercise for which nature or the accident of
birth hath rendered him anywise unfit; although it must be allowed, asa
general axiom, that itis only by pushing the animal to the extent of his pow-
ers, that we can find out the most he 1s capable of performing at any given
work. In this way it was the fast-trotting powers of the Phenomena mare
(which was before then a butcher’s hack) were discovered; for people of this
trade generally try the utmost their nags can perform in the trot.

To be able to judge of a horse’s defects.as to what he can not do, undoubtedly
it seems necessary to ascertain what constitutes a fine figure, or a perfect one,
that can do every thing; but when it is considered that the exposure of those
defects is intended to apply wholly to the origin of disorders for which he will
require medical treatment, if he does not deserve rejection in toto, I shall find
less occasion for adverting to any known horse, entirely without error in his
form or built. ‘In most cases, however, good symmetry being accompanied
not only by the power of achieving great feats, but a good portion of health
also, or, at any rate, the absence Hs the diseases incident to a bad form, I may
be allowed, while exposing his faults, to deviate a little, and to contemplate
some few of his perfections also. :

3. The most obvious physical truths are those which can be explained upon
the principles of mechanics; upon such a basis, even the most abstract can be
securely grafted : that intelligence which is derived from experience, from ob-
servation, experiment, and acute reasoning, is rendered more easily understood
when conveyed with mechanical precision; and however strange it may ap-
pear to some, the gift of speed, if not of all progression, depends more upon
mechanical principles than is commonly understood to be the case. See
farther onward at Section 9, where the details are given. In all compound
bodies, whether animate or inanimate, intended for our active use, it is above
all other things requisite that they should stand well upon their bases or legs.
A horse, or a joint stool, evidently defective in this particular quality, would
be shunned as insecure ; and the one is sometimes endued with movements as
little suited to one’s ideas of getting on safely as the other, both being indebted
to their original bad built (or charpente, as Lafosse calls it) for the defect.
Cover them both, the one with muscle and skin, the other with drapery, how
you will, the faulty legs are faulty still. A good stable aphorism has it thus
—‘a horse that does not stand well can do nothing well; and by natural
inference, the horse that walks well can perform other paces well.”

__ A much better example, however, may be found
in a four legged table, of which every horseman
knows there are many of different sizes and of
various workmanship, some for heavy or rough
y| usage, others more for show and to sustain light
weights. But, if the fore and hind ‘'egs bend
towards each other upon the ground, any car
penter may sce that this first element of an ill-fur
ination must sooner or later, produce a fall; he will know that more strensth
tor supporting great weights would be found by making all four legs perpenclice

 

¥
MECHANICAL EXPLANATION. TREAD OF THE FOOT. a

‘ar. Buta horse not being like a table, immoveably fixed upon its legs, but being
aed not only to hear up but to proceed with his load,—which is sometimes
effected with drificulty un account of its weight; then must his powers ot
pressing onwards be estimated by the positions in which he can place the
Fones of his hinder part, the legs particularly, since it is to these the propul
sion of his body forwards is chiefly indebted. In
his efforts to accomplish this duty, the position
of his hind legs will resemble those of the second
table in the margin, stretched out constantly as|
these are, and each leg alternately twice as much |W
beyond his body; while his fore legs will bend
under him alternately also, like those in the first
table. In both movements his legs are stretched

to their utmost when the drag is up hill, because the resistance to be overcome
is then greatest, and we can thus form an opinion how much “he has the
free use of his legs.” | When this is the case, all horses step short; but, upon
even ground, the hind leg, to be perfect, should come finely forward in the
walk, and occupy the identical spot which the fore leg had just quitted. See
further al cection 8. As the horse gets old, is tired, disorderedy or over-much
‘laden, he ceases to do this as usual, in the exact ratio that he is affected the
one way or the other.

4, Mores occasionally, and skittish horses, frequently bring their legs to-
gether, much resembling the first figure, and are insecure roadsters as well as
poor draught horses. ‘The second sketch is the walking motion of an unladen
cart-horse or a coach-horse standing still; these, as well as hunters, take the
same position, which indicates that they have the free use of their limbs, In
the drag, the former bring their fore legs under their bodies, the principle be-
ing applicable to any quadruped performing the like task; and such a horse
would consequently fall down forward but for the resistance of the load he
draws. But this accident seems provided for, by the power the horse has of
contracting the muscles (see Section 10), and drawing up quickly the lower

art of his limb, in time to get it out of the way of his hind leg, both motions
praning each a separate effort toward progression. _I still have in view a walk
ing pace, all other paces being no other than modifications of the walk ; and,
in fact, “a horse that walks well can do any thing else well,” an aphorism
that is a-twin with one equally well founded in the preceding section.

With some horses, the hind foot, instead of coming forward, as described at
the bottom of the last section, upon the spot of ground marked by the fore one,
falis short of the mark.—T hese never turr out fast ones, although their fault
does not always consist in the shape or disproportion of the bones, bat in the
contraction of the muscle or tendon (see this tendon described under the head of
Foot’); at times it is owing to the relaxation of the immediate coverings of
the bones, described at Section 16. Such horses may be well enough to look
at, but can not perform properly. The extreme of this misfortune is termed
stringhalt; but every approach towards it, however trivial, is good cause for
rejecting the animal. In case of the hind foot coming too far forward (in the
walk still) and striking the fore one, the fault lies in want of sufficient strength

‘or quickness) in the furé leg; besides which see further at Section 10. If the

ind foot comes down sometimes inside, at others outside, the just quitted
situation of the fore foot, the animal has a disagreeable zalling in his gait from
side to side, the fault being as often in the fore leg as in the hinder one, some-
times in both. Such horses commence a journey with much apparent confi-
dence, but tiring soon, they fall into their old error, and the security they have
imspired is found to be deceptious :—many accidents are the consequence.
This fault I hesitate whether to agcrihe to the fore leg or the hind one but #

 

 
8 “PROGRESSION. ADAPTATION OF THE LIMBS.

certainly originates in a disagreement between the fixing of the two upon the
body, either as to the situation, or want of muscular strength at the place of
joining. Such a horse isa stumbler, and when he trots away from us, we
can see nearly as much of his fore legs as of his hind ones; in the straight-
built, well-set limbed horse, the fore legs are then concealed from our sight by
the hind ones. 1 own this is with me a grand criterion for judging as toa
horse's capability of going over the ground. In ming or indeed any run-
ning, the fore legs are then brought closer together, the hind legs rather wider
(so in leaping), as we see in greyhounds, hares, deer, and all other fleet
creatures. é 3

Such as I have described is'the act of progression with all horses, but in
various degrees, according to their sizes (as with the coach-horse, saddle-horse,
poney); four such efforts having called into action all the bones of the body,
including more or less that of the head, tail, and neck, according to the pace
or other circumstances.—See Section 11. Hence it must be clear, that to
perform this duty of progression, or getting forward, properly, as regards
either the length of time he sustains it, or the quickness of performance,
weight, or velocity, the limbs must be adapted to the kind of work the horse
has to perform and to each other, whether that be in harness, on the turf, the
chase, or the road.

5. We do not find this adaptation of the limbs so much in the amount of
covering the bones may have on them, as in the size and proportion of these,
and the suitable manner in which they are fastened together; as may be seen
1n those horses (blood) where tendon supplies the place of muscle, and most
strength resides in the smallest compass; and, as may be proved by the ob-
struction to his paces, which is always observable in the horse burthened with
very muscular shoulders. Equally true is it, that, after we have approved of
the proportions of a pair of horses in respect to bone and built, certain powers
of going or lastingness are frequently discovered to be possessed by one so
much beyond his match, that we are compelled to admit those powers do re-
side in something else than in his built. Superior health, sound wind, cour-
age, give this strength, with speed, and lastingness; the bones being then
well cased together and strongly supported by their immediate covering, have
full and fair play. But wherever they be fundamentally ill-adapted to each
other, in whatever degree this escapes our observation, the muscles and tendi-
nous parts adapt themselves in some measure to that lamentable kind of form,
but which no filling up, or after-accommodation of the parts to each other, can
completely eradicate, though it may he concealed from our view. The mus-
cle that is so perverted rises up in the middle preturnaturally, as if some sprain
or other had caused that appearance ; the contiguous parts, consequently, un-
me greater fatigue than, in the event of finer symmetry, would have fallen
to their share : and the extraordinary friction or working thereof, occasions, at
a day more or less remote, the exhaustion of its powers (see Section 21), and
the lodgement of acrimonious matter in the cellular membrane, which ap-

ars in tumour, abscess, &c. This protuberant appearance of the muscle
is most visible at the stifle [IN. 30], and on the shoulder [M. 16], just above
the elbow.

A more minute inquiry, however, on those points would lead me away—
too far from my main purpose, at present ; I therefore return to notice, in the
first place, the structure of the legs of such horses as, by their untoward posi-

* Firing is sup to restore derangement of the integuments, by causing inflammation
and contraction thereof upon the bone, so as to embrace it more tightly. This is effected ty
much of the muscle being taken up into the system, or sloughing offi inthe cure; as well as the
contraction of the flexor tondon (back sinew) and its sheath.
DEFORMED LIMBS. 9

tion, entail on them the chances of producing some one or other of those evils
that are known to afflict certain horses, incurably, to the end of their days,
Thus, some are known to tread on the inner quarter of the hoof, others on
the outside, without the real cause being ever ascertained, and remedies are
frequently applied that have not the remotest chance of achieving any good,
on that very account, Some horses “cut” in consequence of treading on the
outer quarter; on the contrary, by punishing the inner quarter in treading,
others contract a disposition to “yuittor and ringbone ;” both instances of
mal-formation, or bad built (as I call it), produce splents, diseases of the frog,
of the sensible sole, and of the coronet, as the case may be: how the various
modes of wrong treading are brought on remain to be examined into hereafter.
Meantime, it may not be amiss to observe that the right mode and make may
be discovered by noticing the proportions of those horses, that, by the acknow-
ledged just symmetry of their bones, the agreement in size of one limb with
another, and the faultless manner in which these are attached to the body,
go tolerably free from any such diseases, until old age, accident, or the misap-
plication of their powers, brings on disease.

6. There are, then, three kinds of mal-formation, or bad shape, attendant
on the limbs of horses, which I consider original faults, those others to which
they give rise being but secondary ones. Ist. That wherein the Jeg is ill-form-
ed in itself. 2d. ‘When it is badly joined to the bady. 3d. When the fore
legs disagree with the hind ones in length or quantity. Each, being attended
by its respective defect in going, as to safety, speed, or strength, and liable to
incur one or other of the fis enumerated, as appearing on the legs and feet—
is worthy of the reader's separate consideration ; although it frequently hap-
pens that an individual horse is afflicted with all three faults at the same time,
the two first being found together, subsequently producing the other also, But
I have generally noticed that one of those faults sometimes accommodates
itself to the other, amending it considerably; as, when a limb that is too long
is set higher up on the body than is esteemed right construction, in the same
manner as a horse lame of a leg may be passed off for sound should the cor-
responding leg of his body also fall lame.* Much the same is it with the
third kind of disagreement, in the opinion of many people; because it has
existed in some celebrated horses, and they would have us believe that this
very disagreement was itself the cause of the celebrity those individuals ar-
rived at. This, howéver, was not the fact.

7. The Phenomena mare, unquestionably the first trotter of her inches in
our days, never did her work in style: nobody could account for her achieve-
ments upon the view, and | had always my doubts whether hers was a fair
trot, though I won upon her. In the trot she had an unaccountable shuffle.
She was low before, but had the gift of taking her fore feet out of the way
of the hinder, which fel! (in the walk) about half a shoe beyond that of the
fore ones, the feet reaching the ground in succession.

Laertes, a grey horse, hunted in Leicestershire, 1818, 1819,t of no par-
ticular powers any where, and confessedly elumsy in the forehand, without
much fire, was yet in the habit of taking the ordinary six-feet leaps with ease,
and clearing a ditch of twenty-five feet with pleasure, often exceeding those
admeasurements by nearly a fourth. Eclipse is known to all of us (as matter
of history) for having had a low shoulder, which gave his fore quarters an
awkward appearance: but this was compensated for by the fine form of his
hind quarter, which, being particularly strong and muscular, threw his body

* Certain dealers are known to have inflicted lameness on the foot with this view. Gorri¢
and disgusting as is the relation, ’tis no less true.
t At that = the property of Mr, ly.
10 ECLIPSE-MAKE OF SHOULDER.

forward at every leap, in despite of his low fore quarter,—for running 13 no
other than the leap reiterated. One leading characteristic, however, denoted
all three horses to be of the right stamp in the main: they stood even on their
leg-bones and the soles of their feet; that is to say, straight up and down
nearly, from the elbow [N. 16] to the ground before, and from the stifle-joim

. 30] to the ground behind, respectively ; both these parts, viewed sideways
in the plate, being placed nearly horizontal, as regards each other, on the line

NN]; at least, this was the relative position of the stifle and elbow, in the two
irst-mentioned animals, and of the third I do but presume that he was so,
for “the history” of his form in this respect leaves us a little in doubt.

But “the shoulder of Eclipse was a low one,” say the published accounts
of him; yet, as this defect, real or supposed, consisted in the inclination of the
shoulder-bone [K to N] above the elbow, by reason of the great freedom of
the muscles which held it and the shoulder-blade in position, he would, when
stepping out with the fore leg, rise higher than when he stood still; a particu-
larity that is reversed in horses whose shoulder-blades are set on more nearly
upright than those of Eclipse were. This accounts for the vaulting manner
he had, as we read in the printed accounts of his exploits; and his running

eyhound fashion, with his chest close to the ground, for he would thereby

eep off the ground longer betwixt each leap, until the impetus received from
his hind legs was nearer spent than it would have been but for thus ae
up his fore feet. On referring to those parts in the annexed plate, they wil
be found thus drawn.

8. Viewed in front, the fore legs, upon which the safety and ease of the
animal’s going chiefly depends, should, to be perfect, be widest next the chest,

Fig. 3. approaching each other gradually, until the eye, hav-
ing compared that part with the pastern, scarcely
perceives the difference. Here, the leg, taken by it-
self, is smaller, though the interval between the knees
and the feet does not differ, on account of the width
and flatness which ought to exist in the well-formed
knee, yet, taken on the outside, considerably more
breadth will be found above than below. Such a
knee, when flat and finely marked at the joint, is al-
ways well covered ina healthy horse, (see section 15),
he then throws it out with great freedom, and takes
a firm step fairly on the entire bottom of his hoof;
but, should the leg be ever so good a one in itself,
yet placed too high upon the chest, where it is heli,
not by a socket or insertion of the bone, but by strong
elastic muscle only, this throws the feet too near tu-
gether upon the ground; the horse then treads on
the outer quarter of hs hoof, and wears away the wall; and, when tired, is
most commonly given to cut. Endeavours are used in shoeing to amend this
fault, by paring away the inner crust; but it is one of those defects in the
po ee no art can completely eradicate, and has been termed “pigeon
toed.

Nor is the matter rendered any better when, by reason of the knees turn
ing ¥.., the toes turn out, and the horse then treads on the inner quarter ; and,
however those of the one or the other description may have the reputation of
prent speed, it can be for a short distance only, because the action of such

jorses must be laboured and imperfect, particularly one of the latter kind of
make. He must, consequently, fatigue himself more at every step, and tire
souner than one of the same size, a formed in every other respect similar
but having legs that come nearer in shape to those in the annexed sketch | fig.

   
SHOULDERS 1.ARGE.—ACTION. !

8). That suen fnock-knee form is occasioned by weakness, is evident tron.
the position of the knees, when the animal stands at rest. This he does oy
supporting himself at times like a dancing-master, with one foot before the
other; and, no doubt, the twist with which his pace is always attended when
going, occasions certain disorders of the feet, which he seeks to ease by shift-
ing the weight alternately from one, to the other foot. He will, moreover,
sooner “knock up,” and ultimately “get done for earlier in life, by reason
f the origin of this species of malformation being seated high up on the limb,
thereby incommoding the action of the shoulder-muscles: the elbow, at N.
\4, by being pressed close to the ribs, having thrown in the knees, receives, at
wery step the ley takes, a kind of double motion, which, of course, doubly

affects the action of those parts; and much fatigue, pain, and anguish succeed
zach other, until it communicates to the cavity of the chest, or other internal
parts. Such animals have frequently the shoulders unusually muscular, hid-
ing, in a good measure, the original defect from the eye and touch of a com-
mon observer ; but it may, nevertheless, be ascertained to exist, by the symp-
toms just now mentioned, as well as by the appearance of the protruding
muscle before noticed at Sect. 5. To knocked knees and inside tread, let me
add the circumstance, that such horses have a broken pace, kicking loose
stones before them, with a certain rolling from side to side, to the great annoy-
ance of the rider, All this arises from awkwardness, by reason of the shoul-
der’s bad position, whereby the leg being thrown sideways ‘removes the foot
in an increasing ratio from the centre of gravity, and, instead of its being
thrown straight forward, describes part of a circle, more or less curved, ac-
Fig. 4. cording to the amount of the original defect.

The straight dotted line shows the space a well-
formed foot, such as belong to the leg in our pre-
Co Cc ceding sketch (3), would take, being on paper
just one inch; the curved line shows the course,

or nearly so, the foot is thrown which belongs te

@ oO an ill-formed shoulder, contracted at the elbow:

; Laces as this line is an inch and an eighth (1 in. 4) in
length, the horse so formed does an eighth more
work than one with straight legs would do on goiug over the same ground.

In addition to his other evils, a horse with such a shoulder (being muscular)
1s most liable to contract “fistula in the withers;” but, if not so muscular,
« strain of fhe shoulder” is likely to attend his twisted manner of treading, when
hard worked. With such a built horse, “splents” are usually more tedious
than with a straight-limbed one; and strains of the sinews, i.e. of the tendon,
as well as those of the coffin-joint, happen oftener, and appear with worse
symptoms, in proportion as the limbs are more or less cross-built*.

9. Long and sloping pasterns [Y, 13—16, and Y, 34—39] partly denote
the Arabian, are handsome to view, and make easy goers; but such horses
son tire, and, [ may-say, are generally weak, having the flexor tendon, or
back sinew, considerably relaxed. The small pastern, or bone inserted at the
hoof, always rises in a direct line from the hoof, both being about 45 degrees
fir saddle-horses, as at }, (fig. 5.) and the large pastern is then several degrees
nearer to upright. These hoofs stand of an oval shape, aad have small froge.’
But some, as draught horses, have large frogs, the hoof round, and more
upright by nearly ten degrees in early life, as at (c) in the annexed scale, in
Shick case they are liable, if no change takes place, and they get older and
weaker in the joints, to “kmuckle over.” But, getting aged, and the supply

 

 

 

 

* L reserve until a latter part of the volume what I shall have to eay, Tespecting strain of tne
tack sinew and of the coffin-joint, which 1 have thus named in conformity with the genera

vuigarism, in order to make myself intelligible to the meanest capacity.—Ser Fvot, a section of
2 HOOF, ITS SHAPE AND MARE.

of nutriment for repairing wear and waste falling short, the horse becomes
sommice-footed. The wall or crust is then lower; and as the bottom of
Fig. 5. the foot grows convex, causing the ani
«mal to slip about, so the front of the
S hoof (a—e) grows concave, the toe (¢)
! almost turning upwards. Horses kept
| for heavy draught have short pastern
i bones, the small one entering the hoof at
| the coronet (c) in early life, but aftez-
; wards changes, as I say, to (a—d); and
; this new inclination, it will be seen,
must depress the bone, as the animal
acquires the sort of hoof called pom-
i mice-footed, and causes a constant strain-
ing upon the coronet; hence, the crip-
pling, insecure gait, horses of this de-
scription acquire, even before they get
«| old; and hence those numerous disor-
ders to which the feet are liable from
: this one origin.

Contracted heels of this or any other species of norse, peing destructive of
hs capability of going, should be guarded against as much as any other in-
dividual misfortune to which he is liable: a disposition thereto constitutes suf-
ficient ground for rejection. "When this is the case, the interval or cleft be-
tween the heels, at ?a) in the annexed scale, is found to be more or less tender,
according to the progress of the disease ; the cleft will, in health, receive two
fingers lain in, the part having in it nothing unusual in the feel. Soon, how-
ever, the Eeat increases, the part hardens, and the cleft scarcely admits of a
small finger ; the horse flinches as if you touched a sore, and nothing but time
and proper treatment can restore him, if any thing can. Most commonly,
however, the disease proceeds until the clefts of the heels meet and become
rotten. Pressure upon the frog, is the certain preventive of contraction. See
“ Foot.”

‘When the pastern-bones (great and small) rise one above the other too up-
rightly, the small one receives the whole concussion, and communicates the
jar to every minute construction of the internal foot. See Foot, section of.

he jarring of his pace is then very great, both to the horse and his rider.
Such horses are very liable to go lame occasionally, but they recover by rest.
The ass and wild heise (poney) are thus formed ; but being hardy, and having
less blood and less weight of body to carry about, suffer less by it than the
horsé.

The just form or elevation of the hoof in front, upon which mainly depends
its form behind, has been discussed by various writers, but remains yet awhile
uncertain and unsettled. Mr. B. Clarke judges 33 degrees of elevation from
the ground to be the best form of the hoof, and Mr. White quotes him with a
portion of approbation, but most unaccountably refers to his “plate iv,” on
which an inscription tells us the fact is not so, but 45 degrees is the best pos-
sible elevation of the hoof: whilst those which are higher (lower he writes it,
or “33”), “approach too near the perpendicular ;” the figure on the plate
itself di ne with the diagram on the page of his book (305).

My ideas, however, on this subject are not so general; for I have found the
best form of the hoof differ, according to the shape of the two pasterns, aa
they regard the hoof and each other; deeming that the best, in its particular
case, where the small one follows the same declination as the hoof, and the
large pastern ascends twenty degrees nearer to the upright, as before stated.

=
a

     

 
CAT-HAMMED, HOW CONTRACTED. 13

e preceding figure (No. 5) shows the outline of three fect of different de-
ees of elevation: b d describes the line of the coronet, or orifice, into which
the thickest end of the small pastern-bone sinks, and rests upon tbe springy
substance attached to the inside of the hoof, and which bone, we naturally
expect, should ascend out of, and take the same direction as, the hoof, whence
it springs. Any departure from this rule of nature is clearly an approach
towards disease. In the paragraph above, I showed what mischief might be
derived from an aprghe small pastern, such as would suit the outline hoof
(c); of course, this elevation, or a greater, would be a mis-shapen hoof as
well as pastern. In like manner, we knew that the pommice-foot is out of
point and diseased, and it follows that the best possible elevation of the hoot
Must necessarily lie in the medium of those extremes, which we know to be
diseases in themselves: this it is to determine a contest mechanically, without
once adverting to the well-known circumstance of the health and free use of
its heels, which attends the horse whose hoof is, at any time of life, near 45
flegrees of elevation or depression. Did we require more arguments to prove
this to be the proper elevation, a conclusive one could be fund in the well-’
known circumstance of those hoofs of horses which are very upright in earl
life becoming the lowest when the animals get old; whilst those hoofs whic
come near the standard of excellence in youth (45 degrees), retain the same
form, as nearly as the injuries of shoeing admit of, to an extreme old age.

 

10. So tar as the foregoing observations on the fore-legs apply, they do be-
long, in every particular, and with equal reason, to the hind legs also; with
the exception, however, of what is said concerning the elbow of the fore-leg, °
and its adhesion to the chest, for which we must now substitute the stifle of
-he hind-leg [N. 30]; and add, instead of the kind of defect described as being
occasioned by the contraction of the part, it is here 6wing to the expansion
or spreading of the stifle from the sides. This throws the houghs together,
and forms *cat-hammed horses,” as they are termed ; the mode of going such
animals are constrained to adopt, the circle their Fig. 6.
hind feet describe, at every step, the additional
fatigue they undergo, the awkwardness of their
tread, and the consequent diseases communicated
to the sole, lately described (in sec. 6.) as pertaining
to the fore-leg,—most undoubtedly afflict the hind-
leg also, with the additional fact, that this one is
more liable to “grease.” At rest, if an animal so
‘built does not place one foot before the other, his
houghs not unfrequently touch each other,—po-
ney’s and low horses more particularly so; and it
geems worthy of remark, that this species of mal-
gonformation seldom appears on the fore and hind-
egs of the same animal. Indeed, I can not recol-
ect having seen one instance, and I am thence led
to conclude that this twist of the legs is a contri-
vance of Nature to accommodate itself to the dis-
proportionate length of legs before or behind. But,
when it so happens that the strength of the parts
resists this bending of the hough or of the knee,
such horses walk higher behind than before, and
vice versa, 7. ¢. when one pair of Jegs seem to have
eutgrown the other pair; a defect which, though

3 cd

  
4 FORE LEGS SHORT.—LEAPING.

often overlook ed, is no less deserving of notice. The wound termed “over.
reach” is inflicted by the kind-leg of this formation upon the fore one.“ Forg-
ing” is, likewise, occasioned by the hinder toes striking the shoe cr shves of
the fore-feet ; and is sometimes brougnt on by injudicious shoeing on feet of tle
very best construction, and a loose rein; it is, therefore, to be corrected only
by the contrary practice, keeping the hind-toes short, and the heel of the fore-
foot low, and driving with the reins borne up. By these means, the fore-
hoof will spreal at the heel, and the animal be enabled to take it out of the
way in time for the hind-foot to.occupy the identical spot on the ground it had
just quitted; for very few horses have the greyhound-tread of Eclipse before-
noticed, wherein the hind-feet tread much wider than the fore-feet. Neither
is such a gift desirable to any but racers, perhaps: nor,is it, indeed, compati-
ble with the duties the generality of horses have to perform.

The great additional labour horses with houghs so formed undergo, added
to the pain and anguish of continuing it, occasion irritation of the whole hind
quarter, that communicates itself to the region of the kidneys and intestines,
and superinduce intlammatory complaints, which frequently terminate unfa-
vourably. Constitutional diseases appear on the leg and foot behind oftener
than before; and those of the Coronet, with Curb, Thorough pin, spavin,
strains, windgall, scarcely fill up the catalogue of evils caused by, or receiving
aggravation from, too much expansion of the stifle, with its attendant, the
cat-hammed hough, and, consequently, a twisted tread of the hoof. No doubt
exists in my mind that Eclipse would have been a cat-hammied horse had he
been raced at two or three years old, as our practice now is: both he and
Flying Childers were five years old before they started on the turf. Heavy
tong-legged children of our species, in like manner, become knock kneed men,
by being put on their legs too soon; this form of their knees deprives them
of calves tu thin ill-formed legs, and the thigh, too, seems wasted, when the
deformity is great.

» ll. When the fore-legs are shortest, the horse, whilst going, nods his head
up and down a good deal, as he does when these are either weak, tired, or
tender of foot: when they are very feeble, without any other ailment, he car-
ries the head high constantly; but he works his head from side to side when
the same subjects of complaint assail the hind legs and feet. Poneys bein

ever out of point in one or other of these respects, afford unerring proofs of
those remarks. The value and advantage of the straight position of a horse’s
houghs are never more apparent than when he rises upon his haunches to take
a leap, a service which never was performed satisfactorily by a cat-hammed
horse, because he seems to hesitate about what shall be the distance between
his feet at the precise moment they are to leave the ground: a blunder which
is most visible in the standing leap, when the feet are seen first to straddle to
their utmost; in an instant they are brought so close together as to lose all
purchase, and he goes over from an intermediate spot, the whole transaction
occupying as much time as does the counting of one, two, three, and away !

The motions of the head are always good indications of pleasure as well aa

ain, A horse will frequently thruw up his head, almost in his rider’e face
ts if to rebuke his barbarity,) when he has been hit on the head or ears. (See

ection 16.) He lvoks at his flanks dolorously when affected by a dull pain
in the intestines; if it be sharp pain, he turns about quicker: he thrusts his
nose towards his chest, when pain assails his lungs generally ; but when one
lobe only is affected, he turgs his,head only to that side. Lf a horse be gurthed
too tight he will sometimes (justly) bite his tormentor, for this operation re-
tards the action of the muscles between the ribs and of the ribs themselves, so
that the lungs do not get room to play. (See Section 31, and Introduction,
page 4.) Old horses contrive to avoid this punishment by “holding tbeis
LEADING LEG. FUUNDER. GROGGY. LA
wind” (keeping the lungs filled) during the girthing; a fine proof this of Na:
ture’s dealings, for which they usually either get Ticked under the belly, ot
hit about the head ; but both kinds of punishment are the harbingers of further
disease, viz. the first of the blind gut, as described at Section 48 and 49; and
the other leads to poll evil, as described in Book 2.

_A horse is frequently found to have contracted lameness in the fore-leg
without showing any visible sign of its exact. situation, and applications to the
shoulder is the usual remedy in the hands of the generality of common far-
fiers, Some of them imagine the strain is ditaated lower in the leg ; but they
are no nearer the fact, though they are to the spot. A defect in the conforma-
tion of the limbs occasions the foot which leads to come upon the ground with
more force than its fellow: the concussion of the hoof is greater, and is un-
equally placed when the leg is a-twist than in the upright form; the leading
tires sooner, and the sensible sole becomes inflamed when the horse is con-
stantly urged to step out with it, the afiliction barely showing itself between
the frog and the tue, if any where. Ifa horse receives the impulse to proceed

from the right hand or heel, he will step out with the fore-leg of that side, ac--

companied by the hind-leg of the near side; but his rider, or driver, should
early teach him to change the leading-leg, by sometimes touching him upon
the contrary side. It is worthy of note, too, that the horse which executes
this change with the least trouble, and oftenest, has most power and command
of his limbs. [See Index—Fever in the feet.] When both legs before are at-
‘tacked, the horse exhibits a crippling uncertain gait, not unlike that of a
- drunken man, whence the term “ groggy” has been applied, and, if he is not
timely indulged in rest and a run at grass, he is a ruincd horse, and becomes
soon what is termed “foundered,” of which disorder there are several kinds,
The mistaking one kind of founder for another generally costs the animal his

life, sooner or later, and the studious inquirer had better turn to the next

Chapter (at sect. 21, paragraph 3), where he will find a few words on chest
founder, many of the symptoms whereof are not unlike this of the feet.

Horses full of feed, and requiring purgative physic, stand with the legs
stretched, more than our second cut, at page 7,—inordinately at times. Old
Gibson attributed it to vice, and a disposition to kick, when a horse holds his
toe scarcely resting on the ground; this is not always the case, for his fore-
leg is as frequently so held a-trip as his hind one; and I consider it the token
alike of either sore feet, or of incipient founder.

12, Besjdes the disproportion the fore and hind legs bear to each other,
another series of defects in construction exists between the length of the fore
limbs and that of the trank, being sometimes most apparent at the belly and
flank, at others on the back, its tendency always depending on the turn taken
by the latter. Although this is the old English way of judging of long car-
cased horses, Lafosse (an old French farrier) took the measure of proportions
more properly from the breast-bone to the buttock, in the annexed plate being
from the parallel line 11 to 38; then comparing this with his height, he tells
us “a good horse, as we can learn from experience, should be a tenth longer
from the breast to the buttock than he is high from the top of the shoulder to
the ground.” The latter admeasurement will be found upon the annexed
, plate to extend from the line [D to Z] and, with the former, will compose a
square rather wider than high,—the integumeats being removed from the
bones on all sides. My notions of iust proportion, however, differ from the
French standard, though they do not run into the contrary extreme; for I can
not help thinking inordinate length of body, as compared to a hurse’s heigh
a very great defect as regards his health, that form being invariably attena
with meagre, washy flanks, and a painful manner of going. But the Flan
16 ROACH BACK, AND HOLLOW BACK.

ders and Norman breeds have all this tendency; and they are invariably of a
ae nature, when the belly, also, hangs low. ar

‘The major part of our horses of this built have their sides falling in, more
or less, towards the hind quarter, some few of them to such a degree that the
flank appears as if it were fastened to the loins. These are remarkably poor
feeders, fave a good deal of short-lived vigour, without the gift of keeping it
up at any kind of thing. Nutritious food, tut less in quantity, does for horses
which are out in the first-mentioned point all that can be done, and that is
very little: those of the second species of bad form can not bear poe journeys,
nor long privation, or they contract flatulencies and spasmodic cholic.

Another species cf disproportionate length, as compared to height, consists
in what is called “high mounted,” the limbs having then much more length
than the body; a defect that is rendered still more apparent when (as gene-
rally happens) the horse is also roach-backed, like the first sketch of back

Fig. 7.

 

1

bone in figure 7; and it is still more striking when a little man is mounted
apon it with a saddle that is ever sliding forward upon the withers, Such a
form always denotes weakness of limb, and want of freedom in the fore-hand;
for can a horse of this built take a long step, or trot well, or thrive in the field,
by reason of the difficulty he has in reaching the grass, which induces him tc
bend one knee forward, whilst the other leg is drawn back under him. A
ludicrous story is even told among horse-deaiers of a horse so formed havin:
starved itself in the fields, while the food lay within an inch of its nose; and
though such stories are no argument, they, nevertheless, convey the genera]
feeling of the narrators, which is seldom completely wrong.

13. But a horse may be shert in the carcase, which is not exactly “high-
mounted,” in my view of the term; since much will depend upon the shape
(or we of his back-bone, tu bring him under the one or the other descrip-
tion. e hive seen what sort of character a roach back bestows on a horse.
he direct co itrary form, or hollow back-bone, [see the lowermost sketch iv
the last cut (c)] is no better, though built upon long limbs, horses with this
shaped back being in all cases weak in the loins ; anu therefore, are they more
liabie to contract inflammation of the kidneys, and to resist tle cure longe:
than those of any other shaped back whatever. Yet are they prefexeed hy
SHORT BACKED; HIGH MOUNTED GRINDING. 14

timid horsemen, principally on account of the easy seat a hollow back affords
Great caution in administering strong repeated diuretics should be impressed
upon us at the sight of a very hollow-backed patient. See Sections 53—-56
When the bend in the back-bone, or “hollow back,” is restricted to the fore
art of the animal, the loins being well filled up, his built in other respects is
ess material, to be ‘short in the carcase” being then an advantage; and it is
much} greater when the bend.is donfined to a gentle curve, scarcely distin-
uishable, just behind the withers. {See middle sketch in the last cut (b)}.
his is considered a straight back, belonging to a light made, compact. horse}
he is invariably ribbed home; and, as there then exists but a small space he-.
tween the last rib and the hip-bone, as seen in the plate at 30 to 32, so is it
always accompanied by the deep chest, good hind quarters, and wide loins
(i. e. not pinched together), and his ribs finely curved. Horses so formed are
always healthy, and esteemed at first sight super-excellent, being supposed,
with justice, capable of doing more work than those of any other built what-
ever. But the gift of leaping or of great speed do not always belong to horses
- of this form, however perfect in other respects, though health, vigour, strength,
and lastingness do. Such horses always feed well and retain their condition.
The inquiring reader would do right to turn back to what is said under Sec-
tion 10, and draw his conclusions from what is there stated. i

14. Low-buttocks generally accompany roach backs [see sketch a.] and are
always attended with another fault—*hind legs too straight,” and incapable
of stepping out. A horse so formed can execute no pace tolerably, and trot-
ting worst of all. In the drag, such a horse steps short, and is always upon
the bustle. as if his legs were tied. A large head, with short thick neck, de-
notes a sluggish horse, heavy in the hand, and usually “carrying low:” these
are faults generally attending his entire breed. When the neck is longer, the
case is not bettered, for then the animal is of the long-bellied kind, with thin
flanks and washy. As asmall light head, but wide at the forehead, with ex-
panding nostrils, and bold prominent eyes, denotes (loud strength of body,
and vigour of constitution, so the contrary may be looked for in horses which
have narrow foreheads, small or sunken eyes, and small arid nostrils. 1
never saw a fine well-turned head that did not belong toa good set of legs,
well fixed upon the body; the correspondence goes still further, inasmuch as
the quantity of white in the face is commonly attended with a proportion of
white upon the heels, thus: a star, one white foot; a blaze, two white feet;
white face, four white legs, &c. Horses with large jaws are given to keep
open their mouths while at work; and, when aged, grind their teeth more
than is necessary in feeding. The manner of breaking his food being, with
the horse, different from that of other animals, viz. by rubbing his under teeth
from right to left against the upper ones,—a motion to which the term “ grind-
ing his corn” has been applied,—an old horse will sometimes continue it when
he has nothing to eat, thereby wearing away his teeth; a circumstance that
occasions imperfect mastication and its consequences,* besides subsequently
leading us into error in examining his age. Hard-mouthed horses, and those
which champ the bit much, fall into this idle habit. ;

Flat, or narrow-chested horses are subject to those attacks which lead to
consumption (see Section 36), and, consequently, are liable to show bad con
dition ; or, it may be, that disorders of the chest do contract its capacity. In
some horses on the contrary, the cavity of the chest seems too great for its
contents; they are short-winded horses of one description (there being soveral)

* Indigestion, flatulency, cholic, &zc. are all produced by animals swallowing their fod uo
token.

I
(
#8 STALLIONS AND MARES, ADAPTATION.

that are aflicted with these kinds of mal-conformation, or disagreement in siz@
between the parts containing and those contained. i

.15. My purpose in making this exposition of the ill-effects produced by
mis-shapen limbs, &c. on the horse's health and usefulness, would be incom-
plete, were the original causes thereof left unnoticed. The most remote, or
more general one, resides in the breed, or the manner of breeding the animal,
whence we are sometimes led to say, “what is bred in the bone will never ga
out of the flesh.” As regards the kind of stock from which to raise a supply
of young ones, breeders may undoubtedly suit their own fancies; but it must
be ‘seen that a brood mare which receives too much of the horse for her capaci-

_ty, will produce a foal ail father, as it 1s called, being at the same time larger
than she can conveniently carry; it then bids fair from the beginning to be a
mis-shapen animal. This happens oftener than is commonly imagined ; but
it is easily prevented by adopting a horse for her whose strength comes tole-
rably near that of the mare. Disregard of this precaution is found to produce
the first foal much smaller, though more lively, than the next and subsequent
ones, especially if care be taken in the latter case to give her a horse more and
more vigorous as she becomes more roomy. Tor it must be clear to any body
[upon mechanical principles again] that if the foetus, growing too large for
the cavity in which it 1s generated, originates too much bone, it must determine
towards some particular part of the young animal ; and the colt will be brought
forth with that deformity, and carry it through life, after plaguing two or three
of its owners with fruitless endeavours to physic off its ills.

I say nothing whatever of the cross to be adopted; that, being contrary to
my plan, would carry me too far away from my main subject. But I may
observe, in passing on, that no breeder in his senses would think of employ-
ing a horse to raise stock that has’served half a dozen or more mares in the
course of the day; and yet nothing is more common, nor more inevitable when
the payment for covering is low (say a guinea or two), than that the small-
ness of the sum must be made up by the number of mares served, the price,

_keep, and attendance, upon stallions being expensive. This error must beso
palpable to any man who calls himself a father, asto render any further argu-
ment upon that topic utterly unnecessary. Some twenty-five years back-in-
to the last century, I recollect reading a well-attested account of a celebrated
horse’s dying in consequence of twelve or fourteen successive efforts in pro-
creation ; and if such be the deplorable case with the parent, what strength,
bottom, or lastingness, can be hoped for in the progeny so begotten? Never-
theless, [am of opinion that a vigorous horse which may have been freely:
engaged (if early in the season) may be in a better condition for raising large
and lively stock, than under any other circumstances whatever, except.recent
exhaustion. Aged stallions produce hard-mouthed foals, and further pro-
ee the ill-adapted ages of sire and dam by extraordinary hollowness over
the eyes,

Much depends on the country, the climate, or kind of land, in which the

estation or breeding may be carried on; and it may be presumed, that no one
in his senses would choose such a situation as is known to be disadvantageous
to the particular kind of breeding he may have in contemplation to pursue;
whilst those who may already be so placed, have no right to complain when
they engage in a branch of business thus ill adapted to their plan of farming,
and they get disappointed. As both objections lie at the option of the parties
concerned, they require no further remark ; but another point of consideration
well worthy our careful attention is, the treatment the mare ought to experi-
ence at our hands while she is breeding ; this being a matter of some moment,
and within every one’s control, should not be neglected. Though a brood
tare in foal requires no pampering at any period, yet it is clear that, from the
MOUNTING COLTS: WELL BRACED LIMBS i

third or fourth month, she should not be worked so hard as usual, and from
this period to the day of her foaling, the duty to be required of her should be
less and less every week. ‘Nor, on the other hand, is complete idleness be-
fitting her situation: in cases where she has not been used to hard labour, a
run at grass, in a paddock, with access to an outhouse or stable, as it leaves
to her option the quantity of exercise her strength is capable of sustaining,
would be found most conducive to the best purposes of nature. Her food.
should be of the first quality, and regular, and, though full enough, should not
betoo much. Occasionally, she may be off her feed, during the “time,” but
she does not therefore require “physicking,” nor coaxing to eat. Great, care
should be taken that her body is emptied regularly, that no derangement taka
ee either way: and that if opening physic is required at all, aloes is not in

er case the best that can be prescribed for that purpose, since they act most-
ly upon the intestines lying immediately in the vicinity of the foal. An
opening draught or drench should be substituted for the pill, as its operation
begins sooner.

A very general cause of mis-shapen limbs is the placing upon younkers too
great weights at first, wherehy the houghs or the knees are thrown together
particularly when the animal is constructed with the fore and hind legs dis-
proportioned to each other, as noticed at sections 9 and 10. Splents and
sprains are the inevitable consequences of mounting colts, &. too early in
life; and hollow back is oftener induced by this premature error than existing
originally. As if all this were not enough, many breeders nearly starve their
young ones until they are brought into use; whereby they become deficient
In solidity of bone and quantity of muscle, if they do not imbibe some internal
or constitutional malady, and the event of their limbs growing mis-shapen is
no longer left to chance. ;

16. Notwithstanding all that has been said and done, little would avail the
finest proportions of the bones towards the formation of fine-shaped limbs,
least of ail to symmetry of the whole horse, but for the seemingly adventitious
circumstance of the covering with which they are immediately invested; and
which, embracing tightly several bones, and connecting them together, con-
stitutes a limb. Some of these coverings are confined to the joints only, hold-
ing them in positicn as near as the Creator designed them, unless accident
(of parentage, of birth, or misusage), as before described, should induce them
to a perpetual strain, and they enlarge at these joints in spite of the next or:
universal covering of the bones: this is membrane (of which more shortly,)
the uses whereof on.the bone may be illustrated by taking a stocking of good
length, and having filled it with pebbles of its own size, and tying the end
tightly, a stick or club is produced of some degree-of flexibility resembling a
limb and its joints. Ifthe tying be not performed well, by bracing the stock-
ing to its utmost, the flexibility of certain parts (or joints) of the limb will be
greater: it will possess less strength at the joints when bent, and be liable to
give way or break unless supported by some other covering. It is easy to per-
ceive that the horse which has those coverings in the highest perfection would
move his limbs more correctly after the fashion they were designed for, than
he which constantly strained them out of their places. He who was endowed
with the first-mentioned quality in perfection would be considered a sinewy
tight-built horse; the second kind I have already depicted in section 10, where
she houghs are described as keeping those integuments in a perpetual state of
derangement, straining or twisting them in such a manner that constitutional
enlargement at the joints is the consequence. __ / :

At the ends of all bones, a yielding substance, in appearance like bone it
self, prevents friction, and by its elasticity gives a spring to the animal’s steps
The ease of a horse's going mainly depends upon this substance, which re
9 SINEWY HORSE. CARTILAGE

cetves tne name of cartilage, and is liable in some measure to be absorbed or
taken up into the system, or, in cases of diseased joint, to become stiff and
bony. Consult sect. 23, &c. on those points of information, We may notice
this absorption in very young animals, whose bones are all substituted by
cartilage, until the blood furnisheth the means of forming a more substantia.
frame, such as I have been describing ; and teaches the validity of some re-
marks I made in a preceding section (15) on the kind of attention we ought
to pay to our brood mares while the fetus, or unborn animal, is being formed
in the womb. toes

Not only between bones, and embracing ever joint, but at the termination
of the four legs in their horny feet, is this springy substance .o be found, the
whole being liable to wear out, to contract or to harden with age or disease.
Besides this casing of the joints in cartilage, the ligaments connect or tie the
bones together. ‘I'hese ligaments are seldom troubled with any ailment but
that of great lassitude when the animal is tired, and occasionally to sprain
This accident takes place when the horse steps aside upon uneven ground,
and the ends of the bones press laterally upon the ligaments. It follows, of
course, that mis-shapen horses whose feet are always constrained to take an
uneven tread must be subject to a constant strain, and must be more liable
than others to incur permanent accident,—every step forming a trivial one.

But the ligament demanding the student’s most serious attention is that
which suspends the neck bones, on the same principle as our old fashioned
lamp-irons are suspended by a small one from above, only that the ligament
lies closer, and covers the intervals of the upper side, as at a—b of the annex-
ed sketch.* So placed, and passing from the skull to the backbones, to both
of which it is fastened, it has the power, at
the will of the animal, of bending down or
drawing up the head, which would, in fact,
but for this support, fall to the ground. Horses
in their last moments, when that will may
be supposed to have left them, always cast
back their heads considerably, by reason of

‘ : the contraction of this strong ligament dur-
ing the paroxysms of departing life. Ata, hewever, where is the seat of
poll-evil, it is usually thin, the cavity there found between the bones being
mostly filled with muscle (s. 27); but this does not happen invariably, as some
horses have little or no cavity to be filled with ligamentary substance, or with
muscle. Qur frontispiece is the portrait of a subject of this latter kind; but
the reader is referred to some subsequent observations and cases on “ poll-evil
for more detail on this hitherto-neglected point of conformation.

17. At the joints formed by the bones and covered by cartilage, the whole
are surrounded by a strong membrane, which wraps the bones tightly, and se-
cretes an oil at the joints for its further defence from the effects of friction.
Of this secretion, and of the membranes generally, some further notice is given
in the second chapter at section 22.

‘This strong membrane is not, however, confined to any particular part, but
continues its close attachment, or embracemeut of the bone, over the entire
frame of the horse. Throughout its extended course it serves as an excellent
holdfast for the sinewy ends of the muscles (sce sect. 27), which are attached
to it above and below joints, whereby they act as levers to raise the lower bones
of the limbs, as described hereafter.

 

* Calied by the learned “cervical ligament” and “the cervicular.” In operations for tie
polt-evil this ligament is frequently divided by the unskilful farrier cutting it across rather ies
lengthwise, which is the only right practice,
MEMBRANES. THE HORSES INSIDE. ORGANS. gi

According to the parts this membrane may cover, it has received from the
marned in hard words and many, a separate nafne for each, as it that course
world further the cause of science; and whenever they speak of it as being
found upon the joints, and skull, or the Lones generally, they term it perichon-
drium, pericranium, and periosteum, as the case may be: why, no one ex-
plains. It has been considered insensible, begause in health it has not ( 10
sense of feeling so fine as other parts of the system, which are furnished wit}
more nerves (5. 30); but, the very few of these fine organs with which the
membrane of the bone is furnished, renders the pain occasioned by disease,
whenever it may be attacked, the more acute; when flying from one nerve to
another, those well-known shooting pains are felt (by us) that are universally
mistaken for pains in the. bones themselves, We do not go too far in infer-
ring that the horse is similarly affected. This takes place in splents and spavin,
when the bone enlarging forces its way through this tightly-braced membrane,
and causes inflammation, temporary lameness, and, at length, those well-
known appearances I have just named. In the living horse this membrane is
red, by reason of the fine blood-vessels with which it abounds; but in the dead
subject, the supply of blood being withdrawn, it then turns white,

 

CHAPTER IL

Concerning the Horse's Inside, of its Conformation, the Functions of the
Organs of Life, and the Diseases to which each ws liable: together with
Outlines of the Principles upon which the Curé is to be effected.

18. Sucu, as I have endeavoured to teach, being my view of the external
frame or structure of the horse, which I have termed its built, I come, in the
next place, to speak in a more particular manner of his inside; noticing, as I
pass on from one part of him to another, the seats and causes of his diseases,
with a view to their cure, but referring you to the second book for the separate
treatment each requires. In the third chapter will be found my reasons for fol-
lowing up the principles herein laid down, by a line of practice, at variance, in

-- some material points, with the present mode of treating the animal in health

as well as in disease. i
Orcans.—But, before I proceed to describe those several part of the horse’s '
inside, there appears to me an absolute necessity for previously making the
unlearned reader better acquainted with a few general topics, that we may
proceed with the details smoothly and more intelligibly together; viz. the
names, uses or offices and powers, of that infinity of small organs which lie
spread aver most parts of the body, and belong in common to several of these
arts in nearly equal degrees. ‘The large organs, having the power of carry-
ing on the animal system, first, as regards digestion, secondly, those employed
in the circulation of the blood, and third, those of respiration, are too well
known to the sight and touch to require explanation here; yet are they (the
heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, &c.) composed or made up entirely of those minor
organs I mean first to describe. But the precise way in which these act in
and upon the large ones, the great share they hold in furtherzag the system of
animal life, and the eminent rank their services maintain in restoring health
when the system is any way disordered, has not received, in the practice of
horse-medicine, that share of serious consideration the importance of the sub-
ject imperiously demands. To these points, then, 1 shall shortly call the
reader's undivided attention ; meantime, as some cramp words and phrases are
2 FUNCTIONS. SECRETIONS.

applied by most people (rafters and others) to those offices of the animal's or
ans, they stand in need of previous explanation.

19. Each kind of organ, whether small or large, was designed by the great
maker of all things to perform some office towards the preservation of the
animal in health. When such office is performed properly, as ordained, the
organ is said to “perform its functions well.” .For example, the heart is

iven for the purpose of sending the blood through the arteries, all over the
dy ; but when the pulse beats low or irregularly, that organ is said to “ per-
form its function badly ; when it ceascs to beat, this function is lost or gone.
So, certain of the organs are said to secrete something or other that is liquid ;
the doing this is their function ; the power of doing so, that of secretion ; and *
the article secreted or collected together, is called the secretion of this or that
organ. ‘hus, the kidneys secrete urine, and it runs off (sect. 53): the glands,
under the jaws, secrete spittle (saliva), which passes off with the food by the
intestines ; therefore are they properly considered as excretory also, seeing
both the secretions aredrawn neha for the express purpose of being so sent
away, this last by the grand canal (or gut), as the first mentioned is by the
bladder, and the perspiration is through the pores of the skin. But some se-
cretions are found that have no outlet visible to us weak mortals, though they
find their way through the skin, sensibly enough at times; and this then be-
comes the sensible perspiration or sweat, but when we do not see it, this
third species of evacuation is termed the insensible perspiration; and in
health, one of the two is always in action,—in disease not so.

‘When, however, it happens such functions are obstructed, or, on the other
hand, too much of either secretion is furnished to the system, then disease be-
gins; as does, also, our duty of finding out what part of the vast machine has
ceased to perform its office properly. For, without this previous information,
no man can possibly know how to apply the remedy in restoring the disor-
dered organ to the proper exercise cf its function; nor can any one hope to
arrive at this desirable point of veterinary knowledge, unless he has acquired
the means of ascertaining where, when, andin what degree the mischief has
taken place, by patiently examining the action of those organs while in health,
and comparing their appearance, after death, with the particular symptoms
which preceded that event.

20, SecreTion.—Although, as I say, the secretions just spoken of are im-
portant in themselves, and of several sorts, as bile or gall by the liver, urine by
the kidney, &c. yet the chief object of our present notice is the secretion of a
fluid, more or less watery, which pervades the whole system. It differs in
quality a little, and very little any where, being adapted to the nature of the
parts requiring its aid: Ist, In softening and enabling them to move freely
over each other (as, between the ends of bones); 2d, Acting asa defence
against injuries from extraneous bodies (as on the inner coat* of the intes-
Unes); and 3d, To prevent the parts from growing together (as the liver to
the midriff), &«. isfortunes these which invariably na ppen when the sup-
ply of this fluid falls short of the quantity required for a long while together ;
and this is the gase whenever the animal is worked until the fluid, at some
part or other, is exhausted: a circumstance that strongly bespeaks the pro-
priety of allowing the worn-up poor creature more frequent supplies of water
although this be done in smaller quantities. Inflammation, or fever, which
is occasioned by suddenly checking the secretion, eventually exhausts this
moisture hy its great heat. Both those disorders are therefore referred in the

The surgeons of human practice will observe, that I here transgress the doririna of the sur
faces; but they will please to recollect that my objecy is to make If und rtain
class of saders, of which they compose a very stall art. ca eee tae
USES OF SECRETIONS: REDUNDANT; AND DEFECTIVE. Qa

sequel to the same origin ; the first being local, or pertaining to some particular
organ or part, whiist fever pervades the whole system, and the solids in par-
ticular. ‘The total absence of perspirable matter marks both diseases

On the other hand, when too much of this fluid is secreted, and remains
unabsorbed, disease ensues: upon the heart it forms “ dropsy of the covering
of the heart ;” on the covering of the lungs it becomes “ dropay of the chest ;*
in the membrane of the belly it forms “ ascites,’ or dropsy of that part, and
usually falls into the scrotum. The powers of medicine have hitherto proved
of no avail in the first description of ailments; and are but partially applicable
to the last mentioned ; the operation of tapping too frequently disappoints our
hopes, to induce us to rely upon it as any other than a temporary relief, and
itis, therefore, seldom or ever applied to the horse. Thus, in whichever way
we view this important secretion, its eminence must strike us as quite equal
to any other. Whenever obstruction in this part of the system takes plave
in the horse, the consequent’ adhesion of the parts being invisible, he gets
worse used by his inexorable master for his inability to perform his usual
work, and he soon falls a victim to the lash, the spur, and the bit. At the
joints, this fluid is considered to be an oil (cynovia); at the heart it is con-
fessedly nothing but water: whilst it partakes of a mucous, or slimy nature
at some other parts of the body. This is the case with the membranes of the
throat and gullet; on those of the nostrils, the heat of the horse’s breath con-
verts it into a “ viscid mucus ;’ when the secreted watery particles come off
by sweating, it assumes a white or milky appearance, after a little time ap-
pearing thicker and more slimy as the sweating continues, and the watery
ae becoming less and less, its fluidity is also lessened. See membranes,
sect. 26. ‘

21. In all animals, the secretion of this watery fluid is carried on by the
membranes, which are thin films placed between the various organs, over the
bones and among the fleshy parts. These not only secrete, but sustain the
fluid in its place, for the purposes above mentioned, and being of various tex-
ture or fineness, the fluid that is so secreted and held to its purpose by each,
partakes more or less of water, is more or less slimy, or consists more or less
of an oily nature, according to the use it may be designed for. Each kind of
membrane, and its proper secretion,.has received a learned name,—the first
being called serous, the second mucous, the third fibrous; but, having re-
solved to abandon learned words, whenever the thing can be understood as
well without them, I find less occasion for introducing them here than is ge-
nerally practised. For, the peculiar nature of the horse having assimulated
together, by its action, the three kinds of secretion more so than is the case
with other animals; and its habits contributing as much more to the hasty
calling off of one kind of fluid from certain parts to the assistance of another

art, which may have been exhausted of its kind ; and as the treatment of the
fore in all cases of a disordered secretion of these fluids is the same through-
out, the action of medicine upon one always affording the assistance to ano-
ther (as I shall prove shortly), there is no such necessity for carrying the
distinction farther in horse-medicine, although it may be so in the human

ractice,
Perspiration is, always at agreat height in the horse; it is one of the
chief means of cure in most of his disorders, and consists in drawing the
watery secretions from all parts of the body. These pass to the surface
readily, coming through the membranes from the joints, the solids, the bowels,
and their coveringz; as may be noticed in the case of hide-bound, ‘spon open-
ing the animals that die in this state of exhausted nature; the mesentery
canal (hereafter described) is invariably discovered with yellowness, being, at
times, almost orange colour; but I have as constantly found the lacteals of 9
wu EFFUSION. INSENSIBLE PERSPIRATION.

fine coated horse shine through as white as milk. Again, on over-wovking
the horse, so much of the joint-oil is sometimes drawn off by perspiration, that
he becomes stiff in the knees, for want of that softening quality which kept
the parts supple; we feel the same ourselves upon such occasions ; and in
taking off the knee or the hough of a permanently “ stiff-jointed” horse, 1 have
invariably found the joint-oil affected ; in very bad cases it no longer existed.
During life, the escape of this oil, by reason of wounds (as bad broken knees),
leave the joint stiff. Further comment on its uses is unnecessary ; but those
facts should teach his owners a practical lesson of moderation.

On thesubject of absorption of these secretions, I noticed many years ago, a
very ingenious reason assigned for “lameness of the fore legs, of English
horses particularly,” in the great work of La Fosse, the elder, on what he
calls “ Hippo-pathology,” or the diseases of horses. He says, “ The fluids
which did lubricate the parts (the shoulders) and keep them supple, veing
reduced in quantity, the food flying off by sweat, the remainder gets thicker in
consequence, and the solids-of his limbs become stiff and dry.’ It happens,
mostly in the fore limbs, and he calls it a cold or chill, and says, page 267, it
resemblesa ‘stroke of the shoulder,’—‘t Cheval froid et pris dans les epau-
les.” -A species of founder, that is clearly not to be cured by external appli-
cations, (as the oils, firing, &c). but by restoring to the part the function of
secreting a sufficient supply of the fluid which had been so exhausted. In
these few words are included the whole secret of my method of cure in such
attacks; and, in this case, gentle sweating is that remedy which is best calcu-
lated for restoring the function. :

22, When the skin does not permit evaporation, and sends forth the secre-
tion by perspiration, disease has begun, the hair looks staring near the part
affected, and not a stable-boy exists, who, when hé sees a horse with a rough -
coat, can not tell that “something or other is the matter with him.” This
arises from want of moisture within ; the skin itself not having the power of
secreting or drawing towards it, by effusion, the moisture which is necessar,
to keep it supple, it shrivels up, and this important evacuation, which is
second only to the urinary, is then stopped, so that even the insensible perspi-
ration ceases, Some idea respecting the amount of this insensible evacuatioft
may be formed, by placing a horse, that has been exercised, between ourselves ,
anda well white-washed wall upon which the sun shines: when the shadow
of the insensible perspiration may be seen upon the wall ascending in tolera-
bly thick volumes, something very like steam from a boiling pot. Indeed, the
insensible perspiration is, when compared to sweating, the same as warm
one to boiling water,

et, although we do not know the exact workings. by which this internal
effusion (as it is called) ofthe watery particles from one part of the animal to
another takes place, we do know, accurately enough for our purpose, that
abundantly perspirable matter lies in and upon the intestines; as any affec-
tion of the heart, arising from the organs of sense (sect. 30), causes a sudden
suffusion of blood in the skin, and induces heat and irritation there ;* so do
the intestines send forth their watery particles upon the slightest occasion, to
the same place of exit, in order to moisten and render it more supple.
Whether the very transparent membrane, called peritoneum, which sustains
the bowels, or that other large part of it which covers these and all parts of

* rear, for instance, of the dealer’s whip often occasions the skin to contract and expand, 60
av to cause the tail to shake with every alternate vibration of the heart; and I once rode witha
alow, a right-vut journey of forty-four miles, who whipped and spurred his horse to sucha
egree, that the hairs actually fell off from his tail, exrept a few at the end, an occurrence that ia
tually ascribed to scrophula on the horse’s hide; a disorJer it might have also laboared under,
aught I know .o tse contrary.
PERSPIRABLE MATTER. B

‘he inside, is most concerned in this secretion and effusion, 1s not worth the
trouble of inquiry here, But, in addition to what is said in the last section
tespecting the colour of the lacteal duct, as it passes along the mesentery in
cases of hide-bound. 1 may be allowed to observe, thet we may daily witness
the sensible perspiration from young and healthy horses to contain more of wa-
ter than is found in feverish, old, or generally unhealthy animals; and that
with these the sweat is more frothy, or becomes so much sooner, his mouth
gets clammy, and his tongue dry and hot underneath, with less work than
they; and that horses so affected are always found insatiably craving after
water. Moreover, as regards the connexion that subsists between one part
of the animal and another, 1 have many times found purging physic, given in
the usual doses fail of the effect intended, and come off in the shape of profuse
perspiration. Not only in those large and decided doses that are intended to
produce much effect, but even milder ones, as alterative-laxatives often turn
out of their course, and, as well as diuretics, not unfrequently disappoint us in
the same way, the latter also coming off by the skin instead of urine.* It fol-
lows, of course, that the less sweating a horse has got, the more he must stale,
and accounts for the profusion of the latter kind of evacuation in winter, when
he scarcely ever sweats, and perspires, but little, comparatively speaking. As
a farther proof of this connexion between the secretions and evacuations, let
any one notice a horse when he first stales in consequence of taking a dinretic,
and he will find a transparent water hanging in little globules at the end of each
particular hair ot his coat all over his-carcase.

23. We come now to speak of glands, nerves, membranes, absorbents, (be-
ing 1st, lymphatic, 2d, lacteal,) and muscles, which are the names writers and
practitioners of eminence have agreed upon to speak of those numerous minor
organs that are employed throughout in carrying on the functions of animal
life, and the uses whereof I shall come shortly to explain, The reader is al-
ready aware of the sinews, of three kinds, that more immediately cover the
bones and keep them in their places (sect. 16, 17), to which if we add the bare
mention of the muscular, or fleshy parts, and refer to the “circulation of the
blood” (sect. 37—44), for a description of the veins and arteries, he will have
before him the names of all the integuments of a horse’s body beneath the
skin. Detailed particulars respecting all these follow next in their oyder; the
larger organs of the inside being reserved to the subsequent sections of this
chapter. By this course of proceeding he will be better enabled to comprehend,
as we study those things together, why and wherefore these were given to the
animal, and what functions each has to perform in health; or these ceasing, or
being obstructed, we shall be led to consider in the next place, what species
of remedy is proper to be applied for removing such obstruction, and thereby
of restoring health; for he may rest assured, that not the least atomy of mat-
ter has been conferred upon the animal form without intending that some good
and demonstrable end should be answered by its creation. In addition to all
which, there are many causes, incessantly operating towards the simply grand
purpose of prolonging life, and of providing for the waste which is constantly
going on in the animal system, that are far removed from our sight, and others
almost surpassing our comprehension, but which are nevertheless known to
exist by their effects; but, of all these several matters, more in their proper
places; one instance of the insufficiency of human knowledge having been
already adduced in the preceding section, as regards the unknown mode in
which the watery secretions penetrate from one part of the body to another.

* Tears or any other evacuation of the water that moistens the animal system, are liable to the
game kind of comparative remark. In man, when excessive salivary secretion attends the
toothach, the glands of the mouth and jaws carry off so much water as to affect the quantity of

urine voided, and we may infer that a diuretic would reduce the inflammation of the jawa. Sr
mush for the comparative practice: but not worthy of rejection on that acount alone,

4*
26 Si\MPTOMS—HOW LEARNED. THE THORAX AND ABDOMEN.

24, All those important points of knowledge in the first principles of our art
lie within the compass of every man’s capacity, who can read; they are cer
tainly open to his inquiries; and he who is constantly among horses can nor
fail to learn (after studying the subject in the manner I now propose) to make
himself as well acquainted with the symptoms or signs of approaching diseases
as the generality of veterinarians. He certainly may render himself much
superior to the old, ignorant set of farriers, who were bred up in the days ot
stupidity that are just gone by—never to return. Let such an inquirer after

‘knowledge bring to the task industry, patience, and good common sense, and
he may soon acquire knowledge enough of the outlines of the art to be able to
pronounce when a pretender is at work, or when it is that a man of judgment
and real sound learning in his art has undertaken the treatinent of this valua-
ble animal in the distressful hour of sickness. On this head I am not ashamed,
after the lapse of nearly half a century, to own that I once wept over the suf-
ferings of a sick animal which died of the medicines administered by a stubborn
self-willed farrier, who could read, and write, and talk, give a drench, and
drink himself—and nothing more: he could not think, of course could not
compare one disease with another, nor mark the difference that exists between
two or more that are frequently and fatally mistaken for each other. And
here, once for all, J] can not refrain from thus early insisting most strenuously
on one point, which therefore 1 shall not have to repeat when I come to notice
certain barbarous practices perpetrated by some such men, and the not unguilty
practice of other physic-giving horse-doctors; and this is, in short, whoever
of them dares to undertake the administering of medicines to this incompara-
ble animal without paying especial attention to the subject matter that is
handled in this chapter, commits an unpardonable act of inhumanity on his
suffering patient, and of gross dishonesty towards its owner. The remedy
for a disease is not always to be found in medicine; preventives never. Pur-.

atives are not only the most obvious means of cure, but the best, the least

angerous, and those which promise in the readiest manner to dispose the
most vital function to resume its wonted action. Alteratives are the safest and
most effectual remedy for valuable horses, and those which can not be spared
from labour; they are indispensable in all cases of vitiated blood, and where
found ineffectual nothing else can be of service. Bleeding is the very best, or
the very worst auxiliary we can employ; its efficacy and precise periods of
utility may be learned in the sequel (see, sect. 37 to 44), where “the circula-
tion” comes under consideration, also in the first pages of Book II, where the
pulse is justly made a subject of primary consideration.

‘25. For the sake of making myself more clearly understood, 1 shall, when
explaining the formation and functions of the horse’s inside (i..e. as much
of it a will answer my purpose), consider it under two distinct heads;
namely: © :

Ist. The fore part, or throat part, as it is called from its neighbourhood to
the throat, or gullet; and,

2d. The hinder part of him, being his belly, properly speaking, &c.

on of these parts have obtained learned names; but that is no bustuess
of ours.

The fore ee of a horse is that which lies between the rider's two knees,
within the chest and true ribs, To the farthest of these is attached, as well
as to the middle of the back bone, a natural division of the two parts, stretched
tightly across his inside, like the head of a drum; and it is also fastened to his
breast bone, but admits of the gullet to pass through, as it does of the great
vein and great artery which carry on the circulation of the blood of the ninder
aa ‘With these exceptions it is air-tight, and it bears resemblance to the

of a drum in another particular—it is membraneous, except round the
MEMBRANE. Fy]

edge next to the ribs, &c. where it is found somewhat fleshy. From its situa.
tion in the middle, this natural division is termed the midriff, or skirt, and ap

ears to have been designed for keeping back the stomach and bowels of the

inder part, which as it is, when full, press it out of shape, not unlike that of a
watch glass, and would, but for this barrier, interrupt the action of the heart
and lungs. But by the present contrivance, as we shall see presently, this
pressure from behind soon recedes, the midriff returns to its level, and the
ribs, no longer contracted towards each other by the aforesaid pressure, ex-
ei thereby enabling the lungs to perform their function, of drawing in a
resh supply of air, Upon this principal agent in the function of respiration,
see more in detail in the 35th section of this chapter.

26. After this necessary preamble, let us proceed, as before proposed, to
consider the construction of

The Membranes,

Muscles,

Glands,

Absorbents, (i. e, Ist lymphatics, and 2d lacteals,)

Nerves.*
Of these the most universally dispersed over the frame, those which occu y
defend, or embrace every part, are the membranes, As well behind as before
the midriff, not only inside, but on the outside and every part of the animal
are these skinny films placed, for the purpose, Ist, of keeping those parts which
they encompass in a compact state; 2d, to secrete a fluid for protection (see sect.
21); and 30, to prevent those parts from rubbing against and injuring each
other, or adhering together. The better to accomplish these purposes they are
admirably calculated for the secretion of a fluid, as I cbecieel before (sect 20);
but whenever the property of secreting such fluid is suspended, then disease
begins, and according as the secretion may prevail, being either too little or
too much, will be the kind and quantity of disease. Hereupon may be calcu-
lated the importance they hold in the animal system: but of those matters ]
have already spoken Iigtier up.

MemsraNis.—To appearance they are nearly transparent, web-like, and
of a strong texture; some are simply film, having more or less of feeling ac-
cording to their uses, and are those which, being interposed between one or-
gan, or part, and another, prevent the interruption which would otherwise
ensue; as the midriff, for instance, which | have just above adverted to (see
sect. 31 and 35), which is the thickest of all, or the tease membrane that covers
the lungs and divides them into two parts, so as each may act separately (see
sect 32), The second species of membranes are finer, more transparent, and
paler than the first mentioned, and possess the quality of containing in their
cavities, resembling sponge, the matter deposited within them by the arterics
for the purpose of repairing waste and adding new flesh; these we term: cel-
lular membranes, from their sponge-like texture, and they are, moreover, so
infinitely thin as to pervade all over the solids, or fleshy parts, without being
in every case visible to the eye. They are nevertheless proved so to exist,
from the circumstance of those being greatly distended, when the subject dies
of being “ blown,” as 1 have shown lower down (sect. 35). Then, not only
the forehand, but the hinder quarter, even down to the hocks, become inflated
with the wind, which, by reason of the animals being strangled, the lungs had
no power to discharge, and the cellular membrane admits it into its cells or
savities. - Any one: may perceive this membrane and its numerous cells to
advantage in a buttock of beef, or leg of mutton, after being dressed; upsn
taking a slice between the fingers and straining it nearly asunder, the mem

’ For ligaments, cartilages, tendons, &c. see sect. 16 17.
8 DISEASES OF THE CELLULAR MEMBRANE. MUSCLE.

brane appears, but more evidently at the corners where two or more muscles
meet ; and in summer time, particularly with over-driven beasts, the mem-
brane between the muscles will be found charged with a dull brown sort of
matter, that may be, and frequently is, scraped away with the knife, Another
familiar illustration of the uses of the cellular membrane, first mentioned by
old Dr. Bartlett, of Windsor, in 1764, is that of “the inside of a shoulder of
veal, which butchers blow up with a tobacco-pipe, or quill, to delude their cus-
tomers.” When the animal becomes adult (or full grown), the membrane
that is so capable of being blown up is filled with meat, and shows the im-
propriety of pushing young animals in their work before those solids hava
t2ached maturity. 7
When once divided, membrane of either species never ee unites, but in
vase of a healed wound the granulations of new flesh hold the divided parts
of membrane to their respective places; the obstruction thus occasioned in
the deposite of blood causes pain upon change of weather, when the new flesh
“either expands or contracts, as it may be effected by heat, cold, or humidity.
In the human physiology, another kind of distinction is made between the
kinds of membrane (as I said before), tending to show whether their respective
secretion is more or less watery, slimy, or oily; but this view of the affair is
not applicable to the physiology of the horse. My reason for abandoning that
course was given at section 21. I may, however, here aptly observe, regard-
ing that species (the slimy or mscaus which lines the nostrils, throat, and in-
testines, that its chief disorder is a cold, which shows itself in the cessation
of the secretion; soon after this, the parts being inflamed, throw forth a thin
acrid discharge, which is greatest when the inflammation arrives at its height,
sometimes producing a little blood, either upwards or downwards; when the
inflammation wears off, these appearances are also lowered by the mucus be-
coming more and more thick, until it reaches its usual consistency. The cure
1s to be effected by lowering the inflammation ; but this is most frequently ef-
fected by the natural discharge of the mucous matter just spoken of.
27. Mosctes are fleshy bodies of various sizes and shapes, according to their
uses; reddish, of a fibrous texture, easily separated, but more stringy at some
laces than at others: the last-mentioned are termed “coarse parts,” or pieces,
in the animals sent for our sustenance, and are those where the greatest strength
lies. ‘These fibres formed into bundles, and surrounded by the cellular mem-
brane, are visible to the eye, if there be not attached to each fibre a continua-
tion of the same membrane that is not visible. Several of those bundles,
being further enclosed by a stronger membrane, form a muscle; each whereof
is attached by its two farthest’ extremeties to sonie other, or, to two different
bones, upon one or the other of which it acts as a lever. A muscle accom-
plishes this motion of the bone by expanding its belly or middle part, and con-
tracting it towards the centre; whereupon the bones to which the muscles’
ends are so attached are drawn towards each other, and that which is farthest
from the trunk is drawn forwards or backwards, at will. Thus, if we wish
to bend our elbow, the muscle which is situated just above that joint, inside,
contracts in length, and expands in breadth, till the fore-arm is brought up to
touch the muscle itself. Fighting men (boxers) exhibit this muscle, as indi-
tative of their strength ; and horses of good action show the same sign at every
movement, whilst with those that are over-fed, the muscles are concealed in
fat, that obstructs their movements ; whilst, with those which are impoverish
ed, the muscles dwindle away, hang slack, and ill support the wonted. action
of the bones. When much compulsory exertion, in hot weather, has exhaust
ed the secretions that keep these parts supple, aridity and stiffness follow, and
the action becomes impeded, difficult and uncertain,
All muscles of the limbs are long and narrow, when ‘quiescer.t; those of '
TENOON: MUSCLE—ITS CONSTRUCTION. 29

the body are more wide than long; ina good measure, squarish, oval, or tn-
angular, according to their uses. ‘They have been compared, with good reason
to the shape of flat fish, somé being long and narrow, like the sole, others
wide, like the plaice. At their ends, muscles often terminate in a much stron-
ger substance, closer in texture, inelastic, bending with facility, and insensible,
answering the same purposes, but occupying much less room than muscle,
These are tendinous, and the horse which is well kept, having the tendons
strong and vigorous, is bold, strong, and “sinewy,” moves his limbs with
agility, and gets over his work to admiration, by picking his feet off the ground
well’ and replacing them (as you see while he is going) within a hair’s breadth
of the spot you may mark out for them to pitch upon. On the legs, tendon
supplies the place of muscle, wholly so in blood-horses, less in the cart-horse
breed. Muscle is constituted of blood deposited in the membrane, innume-
rable small arteries, some of which are scarcely visible, terminating within
each muscle, by a kind of doubling up, or curl,

3) © as shown in the margin; within each of these

7 =>) ? a correspondent vein is twined, and the whole

< : . being covered with the finest membrane, con-
a Sa

stitutes a gland. Herein it is that the veins
commence their share in the work of circulat-
ing the blood afresh, as we shall see in the se-
quel, and the lymphatics obtain the watery particles into which the morbid
matter of those solids are converted: those figures receive the name of “ glands.”

In blood-horses (natives of hot climates), as we have scen, tendon supplies
the place of muscle, or flesh, upon the limbs particularly, which are always
finer than those of other breeds; this accounts why our fleshy,horses in sultry
weather, or hot stables, feel the greatest lassitude, even to weakness, whilst
those of full blood seem invigorated by the same circumstance. When, how-
ever, the atmosphere of the stable be moist as well as hot, both breeds suffer
equally in one way or another; laxity of fibre and profuse perspiration, with
weakness, follow, and this producing an obnoxious effect upon the excrema-
tory organs, occasions in stables those stinking ammoniacal vapours that de-
stroy the lungs, by disposing them to contract inflammation.

28. Besides the Guanps just alluded to, they are situated in and ahout tne
solids and more secluded parts, and so small and concealed as to be scarcely
exposed to the sight or touch, unless when inflamed and enlarged by disease,
other larger and more evident ones occupy the hinder part of the animal, of
which I shall speak in their place. They are, Ist the liver; 2d, the kidneys;
and 3d, the testicles; the functions of each being tolerably well known. See
sections 52—55. _ All glands, of whatever size or shape, are employed in se-
cretion, taking up and separating from other matters that quantity of watery
particles which is constantly escaping out of one-part of the system into
another, by means of the cellular membrane, as described at sections 21 and

The smaller glands, just now described, have each a small tube attached
to it, which seems intended to hold the acrid, or otherwise noxious, matter
which its lymphatic had refused to take up, as being at variance with its func-
tion; here it remains concealed, until the proper occasion arrives for carrying
it off, which may be found by one of the three natural evacuations; but these
failing, it is clear disease of one sort or other must ensue. Perspiration seems
to be its most natural mode of passing off, unless the demand for that kind
of evacuation happens to be low, and then it is drawn to the kidneys, (sect. 22).
But, if the discharge by dung has been so copious as tu afford too little of this
acrid matter (essential probably in a certain degree) by means of the absorb-
ents of the intestines, then, and in that case, itis taken up once more. When
the animal’s spirits are low, the absorption imperfect, and this offensive mattar

 

 

 

 
an ABSORPTION AND CIRCULATION.

lies a long time in the tubes of these small glands, a general Janguishment of
the beast takes place (called lentor by the old tare) ; he perspires upon the
least exertion, becomes unnerved, shows a rough hide, and refuses his meals.
This constitutes ‘low fever,” when the whole animal system is affected. This
state of things, which is very common, points out the impropriety of now re-
sorting to diaphoretics (sweating powders); for it has Leen neglected so long,
that tired nature, being offended thereat, refuses to part with those purticles
which occasion the greatest injury. ‘ By the urine,” be it said. This way
offers the same difficulty, and the answer resolves itself into my plan of open-
ing the principal evacuations first. (See what I shall offer concerning bleed-
ing and purging in a subsequent page.) So much, however, seemed necessary
to be advanced fete that the reader, who reads straight an end, should be at
no loss as to what lately passed between us concerning secretion and effusion
at sections 21 and 23. Of all the smaller glands, the best recognised are those
termed salivary, situated near the jaws for the secretion of spittle, wherewith
to moisten the food while descending into the stomach, ands thus assisting di
gestion in its first stage. The strangles and vives are disorders of these
glands: the swelling at this part isa corresponding symptom of glanders, and
sometimes attends farcy. But the largest of these minor glands a situated in
the solids, and lies within the buttock, concealed near its centre, into which
passes an immense quantity of blood for its size, since it is found in the dead
subject most disposed to putrify, especially when the animal has been driven
hard, as is the case with all the cattle killed in London for food.

29. Lympuatics are one of two species of absorbing vessels; the other

ies (the lacteals) being reserved for description under the head of “diges-
tion,” at sect.44. They are small tubes, with mouths that suck up or absorb
the thin watery particles of the solids, one or more being placed on each gland
of these parts. Some idea of the important nature of this part of the animal
system may be formed from the circumstance that mercury applied to a glan-
dular part of the body undergoes immediate absorption by the lymphatics, and
is conveyed by this means through the jugular vein to the blood. Persons
who may be unfortunately ordered to rub in mercurial ointment on the thighs
will feel a fulness under the left ear in the course of a few minutes, according
to the previous state of their bodies, How mercury acts upon the second spe-
cies of absorbents—the lacteals, remains to be seen hereafter. The tendency
of both is towards the heart, or rather the left collar-bone; increasing in size
and diminishing in number, until the lymphatic duct meeting with the milky
juices of its co-absorbent in the thorax, the mixture soon becomes blood by
the action of air in the lungs, as described at sect. 39. As the lacteals, it will
be seen, absorb only nutritious juices, so the lymphatics absorb none but of-
fensive ones, as the matter of diseases, wounds, spavins, broken bones, ulcers,
and the useless part of the deposite made by the arteries as said at section
27; these being mixed, pass through the heart, there receive fresh vital pow-
ers, as hereafter is described, and thence to the liver, there to be purged of its
bad qualities, which, passing incessantly into the intestines is soon eliminated
with the dung. At least, such is the natural course in health; a change takes
place when these organs do not perform their functions aright, and we can
perceive this misfortune in the dung, when the absorbents are at fault, par-
ticularly in the yellows The importance of stimulating the lymphatics in
all disorders of the outer surface, as mange, surfeit, farcy, &c. must be evi-
dent: asitis, also, in cases of tumours, as poll-evil, fistula, &c,

30. The nerves, like the giands, ran in pairs, mostly, to all parts of the
body; they are the one of sense, communicate immediately with the brain,
and are thus principally concerned in the function of voluntary motion. That
the horse entertains likes and dislikes is certain; he has a memory too, both
THE NERVES. RESPIRATION. THE LUNGS. $3

for persons and places, as every one knows; he must, therefore, have percep
tion, and he is kind and docile in his nature, which entitle him to a kindez
return from his master than he usually receives, I have often lamented that
he was not endowed with one more faculty, even in the smallest degree, that
he might distinguish between those who really love him, and those empirics
who make a profit of his sufferings; he would then be induced, probably, to
kick some among them, as an example to all the rest ; and 1 never hear of one
of those fellows, or their employers, being unhorsed, but | think of retributive
justice. So, when the horse is girthed up unmercifully, in such a manner ag
to obstruct his respiration, he frequently attempts to bite the operator—and,
“serve him night Isay. - As the nerves of a horse are the seat of no dis-
tinct disease, I shall content myself with adding, that they consist of small
cords, white and roundish, like thread ; and are certainly the vehicles of pain,
which vibrates from one to the other, pleasurable sensations being conveyed
by the same means to the sensorium, or brain.* The nerves ave closely con-
nected with the circulation, and with the brain, where they originate.

 

31. RespiraTIOn is the act of drawing in the air by the expansion of the
lungs, the cells whereof thereby become filled to their utmost, the ribs are dis-
tended, and the midriff pressed back upon the stomach, liver, &c. This is in-
spiration ; the expulsion of the air, forming the re-action, being termed expira-
tion ; both together constitute what we call breathing or fespiration, and the
matter was before introduced (in section 8,) when I noticed that powerful
auxiliary of this fanction—the midriff. Now, as I have always attached much
importance to the act of respiration, seeing its close connexion with the for-
mation of blood, and the almost constant state of disease in which are found
the organs that contribute to this great function of animal life, I shall enter
into more minute particulars respecting these, than I have thought necessary
for any of the preceding organs. By this course, the reader will be enabled
to form more distinct notions respecting the forming and “circulation of the
blood,” and its concomitant, the formation of chyle, pmody called “the di-

estive powers”—both of them functions most essential to health; but un-
Fapnily, both together become, by contravention of those powers, the fruitful
source of numberless ills, we thence call constitutional or bodily disease, as
fever, abscess, farcy, &c. To this point tends all that I have hitherto said con-
cerning the inside of the horse; and the inquirer after veterinary knowledge
will find his labour in studying this portion of it amply repaid, by the just prin-
éiples upon which he will subsequently conduct his practice. :

32. The Lunas, or lights, are two well-known spongy bodies (called lobes),
having at their conjunction a small lobe nearer to where the pipe enters that is
toinflate them. At the same place is fastened the ends of a thin membrane, on
rather two membranes, that enclose each one of the lobes: this membrane is
termed the pleura, and seems designed to admit of one lobe performing its
functions whee the other may at any time be diseased Between thetwe

* Conscience (consciousness), which agitates the nerves by the faculty of thinking, when aj
plied to the evils that are in the world, does sometimes cause the accession of fever to those de
cate organs in human nature; but brute animals being denied those powers (or of memory,
except as the means of prolonging life) are little likely to contract ‘ nervous fever;
although that state of fretfulness some high-bred horses are prone to, partake of a good many
symptonis of the human ailment, and may be cured by the same means. Sedatives, quiet, and
a cooling regimen are those means. The loose stable recommended by John Lawrence, and
pow muah adopted, contributes much to sooth the fretful horse. When the same fretfulness
or despondeucy comes over a horse, one of condition, or whose condition has been recently re
duced he acquires slow fever. See what is said under this head in Book IL
2 THE PLEURA. TIE WIND-PIPE.

lobes, the membrane (pleura) is double, and, from its sit sation in the middis
(in medio) is called mediastinum : it forms a passage for the great blood-vessele
running near the spine, and it is very liable to contract disease, which shows
itself in “thick wind,” or rather short wind. Sect. 36. In the pleura, then,
are wrapped up, as in two silk handkerchiefs, the two lobes of the lungs, the
upper part of that membrane being fastened to the spine and ribs ; and on its
surface is generated or secreted some of that fluid I before spoke of (sect. 20,
21), which is designed to keep the parts moist, and prevent their adhering to-
gether. His powers of secretion, however, and those of this organ in par-
ticular, often fail in the horse, in consequence of his very great exertions, com-
bined with the heat of his blood, exhausting more than the secretory poser
can supply; and we frequently find the pleura growing to the ribs, the lungs,
or the midriff, by reason of its wanting a due portion of this fluid: from the
same cause (a defect in the secretion), we sometimes find the upper orifice of
the stomach partially attached to the midriff, evidently caused by inflamma-
tion of the parts. But whichsoever of those misfortunes attend the horse, he
is invariably “hurt in his wind,” suffers much pain at the commencement
of a journey, and subsequently, if pushed hard, dies of a locked jaw, through
excessive suffering. Disorders of this nature were hitherto unknown to far-
riers of any description, being mistaken for the worms by every one who has.
written a book upon horse diseases; and, by the most eminent veterinary au-
thor of modern times, the last stages of this mal-conformation are vaguely no-
ticed by the erroneous term of “ debility,” and ‘general debility,” which may
mean anything amiss. Whenever the animals that are slain for our suste-

nance turn out to have been so affected, their flesh is rejected be the Jews,

under the denomination of érifier ; for the whole animal system 1s s@roly af

fected by the horrid circumstance ; the secretory functions in general zefuse tc
perform their share in the production of good and sufficient animal matter, and
lentor, o1 slow fever, is the consequence, as mentioned higher up, in Sec

tion 28. ; . -

33. The winp-PiPs, as its name imports, is the pipe or tube for conveyin
to the lungs the air which every act of inspiration draws throvgh it. Extend-
ing from the throat to the lungs or lights, at their conjunction this tube di-
vides into two branches, one penetrating to near the bottom of each lobe, and
these again, having a dozen holes a-piece in their sides, inflate an infinite
number of little tubes, or pipes, which compose the lungs much in the fashion
of sponge. Except eight blood-vessels, which enter the horse’s lungs, the
intervals are filled with cellular membrane, and these being also connected
with the same kind of membrane in all other parts of the body, accounts for a
phenomenon, I shall take occasion to notice shortly (sect. 35), in the case of a
blown horse. At his upper end, the wind-pipe is composed of strong cartila-
ginous plates, connected together by ligaments, and put in -motion by small
muscles for producing the sounds expressed by the animal. Next to the
throat these cartilages, which are there strongest, form a curious kind of cham-
ber, termed epiglottis, over which is a lid or valve, placed there to defend the
passage into the air-tube, from the entrance of victuals, drink, &e. For, upon
the descent of any such substances, this valve shuts down like a trap-door, and
they pass over it, No sooner, however, are they gone past, than up rises the
valve again, lying back towards the mouth upon the palate, and being very
large in the horse, accounts for the gulps with which he takes in water, and
his peculiar mode of feeding. For the same reason it is, that the horse
breathes only through his nostrils, between which and the wind-pipe there is
close affinity in some diseases, and accounts for his incapacity for bellowing
like the ox, or vomiting like man. At this spot it is, that certain savages in
buman shape press the finger and thumb with brutal force, in order, as it is ®
COUGHING. A COLD, ITS PROGRESS. 33

ealled, “to cough him.” No certainty, however, lies in this imagined test
af his wind; for, although a thoroughly broken-winded horse will not ccugh,
yet one which is partially affected will do so in most instances; whilst the
soundest horses do most obstinately resist the coughing ; and in a few, the cit
cular cartilages so well defend the muscle, as to defy the inhuman effort, and
seem to rebuke the ignorant attempt “to prove the goodness of his wind.”

34. Farther towards its lower extremity, the wind-pipe becomes more mem-
branous, but less sensitle of injury, and the cartilaginous rings gradually lose
their form: they no longer describe a circle, being composed almost wholly
of strong elastic membrane, that it may bend out of the way when the gullet
is distended with swallowing. Its internal surface is lined with a membrane,
which incessantly secretes a quantity of the mucous fluid spoken of in sec-
tions 20 and 21, hereby defending its coats from the action of the air in pass-
ing to and from the lungs. But this secretion being exhausted, sometimes by
the very great exertions of the animal, he then coughs so as to shake his en-
tire frame, as if to incite the membrane to make fresh secretions of fluid for its
defence ; or, in default thereof, the cold air still rushing in at each inspiration,
he contracts a permanent cold, or catarrh, which, if suffered to continue, in-
creases and runs along the membrane to the lower branches of the pipe, and
ultimately communicates its baleful influence to one or both lobes of the lungs.
If the attack be trivial, small green spots are found on the surface of the lungs,
which afterwards form ulcers, increasing in size and number, according to the
number of small tubes or cells that may be affected. These tubes lose their
functions in consequence of the first attack, the animal’s wind becomes worse
every time he is hard pushed, and the'cells burst into each other, until, per-
haps, one lobe or half of his lungs is rendered useless. In process of time, it
turns black as one’s hat, infects the other lobe, and mortification ensues,
which is rather accelerated by the cordials with which the poor creature is
usually punished, and it dies.

But when it so happens, that too much of the fluid is secreted in the wind-
pipe, the anima{ snorts or coughs it off by a sudden natural effort; wherein,
‘the midriff being made to press forcibly upon the lungs, by the sudden con.
traction of the muscles of the lower ribs, out flies the wind through the nos-
trils, carrying with it whatever may. have adhered by the way. “Whenever
this is the case, the membrane that lines the. nose inside becomes irritated, and
fresh accession of its own secretion, thickened a little, is the consequence ; in
flammation of the part, ulcers, and a running of foul matter ensue—and this,
if the blood be not in a good state, soon becomes that obstinate malady—the

landers. ‘

, An instructive experiment may be made upon the pluck of a sheep—the
relative situation al functions of these parts in all quadrupeds being the
same, except that the sheep’s lights, compared to those of the horse are not
so long in: proportion to their thickness. ‘Take a pair of bellows, and having
introduced the nozzle tolerably well into the windpipe, tie it round with a cob-
bler’s end; then, blowing hard with one hand, while the other is employed in
squeezing the pipe, to prevent the escape of the air back into the bellows, you
may form an accurate notion of the effect of inspiration. The lights or lunge
at first give out the whole of the air which has been driven in, and may be in-
flated to an enormous size; but, if much force is used, the cells burst into each
other, some appearing on the surface thin and transparent, and refuse to give
‘back their wind; this forms “ broken wind” of one description, and is that
wherein the expirations are slower than the inspirations—the pleura being
then affected in its thickest part, and the midriff also Out of the first part
of this experiment may, likewise, be derived a more accurate knowledge of
what is termed “ second wind,” among sportsmen : when the animal (or man)
o4 MIDRIFF PALPITATION. LNFLAMED LUNGS

has made great exertions, so as to fill all the cells of his lungs to their utmost,
and then relaxes from the labour, he finds himself renovated, the cells aaa
rendered more capabie of distention and expulsion, when each inspiration an
expiration also occupies more time and less labour.
porting men, who are fond of our bear-baitings, Pecora-fights, and mot

key scratches, may daily witness a practical natural illustration of the same
doctrine, in the conduct of the bear towards his antagonist. Seizing the dog
between his paws, he squeezes him up till he gasps for breath, when Bruin,
being muzzled, rams his nose tight into the dog’s mouth, and, blowing with
all his might, you may hear the wind whizzing: the dog swells all over, by
yeason of the air entering the cellular membrane, and he dies unless timely
pulled off. A dog which has “had a hurt” of this sort seldom regains his
poe wind; he must be “a good one” to face the bear again, “as long as

e crawls.” Such is the polished language at those elegant places of town
amusements, ‘

35. The miprirr has been already mentioned (ss. 25 and 31). It is term-
ed diaphragm by the learned in hard words; and we have seen how materially
it is engaged in the business of respiration. But for the action of this drum
head-like membrane, neither the lungs on one side of it, nor the stomach,
bowels, and liver on the other, would obtain their full degree of motion, which
is thus kept in tune, as it were, by those organs acting alternately upon each
other ; the action of the heart, too, is in unison with that motion ; but when
through agitation (occasioned by great exercise, affright, &c.) it does not
keep time, the temporary disorder, termed palpitation, is the consequence.
We may infer that, when the lungs have discharged their contents, the lower
or thinnest end of that organ, falling upon the muscular border of the midriff,
is by it repulsed and excited to action. Any man can feel, when he has ex-
pired all his wind, a kind of throbbing internally, lower down than the heart,
until he inspires a fresh portion of air. When the lungs are in such a state
of supineness, those of the horse are about three or four inches thick at the
conjunction with the windpipe, and ten to thirteen inches from thence to each
extremity, arene to the size of the subject; but, when fully inflated with
air they together fill up the whole cavity of the chest, obstructing in a trivial
degree the vibration of the heart: then do they reach to the enormous differ
ence of twelve or thirteen inches in thickness, and somewhat more in length.
At least such were the dimensions of this organ in a horse which was opened
by me in May, 1820: he was of the cart-horse breed, under sixteen hands, and
healthy mn other respects than having been blown by eating too much corn;
whereby nature was compelled to leave the lungs quite full at the moment of
his death, The same subject is alluded to in the 26th sect. where | intended
to illustrate the formation and functions of the cellular membrane. ;

‘No part of the animal has been formed in vain,” as I before observeu
(s. 23): quadrupeds and bipeds both press the earth which gave them birth
and which affords them the means of prolonging life; accordingly this order
of beings is furnished with a midriff, but fishes and insects, having no such
occasion for this organ, are without it: neither have birds a midriff; but Mr
John Hunter was of opinion, that the want of it is supplied by the hollowness
of the bones, which not only increase their buoyancy, but the air contamed in
them re-acts pee the lungs in the same manner as a midriff would do.

36 In health, as in disease, the midriff is liable to be affected by its neigh-
bours, both before and behind it, the stomach often communicating its state
of feeling tu the lungs through the midriff; for it is by this medium that me.
dicines impart their beneficial effects upon the lungs, as may be experienced
upon our swallowing cold water at a time when our lungs are heated—
the relative situation of those organs being much alike in man and in the
NAUSEOUS EFFLUVIA. SIGNS OP DISEASE, APPEARANCE, 35

norse. Immediately hereupon, a sensible difference takes place in the nom
ber of respirations, and the quality thereof is also changed from a hot to a
cooler temperature ; well be it, if the suddenness of the check do not occasior.
inflammation of the lungs: again, whoever swallows spirituous liquors feels an
tmmediate disposition of the lungs to repel the heated air of the cells which lie
contiguous ty the midriff; the first breath which escapes the mouth being
less heated than that which follows and finishes the expiration, and imparts a
sensation wholly different from the vulgar belchings of an overcharged sto-
mach, These come up by way of the gullet, and carry forth a nauseous effluvia;
whereas air from the lungs is ever sweet, unless this organ be already in an
advanced state of decay. ‘This state of the case leads me to make one practical
observation, which shall not be set down, as more curious than useful ; out
of seventeen subjects, which successively fell to my lot to examine as to the
immediate cause of death, only two, tolerably sound at the lungs, presented
themselves; which I take to be the fair proportion of sound horses, as respects
the lungs of all that live or die. All those cases occurred from February to
May, a season when such an affection might not be considered most prevalent,
Hence, (my reader may smile!) I eoactale from all that has been said, that a
tolerably good guess at the state of a horse’s lungs may be formed, by smelling
at his breath after a canter, in like manner as our Smithfield dealers smell the
animal’s nostrils in order to detect the glanders.

From what has been said, it follows, that a diseased stomach may be pro-
duced by diseased lungs and vice versa, and that the midriff suffers in either
case: then does the midriff become livid, purplish and inflamed, with dark-
coloured stripes, as if thickened at such places, the muscular border thereof as-
suming a putrid appearance, and sending forth a villanous stench. When
this is the case, or any other ailment prevents the midriff from performing its
proper function of inhaling and expelling the air from the lungs, that species
of “broken wind” takes place which is known by the sort of breathing where-
in the expirations are quicker than the inspirations; being thus contradistin-
guished from that other species of broken wind, which is occasioned by rupture
of the air cells. A paralysis of the midriff, or the adhesion of the stomach to
its lower side, is equally obstructive of its reaction upon the lungs: and I
have this day (May, 1820), cut away an adhesion of this sort as wide as the
palm of a man’s hand. :

Unfortunately for the horse which is affected, either in the midriff, the
lungs, in the pleura, or covering thereof, his doctors heal the whole series in
the same manner, not unfrequently including in their uniformly mistaken
practice, the affections of the stomach, liver, pancreas, &c. In all, the inflam.
matory symptoms are predominant, and a cooling regimen presses itself upon
our notice as more proper than the best of medicines, although having the same
tendency; whereas, the direct contrary is the practice mostly followed, and
heating medicines, under the fascinating name of cordials, made of spices, ale,
wine, &c. are administered daily. Or, at most, if a sedative or opiate, by
chance, finds its way (properly enough) into the anima!’s stomach, this organ
is thereby only rendered more susceptible of the heating mixtures which are
again had recourse to immediately thereafter.

‘THE ORGANS OF RESPIRATION are liable to seven or eight several kinds of
disease, mostly originating in the horse’s having caught cold; they are de-
nominated according to the particular place where he may be affected, and in
one respect, according to the degree of attack. A cold (simply) or catarrh,

produces that affection-which denominales the patient “a roarer.” Chronic . . -

cough brings on “broken wind,” of which there are two sorts; and consump-
tion usually follows the long continuance of either. When either has con
36 DISEASES OF THE LUNGS, CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.

tinued awhile, and reduced the animal's strength, he is said to bein a fn.
sumption; “ worn out” is also a common phrase, as is “rotten;” “ debilitatea,
and “done for,” stand a little higher in gentility; but all mean, that there ia
small chance of his recovery. ‘

Pulmonary consumption is the only kind which may_ be attributed to con-
stitutional defect ; i. e. heated blood, with viscidity, causing over-much action
of the parts (see section 32), when the pulse becomes powerful and quickened,
and the horse seems anxious and fearful. Should it subside by judicious treat-
ment, or the natural strength of the horse, he commonly retains so much of ita
effects, as to cause great danger whenever he may catch cold, or be worked
too hard. This attack is too frequently neglected, or put off with the remark,
“only a little touched in the wind,” unless by the addition of a cold, the dis-
order comes on rapidly, when it is termed “inflammation of the lungs,” and
the animal goes off in four or five days, if he be not promptly relieved. On
dissection, the parts are found spotted with a livid colour, and evident gan-
grene; every variation indeed, is equally appalling to humanity, and I have
often wondered how the horse could have lived an hour under such horrid
circumstances.

A cold, simply, or catarrh, commences by inflammation of the ee of the
windpipe, which may be confined to some given part of it, or extends itself
generally from the nostrils to the lungs both inclusive, much ae “a
cold” in man; in either case, much matter is secreted, and thrown off by
snorting: when the attack is confined to the upper part of the pipe, and lasts
some time, the horse becomes a confirmed roarer, his groan bearing great re-
semblance to the roar of some wild animals, and he is equally incurable.

Chronic cough is that obstinate cough which remains and plagues the horse
tong after vain attempts at curing his cold ought to have taught Lis tormentors
the inutility of théir endeavours and the dishonesty of their prescriptions.
Broken wind is of two sorts; the first is caused by the rupture of the air cells
of the lungs by over exertion, in which the expiration being slower than the
inspiration, he is, aptly enough, said to be “broken winded ;” the second kind
of broken wind is known by a breathing the direct contrary, and is occasioned
by the cold having settled upon the perforations of the branches, and enlarged
them, so that the air escapes too readily. Thick wind, on the other hand, arises
from the secretion of the pipe getting into the cells of the lungs, and affectin
the orifices or perforations by thickening them, so that the air passes throug!
with difficulty. Similar symptoms attend inflammation of the pleura (section
15), particularly when it aches to the mediastinum, or double part; as er
do when the muscular border of the midriff is affected. But these, thoug!
perhaps considered two different diseases at the commencement, in the horse,
very shortly become one common affection, more or less, of all the organs of
respiration; inflammation predominates over the whole series; and if the per-
formance of his duties does not render them fatal, an injudicious treatment wil)
fix upon him an incurable disorder, until the knife terminates his usefulness,

Lafosse, junior, observes, that “ flat-chested horses, are almost always subject
to consumption, whilst (again) consumption narrows the capacity of the chest,
and es itself—there is no remedy for misconstruction.” He further
says, “Short wind is either produced by disorders of the chest, or it is a fault
of construction, and both are irremediable. Such a horse is generally of less
nee oa one that is thick-winded.” ‘

. THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD is carried on through all the
body, to which it affords the means of life and health ; or, being tl perere
ts the fruitful source of lingering, obstinate and incurable diseases, some
whereof almost baffle our skill and care; and, while they induce us to admit
that the practice of veterinary physic never wi!l reach perfection, inspire the
ACTION OF THE HEART. b

haps that, by patient investigation, we may at least find out the means of alle-
viating their evil tendency. These considerations should excite particular
attention to the subject in hand, heing that to which all other functions ara
vut subservient or conducive; respiration and digestion being more closely
connected with it than any other, and requiring a corresponding degtee of at-
tention. The heart, jointly with the lungs, occupies the cavity of the chest,
rather inclining towards the left side, against which its point may be felt beat
ing, whenever the animal is agitated by exercise, or internally affected by in-
flammatory complaints. Its figure is too well known to render description
necessary: in size it approaches that of an ox, and, like it, is enclosed in a
membraneous sac, but very thin, not unlike a tight purse. Another sac,
called the heart-bag, less tight, surrounds the former, but is never so large,
nor encumbered with fat like that of the bullock. On opening this sac there
issues forth a fluid which turns to water, if it were not so already; in the ox

- tt is confessedly water, and rather more in quantity than in the horse ;—the
reason for which difference I will show presently. So great is the stimulus
of this organ, that its contractile power often exists long after the animal is
dead, and the arteries cease to flow: a phenomenon that occurs when the
horse is killed in full health, by an accident, or otherwise, while in full pos-
session of its functions. In animals of much mettle or courage the heart at-
tains to a great size, that of-the famous horse Eclipse weighing 18lbs. In
some horses, the vessels that nourish this muscular organ lie exposed on the
surface ; with others, they lie wholly concealed ; a fact from which I have yet
found no opportunity of making any sure deduction, but ene it may
arise from the breed, and conclude it must have considerable effects on his
disposition. ; ‘

As the heart is the principal organ employed in converting into blood what:
is drawn from the finer particles of food sent into the system for that purpose,
as well as in renovating that which has been exhausted of its vital prin-
‘ciple in the circulation, it may well be supposed full of small blood-
vessels, Four large ones meet at its thick end, and suspend it, by being at-
tached to the bones of the back and ribs: two of them, bringing the dark vi.
tiated blood from the extremities of the fore-part and of the hind-part, are
veins; the other two large vessels are arteries, which, receiving the blood from
the heart, just now refined by the process of nature, convey it with rapid con-
tractions to every part of the system, there to give fresh vigour, and to impart
health to the whole. These contractions constitute the pulsation, or pulse,
a criterion of health as of disease, which we investigate with pr anxiety,
as from it may be deduced the best prognostic of the state of disease, espe-
cially of inflammatory ones, to which this noble animal is more than any other
subject, from eauses to be explained hereafter.

38. ‘Two large chambers Ge I call me) and two small ones, each of the
latter appended to one of the former, mainly contribute to the process of cir-
culation; these by their co-action, aid the contractile power of the heart, com-
pelling the contents of the larger chambers to issue with much force into the
arteries. But, before the blood can be thus again 4t for circulation, nature
fas provided the means of rendering it so, by the action and re-action of
these four chambers (or cavities) in the heart, contributing to refine it for
that purpose; one large chamber, with its small one, being placed on the right
side of the heart, and the like pair on the left side thereof. ‘The blood from
the veins flowing into the small chamber on the right side, irritates its inner.
coats, and they each contract upon its contents with nearly as much strength
und quickness as we can open and shut the hand ;—but certainly not so much
open, although there is a flap on the entrance of each small chamber, which
thes liken to “a dog's ear,” and call by the Greek word quricle, that being

$*

’
38 RE-CONVERSION OF VENOUS BLOOD.

anear. At each of those closings or contractions, tne blood is forced out of
the small chamber into its large chamber on the same (right) side, through a
small door-way, or valve, which opens only inwards, the door being too large
for the door-way. By the way, these valves are very numerous in the animal
system, principally as regards the circulation of blood in the veins; and the
reader will do well to recollect, when I speak of valves in future, the illustra-
tion just given by comparing the same to a door-way, which bears a near re-
semblance ta the valve. In the performance of this office, the heart may be
said to have three several motions belonging to it: Ist, a quick one, by the
contractions of the smaller chambers upon their contents: 2d, the contractions
of each large chamber upon its contents, being just half the number of throbs
made by the first mentioned: and, 3d, the vibration or tremor of the whole
heart in consequence of all those motions.

Well, on the right side still, -the large chamber ‘being filled with venous
blood through the valve, or door-way, from the small one, becomes in like man-
ner irritated so as to contract upon its contents, and to drive it out somewhere
or other. Back to the small chamber it can not possibly go; the valve does not
open the way, as J have just now said ; and therefore it issues with much more
force through another valve into a short artery, which soon opens into two,
like the letter Y, the heart being supposed at the bottom of the letter. Up
rushes the blood to the top of the two branches—where it meets with—W hat} ©
What do you think it meets with, gentle reader?

Here, however, let him stop a little, and consider awhile; for, upon his right-
ly understanding what now becomes of the blood (thick, dark, and unservice-
able as it is), and how, in a trice, it becomes healthy, of a bright scarlet colour,
and invigorating, mainly depends his being able to comprehend, by-and-by,
what I shall have to offer concerning the diseases to which a vitiated or cor-
rupt state of the blood gives rise. He will not, otherwise, make out sufficient-
ly clear in what manner the blood of an animal can contract and retain that
morbid state which shall predispose it towards acquiring a constitutional dis-
ease that, however differently named according to the parts whereon it may
fix, has but this one common origin for the entire series. To this page, then,
I shall frequently refer him when speaking to these points more in detail, here-
after; and he had best, also, keep the book open at this place, whenever he
may be endeavouring to comprehend what the learned veterinarians of the
present day are ae to say respecting ‘“‘the circulation,” as they quaintly
term it. Another of them, speaking upon the topic I have just brought to a
conclusion, says, “The heart is divided into two cavities, termed ventricles,
each having an auricle, resembling a dog's ear. The blood-vessels proceed.
from these [those] cavities, the arteries from the ventricles, the veins from the
auricles, &c.” All which is very true, but not very intelligible to the gene-
rality of readers; and yet is the author, who thus speaks, (Mr. White, in vol.
i. p. 63) said to be the plainest spoken among the moderns; indeed, were he
any thing else than a good one, I should not have deemed him worthy of this

rebuke.

39. The Blood, as I have said, rushes out of the large chamber on the right
wide of the heart into an artery that soon divides into two branches; whereof
one enters each lobe of the lungs, aud there disperses, through certain cells,

the blood with which it is constantly supplied. Here lies the the secret! At Car

this point it is, that health or disease (at least a predisposition to one or the
other) is imbibed and engendered in the blood. The lungs having receivea
the thick discoloured blood from the right side of the heart, and being the re-
+ ceptacles of the air we all breathe, do, by means of that air, bestow upon the
blood afresh the principles of life, and health, and vigour. The cells, or tubes,
throagh which the blood passes in the lungs, termed pulmonary, are eight in
EFFECTS OF AIR ON THE BLOOD. 39

aumber, being double the quantity given to man, and show, from that circum
stance, the immense circulation of which they are the agents, A cruel and
almost incurable malady, that attends most horses at this part of the organs
of respiration, with many and variable symptoms, was alluded to higher up,
at sect. 36; and is what we term from those vessels, pulmonary consumption.
But then, it is clear, that the air which is so brought to effect those beneficial
changes upon the blood in the lungs, must be fit for the purpose :—that is to
say, it should be vital or atmospheric air, uncontaminated by any noxious
stench (as the ammoniacal smell of the stable, or the stench and smoke of
cities); no poisonous vapours (as burning brimstone, the gaseous fluid, smelt-
ig of minerals*), nor infectious effluvia (as of cesspools or stagnant waters,
producing fevers, glanders, vole give to the animal’s blood that healthy
vigour which was designed for his well-being; but, on the contrary, every de-
parture from purity, in the air he breathes, must be an approach towards dis-
easet. Yet, how constantly is this simplest law of nature transgressed! And
what, in such a state of things, can be expected, but that the blood will assimi-
late in character with the kind of air the creature is compelled to inhale?t
Accordingly, we find in the domesticated horse, that previous disposition tc
certain diseases which we endeavour to meet by correctives and repellants,
but which by better treatment might have been prevented. Of these evils,
abscess, or ulcer, is the most prolific, showing itself now on the head, atothers on
the heels, under the varied denominations of poll-evil, quittor, fistula, &c.;
but more frequently attacking, and making the greatest ravages on the in-
ternal organs, where it is generally mistaken for the worms, and erroneously
treated with hot and burning remedies, when evidently a direct contrary prac-
tice would best assist nature in casting off the evil. Ulcer upon the lungs,
as it producesa staring coat, is too frequently mistaken for worms, and if the
animal be not physicked and cordialled too much, a partial cure sometimes
takes place, though in what way it is carried off is most inscrutable ; but, upon
opening the dead subject, 1 have often noticed spots which had been corroded
and gangrenous, where the cure had been effected in this spontaneous manner.
As for ulcers upon the liver, also arising from the viscidity of the blood, if

* Scarcely any truth is easier proved than this: Horses that are constantly kept in close
stables, in large numbers together, very soon become unserviceable, by the constitution throw-
ing off some evil or other upon the surface; as one proof whereof, those which are occasionally
placed in the Undergponod stables, at the Swan with Two Necks, Lad-lane, show evident
aigns of distress which subside upon being brought into the air. I hear from good authority,
that at New Orleans, in North America, where the atmosphere “ exhibits a blue misty appear-
ance,” nothing is more common than a disease which affects the knee, hock or pastern Join
with abscess, or near those parts with cancer, and the limb actually rots off. ‘Phe like kind o
attacks were found formerly most common in Cornwall and in Wales, and are attributed by
all to the arsenical vapour of the copper mines being inhaled: they are, however, much lesa
-frequent at the present day, owing to the higher state of cultivation to which the land has been
brought, and to the change of situation horses now enjoy. The free use of sweet oil is a good
preventive of this poison in human as well as in cattle medicine.

t This is not the place for a finished dissertation on the communication of the glanders; but
1 must observe, in illustration of the text, that horses which have eaten glanderous mattera
without receiving the infection, no sooner smell it than they become diseased. .

4 In cases of much sorrow or grief, our respiration is much increased ; and the presentiment
of death awaiting them, occasions all animals to take harmful substances into the lungs. Pigs
oxen, and aveashee ; show signs of uneasiness, horror, or madness, at the effiuvia of blood
tkeir own kind: and J have found in each, kind of animal, upon slitting the trachea as far as the
pronchia, dust, dirt, or other rubbish, which they had snorted up in the last paroxyams of

ir. ,
- § Four ounces of spirits of turpentine have been given with partial success: but such a dose
must go near to destroy nut only worins, but the horse into the bargain, whilst it is not very
gear to me that the small worms we sometimes meet with are hurtful to the animal, but are
designed to act as a stimulus to the intestines: and, if the doctor mistakes for worms some mwe
serious disorder, the horse dies of this monstrous medicine, as sure as fate.
40 THE HEART; ITS SHAPE—PULSATION.

they take place near its thin extremity, the common natural process is, that the
part of the liver attaches itself to the gut, and the offensive matter will then
slough off into the intestine, and come away by stool: a partial cure is the,
consequence: not produced by medicine acting upon the part, as is very clear,
aut by a common natural effort, aided by a more vigorous and healthy state
of the blood than when the disease was engendered, To assist the circule
tion in regaining this state is clearly the duty of the medical attendant, and is
the only manner in which he can be of any service tothe animal in restoring
it to health. nose tates a

40. In the lungs, then, does the blood reccive from the air its invigorating
punces and no sooner does this take place, than it drops into another shor

lood-vessel (a vein), and, by it, is conveyed again to the heart: not the same

small chamber on the right side, of course, but to a similar one on the left
side. Here the contractions go on as before mentioned, only that the blood
differs in quality; this being now properly fitted to promote the purposes of
life, and for imparting the vital principle, occasions the heart to assume that
twisted shape we see in some animals, while in others whose bodily exertions
and arterial functions are less laboured than those of the horse (the sheep’s for
example) it is more round: and, indeed, the heart of this last mentioned ani-
mal is, from this circumstance, usually termed, in the London district, a “round.
heart.” Out of the small chamber on the left side is the blood driven through
a valve, as before, into the large chamber of the same side; which in its turn
contracts, with much force, upon its contents, expelling the same into the great
artery. This periodical rushing of the blood into the arteries, imparts to these
vessels a motion we term pulsation, whereby the blood is propelled forwards,
to the remotest parts of the body. Lessening in size, and increasing in num-
ber, the branch-arteries, which receive this blood, become more sensitive as
they are farther removed from the heart, and afford us, at certain places, the
means of ascertaining by the touch the degree of heat at which may at any
time be the state of the animal’s blood; the contractions of the heart being
regulated, in quickness and force, by the degree of- stimulation the heat of the
blood may occasion it. This is termed the irritability of the heart, and the
medical test of which I speak, is called “ feeling his pulse.’ Even in the tail
may this contractile power of the arteries, and its effects, be seen to advan-
tage; when a colt is being docked, the blood squirts forth with frequent gushes,
answering in atolerable accurate manner to the state of his pulse, although
-he artery at that remote part is very small. But the blood that is so changed
m the lungs, as 1 have just said, is still found to contain certain parti-
cles or pee which would render it unfit for the purposes to which it is
to be applied, or those particles are required to effect certain purposes else-
where in the system. Accordingly, the major part passes into the liver, there
to be refined of its bitterness; whilst a portion is attracted to the kidneys,
where it leaves its saline qualities, that pass off by staling, as the former is
voided by dunging. See “ Liver,” farther onwards, F

41. These purposes, however, are not always effected alike regularly, from
severa] causes, I"requently, the blood comes to those organs in a state too
vitiated for their utmost activity to cleanse; sometimes a diseased state of the
blood, at others, languor of the parts, indispose them to the performance of
their functions, and the blood is suffered to circulate, filled with humours that
war with the constitution, and form what is termed “constitutional disease,”
or predispose him to receive disorders of varied malignity, according to cir-
cumstances. I shall come to advert to this point when, shortly, the liver and
kidneys claim our attention; but, the chiefest cause of disorders incident te
the animal by reason of defective liver, is the great exertions he is put to, and
Mueconsequent rapidity of the circulation, whereby the blood is propelled through
CONSTRUCTION OF ARTERIES AND VEINS, 4

it with tremendous velocity: it then acquires inflammation, and becomes ul
cerated (see sect. 39); a disposition which must be increased whenever the
blood has been formed imperfectly, either as regards the lungs or the lacteala
So much is this the case, that the blood drawn from a very aged patient of
mine lately, that was incapable of grinding his corn properly, showed evident
proofs that particles of ill-digested food had entered into the circulation, and
1s an answer to those writers who aver that the lacteals reject the bile and
suck up only the fine parts of the chyle; whereas, all inquiring persons must
know, that they take up the lighter parts of all substances whatever that pasa
through the intestines. If this were not so, how is it that the slow poisons
just spoken of enter the blood? or.how would it come to pass that so much
gvod is performed by alterative medicines, that, m like manner, insensibly in-
traduce themselves into the blood, and produce invisibly those permanently good
effects we so much admire? The opposition of a few is no obstacle to this
commendation of an obscure but safe and certain class of medicines,—to say
nothing of an alterative regimen, which is more safe still, and certainly more
natural, though slower and less positive in its effects than active medicine,
How much longer is the horse to be treated with nothing else but violence ?
42, BLoop-vEsseLs, or tubes, I have already observed, pervade every part
of the body, and are of two kinds, whose office is directly the reverse of each
other. Arteries, it will be recollected, convey the vital fluid to all parts of the
body, and the construction of these, it may easily be conceived, from what has
been said, is simply that of a tube with great contractile powers: they are
large near the heart, but soon branch out of a lesser size, until, entering the
smaller organization of the solids, they become very minute, infinitely nume-.
tous, and more sensitive, thus affording the means of renovation, or growing
to the flesh, bones, skin, hair, hoofs, &c. The large artery corumunicates with
minor branches, soon after leaving the heart, by two rows of openings, like
erforations, in its lower sides, at two or three inches asunder. Some one hag
fikened the arrangement of these vessels to the stem, branches, and twigs of
a currant-bush, and so might the veins that run nearly parallel to the ar-
teries, through every part of the animal, but are so constructed and arranged,
as to take up and reconvey the blood (which the arteries constantly deposit)
back again to the heart; and the similarity will still further hold good, if wa
extend it to the leaves of the bush, and compare these to the glands (see Sec-
tians 27, 28), in every one of which an artery terminates, and deposits its nu-
tritious contents, and where every small vein begins the absorption of what
the artery has so left behind. This absorption, when obstructed, lax, or other-
wise imperfect on the surface, may be restored by stimulating the parts with
spirits; when it is too high, and labouring greatly in consequence of the vis-
eidity of the blood, local inflammation is engendered, and one or other of those
diseases I shall hereafter treat under “abscess,” is the consequence of this
constitutional derangement. Blood that is thick, heavy, or viscid—cali it
which we like—causes heat, which being general, is fever; the rapidity of the
circulation increases violently, and the blood becomes more fluid than when
the animal was in good health, Arteries may be distinguished from veins
in the dead subject, by the property they possess, of retaining their tubular
shape after the blood is discharged; whereas, the veins collapse, when empty.
ro If the arteries are plain tubes, lying for the most part concealed, the
veins, on the contrary, are more frequently found exposed to the sight under
the skin, next tothe muscle. But, more delicate and more numerous, the
veins perform their part of the circulation by a totally different means than is
found in the propulsion and contraction of the arteries. One of the means
af effecting this purpose is by the obvious and simple movement of the body
and limbs, as well as by the act of breathing, whereby the blood is pressed 04
42 EFFECTS OF RESPIRATION AND EXEhciSE ON THE BLOOD.

of soine one part or other of the veins into the adjacent part; but these vessels
being furnished with innumerable valves, within an inch, or less, of each
other, the dooys whereof open only towards the heart, the blood must neces-
sarily force itself out that way, and no other. If we suppose that any given
portion of the vein is hereby emptied ; what follows from the circumstance, but
that the next-door valve, which leaps back. the blood contained in the adjoining
portion below, while it was pressed upon from above, béing thus relieved from
the pressure, will now open? Then, in rushes the blood, and the space is
again filled, but only to be emptied in a similar manner. It is with a view to
accelerate the circulation through the veins, and to keep the bloed warm in
winter, that mankind betake themselves to forced exercises, as hunting, run-
ning, or beating the arms athwart the chest, and that beasts with the same
propensity gambol and frisk about, or rub themselves : both promote the same
ends, by brea-hing short, so as not to cool the lungs too much, or by drawing
in the same warm air over again, in sheltered situations.

44, By the process just described, the blood being once admitted into the
minuter veins, finds its way to the larger ones, which convey it to the ‘heart ;
near to which, as the quantity becomes great in the large vein, it receives a
powerful auxiliary in the filling and emptying of the lungs, and the working
forward and backward of the midriff, as described before. Passing through
it near’the back bone, and, consequently, as its more muscular part, the great
vein must at every inspiration receive from the midriff considerable aid in
pouring forth its contents—to say nothing additional of the pump-like action
of the heart itself. At this part the vein acquires the appearance of a double
tube, the outside thickened and muscular, the inner one membranous and col-
lapsed, as if too big for the space in which it is placed. But the-curious fact—
how the blood which had been sent into circulation through the arteries, gets
into the veins at first, deserves consideration; as this must be effected labori-
ously, when the fluidity of the blood is lessened, or else accelerated with fright-
ful rapidity, whenever it so happens that fever prevails: local inflainmation,
by the same rule, must cause an unusual flow of blood to the part affected ;
and, as most of the impurities of the system will then be drawn towards it, at
that place must they leave the occasion of the most direful effects. In proof
of this doctrine, it happens frequently, that when an animal is attacked with
inflammatory complaints at two places at once, the greater evil of the two in-
creases, while the lesser one “runs off,” as it is called, or gets cured of itself.
So, on the contrary, when a diseased horse (glanderous, for example) is well
fed and well kept, he not unfrequently overcomes his disorder without medi-
cine, to the great wonder of the unknowing; the solution whereof is, that the
constant supply of new blood has quite changed the nature of the animal, his
disease has been “taken up,” or absorbed, by the animal system, and _ulti-
mately carried off in the common evactatione Ix short, absorption snd effu-
sion are the great internal secrets of animal ie aithougt. we can not say with
certainty how they are carried on, it is no less a positive law of nature, that
the veins at their commencement in the glands absorb or suck up, the blood
that is deposited there by the arteries, end separated by the lymphatics;
equally well known is it, that effusion takes place, of arterial blood, into much
larger veins, as well as from one part of the system into another, internally.
These points ar> deducible from a multitude of facts and well-known opera-
tions, some proofs of which the reader will find more in detail in the course
of this treatise. In some farts, a positive connexion of the capillaries, or
smallest blood-vesssels, is found to exist; in such a manner, that the section
of one or more of these and the consequent obstruction of the means of
life ee the parts below it, which some would naturally expect, is hereby
remedied.
DIGESTION.—THE STOMACH. 42

45, Tue Process or Dicestion, whereby the food is prepared to be con-
verted into blood, is no less curious than “the circulation” itself, is equally
conducive to the support of life, and being obstructed, is also the harbinger of
disease. If, on the two other great functions of animal life, depend his imme-
diate existence, no less does the horse’s capabilities, his present health, and
the engendering of future obstinate, incurable, and often mortal diseases reach
i vitals by way of his stomach and intestines, that comprise the organs of

igestion.

very Gae knows that oats and hay are the chief sustenance of the horse in
e domesticated state, and these, together with one or two other similar produc-
tions, and water, are given to him for nutriment alone; it therefore follows,
that whatever substances are taken into his stomach, which act not to the same
end, must operate injuriously, even though containing nothing hurtful in them-
selves: these must obstruct, if they do no more. But, when matters obnoxious ©
in their nature, and possessing strong powers and effects, are being adminis-
tered to the horse, it seems but fair to examine whether such things are likely
to agree with his common nutriment, with the blood that is made from it, or
with his constitution, his habits, or the tasks he has to perform. Or whether,
on the other hand, they do not prove destructive of the food itself, of the ves-
sels that contain it, and of those which draw up its finer particles that are to
-be converted into blood. :

Let him who practises by violent means consider a moment the natural
structure, formation, and functions of the organs on which his medicines are
destined to act, and compare their altered state, that has been brought about
by reason of the treatment the animal has received at his hands. Some pro-
tection, doubtless, is afforded by nature in the secretion of the fluid so often
mentioned, which defends the several organs against ordinary injuries; but
these are often found insufficient in quantity (notwithstanding the supply
which may be drawn by effusion from other parts of the body), and the 4
quent repetition of the monstrous mixture of the doctor’s skil-less art, ulti-
mately effects its purpose in destroying the toné of the fine vessels just alluded
to (the lacteals), and then the symptomatic disease of the skin, called hide-
pound, follows, as a natural consequence.

46. Tue Stomacn is a bag, or pouch, with two holes in it; the one receiv-
ing the end of the gullet, the other opening into the small gut. See it; plate
I—L, 26—29.- It lies behind the midriff, inclining a little to the left, having
the lungs contiguous on the other side that membrane, and the liver next be-
hind or under it. This main organ of digestion is but small in the horse, ar
sompared to that of any other animal, being so designed to assist his fleetnesa,
aut which would be impeded by his receiving large quantities of food at a time,
and points out the reason why he requires to be fed and watered frequently ;
he larger and more distended the stomach of any animal may be, the more
sluggish and vicious he is. As one proof of this position, I formerly obtaineu
the stomach of a man which was larger than that of any other subject I ever
saw or read of, and its possessor in life had a heavy, slow and sordid manner,
together with one or two other bad qualities which brought hin prematurely
to his end.

At the upper orifice of the stomach, a membrane, nearly insensible, commg
from the gullet, enters it loosely, and spreading along its lower part, lines about
one half of it, thus defending it from acrimouiousor poisonous substances, whilet
the coat of the other parts thereof consisis of striated muscular fibres, very
sensible and given to contraction, and running transversely to those of the in-
sensible coat, a circumstance which has given rise to the fanciful notion, that
digestion proceeds in the horse's stomach by what 1s termed “‘trituration,” o1
pounding; but, upon reference to the figure which illustrates another organ.

 
44 INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.—INTESTINES,

(at section 56), the reader will be able to form a more accurate notion, neat
enough for his purpose, how the stomach contracts its sensible part upon its
contents, This sensible coat secretes a juice which, from its strong gastric
nature, not only digests the food, but would also corrode the stomach itself
(insensible though it be), were it not supplied with another fluid for its pro-
tection, in the saliva or spittle that descends the gullet along with the food.
This saliva is also secreted, in some measure, when the anitnal may not be
feeding: but, whenever this supply fails, the gastric juice predominates sa
much as to cause a galling pain in the stomach, and occasion in the animal a
ravenous desire for Filing it, if not with food, at least with some substance that
may keep it distended, and perhaps carry off the painful superabundance,
Horses so circumstanced, when in harness, gnaw the pole or shaft, or bite at
each other, and soon learn to become crib-biters, gnawing any thing they can
come near, as well as the manger; litter, bits of old wall, and dirt, at length,
are found by them agreeable to their palate. See further at section 49.

The insensible membrane I spoke of, by its loose folds, forms, at the entrance
of the stomach, a kind of valve, which prevents regurgitation of the food, like
that of ruminating animals; and a similar contrivance at its termination in the
lower or right orifice occasions a short obstruction until the pulp is mixed;
for, when the stomach is filled, the relative position of the two orifices alters
ma great degree. From these premises it seems apparent that any substance.
entering an empty stomach does not act upon the sensible part of it, but being
soon mixed up with the gastric juice, it proceeds into the intestines, there to
communicate its effects—whatever these may be. Whether nutritive or
medicinal, poisonous or beneficial, the intestines receive all with but little al-
teration.* But whenit so happens that the food does not pass readily out of
the stomach, a fermentation commences, and the sensible part thereof being
then distended, the ill effects ascend the gullet, reachi the head, and cause ver-
tigo, staggers, &c. At times, a specific inflammation takes place, and com-
municates itself in four or five days to the whole of that surface, taking its
course downwards or upwards, according to the orifice that may be most af-
fected; this being all the way down through the intestines, blocking up the
influx of gall (as described sect. 48), and causing yellowness of the eyes, until
its appearance at the anus; or, in the other case, it ascends up to the nostrils,
making its appearance first about the head, and communicates either. way to
the skin and its coat.

47. Of the intestines, guts as they are usually called, itis important to keep
in mind, that, notwithstanding the appearance of great tenacity they assume,
they are, nevertheless, extremely irritable, being composed of two coats of fine
muscular fibres that cross each other, the one circularly, the other lengthwise ;
and having a lining which secretes a fluid for its protection, they admit in their
intervals an innumerable quantity of absorbent vessels, that are constantly
sucking up the finer particles of their contents. This sort of conformation

* At this place, for the information of those who would practise the veterinary art by com-
parison, it may be useful to observe, that in the human stomach is digestion rincipaly per:
formed, in the horse’s very little; in ee small intestines aj to mix the food with the
bile and other digestive juices; but man having no cecum, or blind gu, like the horse, to re-
ceive the heavier parts of the food as they escape from the small intestines, his lacteals begin

her up than those of the horse, which lie wholly on the large intestines, It fchows that,
whatever is received into the stomach of man is felt through the system immediately ; with the
horse this does not take place until it has reached the intestines. One other dissimilarity in the
mode of digestion is worthy of notice: in man, the work of digestion is nearly finished when
the bile is mixed with the food—say at an average of twelve hours from its being taken, whilst
the horse passes his feed into the intestines in about two hours, before it has well assumed an
homogeneous appearance, which the bile seems to effect for him. With us liquid rernaina ip
the stomach ; the horse passes water immediately into the cwcum,
INTESTINES—DISEASES Of, “e

renders the intestinal canal obnoxious to repeated strong drastic y urges,
ticularly aloes of the Barbadoes kind, that heat and irritate the parts by their
coarseness. Inflammation is most likely to succeed such irritation, in sum-
mer-time especially, and the animal is usually destroyed by the pretended re-
medies of the farriers; or, being pressed forward in his work during the attack,
foes until he drops down and dies. At the fundament may be seen the enr-
iest indications of this species of over-physicking, in the disgusting protrusion
of the inner coat whilst expelling the contents thereof; an ordinary effort of
nature to get rid of what is offensive to it, which, considering the horizontal
position of the horse, might appear wonderful to us bipeds, but for the well-

nown double operation of the coats of the intestines, F'rom the top to the
bottom of the canal a spiral motion is kept up by the alternate contraction of
the two coats thereof, the one in circumference, the other lengthwise, resem-
bling that of a worm, and appearing as if a corkscrew agitated its inside. By
this means the mass is pressed back wards, and asit increases in quantity and
becomes less and less clearable, the offended nerves excite the guts to renew-
ed efforts for its expulsion, in which the lower part of the belly, with its cover
ing, from the coecum to the sphincter, concurs with all its powers of contrac-
tion. Partial retention of the breath, and consequent pressure upon the mid-
riff, and parts behind it, contribute to lessen the longitude of the intestine at
every effort. This kind of excitement, if repeated too often, it is plainly to be
seen, must keep up the irritation of the parts concerned init, and dispose them
to contract inflammatory complaints,

48, In length about thirty yards, the intestinal canal has in its course two
or three different offices to perform towards digestion, whereof the smallest
gut nearest the stomach is for receiving the gall, or bile that has been formed
in the liver for that purpose. At the termination of that small gut, at the end
of twenty yards, an immensely large one occurs, called the sac (cecum), or
blind gut, where the contents are prevented from issuing too soon, by reason
of the internal coat of the small gut getting into folds, as it were. We may
as well consider this as another valve ; and that it was provided by the Author
of Nature to correct the animal’s propensity for transgressing his laws against
repletion, as well as to prevent the contents of the cozcum from returning up-
wards, when this latter is compressing the large intestines backwards, in the
act of dunging. But inflammation sometimes, obstructions oftener, produce
at this place more tedious affections than is generaliy imagined. When it so
happens that the stimulus of the bile is insufficient (as in diseased liver), and
acrimonious particles are left behind, or the half-masticated food inflicts in-
juries on the very sensible surface of this passage, then the noisome effluvia
reascends to the stomach; the bile, too, enters it soon after, by reason of the
intestines having lost their power of compression and elongation, when the
corkscrew motion downwards is changed to an upwards motion, and all be-
comes disorder in that region. Loss of appetite, fever and dullness, with droop-
ing as if in pain, and a staring ccat, follow each other in succession; for the
secretion of bile, which I shall come presently to describe, as affecting the
skin, is thereby vitiated. These appearances it has been a fashion to consider
“symptoms of the worms,” or of “debility” (another term for low fever); and
the practice of administering bitter medicines, that are supposed to kill the
worms, is only successful on account of their zestoring the tone of the stomach,
and by supplying to the intestines a congenial stimulus in the place of bie
This was the case with Mr. White’s statement, in vol. i. p. 170, where he
says, “I have sometimes succeeded in destroying worms by giving aloes, one
dram and a half, every morning until purging was produced.” That is to say,
‘tthe horse became well ;’? but whether he had any worms to be destroyed ie
nother question; and then, if a dram and a half would succeed sometimes, }

6 :
86 BLIND GUT; ITS USES. CONCRETIONS. GREAT GUT.

should apprehend a larger dose (as eight drams, his favourite quantity) wold
more inevitably have poisoned all the worms his horses may have had, of
whichsoever kind they might be; but this mode, as will be perceived, though
more destructive of worms, would not have acted as a ¢onic restorative on the
stomach and intestines, like small repeated doses, 1, however, who am a man
of no fashion, generally have found those kind of attacks accompany a repeti-
tion of irregular feeding; that is to say, very little one day, very much ano-
ther; now all, now none; the attack varying in degree, and changing from
simple obstruction to the inflammatory, as the animal may or may not have
been allowed water with his food. :

49. To supply this deficiency, in some measure, does the cecwm, or blind
gut, seem to have been placed at the termination of the small intestines, In
this second cavity digestion is ee to be completed, much liquid being
found therein; and we know that here, in a corner, termed its “appendix,”
are frequently deposited hard matters, as earth, stones, and other substances,
tittle compatible with the purposes of nutrition (as noticed at sect. 46); but
whether these ever pass off by. stool remains in doubt, and we are left to con-
clude that it is much less sensible than the other intestines. In size it may
be about thrice that of the stomach of the individual ; and it is placed near the
surface of the belly, lying on the left, about midway between the fore and hind
near leg. Here it is exposed to damagement from a variety of causes: the
groom, while dressing him, often hits the horse here with the curry-comb ; the
dealer tries whether his new purchase is a roarer by striking him hard with
his lash whip, whilst he holds up his head short; and I have frequently seen
one of the most noted jobbers and breakersin London terrify his “restive cus-
tomers” into obedience, by a kick of his foot skilfully placed on this part.
The facts are notorious; what is worse, they long remained uncorrected. The
consequence of all this hard usage is, that the cacum* loses its functions,
more or less, certain heavy particles are not expelled as they ought, but, re-
maining behind, attach to their sides some earthy particles of the food which
would otherwise pass into the colon, and the heat of the animal’s body causes
them to become stones of great magnitude. Six or eight pounds in weight,
and nearly as many inches in diameter, are quoted as by no means uncom.
mon sizes, in certain parts of the country, where humanity is at so low an
ebb, and the police equally unmindful of their duty, as in the district of Lon
don before alluded to, é

50. The colon, or large gut, commences at the only orifice of the last-men.
toned sac ; then, turning underneath the small intestines, and proceeding for-
ward to-near the stomach and liver, it turns about, and, in its course back-
ward, makes a great number of zig-zag turnings, by means of two ligaments
that run along its whole length, and coil it up. Such a shape, or rather no-
viape disposition of its folds, would inevitably obstruct the progress of its con-
ents, but for the fore-mentioned double motion of its muscular coats, with

vhich it is furnished, as well as the smaller intestines. Being heavy, itis sus-
pended the whole length of the horse’s hinder part, by'a strong half-transpa-
yent membrane (called mesentery), which being fastened to the bones of the
back, and hanging down in folds, or plaits, admits of the gut’s filling up the
same from side to side, in the semi-globular manner we may perceive when
the animal is opened. But where the mesentery embraces the intestines the
tightest, as if to prevent the too ready escape of the foodthere is placed along
the whole length of the depression, between the folds of the gut, a white vessel

*The muscles of the cecum being stronger than any other part of the intestines, are com-
Lot by the blow to contract forcibly, as do the intercostal muscles of the lower ribs, whereb
air in the lungs is suddenly expelled, and, if he be affected, the horse gyoans as the air
parses the upper part of the wind-pipe,
PREDISPOSITION LUO DISEASES: HOW COUNTERACTED, 47

having numerous branches to the right and left, fall of r-utritious juice, making
its way towards the fore-part of the animal.

This is the lacteal duct, which, from its situation between the folds, formed
by the mesentery, is by some termed “the mesenteric canal,” and by and by,
(in Gibson) “the mesenteric artery.” Mesocolon and mesorectum being the
names of parts which usually merge in the general term “mesentery,” for the
whole, I have made nodistinction. But all this does not signify so much as the
manner in which this duct gets filled at first by the lacteala how it constantly
flows in health, or is obstructed by disease, and what is the mode and the effect
of discharging its contents near the heart, as before alluded to in sect. 37,
second paragraph, as well as just below in sect. 51. Herein may be founi
much matter for pleasing reflection and study, by him who aspires after oh-
taining a more accurate knowledge of the curative art than is generally pos-
sessed ; and to attain to perfection wherein, he must study the thing itself by
inspection, since nothing that I can find room to set down here can give him

- any thing like an adequate notion of its importance; nor, indeed, was it ever
my intention to employ strict anatomical description, or to enter into learned
definitions, any farther than should be found necessary to illustrate what I
have to teach, respecting diseases in general, and some long standing errors
of respectable veterinary surgeons in particular. On no other point, through-
out my present labour, de { so much desire to be rightly understood, as on this
one of the absorbents, atu! absorption altogether ;* for it is only when this
function takes place with regularity that health can be preserved ; when it is
disordered, our business is to restore it, too much or too little being equally
productive of a disposition to diseases, though opposite ones. An indolent or
an impoverished absorption requires our care no less than a too rapid or fever
ish performance of this function: the fleam and cathartic medicines reduce the
latter kind of symptoms; a generous mash, tonic alteratives, and good groom-
ing, are the best restoratives of a languid system, Pulsation is the test of either
state of derangement ; and he who is the cleverest at discovering, by this prog-
nostic, what is going on in the system, willalways make the most humane, as
well as the most successful, horse-doctor. i

51. Towards its termination, the colon makes a short turn, as if to pre-
vent the too easy escape of the dung into the rectum, or straight-gut, with-
out an effort of nature to straighten the curve at that place; as we see it per-
formed when the animal strains the part, while contracting the lower muscles,
of the belly, together with the cecum, in order to produce a stool—the whole
transaction being most intelligibly termed “a motion.” Several such im-
pediments occur in the course of the intestinal canal, and some of them are so
abrupt, as no after-art is ever capable of reducing toa straight line: the reason
for which kind of contrivance is, that its contents still possess some nourish-
ment, which it is desirable should. be extracted, and they are thus detained
that nothing might be lost: to say nothing of the existing opinion, that the
food which bax thus lain some time in the animal must impart a juice differ-
ing considerably in its properties from that which was but recently received
into the stomach. No operation in the system is more beautiful than this one
of drawing from the food, now properly mixed and softened, what becomes
the milky fluid called chyle, first, and blood immediately afterwards; the first
mentioned being performed by innumerable transparent vessels, whose fine
mouths open every where on the inner surface of the intestines. From thea
word lacta (milk), these vessels are termed Jacfeals, their function being ab

* Generally termed “the absorbent system,” and until lately, wholly unattended to in veteri-
nary practice: Gibson, in his lengthy Beruicularities respecting the horse, not having once
mentioned the Jacteals (as rf they existed not), and contenting himself with lust loosely nanny
“lymphatics ” at page 55 of his first valume.
48 SEURRTORY ORGANS—IHE LIVER.

sorption (like the lymphatics); tne largest whereof lying along the mesentery
(as I said before), sends out smaller branches, and these again more minute
ones, to encircle and penetrate the gut; in this their mouths do incessantly
suck up, or absorb, and convey to the larger vessels the material for replenish-
ing the system with new blood. Passing ah the spine, the large tube, filled
with this milky fluid, at length reaches the fore part of the animal, and ac-
quires the name of the thoracic duct ; here it mixes with a portion of lymph,
and is conveyed immediately by a large vein to the heart. Ascending the

ulmonary artery, as described in a former section (37), the air entering the
lungs, changes its colour to a fine healthy scarlet, and at the next pulsation #
is driven into the circulation to mingle with the mass, to impart its newly ac-
quired properties, and to return again and again, wasting away, until at
length it becomes used up and extinct, its place being supplied with other new
matter by the continued process of digestion. A change of substance this,
which is said to take place with the whole body of the horse in the course of
every year and a half, or two years : so that at no time has he a particle of flesh,
bone, hair, hoof, or other matter which formed his body two years before, and
affording a fit subject for reflection and admiration in us, as it invites those
who have the care of providing for his health to take advantage of the well
known circumstance, the more securely to éffect those changes by gradual
means, which too frequently are attempted by violence, and fail. Nature will
not be forced, rather seek her in her recesses, and humour her ways. Those
who act differently, generally induce some lasting disorder to appear upon the
surface, which they treat as if local; when, alas! these are seated in the ve7
vitals of the animal, sometimes in the most delicate parts of the mexentery.
Heating, or cordial medicines, as well as those other untoward mixtures,
which corrode, or blunt, the mouths of the finer lacteals, thereby dispose them
to receive materials improper for the making of good blood; the consequence
whereof is, that tubercles frequently are found, aheeh fill up the cavities of the
lacteal duct. The matter of these tubercles is usually hardened, and resem-
bles the yolk of a hard boiled egg. The disease appears in a staring coat, is
commonly considered to be the worms, and treated as such, with more heating
or drastic medicines, which but increase the evil. Other obstructions are
thereby formed, and if a solitary worm or two are found on dissection (as fre-
quently happens), they have been generated in the obstructed part, but have
« hot caused any disorder.

Of the mesenteric canal, it may be useful, as well as curious, to remark,
that 1 have always found its state of health or disease to correspond with the
appearance of his coat; when this is smooth, the former is full and free from
obstructions; when rough, the contrary. In hide-bound, this canal is yellow;
in farcy, red, as well as the bowels; these appear bluish, when the horse dies
in consequence of being worn out, enough at the same time, the flaccid lac-
teals still preserve their healthy white, if no other cause to the contrary pre-
vails. But, upon such further particulars as are connected with the study of
digestion, as influencing or influenced by respiration and circulation, I shall

e occasion to say more hereafter; adding thereto a few cursory remark:
that were not absolutely necessary for the present illustration of the anim:
system, but will be found more in place in the succeeding section,

The Liver with its sweetbread, the Kidneys, and the Bladder, being liable
$o certain diseases peculiar to each, besides the property of affecting one ano-
ther readily, as well as being at all times mainly instrumental in maintaining
anu restoring health to the other parts of the whole system, now claim our
undivided attention. 1 shall, therefore, proceed at once to a brief Jescription
of the uses and functions of each, and accompany the same with a few gene
THE LIVER: ITS SITUATION. 2

ral, but pertinent remarks on the present received mode of ‘reating the disor-
ders incident to the several parts that impede those functions, reserving par-
ticulars regarding the causes, sympsoms, and method of cure, to a subsequent
part of the volume. Consult the Index.

52. The Liver is a very important and immensely large glandular body ot
a dusky red colour, almost divided, like the lungs, into two lobes, having two
smaller subdivisions; and is attended by its pancreas or sweetbread, a small
flat part thereof, which has the property of secreting a sweet kind of saliva,
This secretion was noticed before, as entering the gut near the stomach, along
with the bile from the liver: both are therefore conveniently situated under-
neatk the stomach and behind the midriff, to the skirt of which the upper
a of the liver is attached ; but the exact functions of this pancreas, or ita

seases, are no farther known to us, except that it partakes a good deal the
appearance of its joint neighbour, and that it is indeed sweet to the palate.

efore he proceeds farther, the reader had better consult the place of a skele
ton as to the situation and extent of this important organ (important in a
curative point of view), as relates to the midriff, stomach, and kidneys, where
it will be seen included between the squares marked K—N as intersected by
‘the lines numbered 21—27. The side view therein presented is necessarily
the left or near side, but the other lobe or right is of greater length and mora
substance, it touches the right kidney, and its upper surface is contiguous to
the diaphragm, which presses upon it at each inspiration of the lungs. This
tendency of the liver to the right side seems to have been designed by nature
to counterbalance the leftward position of the heart, and of the lower part of
the stomach; the pyloric orifice of which is seen at the intersection of the
lines K and 26, Ina former page (sec. 27.), 1 took occasion to describe the
minute glands with which the extremities are furnished, and to advert to the
secretory glands, all which are formed by arteries that deposit their contents,
and which is again taken up into the veins; but the liver, the largest of all
glands, and a secretory organ, differs from the others in one great and signal
respect: it is formed of an assemblage of veins only. Its structure, in other
respects, is much the same as that of the smaller glands.
nto the liver is brought ‘the blood which has been sent from the heart to

circulate and nourish the whole system (except a portion which the kidneys
attract); a service that is performed by means of a great blood-vessel they
call vena porta, that pases along the right side of the spine. In size very
large, and always filled in health, a sight of this vessel shows how busily em-

loyed the liver must be, in separating from so great a quantity of blood the
Cicer qualities it has obtained by having passed through the animal’s system,
and imbibed whatever might there lurk of the offensive, the diseased, or the
infectious. It proves, also, that any disease with which it may be attacked,
must be propornionalsy violent in its progress, and tedious to cure, inasmuch
as both will depend upon the state every other viscus may be in, through
which the blood happens to have passed. Are the kidneys, or either of them,
inflamed? ‘the blood which has recently passed through them comes to the
liver to get rid of its noisomeness, in the form of bile. Is an abscess to be
dispersed, and the acrid matter driven from the part, to be taken_up by the
lymphatics (see sect. 29), at the liver it is strained off, and here must be im-
parted a portion of its baleful qualities. It follows of course, that whatever
medicine is directed towards the liver must go thither by means of the circu-
sation, i e. through the absorbents: for schirrous liver this is best accom-
plished by the lymphatics ; for inflamed liver by means of the lacteals; ir
pther words, these are the internal and the external modes of exhibition, and-
the preparations of mercury are here mostly kept in view.

The secretion of too much bile, and the consequent inability of the vessels
*
50 OF BILE—EXCESS AND DEFECTIVE; SYMPTOMS AND CURE.

to carry it off, it may easily be foreseen, would be the harbinger of jaundice;
an‘ its approach may be discerned by the yellowness of the eyes, by the in-
creased number and thinness of the animal’s dungings, and the constant emp-
tiness of its belly, which both feels and looks loose and flabby. On the con-
trary, too little bile, must leave the intestines without the requisite stimulus
to expel their contents, which, soon getting dry and hard, a constipation
asually follows, that defies the remedy by purgatives: nor is the operation of
backraking with clysters always of effectual service. "Whichever extreme af-
fects the liver, the patient becomes weak: but in case of deficiency, though
he may look more brisk for a few days, stretching his hind legs out when un-
employed, he afterwards becomes feverish, hot under the tongue, sluggish and
dull in the eyes. Schirrous liver—a corrosion or rustiness of its fine surface,
accompanies this deficiency of bile, and when it recurs often, the disease be-
comes permanent; but whether caused by, or causing the same, I am unable
to ascertain. Ulcerated liver is occasioned by a too great heat in this organ:
if occurring upon its thin extremity, the disorder cures itself by a natural
operation, i. e. by adhesion to the gut, and passing off by stool; but when
seated higher up, it terminates fatally, by wholly debilitating the system, and
sooner or later destroys the patient. ‘

The preparations of mercury, before alluded to, act variously upon the sys-
tem, according to the mode of exhibition the practitioner may adopt: in the
form of calomel it assists the liver to discharge its functions by lowering its
tone; the blue pill (pilul. hydrarg.) is finely adapted to solve the crudities of
stomach and bowels in carnivorous animals, but has never been extensively
tried on the horse. For any disease of the whole system, or “bad habit of
body,” as Richard Lawrence properly calls that predisposed state of it which
ultimately produceth tumours, grease, fistula, farcy—mercury, in all its va-
tious shapes, isthe only specific.

Too great a secretion of the bile, although it pass off, produces a roughish
meagre coat first about the belly ; the patient becomes languid, especially after
being compelled to any great exertion, when he perspires-too readily on the
carcass, his manner is uneasy, and after a while, partial hide-bound commen
ces under the chest. Should the bile be of a less acrimonious nature, those
symptoms are then perceptible lower down (i. e. farther back), and when his
eyes appear yellowish, it is then a confirmed jaundice; but in very bad cases,
prosunng death, people vulgarly call it “broken hearted,” because commonly

rought about by bad usage*.

Inflammation of the liver generally accompanies those appearances; but
we can not be certain, though it is to be presumed, that inflammation is always
consequent upon an over-quantity of secretion. After much procrastination,
medicinal remedies are of little avail when tried on the most extensive scale,
although no disorder to which the horse is liable is easier of cure, if it be
taken In time: the patient requires only a treatment directly the reverse of
that which brought on his ailments, and he gets well, almost of course.
Regular work, moderate feeding, and tolerable behaviour comprise these na-
tural remedies: they are usually found efficacious in the earlier stages of the
disorder, and then only. But those natural remedies being neglected, and al-
teralives (the assistants of nature) never thought of, languor of the-whole
system prevails sooner or later, and the best of medicines fail to act by reason
of that languor. ‘The absorbents are then accused of not performing their

* Smice writing the above, I have ascertained upon the view, that a horse, rankling under
the effects of maltreatment, absolutely broke the cells of his heart through high-spirited -cha-
grin, The case is described much at large jn the “ Annals of Sporting,” for July ee, @ paper
which I was induced to draw up at the instance of my friend John Bee, Esq., who was presets

‘at the death and the: lissection, 2
FOUL HABIT, HOW PRODUCED; HOW CURED. KIDNEYS. 51

function properly ; or, if they do so, then the liver and the kidneys fail in re-
fining the blood sufficiently, so that, at its getting to the extremities once
more, those particles which ought to have been carried off are there deposited,
and form the nidus of those external maladies that are mistakenly considered
local diseases, and treated as such, instead of correcting the foul habit of body
which is thus plainly indicated. Of the whole series of tumours or abscess,
grease is the only one which people in general think of taking up into the
system; the matter that proceeds from the pustules that form grease is so pal-
pably composed of urea, or the principle of urine, which ought to have been
attracted to the kidneys, that every body who would cure the grease, very
properly, as if by instinct, administers diuretics; and when this means of
<ure is adopted early, always with a proportionate degree of success. But of
these things more in the following sections.

53. THe Kipneys, although the seat of only one disorder posi
yet are they so intimately connected with the cure of other diseases, whic!
are constitutional, that a right knowledge of their functions can not but prove
highly serviceable in the judicious administration of the universally approved
method of cure, by the urinary passage. Diuretics, or urine balls, are so con-
stantly in the hands of grooms and others, that I would admonish them thus
early to reflect a little on the consequences of going on from day to day in
urging these fine glands to over-exertion, whereby they are kept in a constant
state of irritation, are rendered incapable of acting their part, or literally be-
come rotten. They are situated, one on each side of the spine, close to the
last two ribs (see plate G, H, as intersected by figures 28—30), where they
are attached as well by the blood-vessels which belong to them, as by stout
cellular membranes which cover them underneath. ith this exception the
kidneys of horses seldom have the covering of fat, termed suet, which we find
in other animals, owing, no doubt, to the very great action of the parts. Mr.
Richard Lawrence must have been thinking on the ox or sheep’s kidneys,
when he wrote his 289th page. For my part, so little of this fat on the kid-
neys has been noticed by me, that this book was already at press before I was
convinced they were ever covered; and yet I have assisted in opening
and noting the state of as many horses, 1 believe, as any man in England
who ever wrote a line on this subject: in France, I have reason to conclude,
they are more industrious in this respect. The left kidney lies close to the
ribs; the right one farther forward, is loose, and is connected with the right
lobe of the vers which being much longer than.its left lobe, seems to extend
itself backward for that purpose. Excitement, no doubt, is the mutual intent
of this connexion ; and that deviation from her true system, which nature al-
lows in the effusion from one part to another, takes place, when either the
one or the other may be diseased, obstructed, injured, or destroyed. On no
other grounds can we account how it is. brute animals so long survive the total
destruction of some vital part, as we frequently find.* One cousequence of
this loose situation of the right kidney is, that inflammation generally makes
its appearance upon it earlier than on the left, a circumstance which is partly
derived from its proximity to the liver; it also imparts some of its own feel-
ing to that organ, when inflamed ; two facts these which ought to be well
kept in mind, when we wish to excite unusual secretion in either. In sha
the left kidney approaches the angular more than the right one; from which
1 infer that, although the functions of the two must be so nearly the same,
in affectiuns they differ; at least, a gall or slight blow will affect the left much
sooner than the right kidney.

* Latlerly, Mr. Travers has given the public the tesults of many curlous experlinents on
Gils subject
52 THE PRINCIPLE OF URINE.

84. The section of a kidney, which should be performed lengthwise, wil
show in the centre its pelvis, in which the tube (or ureter) that carries off the
water to the bladder takes its rise: in this pelvis stone is sometimes formed,
that often finds its way to the bladder, unless it remains in the ureter, or comes
away entirely.* The ureters communicate immediately with the bladder, and
the water they convey is formed by the outermost red part of the organ draw
ing the blood into it, and through which it is filtered by the vascular or whitish
part which lies next withinside; here numerous little tubes convey it to the
centre one, or uteter, that enters the cavity of the pelvis at H J, 33, 34, of the
plate of a skeleton. . : ‘

The blood, which has been so filtered of its water, is absorbed by a vein,
which is plainly visible in the section of the kidney; and the whole function
shows how rapidly circuitous any medicine must act, which being poured into
the stomach is found, in so short a space as two or three hours, to have work-
ed its passage through the bowels into the lacteals, thence through the heart
and arteries into the kidneys, filled the bladder, and caused a staling of the
noxious water, which is to carry off disorders of one sort or other. Here itis
worthy of remark, that the operation of internal medicines is much more cer-
tain in the horse, when directed against the absorbing vessels and the kidneys,
than when intended to act chiefly on the stomach ; for, as hath been observed,
nis stomach being one half of it insensible to stimulants, we are not certain of
producing upon it any effect whatever. In all swellings of the legs, the good
properties of diuretic medicinee may be discerned almost immediately, by reason
of the connexion which subsists between the functions of lymphatics and of
the kidneys; so likewise, diaphoretic medicines no sooner excite the lacteals
to a performance of their function, than the skin shows evident signs of its
good effects. But both means of cure may be abused, as1 shall show more
particularly in the sequel: the first, being administered too often, wears out
the functions of the kidneys; the aecond tein carried on too long, at length
refuseth to act upon the skin.

55, An idea respecting the deposition of water in the membranes was
thrown out in the twentieth section; and another, as to variation in the pro-
portions of urine and perspiration in summer and winter, at the bottom of
section the twenty-second, to which the reader may refer. On this topic a
foolish notion having got abroad as to the small quantity of acrid matter con-
tained in the urine of the horse, induced Dr. Thomsont to submit a portion

* | was called in to examine a horse, whose diseases had baffled the skill of many clever
farriers. He had been long declared to have ‘a complication ;” that is to say, none knew his
disease, tor he occasionally voided blood with his urine, in great pain; they had therefore given
him diuretics to such an excess, that he could not bear the hand’s passing along his back over
the kidneys: his sheath showed signs of @dematous swelling, and upon that region bei!
pressed he became unruly. I, however, saw enough to ascertain, by the heat and tension o
the part, that it was inflammatory, and as his pulse was high, his tongue hot and dry, I pro-
posed to bleed him, and to foment the part; the operation, however, was scarcely performed
when its owner resulved to take no further trouble, and the horse was slain. On examination
I found his kidneys were rotten, and as pervious as dough: ulcers appeared upon both lobes of
the liver, and the neck of the bladder was inflamed a little, Thesheath preserved its size ; and
on the top of the penis a sinall shapeless stone, the cause of all this mischief, lay buried under
the cuticle; and would, I should apprehend, have come away in the course of a day or two
spontaneously. How it got there is most inscrutable.

{ Of Edinburgh, in his Annals of Philosophy, for August, 1820. By the way, on this sub-
Jeet it is worthy of remark, that for seven or eight years past, the I'rench and Italian doctors
wave made a great fuss about this /’wree (urea), or proportion of the principle of urine, calling
za discovery 3” whereas our own people, in every branch of medicine, have been acting up
on the came ductrine for better than forty years, to iny certain knowledge. Some have regue
‘ated their practice (human) by the appearance of the water, with various success; and 1 have
¥ zTeat notion, that this test of the state of the horse’s health may he added to those other symp

ums by which we endeavour to ascertain the ailments of an animal which nature has forbiddep
GLANDERS. CONSTRUCTION OF THE BLADDER. 53

of it to chemical analysis in order to decide that point. “The result was, thet
it contains an unusually large proportion of that principle, so that without be-
ing concentrated by evaporation, it yielded crystals of nitrate of urea, very
readily on the addition of nitric acid.” This fact being thus satisfactorily as-
certained, accounts for the strong ammoniacal vapour of stables that affects the
eyes of the attendants, and being inhaled (as said in sect. 39.), is clearly the
parbingss: of several diseases in the horses confined in them—glanders among
the rest, 2

56. THe Buanpsr, or receptacle for the redundant water of the whole sys-
tem, as it is separated from the blood by the kidneys, is situated within the
hollow of the pelvis, at the intersection of H 1 with 33, 34 on the plate of a
skeleton, with its outlet or neck turned towards the place of
exit, varying a little according to thesex. It consists of three
coats or layers, the outer two being muscular, and having
their fibres crossing each other—(as may be seen upon split-
ling asunder a stale bladder), the better to enable it to contract
upon and expel its contents. The inner coat is membrane-
ous, sensible on distention, and secreting a mucous fluid to
protect itself against the effects of the urine. When. how-
ever, the bladder becomes full, the secretion is insufficient for
its protection, and irritation commences in order to induce the
muscular coats to concur in the expulsion of the urine. This
desixe must be very great in the horse, for the reason assigned
at the close of the preceding section, and shows the necessity
of permitting him to void his urine upon his first intimating an inclination
thereto. The shape of some horses’ bladders differs a good deal from that of
others,—particularly about the neck, those of the female being considerably
wider, and shorter, than those of the male, a circumstance to be remembered
when I come to treat of the disorders incident thereto; since in inflammation
of its neck, for example, in one sex we are obliged to have recourse to instru-
ments, in the other the urine may be discharged by the fingers. But it so
happens that horses are more liable to the disorder just named than mares,
My reader will also please to note, that the thin membrane which defends the
whole intestine against the friction of the surface, (termed peritoneum, ) reaches
backward to only half way over the bladder; so that it offers no obstruction te
our operations upon its neck in cases of disease. :

57. To recur once more to the subject of a preceding section (the-55th)—
the principle (of urea) that resides.in any given quantity of urine evacuated
by the horse, it may be here observed, that when the animal, on a journey,
has been pushed onward, and thus prevented from staling for a considerable
time, he at length produces it of a deeper colour and less in quantity than
usual, a change which has been effected by the great heat of his body ue
taken it up again, by the absorption and effusion which nature has provide
of aqueous particles from one part of the system to another. The principle,
or urea, however, remains in the bladder, and produces one of two evils; either
the inner or sensible coat becomes inflamed, and loses, after an attack of dia:
betes, some part of its function of secreting the mucous fluid for its defence,
if it does not terminate fatally ; or, being less severe, but often repeated, a de-

 

 

 

 

 

fo complain. Whatever practitioner should undertake to judge of the horse’s diseases by its
urine, must prepare himself to undergo a good deal of ridicule, and may expect some calumny
he would not, however, be far from the right path towards making a proper estimate of the
quantity or violence ofits ailment, though he might not so readily ascertain the precise nature
ef the disorder.. The terms “nephrin,” and “uric acid,” the oldest and the newest for the
principle of this evacuation, show the assiduity of which it has been dverred worthy, in tha
practice where it is confesvedly of less importance than it is ia curs.
64 DISEASES OF THE BLADI ER: OPERATION.

position pi earthy particles takes plaee, which is generally converted into stone
or gravel, 2

‘alsy of the bladder is induced from frequent repetitions of thus neglect
ing the calls of nature, as well as from injuries of the spine; in both which
cases the nerves having lost their sensibility, the coats do not contract suffici-
ently, and some water is always left behind. In all diseases of the. bladder, a
disposition to fill speedily manifests itself: and in palsy, this is the leading
symptom. When this evil takes place, the horse, while staling, seems un-
willing, or is incapable of discharging the last drops of each voidance ; and, if
the usual practice of giving diuretics be adopted, the animal is ruined, if he
does not burst the fundus of the bladder and die immediately: rather, the
contrary method of discharging, instead of filling the bladder, should be sought,
and the readiest way to effect this is to introduce the hand into the funda-
ment, which having emptied, the bladder may be felt much distended. In
this case, we are told, ‘too much pressure might terminate fatally; * but by
smoothing the bladder gently with the tops of the fingers, from its neck for-
wards, is usually successful. In fact, I never should have thought of its fail-
ing, but for what is said in one of the books on diseases of horses (White, vol.
i. p. 121), where we find a good number of pages bestowed upon “suppres-
sion and retention of urine,” which are not diseases in themselves, but the
effects of disease ; the first arising in defective secretion of the kidneys, the
second in the bladder, or its neck. At all times a good deal of sympathy exists .
between this organ and the kidneys, and the kidneys with the liver; inflam.
mation of either being soon communicated to all three, in a degree propor-
tioned to the animal’s general state of bodily health previously to the attack.

 

CHAPTER IIL

General Observations on the Animal System of the Horse, with Reference
to the Origin of Constitutional Diseases; Recapitulation and further
Development of Veterinary Practice, upon the principles before laid
down.

Sezine that a pea puaiion of the preceding chapters, and a few general
ooservations arising therefrom, would be necessary, before we examine into
the particular diseases to which they have reference, I shall here add the no-
tice of such minor parts of the horse, as may seem to have been overlooked;
and then draw such conclusions from the whole, as to the principles upon
which veterinary medicine may be most successfully conducted, as appear to
me best adapted to your acquiring those just notions of the theory as lead to
favourable results in practice.

The animal system* (which has been so often mentioned) whereby life is
continued and strength renewed, diseases are contracted, and the disposition
to throw them off is constantly manifested, and by which the ordinary wear
and waste of the various component parts of the body is unceasingly supplied
with new. and healthy matter, has been shown, in the foregoing brief account
of the separate parts that contribute, by their united actions, to make up this
system. A system that, although apparently complex and infirm, is, in re-
ality, simple, magnificent, and robust. It is we (mankind) who derange the
dv action of those parts, by our, vanity, our wants, and self-will; or, by our

A system is 4 course of action, according to some known rule or law of nature; and thy
~m has heen applied to some of man’s contrivances also, not very happily.
*

ANIMALS’ SYSTEMS DIFFER, LESSER PARTS DESCRIBED. BB

our ignorance, put the whole system out of repair, when we endeavour to
control nature, instead of humbly following her track, and working after her
fashion; and every mechanic knows, that a system, or a machine, being once
put out of order in its minutest part, incurs the danger of complete disorga-
nization in those that are more material to the performance of its functions aa
a whole: an observation that applies as well to a watch or steam-engine, as
to a worm, to man, or the horse; but which, of course, I intend should be ap-
plied to the last mentioned animal particularly.

Our Creator, however, as if prescient of the barbarities his ¢mage would
fall into, in the exercise and abuse of the power he gave us over the living
things of the earth, hath, in his goodness, conferred on brutes the means of
supplying from one part of the system the losses which accident may occa
sion in another part: asubject well worthy our patient scrutiny, as furnish
ing the means of effecting cures in desperate cases, and not to be disregarded
in first attacks of malignant diseases,

But “the animal system,” as a term, or in fact, may be taken to imply as
well that of all animals as particular kind of animals—descending sometimes
(not improperly) to individuals of those kinds. Some persons, however, de-
scend still lower, and the term “system” has been sadly misapplied, and ban-
died about from one thing to another, until it is brought to describe particular

arts or portions only of the individual’s system. The dog kind, the horse
Kind, and mankind, are good and proper distinctions, for the system of-animal
life differ in all three: they are not in every case moved in a similar manner
by the same class of medicines; whereby we first perceive that their systems
differ, and we examine the dead subject of either kind (as in the preceding
chapter), to find out how this takes place, and in what degree, and we regu-'
late our practice conformably to the discoveries so made. The several indi-
viduals, too, of the same kind, have particularities in their respective systems,
arising from habit, from country or climate, or from crosscs,* that demand our
serious analytical reasoning, in the application of similar remedies, and adapt-
ing their proportions to the removal of similar symptoms. So, a sensible
difference is known to exist between the constitution of a cart-horse and a
blood-horse, between a galloway and a hunter; each requiring accurate dis-
crimination in ascertaining the state of disease,t and this consideration ought
to inspire us with carefulness in applying the remedies, since that which re-
stores the one might be injurious to the other. Au:nong those four breeds, we
frequently find individuals variously affected from the same causes according
to their built, shape, or make (see pages 2, 6, and 18), according to the con-
stitution and co-adaptation of the dam and sire; as age may come on, acci-
dents have taken place, or chiefly as the individual may have been mistreated
by his unworthy master, the sordid farrier, or unfeeling ostler, "To all which
important distinctions in the state of his patient's particularities, I beg to call
the studious reader’s most serious attention, while examining his case, in order
to apply the remedy most appropriate to the degree of attack. ; ;

In the two preceding chapters of this treatise, more of the animal migne
undoubtedly have been described, or the same subjects considerably enlarged
upon, and more parade of learning might have been displayed, but the reader
would not have benefited one jot by that course of proceeding: he might,
probably, have bewildered himself (as many do) in the mazes which would
then surround him; whilst the description of those parts of the animal, which

*'The system of the same individual, also, may undergo changes by time; so that a medi-
eine may operate differently now from what it formerly did.
{The surest barometer of health, the pulse, would indicate an eprivah towards fever in
one individual, which might be the certain wandard of health in another. Seo The Pulse,’
) 62,

mt page
56 DOCKING. FIRING. THE FOOT. THE SKIN.

cont; ibute but inferiorly to the system I had in view to illustrate and explair,
might have led him to look upon these in a light, too important for the func-
tions they perform—as regards my purpose.

The eyes, the tongue, the ears, the skin and hair, the tail, the genitals, and
the hoof, or foot, though each deserving our most sedate attention, for many
good reasons, yet, as they do not originate disease, I then purposely avoided
taking particular notice of them.* Nevertheless, I do not mean to deny, that
they all, according to each its functions, accurately indicate the existence of
disease, as they do of health, and the degree of both is marked on them with
wonderful precision. Hence it was easy to conclude, even though we did not
know the fact toa demonstration, that they are subject to some deplorable
maladies that are peculiar to each, arising out of constitutional defectiveness,
to say nothing of accidents, nor of the fancied improvements man presumes
to make upon the works of his Maker.

Under this last reproach lie all those farriers and others, who give pain un-
necessarily to the animal in the indispensable operations. Among these, I
class that of docking, notwithstanding the gibes of our continental neighbours

the French) conveyed to us in something like the following couplets, abont
the period of king James’s abdication.

Proud Englishmen avaunt, barbarians as ye be,

Who cut your monarchs’ heads off—oil horses take the queue!
We Frenchmen, better bred, who reverence the law,

Never meddle with our kings’ heads, and let our horse-tails grow.

Although of no moment in themselves, these verses show the then French
sustoms, and mark the period when docking and nicking came up among us
in England, to be in the early part of the seventeenth century. But I put it
to the reason of any, the most strenuous advocate for this custom, whether he
ever contemplated the probability of a horse being subjected to this operation
three or four several times; yet it is no less true, that at a market dinner-table,
in the town of Watford, in May, 1820, I heard of a horse which had been so
served five several times, from no other authority than that of the last owner
of the unfortunate creature. I took occasion to show, in a preceding page,
that in all great exertions of the animal powers, the tail and head had a
share.

Firing is another of those barbarous practices that are much oftener re-
sorted to than is necessary or proper. In fact, we may observe that this and
similar painful operations are adopted in an exact ratio that the operator’s
education may have been neglected.

Of the foot, I have already, in the first chapter, noticed some general faults,
arising from constitutional defects in the form of the whole limb; and I shall
thence be led to enter into further consideration thereof, with more particulars,
under the article “Shoeing,” as well as when I come to treat of the several
disorders incident to this important part of the frame. Meantime, I am in-
duced thus early to reprobate one other species of that busy intermeddling in-
the affairs of nature I took occasion to advert to higher up. This consists in
the baneful practice of cutting away, unmercifully, the horny part of the sole,
that lines and defends the sensible sole, whereby injuries upon the road be-
come more frequent, and lameness from unknown causes is Incurred ; but if
not so, canker, rottenness, corns, are sure to follow, or the hoof contracts, and
fever of the feet and founder succeed each other.

The skin and coat received some attention under the article Secretions,

* The diseases of the foot, I consider as those of accident or infliction, and with a brief ang
omiral description, will form a separate chapter.
THE TONGUE, EYE, AND EARS, {NDICATIONS. Bt

and elsewhere, as the reader must recollect, or refer to; but he must never
forget, that the first mentioned may be safely and powerfully stimulated as
the outlet for many constitutional affections of the system, the proper time
for their use being indicated (as I said before) by the appearance of the coat.

The tongue al wate partakes of the general state of the system: in the
horse, it does not afford to the sight so sure a prognostic of the state of the
stomach as in the human subject; but, to the feel, it communicates to us the
state ot the blood with so much accuracy as demands our assiduous attention,
to the acquiring, by practice, the most intimate acquaintance with its moni-
tions, This member of the body, in conjunction with the coat, I have al-
ways considered the health-gage of my patients. See observations on the
“ Pulse” at page 60.

The eye is a most material organ of sense, and is much studied by those
who would render themselves good judges of the general soundness or un
soundness of the horse’s constitution. It beams bright and steadily in health,
projects most fiery when the animal is most vigorous; in lassitude it sinks, it

lears with a cold, and under extreme circumstances is extinguished. After
a heat, horses full of blood, with foul stomachs, certainly alter in their vision,
shy and become troublesome; and, so sure is the eye the barometer of vigour
that horses got by old sires have the eye more sunken than others, with a hol-
lowness over it.

The ears, by their movements, show the apprehensions of the horse, if no
his disposition. When he fears the lash, he turns their cavities backwards.
Is he disposed to be resentful, they are laid flat on his poll, Following his
companions, or the hounds, or going homewards, the cavity of the ear turns
sharply forward: asleep, as well as under other circumstances of easy watch-
fulness, one ear turns forward, the other backward; but, when roused sud-
denly, they alternately change position. Who, then, would destroy these
useful appendages of the horse’s organ of hearing? Who would singe off the
hairs, which, passing from side to side of the cavity, catch the sounds and
convey to his rider the first notice of danger from wild beasts, as well as plea-
sure from the cry of the hounds? The Arab knows, by his horse’s ears, of
the approach of enemies ; but the Englishman relies too securely upon his own
comparatively imperfect hearing, and cuts off those better intelligencers of dis-
tant occurrences; or, he more assiduously abridges their utility, by clipping
away the inside lining; or, worse still, by applying flame to the part, he ren-
ders the horse skittish ever after. Those are the only disorders of: the ears
of horses; if, for want of this hairy defence, premature dulness of hearing,
occasioned by rain, dust, and other substances entering these organs, be not
another. é

That the genitals draw off from the system and store up a noble secretion,
for the purpose of continuing the kind, is certain ; but I shall pursue the mat-
ter no fanther than to notice the change to which the coats of geldings are
subject as to colour, compared to those of perfect horses; and all the inference
I mean to draw from that fact is, the still further corroboration of my pre-
viously maintained opinion, as to the seat of perspirable matter residing in the
lacteal part of the system.

As it is the blood which by its deposite forms all those parts, so by means
of the blood must we endeavour to correct any derangement of the system of
snimal life, whether of quadrupede or bipede ; for the working of the system in
making of new blood and cleansing the old is the same in all, though aoe
in degree, whilst mainly agreeing in the process. Would any one deman
how it comes to pass, that quadrupeds draw so much substantial nourishment
from herbaceous vegetables, whilst man can only extract a watery juice, de-
void of all nutritious qualities? let him be answered, that all depends on the

7
~

68 COMPARATIVE STRUCTURE.

digestive powerr, these being greater in the brute, than in man. It even ap-
ears plainly to me, that the animal food taken by man is the same as the her-
ceous taken by quadrupeds, only that it has meantime’ undergone the pro-
cess of digestion, canguifeation and deposition in the solids, &c. and hence
arises the difference in the practice of the curative art as applied to the one
animal and the other. Every disease is in fact a compa varying in cif-
ferent constitutions, and the composition of the remedy should be adapted ss
every variation thereof, even of the same attack,
BOOK II.

THE CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS OF VARIOUS BODILY DISEASES INCIDENT Ni
THE HORSE; WITH THE MOST APPROVED REMEDIES IN EVERY CASE.

2

CHAPTER I.
Of Internal Diseases.

INFLAMMATORY DISORDERS, GENERALLY.—FEVER.—From all the infor
mation the reader may have collected together in his. mind, respecting the
“circulation of the blood,” as described with instructive minuteness at pages 33
to 42, he will naturally conclude that the horse is ever most liable to contract
one or the other of those disorders we term inflammatory. The great heat
of his blood, combined with his bulk, and the amazing exertions he is compelled
to make, all together constantly predispose him to incur fever of the whole sys-
tem or inflammation of particular parts, according to concurring circumstances.
Nor is the matter changed one whit, when we reflect that fever sometimes
terminates in local inflammation, which we term “critical,” as being the crisis
and cure of the disorder; and that the inflammation of one part or organ (the
liver in particular) frequently devolves into fever of the whole animal system,
by means of the rapid circulation of the blood through the diseased organ.

Let us proceed to discuss the subject generally at first, and to pursue each
in detail afterwards; simply premising, that all the disorders incurred by the
horse are referable, more or less, to this over-heated or inflammatory state of
his blood, and its consequent unfitness for the purposes of promoting animal
life, health, and vigour. For, the more heat, the more viscidity or thickness
there will be in the blood, and less will it be found capable of circulating the
onger such unnatural heat continues, up to a certain point of the disease:
when the animal is so far affected as to lose its appetite, and consequently no
fresh blood can be formed by the digestive powers, the blood then becomes
thinner every day, because its more solid particles are constantly being de-
posited in the cellular membrane, to supply the waste that is unceasingly go-
ing on there. The reader would do well to read over again what is said con-
cerning this process of the animal system at page 48, with the references there
made to page 37, to page 23, and, in fact, to the whole tenor of the second
chapter. Bat this supply soon fails, as necessarily it must, when itis not re-
plenished at the source, and wasting of the solids succeeds of course, unlese
natuf is assisted by our art judiciously ;—the right application of this art is
what we are now in search of. x

One of the immediate consequences of the horse heing hard worked, or high
fed and physicked with stimulants, is the constant heating or feverish state
of the blood. Increased action of the heart and arteries accompany and keep
up this state of irritation, which may be further accelerated by the animals
being allowed to take cold whilst in that state, whereby the perspiration ir
ahinekad of a sudden, and the blood which may then fill the smaller vessela »
detained there, to the further annoyance of the larger ones: he then contracts
60 FEVER. ABSCESS. COLD.

inflammation of ull the solids and organs of life, or, more properly, fever.
But when only a certain part of the system, or a single organ is thus check-
ed, we consider the affair under the name of inflammation of that part, as of
the lungs, the kidneys, &c.; always keeping in mind, that, by continuance.
these extend their baleful affections to other organs, with which a certain
sympathy is known to exist. In like manner, when external muscular parts
swell and secrete matter, this is in like manner an inflammation of that parti-
cular part, or tumour, or abscess, with a great variety of names, according ta
the place where it may be seated : poll-evil and fistula are among those external
complaints to which I allude. -

The latter, or local kind of inflammation, is the effect of the former or con-
tinued internal fever, and whenever such a tumour or abscess makes its ap-
pearance near the surface, the general inflammation or fever subsides; when
It discharges offensive matter, the fever is cured. If such a tumour appear
without previous general fever of the system, we repel it, so that it may dis-
perse and pass off by stool. It may-usually, however, be considered as an
effort of nature to relieve itself of offensive viscid matter that lurks in the sys-
tein; and in this case only, when well ascertained, would that reduction of
the system which I shall shortly insist upon as proper in all inflammatory at-
tacks, be.least advisable, as nature would then require aid to assist her in her
efforts, rather than subtraction from her powers, by the bleeding, purging,
&c, so recommended.

But whenever a cold is caught, whereby the trunk is affected, one of two
evils is experienced, that are quite contrary in their effects: Ist, Either the
bowels lose the power of retaining their contents, and of contributing their aid
to the purposes of digestion, chylification, and sanguification, i. e. the making
of fresh blood, and diarrhoea ensues; or, 2d, ‘The extreme heat of the bod
causes the dung to harden, and if the obstruction be not speedily setionel
the most distressing consequences usually happen. Either extreme may come
on gradually and imperceptibly ; but as the latter (termed constipation) is of
most frequent recurrence, is a disorder of over repletion, producing vertigo,
staggers, apoplexy, megrims, or fits, I have considered it, under a separate
head, as “costiveness ;” seeing that it sometimes supervenes without previous
fever, though always accompanied by it. One or other species of affection
of the bowels is also produced by catarrhal inflammation, or fever of the organs
of respiration, when this is violent or of long continuance.

Respiration of confined or noxious air in close stables, as described at page
39, also produces quicker circulation of the blood ; with perspiration and tem-
porary fever, which may be confirmed by sudden exposure to the open air,
and the consequent detention of blood in the small vessels which we term
capillary. Sudden immersion in cold water whilst sweating and respiring
with difficulty after a run, wading through a river, or standing in a current
of cold air, are all prolific sources of inflammatory disorders. Indeed fever
and inflammation are so closely allied to each other, that we run little risk of
creating confusion of terms by considering them as derived from the same
origin, and none whatever in treating of both in the same chapter. For most
etablemen and farriers, as well as many veterinary writers, do speak of the
ene and the other promiscuously, as if they were the same, when describing
the symptoms of either; nor do [ see any-good cause for my deviating from
this practice upon the present occasion, after the slight distinction just drawn.

One other general observation may be aptly made in this place, which may
stand instead of much discussion hereafter. As fever is a necessary conse.
quence of any inflammation whatever, so without fever there would be no in-
flammation, Every run you give a horse heats or inflames his blocd, quick-
ens his pulse, and he sustains temporary fever. Whilst in this state. #f ony
‘

TYPHUS FEVER. BLEEDING AND PURGING.—RESTORATIVES. C3)

viscus, or organ, that constitutes a vital part of his system, receive such 6
check or damper as | have described, obstruction of the finer blood-vessels e1-
sues—as, of the lungs, by their drinking cold water, or mere affusion of it on
the chest, and inflammation is the name: if the whole body of an animal cr
its entire surface be so affected, the evil consequences are similar, and fever is
the name by which we designate it. Horses out of condition, or already in a
low state, though feverish, with quickened pulse, do not require further re-
duction ; since this is evidently “low fever,” which I have treated of under a
separate head; as [ have also “ Typhus fever,” or the affection of the whole
system which arises from a vitiated or corrupt state of the blood. But, in all
cases, the best guides to the practitioner for his prescriptions, and indeed all
his operations, are the causes, the symptoms, general health and peculiarity
of constitution of the animal ; when it so happens that such particulars can be
extracted from those about him; as will be the case in all studs of a superior
cast. If the feverish affection arises from inactive kidneys, the diuretics re-
commended lower down will be all the treatment that is requisite in such a
case; if a dull heavy pulse and the state of his dungings show that the bowels
only are at fault, purgatives alone will restore health. So of any other vis-
seral obstruction, when these give pain fever ensues, and is best removed by:
the exhibition of mercury ; if the internal irritation continues, rowelling is the
remedy most appropriate to such cases, and the state of the pulse will tell the
doctor when and why he should bleed. This will bring us to an early con-
sideration of ‘the pulse,” its indications and general rules. In all cases of
inflammation, whether of the whole system, or fever, or of particular organs,
let bleeding be resorted to immediately, in quantity proportioned to the amount
of heat, which is ascertained by the temper of the pulse. “Open the prima
via,” also, is a good maxim of a late respected lecturer on those subjects,
meaning thereby—purge the bowels or chief canal, and keep them open. Co-
pious clysters of warm water-gruel assist the latter materially, pa-ticularly if
a solution of salts be added, according to the nature of the case; but rather
than delay the clyster ee want of the ingredient being at hand, use
simple warm water only. Very often, in slight attacks, the animal requires
no other treatment, if resorted to in time; but delay is dangerous, for with
every hour the symptoms increase in a three-fold ratio, and the animal be-
comes weaker and weaker every moment, and therefore less able to bear w
against the attack. In all cases, be quick, for ruin is going on with tapi
strides, whenever the animal shows signs of great internal pain, Fresh air,
liluting liquids, and clysters, in all cases of inflammation whatsoever, are
found of as much service in the restoration of health, as the best active medi-
cines that can be administered; the first mentioned most positively so, unless
the animal perspire greatly at the time, or it suffers under a fit of shivering
Danger is to be apprehended in the latter case, and the fresh air need not
then be admitted ; but ifshivering is succeeded by sweating, or even a small
degree of moist heat, it may he considered as the crisis of‘the disorder, when
something has taken place that is favourable to the care—of which more par-
ticulars in the proper place. Continued shivering, by the way, denotes the
termination of all inflammatory diseases—in death; cordials then may do
good, but more frequently accelerate the catastrophe, whilst the diluting liquid
--water-gruel, will afford relief in some measure, but can do no harm. But
resh air, that issues not in streams, is of all other restoratives that upon
which I place the most reliance; even removal to a fresh stall, or up and
down the stable, effects great changes 1n the animal's spirits, that can not fail
to strike the eye of an attentive observer, and bespeak, more than words can
zonvey, the vital necessity of a cool atmosphere. .
The Putse—Being the chiefest criterion for judging of the state of the ois
a
62 PULSE, STATE OF—FEELING THE.

culation of the blood, and as I have sat down with the notion that my bouk
will be read straight-an-end at first, let the reader attend a moment while I
say a word or two on this preliminary topic. "Without an accurate knowledge
of this touch-stone of the main spring of life, no one can form a judgment fit
to be acted upon as to when it is necessary to bleed or of the quantity to be
taken: thus, in cases of fever, the groom begi..3 very properly by bleeding ;
but he almost invariably takes too little, or in case of increased action of the
pulse, through over exertion of the animal’s powers, he bleeds when such a
course is detrimental, and almost always administers cordials, thus reducmg
with one hand, and increasing the action with the other.—See pages 33, et

seq.

‘When in health, the pulsations or strokes are from thirty-six to forty ina
minute ; those of large heavy horses being slower than of the smaller; and
of old ones, they are also slower than of young animals. When either may
be just off a quick pace, the strokes increase in number; as they do if he be
alarmed, or terrified, or hear the hounds’ familiar cry. Fever, of the simple
or common kind, usually increases the pulsations to double the healthy num-
ber; hence the propriety of ascertaining the state of this index of health,
while the animal is still free from disease, goes to prove over again the pro-

riety of my plan of teaching the curative art in animals by closely examin-
ing the indications of health, and setting down in oe’s mind every deviation
therefrom as the approach of illness, that ought to be met and combated at
the threshold.

In this view of its utility, why might not the attendant groom, or horse-
keeper in more humble establishments, keep a register of the state of every
horse’s pulse, when it comes first under his care, and renew the same exami-
nation at intervals of a week or ten days? This practice alone would ren-
der him expert in all cases of imminent danger; to say nothing of those
other indications, the dungings and the water voided. On this latter point
the reader will turn back to what is said of ‘ Urine” in page 52, 53.

As the fever increases in violence, likewise, when the animal is in great
pain from inflammation of the intestines, &c., the pulse beats still ee and
reaches to 100 in a minute, or more. The danger is then great, and less than
three or four quarts, drawn from a large orifice, would do harm rather than
good, by increasing the action of the blood, and the hardness of the artery
would also be increased. To ascertain either state, the attendant should ap-

ly the points of his fingers gently to the artery which lies nearest the sur-
fea, Some prefer consulting the temporal artery, which is situated about
an inch and a half backward from the corner of the eye. Others again, and
they are the greater number, think it best to feel it underneath the edge of
the jaw-bone, where the facial artery passes on under the skin only to the side
of the face. In either case, too great pressure would stop the pulsation alto.
gether, though by so trying the artery against the jaw bone, will prove whether
It be in such a rigid state of excitement as attends high fever; or elastic and
epringy, slipping readily from under the finger, as it does when health prevails
and the strokes follow each other regularly.

The presence of high fever is further indicated by a kind of twang, or vi-
bration, given by the pulse against the finger points, resembling much srch aa
would be felt were we to take hold of a distended whipcord or wire between
the fingers, and cause it to vibrate like a fiddle-string, sharply; whereas, in
health, a swell is felt in the vibration, as if the string were made of soft ma-
terials, and less straightened ;—facts these which owners would do well to as-
certain hy practising upon the pulse of their own horses. Languid or slow
puise, and scarcely perceptible in some of the beats or strokes, indicate low.
acus of spirits, debility, or being used up: if this languor .s felt at intervals
SIMPLE FEVER: SYMPTOMS. e

only, a few strokes being very quick, and then again a few very slow, this in-
dicates low fever, in which bleeding would do harm. Quickness, however,
is the chief indication of the whole class of inflammatory fever, and this
being my principle object at present, I shall postpone further consideration of
the pulse until 1 come’to treat of “blood-letting.”

FEVER.

There are:two kinds of well-marked fever, simply so called—first, that
which arises from the ren an animal may be put to by the derangement of
some main organ of life, by misusage, hard riding, wounds, &c.; and second-
ly, that which consists in a general inflammation of the blood arising from a
cold, a chill, or sudden check, as before described. The ancient vulgar name
given to this alarming disease conveys to the common observer a better idea
of its force and danger, than those which are scttled by consent of the faculty
of horse medicine; and the phrase “inflammation of the blood” may be taken
as more plainly indicative of the cause of fever than aught the moderns have
substituted in its place. Had our plain-speaking ancestors termed it “in-
flammation of the blood-vessels,” they would have been still more accurate,
probably; but no mistake is more common throughout life, than to speak of
the thing contained for the thing containing it, and vice versa. When the
symptoms come on quick or acutely, the most prompt measures must be taken:
a mild attack may be easily reduced if taken in time, but, if neglected, it as-
sumes the most alarming symptoms. Evacuations and diluting drinks are
the proper means of reducing the patient; but before purgatives are admin-
istered, see what is said a few pages onward respecting “Costiveness;” for
it not unfrequently happens, that this is all that ails the animal, except his
being worked too hard while costiveness is upon him.

In either case of accelerated pulse from those causes, bleeding should pre-
sently be had recourse to, and let the quantity taken be regulated by the furce
and quickness of the circulation of the blood: for this is what constitutes the
fever. If the pulsation advance to above 60, two quarts should be drawn; if
above 70 in a minute, three quarts of blood would not be too much to take
away atonce. If the number of beats be much more, ascending rapidly, with
the rigid feel of the artery above described, four quarts at least must be drawn,
and that from a large orifice. Should this rigidity, or hardness of the artery
continue, notwithstanding the bleeding, a quantity that shall cause faintness
or tottering might be taken, or rather a repetition take place of the same ope-
ration in lesser quantities, until that hardness of the artery is no longer felt.
Some skill, derived from practice, is required in watching for this last men-
tioned symptom; but whatever is to be done, let there be no delay in the first
operation: twelve hours should intervene between the two bleedings.

Immediately hereupon, let a mild purgative be administered, adapting this,
as well as the amount of bleeding, to the size of the horse, if he belong to
either extreme of exceeding large or very small. For one of the moderate
coach-horse kind give the following

Purgative Bail.

Aloes, 7 drachms,
- Castile soap, 4 drachms.
Uil of carawayg, 6 drops.
With mucilage sufficient to form the ball for one aose.

fn all cases of fever arising from accidents, hard runs, &c. which may beeon-
siilered as temporary excitements only, the above treatment in its mildest form
“4 INFLAMMATION: SYMPTOMS.

will be found sufficient completely to reduce the symptoms; but in the fever
simply so called (arising from inflammation of the solids as before described).
_ @ repetition of the purgative becomes necessary, with mashes, a quiet stable,
and an attentive groom. When the fever arises from indigestion, or any de

congeners of the stomach or bowels, its immediate cause will be found in
hardened feces; and in addition to the forementioned remedies, give a

Purgative Clyster.

Water gruel, 6 to 7 quarts.
Table salt, an ounce to each quart.

Let it be applied assiduously, and some assistance be given to bring away the
firet hard faces that appear: the remainder of the hardened dung will come
away, naturally, in good time. See further under the head ‘ Costiveness.”

Castor oil, in the quantity of a pint or more, will open the canal partially
only, passing by the main evil in the cecum and great gut,* and pro-
ducing but a small quantity of the offensive cause of disease. ut
help must be afforded in this respect; and if the bowels yield not to the
purgative ball, other means must be resorted to, though I should never think
of having recourse to oil in the first instances. Although the constipation
or obstruction be obstinate, yet very strong diuretic purgatives are ineligible,
as they might kill the animal, orat least injure the intestines materially, by
reason of that very circumstance.

Distinctions have been drawn by some writers between “symptomatic and
simple fever; that is to say, whether the excitement, called fever, originate
in a check of the circulation received externally or internally; but as the
treatment in both cases is so nearly the same, I shall make no such distinction,
The internal attacks alluded to, when confined to a single organ, and not ex-
tending to the whole frame, are more properly termed inflammation of that
viscus or organ, and therefore will be treated of hereafter, under the following
heads, viz.

Inflammation of the Lungs,

Inflammation of the Stomach and Intestines,
Diseases of the Liver—Inflammation, &c.
—————— Kidneys and Bladder.

All these produce fever throughout the whole system, when either exists
but in a slight degree; for those parts are all of them vital, and communicate
their feeling to the solids by means of the circulation. It is not, however, un-
til these attacks are well marked, that they deserve separate consideration ; for
some horses suffer under the one or other during life, with more or less malig-
nity according to exciting circumstances, the lungs being the most general
sufferer, the bowels the seldomest attacked of either, but usually prove the
most fatal of this whole class.

The symptoms, in all cases, are heat and acceleration of the pulse, as before
described, and which in fact, brought me to the consideration of this portion
of my subject before the others. A hot mouth soon comes on; shivering takes
place early, and the animal cvinces signs of internal pain by iooking at his
flanks or chest. The fever is then likely to fix on the lungs if not speedily
reduced. Loss of appetite follows; but tud gradually to be waited for, as a

k to the first book, at p. 46, and see what is said of tho conformation of those larga
@uu, and the difficulty of escape that must attend their offensive contents at the turns or sinu
ees (which I have there considered as so many valves), when inflammation or fever has ouce

° The pee reader, whilst waiting the progress of the disease, will not waste his time by
turning
*

DANGER OF RBLAPSE, S

a criterion for judging and acting promptly. He will evince languor and dul
ness, with hal closed’ eyes, and a small discharge from them, as if tears es

caped; sometimes, this last will happen in cases of mere debility or starvation
also, when it is not too much to suppose the animal may be deploring his hard
fate. Consulting the pulse, however, will settle any doubt ‘as to which ail-
ment the animal labours under; for this main characteristic of health will, in
the latter case, partake of his debility, and strike now hard and then soft, a
few beats each: in this case a feed of corn or water gruel, would probably re-
store a more healthful even pulse, whereas bleeding would go to destroy the
patient. It has been termed low fever, though not very properly; and lentor
or more justly lenteur (slowness, dulness, heaviness) by the French veterina-

rians; yet, having no better name for it than “low fever,” under that head, I:

shall shortly bestow a few lines on this species of systematic debility.

The dung and urine are always good indications of the state of the body;
if the former fail, fever is the cause, it subtracts also from the quantity of urine,
and if he stale small quantities at short intervals, some internal inflammation
has taken place. See Inflammation of the. Kidneys. In fever, the mouth and
tongue become drier than ordinary; and if any saliva be secreted, it is tough
and ropy. If the animal be in condition, upon lifting the eyelid an uncommon
redness appears; if he be out of condition, or in a low state, this does not al-
ways happen; so this indication may be reckened among the uncertain
symptoms.

If the remedy and the symptoms of fever are thus pressed forward together
upon the reader’s notice, as exemplifying the assiduity he should display in
repelling the attack, let him know that his work is but half completed when
he finds the heat and acceleration of the pulse reduced by his endeavours to
the ordinary standard. The tone of the patient’s stomach and the whole di-
gestive process require restoration, and this with a careful hand, that the bow-
els may not again get overloaded; because why, a second attack of this sort
would be more difficult to surmount than at first; for the bowels have partly
lost their function of expelling their contents, through the violence of the dis-
ease, if not by the harsh action of the remedies employed. Hardy working ~
horses, of course, recover their appetite as soon as the fever abates; and no
further care is required for such than an occasional laxative or pos ac-
cording to the amount of obstruction. The ball prescribed at page 63 may ba
given at intervals with the fever powders; and subsequently, the fever drink
prescribed below for all other descriptions of the horse recovering from fever. ,

Fever Powder. No. 1.

Powdered nitre, 1 ounce.
Emetic tartar, 2 drachms.

No. 2. :
Powdered nitre, 6 drachms.
Camphor, 2 drachms.

Calx of antimony, 14 drachms.

If either be deemed more desirable in the form of a ball, this may be effected
by mixing the powder with mucilage and meal; but in the form of powder
mixed with his corn is most eligible, as the medicine then acts earlier, where
as the ball presently descends into the great gut.

Fever Drink.
Cream of tartar, I ounce.
Turmeric, 1 ounce,
Diapente, 1 ounce,

Mix for one dose.
we LOW FEVER. SYMPTOMS.

Mix in pcwder, and add to a pint of warm gruel, to be given once or twice a
day. This is a good cool stomachic, and restores the appetite, at the same time
that the disposition to the return of fever is kept down: if found of marked
service, the doses may be repeated to three or four times a day for a week.

LOW FEVER.

Together with TypHus, or putrid fever, and RHEUMATIC fever are diseases
cident to the horse, though.attempts were long made to deny the applica-
tion of these terms to any of his numerous afflictions, by those who dread, in-
ordinately, the falling into analogies with the human practice; a fear that may
be carried too far, notwithstanding all our care should be employed in separat-
ing this from the veterinary practice.

Cause.—Of low fever, under the idea of debility, a few words fell on the
preceding pages: and truly, if “high fever’ may be produced in a subject that
is full of blood or condition, by over-exercise, and the other causes thereof set
down above (pages 59, 60, see also Book I. at page 42, &c.), these same causes,
operating upon a horse out of condition, or which has not sufficient blood in
his frame to receive inflammation, necessarily occasion that Janguor whick
attends debility of the e1.tire system. The reader will, perhaps, oblige me by
turning to book I. at page 40, and reading over again what is there said as to
some causes of low fever. But the respective terms we give to the various
kinds of attack would signify much less than they deserve, were it not for
the dunger we should aiferisa fall into of treating one disorder for another,
when the symptoms (some of them) so much resemble each other. This dan-
ger is more likely to come upon us in cattle medicine than in the other, since
we are under the necessity of finding out what is the matter with our pa-
tients, whilst the human doctor receives the information at once, in words.

As inflammatory fever is more prevalent in the spring and summer, owing
to the high condition of most horses when first attacked, so does low fever, or
irritation of the animal system of a horse in low condition, mostly prevail in
autumn and winter. We owe this latter in great measure to the debility or
weakness brought on by the shedding of his summer coat, when the autum-
nal equinox setsin. Being then much exhausted by the heat of the season
just gone by, he sweats profusely on the least exercise; then his coat becomes
dry and husky when at rest, and his skin sticks i to his ribs, slightly re-_
sembling hidebound. The animal having lost much of his natural coverin
and no care being taken to palliate this loss, he is more liable to catch cold i
exposed and still pushed in his work. If not relieved from its severity, coach-
horses in particular become unserviceable in great numbers, to an alarming
degree, resembling much the distemper of ie spring season. Too often it
happens, such knocked-up horses are considered as done for, and the owner
tells off ; whereas experience tells us, that a nourishing regimen would re-
store them to their wonted vigour; for the serious or watery part of the blood
(chap. 2, sect. 20, 23 pee been drained off by the violent perspiration they
were exposed to by their summer work, the muscular fibres become too rigid,
and the blood too thick for circulating in the finer vessels; it therefore re-
mains rioting in the larger ones, distending their capacity and increasing the
irritation. Working horses are then usually deprived of their corn, because
they can not work ; this only adds to the irritation of the vascular system and
solids which constitutes the low fever we ure now considering.

Symptoms.—Parallels, or distinctive characteristics, of such diseases as
content resemble each other, are therefore very proper, inasmuch as they

revent those dangerous mistakes in practice that happen oftener (even in the
Earmaati practice!) than suits me even to hint at in this place. They are most
REMEDY. FEVER OF FUNCTIONAL DERANGEMENT. 67

particularly serviceable to veterinarians: for this reason it is I recommend the
reader to compare what is said of the symptoms of high fever, just above, with
the present page, as regards the symptoms of low fever. They are placed
near together for that purpose, as I then said (at page 64). The pulse in
this case never mounts high during an entire minute, but beats quick a few
strokes, and then slow, a so low as scarcely to be perceptible; this denotes,
that though fever be present, there is not strength sufficient to bring it to a
crisis. The artery feels rigid, at intervals only, and again becomes supple,
if not elastic, to the touch; his flanks are agitated more than usual, me his.
hind ave and ears become cool if not cold. Asin high fever, his eyes
are dull and heavy, and water will occasionally fall from them. Though in
the former species of fever he evince considerable pain, in this no such symp-
tom appears, but despondency assumes its place.

Remedy.—Unless his body be already too open, give the laxative draught,
as under; and as he will still feed, diuretic powders may be mixed occasion-
ally with his feed, consisting of nitre and rosin, of each about one ounce
Should the urine appear turbid, or come off with difficulty, in small quanti-
ties, the diuretic ball is indispensable; and these, with good gruel and care,
accompanied by tonics, will restore to the animal a comparative portion of
health. Time and moderate usage will accomplish the remainder.

Laxative Draught.

Aloes and carbonate of potash, of each 2drachms,
Mint water, 4 ounces,

This will correct the urine also, and its laxative quality may be increased
by adding to the quantity of aloes.

A Diuretic Ball.
Turpentine and soap, of each 4 drachms, with mucilage to form the ball.

A good restorative for lowness, occasioned by the moulting fever of autumn,
is recommended by J. Clark, of Edinburgh: he says, “the end of autumn
roves very severe to those horses whose flesh and strength are exhausted by
foc labour. In this low and spiritless state the moulting season comes on,
and carries off numbers that good nursing and feeding, with rich boiled food,
at this season might have preserved. Carrots and potatoes recover some horses
aurprisingly ; it renews their flesh and the fluids generally, and promotes the
secretions ; it operates upon them nearly in the same manner as spiing grass,
and its effects are presently visible on their coats.” Many stable men give
oatmeal mixed up into bergue, or crowdie, for horses that evince signs of lan-
guor and lowness of spirits, after fatiguing work in winter: if made into stiff
gruel, i. e. boiled, the restorative effect is found still more desirable, and «
emaller quantity of oats then sufficeth.. A gradual return to hard food does
all for the horse's working condition which can be desired.

Fever is brought on, in some degree, whenever it comes to pass that either
af the vital organs may be deranged in its functions. Not unfrequently it
happens that a diuretic is all the patient requires, which may be judged of by
the state of his pulse after the medicine has operated. When this is the case,
the feverish symptoms owe their origin to supptession of urine, and the re-
absorption of the contents of the bladder into the system. See Bladder and
“ Suppression of urine ;” and, after treating the attack simply as such, a cor
dial ball should then take place of all further treatment, as the immediate tall
(8 COSTIVENESS; ITS CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, REMEDY.

ing Jownof his pulse to a healthy standard will show. T'oo free use of-uritw
balis, however, in the hands of horse-keepers, spoils the action of the bladder.
See chap. ij. page 51. The French give a bottle of their routine wine made
warm, and most of our farriers administer a quart of ale with the same view.
Those are mostly wagon-horses, full of flesh, that so absorb the aqueous par-
ticles of the urine, and ultimately the principle thereof (termed urea), and
light up the fever anew. Another cause of feverish attacks, generally of the
slighter kind, but liable to prove fatal, if neglected, is the retention of his
dung, or constipation, which means costiveness.

COSTIVENESS

May be considered an original disease, and as one producing as well as being

roduced by fever. That is to say, hardness of the feces generally attends a
ree and is frequently the chief cause of it: like the preceding ailment, we
have only to remove the cause, and the effect ceases, See also “ Diseases of
the Liver.” ;

Causes.—W ant of the necessary or usual evacuation by stool, that is some-
times occasioned by the bowels having lost the power of expelling their con-
tents, as described in the second chapter, page 45. Simply speaking, the in-
dividual having been a long time dosed with purgatives, any neglect hereof
causes the dung to harden and obstruct the contractile functions of the intes-
tines: heat ensues, and re-absorption takes place, as in case of retenti a of
urine, until the dung loses all moistur: and becomes as hard as baked clay,
forming in the rectum (or straight gut), small round lumps.

The same kind of big fleshy horses as are liable to suppression of urine, are
also principal sufferers by constipation or costiveness. Hard food and hard
work in warm weather is very productive of this malady, which is often mis-
taken for inflammation of the bowels, the means of prevention, therefore, are
obviously the direct contrary mode of feeding, and also keeping a good watch
on the dunging of each horse in the team. -

Symptoms.— W hen constipation attends general fever, it is then but a cor-
responding symptom of that disorder, and the reader is referred back a few
pages to what is there said on this head. But, when the pulse is not so high
as to warrant us in pronouncing it fever, and the dung 1s ascertained to be
hard, there is no difficulty in treating it as simple costiveness. It may be dis-
tinguished from colic and from inflammation of the intestines, by the quiet
state of the animal when he is down, whichis not the case with either of those
disorders, in which pain of the bowels is most evident ; whereas, these do not
appear to suffer from the costiveness, though the brain and the whole of the
nervous system, become more or less affected from sympathy with the stomach,
and ultimately producing delirium and frenzy. His eyes offer the earliest
symptoms by their duiness, contraction, and expansion, succeeded by sleepi
ness ; he refuses his food, he will not work, the mouth becomes hot and dry,
the ears cold, and the breathing difficult or nearly imperceptible on account
of the pressure of the stomach and bowels upon the midriff. See page 34,
The pulsation usually increases, if he be in a tolerably good condition; but
mis increase is ever inconsiderable until fever comes on, and marks the period
when blood-letting would be necessary. A dull heavy pulse is more common,
antil the paroxysms of madness may render this symptom a little sharper and
quicker for a short period. At length he tumbles down, regardless of the
situation, and the action of the head shows how greatly this part is affe ted,

* until stupo? and death ensue, if the sufferer be not relieved.

Remedy —Purgatives are not always the most eligible medicines even ix

\ho earliest stages of the disorder; for, if the constipation has Jasted a con
INFLAMMATORY ‘DISEASES. we

siderable time, great injury would be done to the intestines by pine a paw
sage, whereby a commotion might be raised in the stomach, but would act in

ethiciently where the evil chiefly lies, viz. in the large intestines and rectum.
As soon as it is ascertained that the animal has not dunged for some days—
when he seems uneasy, a fulness is ‘perceptible towards the flank, the funda-
ment, &c, and unusual dryness and tightness is discovered at this latter part,
the operation of back-raking should be resorted to. Castor oil, one pint,
would indeed find a passage in the first stages of the attack, but good part
of the evil usually remains behind; in the more advanced stages, especially
when the patient drops, nothing else will relieve him but back-raking. Let
the operator strip his arm bare, and having well anointed it with soft soap,
lard, or butter, (the first being the most eligible,) he will bring his fingers to
a point, and gently introduce the hand and wrist, when he will feel and draw
forth a portion of the indurated faces he will, there meet with, in lumps hard
and dry. This he may repeat three or four (or more) times, and leave the
animal to himself a little, whilst a drench is preparing. Trivial as the relief
may seem which has been thus afforded to the patient, he will immediately
evince proofs of its benefits, by a more sane conduct, by licking forth his
tongue, opening the half shut eyes, by looking about him, and sometimes by
getting upon his legs. In this latter case, plain water gruel, as warm as a
person might take it without inconvemience, may be administered in the quan-
tity of two or three quarts, if he will take so much; but if the animal be ex

hausted, and does not get up without difficulty, or without help, one half the
drench may be ale or porter. ‘ Although he will seem recovered, and may pto-
duce a stool, his bowels must next be emptied. In order to this, givea

Laxative Draught or Drench.

Castor oil, half a pint.
Aloes, 2 drachms,
Prepared kali, 2 drachms.
Water gruel, 1 pint.

Repeat this next day, leaving out the oil, and doubling the quantity of
* aloes; or, after an interval, give the usual purgative ball, containing seven o1
eight drachms of aloes, as prescribed at page 63.

INFLAMMATORY DIsEasEs of every sort leave behind them a good share of
weakness, which full feeding will not always amend.. We must therefore
restore the tone of the digestive powers by the aid of medicine, that may be
repeated according to circumstances, and the returning strength of the ccm
valescent animal.

Tonic Ball. No. 1.

Jesuit’s bark, '7 drachms,
we Prepared kali, 2 drachms.
Mucilage sufficient to form the ball for one dose.

In ordinary cases, one of these per day for a week will be found to nav:
done as much for the animal as could be desired, But should the coat stifi
appear rough and staring, give the following:

8 2
a TYPHUS FEVER; 11S SYMPTOMS.
Tonic Ball. No. 2

Salt of stecl, or sulphate of iron,
Columbo root, and

. Bark, of each 3 drachms.
With mucilage to form the ball.

Great precaution is necessary to prevent a relapse, which would render the
patient’s case more dangerous than at first; the animal being less capable of
Dearing up ape a fresh attack, by reason of the reductions he has been sub-
jected to. Soft or sodden oats, fine hay, clover, a few vetches, carrots, grasq
cut fresh from a sloping ground, may succeed each other in small quantities,
until he may be returned to oats and hay as usual. If the heat return at in-
tervals, as usually happens towards nightfall, give him

A Cooling Decoction.

Linseed, 2 quarts.
Coarse sugar, 2 ounces. a
‘Water boiling hot, 6 quarts poured upon the seed.

Let it simmer three or four hours, and pour off the liquid for use when nearly
cold. The linseed will bear another water, less in quantity ; but some horses
will take the seeds also, which may be permitted. Give the whole in the
course of the day, at two or three intervals, and repeat the same decoction
once or twice more.

TYPHUS, OR PUTRID FEVER,

Is caused by long-continued debility, or slow fever, as much as by the in-
judicious use of medicines administered for the cure thereof. Of these, the
most common error consists of cordial medicines, diapente, wines, &c.; which,
as they give a short-lived. vigour to the animal, are supposed to have done some
good, and are therefore persisted in, until the digestive and secreting parts of

e system are spoiled.—See chap. 2, page 22, &c. :

Symptoms, the same as those in slow fever, mark typhus fever, only the

ulse is.accelerated upon taking the medicines just alluded to: its irregularity
is also greater, until, by continuance of the disease, it ceases to denote any
particular state of the body long together. Hence, the supply of new blood
carries with it similar effects: the vitals lose their tone, and the muscular part
of the system wastes and becomes rotten on the bones, and if the same stimu
ating treatment has been kept up until the animal dies, its flesh will be found
on dissection to have acquired an uncommonly bright purple colour, not only
on the surface, but wherever incision is made. Putrescence, in a high degree,
has already taken place ere that catastrophe seals the sufferer’s fate!

[ mention these minor circumstances to prove ee far as I can do so) the
real existence of this main type of putrid fever. Another symptom of typhus
goes co the same proof, namely, delirium, which follows a continuance of the
stupidity discoverable in slow fever. A well-marked case is reported in the
Annals of Sporting, for Nov. 1824, to which work I have since been some
months attached ; and, although I was precluded by absence from examining
the subject, I have reason to rely on the report afterwards made to me by Mr.
Ford. that its flesh was putrid in an extremely offensive degree, and wholly
antit even to be cast to the dogs,

From the very unaffected and detailed account of the narrator, it appears

'
MAD STAGGERS.—--RHEUMATIC FEVER, "1

plain that unskilful persons might be led to apprehend such paryoxisms de-
noted hydrophobia; but a short inquiry into the habits of the horse previous
to its last delirium, would go a good way to relieve the anxiety usually instil-
led into a neighbourhood by such events. None can say, however, until the
experiment be tried, whether animals fed on such meat might not acquire ra-
bies thereby.

The mad staggers, as the term is, which has never been satisfactorily ac-
counted for, can be no other than this delirium of the typhus fever, brought
on by pushing the animal in his work although labouring under slow fever,
None but common or ordinary cart-horses are lost in the staggers ; whilst none
but a very ordinary owner would so force his cattle to the last extremity dur-
ing illness. As the above is all I shall find it necessary to say of staggers, I
must here remark on the singular impropriety of Mr. Richard Lawrence's
considering this as an attack»of apoplexy! Since one pang alone denotes
the death so to be named.

Rheumatic Fever is one of those disorders in the horse, upon the existence
of which doctors disagree ; but doubtless the vicissitudes of heat and cold to
which the horse is subjected, whereby the whole system is checked so as to
occasion general fever, is equally likely to check the circulation in one or two
limbs only, And the pain the animal would thus labour under in the per-
formance of its duties would constitute one of the causes assigned higher u
for simple fever. Little good, however, would ensue by my considering it
separately ; so I shall content myself with referring the reader to the head of
skuple rheumatism.

EpIpEMIc rEvERS—Distemper.

Cause.—W hen these appear, from time to time, they may fairly be ascribed
to the season; for the kind of attack is not of a nature to become communica
tive, unless by continuance putridity follows: then, indeed, infection may be-
gin, as it would also happen in any of the preceding species of fever. A rainy
spring after a mild winter produces an epidemic catarrh, as well as sudden
chill, among horses that are out at pasture whilst shedding their coats, and the
most delicate receive this influence earliest. We may as well consider, that
whatever may give one horse a cold, or affect his lungs, singly applied to him,
would, if applied to many, in like manner affect the whole: this constitutes
epidemy, or the distemper. Cloudy weather and cold easterly night winds,
when the weather is warm or murky by day, is more likely to check the ac-
tion of the lungs or of the whole system, than when a colder season has pre-
pared the animals to withstand the influence thereof. An epidemic prevails
sometimes in autumn; but, happen when it may, horses at grass acquire it
less often than those which are kept in, upon hard food.

Symptoms,—As just intimated, a cold, that harbinger of so many other
evils, is what marks the epidemic in every case ; in addition to this, the animal
will labour under the other symptoms of fever before described, according to
ifs actual state of body at the time of attack. Thus, if the horse be in full
flesh and vigour, his veins quickly fill with the stream of life, inflammation of
the blood wiil ensue, ur rather, to speak more accurately, of the vessels which
contain it; hence, simple fever, or fever of the whole system follows, as before
described, pp. 62, 63, but, be he poor, with little blood to receive inflamma
tion, low fever is that. particular affection which accompanies the original cold
or catarrh.

Hence, i feel no hesitation in classing the epidemic—at least all those which
have happened in my time, with one or the other of those diseases, and re
commend treating it accordingly. At its earliest stage, of course, aa it assurnce
72 TREATMENT OI PULMONARY PATIENTS.

the shape of a catarrh or cold (which in the more malignant cases becomes
“Inflatamation of the lungs,”) I should treat it as such; but if not called in
until this attack had extended to the animal’s whole system, and catarrh had
subsided into general inflammation, no reason exists why we should consider
it a different disorder, merely because the patients may be more numerous
than ordinary! The reader had therefore best proceed on to the next head
of information, for the details as to the sufferings and cure of a single animal,
which I apprehend will instruct him how to treat the many ; for, neither the
name nor the character of the disorder can be changed by this circumstance,
however alarming its extent.

INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.

Causes.—Like all other of its class of disorders, inflammation of the lungs
fs occasioned by a sudden check being given to the circulation, by cold when
the animal is heated, either by exercise, food, or close stabling, as before de-
scribed. How it happens that this organ of animal life is much more fre-
quently deranged than any other, the reader who has well studied the second
chapter, pp. 31, 32, will be at no loss to account for; adhesion of the pleura,
or of the lungs, to the ribs, &c. as described at section 32, being very common:
the labour of action, not to call it pain, is greatly increased thereby, and a
certain degree of fever is thus engendered and kept up. The animal is in
this manner always predisposed to acquire cold or catarrh; and ultimately
inflammation of the lungs comes on, if the cold be neglected. Excessive ex
posure to the rougher elements, added to the changes in our humid atmo-
spheric temperature, accounts for the prevalence of affection of the lungs.

ut of the same causes arise several minor evils, to be considered here-
after; as,

Simple cold, or catarrh.
Broken wind, of three kinds,
Roaring.

Chronic cough.

The symptoms of inflamed lungs rapidly follow each other; shivering, dif-
ficulty of breathing, loss of appetite and sluggishness, with drooping of the
head, become visible in quick succession. In a few hours, if the animal be
in good keep, longer, if out of condition, those symptoms increase, with un-
usually quick action of the flanks, accompanied by hot mouth and necuc
cough, Its ears and legs become cold, and he cares not to lie down, or being
down, he rises languidly, as if mourning his fate. Sometimes the progress
uf this monstrous disease is accelerated by its previous habits, if the animal's
constitution be predisposed towards inflammation.

The cure is sometimes mainly effected by the effusion of water in the chest,
which frequently takes place upon bleeding the patient; the practitioner has
little more to do than place himself in the situation of the handmaid of nature,
and all will go on well towards perfect restoration. How this effusion is per-
formed, aone can know. Suffice it for our purpose, that such is the case, as
[ have shown in the second chapter, where | undertook to investigate the ani-
mal functions separately, and imagine | can not be misunderstuod: See sec-
tions 19. 20, 21, in particular, at pages 22, 23. We may ascertain when
wate effusion Las taken place, by an evident remission of the desponding symp-
toms just set down: the flanks cease to heave so much as hitherto, the animal]
fooks up more cheerfully, he tries to eat a bit, the cough almost ceases, and
the wa~mth of the ears returns, all in a partia: degree: but the roughness of
1s

HEAT, HOW REDUCED. a

hiscoat, which always accompanies inflammation, dots not so soon return to ite
original suppleness but assumes the first symptoms of hide-bound. Whes.
those favourable symptoms appear, much assiduity in the minor helps to re-
covery should be kept up, though further bleeding will be evidently unneces-
sary.

I have presumed that the patient has been already blooded in this as in all
other inflammatory attacks, and that to an amount commensurate to the vi-
rulence of the attack, even to the amount of five or six quarts, if the animal
is of fullhabit. Of this proportionate degree, or quantity, let the reader more
precisely inform himself by turning back to what is said on this head and the
pulse, under general inflammation, or fever, at pages 63 and 64. The ope-
rator will of course follow up the bleeding with the purgative ball prescribed
at page 63, in the case of general inflammatory diantions ‘Were I to repeat
over again such general instructions, however diversified in language, 1 should
add no new information. In every case of bleeding a laxative should follow,
as before directed, and clysters or water-gruel be administered in aid of both,
at intervals of three or four hours, Neglect not tolerably warm clothing ;
and by good hand rubbing, beginning [gently, for ’tis sore] at the neck and
chest, and so proceeding towards the hind quarters, endeavour to obtain ex-
ternal heat, if not perspiration, When these appear, it isa sign that effusion
has taken place, in a greater or less degree, according to the quantity of per-
spiration. ‘This may be assisted in some degree, after the laxative and clyster
have well subsided, by administering a

Sweating Ball.

Take tarter emetic and asaftetida, of each one drachm.
Liquorice powder and syrup, enough to form the ball for one dose.

Repeat the same in twelve hours, unless much perspiration has supervened
in the meantime, when there will be no necessity for repetition. Thin water-
gruel will assist the expected pa or, if the animal bea fleshy one,
a bran mash may supply its place: either must be given blood-warm.

The heat of the lungs, which is the immediate cause of the disorder, is vi-
sibly reduced by every inspiration of fresh air the animal takes. Naturally,
then, this air should be fit for its purpose, or pure; at least not the confined
air of an over-filled stable, replete with noxious effluvia; nor, on the other
hand, a current of air that issues by doors and windows to the right and to
the left, particularly in cold weather, or even in warmer weather whilst the
animal is yet sweating with the diaphoretics just now recommended. As in
most other affairs of life, the best will be found the medium course; for the
noxious stable air having irritated and so predisposed the lungs to receive the
blighting influence of the cold air, it follows that either extreme of stimulat-
ing, or bracing overmuch, must do harm one way or the other. A full and
free inquiry into the best means of employing this main auxiliary in the re-
storation of health in inflammatory disorders would be well worth the labour
of any veterinarian competent to thetask; but as regards myself at present,
such a course would ill suit my views in writing this too brief treatse, I
shall, therefore, content myself with observing here, that since it is to this
want of ventilation in stables, and crowding many horses together, that we
owe all pulmonary complaints and most fevers, the subject is worthy consider
ation as a preventive as well as a remedy. 8

Formerly, the general practice was to clothe the animal almost to suffoca-
tion, and to close up every aperture by which air might enter the stable; the
-onsequence of which mistaken notion was a severe attack of the lungs that

g*
“a AIR— VENTILATION OF STABLES.

usually proved fatal, wherever these addenda to stable management coulc be
employed in supposed perfection. Wot so the poor man’s or the dealer's
horses under inflammation of the lungs, or the more dreaded “ epidemic
distemper ;” his stables being more or less pervious, and his horse clothin
without the nap, it was no uncommon thing to find these had recovered,
whilst the more pampered and more valuable animals fell victims to every spe-
cies of inflammatory diseases. These results were known to many, in various
circles, about the time of the establishment of the Veterinary College; and
the mutual communications that thence resulted, proved the impolicy of the
old plan of adding heat to heat, and increasing the disposition to acquire disease,
of the lungs in particular. A revolution which had recently taken place in the
human practice regarding the treatment of inflammatory and febrile disorders,
also contributed to open the eyes of our veterinary practitioners in this respect,
and they adopted the direct contrary practice in its greatest extremity. Mr.
Colman advised turning the horse into a loose box, leaving open the apertures,
without clothing or paying any regard to the seasons. Nought, however,
could be more absurd than to suppose that a disease which is produced by
cold should have the continuance of cold prescribed for its cure.

My practice has been to afford the animal as much fresh air to breathe as
could possibly be allowed consistently with keeping out a draught or-current;
taking care also that none whatever should be directed towards his body, nor
any enter the stable from the windward in stormy or cold seasons. With these

recautions, in a loose box and well covered up about the chest, but not tight-
ly, he would ever be found turning round to that side where the most air was
.o be obtained, as if by instinct, knowing whence the readiest natural relief
from his sufferings was to be found. _ In one case, of an apertare being made
intoan adjoining shed, the patient was frequently discovered inhaling the little
air which was to be drawn thence, though the orifice was no other than a dis-
placed knot of the wood partition.

In general, the disease bends before the remedies prescribed; the hand-
rubbing must be continued, particularly of the legs, which in the worst period
of the disease are uncommonly fine, but should it last him some time the:
swell, and in either case prove they are the barometer of the disorder, as well
as the necessity of rubbing them. On the other hand, should the pulsation
increase after bleeding, and no favourable symptoms appear (as indeed they
can not be then expected), this necessary operation must be repeated to thesame
amountas at first, or up to a state of tottering as recommended before, at page
63: this necessity will occur but seldom, and that always with patients in
previously high condition, Therefore, no danger can be apprehended_ from
this copious discharge; for, at the end of twelve hours or less, which is the
period at which I should again resort to the fleam, the blood would have re-
turned to its former courses in every respect ; the continuance of fever up to the
same original height of the pulse, shows that the particular animal then under
treatment, possessed an uncommon quantity of blood, and therefore that an
unusual quantity should be taken away in order to alleviate the heat that is de-
stroying it, and will destroy it, if the heat be not subdued at this second
bleeding; for, should this fail, 1 expect little-good from further attempts,
though it is desirable to try what I always consider as the forlorn hope.

Should those remedies fail, suppuration takes place usually in six and thir.
ty hours, and the animal is lost. Occasionally, however, it happens with low-
priced animals, that the inflammation fixes itself and terminates with de
struction of one lobe only of the lungs, generally that on the right side, the
sther performing all the functions, but how perfectly, or for how long time, ]
had no means of ascertaining. At this point of his inquiries, the studious
reader had better consult over again what | thought it necessary ta say upon the
SNFLAMED LUNGS, BLISTERING AND ROWELLING EMPLOYED. ‘%

dissection of the lungs, in chap. 2, pages 31 to 34; but he will please to re-
member, | am not at present prepared to maintain, that the real cause of
destroyed lobe, which [ have just suggested, is more correct than that ven
tured by me at page 33. .

Bleeding, though highly beneficial at first, when the animal system isin full
vigour, is extremely dangerous after the inflammation has continued some
time. When (the fever continui ) weakness is indicated by swelling of the
legs, or nature seeks to relieve itsel by a running at the nose, then bleedin
will be harmful; this latter was considered a most favourable indication of crisis
in the epidemic fevers of my youth; but I sincerely hope that the groundless
fears the rumour of such a plague engenders, never more will visit us with
affright: the idea of infection, in such cases, is too riditulous to admit of refu-
tation.

Weakness follows, of course, every attack of so vital an organ as the'lungs,
and is a necessary consequence of the great evacuations of each sort his ex
treme danger has rendered indispensable. But cordial balls, or indeed, stimu
lants of any sort, are very improper, and might occasion a partial relapse, if
given before the animal is quite recovered. Good grooming, diet, and exer-
cise, constitute the means of restoring his strength. Let him be well rubbed
down, daily, and his nostrils sponged out clean and often, when the discharge
takes place, which most commonly attends the cure; the same offensive mat-
ter must be cleaned away from the stall and manger, and he may be led forth
daily whilst this business is going on. Hand-rubbing the legs should con-
tinue, so as to promote warmth, and they may be subsequently wrapped up,
especially if the weather be chilly, with hay-bands, &c. Exercise may be
gradually increased as the patient gains strength and appetite.” At first, good
stout oat-meal gruel, sweetened with coarse sugar or treacle, alternating this
with wheat-meal, in order to coax his appetite; then oats which have been
steeped in boiling water may be given, and next put him to hay of fine odour,
in small quantities at a time. If grass or green vetches can be procured, a
little, and not too much, may be cut for the now convalescent horse, in order
to keep open his body; on the contrary, should he appear low spirited, a little
malt occasionally will give him more vigour before leading him to the field
every day, or leaving him there in clothing, whilst the sun may be out, if it
shine at all.

BuIsTeriING and ROWELLING are recommended by most veterinarians, as
tending to divert inflammatory heat from the more vital part of the surface.
The theory is good; in the practice of human medicine I believe blistering is
universally adopted; and this is one reason why I ever looked upon this
means of cure with suspicion, even before | ascertained that the general heat
or fever is always increased by the employment of either blister or rowel.
Both are of the same nature; and the practitioner may learn how either
operates on the system by ascertaining the state of the pulse previously to the
application, and comparing it with the increased action of that barometer
whilst the remedy is taking effect. Subsequently, however, it must be con-
fessed, the agitation of the pulse will subside; and although I seldom find oo
casion for employing either blister or rowel, yet 1 am free to allow, that the
manner in which inflammation of these organs sometimes terminates (namely
im abscess, or soft tumour under the skin), seems to invite an early adoption
of artificial means to bring about the same ends, The hand-rubbing just re-
commended effects this to a certain extent; and if it has been neglected, ot
lazily performed, then will blistering become necessary to prevent suppuratiox
within.

As this tumour usually makes its appearance and marks the crisis of acute
attacks, the practitfoner may form an estimate of the probable beneficial ef
16 ! as COLD—WHAT?

fects of blistering in any case, by comparing and noting the earliest symptoms
of any two cases, in one of which the crisis has been subsequently attended
with such a superficial turgour, and in the other not so. He will then s~-
ploy blistering with more reliance on its efficacy than I have found news.
ba dad the hand-rubbing. ‘ .

hen this remedy is adopted for inflammation of the lungs, employ blister-
ing ointment composed of cantharides and sweet oil, or hog’s lard, or all
three—or the following

Blistering Ointment.

Cantharides, powdered, 5 drachms.
Hog’s lard, 4 ounces.
Oil of turpentine, 1 ounce.

Mix, for one extensive application over each side of the chest; which is a
neater and more expeditious method of attaining the desired end than rowel-
ling. When the latter method is adopted, let the tow used for the rowel be
dipped in a,mixture of sweet oil and oil of turpentine; and the skin of the
breast or belly,—if more than one such seton is employed,—be separated only
just sufficient to admit the rowel, in order to increase the irritation , but if the
surrounding parts swell to an inordinate size, change the tow for some which
has been sodden in digestive ointment.

PLeurisy, or inflammation of the pleura, a membrane covering the two
lobes of the lungs (see chap. ii. p. 42)—has been described by Lawrence as a
separate disease ; but, as the treatment is the same as the preceding, I can see
no propriety in making the distinction he does, especially as we can not know
the difference until after death discloses all imperfections.

A COLD OR CATARRG.

Causes.—If I sought much nicety of arrangement, the disorder termed “a
cold,” would have preceded the similar’ but more malignant attack I have de-
scribed under “Inflammation of the Lungs.” Both are occasioned by cold
applied to the animals organs of respiration at a time that he is most suscepti-
ble of its influence, differing only in the part which may suffer. Thus, when
the canal through which the air passes receives the check (before described),
which is the immediate cause of inflammation, every one agrees in its being
merely ‘a cold,” though in most cases no attack is more replete with danger
if neglected.

But the origin and progress of such a check upon the functions of the
membrane that lines this canal, having been already fully described in the se-
cond chapter, pages 33, the studious reader must turn back to that part,
if he would trace causes to their effects, and does not presently recollect all
that is tnere said on this topic.

One prolific source of the disorder termed a cold, is found in the shedding
of the coat in spring and in autumn, a process of nature always attended with
a certain degree of debility or general weakness. Hence it is that the animal
sweats profusely upon the least exertion; and being in this state suffered to
stand (harnessed perhaps) in the open air to cool, the sweating is too suddeuly
stopped, and he gets a cold at least. That the lungs should suffer the soonest
of any other organ is not at all astonishing : the very great exertions made by
the lungs in the business of progression, is much increased by adhesions and
ather obstructions to the action of its several parts; and this, added to thoiz
axposure externally, and the constant inhalation of fresh, cold damp ‘ai -
SYMPTOMS, 7

attogether, the prevalence of pulmonary affections in every vaned stage ought
no longer to be matter of surprise to any person, however casually he may
look at the matter.

The horse is subject to cold or catarrh at every season uf the year, and
some animals retain chronic cough all the year round, and some during their
natural lives. But the cold which is contracted in the spring differs materially
from that of the wutumn. The former attacks the animal when he is full of
hard meat and gross feeding—“ full of humours,” according ‘to a homely but
intelligent phrase, and a malignant sore throat or an inflammation of the
lungs is the ultimate consequence, however slight the cold may have been at
first. Sometimes access of all those symptoms of diseased lungs, which I have
already, or may hereafter take occasion to describe, will be found in the same
animal, and he usually bends before the coniplication of evils and dies, unless
speedily relieved by bleeding, &c. From its prevalence at some seasons, we
then agree to call it “epidemic,” and to recommend a treatment corresponding
with the prevailing symptoms, if these be mild, as a simple cold; which form
the epidemic fever or distemper always assumes in its earliest stages. On
the other hand, the cold or catarrh which the moulting animal acquires in au-
tumn, finds his system reduced by the heat and labour of summer ; his blood,
in quality or quantity, is scarcely capable of being excited to inflammation,
and the first attacks are more easily subdued. Neglect, however, ‘increases
the evil at all times, especially with the more valuable well-conditioned ani-
mals, some of which are so tenderly managed, that they scarcely can_stand
the opening of a door or shutter after dark, without catching cold. Neither
autumn or winter is the season for remedying this defect in stable manage
ment,—if ever it can be got over at all. :

Symptoms.— According to the precise part attacked, these vary not only as
to appearances, but as to virulence or malignity, always increasing as the com-
pa descends lower and lower down towards the seat of vitality ; the danger

eing also greatly augmented when the animal is pre-disposed to acquire
catarrh in its worst forms by some previous misfortune—as adhesion, &. A
simple cold consists in slight infammation of the membrane which lines the
nose, windpipe, &c. the functions of which membrane in health are described
in the 34th section, chap. ii. together with the manner in which the disease is
engendered. As we find in all other inflammatory disorders, variations in
the symptoms occur, according to the previous constitution or evils of the in-
dividual, and its actual condition—much more than is attributable to an ad-
verse season, or the immediate cause of disease. For example, if two equa.
animals be exposed to a chilly night air, that horse which had performed a
journey previously to turning out, would catch a cold for certain,—the other
most probably would escape; but, if both had performed the same journey,
let us suppose, and one of them laboured under the constitutional defect of
“adhesion of the pleura,” (see page 32), he would acquire the more malignant
cold, known as “inflammation of the lungs,”—his less unhappy mate a simple
cold, What horrid symptoms denote the former, [ have attempted to describe ;
the simple cold, at its first appearance, is too well known to require minute
description. ;

If the cold extend no farther than a check upon the mucous secretion of the
membrane that lines the nose, a purulent discharge is first observed in the
morning, its eyes become dull and.a little bleared; and, in twenty-four hours,
a short cough denotes that the inflammation is creeping onwards, and has
reached the epiglottis. The attack upon this point of conjunction between
the throat and mouth, will be greatly accelerated by the injury most horses
sustain which have been subjected to the brutal operation of beit-g “coughed?
23 SORE THROAT—REMEDIES.

by the dealers ;—an u.jury that thus produces latent effects, chough the pais
were originally little, and that little long ago departed.

We hear this kind of first attack termed “a cold in the head,” the second
symptom is “a cough,” and feel no disposition to quarrel with either term,

In proportion as the attack may be more severe, the symptoms increase, as
does the danger. Passing the hand down over the windpipe, at the epiglottis,
the animal will shrink if it be sore within, and he will soon evince difficulty
of swallowing, and refuse his food: inflammation has begun. When these
are not preceded by a discharge from the nose, this symptom does not appear
until the inflammation is lowered by bleeding and other remedies: the dis-
charge is then an indication that the inflammation, or heat, has subsided and
no longer demands the adjacent secretions, See page 33, for a more minute
description how this demand takes place. ‘

With those symptoms of sore throat others become apparent, and the whole
assume a malignant tendency proportioned to the severity of the attack and
previous state of the suffering animal. As happens in all other inflammatory
complaints, the pulse tells of the existence of fever, in its degree ; accompanied
by languid eyes, breathing quick and laboriously, and general heat of the skin
without perspiration. In some cases the sore throat 1s substituted, in some
measure, by enlargement of the glands underneath the jowl, which are also
attended by soreness more or less; and as this species of attack is occasioned
by the humidity of a cold spring or wet autumn acting upon moulting horses,
great numbers fee] its influence at once, and gives reason for veterinary writers
to consider this general distemper as “the influenza,” and an “epidemic,”
Enough has already been said under the latter head of information, therefore
let us proceed to treat of the thing as it regards the individual patient.

s#temedy.— W hen the glands swell, as just mentioned, and there is no reason
to doubt, according to the corresponding symptoms, that it is the effect of a
cold—which may ferther be ascertained by their heat and tension, let some
discutient application be used—as camphorated spirits of wine: but if the in-
flammation be to a great degree, bran poultice may be applied to advantage.
If those enlarged glands already contain matter the tendency to irritation will
thus be reduced ; if merely sordid tumours, either application will effect relief,
by reducing the size and tenderness of the part, so as the animal may take his
medicines with less difficulty. Steaming the head for an hour, or applying
hot flannels that have been steeped in boiling water, will be found serviceable,
taking care to dry-rub the coat immediately after, which also assists to reduce
the swelling. If this symptom does not give way before these applications,
and the throat is ascertained to be sore, blistering may be resorted to, taking
care to extend it over the whole of the parts affected. See page 76.

As in all other inflammatory diseases, bleeding to an amount proportioned
to the violence of the attack, with purgatives and clysters, should accompany
the foregoing external applications: and these, with plenty of bran mashes,
sodden oats, and the fever powders prescribed at page 65, will reduce the
symptoms. Similarly to those also will be the precariousness of his complete
recovery, and so should be the care that the relapse, to which he is for a time
daily liable, should not reach toa great height. 1 need not repeat the general
precautions which are set down at page 70.

Unwilling to leave the reader in i dled as to the mode of applying the
bran poultice just recommended and upon the efficacy whereof I mainly rely,
[ have taken the pains to sketch a bandage proper for that purpose, with its
fastenings, the ingenious contrivance of some Frenchman, whose name I be
Eeve to have been Bourceuat, E
MODE OF BANDAGING. 9

 

It will be seen, that unless the remedy proposed is practically applicaole,
the rreparation thereof would be wholly unprofitable; therefore, : hea the
poultice, the steaming, or the blistering, be found necessary, we should en
deavour to secure it in the best possible manner ; and as most persons are aut
poor horse milliners,4 have undertaken in this instance, as well as in cases
of Strangles, Poll-evil, and Vives, to exhibit the best means of retaining the
remedies in their proper places.

The cloth to be employed should be of stout but supple linen, as Russia
duck : or hempen sail-cloth ; or in failure hereof, a fresh sheep-skin, or a piece
of Shamoy leather might be substituted.

Some recommend steeping the cloth in a solution of gummy substances, to
render it water-tight ; but such contrivances only add to its unconquerable
stiffness, and I should prefer oiled silk, such as used for umbrellas, if-readily
eel and not too dear for the pockets of those more immediately con-
cerned.

When spread abroad, the cloth will be of an irregular octagon shape, at each
corner whereof it is to be strongly sewed on a piece of broad tape for the pur-
pose of fastening to the girth, or round the neck, or toa breasting of broad
web, which is supported by another piece, that passes over the withers, and
which two should be previously fastened together by stitching the cross-piece
ends upon the breasting. The two extremes of the bandage will be the fillet
ecross the forelnead and the fastening at the girth ; therefore measure should be
previously taken of the whole length proper for the individual patient, lest the
tie, which would otherwise be necessary at the ears, might discommode tho
animal, and occasion skittishness ; or on the other hand, the application would
not be kept in its place properly. A single glances however, at the cut will
instruct a tolerably expert workman, or work-woman, how to manufacture
such a bandage as would answer every purpose.

THE COUGH

Which accompanies this disorder will frequently remain after the other symp-
toms have abated ; in some cases a cough is the only symptom of catarrhal ine
flammation that the animal suffers under, and in both we should apply our-
selves to reduce the inflammation of the wind-pipe, &c. which vccasions the
50 REMEDIES WHEN VARIED, BENEFICIAL.

cough; for 'f not cured at once, it baffles all our efforts for a long while, ana
ultimately becomes what is denominated (from the length of time it has last-
ed) a CHRONIC CouGH. But no absolute necessity exists for considering these
as separate or distinct diseases, the one being but a prolongation or eng
of the other on the system, as described at page 85 below: therefore shoul
dur attention to the first attack be unremitted, and the remedies applied in
turn to each variation of the symptoms. If these are accompanied by the
swellings and soreness of the throat and glands, just spoken of, the cough will
casecal cease, when these symptoms are removed ; but if not, the cough must
be considered as a simple disease, and be treated accordingly. By the way,
seeing that after all our care and anxious examination, we can but imperfectly
distinguish between some cases of ill-cured catarrh, or the chronic cough, and
the incipient cough, or a fresh cold, the practitioner would do well, in cases of
doubt, when he finds one of those remedies fail to afford the expected relief, to
try another, and another, for example.

‘When the cough continues, and there is reason to apprehend, from tne
frequent and violent efforts of the animal to expel the mucous secretion, that
this is thick or viscid, and does not come away, though the animal evidently
sneezes for that purpose,—the lungs must be relieved by softening the agglu-
tination; otherwise termed “cutting the phlegm.” Venesection slways ef-
fects this end; but, when blood-letting is not rendered otherwise necessary,
the drenches Nos, 1 and 2 will afford relief. As the cough always becomes
more and more troublesome as the discharge lessens of itself, or ceases alto-

ther, we may conclude some lurking virus that has fixed upon the lungs is
the immediate cause of the cough. In order to enable the lungs to throw oft
this cause by a more copious discharge, give the

Expectorant Ball.—No. 1,

Sulphur, half an ounce.
Asafcetida, 1 ounce.
Liquorice powder, 1 ounce.
Venice turpentine, 1 ounce.

Mix for four doses, and give one on each of four succeeding nights. See his
exercise be moderate, and allow him the cooling regimen before referred to
(page 67), as proper for convalescent horses after inflammatory attacks,

Expectorant Ball.—No. 2.

Powdered squills, 2 drachms.

Gum ammoniacum, 4 drachms.
Powdered Speen 4 drachms,
Opium, 4 drachms,

Ginger and allspice, of each 1 ounce.
Baisam of sulphur, 4 ounces,

Mix, for stx balls, with Castile soap, 2 ounces, beaten up with mucilage;
treacle, or syrup: to be given once or twice a day.

If this regimen can not be followed by reason of want of attendants, his
bowels at least should be kept in a proper open state by mild laxatives; or,
if costiveness prevailed when the cough first came on, simply opening the
bowels will then procure ease, if it‘do not effect a cure. This mvy bo at
tained by giving for three or four days .
DIET AND REGIMEN. 3
The Laxative Ball.

Aloes, one and a half drachms.
Tpecacuanha, one and a half drachms,

Mia \'th liquorice powder and mucilage for one dose.

Tiase medicines, and every modification of them, which the experienced
chemict 2an suggest, it is desirable should be tried in succession, as the seat
of the disorder is so very various and uncertain, that the partial good which
9ne may effect, will frequently be aided by another. To this end the follow
tng ball and drenches have been prescribed and used with success—

Diuretic Ball,

Yellow resin, 2 ounces.
Turpentine, 4 ounces.

Soap, 3 ounces.

Salad oil, 1 ounce.

Oil of aniseed, half an ounce.
Powdered: ginger, 2-ounces.

Kub the two last together in a mortar, with a little linseed powder. Melt the
- dest three articles over a slow fire, and then mix in the powders. Divide the
mass into eight balls, and give one a day until the water is affected.

Drench.—No. 1

Vinegar, 8 ounces.
Squills, 2 ounces.
: Treacle, 6 ounces.
Bruise the squills and pour on the vinegar boiling hot; simmer these near the
fire two or three hours, then strain off and add the treacle. Divide into three
or four parts, and give a portion two or three times in the course of the day,

Drench.—No. 2. k

Bruised garlic, 4 ounces,
Vinegar, 12 ounces.

Pour on the vinegar boiling hot; let it simmer four or five hours, strain off and
add six ounces of honey. Divide into three parts or four, and give in the
course of the day at intervals,
- But no ultimate cure can be effected unless the diet and regimen is pro-
rly followed up; nor, if the animal be pushed in his work whilst the disor-
oar is virulent; and, after all our care, if the cough does not abate, but be-
comes worse by reason of a. new cold, it fixes upon the lungs, and the animal
drags out a m-serable gxistence. ‘This has been usually treated of as con-
sumption, by reason of its resemblance to the same disorder in human medi
cine, from the wasting away, or consumption of the animal system, which ac-
companies a diseased state of the pulmonary arteries. Of the importance of
this part of the system to animal life, to existence and health, the attentive
yeader can not fail to be sufficiently aware who has well perused that part of
the second chapter of this little manual, in which the functions of the organs
of respiration are described with requisite one pee 31 to 35. The hope.
lessncss of bringing about a cure, after the ruin has proceeded so far as we
BROKEN WIND.

favo a contempla.sd, must likewise be most apparent to him: I will not,
t re, pursue farther in detail the last wastings of this ea essential
ri of the animal system, but proceed shortly to notice some other effects

an ill-cured cold or protracted cough.
BROKEN WIND

Is already so minutely described, as to its causes and symptoms, in the second
chapter, that I apprehend repetition in this place would prove worse than use-
less. The reader will therefore turn to page 34, and the recapitulation of
ay treatise on the organs of respiration which immediately follows, at page

. Generally speaking, broken wind is brought on by inflammation of -the
organs of respiration, and acquires a different name, Hough requiring but
little variety of treatment, according to the part which may be the more im-
mediate seat of disease ; for it must be clear, that although this may lie in the
uppermost part or larynx, in the lowermost part or midriff, or more centrally
—the communicable nature of inflammation is such, that the whole must par-
take in some degree of each and every partial derangement. And this de-
gree will be proportioned to the excitability of the individual’s organs of res-
piration that may be the subject of attack: if the animal contract cold or
cough in the vigour of age and health, he will experience its effects in the
most frightful shapes; it proceeds to encroach on and obstruct the right func-
tions of the lungs with rapid strides, and if the symptoms do not abate, he
dies. But, being partially removed,.it becomes a chronic disorder* to the end
of his days; and, agreeably to the part which may experience the attack, has
it been the practice to denominate chronic cough either roaring—broken wind
—thick in the wind—or asthma. Hereupon, however, the Seton disagree,

How this difference arises may be worth a moment’s investigation here, al-
though so large a portion of the second chapter has been already devoted to
the subject, and the reader must absolutely turn back to it. At page 34, the
thickening of the midriff, in consequence of inflammation attacking the ad-
jacent viscera, was minutely described: this thickening of the membrane
also extends to every other part of the lungs, wind-pipe, &c. whenever cold
or inflammation prevails; and in the event of its continuance, the thickening
of the membrane remains long after tne virulence of the disorder may be sub-
dued. If this state of the organs of respiration extend over them generally,
the patient may very justly be said to be “broken winded;” when this ex-
tends to the thickening of the pleura only, he would then be thick winded,
or short in the wind, as he would also in case of adhesions of the midriff, as
degcribed in page 34, already referred to. Neither affection, however, can
fairly be set down for broken wind; though both those membranes being af-
fected might properly enough be considered “a broken manner of drawing
in and expelling the wind,” for the inspirations and expirations are in this
ease extremely irregular, broken, or variable; whereas, when the air-cells are
really broken, or burst into each other through great exertion, then the air
escapes with difficulty, and the expirations are now slower than the inspira
tions (as before observed), and both together constityte irregular respiration,
or true broken wind. .

But of controversies there is no end. J. White and R. Lawrence were
for some years at issue on these points; White having taken up Lawrence
rather sharply, and somewhat unjustly, if he meant to impute error to the

* Chronic disorders are those which, having lasted a long time, become almost second nature,
and plague the organs of respiration more than any other viscus: thus, a tickling cough may
atick by an animal for years, but it becomes worse upon any great exertion, or on

ua
CONTROVERSY CONCERNING AIR CELLS. &

atter, as see the symptom of respiration just spoken of, for each writer
was right in his separate position: as they disagree as to what constitutes
broken wind, so they could not of course agree as to the symptoms. See
pages 159, 160, of White's first volume. his author also disorders his own
positions at the same place, in two other instances, which I should not have
noticed, but for his tart rebuke of R. Lawrence for attributing the term
broken wind to the thickening of the membranes. In this view of the case,
it will be seen, 1 certainly can not agree with this very clear-headed veterina-
rian; but I do not therefore, harshly refute a gentleman and scholar for not
agreeing with me pon a simple term of science: it was this unamiable at-
tachment to trifles that so long impeded the progress of. chemical knowledge,
until the plain-speaking Davy, Nicholson, Park, and Paris, came into vogue,
and drove Lavoisier from his prostrate cuterie,—Dickson was put to silence,
and Fourcroy’s reveries were laid in the dust of oblivion.

White says, “ The lungs of broken winded horses that I have examined have
generally been unusually large, with numerous air-bladders on the surface.” p.
160. Yet, in the next page, he opens a broken winded subject, and says, “ The
lungs were lighter [meaning less] than usual, and without the air-bladders,
contrary to the state Mr. Lawrence describes.” What Lawrence had said
was this: “The most common appearance of the lungs in broken winded
horses is a general thickening of their substance, by hich their elasticity is
in a great measure destroyed, and their weight (i. e. size) specifically increased,
On this account air is received into the lungs with difficulty, but its expulsion
is not so difficult. ‘Thus, in broken winded horses, inspiration is very sluw,
expiration sudden and rapid, as may be seen by the flanks returning with a
jerk.” (p. 123, octavo edition.) And he is correct as to these two motions
accompanying the thickened membrane or substance of the lungs; only 1
should have termed the disorder thick wind, and not broken wind, when all
would have coincided with White’s statement, barring his own self-contra-
diction as to the size of the lungs, which Lawrence had mistaken for weight,
and which had met with the counter assertion of being “ specifically lighter.”
On this point of their dispute, however, neither the one nor the other could
possibly Anow aught with requisite certainty; and I, for my part, am inclined
to believe, that the lungs of high-bred horses are specifically lighter than those
of the cart breed, saving that the whole organs of respiration are much less
muscular in the first kind than in those of the latter, the skirt or border of
the midriff in particular. On the other hand, the hearts of blood horses in-
variably run of a larger size than those of the common English horse. Vide
page 37. One cause of broken wind, or rather that mainly predisposes the
animal to contract this disorder, is voracious feeding, which distends the sto-
mach inordinately, and for a while gives to the animal a short-lived vigour
and healthy appearance. This induces its proprietor to put him upon his
mettle, and try the extent of his powers at progression; and as he will best
perform those feats upon a plentiful feed, the action of the midriff and lungs
thereby becomes laboured, and the proper expansion of the lungs is impede
Heat and tension are the immediate consequence, and broken wind of one
or the other species is the remote consequence. Horses that eat their litter
and what other hard substances they can come near, are similarly predisposed
to broken wind; namely, by the great.distension of the stomach, and inability
of inspiring a sufficient quantity of air to fill the lungs, whence the inert cells,
or the portion not ietaniad fill up, contract, and become useless, or, upon
sudden action and over distension, they burst at once.

Cure there is none for broken wind, and therefore all that can be done by
way 2f alleviating its symptoms must be effected by management, or as it i
more generally termed, by
34 REGIMEN FOR BROKEN WIND.

Regimen. Of course, any person would avoid exposing the animal tc fresh
cold, and not push him too hard on a full stomach; nor indeed, give away a
chance of increasing the malady by the same means as ] have just said origi-

. nally brought it on. He will, on the contrary, follow an ae course of
treatment, and as much as possible regulate his feeding and exercise upon
moderate principles, for the stomach and bowels are always affected by broken
wind. Hence it is, that fatulency accompanies broken wind of every kind, so
that the animalin his endeavours to cough, usually breaks wind after an effort
or two, Much medicine is not requisite, and, in slight cases, far from desira-
ble; tonics, bracing air, and regular hard meat feeding, broken or sodden, and

iven in small quantities, will do more for the horse than physic of any sort,
or the first, Peruvian bark, or cascarilla in small doses, may be given occa-
sionally ‘adapting the quantity to the bulk of the animal. ~

Tonic Ball.

Cascarilla,
Gentian root,
Oil of Carraways, ten drops; with
Mucilage enough to form the ball. If irritation of the bowels is indicated by
a certain protrusion of the anus, add of opium 10 to 12 grains.
When the cough is particularly troublesome, or the animal seems to labour
much in respiration, give the following

Ball,

1 to 2 drachms of each,

Dried squills, powdered, 1 drachm.
Gum ammoniacum, 3 drachms,
Opium, 10 drachms;

With mucilage sufficient to form the ball.

If there is reason to apprehend the horse swallows his corn without grind-
ing it, as commonly happens, bruised or sodden oats should be given, and the
bowels discharged by-purgatives, when alteratives may not be deemed equal to
the urgency of the case. Those prescribed at pages 86, 87, are applicable in
this case also; inasmuch as the two disorders bear very near resemblance to
each other in this respect, Give green food, succulent roots, and bran-mashes,
as there recommended. Let the water be soft, not too cold, and given in
small quantities at a time, and frequently. ;

As broken wind produces disordered bowels, and is re-produeed by it, the
connexion or sympathy between the two, thus plainly demonstrated, should
be employed in the alleviation of the former in all its stages, when it has been

~ of long standing. The means of attaining this object has been shown; and
when the animal under treatment is equal to the care and expense, he fre-
quently recovers so much of his former powers of free respiration, that his cure
‘will seem for a short time fully effected. These appearances, however, are
completely illusive; upon the least extra work he relapses into his former dif
ficulties of continuing it, and the cough, the roaring, wheezing, or labouring
of the flanks and chest, return as bad as ever. If the work be very hard, aa
always Lappens when the horse has been sold deceptiously, and the new mas-
ter would try his utmost powers, the relapse is then worse than before; he
hereupon becomes a confirmed roarer, by the wind and lymph being driven
inside the membrane that lines the wind-pipe, and causes inflammation of the
very fine blood-vessels that traverse it. Hence the number of lawsuits that
are instituted to recover the valuable consideratiun paid for broken winded
HEREDITARY ROARERS. 85

horses that are returned upon the hands of the sellers as roarers, that never
were known to either groom or stable-hoy for roarers, before the day of action
or trial. Hence, too, let us charitably suppose, the contradictory evidence

_ often given, and the flat, downright cross-swearing that usually takes place
on such occasions. For the horse having been partially made up for the pur-
pose of sale, i.e. nursed, patched up, oa to all appearance “ right in all his
parts,” the fact of his going in pain comes out by way of his skin at first, and
the new purchaser being generally desirous of trying all he can do, the
ruin is effected, by pushing him too much, of driving the wind inside the
membrane, as before described,

Hereditary Roarers. Early in the present century, a question arose
among breeders, whether the gift or the curse of roaring descended from
parents to their progeny. The decision was locked for with unusual anxiety
among the breeders of farm-horses in Norfolk and Suffolk, where a famous
well-built horse in every other respect was much sought after, even subse-
quently to his being denounced a roarer prepense. ould his stock take
after him? was a problem very desirable to be set at rest, when Mr. Wilson,
of Bildestone, late Sir T. C. Bunbury’s, propounded the question to Mr,
Cline, an eminent surgeon and anatomist in London. In reply, Mr. Cline
said, “The disorder in a horse which constituted a roarer, was caused by a
membranous projection in a part of the wind-pipe, and was a consequence of
that part having been inflamed from a cold,* and injudiciously treated. A
roarer was not therefore a diseased horse, for his lungs and every other part
might be perfectly sound; but when a horse was in strong action, his breath-
ing became proportionably quickened, and the air, in passing rapidly through
the wind-pipe was in some degree interrupted in its course, and thus the
roaring noise was produced. ‘The existence of this in a stallion could not be
of any consequence. It could not be propagated any more than a broken
bone, or any other accident.”t

Unfortunately, however, for this opinion, and not exactly in accordance
with my own, several of that horse’s get became roarers, but we are left to
guess whether hereditarily or acquired. An account of the horse in question
appeared in the Annals of Sporting for 1823; but the colouring given by an
evident partisan of the stallion-master induces one to lament the absence of
that candour, from which alone useful truths are to be drawn; for, we are de-
terred from indulging in pathological investigation where the grounds of in-
quiry are so impalpably sandy as were those adduced upon the occasion.

CHRONIC COUGH

Is already defined to be the remains of an ill-cured cold, which may or may
not have been a cough originally. It bears close analogy to simple broker
wind that is seated in the wind-pipe or its branches, of which it may be con-
sidered a continuation, or the natural consequence of neglect, with more in-
veteracy. How this effect would so accrue was described at page 80; and
the analogy is still further corroborated by the fact, that the treatment for
cough of Ges continuance is precisely that which is found serviceable for
broken wind, the situation of the two disorders making the only difference in
either respect.. Again, the symptoms of both may, by long and careful treat-
ment, be so reduced as to seem cured, for a longer or shorter period, and both
will return in the shape of roaring, upon the animal being put to sudden hard

* Not always so, Mr. Cline. 3
4 Our human anatomist is ard nearly right as to an accident not being descendable; but aes
iz that roaring did Jescend to the first generation, we must infer that this was “an accident of
disch, and wot ucontracted ane which might! possibly go no farther.
*
86 OCCASIONAL AND PLETHORIC COUGH.

work, as mentioned in the last pages. The corresponding symptoms of both
are also so nearly alike, that I merely comply with custom while I recapitu-
late these for the use of readers who might not choose to consider that horse
broken winded, which to all appearance is only affected with ‘an old cold in
the wind-pipe.” But, let the first term appear to an owner ever so formida-
ble in sound, the latter is no less dangerous in effect, and both are alike liable
to terminate in roaring,

The symptoms which indicate chronic cough are nevertheless so slight, that
it is too often considered as but a small remains of the more alarming catarth,
which its owner vainly imagines will go off in time, as the other disagreeable
symptoms have done. In this hope he is invariably disappointed, if the means
of reducing it be deferred. After the more violent symptoms of catarrh have
subsided, and the cure may reasonably be considered as complete, the horse
returns to his usual feeding, and, as in the former case, eats voraciously; he
is denied water oftener than twice a day, perhaps not so much; but, when at
length he does drink, he gulps it up as if famished. This is commonly the
cause, and the first indication of the cough which follows immediately after,
but is often mistakenly attributed to his improving too fast after his long illness,
and it is considered only fair that “he should be allowed to recover himself
completely.” Precaution is thus lulled in fancied security, and unless prompt
relief be afforded before the damp season of autumn returns, the symptom in-
creases to obstinate confirmation ; until time renders cure hopeless, alleviation
or abatement of the coughing being all that lies within the power of medicine
or stable management to effect for it—the aid of the former being then of little
avail. Very few small proprietors of horses use timely precautions in this re-
spect, and the disorder goes on: large owners having more experience, adopt
early measures, and if pursued with proper vigour, these usually prevail in
lowering the symptoms.

An occasional cough is also brought on by high feeding, which, as it arises
from the rapid production of fresh blood, is termed plethoric cough, by way
of distinction. Of this symptom it would be needless to tell the better in-
formed, perhaps, at an interval of six days, that we have but to take away the
cause, and the effect ceases of course. This, however, does not always follow ;
for the cough sometimes remains after the gross feeding has been reduced in
quantity and quality. In this case, it must be considered as chronic cough,
and treated as such, by emptying the bowels, &c. as above directed.

Feemedy. As in the case of broken wind of every other kind, the horse
eatsevery substance he can come near, chronic cough being sometimes pro-
duced by over feeding, as well as always producing that symptom. There-
fore, when a horse has a cough, occasionally, fur two or three days, his appe--
tite being good, we had best conclude he is too full and must be emptied by
an alterative or purgative, according to the emergency of the case: if he he
of gross haoit, or has failed in the proper evacuations; if his heels swell of a
morning, or his coat stare like hide-bound, the cough will vanish before the
following

Purgative Batl,

Barbadoes aloes, 8 drachms,
Castile soap, 2 drachms,
-Ginger, 1 drachm,

With mucilage sufficient to form the ball.

Failing to stale properly, the patient's heels will swell, in addition to the
cough, and both may be got rid of by a diuretic ball or two at farthest, If
REMEDIES FOR BAD HABIT. COUGH, PERIODICAL & CONSTITUTIONAL. 84

the evacuation by the skin be at fault, through cold or otherwise, accompani-
ed by cough, the perspiration will be restored, and cough depart, by the exhi-
bition of Emetic Tartar, one or two grains, every day twice in. powder, until
its effects are perceptible on the skin, and the cough then diminishes. This,
however, is a very slow remedy, though sure, and is sometimes given n much
larger quantities. ‘The preparation Is very simple when given in the form
of a ball, being made up of liquorice powder and mucilage only, of a sufficient
consistence to retain that form.. 1f much heat of body is perceptible, though
the pulse may not indicate inflammatory disorder, add to the foregoing ball,
nitre, 4 or 5 drachms.

But whatever course is pursued, if symptoms of a bad habit of body are
discoverable, it will be advisable to administer the foregoing pargative ball once
or twice previous to adopting any other means of cure. If those symptoms
of a bad habit of body do not appear, then the purgative should be of a milder
nature and given at the same interval.

Mid Purgative,

Aloes, 4 or 5 drachms,

Castile soap, 3 drachms,

Calomel, 1 drachm,

Ginger, 2 drachms,

Oil of Carroways, 10 drops;
Mucilage enough to form the ball for one dose.

Some horses are more delicate than others, and being then irritable about
the throat and chest, are liable to contract a periodical cough, which becomes
chronic without due care. Such animals should be exposed as little as possi-
ble to any violent weather, or sudden change of the temperatire: these are
the kind of animals that will benefit greatly, or suffer the most, by a summer
run at grass, according to the heat, the dampness, or dryness of the season,
and the precautions used previously to, and at the turning out. Neither should
such tender animals, under circumstances of chronic cough, which generally
affects their coats also, about the chest in particular, be treated with a purga-
tive, even of the mildest form but with alteratives instead,

Alterative Ball,

Fe soap, ; 12drachmseach,

Emetic tartar, 1-2 drachm,
Ginger, 1-2 oz.
Oil of carraways, 1 drachm;

With mucilage enough to form the balls into six doses. Give one every morn-
ing until a loose stool is produced, which may happen on the third or fourth
caorning or longer, as the animal may be more or less relaxed. .
Even with this moderate employment of laxative medicine, the kind of ani
mal for which it is most desirable will be very unfit to turn out to grass of a
eudden; as, on account of its delicacy, it will in that case be more likely to ac-
quire a small hectic cough, which no one attends to because of its triviality
antil time renders it chro.ic, with all its attendant consequences. Roaring
broken wind, are among these evils, and have already received as much at
tention here as they separately. require. hoe *
Frequently it happens that a horse has a constitutional cough, or une whict
& STOMACH AND INTESTINES.

comes on only upon high feeding, or a disposition to, plethora will pzoduce the
same kind of cough, and, in either case, it seems but an effort of nature to
telieve itself. In this case, the rapid repletion of blood drives it into the smaller
vessels that line the windpipe, &c. and there causes the titillation which after
two or three efforts ends in cough, and soon repeatedly. None but those
which are in some slight degree or other already afflicted with chronic cough
are ever so attacked, E apprsnendy indeed I have frequently remarked how
excellent a test of ‘bad in the wind” was good feed, or a large feed, with
work upon it. In this case, the administering of nitre and resin will thin the
blood, and give immediate relief.

Drench.

Bis resin, ¢ of each half an ounce,
2

Oil of aniseed, 20 drops.

The oil should be first well mixed with the resin, and the whole given ina
quart of water-gruel. Recurrence of the same affection may be prevented in
some measure by giving the same in another form, which is in general
reckoned more convenient—namely, as a cough powder, substituting aniseeds,
1 ounce, for the oil, and pounding the whole together; mix with the corn,

INFLAMMATION CF THE STOMACH AND INTESTINES.

‘Whenever one of these organs is affected, with inflammation particularly,
the other soon feels the effects of the attack. This arises from the proximity
of the two; or the continuity of the digestive faculty, which is mostly carried
on in the intestines, as the reader of tolerable recollection well knows was so —
described in Book I. page 44, &c. Corrosive poisons, indeed, carry on their
work of destruction upon the internal or villous coat of the stomach until the
ruin is complete; but, although horrid inflammation accompanies its ravages,
I would not class such a species of accident under any other head than “ Poi-
son :” to call it by its symptom would be delusive. Neither is the inflamma-
tion caused by worms, proper, to be taken into consideration here, though in
this case both organs are affected at the same time; but the bott question in-
volves other considerations, besides the best means of destroying them, of pre-
venting the access of this irritating insect, or of alleviating the effects of its

" pite and adhesion to the villous coat, alike of stomach and intestine.

‘With those exceptions, there is no greater difference in the causes, symp-
toms, or means of cure of inflammation in the stomach and intestines, than
exists’ between those of the great and the small gut. Inflammatory pain in
the smaller parts of the alimentary canal will ever be more acute than those
which attack the larger ones; thus, when the stomach is the seat of disorder,
the pains will be duller, the paroxysms less distinctly marked, and the pulse
but little altered; but, when by continuance it reaches the small gut at the
{uwer orifice of the stomach, then will the pain and anxiety of the animal in-|
crease greatly, and the symptoms thereof, visible in his manner (to be de-
ecribed shortly), will become more distinct, rapid, and vehement. The pulse
mereases in number, in sharpness of vibration, and irregularity. Such is the
difference also that is discernible between attacks upon the colon or great gut,
and on the smaller guts. But all this refers ty the first attack; for after
while, if the means adopted are insufficient to check its career, the ruin goes
on to affect the whole abdomen, and the animul dies in excruciating tom
menis.
HOW INCURRED. INTESTINAL ADHESION. 8&5

Causes.—Much the same as those which occasion fever in all ordinary
cases; that is to say, a sudden check given by cold to the action of tne parts
while these may be in a state of excitement, or through over action, har
work, excessive heat of the weather, the operation of cordials, &c. By this:
latter means stallions and brood mares are sometimes destroyed prematurely,
even without catching any cold, or this part of the system receiving any check
whatever; in these cases, excitement has been carried to the utmost pitch by
high feeding, and stimulating the male, until nature gives way, or rather, I
might say, catches fire almost, and if not speedily arrested, the heat soon de-
stroys the functions of all the abdominal organs of life.

To stage-horses, inflammatory complaints usually prove fatal, from the
same immediate cause ; the animal being fed high, and pressed forward to the
accomplishment of his daily task, regardless of the first indication of this
disease; and in summer time, we witness numbers of such dropping down in
harness, sometimes whilst going along, seldom giving warnin y approaching
dissolution. But, whatever be the previous state of the animals bodily health, ,
he can rarely stand the maltreatment he receives from his driver :—viz. that
of being driven through ponds and large rivulets, while he is yet perspiring
greatly through fatigue and the heat of the weather. Long rests in currents
of air, oy unsaddling horses under similar circumstances, are alike productive
of inflammation of those or some other part of the animal’s inside, if it do not
bring on fever of the whole system—as before observed, p. 59. The kidneys
or the liver are sometimes alone affected by this species of culpable neglect ;
but in either case the effects are not immediately perceptible, and the disorder
creeps on unheeded, or seizes the animal violently, so that it dies at the next
going out.

Neglect of the necessary evacuations, or the discontinuance of those which
have been customary, even though injudicious, will occasion an accumulation
of dung in the intestines when they are least capable of bearing it: upon this,
pressing the horse in his work will bring on inflammation, as it will sometimes
after a heavy feed and water, which some injudiciously give on account of a
hard day’s work lying before him. The same happens to horses that are in-
ordinately fat, when hard worked ; the dung that is then eliminated bears with
it a portion of the slime or mucus that lines the intestines, and this appearance
has obtained for this species of inflammation the term molten grease. I post-
pone, for a few pages, the consideration hereof, in compliance with custom ra-
ther than in obedience to propriety.

Adhesion of the gut sometimes takes place, so as to cause partial. obstruc-
tion to the passage of aliment; at others, tubercles are formed on the mesen-
tery that holds the bowels in position; and in either case the secret is dis-
closed by a staring coat, which some mistake for the worms. Both those af-
fections are the effect rather than the first cause of inflammation of the part,
and may be distinguished from “the worms” by the state of the pulse, by the

-heat, tension, and soreness evinced by the patient on passing the hand over
the belly. See page 46, book I. The reader will.also perceive, upon turn-
‘ing back to page 2A, in what manner this adhesion is effected, by the ex-
naustion of the moisture that is designed by nature to lubricate the parts.

Colic of long continuance, if the animal is worked while this is on him, is
another prolific source of inflammation of the intestines; as is the drinking
cold water copiously, while in a state of perspiration, or after a trying jour .
ney, which is always attended with spasmodic colic of the stomach and bowel
at first, and of inflammation sooner or later, according to the temperature o!
the individual. The necessity of getting rid of the lesser attack before it ac
quires a permanent and dangerous aspect must be obvious; and as the treat-
ment prover for either, is at total variance with the other, the one requiring
90 COLIC DISTINGUISHED FROM INFLAMMATION.
woimth and stimulation, the other a cooling and reducing treatment, our first
duty is to ascertain precisely the exact nature of the attack; for a mistake on
this point would, and does Caguenitly, prove fatal—ay, in human as weil asin
horse medicine. Therefore it is, that 1 have judged it expedient to set down
here a table of the symptoms that will enable the practitioner to distinguish
between the two kinds of attack.

For this mode of setting before the eye in parallel columns the discriminating
symptoms of two such apparently similar disorders, I am indebted to Mr.
Ryding, who inserted it in his “ Veterinary Pathology,” 1801, pages 86, 87;
and it was copied by White into his “ Compendium,” 1803, with a few altera-

- tions, by no means for the bettez, I have adhered chiefly to Ryding, with but
one slight alteration.

SYMPTOMS,

°A table for distinguishing betwecn the Colic or Gripes, and Infiammation
of the Bowels, by the symptoms that mark the character of each.

Spasmodic or Flatulent Colic.

1, Pulse natural, though sometimes
a little lower. .

2. The horse lies down, and rolls
upon his back.

3. The legs and ears generally
warm,

4. Attacks suddenly, is never pre-
ceded, and seldom accompanied by
any symptoms of fever.

5. There are frequently short in-
termissions, ¥

Inflammation of the Bowels,
1. Pulse very quick and small.

2. He lies down and suddenly
rises up again, seldom rolling upon
his back.

3. Legs and ears generally cold,

4. In general, attacks gradually, ia
commonly preceded, and always ac-
companied by symptoms of fever.

5. No intermissions can be observ-
ed.

Whilst marking these distinctions, which ought to be kept in mind while
prescribing for disorders so nearly alike at first view, but differing so widely
in effect, the reader is earnestly requested to turn to the Indez, and there find
the page at which I have thought proper to treat pretty much at large of “In-
flammation of the Kidneys,” “ Diseases of the Urinary Organs,” &e, He
will there perceive how fatally these affections have been mistaken for
“Colic;” he will learn that this unhappy error is likely to happen more fre-
quently than would at the first glance be imagined; and he will observe that
the symptoms correspond in many respects with those in the second column
above—therefore require an equal correspondent course of treatment, but that
the deposite of the stone in the kidney is an incurable disorder that admits of -
no remedy. Furthermore, the reader will observe, that the whole of the article
alluded to, on “Calculus, or Stone,” requires his strict attention: and also
bear in mind what is there said as to calculous substances which are deposited
mn the coecum or blind gut, producing symptoms so much like spasmodie
colic, that much care is necessary in applying the appropriate remedy in each
case, lest he hastens the patient’s end.

* Of those symptoms the state of the pulse is the surest indication of the ap
proach of an inflammatory attack of the bowels, or any other viscus; and the
particular part which is then suffering must be gathered from other circum-
stances. If he has long suffered colic without relief, doubtless inflammation
has taken place, and gangrene is likely to follow: this is the harbinger of
death. Adhesion of the gut sometimes baflles the best treatment for colic,
CALCULUS IN THE BOWELS. "a

and scon devolves into inflammation. In either case, the remedies proper for
colic must be abandoned, and others mote adapted to the change of circum-
stances be employed instead. . -

‘Whenever the cause of inflammation of the bowels may fairly be ascribed
to the quantity or quality of their contents—without adding thereto by any
extraordinary exertion, its Bppeee) will be very slow, and denoted by slug-

ishness and the refusal of food at first, As they are mostly working cattle
that are thus attacked, the evacuations are not sufficiently minded, or the at-
tendant neglects to make mention how these have discontinued in a great de
gree, or ee their appearance—the dung being then hard and the urine
high coloured; hereupon the pulse increases, and the outrageous symptoms
described in the second column of the table of symptoms go on to a frightful
degree, endangering the lives of bystanders, Even in this stage, the progress
of the disease may be arrested by ‘prompt and vigorous measures, adapted to
the kind of animal that may be the subject of attack, and the circumstances
under which the present alarming symptoms may have been brought on. If
a heavy lumbering wagon-horse, that owes his disease to alimentary indul-
gence, we shall find no higher operation necessary than emptying the over-
charged canal by force of arms, i. e. back-raking; but the high-couraged stage- -
coach horse, which falls under the exercise of the lash, and the influence of a
vertical sun, has seldom aught within him of that kind to part with, ‘and re-
quires the introduction of some substance or liquid that shall cherish the
afflicted stomach and bowels, and alleviate the burning heat that, ascending to
the head, causes his delirium. Presence of mind, however, or the adroitness
which much practice teaches, is frequen y wanting for the first mentioned
remedy ; and the means of applying the second is so seldom at hand, that the.
animals are too often left to their fate and are lost. But I anticipate the reme-
dies. See also pages 62, 68. ;

Remedy.—F rom the rapid progress made by this disorder, when left to it-
self, and its usually disastrous termination, the duty of attending to the pulse
of his animals as before insisted upon (at page 62), will strike every intelligent
horse proprietor, as the very best means of guarding against the fatal conse-
quences of inflammatory attacks. He will by this means be apprised of the
earliest approach of the disease, and thus enable himself to meet it in its mild-
est form: he will compare this certain indication of heat—whether fever of
the whole system, or inflammation of a particular part, with the state of the .
patient’s urine, which will then be high coloured, and the dunging defective.
The rectum will be dry, hard, and hot; the belly, on passing the hand over it
towards the sheath, will have the same feel; the animal will shrink from the
touch, his eyes appear languid, or partly shut; as the disorder proceeds they
assume unusual redness, or what has been termed bloodshot.

Up to this stage of the disorder, the first remedy will be clystering and bleed-
ing the animal freely, if he be not very aged or of spare habit, immediately
after giving the following

Laxative Drench.

Powdered aloes, 2 drachms,
Subcarbonate of potass, 2 drachma,
Water gruel, 1 pint,

Castor oil, half a pint. Mix.

celay 18 to be apprehended in procuring the above drench, ve castor xh
- fink or in defeult hereof, salad oil, two pints, whilst the drench is yre

paring.
” CLYSTERING. NEGLECTED COSTIVENESS.

In ordinary cases, a voluntary stool will be produced at or soon afte bleed
ing, oveasioned by relaxation of the tenesmus that constitutes the disease. If
the dung comes forth in small quantity and small hard knobs, the anus must
be cleared by the hand, according to the directions given at a preceding page,
69. And, when the constipation has endured for a long time, the hardene
dung will not come away at all without this manual operation of back-raking,
which must be performed the more assiduously as the difficulty may be great-
er and the dung harder. Let a warm clyster be thrown up that is copious
enough to fill the emptied gut, at the least.

Clyster.

Water gruel, from four to six quarts,
Epsom salts, 4 or 5 ounces,

Inject warm, with a large syringe, or ox-bladder and long pipe: perform this
operation effectually. .

A second and third should follow, a little warmer than the first, and after
an evacuation has taken place, the next clyster may be made without salt, and
a small degree thicker than at first. Its effect will be to remain and nourish
the Fats nearly in the same manner as a‘poultice does an external inflamed
wound.

Too often, however, those early indications are entirely neglected; the ani-
mal is harnessed in to his day's work, and the consequences are both dreadful
and dangerous to behold. Ifhe be a stage-coach horse, or destined to take his
turn at a posting-house, his sluggishness and refusal of food is usually attri-
buted to “a little overwork ;” and the much abused cordial is commonly ad-
ministered ; which brightens him up for the renewal of his daily task, and ac-
celerates his fate, unless rescued as by a miracle that is very seldom wrought.
In these cases, the first symptom perceptible to the driver is the horse’s lean-
ing against its next horse; but, upon being touched up, it makes fresh exer-
tions according to its quantity of courage, until it falls down with closed eyes,
in excruciating torments, lashes out behind, and beats about on the ground,
seldom having the strength to get upon its legs again. Bundles of straw should
be placed for the afflicted animal to roll upon, and his head pressed down with
the hand whilst the severest paroxysms expend their force. "When at length
he gets up—which may be considered a favourable sign, that proves his
strength is not wholly-subdued—he may be supported into a stable. Mean-
time, however, an examination of the rectum must take place, and the manu-
al operation of emptying it be employed—if need be; that is to say, if harden-
ed dung should be accumulated there. At any rate, water gruel in large

* quantities must be prepared, as well for administering by way of clyster as of
drench; in both, a now without the addition of salt, and in the latter
manner nearly cold. By these means, the alarming symptoms will diminish

reatly; but if there is still reason to apprehend that obstruction may prevail
in the larger intestines, this must be got rid of by means of the oily laxative
prescribed at page 91, and the repetition of clysters in quantities, and admin-
istered with a vigour sufficient to reach the evil.

Bleeding, of course, would be adopted to the amount of four, five, or six

uarts, according to the exigency of the case and the size of the animal. If
the blood become buffed, as it is called by some, or sizy on the surface, a
second blood-letting is necessary to complete the cure. Low, but nourishing
diet, should follow; as bran-mashes, stiff gruel, and afterwards sodden oats:
the return to hay provender being made gradually, and then of good quaity.

In verv bad cases, the return to full health and vigour will be slow, and &
MOLTEN GREASE. PHYSIOLOGY OF. og

relapse is to be dreaded, as a fresh attack would prove much more obstinate
than the first. The dung, by its quantity, consistence, regularity, and gene-
tal appearance, will afford the best means of judging when the bowel: are
completely cleared of their offensive contents; for it not unfrequently happens
that several tolerable stools may be procured by the help of medicine, and yet
some lumps, replete with danger, remain behind, The pulse, that great ¢ ¢i-
terion of health or disease, by dint of low living, may have regained its natural
state, and so remain steadily for a tolerably long period : but watching the dung
for a day or two will corroborate that main indication of health, or by its ir-
regularity dispel an ill-founded reliarice on the completeness of the cure. Yet
will the administering of purgatives, or even alteratives, of aloes in particular,
be found full of danger, as tending to irritate the bowels anew. ‘The same
may be said of all stimulants whatever, whether applied externally or given in
the form of cordials, notwithstanding the animal may evince signs of return-
ing pain, and these be ascertained by the corresponding symptoms of low
pulse, warm legs and ears, to arise from spasmodic or flatulent colic only.
For these returning pains are usually occasioned by the soft kind of regimen
just recommended ; to which the patient may have been subjected during this
illness for the first time since it was a foal. I have known a small feed of corn
or two effect relief from lowness, in the case of horses which had been lone
time previously used to hard food: if these be devoured voraciously, this wil

tend to prove Ist, that the change is desirable, and Qdly, that the next feed
should consist of broken oats—or a new disease willbe engendered. Adopt the
tonic system, recommended generally, at page 69. .

MOLTEN GREASE

{s but a variety of inflammation of the intestines when the subject of attack
nappens to be very fat, and little accustomed to exercise; when marked by
costiveness, it may be treated as such; or, if attended by a looseness, may
rather be considered as a spasmodic effort of nature to relieve itself of an un-
natural load. The vulgar name given to this affection of the intestines is
farther supported by the popular notion that the fat, or grease, which the in-
dividual possessed in a superlative degree, had melted Yor was molten) and
assed into the guts, whence it was expelled withthe feces. This, however,
1s physiologically impossible, notwithstanding the support such a notion has
received from some revered authors; the appearance of slimy unctuous matter
along with the dung, more particularly when this is much hardened, being no
‘other than the mucous secretion described at pages 22, 23, 25 designed by na-
ture to defend the surface of the intestines from the injurious action of hard
substances that might be taken into the stomach. Indeed, this intention of
nature in providing such a defence is demonstrable in the fact, that the harder
the knobs of-dung may be that the animal presseth forth, the greater is the
quantity of this greasy, unctuous, or mucous secretion that is eliminated along
with it, and which gives name to the disorder. Probably, the secretion of this
grease may then proceed with more celerity ; its access may be greater, the
more it is thus required by nature to defend the alimentarv passage. This
supposition is drawn from the fact just stated; ut, whether the well-founded
conjecture be too hastily hazarded, is for the more minute inquirer to conclude
upon, or investigate farther, as may seem good to him. .

At any rate, the doctrine of effusion, or the passing of those secretions,
whether mucous or aqueous, from one part of the system to another, as nature
or accident may require the supply, is tolerably evident from another circum
stance that is often recurring in cases of molten grease. [The subject 1» more
fully treated cf at the page just referred to.) The perspiration uf the two se

10 7

.
91 TREATMENT OF MOLTEN GREASE. COLIC,

cretioz:s in succession, here referred to, is pretty well recognised, and is easily
proveable, in the manner there set down; the unctuous, mucous, or greasy se-
cretion (call it which we like) of the external surfaces following that of the
more liquid, or watery kind, after any great exertion. Horses that contract
molten grease are ever those which have been highly fed, without exercise suf-
ficient to excite visible perspiration thereby ; and the feverish heat of the body
occasioned by high living and imdolence, in time exhausts the whole supplv
of the aqueous secretion. So much is this the case, that the animal's dis
charge of urine becomes less and Jess as its seclusion is continued, until the
decided access of fever takes place, and we notice its colour is higher and higher
-as its quantity decreases. [Look again at sec. 55, page 52.] As before ex-
plained, the secretion of mucous matter takes place within the guts, &c., of
that surface which is next to the food; on the otherside, and every other part
of the animal system, the watery secretion destined to lubricate the parts, tg
keep them supple and to prevent adhesion, takes place. On that side (which
is popularly considered the outer surface!) good quantities of fat accrue, all
along the whole length of the intestines, which is usually scraped from slain
beasts, and preserved as tallow. From this source is derived that access of
grease, which, as I have said, is greatest as the inflammatory symptoms may
be higher. When this has long been the case, and stools are at length pro-
cured, a long thin wormlike portion of this fat comes away with the dung;
which would be of itself a sufficiently alarming appearance, though wanting
animation, but for the well known, but inexplicable, doctrine of effusion, or
communication through the gut: this appearance, then, of a long tenacious
fatty portion of thin membrane, which usually accompanies molten grease,
sigue be considered as little more than denoting the crisis of the disorder.

Let the system be reduced according as the state of the pulse may dictate
_—for which consult again page 62, as to bleeding, and page 68, 69, as to treating
him for ‘“costiveness” aiemlys If heat and irritation be perceivable to the
touch and sight about the anus, without high pulse, the first symptom may
be reduced by administering

The Sedative Clyster.

Camphor, 4 drachms,
Spirits of wine, 3 or 4 drops,
to promote the solution, and add
Sweet oil, 2 ounces.
Mix well, and then add thin warm water gruel, 2 or 3 quarts.

As before intimated, molten grease is rather an effect than a cause of dis-
ease, and partakes of colic in one of its forms and of inflammation in the
other; the symptoms that enable us to distinguish when the one or the other
prevails being precisely those set down at page 90. Allowing somewhat for
the feverish symptoms that always prevail with such fat and bloated animals
as are subject to this disorder, the practitioner can not commit himself to the
guidance of a better test than that just referred to, nor more safely adopt a
treatment that is more likely to reinstate his patient in health, For the treat-
ment which is proper in case of spasmodic colic affecting fat animals, the
reader is referred to the next head of information.

THE COLIC, GRIPES, or FRET.

This disorder has been frequently referred to, under the preceding head of
Inflammation of the Intestines, to which it bears great affinity in some of ite:
COLIC—DEFINITION AND REPRODUCTION OF. 95

puints—as already stated, the cause of both being nearly the same in most
cases, and long continued colic always ending in inflammation, if not effec-
tually checked in time. Mach of the difference that exists between the two
kinds of attack depends on the previous state of the animal attacked : if it\be
a high fed and hard-worked animal whose digestive organs receive a sudden
check, he contracts inflammation in the first instance; but one that is lower
kept, and therefore not so irritable in any part of its system, is soon troubled
with spasmodic affection of the intestines, which receives the name of gripes,
or fret in different counties, as it does that of flatulent colic in most of the
books that treat of animal medicine. Colic, however, is the general name
given by most stable people to every pain of the inside (of man and horse)
that occasions writhing, or other demonstrations of that pain, which few can
discriminate in their own persons; much less in their horses. To this un-
discriminating manner of naming’disorders that require such very different
treatment at our hands, is to be attributed the loss of many lives annually,
Into this anomalous manner of treating those disorders it is painful to notice
one of the most scientific veterinary writers of our time has fallen. We do
not find in Mr. Richard Lawrence’s “ Complete Farrier” any reference what-
ever to inflammation of the intestines: though under the head of “ Colic or
Gripes,” he proceeds to describe the symptoms of inflammation in such a
manner as might mislead ignorant or half-taught persons to treat both alike,
and thus destroy their horses. :

A violent cold, or a slight one, will also determine the disorder one way or
the other, when the individual’s system may be of no decisive character at the
time of contracting it. That a low state of the animal system is favourable
to engendering spasms of the intestines, is inferred from the circumstance, that
subsequently to a horse afflicted with inflammation undergoing the copious
evacuations recommended in the preceding pages for the cure of that disorder,
he is frequently visited with spasmodic affections that require sedatives and
tonics to restore the patient to complete health.

Causes. Next to drinking cold water, and catching cold by exposure to
air or water whilst heated, the eating of bad, ill-got, or rank hay, is a prolific
source of spasmodic cholic. If it lie in the intestines chilly and comfortless,
and thus predispose the animal to acquire cold, the cause_of epidemical colic
is plainly attributable to such bad hay; for it then prevails usually over certain
districts, and mostly among country cattle. Pushing a horse in his work
when large lumps of undigested matters distend parts of the gut, will bring
on spasms, torpor, and inflammation in succession: Horses that gormandize
much, being worked hard, and the stomach becoming empty, occasions the
fret, and inordinate action of the intestines expels the mucous secretion tha.
is designed for their defence. This constitutes molten grease, of which |
have treated largely just above, and am decidedly of opinion that the expulsior
of offensive matters in all cases where the animal evinceth but small sensa-
tions of pain, is but an effort of nature to relieve itself, and ought rather to be
assisted than abated by hot or “cordial medicines.”

Strong astringent purgatives, of: repeated, or neglect during the operation,
are frequently succeeded by flatulent colic, that soon becomes inflammatory
if the internal commotion be not judiciously arrested by sedatives. Cordial
alls and drenches, as they impart a short-lived vigour, so when their stimu-
lating effects die away, they leave behind a debility that is more excessive ag
those factitious effects have been most intense; in this respect, the cause and
its consequences assimilate closely with those which succeed the disease of in-
flammation, and the debility which follows the cure thereof, with spasmodic
solic. Diajente, and other provocatives, that are given to stallions tn the
season, leave behind them the same species of debilitating effects after rover
96 SYMPTOMS OF COLIC, DISTINCTIONS.

mg, and would devolve into colic first, and inflammation afterwards, but that
those horses’ evacuations are well looked after, and the system of stimulants is
Kept up by repetition, This treatment, however, can not always succeed, so
we frequently find that stallions die suddenly of inflammation in the intestines,
in the spermatic cords, or other parts of generation. Cases of death, in actus
soitu, ae the same causes, are upon record, I mentioned this before, at
nage 18.

All horses that have been pampered in the above manner, or oy being kept
in close stables, or having their water chilled, when they come to be subjected
to common usage, are most likely to suffer by colic in its worst forms. Horses.
that are made up for sale by dealers and cunning breeders, in order to give
their coats a sleek appearance, upon passing into the hands of new owners,
commonly. undergo attacks, more or less acute, of spasmodic colic, if they do
not at once fall ill of inflammation of bowels, kidneys, or bladder. With ani-
mals so circumstanced, mere flatulency or looseness may be considered a fa-
vourable termination of the making-up system before alluded to.

Symptoms. These, as contra-distinguished from those which denote in-
flammation of the intestines, will be found in the table of comparative symp-
toms at page 90. In addition thereto, other symptoms, that mark the degree
of spasmodic attack, require equal discrimination, seeing that treatment which
may be highly proper in the more virulent attacks, would be injurious if em-
ployed upon every slight occasion. Neither is it every horse which shows
‘signs of pain in the inside that has the colic, even though the symptoms set
down in the second column of the “table,” at page 90, do not appear; for, he
may be afflicted with pain in the kidneys, or inflammation of the bladder,
which the attendant should ascertain before giving the stimulants that may be
very proper in most stages of colic, but would accelerate the diseases incident
to those “urinary organs.” ‘The careful reader should therefore turn to the
subjects “Kidneys,” and “ Bladder,” before he proceeds to treat the animal
simply for colic pains.

In its mildest state, flatulent colic first appears in the form of violent purg-
ing, which is in fact no positive disease, as before observed, but an eff-rt of
nature to rid itself of a collection of offensive matter, either indigestible, cold,
or irritating. Of what precise kind this may be at any time is ascertainable
upon the view, and requires only to be assisted in coming off, provided but
little pain is evinced by the animal, If he be a crib-biter, pieces of extraneous
matter are usually found among the dung, as bits of wall, of wond, litter, &c.;
if an aged horse, or one that has been kept on bad hay, his food comes off un-
digested; if a very fat horse, the mucous secretion comes away as described
under “ molten grease,” just above—and all these require at most some of the
milder purgatives that are least likely to irritate the bowels.

Whenever the ears become cold, after gripes have continued some hours, itis
a certain indication that inflammation has taken place of some one or more or-
gans, mostly af the intestines. Thisis sometimes discovered when too late, to
attend a rupture of the distended bowels through the peritoneum (Vide Book I.
page 46), when the protruded gut mortifies (as is found after death) in conse-
quence of strangulation. After this, the pain seems to subside, and the ani-
mal dies quietly. The ruin that has taken place is only told on dissection,
Yet do most ignorant persons pronounce horses still alive to have a “twist in
the guts,” and stranger still, they prescribe a remedy for it, although it is in-
carable. - The ears act also as a good barometer, when inflammation of the
kidneys may be apprehended, or inflammation of the bladder is more than sus-

ected, on account of the difficulty evinced by the patient in passing its urine
f the water come off high-colowred, it isa sure sign of inflammation, which is
further corroborated by cold ears; if of its natural colour, the ears wil) ba

 
MANNER OF THE PATIENT. ”

warm, and the difficulty in staling is occasioned by tue hard distended gut
pressing upon the ureters and neck of the bladder: procuring a good stool or
two, ora clyster, then restores the functions of the bladder,

The earliest symptom observable in his manner, is when the horse luoke
round at his flanks occasionally, whisking his tail at intervals; he looks at
the attendant, if there be any breed in him, seeming to implore help. He
stamps with his hind feet alternately on the ground, sometimes striking at his
belly. As the pain increases, these symptoms are oftener repeated, and with
more vehemence; he gathers his legs under him, as if preparing to lie down;
which he at length ollects, rolling about in the stall and getting up again re-
peatedly. It may here be remarked, that this rolling on the back is well cal-
culated for affording temporary ease to the bowels; but should inflammation
have already attacked these, or at the kidneys, this rolling on his back would
but increase the pain of the animal, and his jumping up instantly upon his
legs, as if the spur or whip had been applied, goes to prove the existence of
inflammation at one or the other viscus. -

Cure. Too much care can not be exercised in ascertaining the precise na-
ture and amount of the disease; for, in error in this respect resides extreme
danger of life, which is too often sacrificed to precipitancy, to ignorance, and
presumption. As soon as a horse is pronounced “ill of the colic,” the atten-
dants, without investigation, proceed to give “something to do him good;”
which is ever of the stimulating class of domestic remedies. Warm ale, with
ginger, peppermint water, gin and water, whiskey and pepper, ate the com-
mon popular remedies usually applied in this case; and, provided the disorder
be really flatulent colic, relief from the pain must follow the exhibition of either
one or the other. Frequently, however, it happens, that the doing good is
carried too far, and inflammation is thus superinduced, if it do not already
prevail. By such persons every internal pain is pronounced “ the colic ;” and
they all conclude that what has removed it once will remove it again, without
being certain that it is the same disorder—as they do, that whatever is good
in small quantities must needs be more so in larger ones, But] have already
observed, that the removal: of umbilical affections, whether flatulent or inflam-
matory, by rough, harsh, or protracted means, scarcely ever fails 10 produce
the other concomitant disease, and the inflammatory symptoms no sooner sub-
side, than the jaded vessels contract spasmodic affections, as do also the con-
tinuance of flatulency, and some of the means of curing it superinduce inflam-
matory symptoms,

In whatever-shape the horse is attacked with those disorders, the first and
most obvious duty is the employment of clysters, to be repeated at short in-
tervals, with this single variation ; viz. in cases of relaxation, where the ani-
mal is already purged, the clyster is to consist of simple water-gruel only; but
when the patient's bowels are overloaded with hardened dung, the addition
of salts, as prescribed at page 92, will be found most effectual. In the ab-
sence of Epsom salts (for no time must be lost), a handful of common culi-
nary salt may be employed, in the quantity of four or five ounces. Back-
raking, too, should be assiduously applied, when the body is in this state, as
recommended in the case of inflammation at p. 91, with the laxative
drench prescribed at the same page, or the simple salad or castor oil in default
thereof,

In ondinary cases, when the attack is not, of the most violent kind of either
description of colic, that is to say, when neither purging nor constipetior
prevail extremely, let the following be given.

10*
8 TREATMENT.
Colic Drench.—No. 1

Epsom Salts, 4 or.5 ounces,

Castile soap, sliced, 2 ounces.
Dissolve these in a pint of warm ale, and add

Oil of juniper, 2 drachms,

Venice turpentine, 2 ounces.

Mix well together, and give it warm ; repeating the same in four or five hou
and if the symptoms do not visibly abate, repeat once more. ‘Tincture o}

. opium is sometimes substituted for the turpentine to the amount of 4 drachms;
but the drench is thereby rendered exceedingly nauseous, and should be given
deliberately. Opium is, moreover, least proper when a tendency to costive-
ness is discovered to exist. :

Colie Drench.—No, 2,

Tincture of opium, 2 drachms, 3
Oil of juniper, 2 drachms,

Spirit of nitrous ether, 1 ounce,

Tincture of benzoin, 4 drachms,

Aromatic spirit of ammonia, 3 drachme.

Mix together, and preserve the same in a bottle, and give in a pint of warm
peppermint water. Repeat in three or four hours.

hen the case is not very alarming, a neater manner of giving opium, in
the form of a ball, is recommended :—

Sedative Ball,

Asafoetida, 4 drachms,
Opiun, 4 drachms.

Make into four balls with liquorice powder and syrup, and give one eve
two hours. The balls may be given along with the oily laxative at page 91;
immediately preceding it, or before the laxative has operafed. These balla
are very serviceable to travellers on their journeys, and may be given to horses
that are liable to contract spasmodic colic, which is the case with heavy, fleshy
draught cattle, with post horses and the like.

Colic is not often fatal, unless it terminate in inflammation; whilst it
should be kept in mind, that colic always ends in inflammation if not removed
in time. A day, or at most two, may pass away without danger and without
relief, in ordinary attacks of spasmodic colic; and where a looseness takes
‘lace, a short time longer of neglectful carelessness might not terminate the
ie of the animal; but, when inflammation commences, a shaking or undu-
lation of the tail is observable, with evident shivering of the whole frame.
The danger is then great; especially when each fit of shivering is not suc-
ceeded by perspiration.

If the costiveness is not well removed when those symptoms, with cold ears
and legs, come on, let the belly be fomented with warm water by means
of woolen cloths steeped therein, A horse rug may be used to advantage
tm this way by two men, one standing on each side the hores and foment-
ing the belly by bringing it nearly together across the back and supplying
with warm water. After half an hour’s application, or more, let the cowl
be well rubbed with dry cloths, and the animal wrapped in body clothing
FUNCTIONS OF THE LIVER. INFLAMED LIVER. 99

The clystering, and other remedies recommended in cases of inflammation,
should then be employed with assiduity. Lastly, employ the tonic system
recommended, generally, in all inflammatory cases, at page 69.

DISEASES OF THE LIVER.
L. INFLAMMATION. 2 THE YELLOWS, OR JAUNDICE.

‘WHEN we consider the vast active functions the liver has to perform, in
cleansing the blood which takes its passage through it, and the secretion of
bile, that becomes more obnoxious as this organ is more diseased, we ought to
feel surprise that so large an animal as the horse has so few ailments spring:
ing out of that source, rather than lament the frequent existence of this one.
For, the two names set down at the head of this article, agreeable to the gene-
ral practice, have only one origin, viz. inflammation ; but differing as to the
amount of heat, and situation of the evil, which is scarcely distinguishable
until after death. The symptoms of both are the same, and the first attack
ever becomes the most lasting, if the remedies be delaved, or wholly neglected.

Having been led to enter somewhat at large into the causes and remedies
for certain affections of the liver, while describing its structure and functions
in the first book, p. 49, I shall find less occasion to add much more at this
place. The reader will of course turn to that page.

Cause of inflamed liver.—Inflammation of the liver does not very often
take place as a primary affection, but more frequently participates in the dis-
ease of some of the adjacent organs, as the stomach, bowels, &c. and accord-
ing to the acuteness of the inflammation, an increased or diminished secretion
of bile is the immediate consequence. The blood, in passing through the
liver, acquires a portion of this extra heat, which reproduceth more at its next
passage through it, more at the next, and so on, until the inflammation of the
whole liver is completely effected. Increase of the bile or gall proceeds in the
same ratio, until the gall duct, that communicates with the small gut, is closed
by the uncommon heat ‘of the inflammation, or by the thickening of the gall,
or by both operations united, no matter which. At any rate, the bile which
ough to be conveyed away by stool, is returned into the system, and occasions
yellow skin—whence the vulgar name. When this occurs, I apprehend the
inflammation lessens, but the communication with the bowels does not always
return to a healthy state, though 1 believe it to be partially the case. Indeed
constipation in the first instance often obstructs the passage of bile into the
bowels, and thus increases the evil. Over-feeding has the same effect, and
both produce slight temporary yellowness, which goes off upon the removal
of the cause; generally followed by diarrhea. The feverish symptoms also
which accompany the commencement, also pass off, leaving a low, irregular
pulse, until the bowels resume their wonted course, either naturally, or by the
aid of medicine.

Symptoms of inflammation before yellowness comes on.—As this last and
surest indication of diseased liver only appears when the evil is a confirmed
one, and is extremely difficult of cure, particularly in old animals, we should
assiduously set about ascertaining its commencement, so that the remedy may
be promptly employed, and a further procrastinated mischief be timely pre-
vented. And the more so, seeing that what constitutes a remedy inte earliest
atages is no longer so after a time has been spent in delay. _

henever inflammation, or extraordinary action of the kidneys, or of tht
diaphragm, has lasted some time, in ever so small a degree, in that degree will
heat or inflammation attend the liver. It enlarges upon the accession of this
heat, visibly so when this has continued a while, but may be previously ascer
100 TREATMEN? IN LIVER COMPLAINTS.

tained by the feel. As will be seen,* the liver extends much farther back
than vhe fast rib, and a little beyond the false one. Here a considerable pro-
tuberance appcars when the liver is enlarged, and disease may be ascertained
that is attended by the presence of pain only. Old horses, which have been
well bred, retain chronic affections of the liver to a very great age; and this
is frequently the main disease under. which they suffer for many of the last
years of their lives: great numbers of such animals die with a liver of so small
a size, that nought but its situation could assure us it ever had any functions
to perform. Horses so visited with a trifling undetected affection of the liver
lose their courage, and gradually sink into lethargy the longer it lasts: we
often hear such animals accused of being “used up, done for, or ’tis all up
with him,” and yet driven about to the last moment of a painful existence,

When the attack is rapid, and acute inflammation, arising from the causes

just set down (page 99), the pulse is the sure indication of the ruin that is
going on, by its irregularity, quickness, and uncertain vibration. See page
62. One lobe only suffers in this case, and then the animal turns its head
round sharply to that side from time to time. Constipation always accom-
panies acute inflammation of the liver. .
Remedy.—Acute ‘inflammation, which vomes on with dangerous strides,
when the subject of attack is of vigorous habits, must be met by a bleeding
proportioned to the state of its pulse, and that without delay. or, it speedily
communicates to the intestines, and death ensues; or, being suffered to ex-
pend its virulence (provided the animal possesses strength sufficient) by stool,
the bleeding will then be unnecessary; or being persisted in, will confirm the
_ slighter affection just spoken of probably to the end of his days. A purgative
ball should accompany the bleeding, as in all other cases is prescribed gene-
rally at page 63; but, if the animal produce a stool voluntarily, the disorder
has taken a turn, and neither the operation nor the physic is required.

After bleeding, let the sides be rubbed with the blistering ointment (vide
age 76), and apply a rowel to the chest. These latter, however, are doubt-
ally eligible, fhough always employed by the regular collegians. The pa-

tient will require the same treatment, as to diet and regimen, as for inflamma-
tion of the organs of respiration and general fever, before treated of at page
60, in the course of which his pulse and feces should be watched, and a re
lapse provided against. Calomel is that medicament which more immediately
acts upon the liver, and unless the horse scours, should be administered in
the form of

Alterative Balls.—No. 1.”

Alves, 9 drachms,
Calomel, 1 drachm,
Hard soap, half an ounce.

Mix with mucilage sufficient, and divide into three balls; to be given cn three
successive nights, unless a thin stool comes off with the second ball. But in
case of scouring, give

* In the plate of skeleton, at the parallel lines a 30, is placed the kidney of the near side,
wnilst the off-side kidney in the same subject would be intersected by the line 29. With this
latter, the right lobe of the liver lies in contact, and when an enlargement of it takes place, it
may here be seen and telt; when the access of inflammation and tension render it painful only,
the doctor should press the points of his fingers (of the left hand) gently behind the last or false
Fb several times, whereby he will ascertain whether any and what degree of pain the patien.
endures, If seated high up on the liver, he will not, of course, finch at the first slight touch

* * To prevent error, I would here mention, ‘hat in the picture of a skeleton now re€rred
to. it is the left lobe of the liver that is there represented. and this was reduced in siza, ir, ordet
tg show a clear profile of the stomach. ar
JAUNDICE. 10]
No. 2

Oil of turpentine,
Hard Soap, of each I ounce.
Ginger, powdered,

Mix with flour and mucilage to form three balls; and give one on each of
three successive nights. >

THE JAUNDICE, OR YELLOWS.

Cause.—Inflammation of the liver, or any other obstruction of this organ,
which, ee the escape of the bile into the duodenum, or smallest gut,
through the gall duct, by reason of this duct being inflamed, or choked up with
the thickened bile, whereby it is sent again into circulation, and thus pervades
the whole system. When the inflammation is very great, the disorder quick-
ly carries off the patient; the inference therefore is, that poor animals alone
acyuire the yellowness which gives name to this disorder, though it must be
allowed that the same effect may be produced by over-feeding and constipa-
tion, by swallowing hard substances, or otherwise offending the said gut, or
the pylorus orifice of the stomach, as described at pages 44, 45. Its situation
may also be seen depicted in the plate of a skeleton at the intersecticn of K
26. At that place 1 did not choose to speak of negatives, and therefore omit-
ted to notice the fact, that the bile or gall secreted in the liver of this animal
proceeds at once, as soon as it is formed, into the gut, without being detained
in a sac, or galj bladder, as is the case with all other animals, except deer; so
that, upon any revulsion or hindrance to its free entry to the bowels, the gall
must at once return to the numerous cavities that pervade the whole liver, and
its re-absorption by the blood is no longer problematical. ©

Symptoms.—A dusky yellowness of the eyes, bars of the mouth, and tongue,
The dung scanty and pale, generally hard, and covered with slime; but in
some few cases the horse scours; that is, when slight inflammation of the bow-
els also attacks an ill-conditioned horse. The pulse is that of low fever, and
the same kind of drooping inactivity, with loss of appetite, noticed under that
head at page 64; differing from it only in respect to the seat of disorder, the
low fever being general, or of the whole system, jaundice of the circulation
only. Sometimes, however, yellowness comes on without the other symptoms,
after an inflammatory fever; an occurrence that can not fail to be foreknown.
Genuine jaundice may further be discriminated by the yellow lips, yellow

- saliva, and dark urine. From this latter appearance we may draw these curi-
ous inferences—viz. that the colouring of the bile which has ceased to impart
its property to the dung, having gone with the blood to the kidneys, there
leaves its darkest or more earthly particles—the lighter or brighter ascending to
the heart, and passing through the vascular system, there imparts its yellow- .
ness. By this providency of nature we see how it is that malevolent particles
in the blood are cleansed at the kidneys, and pass off by wrine. Thus it is
that grease and other tumours are cured by judiciously stimulating the kid-
neys. The urine voided, as above described, which is ever done with evident
pain and difficulty, leaves on the ground an appearance ef blood.

Cure.—Young horses and fat ones, are easily cured: they have indulged
too freely in good living, on hard meat, and require no more treatment than a

‘ood physicking. Give the purgative ball (page 63), or the alterative hall,

o. 1, prescribed in page 100 Give bran mashes, green food, and succulents
according to the season. leeding is seldom necessary, or proper, which thé
state of the pulse will show,
102 1NFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.

The Liver is also frequently affected with tumours on its fine surface, as
well as with ulcers or schirrus, which are all the effects of an evil state of the
blood, of over action, and probably of accidents from exteinal injuries, com-
municated by the kidneys,

We can easily conceive that the thin parts of this large viscus may be dis
cased, and even inflamed, without causing derangement of the biliary function,
further than increasing its action, and by thinning the blood over much, it
obtains more bile. The animal then waxeth thin, though devouring his food
as usual for a while; and we may ascertain when this evil has begun by the
state of his dung, principally as to colour, which will then be of a much deep-
er hue. As pale dung is a symptom of suppressed bile, so is deep colour an
indication of a superabundance, that is caused by over action, which is itself
occasioned by the heat of the liver, from some cause or other. One of these
may be “inflammation of the kidneys,” or it may be occasioned by ulcer, and
we set about ascertaining which, according to the instructions set down at
page 100: and in the latter case give the alterative balls, the same as for in-
flamed liver, at page 100, 101 according to the circumstances there disctiminat-
ed; but it never happens that a scouring is of a dark colour, and No. 2 wouldin
this case seldom be required, a strong purgative never, though the bowels
should be kept moderately open. When there is reason to apprehend that
the adhesion of the ulcer to the intestines has taken place, as described at page
50, the animal should not be worked hard, though moderate exercise is de-
sirable, and so is change of physic, asin all cases that require alteratives,
The following balls may take place of the preceding, particularly when the
coat is staring. :

Alterative Balls,

Emetic tartar, 3 drachms,
Aloes, 9 drachms,

Hard soap, 1 ounce,
Ginger, 1 scruple.

Mix, and divide into three balls, one to be given on successive nights, unless
two have sperated.

INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.

This being one of those diseases which bears resemblance to another, and
as the mistaking and tréating the one for the other generally proves fatal, re-
ference should be.had to what is said under the head “Inflammation of the neck
of the bladder.” Such a mistake of the disorder in the present instance is very ~
likely to be made by the common observer, inasmuch as the kidneys, as soon
as they hecome inflamed, secrete much more urine than in a state of health,
acid any one noticing this, and subsequently its defalcation, as the disease goes
on, may easily imagine the bladder itself is affected at the neck. Itis worthy
vf remark, that mares are more liable to affections of the kidneys than horses;
particularly brood mares: while, on the contrary, they are less liable than the
male to inflammation of.the neck of the bladder, in consequence of its short-
ness. its straightness, too, affords easy proof of the real seat of the disorder,—
that essential prelude to effecting a cure. See page 53.

Causes.—T 00 constant use of the diuretic powders am] balls, commonly
‘brings on inflammation of the kidneys, by the irritation and over-action of the
glands which are thereby occasioned. When one kidney only is affected
SYMPTOMS: BLOODY URINE. 103

though in a mild degree, if suffered to continue, it soon communicates to the
other, and sometimes proceeds with such rapid strides as to affect the intes
tines, when mortification and death ensue; but we have no means of ascet
taining when this last incurable mischief has taken place until after the animal
is dead—nor would the knowledge bé made available tor any present purpose ;
though finely instructive as to future cases; then it isthe kidneys present an
enlarged and rotten appearance and feel, their texture yielding to the slight
est impression of the finger-nails, which shows in what degree and how long
they have been affected.

A hard blow across the loins will injure the kidney on the side so struck,
and, as is said before, soon affect the other also. Sudden transition from an
open airy situation to a stable that is close and hot; violent riding or driving,
or an ill-cured affection of the bowels, whether inflanmatory or spasmodic,
will affect the kidneys in more or less degree. Those causes all together com-
bine to affect these parts more frequently than is generally supposed, the rea-
son for which misconceit is nevertheless most apparent to me: it is owing to
the neglect of a'] the milder symptoms; some persons imagining that unless
bloody urine be produced, the defective staling is caused by something less re-
mote than the kidneys, though in all obstructions of the liver, as we have seen
above (page 101), the quantity of blood these send to the kidneys Jeaves some
of its colouring property to the water. This class of unreflecting people gene-
rally fix upon the bladder as the seat of disorders that so affect the quantity of
water. They almost invariably give stimulating medicines, that do but in-
crease the disorder and confirm the ruin it is their duty to prevent.

Symptoms.—The most evident of these has been just now alluded to, and
was formerly treated as a distinct disease, under the coarse title of “Buoopy
Urine: it is, however, considered as happening more frequently to horned
cattle than horses, and to the female rather than the male.

When this symptom Soper it is accompanied by a corresponding symp-
tom, viz. great tension and soreness of the part; which may be ascertained by
passing your hand along the small of the back, over the kidneys, when the
animal shrinks from the touch. No doubt can then exist that this bloody urine
indicates genuine inflammation of the kidneys; and of course that we should
treat it as such, and nothing else—nor by any other name, If the pain and
tension can not thus be ascertained, then “bloody urine” is caused by obstruc-
tion in the liver. Another symptom that may be relied upon is a stiffness of
the hind leg on that side which may be attacked first ; afterwards, when both
kidneys are affected, the animal becomes stiff of both legs. This symptom
does not occur in “inflammation of the bladder,” and is a good distinctive
mark te go by, when we may be labouring under doubt in some other point
of resemblance between the two diseases. In all stages of this disorder, the
horse stands as if he wanted to stale; straddling, and making the most exer-
tion when he voids the least urine (then generaliy bloody), which shows the
destructive tendency of these efforts on the gland itself. ‘The consequences
are, that the kidneys waste away, and the disease communicates to the blad-
der, until the final ruin—mortification, ensues. The practitioner, in this
case, will not fail to look at what I have thought proper to say respecting
stone and other calculus,” a few pages farther onward, on,

“ Suppression of urine” is also a sure indication of the genuine nflamma
tion of the kidneys; that is to say, the capacity of secreting it is neany e-
tinct, or it is performed with exceeding great difficulty, pain, and danger.
‘Whereas, in affections of the bladder, the secretory function is not lost by the
kidneys (or suppressed); byt, when the urine has been sent into the bladder
this latter has not the power to expel its contents. How this happens, ses

page 53, &c.
(04 PHYSIC AND REGIMEN.

But the most prolific source of diseased affections of the kidneys, and the
least perceptible of any are ill-cured pains of the intestines and of the liver,
These leave behind them certain morbid effects that are not immediately felt
nor easily discoverable, but nevertheless work their ruin imperceptibly; Oe, ag
previously observed, when the kidneys lose their function of secreting urine,
they enlarge, and after death scarcely hear the pressure of a finger point.

Cure.—Seeing that strong diuretics are reckoned with truth, among the
causes of diseased kidneys, no man in his senses would think of administering
any such, after he has ascertained that this organ is disordered in any way
whatever. Such, however, is too often the practice of unskilful persons, who,
after noticing the defective quantity of urine produced, think of restoring the
animals capacity. for producing more by medicines that stimulate the parts,
which already Jabour under a disease of too much stimulation, “ As in all
other cases of inflammation or fever [how often have I not repeated the same
words!] when the pulse is high, let the animal be bled according to the amount
of attack.” See general observations at the head of this chapter, pages 59 to
63. Give warm clysters frequently as there prescribed; and with a similar
view give him a loose stall, if the paroxysms are so acute as to cause him to
lie down and get up again. Immediately after bleeding, give castor oil 18
ounces, provided the animal has not dunged during the last twenty-four hours,
as commonly happens; less may suffice in general; but a horse that has been
much addicted to diuretics, though his bowels may be in a tolerable state, will
not suffer aught from a small proportion of aloes:

Mild Purgative Ball.

Aloes, 4 drachms,
_Castile soap, 4 drachms,
Mix, with mucilage enough for one ball.

Should the symptoms abate nothing in consequence of this treatment, the
bleeding must be repeated and the purgative too. Rub over his loins with a
stimulant

Embrocation.

Spirits of wine, 2 ounces,
Soap, 2 ounces,
Camphor, 1 ounce.

Mis and apply it with the palm of the hand to the loins; cover the animal
up well, and be careful how it is subsequently exposed tothe air. The mus-
tard embrocation is equally efficacious: being rubbed on soft sheep-skin, cover
the loins therewith. Give the cooling decoction in large qua’ tities, as at page
70; and if the animal is disposed to eat the sodden seeds, it may be permitted
toindulge: they are little nutritious when the saccharine has been drawn out
by the hot water.

The food should consist of bran mashes, green food, and the cooling regi-
men already recommended in all cases of inflammation at pages 61, 69, to
which the reader is respectfully referred for some general directions for his rule
and conduct, equally applicable in all such cases.

DISEASES OF THE BLADDER.

These are really much fewer than are commonly ascribed to it, the bladder
being but the vehicle or outlet for several evils that take their rise higher up;
INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. 1%

and among these I have already denounced the alarming appearance of “bloody
urine” as a disorder of the kidneys and liver, page 103. Neither is the “ sup-
pression of urine,” nor its obverse “diabetes,” ascribable to the bladder, but to
the kidneys; for if these secrete none or imperfectly, little or none can be sent
into or escape out of the bladder; but retention of urine may be a fault of the
bladder, or collapsion of its neck ; and the means of procuring its escape was
defore recommended at page 53, &c.

INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER, and consequent “incontinence of urine,”
are the same disorder; the latter being the irritating effects of the inflamma-
tion only, and this I shall consider separately, referring those other Jisorders
that are commonly ascribed to the bladder, to consideration under the head
of “ Diseases of the urinary organs, generally.” »

Cause, Heat and inflammation of the kidneys communicate this effect to
the ureters and bladder. It may be“inflamed also by the irritation of stones
or gravel concreted within it; or the excessive labour imposed upon it by the
great access of diabetes, after these have ceased.

Symptoms, Frequent desire to stale, the bladder contracting upon every
drop of water, almost, that finds its way into it. A quick, sharp pulse, and
small, accompanies, if it has not preceded inflammation of the bladder; yet
bleeding would not be proper in this case, as it is the poorncss of the blood
which brought on the diabetes that caused the inflammation. When, how-
ever, this symptom has not preceded inflammation, the pulse will be more full,
and bleeding to an amount proportioned to the state of the pulse (see page 62),
would then be necessary.

Remedy.—A slightly purgative ball should of course follow the bleeding,
but employ neither in the extreme. Give the cooling decoction recommended
in general fever, at page 70; administer clysters of the same, two or three
times in the day. Should great heat of the bladder continue, notwithstand-
ing these remedies, give the fever powder, No 2, at page 65, and afterwards
No, 2, made into a ball, daily.

DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS, GENERALLY.

Besides the foregoing main diseases of the kidneys and bladder, there are
several other conjoint affections of the same organs, or parts dependent there-
on, which require notice, and demand attention, while we examine the dis-
tinctions that ought to be drawn between the oneset and the other. Mistakes
as to the actual seat of disorders are more dangerous than the unskilful ad-
eee medicines, for these might do good by accident, the former
never can be applied properly: the better the “receipt” may be, the worse for
the horse. Few of these lesser diseases are original, but arise from some de-
fect or ill-cured disorder in the other parts of the animal’s system. They may
be considered under the heads—1. Diabetes, or excessive discharge of urine.
2. Bloody urine. 3. Calculi, or stone. 4. Strangury. 5. Suppression of urine.
I am aware that the ingenuity of some doctors has subdivided these, and
added to the number of diseases incident to the kidneys, ureters, and bladder ;
but, omitting those which attach to the organs of generation in breeding ani-
mals, and also those seated higher up—thé communication of acute pains to
the more vital parts, by means of the emulgent and vena cava, to the heart
itself This last, however, is so immediately the precursor of dissolution, that
no other benefit can arise from the doctor’s skill in this respect, than bidding
him to cease his efforts, to forbear to torture the expiring patient, and to pre
serve his medicines for a less forlorn purpose: the pulse, by its extreme lat
guoy, tells ‘ae hope itself must resign its place.
106 DIABETES.
DIABETES, OR EXCESSIVE STALING.

The cause of animals discharging great quantitics of urine can not in ev
ease be traced to its right source; but one thing always happens, namely, irri-
tability of the bladder, by reason of the absence of the mucous secretion that
is to protect it against the saline effects of the urine: see page 53. A defect
in the mucous secretion of the whole system succeeds the disorder termed mol-
ten grease, and the irritation just spoken of soon communicates to the kidneys,
which are thus compelled to secrete urine to the utmost extent of their power,
and to.send it forward to the bladder. ‘T’oan impoverished state of the bl
arising mostly from the use of strong medicines—for the cure of inflammato:
diseases leaves more of pene than of serum in the vital fluid, with an accel-
erated tendency to increase fhat baleful difference—may be ascribed the chief
cause of this obstinate disease. Bad dry provender, with ill-usage, and the
denial of green food, in season, have a similarly evil effect on the blood,

Symptoms.—Of course, the most obvious is the discharge whence the dis-
order derives its name, being frequent and in very large quantities. At first,
the water is colourless, but occasionally comes off like puddle. Constant
craving after water, a Heine coat, evident weakness, and weak quickened
pulse, succeed each other, and increase as the disorder is suffered to proceed

“unchecked.

Cure.—Change in the animal’s diet, whatever they may have been, If the
horse be labouring under the remains of some ill-cured disorder, attend to that
first, and by removing it, the excessive staling, which in that case is but an
effect thereof, will also cease. Give vetches, grass, sodden oats, water in small
quantities and often. 1f the pulse be higher than ordinary, give the fever

owders, page 65; and when the number of strokes per minute is reduced,

‘let the oats be given dry, and resort to bracing medicines. In slight attacks,

as well as for the less robust animals, the various preparations of fork will be
found sufficiently tonic.

Tonie Ball.—No. 1.

Cascarilla,
Gentian root,
Powdered caraways, half drachm,
with treacle sufficient to form the ball for one dose. Give morning and
evening.

} of each 2 drachms,

In the more formidable cases, where greater strength or more tedious symp-
toms require to be combated, give the

Tonic Ball.—No. 2.

Venice ne 1 scruple,

Ge eseayees of each 1 drachm,
Mix, with liquorice powder sufficient for one dose, and give twice a day for
two or three days. After this, a return to the use of No. 1, would be desira-
ble, until the disorder is subdued. Should costiveness ensue, give a clyster,
which will also relieve the irritation of the parts; castor oil, one pint. must
also Le administered, if the costiveness appear obstinate.

Above all things, the horse-owner should avoid the use of such excessively

ignorant prescriptions as are recommended, in this disorder most particularly,
by every village quack: they are mostly the horses of hard-working people
BLOUDY URINE. CALCULUS. 107

that are attacked with this disorder, and those people more than any other lie
open to this kind of advice.

Incontinence of urine is of the same nature as the last-mentioned, only
differing ir the discharge being involuntary, and the amount, cr quantity pro-
duced. The disposition to stale frequently, or the urine coming away with
scarcely an effort, proves that great irritability of the bladder is the proximate
cause, and we may infer that the quantity would be greater if the animal had
more in his system. For this feature of the diabetes attacks only old worn
up horses, in whom the quantity of blood is small, and its course slow. Dia
betes of the younger animals sometimes terminates in this mode of producing
water by driblets and in small quantities, but to which the moderns have given
a distinct term, though both are the same dgsease; a small degree of in-
aoe prevails when the animal is greatly affected with incontinence.

ee page 106. :

Tha wentieik should be the same, nearly, as directed at page 106. Give
occasionally the tonic ball, No. 2, page 70, for two or three days. A run at
grass for a week, and generous feeding afterwards, generally complete the cure,
no other obstacle intervening, 7

BLOODY URINE,

I have already said, is but one feature among many other symptoms of in-
flamed kidneys; and the only reason why I deem it worthy of separate notice
is, that real “inflammation of the kidneys” is not always present when bloody
urine appears, especially when no other symptom thereof accompanies this
single demonstration of disorder. Its causes may be traced to excessive la-
bour, as drawing in a cart or wagon, whilst a slight cold of the kidneys may
obstruct their proper action: the office of separating the blood from the water
is in this event performed with much difficulty, and of course imperfectly ;
and small portions of the former, instead of ascending towards the heart, de-
scend to the bladder with the urine, while the animal is straining every nerve
and vein.

Rest and a cooling diet are the best remedies for this apparent affliction.
Should tenderness of the kidneys be evinced upon the touch, or other symp
‘toms of augmented pain appear, give the tonic ball, No. 2, page 70, occasion-
ally employing No. 1 instead : the alteration will be found beneficial. If these
symptoms increase (which I should not apprehend), then of course the attack
must be met with strong appropriate remedies. But I have never known one
case of bloody urine out of several score, where the appearance thereof ceases
with the day of rest, and comes on again with hard labour, that did ever ter-
minate in genuine inflammation of the kidneys: it will return at intervals
en hard work) during the animal’s whole life probably, without any fur-

er ailment attending ii ;

CALCULUS; OR STONE IN THE CCECUM, KIDNEYS,
URETER, AND BLADDER.

‘When we consider for a moment the vast circulation that passes the (liver
rl kidneys, there to undergo separation, as before fully described in the first
book; and recollect, that hard extraneous substances pass through these or-
gans, and find their way even into the blood, our astonishment ought to cease
tt discovering earthy particles, often hardened into stone, in some one or other
of those parts.

Cause.—T he first particle that is deposited or left behind is no doubt very
tr'vial, as the bisection of many such stones most amply preves. Weast of
108 CAUSES OF CONCRETIONS

vigour at the time of its access, and the consequent inability to expe. the tra
sion, appear to be the immediate cause of this otherwise inscrutable disorder
Subsequently, other congenial materials reach the original evil, mostly in the
liquid form, and thus add to its size, increase the number of striata, and height-
en the danger. The water that is drank by quadrupeds is abundantly impreg-
nated with fit materials for generating calculi: soft river water, and that of
turbid pools, convey the softer or earthy particles into the animal’s system,
whilst that drawn from springs contains the elements for forming stone, as
perfect as any geologists find in the strata of our earth. The softer kind of
these concretions are found in the blind gut, or cecum; the harder, or stony
kind, in the other viscera above named.

Heat is the power that separates these elements, and hardens each addition-
al lamina that has accrued, or grown over the preceding, from time to time,
as the animal may have been exposed to drink so impregnated. This is visi-
ble on the section of those stones which have been found in horses and other
animals, and preserved by the curious, and cut in two by the lapidary. Every
such concretion so found, of whatever nature it may be, exhibits in the centre
the nucleus or commencement of the evil, which proves itself to have been
either originally stone, or some soft substance, as a bit of chaff hardened by
the heat; but much oftener it presents a perfect pebble, that must have been
porne along by force of the current, and in the cleansing function of the kid-
neys got detained and deposited there. If not entangled, as it were, in the
cellular membrane of this gland, such a pebble will detach itself occasionally
and descend through one of the ureters into the bladder. For full informa-
tion as to the structure and functions of these several viscera, the reader is
again referred to the second chapter of book the first, which treats alone of
such matters; as regards the coecum, at page 46; the kidneys at page 5] ; the
bladder at page 53.

One original cause of such concretions has been ascertained beyond contra-
diction, and as the information may prevent its recurrence among a numerous
class of horse proprietors, 1 qaote my authority much at large, by way of pre
ventive advice, seeing that a cure is at present beyond the reach of art; reme-
dies worse than useless. Let us hope, notwithstanding, that the mite which
.8 here contributed may not be thrown away, but incite some future close ob-
server of nature and her ways to add hereto the result of his-own inquiries,
atd so increase the sphere of his utility in one respect, since imperious cir-
cumstances have contracted it in another and more obvious line of his profes-
sion—the desire of gain, ;

Millers’ horses are most liable to contract this disorder, and for obvious tea-
sons; being large heavy animals for the most part, their owners opulent if not
rich, and grain and pulse ever at hand, dry food is invariably given to them
with a liberal hand. ‘To render these substances more agreeable, to hasten
digestion, and thus produce a fine coat with a well-filled carcass, their corn is
Jassed through the mill, the beans also are usually broken; and, thus pamper-
ed, they eagerly devour the ready feed, and with it whatever extraneous sub-
stances it may have acquired in the process of grinding. These are not few
in quantity, it seems; for such articles are invariably ground between stones
va soft nature, that easily part with their rough surface, and these stony
particles all find their way into the stomach and intestines; some, here and
there, pass on through the circulation, by means that ure neither uncertain
nor inscrutable in the minds of those who have studied such subjects, and will
refresh their memory by turning to what I have said thereon in the second
chapter of the first book.

ir. Withers, of Newbury, Berks, having many years before given to Dr.
Hunter a large intestinal stone, which proved fatal to the horse whenve it had
CASES OF STONE IN BLADDER. 109

been taken, communicates to the Medical Society of Crane Court, London, 8
similar circumstance which had come under his observation—both being cases
of millers’ horses. He then describes “the case of a very valuable horse be
longing to Mr. Andrews, another miller, which lay ill of the colic,” as the
owner supposed. ‘I told him (says Dr. Withers) that if he would examine
the intestines after death, he would most probably find a large stone, which
was the cause of the horse’s illness.” This, the miller, of course, neglected
to do; but his dogs made the discovery for him: it was a large round stone,
broken, from which circumstance | infer that it had been at first a soft or earthy
concretion, and proceeded from the caecum. Four such instances all together
were remembered at the same mill, besides many others elsewhere; but, with
sharacteristic negligence, the millers in no case thought proper to furnish the
ubctor with the when and the where found, nor does the doctor say why.

The symptoms of calculous deposite throughout apparently resemble colic
to the view of common observers, as in the case of Mr. Andrews’ horse, just
quoted; the animal looking at his flanks, straddling when a kidney is affected,
as if he would stale, which he does with great difficulty, and sometimes a little
bloody. This last appearance also occurs when the bladder has been affected
for any length of time, so that the anguish of acute pain had communicated to
the kidneys by means of the ureters, in which manner alone blood could pos-
sibly have been produced in the celebrated case cited by two contemporary
writers from M. La Fosse, the elder. When stone resides in a kidney, it may
be ascertained by pressure of the hand thereon: I will not exactly say you can
feel the stone, for it lodgeth underneath, but the greater tension and enlarge-
ment of one kidney beyond the other, leaves that notion on the inind; besides
which, the animal will shrink, or rather start, a little quicker that in case of
“inflammation of the kidneys”—the symptoms whereof, as set down in a pre-
coins page (103), the reader should consult in order to shape his practice ac-
cordingly. :

Caleulous, or earthy deposits of substances in the caecum may be ascertain-
ed and distinguished from simple colic or gripes, by passing the hand along
the lower part of the belly, as described in the first book, at page 46. While
such an obstruction remains deposited near the blind part of that gut, no im-
mediate danger or inconvenience is to be apprehended; but when the lump,
by any’ means whatever, moves to the orifice, and obstructs its only passage,
the most distressing consequences ensue. One of the causes hereof is the ex-
hibition of hot, strong, or drastic medicines, which are usually given in cases
of genuine spasmodic colic; and as the symptoms that attend both are alike
almost throughout, with the exception just made, no mistake is more general,
probably, than people treating this disorder as they would colic, which course
endangers life.

The ureters, it will be seen, are but of small capacity, and in its descent
from thekidney, whence it has been detached, the stone sometimes meets with
an insurmountable obstacle; the irritation it thus occasions communicates to
the adjacent parts ; entiresuppression of the urinary secretion is the immediate
consequence, and mortification of the intestines and death ensues, without the
possibility of relief. Indeed the remedies that seem most proper do but ac-
celerate the catastrophe.* ; ;

Much perspiration attends the first hours of the suppression, and it affords
evident relief; but painful efforts to void ure, which comes off in very small
quantity, and ultimately ceases altogether; and then cold ears, cold le
tremor and an alarming irregularity of pulse, preceue but a short time the

= Isay seem, for none can say pee what is taking place. He whose judgment being
him nearest the real cause of pain being most likely to apply the proper remedy.
1l*
110 ABSCESS AND TUMOURS.

dissolution of the functions of animal life. This is the most dangerous species
of disorder, arising from calculous deposit, that I know of.

In the kidney, however, little danger to life is to be apprehended from the
stone, unless the animal is put to severe work, so as to produce the symptom
of bloody urine before described. They are mostly fat horses that die with
stone in the kidney; in fact, all that I have ever seen or heard of, and these
have been numerous; for I have long made a point of inquiring after such
cases of calculus, where they seldom escape notice, viz. the horse-slaughiterers’
yards, of which it is proverbially and truly said, that not a hair enters but is
turned to profit. ‘The probability is, that when the stone detaches itself and
descends into the ureter, the fat which partly enveloped it and the residue of
the kidney had been withdrawn, through disease or poor living, and the mem-
brane which supported both had divided. I once thought had made some ob-
servations on this part of my subject which would be worthy of public perusal;
but these are not sufficiently mature to find place in this little volume, devoted
as its pages are to matter of fact, and fair deductions therefrom, and wholly
exclusive of theoretic speculation. Nevertheless, in aid of what others may
think fit to say in any other place (out of a spirit of controversy), I would just
add, that only one kidney is affected at a time, or one ureter ; that the calculi
found in either of these are invariably of the hardest kind, whilst. those of the
bladder are softer, and those of the intestines softer still, or little more than
concrete earth. Lastly, that none of those horses which I have found troubled
with either kind of calculous disorders suffered under a second at one and the
same time,

 

CHAPTER IL

EXTERNAL DISORDERS,

Abscese and Tumours.

Swen, with inflammation of the solids, the glands, or simply pustules
on the skin, are all tumours, have been divided into eight classes, and accord
ing to their situation, are termed superficial, or deep seated ‘abscess. Super-
ficial are those which appear on the skin, as farcy, &c.—Deep seated are those
which more generally are hidden armongst. the muscles, ligaments, &c. as poll-
evil, fistula, &c.—A few general cbservations on the remote causes thereof
seem necessary toa right understanding of each particular complaint.

All-those disorders in common, together with several others, | have no hesi-
tation in attributing their remote cause to constitutional defectiveness at least,
or incapacity in the function of circulation, better known by the homely ex-
pression, ‘‘a bad state of the humours,” as before insisted upon, principally at
pages 53—61. Both series are referable to the same predisposing cause. That
species of inflammation of the whole system which we have agreed to term
fever, frequently terminates by concentrating its latent humours, and deposit
ing the same critically in some fleshy part of the carcass or limbs, producing
matte: (or pus,) which, with heat, constitutes the disease. "Whether abscess
or tumour supervene, both have immediate connexion with blood-vessels of no
small consideration, though the disorder may have commenced with the finer
vousels (capillaries), as insisted upon at the pages above referred to; and hath
TUMOURS, DEFINED. il

been repeatedly proved. First, as regards tumours, these being probed, the
patients have bled to death, with arterial blood. An/] secondly, in every case
of abscess, in proportion as they increase in size, so does the patient’s strength
invariably diminish, When nature makes an opening to the surface, after
iong-protracted illness, the patient is usually'so exhausted, and the parts ad
jacent rendered so unfit to re-unite, that the strength of the constitution ap-
pears to run off at the orifice: life is seldom preserved, health never com-
pletely restored.

Tumours sometimes appear of tolerably large size, that become indolent,
without feeling, and are moveable under the skin. These are caused by the
same evil state of the blood, or its vessels, and the inflammation or irritation
having ceased at some time or other, the enlargement remains, though the
zonnexion with the system of animal life has long ceased. Although very
unsightly, the animal feels little inconvenience from those protuberances : they
receive the name of wen, and might be taken off by dividing the skin, and
peeiine out the wen: it is then to be drawn forth with the ae and the

ealing of the wound is effected by strapping down the skin with adhesive
plaster ; the cure is thus said to be effected by the first intention. The usual
precautions of taking away the hair, and afterwards keeping the patient’s head
up for a few days, would of course be adopted.

The genuine tumour is soft and tender, and is contained in a membranous
case, or ceestus, that has been likened to the finger of a glove, or to many of
them, when it acquires the distinctive name of fistula, ‘The case, or ccestus,
having been formed by the disorder, and matured by heat, acquires strength
the ener it is suffered to continue unopposed, seeking its way inwards, until
the knife alone can afford relief. At the shoulder the fibrous and membranous
construction is exceedingly strong. Look at page 11. Generally speaking,
all swellings of a circumscribed nature are tumours.

Some objections which have been raised against the view I have taken of
the origin of this whole series of diseases must not go quite unnoticed here,
though I dislike controversy as much as any writer who has gone before nie
on either side the question. At the very commencement of this book (page
59), and without adverting to either set, or indeed thinking at all of the con-
troversy, I assigned a reason why the apparently triumphant proof of Mr.
White, at page 29, is no proof at all, but the contrary, as to the thickness or
viscidity of the blood increasing with the continuance of inflammatory fever.
Every writer on this subject allows that the swelling and discharge of matter
that frequently occurs ates a fever, or inflammation of the whole system, de-
notes the crisis or termination of that disorder; and insists that it must be
considered as but an effort of nature to throw off something that is-offensive-
to the well-being of the animal. The same happens often after “inflamma-
tion of the liver” has been reduced ; but this kind of occurrence, though it adds
nothing material by way of argument, leads us directly to the point at issue.
General inflammation (pyar, it is allowed on all hands, begets something of-
fensive, and so does partial or local inflammation of any organ through which
the blood passes, particularly of the liver and kidneys, through which the
whole mass gets filtered, as it were: and nature's efforts to get rid of this of-
fence against her rules are evinced in swelling of the external parts, in the in-
flammation thereof, and subsequent escape of the offensive something, where
by a cure is effected. .

All this is agreed upon by those who deny the necessary pre-existence of a
general ill state of health, as well as by those who already know, or have yet
to learn, that the liver, that acknowledged cleanser, permits much grosser ma
terials to pass through it than those offensive matters, or gross humours, whirk
we contend reside in the blood, and’constitute.disorder of one Xind or other ov
112 KIND OF HORSE MOST LIABLE TO TUMOURS.

the surface, or at least predispose the animal to acquire such, according as cit
cumstances may determine one way or the other. Seeing that such gross sub
stances as bits of straw, chaff, &., have issued from a vein on blood-lettin
it is too much to concede the ultimate point that the feculent humours, whi
constitute tumours, farcy, &c. may not in like manner escape info the circula-
tion, and be detained at that particular part which is rendered by some acci-
dent less capable of continuing the harmful matter in a fluid state? A blow, a
gall, a ligature, or bruise, are known to occasion this disability and bring on

isease in one of its varied shapes. So does “a cold” produce fever in some
animals sooner than in others; according as the circulation may be more lan-
guid, or more predisposed to inflammation, or otherwise unfitted for its pur-
poses; whilst some again acquire inflammation without any such accidents or
cold, the fever being lighted up occasionally by warm stabling alone, though
the air they breathe may be perfectly innoxious. : ;

How it is that those external diseases, enumerated at the head of this chap-
ter, are gencrated, I shall not here repeat: the reader may consult the princi-
ples upon which my opinions are founded in the twenty-ninth section of book
the first, page 30: to which 1 will here merely add, that the tumours we per-
ceive on the body that are not of a nature to break and discharge their con-
tents—as farcy, grease, &c.—are usually, if not always, accompanied by cor-
responding tumours on some vital organ, as the lungs, liver, &c. But single
tumours, containing matter, as the whole tribe of fistula, &c. are designed to
counteract and carry off obstructions and all baleful affections incident to the
organs just mentioned, and of all others: an owner ought therefore to deem
himself fortunate, when some inscrutable long illness of the inside terminates
in this manner. The appearance of these latter on the surface may be taken
as a good assurance that none then exist internally; nor, indeed, any other
disorder whatever, the natural strength of the animal system enabling it thus
to cleanse itself. Again, we may remark in general, that as it is the better
bred animals that are most liable to affections of these organs, so is it the
“country-bred cattle,” without any breeding in them, that mostly suffer those
external attacks. To the reflection of every man of experience I refer this
material point of dissonance between the two varieties of horse, which serves
to prove that those having great lumps of muscle at the parts liable to such at-
tacks are most disposed to contract local inflammation, and that puffing up
of gland or lymphatic which we call tumour of various kinds. Local inflam-
mation alone, however, could not effect the evil, without some corresponding
ceuse; else, how comes it to pass that none but aged horses, that are heavy
in the hand and low in blood, contract fistula or abscess; young and lively
horses, and those with some breeding in them, never? Once more,—if the
d‘sorder reside not in the blood, how does it come to pass, that a horse having
contracted one species of tumour, he is never known to undergo an attack of
any other species—and there are a dozen at the least? For example, give a
sab the poll-evil, and see how little he will be disposed to contract the

landers.

Fleshy horses, those of the cart breed and of indolent habit of body, are
most liable to contract poll-evil, fistula, &c.; indeed [ might say, the ready dis-
sition thereto is confined to that breed, though either could be inflicted upon
igher bred cattle, which might not be so matigpesed by a bad habit of body,
or by the gross humours before noticed. OFhen the animals are young, and
feed ravenously, the strangles carry off those humours; when youth leaves
them and more doltish habits comes on, these humours appear in some other
varied shapes: besides those diseases just named, the farcy, grease, &c. all
come on from the same indolent habit of body. They are always ravenout
eaters, gross feeders, and consequently lethargic in their movements, tLat a¢
DISEASE OF THE HABIT, Ma

quire poll-evil ; for they demand harsh treatment to keep them at their work
which frequently devolves into ill-usage, unless the drivers possess the pa
tience of Job.

Hence the duty of attending to the health of such horses, as much as may
be consistent with the avocations of the owner; of avoiding the infliction that
is often the immediate cause of either species of ailment; and, these being
discovered of applying the necessary remedies for their instant dispersion—

if the symptoms are mild, and thus promise success, a low regimen follows of .

course. But delay too often confirms the disease; it approaches towards ma-
turity, and will not be repressed : then does the duty of “ bringing it forward”
to suppuration present itself as the only means of obtaining a radical cure; and
I may add, that this is always the safest, the best, and the most certain means,
when the disease yields not to the first efforts at dispersion. In ordinary cases
of saddle gall, the swelling and heat will bend before an acsiduous and early
application of the repellent lotion; not so easily, however in case of “fistula
in the withers,” which lies deeper and is more obstinate. Least of all will con-
firmed poll-evil give way before the strongest repellents; or, if the resolution

be apparently effected, the least external injury, or none whatever, will sub-

sequently reproduce the disorder with more than its original virulence. Per-
haps, in no part of the farrier’s art has he the opportunity of evincing his
judgment more, than in choosing the precise period when he will quit all at-
tempts at suppressing the abscess or tumour, and set about bringing it forward
to suppuration and a radical cure; when he will also quit the low regimen
which was proper in the first attempt, and adopt a more generous diet, that is
better adapted to the painful discharge his patient will now be compelled to
undergo, either by dint of medicinal applications or the knife.
Abscess in the more fleshy parts of the body, or under the belly, are far less
dangerous or troublesome situations than on the parts just named; they also
rove to be symptomatic of the actual state of the blood, of which they then
form the crisis or point of cure, and therefore the repression of such (as re-
commended in other cases) should not be attempted, neither should the animal
system be lowered, but the contrary. If, however, the tumour appears neara
joint or jyst above it, as the hock, soas to impede its action, in which case it
would soon assume an ulcerous appearance, by reason of the movement of
the muscles of the limb in going, repression should then be resorted to with
assiduity and skill. Artificial inflammation, excited upon the skin and cellu-
lar membrane, near the part, by means of blistering, or rowelling higher up,
has the good effect of drawing off the heat and tension from the more import-
ant joint, nor does the animal by this application undergo so much pain as he
would were the tendon affected, whereby the limb would become irremediably
stiff and useless.

CRITICAL ABSCESS

Is that swelling or tumour which is occasionally thrown out on the body or
fimbs from no apparent accident, but what may be traced to that derange-
ment of the system we call fever, and is sometimes attendant ux protracted
inflammation of the liver, when the disease appears on the fascia of the mus-
cles of the belly, on the jowl, or other glandular parts.

The cause and the effect thus become manifest together; and when great
tenderness is evinced upon touching the parts in ordinary cases, nothing mora
is required than to make an opening in the lowest edge of the swelling, and
expressing the contents; the cure is effected by means of the common “di.

ive ointment,” which is prescribed under the article ‘ Poll-evil,” farther
ea But the proper time at which the opening is to be thus made requires
114 FORM OF BANDAGES

close observation. In general, this may be ascertained by a change in the
animal’s manner: he will eat more heartily as the matter increases: which
proves that the disease of his habit has accumulated at this precise spot, He
should not be allowed long to remain in this state, lest the offensive matter
should penetrate inwardly or laterally. If the disease is thus distinctly known
to proceed from the remains of ill-cured fever or inflammation, poultices should
be applied to bring it forward to the surface, and the animal receive increased
feeds of dry oats, of beans, or sodden oats, according to his former habits, in
order to encourage the access of matter; for nature, exhausted by the violence
or the continuance of the disorder, is incapable of expelling this last remains
of the enemy, and stands in need of support. Should the horse have been
lately laid up with fever, or for some time past shown languor in his gait, and
heaviness about the eyes, or it may be concluded from his recent hard labour
and hard mode of living, that he has been long ailing inwardly: in this case
the abscess being evidently a critical symptom of the general evil state of hig
blood, nature must be assisted in getting rid of the offensive matter; and for
that purpose bring the tumour to a head by means of a poultice. ‘The head
is most commonly the seat of swelled glands.

Drawing Poultice.

White bread, the crum of a 4b. loaf.
Onions chopped, 2 Ib.

Boil the onions in water, and pour the whole on the bread: mix toa tolerable
consistency, and whilst blood-warm apply copiously to the parts in a cloth.
Support the application by means of a bandage of stout linen cloth, with liga-
tures tying over the forehead and across the poll thrice, as described in
the annexed sketch. Some persons have recommended the use of a so-
lution of gum to render the cloth impervious to liquids, See page 79.

 
CRITICAL ABSCESS AND TIVE DEEP-SEATED. POLL-EVIL. 115
Should circumstances sl a more extended application, or that the patient:
restlessness might rub off the bandage, let a more extended bandage be em-
ployed, Forsuch a one, and as to further particulars, the reader may consult
page 79, where a bandage for sore throat is depicted.

'y those means the swelling will come to a head, and give signs of being
about to burst, but which 1 have reason to believe seldom happens sponta-
neouely by reason of the thickness of the skin, Apply the knife, or bistoury,
as directed much at large in the case of poll-evil; give a mild laxative the same
day, and lower his diet. When it so happens that the opening has been made
too soon, before it has accumulated sufficiently, the orifice may be kept open
by means of a seton passing through it to the lowest or most depending side,
end the running continued for several days, until it assume a healthy appear-
ance and the swelling subsides. This plan must be always adopted with the
slow or sordid tumour, which will not come forward, though heated with the
. onion poultice, and even with a biister: then let the seton be applied, chang-

ing it daily and soaking the tape in the irritating mixture, as in case of oll
evil, page 119, That other critical abscess, called strangles, comes under a
distinct head, farther down.

Deep-seated abscess, under the fascia of the muscles of the belly, is scarcely
ever curable, being seldom discovered to the eye until too late to render assist-
ance in bringing it to the surface by means of strong drawing poultices, as in
case of obstinate pull-evil. On passing the hand over the part, the animal
may be observed to flinch from the touch; but this eymptom is seldom at-
tended to, and it makes its way inwards, bursts in the cavity of the abdomen,
and kills the patient. ~

POLL-EVIL.

Causes.—Next to a diseased habit of body, as just above noticed, which
predisposes a certain description of horses to contract tum urs in various parts
of the body, the poll-evil is frequently occasioned by a blow, or gall, of a very
trivial nature, if it do not come on without this kind of excitement. The
action of the head is very great with some horses, arising probably from an
itching in the upper part of the cervical ligament, where it is attached to the
vertebre of the neck ; and this causing irritation, we need not hesitate long
in accounting for the inflammation that affects the muscle which interposes
between it and the poll-bone, in a cavity that is greater with some beccs of .
horses than others. This variance in conformation is exemplified in the
whole length portrait of a skeleton which is prefixed to chapter i. wherein the
cavity that should form the seat of this disease is scarcely perceptible; whilst
the small figure, inserted at section 16 of that chapter, to illustrate the uses of
the cervical ligament, has this cavity of the usual extent. Of course, this
latter would be still more predisposed to contract poll-evil than the former,
which was a peculiarly formed horse in another respect also; and it is more
than probable, that, if the two were to fall into an equally bad habit of body,
whilst the latter might acquire poll-evil thereby, the constitution of the former
might throw off any offensive matters that might accrue by some other means.*
The reader will do well to turn back to the section referred to (p. 20), as well
as to the skeleton [at A 5].

The wheelers, in a set of horses, will frequently throw back the head nm

* These might appear in shape of grease and farcy; but it has been generally obsel ved that
a disposition to farcy abates, if it do not subside entirely, upon the appetenee of poll-evil.
Again, horses that are most liable to contract the grease, are precisely of the same disposition
as those which are afflicted with tumours, &c. viz. of indolent habit, heavy in the hand, and
slow of blood, fleshy and dull.
116 CAUSES OF POLL-EVIL CURE BY DISPERSION.

warm weather, or after brisk work, at feeling the reins that run through ther
head-harness to the leaders: this action is performed, as the reader will have
iearnt, hy the action of the cervicular ligament, the upper end whereof termi-
nates where the ear-band rests, and perhaps pinches the part. Horses that
are given to shy are likely to contract poll-evil when hanging back, and throw-
ing up the head with a jerk. oe) g

ut the most prolific cause of poll-evil I am inclined to attribute to the low
stable door-way, whereby the animal gets many a trivial hit at going in and
coming out; next in point of frequency is that brutal mode of attacking res-
tive horses about the head with the butt end of the whip. Education of the
‘ower classes has effected the abatement of this as well as many other unfeel-
ing practices. Ofttimes, the edges of the ear-band, being sharp, create a
painful itching, then soreness and irritation about the part, as does also the
showy tip, or “‘cutting at a fly,” practised by our flashy four-in-hand men,
who may have discovered that touching up the animal in such a vulnerable |
part is “sure to make him go along.’ Stage-coach horses, however, do not
now acquire poll-evil, so far as I can learn, like what they did formerly; for
the great expedition these vehicles are constrained to, compels the proprietore
to use better bred cattle than their predecessors—those that are less indolent, not
so heavy in the hand, nor sluggish, consequently not so liable to contract dis-
eases incident to a bad habit of body, or vitiated state of the blood, like poll-
evil and its nauseous train of co-existent evils, that we shall proceed to take
into consideration one after another.

Symptoms.—At first the animal appears restless, throwing his head back
and returning it to the former position, as if the efforts had occasioned pain,
Soon after, it druops the head, holding it now on one side, now on the other;
appears dull about the eyes, and becomes sluggish in its movements. In this
state it continues a longer or shorter time (even weeks) as the violence may
have been greater or less that brought about the evil; the time depending alsc
in some measure on the height of the pulse: a languid system Ho of
course the slowest advances towards bringing the abscess to maturity. Thir
uneasiness of manner is accompanied by heat, swelling, and shortly by ten.
sion of the part, and increase in the pulsation. As it goes on, a disposition
to flinch from the touch is evinced whenever the part is approached with the
hand; if the evil be deep-seated, the swelling is wide, but not so high; but
when nearer the surface, it presents a point, is circumscribed within a well-
marked circle, and-ultimately tells how necessary it is that the contents should
escape, by a throbbing which may be felt at this point. Again, to ascertain
that the matter is near the surface, apply two fingers alternately on the sides
of the tumour, and the matter will recede from side to side. Let it out.

Cure.—At first, this may be attempted, in the earliest stages of the disor
der, by repression or dispersion, provided the disorder be not deep-seated neat
the bone; which will he the case if it has been brought on by violent means,
or it be a second attack, when endeavours to repress it would be vain indeed.
On the contrary, if we can trace the cause toa hurt of no long standing, or of
trivial import, and we know the horse was in good health before the swelling
took place, then ou duty is to carry off the pall nati the animal system, by
means of active nea Foment the part well with bran and water, Warm j
rub it dry with cloths, and apply the

Embrocation,
Spirits of wine, half a pmt,

Camphor, 2 drachms,
Goulard’s extract of lead, 1 drachm
POLL-EVIL, RADICAL CURE BY SUPPURATION. Mi

Mix, and apply the same two or three times a day, gently rubbing the part vs
much as the arrimal can bear. Give also at the same time the

Alterative Ball,

Aloes, 4 drachms,
Castile soap, 2 drachms,
Calomel, half a drachm.

Mix with mucilage, and give one every third day, provided the embrocation is
applied so long.

uring these applications, a cooling regimen should be observed, the feeds
being reduced to half the usual quantity of oats, and ultimately discontinued
altogether. There will be no propriety in clothing up the patient, nor need
he be exposed to the cold air, if it prevails. When the disorder has been -
brought on by simple compression of the ear-band, and is recent, I have never
krown the foregoing treatment to fail; and in cases of vigorous constitutions,
the swelling, heat, and tension have been reduced so quickly (i. e. in four or
five days) as to leave certain careless ohservers in doubt whether the animal
had really laboured under a genuine attack of poll-evil.

Remove the halter, and if the animal be put to work, contrive to keep back
the ear-band. A good and valuable embrocation will be found in simple vine-
gar three or four times a day, or the sediment of very stale beer. Old verjuice
answers the same end ; and all this kind of embrocation must be laid on warm,
by means of cloths soaked and applied repeatedly.

*,* The same treatment and observations will apply to all the other species
of abscess in its milder. state, fistula, warbles, quittor; but of these I shall
speak more particularly under their respective heads of information.

Second method of cure.—Very few cases present themselves to recollection
of even recent poll-evil, that would admit of being completely dispersed, and
a radical cure effected, by any means whatever; and it is due to candour to
acknowledge, that some of the most stubborn attacks were found to nave re-
lapsed after.a while, which proved that the cure so effected to all appearance
was not radically good, but had left a violent predisposition to renew its rava-

esafresh, Probably, the time of inflicting the injury had not been accurate-
£ marked, ‘nor its degree ingenuously reported to the owners in those cases
of relapse. :

Hovextt this be, when the disorder is found to baffle the endeavours em-
ployed to disperse it, the whole course of proceedings must be changed, as be-
fore hinted in the concluding sentence of my general observations on this to-
pic. Instead of putting back the swelling by those means, let us pursue a
direct contrary course, in order to bring it forward: the mode of feeding must
ne changed along with the medicines that now become proper to procure su
puration, or a discharge of the offensive matter; a full habit being mainly
conducive thereto, and proving how closely connected is this disease with a
gross habit of body, which in all fleshy animals superinduces a diseased habit,
vulgarly but accurately termed “full of humours.” After having found use-
less your efforts to disperse the tumour, or, mayhap, finding at the first view
of it, or by the first touch, certain symptoms that prove it ought never to be
dispersed, the practitioner will of course seriously set about permitting, or

forcing, the offensive matter to escape. Every hour’s delay in putting this

resolve into practice serves but to render the ultimate cure still more difficult

and hazardous; for the evil is all this while extending its baleful effects in-

wards and sidewise, and forming around it, in every direction, the fistulous

sase or cmstus before spoken of, which is a film, ur skin-like substance formed
12 :
118 BANDAGE FOR POLL-EVIL.

af the cellular membrane, thickened by the disorder. (See Book I. Sect, 27,
page 28.) In this event, the tumour has become decidedly fistulous, and is to
be treated as such, when the great length of time it may have been suffered
to make head, and its now extended surface, warrant that conclusion. The
knife is almost the only remedy, notwithstanding the superficial tumour will
in some cases break and discharge matter of itself; tlis, however, never hap-
pens with the deep-seated abscess, which lies close to the bone, and destroys
not only it, but the muscular substance of the poll, and the end of the cervica,
ligament also. In these series of abscess or fistulous tumour, nothing but the
knife can ever reach the disorder, and it must be employed fearlessly, but with
a commensurate share of skill, after the skin has been prepared-with fomen-

- tations, &c. Let the parts be softened and drawn with poultice of oatnieal,
put on lukewarm, twice a day; and if the effect be not visible to the eye and
touch, as before described, increase the powers of the poultice by the addition
of onion chopped and mixed with the poultice whilst warm. Or, a mero
change may be adopted, and a bread pcultice applied instead; for, notwith-
standing oatmeal 1s stronger, yet | have occasionally found the milder have
more effect when the former had not succeeded entirely according to my wish,
The poultice should be provided in sufficient quantity to cover the whole
swelling two inches thick at least, having a small quantity of sweet. oil, hog’s
lard, or oil of turpentine mixed therewith. Fix it on by means of a contri-
vance that is sufficiently explained by the annexed cut, in which it will ba
seen that the girth is to have a web breasting, to which the lateral corners of
the cloth are to be attached by broad tapes, as was explained in another simi.
ar case at pages 79 and 114.

 

 

 

 

 

; “mp

| )

[ have here represented the bandage rather longer than requisite, under the
presumption that it may occasionally be applied to other affections farther back
a prolongation of the bandage may be affixed at either end, either plain or
plaited, according to the-amount of the sweiling.

When the symptoms above stated inform our senses that the matter ought
to be so “let out,” an opening is to be made the whole length of the abscess, a
little below its centre; taking especial care that the knife do not pass cross
wise, lest the attachment of the cervicular ligament to the first (vertebra) bone
should be severed ; in which case the animal would droop its head ever after
 

. THE SETON, HOW APPLIED. tts

as may be learnt by consulting its construction at p. 20, of Book I. On the
escape of the matter, after ascertaining by a probe whether it runs in pipes, of
sinuser, this way and that, or with small bits of discased fibre or membrane
stretching across the cavity, so as nearly to divide it into unequal parts—let
each be just touched with the knife or scalpel. There is no propriety in the
old practice of squeezing out all the offensive matter from this kind of abscess,
although it be very proper in that deep-seated sort where no pipes, nor the
small cavities just spoken of, are to be felt or seen, for the following reasons -
the first mentioned kind have the case or ccestus before described, which con
tains the matter, and if laid open before the evil be sufficiently ripe, it doe
not come away freely. This, however, the operation effects in two or three
days, if kept running by means of a seton, or other contrivance placed at the
orifice ; but the application of tow, or any other substance, that obstructs the
escape of this matter, is ever to be avoided. , On the contrary, when the ab-
scess is very deep, reaching to the bone, which may be felt, and presenting
but one large cavity, then the matter should be expelled by pressing gently on —
two sides of it at once. Let the lips of the opening be dressed the Fat ume,
and as long.as it may be found necessary to keep open the wound, with any
ointment hereafter mentioned, on which has been strewed sulphate of copper,
powdered. Should the lips adhere together, or appear much diseased, wash
with muriate of ammonia, taking care it does not run upon the sound parts,
nor into the cavity. In either case, wash off the dead parts with warm water,
before each new dressing is laid, sponge it well and dry, after inserting the
probe on every side into the fistulous sinuses, and continue this mode of treat-
ment until the parts assume a healthy appearance.

The seton should never be neglected in bad cases of either description, but
be introduced at the lowest or most depending side of the abscess, after being
wetted with the following

Irritating Mizxiure.

Spirits of wme, 2 ounces,
Corrosive sublimate, 1 scruple;

Mis and saturate the tape therewith daily. This will keep open the orifice
until the. offensive matter has run off, and is succeeded by the more healthy
issue of a thicker consistency, and nearly white. On this appearance the
scton is to be withdrawn, and the parts dressed with the digestive ointment,
the animal physicked once or twice with a moderate purging ball of six or
seven drachms of aloes, and the cure will complete itself with the usual dress-
ings, viz.

Digestive Ointment.—No. 1.

Yellow wax,

Rosin, of each 1 pound.
Burgundy Pitch,

Turpentine (common) 4 ounces.

Linseed oil, 20 ounces.

Dissolve over a slow fire, and spread upon leather or stout linen cloth, suffi
ciently large to come over the undiseased region of the evil, after the wound
has been well cleansed. Fresh dressings hereof should go on daily, but in no
case until the matter assume a healthy appearance, which it never van be
brought to, unless the whole recess has been reached with the knife of by the
120 SCALDING MIXTURES—PRECAUTIONS IN USING, *

operation of the “scalding mixture” of the old school of farriery. This reme-
dy, so applied, though at variance with our modern notions of pathology, has
been adopted by the collegians of St. Pancras, and with good reason, for it
never fails to effect a cure, by effectually cleansing away the diseased parts.
Three several mixtures are adopted in different parts of the country—the
Hertfordshire and midland county farriers employing No. 1; No. 2 is that
recommended by Gibson; and No. 3is Ryding’s. —

Scalding Mixture.—No. I.

Tar,

Mutton suet, of each 2 ounces,

Rosin,

Bees wax, 1 ounce —Melt slowly, and mix in
Spirits of turpetine, 2 ounces,

Verdigris 6 drachms.

Mix and pour into the orifice hot, and close it with stitches. The next two
have the recommendation of being more scientific, and are withal better adapt-
ed for penetrating into the sinuses, .

Scalding Mizture.—No. 2.

Corrosive sublimate,

Verdigris, of each 2 drachms,
_ Blue Vitriol,

Green copperas, half an ounce.

Honey, or Egyptiacum, 2 ounces,

ed al pening, i of each 8 ounces.

Rectified spirit of wine, four ounces.

Mix, and apply as before directed. ‘The difficulty of retaining this last in its
proper ae is its only defect ; but Gibson appears to have prescribed a quan-
tity sufficient to allow for spilling a good portion. Since writing the above,
however, I have inserted the sketch of bandaging for poll-eyil remedies at page
118, to which the reader will refer, when requisite, and introduce such modifi-
cations as the nature of the applications may demand to prevent the loss of
any part,

Scalding Mizture.—No. 3.

Oil of turpentine, 2 ounces.
Verdigris, 1 ounce, _
Ointment of yellow resin, 6 ounces,

Mux and apply as above. In using any of those hot mixtures, a piece of tow
should be so placed as to surround the orifice and prevent its running over the
sound parts—which would be injured thereby, as would the operators fingers,
&e. if he neglect the proper precautions. These he should not fail to take as

rds the acrimonious discharge from the abscess, as absorption thereof
might take place at the root of his nails; so, ifthe discharge be allowed to rest
ole the sound parts of the horse, it will be found to currode and produce

cers.

Frequently it happens—and I believe the old farriers always “ repeated the
dose,” that a second application of the “scalding mixture becomes necessary,
CONNEXION OF POLL-EVIL AND FARCY. 12)

for their cases were always very bad ones. In this event, opportunity is af-
torded of employing both prescriptions in succession ; but whichsoever is first
adopted, let it remain anditurbel from sixty to seventy hours, if the stitching
do not sooner burst. Sponge out the parts with warm water; cleanse away
the adjacent filth, and either repeat the same or proceed at once to the cure—
a determination the ductor wi!l come to, according as the rottenness may have
sloughed off, and the inside of the abscess may present a healthy appearance,
or otherwise. If it be quite cléan, the adhesion of the parts will follow with
very little further care than applying the digestive ointment according to the
receipt in page 119,—or the following

Digestive Ointment.—No. 2,

Common turpentine, 4 ounces,
The nyeiks of two eggs.—Mix these well, and

Myrrh, in powder, 4 drachms

Mastich, 2 drachms, ;

Tincture of myrrh sufficient to bring the whole to a proper
consistence.

Should the cure of the wound proceed too fast, the over luxuriant granula-
tions of new or proud flesh must be touched with caustic.

But notwithstanding all that has been said above, it sometimes happens that
a totally different course becomes necessary, when abscess in the poll is con-
nected with another disease arising from the same vitiated state of the animal’s
system, and the remedy for one of these will cure the other. Farcy is the cor-
respondent disease to which I allude, or rather I should say a tendency to
farcy, visible in certain scanty lumps or tumours on the body and legs: these
will run off sometimes by means of a copious discharge at the poll. More
frequently, however, the farcy is of too inveterate a description, and proves
that the whole mass of the animal’s system requires correction, and that it
must be treated with medicines proper for the farcy, as well as the local affec-
tion of the poll.

People in general like to be borne out in their most novel opinions by those
of longer standing in society, and [ confess myself one of those sort of people
as regards the doctrine of a vitiated or a corrupted state of the animal’s system,
which it is absolutely necessary to correct by medicine before the cure of some
disorders can be effected. I strongly touched upon this topic in the first book,
and at page 59, to which probably the inquiring reader will turn, and become
convinced with me that poll-evil may be no other than the critical abscess of
farcy ; which farcy is a disease of the system, and is correspondent with glan-
ders, as poll-evil is with quittor, é&c. The writer 1 shall quote as agreeing
with me, mainly, in this view of the subject, is Richard Lawrence. He says,
“the poll-evil is sometimes connected with a disposition in the habit of body
to farcy ; this may be known by the animal appearing universally {i. e. gene-
rally] unhealthy in his coat, the tightness of his skin, and also by small tumps
or swellings in different parts of his body, and particularly on the insides of
his legs. hen it is ascertained, therefore, that the poll-evil arises chierly
‘rom a disposition to farcy, the mere operation of opening the apscess, and
using the dressings usuaily recommended, will not prove sufficient, without
the aid of medicine given internally; because the abscess, not being then a

12
22 SYMPTOMS OF FISTULA: UUNK.

cal affection arising simply from partial injury, it will be necessary to correct
the general h:hit of body, before a cure can be effected. The medicines best
adapted for wus purpose will of course be found under the head of ‘ Farcy,”
a few pages farther down.

FISTULA IN THE WITHERS.

Cause.— Although closely resembling poll-evil in so many respects as to
seem the self-same disorder arising from precisely the same causes, but differ-
ing in situation only, I must here premise that some other distinctions ara
proper to be taken, which it will be necessary to keep in mind. We have -
seen, a few pages higher up, that poll-evil may be produced without external
violence ; this never happens with fistula in the withers, which is always
bronght on by external injury—namely, the galling of the saddle: in the first
case the tumour frequently turns out a simple abscess, in the present case
never, but becomes fistulous at its very earliest stages. This arises from the
quantity of the membrane which is found in the shoulder and whole forehand
of the horse, in the cellular structure whereof the offensive matter finds an easy
receptacle, and spreads its ravages from side to side; and accumulating in
quantity, by its own specific gravity, finds its way, eventually, amongst the
muscles, and forms sinuses. How this operation of nature is performed, the
Yeader is instructed in the first book, at sections 26, 27. 1 have also descant-
ed somewhat at large, in the general introductory observations on this whole
series of disorders, as to the distinctions proper to be kept in mind between one
kind of tumour and another, how they are formed, and what description of
horses are mostly liable to this or that species of the disorder. At page 112
will this information be found, and which the reader would do well to consult
once more before he sets about treating his horse for fistula in the withers
The symptoms are most obvious-to the touch, as in all inflammatory tumours,
the animal shrinking when the hand is passed over the shoulder from the
mane downwards. But the ill-formed saddle, or one that fits the particular
animal like nothing, or one that is so badly girthed on, that the poor beast may
be perceived going in great pain, shall be set down as the symptom of all symp-
toms, that the animal is destined to contract this particular disorder of the
parts so injured. Sometimes he tumbles down, or seems to trip frequently,
which should admonish its inconsiderate rider or driver, that his carelessness
is very likely to cost him a broken neck. :

Cure.—As soon as the journey can be brought to a close, which has been
thus improperly- pursued, remove the cause and bathe the part well with the
cold saturnine lotion, and when the saddle has undergone the proper altera
tions, the journey may be pursued, if necessity demand such an exertion.

Cold Lotion.

Subacetate of lead (goulard), 2 ounces,
White vinegar, 4 ounces,
Water, 3 quarts.—Mix, and apply with a sponge.

Should not this prevail, and the horse evince pain at the touch, with in-
creased heat and tension, and swelling of the part commence, the disorder is
confirmed; and if not repelled in its very earliest stages, suppuration must en-
sue. Let it be taken in time however—that is to say, in the course of a day
or twa, or a week, with healthy active horses, is not too long—-and the heat
and inflammation will be reduced by employing the embrocation, recommend
ed in incipient attack of poll-evil, at page 116, and giving at the same time the
RADICAL CURE OF FISTULA. 123

alterative ball there set down. Success more generally attends this first me
thod in the present kind of tumour than in that to which I have just referred
viz, poll-evil; but this method of curing both is so exactly similar, that it would
he a waste of words to go over the same grounds again, or make the same ob-
servations which I thought proper to set ee under that head of information.
At page 116, the reader will perceive, that when he is attempting to repell the
tumour and allay the inflammation in its earliest stages, he is to employ a
cooling regimen; that when the disorder has been brought on by a trivial
cause, this method of cure seldom fails, if taken in time; and also that fistula
is easier prevented hereby than is poll-evil, “‘ However this be, when the dis-
order is found to baffle the endeavours employed to disperse it, (as I before obe
served), the whole course of proceedings must be altered;” the regimen, or
feeding must be higher, the parts encouraged to collect matter and come to the
surface, instead of making inroads upon the adjacent muscle and bone, which
iy wl effect more hideously as the animal may be afflicted with a gross habit
o ly. ;

After having found all efforts useless, the practitioner will change his plan;
and force the matter to escape as soon as may be; for the disorder 1s every
hour extending its baleful influence. For this purpose the knife, or common
bistoury, is to be employed when the tumour is sufficiently ripe, which is a
state it may be brought to, by means of the application of a poultice. Of these,
I prescribed two or three kinds, with the method of fastening them on, but in
this latter respect, a material difference arises in consequence of the different
shape of the parts. I'he bandage in this case must be allowed to come farthe?
back, and be there detained by tying the tapes short behind and lengthening
the front ones. See figure at pace Le

Fomentations of warm water, in which cloths have been steeped, slightly
wrung out and applied to the parts, will be found highly serviceable, and may
precede the application of poultice. When by these means the tumour ap-
pears ripe and ready, open the most prominent part with lancet or bistoury,
and insert a whalebone probe to ascertain the direction that the fistulous sinu-
ses or pipes extend, in order that these may be laid open, and the whole mat-
ter suffered to escape. In some cases a stiffer and larger probe may be em-
ployed, and when a sinus Jies favourable, introduce the probe, and cut down
upon it. But as to the ldtvermost sinus, when it tends towards the shoulder,
so as to interfere with the action thereof, the knife is not to pass through it,
but a seton is to be inserted in its lowest’or most depending part, so that the
matter may escape through.

As directed in the previous case of poll-evil at page 119, the knife should be
fearlessly applied in severing any small bits of muscle that may appear to grow
across the cavity; a touch of the knife will be sutficient for any purpose, as
by keeping open the lips of the wound, all that belongs to this diseased part
will slough off, and should be wiped away as before directed, every time new
dressings are applied. Let the seton be soaked in the mixture of corrosive
sublimate and alcohol as directed at the page just referred to; and in the worst
cases apply either of the scalding mixtures in the manner mentioned at page
120, and repeat the same if the first docs not accomplish all that is desired

The operator in this case will not fail to use the proper precautions as re-
gards the application of those scalding hot remedies, nor neglect to remove the
matter that is discharged from the wound, in the manner set forth at page
121. Most frequently the lips or edges of the sore are thickened, and assume
a very inflamed and ulcerous appearance ; this should be reduced by the knife
or caustic, or it becomes so luxuriant at times as to close the orifice, and to
cause a renewal ofthe fistula, in which case you have all your trouble to go.
over again. At Alfort, they have a very neat method of cleaning out fistuloas
124 FRENCI] METHOD OF CLEANING SORES.

ulcers, by rolling up pledgets of linen cloth, the edges whereof have been
scraped out thin, so that when introduced dry to the bottom of each sinus ot
pipe, and being twisted round, it brings forth the offensive matter and any
residue of blood which may have got into them during the operation. They
also employ gentian root to keep down the swelling or thickening of the tips
of the sore. The healing is not to be suffered to go on too fast, nor until all
the offensive matter has been expulsed, and a more healthy discharge, whilst
it manifests the change that has taken place, and warrants your closing the
are Blue stone spread on any plaster of digestive ointment will effect this;
or take

Ointment of nitrated quicksilver, 3 ounces,
Oil of turpentine, half an ounce.

Mix, and apply as long as may be found proper to keep the orifice from closing,
to which it will be ever too much disposed.

Something was formerly said about scraping the bone when the long con-
tinuance of the disorder, its virulence, or the bad state of the horse’s general
nealth, hath been such as to affect its surface ; but this: part of the operation
is rather showy than useful, as the rottenness so occasioned will come away
as the discharge is kept up, there being a constant dispegsition taroughout the
whole system to throw off all such offensive matters,

SADDLE GALLS; viz. WARBLES, SITFASTS,

The first of these partake of the nature of the disorder just above treated of,
viz, fistula, and are caused by the same means, bruise’of the saddle; but being
situated farther back, less scope is allowed for the spreading of the original tu-
mour. Consequently, the smallness of the affliction renders it much less for-
midable, though, if suffered to suppurate, they become most troublesome sores,
The means to be adopted for the cure of warbles are similar to those recom-
mended for other tumours, viz. at first try to prevent the accumulation of mat-
ter by repellants, such as the embrocation prescribed at page 116, the domestic
remedies in the next page, as verjuice, made hapand applied by means of
cloths soaked therein, and repeatedly changed. Or apply, in the same man
ner, the following

Cold Lotion.

White vinegar,
Spirits of mine of each 3 ounces.
Super-acetate of lead, 2 ounces,

Water, 6 ounces. Mix.

Should not these succeed, change your treatment, adopt the direct contrary
mode, and bring the tumour forward to suppuration by. means of poultices,
&c. as before recommended ; and finally, when ripe, open the tumour with a
lancet, promote the escape of the offensive master, and then proceed to healing
the sore, as in the former case of poll-evil and fistula in the withers,

Sitfast is an indurated tumour, one that has neither matter nor motion mm it,
and may arise from either of two causes. The first is simply a gall or bruise,
which has produced no inflammation, and consequently no matter has been
engendered ; the second comes of an ill-cured warble, that has closed, leaving
a hard insensible swelling behind. Blistering is the favourite remedy with
wost farriers, though fomentations and .poultices will frequently achieve as
SITFASTS, HARD TUMOURS, QUITTOR. 125

much good in very little more time. When suppuration has taken place,
the cure is to be completed by dressings of detergent ointment, taking care
that the sore does not hea! too fast. Should this be the case, put blue stone
powdered, upon the plaister once or twice, or merely touch it with lunar caus
tic as often. Sometimes the callosity does not come off of itself, though the
edges rise up; it is then to be taken away by force, separating it from the
living parts with the knife. The small portion of blood that comes away does
no harm, but the contrary. If, however, any one objects to the use of the
knife, or doubts his skill in this operation, mercurial ointment will effect the
same end, as follows:

Ointment for Sitfast.

Oil of turpentine, 10 ounces,

Blue ointment, 8 ounces,

Gum ammoniacum, 4 ounces;
Mix and apply to these and all hard tumours.

QUITTOR

Is a disease of the foot, at the coronet, but is so decidedly fistulous, that |
choose to treat of it in this place, rather than in the chapter devoted to the foot
in general, that the student may more readily remember the general observa-
tions I thought necessary to prefix to this whole class of diseases, at page 110;
&e,

Cause.—A tread which the horse inflicts on itself, for the most part, seeing
that it generally occurs on the inside of the foot. This tread or bruise may
either be inflicted upon the coronet, or lower down, by over-reaching, or even
at the sole; by taking up a stone or other hard substance; also by a prick or
blow in shoeing. A quittor is also sometimes occasioned by gravel working up
into an aperture left by an old nail, acting upon the sensible laminated sub-
stance, separating it from the insensible, leaving a cavity from the aperture
quite up to the coronet, where it lodges, inflames, and produces abscess, which
is frequently very difficult and troublesome to cure; if not early attended to,
sinuses form, sometimes reaching to the coffin bone. ‘The blood vessels at
the coronet cease to perform their proper function of secreting new horn and
the consequence is frequently the loss of the inner quarter of the hoof.

Cure.—The sore is always very small, but admits of a probe being intro-
duced, by which the extent of the evil may be ascertained, and this is gene-
rally very extensive and ruinous, according to the time it may have been al-
lowed to make head. The probe will pass readily forward and backward to
the whole course of the disease, and sometimes it will be found to have pene-
trated to the coffin bone, every where forming sinuses or pipes, as in fistula of
the withers before described. But in this case situation makes considerable
difference: unlike the former, poultices are rendered inapplicable, whilst the
employment of the knife or lancet is dangerous in the extreme. Besides
which, the diseased part is already open, and seems to invite the only species
of remedy yet known, in the shape of escharotics, that by irritating the case
or cestus, which forms the sinuses, shall cause it to slough off. In slight
cases, those which are found not to have penetrated deep, the simple applica-
tion of a wash will prove sufficient, and may be employed in this manner,
Disgolve blue vitriol in water, and charge a syringe therewith; this is to be
discharged into the orifice, and suffered to remain, as much as can be retained,
A poultice of bread or oatmeal is to cover the part, and the cure will be com-
pleted after two or three days. But, unfortunately tor che owner and the ani
126 THE VIVES; CAUSE AND SYMPTOMS,

mal, the disease is seldom taken in hand thus early, but is suffered to proceed
until much stronger means become necessary. F'or this purpose take a long
narrow slip of thin paper, and moisten it with muriate of antimony; over this
strew worelered corrosive sublimate, and roll up the paper, so that it may not
be too big for the pipe which it is intended for. Gerierally it happens that the
opening requires to be i i before this pledget so charged with the escha-
rotic can be fairly introduced. Take especial care that the pledget reach the
bottom of the pipe, cut it off close, and pass a similar one into as many sinuses
as may have been ascertained forms the disease. As considerable irritation of
the part will quickly ensue, a poultice sufficient to cover the foot should be pre-
viously got ready, and applied immediately.

In three or four days, the bandage being removed, the diseased parts will
slough off, aconsiderable opening presents itself, leaving a healthy looking
sore. Let this be sponged off with warm water, and when dry apply tincture
of Benjamin, which will effect a cure. A solution of white vitriol is used
with advantage, especially when a disposition to secrete unhealthy matter is
at any time perceptible. Physic the ,patient after the operation, according to
the actual state of his bowels, the motion whereof will alleviate the pain ne-
cessarily attending the escharotic quality of the pledgets applied to the foot.
If the horse’s bowels be found in the ordinary state, give two balls on succes-
sive days, thus:

First Alterative Bail,

Aloes, :
Hard soap, i of each 2 to 3 drachms,
Oil of cloves, 6 drops,
Calomel, 1 drachm;
Mix, with mucilage sufficient to form the ball for the dose,

Second Alterative Ball

Aloes, 4 to 5 drachms,
Soap, 6 drachms,
Oil of anise-seed, 10 drops;
Mix, and give one dose the day following the first ball.

VIVES.* 5

his 1s the term given to swellings of the glands just under the ear, to-
wards the angle of the jaw, that mostly attack young animals. ‘The tumour
is easily repressed or driven back into the system, and by more simple means
than those employed in more inveterate complaints of a similar nature, show
ing themselves in other parts of the body. In some respects this disordet
bears near affinity to the strangles. :

The cause of Vives may be distinctly pronounced “a cold,” that prolific
source of so many other disorders incident to man and horse, The vives
usually comes on after hard work and sweating, by being then exposed toa
current of air, or cold rain. :

The season of shedding the teeth, when the contiguous parts are unusually
tender, is that in which swellings similar to vives pervade animals of any spe-
sies. Nevertheless it sometimes attacks horses at an advanced age, notwith-
standing they may have previously got over the most healthful form of stran-

* From the French “ avives,” and the vero avrver, to be oris« and lively as if it were con
Srred ironically upon the animal in its dullest state,
CAUSE AND SYMPTOMS. VIVES—A GLANDULOUS DISORDER. 127

gles, when we might reasonably suppose nature had ridded itself of a disposi-
‘lon to secrete any more such pestilent matter. Want of the usual head
clothing is then the immediate cause of vives. The violence deemed neces
sary in breaking colts also causes the vives, when the pressure on the parotid
glands, at reining up the animal, irritates the parts.

Symptoms.—Swellings under both ears, generally, that occasion manifest
pain when touched: the animal coughs more than one which has the stran-
gles, and a difficulty of swallowing soon hecomes evident. Stiffness or aridity
of the neck follows, and the patient makes frequent efforts to swallow the
saliva, which it is the proper function of these glands to secrete, but which
they are soon disabled from performing, by reason of the cold checking or
chilling those functions. Of glands generally, their construction and uses, the
seader will find many instructive particulars in the first book, at page 29;
these of which ve now speak being called “the parotid glands,” from their
situation; and as they now refuse to perform the office of secretion, the watery
humours flow from out the aninial’s eyes, which it partly closes, as if he were
about to sleep. for want of the same supply of saliva, inflammation of the
mouth and gums takes place, producing what is vulgarly called “ the lampers,”
or swelling of the roof of the mouth near the front teeth, which | shall speak
of separately a little further down.- Sometimes the swelling of these glands,
if not assiduously subdued, continues a fortnight or longer, becoming more
troublesome every day, and evidently occasioning very much pain; all this
while the horse loses coudition, is feverish, and at length so weak as to totter
when he moves even in his stall. Spreading downwards under the throat,
they at length terminate in Strangles, and are then to be treated as such.

The cure of the vives that arises from simple cold is very easy, but not so
that which is connected with a general bad habit of body; for then the swell-
ing and subsequent suppuration of the abscess must be considered as an effort
of nature to relieve itself from something that is offensive to it, and must be
treated as a disease of the whole system, nature having adopted this or that
particular spot for demonstrating its offence. But | have already explained
my opinion on this interesting point of veterinary pathology, much at large,
when treating of other tumqurs and abscesses. Vide page 110, &c. Often-
times it happens that the vives depend upon glanders or farcy, of which they
are then a correspondent symptom, and will only subside when the virulence
of these are reduced. However, no harm can come of fomenting the part
with warm water at least; and after it has been well dried, clothe the head so
as to keep off the air, upon the principle of “ remove the cause, and the effect
ceases of course.’ The application of the bandage described at page 114,
will sufficiently clothe the part. :

Much of the pain and tension of the tumour will be alleviated even by this
treatment, and a slight attack will be removed by following it up with fomen-
tations of marshmallows; or, anoint the parts with ointment of marshmallows,
and cover the head as before. A bread poultice affords relief, and bleeding
in stubborn cases of simple vives is often necessary, with purgatives. In-
deed, the body should be opened, whether we bleed or no: always leave open
the main road for such humours to escape by. This alone will carry o:
recent attack, provided the head clothing be kept on at the same time, natura
performing the remainder by absorption. To assist nature wowever, employ
the flowing :

Lotion.
Sal ammoniac, half an ounce,
White vinegar, 6 ounces,
Goulard’s extract 1 ounce;
Mix and rub the part well twice a day.
188 LAMPAS, A DISORDER OF YOUTH.

Low diet, a plentiful supply of water gruel, and bran mashes, to which ax
ounce of nitre may be added daily, will reduce that thickened state of the
blood which ever attends this species of tumour. But, as in the preceding
cases of tumour (poll-evil and fistula), it is sometimes found impossible to re-
move the vives by those means or any other; matter is formed, the tension
and inflammation continue upon the increase, and plainly indicate that sup-
ee must ensue, and all our labour is rendered vain, if it ought never to

ave been so employed. In this event, apply a meal poultice, restore the ani-
mal to his ordinary diet, and promote suppuration, which effects the cure in
the same manner as all other abscess mentioned before. See page 114, &e.

False vives, or imperfect ones, that are hard and insensible, sometimes
cause a good deal of needless trouble. They neither come forward nor re-
cede, do not seem to cause any particular pain, but still continue an eye-sore ;
and give reason to apprehend disagreeable consequences, arid always prevent
an advantageous sale of the animal. Stimulating embrocations are well cal-
culated for reducing these hard tumours, and the blistering liniment, made of
cantharides and oil, never fails.

LAMPERS, OR LAMPAS.

Cause.—As just said, lampas is occasioned by inflammation m the mouth,
This is brought on by inability in the parotid glands to secrete the saliva ne-
cessary for lubricating the throat and gums. ‘These glands, though liable to
the disorder we term vives, yet the derangement of their secretory function
does not always show itself by the vives: it may*continue to flow, thotigh not
in sufficient quantity to meet the increased heat of the animal. Idle or ill-
worked young horses are most liable to lampas.

Symptoms.—A swelling of the bars of the mouth follows the rising vigour
and heat of the animal; they then project below the surface of the teeth, and
interfere between them while feeding. The pain is necessarily very great on
feeding, and the animal ceases to chew of asudden; it afterwards commences
anew, with greater caution; but as the disorder becomes worse, it refuses
food entirely, and starvation would be the consequence if something did not
intervene which is always sure to happen.

The cure would be effected of itself if the horse lived in a state of nature,
or more probably in that state he never would have contracted the disease.
Over-gorging and consequent fulness of habit having occasioned the blood to
flow lnxuriantly towards the region of the head and ‘throat, so that the disor-
der is thereby produced, the reduction of that full habit follows this compul-
sory abstemiousness which the afflicted animal practises much against his will,
and might teach man himself a monitory lesson he is usually slow in attend-
ing to, until too late. Reducing the system is the neatest method of removing
tampas, and purgatives should be employed; bran mashes, in which an ounce
of nitre daily has been introduced, may also be given until the pulse becomes
more natural. If the lampas be not lessened, by these means, the projecting
part isto be cut with a lancet, but some people commence operations with the
searing iron, as the readiest way, and give physic afterwards. This applica
-don never fails, ;
s

PURULENT TUMOURS: DISEASES OF THE GLANDS. 12)

CHAPTER IIL

EXTERNAL DISORDERS,

Purulent Tumours: Diseases of the Glands.

Srrancues, Guanpers, Farcy, Grease, as they owe their origin to the
seme predisposing cause so evidently, that the appearance of either is good
assurance that no other disorder is then to be apprehended—neither of the
above nor those treated of in the preceding chapter, a few preliminary obser-
vations should occupy attention, before we treat of any one in detail. Both
series of diseases are in like manner constitutional, or residing in the blood;
and the whole class agree together so nearly in cause, symptoms, and effect,
that the situation of each on the various parts of the body constitutes the maip
distinction between them; as this does also affect the appearance and consis.
tency of the matter produced.

‘What I most strenuously maintain is, that the latent cause of all tumours,
inflamed glands, and spontaneous discharge of matter by skin or membrane,
is entirely attributable to the actual state of blood of the individual animal.
Whence | infer, that some horses are more liablé to incur contagious diseases
than others, and this in a degree proportioned to the state of the blood at the
time of communication ; so that some might escape with impunity, whilst others
meet with certain death from the self-same cause. This accounts for the great-
er virulence with which some horses incur glanders, for example, compared
to what others suffer, which catch the disorder at the same moment of time;
as was proved ona largish sort of a scale, and that pretty well known among
practitioners, during the late war on the continent. The case was briefly
this:—A transport with cavalry horses on board, on its way to the Low Coun-
tries, met with bad weather, so that the hatches were battened down, and in
this manner were part of the horses suffocated. Of those which survived,
amounting to some twenty-two or more, scarcely one escaped the glanders,
but, notwithstanding we may conclude that they infected and reinfected each
other at the same moment, and under precisely the same circumstances as to
heat, respiration, and privations, yet the symptoms varied greatly, and some
few recovered so readily as to leave great doubt whether they really had re-
ceived the glanders or not, whilst others exhibited real glanders in the highest
degree of virulence. Between these extremes, we are informed, the re-
mainder were variously affected : all which circumstances prove incontestibly
how much depended upon the previous health of each individual, the vitiation
of its blood aud its co-fitness or adaption to receive the infection. I imagine
this to be conclusive of the doctrine I have all along laid down, But I wil.
adduce another authority—a veterinary writer of France, who carries the
principle even farther than J have adventured to push it. .

With that specious ingenuity which attends all affairs of research in that
country, an author named Dupuy, who also quotes the rapport of another
called Gilbert, deduces the disposition to contract such disorders from the pro

enitors of the afflicted, or, as 1 should have said, from the blood or breed, and

e recommends a corrective kind of regimen for brood mares and stallions;

that is to say, in other words, an airy situation for the breeding stud. with
13 ;
{50 GLANDERS: HOW ACQUIRED. STRANGLES, CAUSE OF,

pastures rather elevated, where they will have sufficient norriture during the
period of gestation, and can find occasional shelter from the weather. “By
these means (says M. Dupuy) the disorder may be prevented in great mea-
sure.” The disorder he here speaks of he calls ‘“scrophulous tubercle ;” to
which “all cattle whatever, bred in marshy situations with scanty allowance
to the parents, are very liable.’ This disorder cf the blood or breed, accord-
ing to M. Dupuy, “predisposes the horse to contract those diseases that are
known to us under the terms strangles, bastard strangles, farcy, and defluxiona
from the eyes;” which latter, it will be seen, at page 127, is a corresponding
symptom and never failing attendant upon the vives, as it is of all other glan-
dular swellings about the jaws. The Frenchman thus converts a single
aymptom into a disorder!

- In England, moreover, we do not talk or write of scrophula in horses, or a
disposition thereto, this being a symptom of a vitiated system in carnivorous
animals. For, the mange in dogs, scurvical or scrophulous eruptions in man-
kind, and the farcy or grease in the horse, although appearing very similar to
the eye of a common observer, and all originating in a depraved state of the
system; yet the immediate cause of each of these differs greatly, by reason of
the manifest difference in the structure of the capillary vessels or tubes that
deposit the offensive matter of either kind, demand a very different treatment
at our hands, and we reject the anomaly of M. Dupuy as inapplicable to
horse-medicine. But when this gentleman represents the general predispos-
ing cause as a “tuberculous or fistulous affection, that is capable of being al-
leviated, prevented, and in some cases cured,” he brings his arguments quite
within the range of our conceptions; and 1, for my part, take all that he sub-
sequently adduces, as being in perfect consonance with my own doctrine re-
specting the predisposing cause of diseases. As to ancestry, and breeding
from a good stock, in favourable situations, of which this writer appears to
entertain correct notions, 1 had already anticipated him, as the reader may
perceive at pnee 18, 19, which is a part of my book that appeared in the
Annals of Sporting for 1822.

THE STRANGLES.

The Strangles, as the name imports, is first indicated by a coughing, and
difficulty. of swallowing, as if the animal would die of strangulation, tt isa
disorder of youth (like our hooping cough), is inherent to the nature of the
animal (as is our small pox) once only, and its virulence may be abated by
inoculation, whereby we choose a favourable period for meeting the inevitable
attack, after duly preparing the patient. j
Cause.—Repletion of the system of life, and the deposite of blood in the
glands under the jaw; which failing to be taken up and reconveyed back
again into the system (called absorption—see book the first, p. 21), the glands
become inflamed, swell, and burst, the discharge of the offensive matter being
the cure. I have always considered it a critical disease, and treated it as such,
encouraging the formation of matter, and assisting nature in throwing off a
something that is evidently obnoxious to the cunstitution. Indeed, | have
never heard of any other practice; the impertinent attempts at repression, 80
frequently adopted at the request of proprietors in other cases of tumour,
never having extended itself to this. Strangles, strictly speaking, are inci-
dent to the young animal only—that is, from two years old, until five or near
xix; when the circulution (as the blood is called) has attained its fulness, and,
perhaps, slight cold has first detained any portion thereof in the glands, where-
ay the inflammation is engendered that constitutes the disease. When these
glands swell and discharge at a more mature age, the strangles must then be

i
OPERATION FOR SUFFOCATION. 131

consi lered as the effect of constitutional depravation, and would as properly
come al the general description of critical abscess, treated of at a former
page, Llo.

Symptoms.—A_ swelling commences between the upper part of the two
jaw-bones, or a little lower down towards the chin, and directly underneath
the tongue. A cough, and the discharge of a white thick matter from the
nostrils, follow; with great heat, pain, and tension of the tumours, and ef all
the adjacent membranes, to such a degree that the animal can scarcely swal-
low. The eyes send forth a watery humour, and the animal nearlv closes the
lid: this is mostly the case when it happens that the two larger g.ands under
the ear are affected also, which frequently happens; but when these latter are
disordered without the animal having the strangles, we then say he has the
vives, ‘The swelling increases and usually bursts of itself, sometimes with-
out any medical aid whatever, and even without being perceived by any one.
This last happens to colts and fillies at grass, when their wants are little at-
tended to, and they seldom fail of doing well. Consequently, it follows, that
those attacks which take place in the open air are of a milder nature than
those more obstinate cases we so frequently meet with among in-door cattle,
which serves to prove, once more, my doctrine as to the cause of all tumours
or “tuberculous affections,” as M. Dupuy has it. The horses that are kept
in-doors accumulate gross humours, by this mode of living on dry food and
lying on soft beds, the exercise they take not being sufficient to carry ofl the
effects of either, Enervation generally accompanies this mode of treatment ;
the glands and membrane suffer relaxation, the pampered anima} is not ex-
posed to the air sufficiently to occasion that check, or slight cold, which is ge-
nerally the immediate cause of strangles, and the accumulation of these hu-
mours proceeds, until they overcome the capacity of these organs, and the
strangles then become a formidable disease. '

‘When this is the case, the feverish symptoms run high, loss of appetite fol-
lows with constipation of the bowels, the horse can neither drink nor eat, and
the pulse increases. ‘The tumours in these bad cases will be found to have
Yisen nearer the jaw-bone than they do in a mild attack, and are longer in
coming to maturity than those which begin more towards the middle. The
disorder is seldom fatal; but when this does happen, the animal dies of suffo-
cation, in which case it stands with the nose thrust out, the nostrils distended .
the breathing is then exceedingly laborious and difficult, and accompanied by
rattling in the throat.

Cure.—For this last mentioned extreme case, no other remedy is found than
making an opening in the windpipe, through which the animal may breathe.
For this spirited operation, I must refer to Mr. Field, the veterinary surgeon,
who has performed it frequently, and says his practice was to cut an aperture
the size of a guinea, which nature afterwards supplies in due time. ith this
exception, perhaps, I might be justified in saying that we have little or no bu-
siness to meddle with the strangles ; unless, indeed, unfavourable symptoms
arise, and the previous habits of the horse, his present fleshy or gross habit of
body, with the unfavourable situation of the tumours near the bone, give good
season for believing that the disease will turn out a tedious or dangerous case,
And yet. I should be very loth to recommend purging or bleeding for stran-
gles, as I have seen done with no good effect; for, although the symptoms are
thereby lowered, yet the continuance of the disorder is protracted to an un-
measurable length, and I-have heard of the strangles devolving into glanders
by this course of proceeding—the subject of this case being a five year old
mare, i

On the contrary, the disorder being constitutional, that is to say, an eifort
af nature to relieve itself of some noxious matters, the strength of the animal
132 . UPENING THE TUMOUR, WHEN PROPER.

system should be sustained in some degree proportioned to what it may ob.
viously require. Therefore, horses that may be in good condition at the time
of the attack, and withal highly feverish and full of corn, will only requira
opening medicine, whilst a brisk purgative might do harm by lessening the
access of matter to the tumour, and the system would still retain a portion of
the offensive cause of disease, which would break forth at a future period in
some one or other of the correspondent diseases dependent cn tubercular af-
fections. In this case give the following

Larative Ball.

Aloes,
Castile soap, hot each 3 drachms,
Ginger, 1 scruple. Mix for one dose,
If difficulty of swallowing is already perceivable, a drench would be found the
more desirable form of arriving at the sameend. Then give the

* Larative Drench.

Castor oil, 6 ounces,
Water gruel, 1 quart,
Salts, 6 ounces. Mix.

Meantime, at the first appearance of the disorder, let the hair be clipped off
close at the part affected, and a little way round, to allow ofgreater effect from
any application that may be deemed necessary. The head being clothed, will
restore as much warmth as hath hereby been abridged. Mild cases will re-
quire no more than this, probably, and the assistance of a poultice and fomen-
tation of marsh-mallows daily to the throat, to bring the swelling to a proper
state for opening. This will be shown by its pointing, or becoming soft and
peaked in the middle. Buta premature employment of the lancet is to be
avoided, for the reason before assigned, viz. to give time for the whole matter
to collect; when this period arrives, the whole swelling will be soft and yield-
ing to pressure, unless the animal be a very thick-skinned one, with a great
_ chuckle-head. In these cases, the part should be rubbed with a stimulatin;

liniment, and if the tumour is working its way inwards so as to threaten suf-
focation, blistering ointment may be applied. Afte: each and either of these
applications, the poultice is to be again put on with care; and as much of
its efficacy depends upon its remaining in contact with the throat, the adjust-
ing of it properly requires great pains and some adroitness for the thing.

uch difficulty Leon 3 experienced in making serviceable bandages, I have

annexed a descriptive sketch of such a one as would be proper to keep on the
applications. It needs no further explanation than is given in cases of sore
hroat at page 78, and of abscess, at page 114.

Stimulating Liniment,

Mustard, powdered, 1 oun
Liquid Auamonis, ditschina

Mix and apply assidously to the part.
BANDAGE FOR STRANGLES, STRANGLES OF TIE GULLET 133

 

The Suppcaee may be further promoted by steaming the head over warm
water, or fumigating it as follows: give him bran mashes frequently, placing
the vessel that contains this, well secured, in another vessel larger than the
first, into which much hotter water can be introduced, so that the vapour may
rise up all round the mash, and constantly envelop the head. When the
tumour is ascertained to be ripe, and not before, an opening is inade at its most
‘depending part, and the matter expressed gently; wash it off clean with warm
water, and if the sore appear healthy, it will heal spontaneously, or witn the
application of adhesive plaster.

Inoculation for the strangles has been recommended above and was par-
tially practised. About 1802, M. La Fosse, the younger, mentioned the af-
fair in his Manuel d’ Hippiatrique, which book I translated into English the
following year, and we hear that two or three country practitioners in En-
gland attarwatls adopted the suggestion, The method was merely toscratch
the inside of the nostril, and then smearing the sore with matter from the ab-
scess of a diseased horse—it never failed. In careful hands the practice was
feasible enough ; but great danger would accompany this imitation of variolous
inoculation, inasmuch as the matter might likewise convey a disposition to
farcy or glanders.

STRANGLEs OF THE GULLET. Sometimes we find those symptoms of
strangles reduced to one only, viz. an obstinate running at the nose, which .
usually lasts a long while, and occasionally ends fatally, by the animal wast
ing away in pulmonary consumption, as I'am informed from good authority,
tut never witnessed such a termination of this species of strangles, which La
Fosse calls “strangles of the gullet.’ Many people mistake this disorder for
glanders, but it may be distinguished from that contagion by a rattling in the
gullet, whence its French name; also by the quality of the running, which

13*
134 GLANDERS. SYMPTOMS OF THE TRUE GLANDERS.

is neither so white nor of so much consistency as the true sort; but wate «

and curdled. ‘The animal scarcely ever is troubled with a cough, and then |

: very feeble, but to make up for this exhibits frequent contractions of th
rynx. ss

After the tumour is opened, give gentle physic, for which purpose the laxa
tive ball recommended in page 132 will answer every desirable purpose; o
you may add thereto one drachm of emetic tartar, and give another ball after
an interval of one day, unless the pulse is low.

Bastarp STRANGLES is a favourite term with some persons, who would
soften down the real fact of their horses having the glanders, which it really
is, and not strangles. But bastard or not bastard, it is always infectious, anc
the animal either dies of strangulation, or the disorder becomes the glanders,
producing a sanious discharge from the nose when the cough ceases, Apply #

. Fumigation.

Take the leaves and root of marsh-mallows, an arm-full.
Water, 6 quarts.

Boil them, and pt the whole into a nose bag, and hang it round the head of
the animal to make him inhale the steam. ‘The bag may be made of stout
cloth, but hung with the upper part quite open, to avoid suffocation. Leave
the bag at the animal’s nose until no more steam will arise. This will be
found a very proper remedy in all cases of strangles, the first stage of glan-
ders, and obstinate colds. é

GLANDERS,

For avout twenty years | apprehended that we had arrived within a short
space of finding the true cause of glanders, and that we should then soon as-
certian the means of preventing our horses from engendering the malady, if
we could not avoid their catching it, nor discover a specific remedy. But, lo!
we were not yet agreed even as to the symptoms of true glanders; as to that
which was communicable and dangerous, compared with another affection of
the ee and pituitary membrane, which was but a tempurary disease, not’
easily communicated, and was asserted to come within the reach of the cura-
tive art. Most small proprietors, unwilling to destroy their afflicted horses,
maintained that they belonged to the latter description, and in this they were
frequently supportcu py the cupidity of practising farriers, who administered
medicines and performed operations with a contidence which never could be-
long to any department of science—and least of all to that of medicine,* which
is, alas! ever uncertain.

During this state of the question, we turned to the French veterinarians,
who up toa certain period enjoyed the reputation of being superior to all ku-
rope besides in this and a few other pursuits [war and chemistry, videlicet],

* Much inhumanity wae shown by the country practitioners in their mode of treatment:
they scraped the bone after elitting the nusiril; and also seared the swelled gland with a hol
tron. A late writer applauds the practice of searing ulcers and abscesses, generally, “ where
by (adds he triumphantly) they are reduced to cominon scalds:” he was then speaking of the
doctors in Morocco! mere Turks. The gentleman, probwbly, did not distinguish between ab-
acess anu indolent tumour,

Tt is related by La Fosse, that in 1801, several regiments in Alsace and Loraine employed the
actual cautery 2¢a cure for giandered horses. Some “applied fire tothe jugular gland in three
lines; o.hers cauterized the hones of the forehead and nose; but the most ridiculous affair of
all wag, to see forty horses together which had fire applied round their eyelidg wo cure the rup
ajng,” that is common to all glandular affections about the head!
GLANDERS: OF THREE SORTS, TWO CONTAGIOUS. 135

and found one of their most respected names had arranged the boundaries unu
distinguishing qualities of the two into three divisions. Nor was this all. M.
La Fosse, the younger, who enjoyed the post of “ principal farrier to the French
army,” and was withal a member of the Institute, insisted with much ener
that “glanders of the first species, the rea! glanders, glanders properly so cal .
ed, absolutely consists of nothing more than the loss of the sense of smelling,”
and is “‘a curable disorder, if treated early, but incurable when confirmed.”
His treatment was very simple, and worthy of calm consideration, as are also
the means he proposes for ascertaining hy the symptoms when it is a horse is
afflicted with communicable glanders, and ought to be destroyed. It is in thi
latter respect that I reprint here the substance of La Fosse’s researches on this
highly interesting subject; for, since none of us can offer a remedy that ought
to be relied upon—unless the animal be submitted to our measures earlier than
is usual*—I think a useful particle may be added to the new study of medical
jurisprudence, by showing the line of demarcation that divides health and
contagion—the point at which destruction ought to commence, by authority,
or, in common humanity, to prevent the thoughtless from immolating the pro-
perty of others, who are usually little proprietors.

I am the more determined in this course of proceeding, because all my in-
quiries on the subject are already in print, and these coincide so nearly with
the speculations and reasonings of two or three respectable writers now before
the public, that I could add but a small portion of novelty to what has been so
elaborately discussed by others. On all those points on which I differ from
them, | shall offer a few practical observations, in the hope of being servicea-
ble, whilst I shall sedulously avoid the ‘“‘debateable land,” which some contend
for a little unamiably.

“So great has been the destruction of horses which have either really been,
or reputed to be glandered, through the prejudice of ignorant persons, that it
has been said, whoever can point out the distinction between the communica-
ble disease and those which bear some affinity to it, will confer a benefit on
society, and serve the cause of humanity. Much labour had been bestowed
on this subject by the elder La Fosse, who threw a great deal of light on a
disease, which, of all others that attack the horse, is least known, and there.
fore most misrepresented.”

‘What M. La Fosse proposes to show is, 1. “ That it is easy to confound
this disorder with others that resemble it, in some particulars, 2. That among
the different sorts of glanders (so reputed), some are infectious, whilst there
are others that are not so; and 3. That some of these are curable, and others
incurable, ; :

“There are few veterinary practitioners who do not know that strangles,
bastard strangles, pursiveness, or asthma, and other pulmonary complaints,
exhibit the same external appearance as the glanders, properly so called ; con-
sequently it is easy to be deceived on the subject, and the farrier will fail in
his endeavours at a cure if he has not previously ascertained the pore ea
symptoms of the disorder. "What then ought he to do in order not to be le
into error, and to ascertain with precision that species of the disorder with
which the animal is affected? .

“ After much experience on the subject of the diseases of horses, we are
convinced that it is necessary to distinguish three sorts of glanders, viz. ‘The
first sort, which is the glanders, the real glanders, the glanders properly w
called ; the second is nothing more than some disorder circulating in the mase
of blood; and the third may be denominated the farcy glanders. Glanders

* From the number of experiments which have lately been made at the Veterinary College
in London, and the beneficial results arising therefrom, we may at length hope that this dread
‘ul malady is breught within the sphere of curable diseases.
136 ENLAFGED GLANDS, A CURABLE DISORDER.

of the first kind is not infectious, except it be complicated with other disordera
but this is seldom the case, though we may daily witness horses thus attack.
ed abandoned as incurable. or with little more humanity put to death, On
the contrary, glanders of the second species is communicable, because the
horse, besides running at the nose, and becoming glanderous, has likewise ul-
cers, and these ulcers appear to be the only proximate cause of contagion,

“The third species of glanders is in like manner contagious, because it not
only occasions a running of the nose, but the tumefied glands and the carti-
lage of the nose are ulcerated, and likewise certain parts of the body are cover-
ed with lumps and ulcers, which latter characterise the farcy glanders, the
most dangerous disorder of the-three, but not the most common, These two
latter species of glanders are.infectious, because the disease resides principally
in the blood; but the glanders of the first species, the real glanders, the glane
ders properly so called is not in anywise contagious, although it most fre-
quently occurs.

“The second and third species are incurable, but the last only is mortal.
But as to glanders of the first sort, it is neither incurable nor mortal. In the
first place, we repeat, this disease is not mortal in any case, and a horse at-
tacked by it is in the same situation as a man who has lost the sense of smell-
ing; it is the loss of a sense, and the loss of a sense prevents neither the man
nor the horse from fulfilling all the animal functions; for, as we daily observe
men affected with ulcerated noses preserve an otherwise sound constitution,
and even look jolly, so we may observe a glandered horse preserve his strength
and health.

“Secondly ; it is incurable only when inveterately confirmed; but when
taken in an early stage, its progress may be stopped with very little trouble,

“Thus we find that glanders of the first species, the real glanders, glanders
properly so called, absolutely consists of nothing more than the loss of the sense
of smelling. Its cure may be readily effected by frequent bleedings and fumi-

ations. Hence may be estimated the little necessity there is for killing

orses attacked by this disorder; and what important services may be render-
ed tosociety or to a regiment, for instance, by an intelligent farrier making a
proper distinction between this species of glanders and all other affections and
diseases resembling it.”

So far M. La Fosse: his table, prefixed to the translation, “ Veterinari-
an’s Pocket Manual,” is sold separately by the booksellers, and may be con-
sulted with profit by those who would push further their inquiries respecting
“true glanders.” :

Cause.—The glanders is a contagious disease only when it has lasted for
some time. Original glanders may be acquired by horses being shut up close
together, in hot, damp stables, in swampy situations—as in the case of the
twenty-two cavalry horses adduced higher up (page 129), which were con-
fined damp, under hatches, but were variously affected, according to the pre-
disposing cause in the constitution of each individual. Those animals were
improperly condemned, because the disorder had not continued ‘long’ enough
to render it contagious, and they might have recovered if treated as for a
simple cold. :

A’ sudden transition from cold air to a hot stable, as well as from heat to
cold, will occasion a running at the nose; or a blow there, as well as a drench
clumsily adininistered : either of those causes being foreknown, should render
us chary of pronouncing the running contagious, and thus subject the proper-
ty to destruction, as proposed. Almost any running, from whatever cause pro-
needing, or however healthy the previous state of the animal's system, causes
ihe glands to enlarge and inflaine; after a while, remaining unrured, they
usually adhere to the bone, when alone we should pronounce the glandets cop
SYMPIOMS. TESTS OF TRUE GLANDERS

tirmed and incurable. This is “the second species” of La Fosse, which may
be communicated by contact, or by respiring the same air, in’ the stable ;
though it does not appear until eight or ten days after the infection, in the en-
largement of the gland, accompanied by running. ‘The third species is caused
by farcy being in the system, or by inoculation, in which way the glanders ia
often communicated by experimentalists: the running at the nose and swell;
ing of the glands are then symptomatic of farcy, and must be treated as such.

hat inference is to be drawn from all those premises, but that we should
endeavour to ascertain the length of time the patient has heen afflicted; whether
he has received any external injury to cause it, or, has he been brought in
contact with infected horses, and when? and out of the answers hereto we
form the resolution of condemning the animal to solitary keeping, at the least ;
and setting about the remedies that are likely to restore him to health. Crowd-
ed towns, posting stables and barracks, are most subject to contain glandered
horses, on account of their closeness, and the frequent succession of inmates
to which they are liable; for some horses will bear it for a good number of
years, the discharge almost subsiding (though the swelling of the glands re-
mains) upon changing to country quarters, or to a succession of regular living
and regular work.

Symptoms.—No cough accompanies real glanders in any of its stages; and
this though a negative piece of information, shall be taken as a:good and posi-
tive criterion that must not be neglected: a running may make its appear.
ance, as it does at the left nostril usually, in the glanders, and the glands under
the jaw may adhere to the bone, as they do in real glanders, but no cough ac-
companies these symptoms of glanders. When cough supervenes, the dis-
ease may be a catarrh, or a consumption, the asthma, or strangles, but these
are not contagious, unless they last a long time, and adhesion of the glands
takes place: in these last mentioned disor¢ers the discharge commonly pro-
ceeds from both nostrils alike; whereas, the running in incipient glanders is
chiefly confined to the left,* and the gland of one side only is then affected.

As the disorder proceeds, it affects both sides alike ; ulcers appear all over
the pituitary membrane, occasioned by the corrosive nature of the discharge.
This assumes a different appearance as the constitution of the individual
may have been more or less gross or vitiated; the appearance or quality of the
discharge differs also, according to the manner in whicn the disease may have
been acquired ; i. e. whether it has been engendered or caught by infection.
If it come of the first mentioned, through a depraved system, the glands are
harder, often smaller, and always adhere closer, than in those cases which ary
derived from infection, at a time when the animal is otherwise in comparatively

ood health. Again, with the infected horse, the matter comes off copiously;
it is curdled, and may be rubbed to powder between the fingers when dried. It
subsequently hardens, and becomes chalky when submitted to acids; whereas
the animal that engenders the disease without receiving infection sends forth
matter that is party-coloured, less in quantity, blackish, watery; and mixed
with bloody and white mucus, Finally, if the animal that receives the disor-
der by infection be previously in a bad state of health, those symptoms are com-
plicated and more intense, the ulcers are more numerous, the cartilages of the
Nose become rotten, and the bones likewise in a short time: the creature seems
to have combined together the evils of its own system with that of the sufferer
from whom he had received it. In both cases the swelled glands are simply
hard tumours without any matter in them. :
In addition to the preceding tokens for discovering at an early period thetrue

* Of eight hundred cases of glanders that come under the notice of M. Dupuy on’y one hover
as affected in she right nostril.
138 LEGAL RESTRAINTS: CASE OF PRECIPITATION,

glaniers from another disorder, having some of the same symptoms, let the
nostrils of the animal be examined, and the left or running nostril will be
found of a deeper colour than ordinary, whilst the other or dry nostril is of a
paler colour than ordinary, oralmost white. At this period the discharge is a
white glary fluid, and the maxillary gland of that side is but just perceptible
to the touch; but these being symptoms that belong equally to a catarrh, it is
dest to be guided by the varied colour of the two nostrils, remembering that in
zatarrn, or cold, both nostrils run. : ,

It has been remarked by some, that when horses in a tolerable state of health
first receive infection, they show mettle, and are full of freaks theretofore not
experienced ; as the disorder proceeds in its ravages, this mettlesomeness goes
off; other acquired diseases have the same effects on all animals—the venereal,
for example, on man.

The remedies that have been applied to the afflicted animal in this forlorn
disease are found of no avail, unless taken at an early period. As hath been
said higher up, infection is not to be apprehended at first, and therefore the
precaution some use to prevent its spreading, by bleeding and purging all the
rest of the horses in that stable, is unnecessary, unless the animals require
that process in other respects; but some practitioners must be doing some-
thing, and some owners will not rest satisfied unless preventive measures be
undertaken.

As soon as a horse is suspected of glanders, it should be kept separate from
all others, and the fumigation of marsh-mallows applied, as prescribed at page
134, repeatedly ; a purgative or an alterative ball may be given, according to
the state of his body, and the usual remedies as for a catarrh, continued for
a week or ten days. If the disorder does not lessen in this time, but the
symptoms increase in virulence, the horse should be destroyed; but unfortu-
nately for healthy animals, this measure is not compulsory, no statute existing
upon the subject.* Besides which, disputes might arise as to the precise na-
ture of the symptoms, and the executioner subject himself to heavy damages
for his temerity. Something of this sort happened near Woburn, in Bedford-
shire, early in the present century, to a lately deceased statesman. A neigh-
bouring farmer having a horse in a state of confirmed glanders (in my opiu-
ion), persisted in keeping it in an old shed on the roadside: his obstinacy was
highly provoking, and Mr. W. the oe alluded to, went with his ser-
vant and shot the animal; at which the venal part of the periodical press set
up a great clamour, from which none defended him, for the transaction was at
variance with his public professions.

Stables that have been occupied by glandered horses retain a long time the
taint, and the means of communicating the disorder, which nothing will re-
move but washing with soap and sand, and scraping with sharp instruments,
every part of the rack, manger, and all other parts that may have come in con-
tact with the diseased horses. After examining the cases reported by various
writers, particularly St. Bel, | have come to the conclusion that there is no
analogy between glanders and the venereal disease, but the inoculation of
sound animals; and that the exhibition of mercury in any form is utterly falla
rious. One case, in which this mineral wasemployed with asserted success,
at the Pancras College, is proved unworthy of credit, by the failure of the
game inedicine in every succeeding attempt.

*The common law, however, s-fully sufficient to prevent improper exposure of animals af-
dicted with a contagious disease in horse-marketa, fairs, and other assemblages of cate, A
case of this sort was a?judged at Guildhall, London, the facts whereof were detailed \n the An
nals of Sporting for March, 1826. é
FARCY, 139
FARCY.

Causcs.—General ill state of the blood, vulgarly, but most appropriatery,
termed “corruption of al! the humours of the body; and, by prevalence ot

she farcy buds in the course that the veins run, all over the surface of the body, .

ae doubt can exist that it resides in the blood. In fine, the original cause has
been already defined at the head of this class of diseases, to which the reader
who is fond of research would do well toturn back for a few minutes, at pages
129, &e. However, infection is frequently the immediate cause and (as ob-
served of the es the animal will be afflicted more or less severely, as his
constitutional health may be sound or otherwise at the time of receiving the
infection. When this disease is engendered or created—which is easily
supposed to have happened at first, and capable of being so produced at the
present day, the blood being overcharged with offensive matters unfit for its
proper purpose, it hecomes stagnated at the lymphatics which follow the course
of the veins (see Book I. page 30), and these corrode the parts, inflame, anu
appear on the surface in the form of “buds.” And | should feel gurprise if
they do not also pervade the targe glands of the viscera, though | have had no
opportunity of examining; such tumours on the skin of mankind have been
found similarly seated on the inner surfaces, on dissection. ‘I feel all
over as if pins were running into me, observed a patient; and so, poor fellow,
he might, for on dissection 1 found the same sort of tumours even on the
heart,” said Mr. Abernethy in one of his lectures. As regards the horse, I
take this upon credit, and by analogy for a while, purposing to satisfy myself
more closely upon the first favourable opportunity that offers.

A predisposition to farcy must existin the system, for it is cured by means
of correctives of the blood; and its connexion with glanders has been proved,
for the one will produce the other by inoculation ; and without it running at
the nose is one of the symptoms of farcy. A certain inability to perform ita
office, termed “debility,” that leaves the finer vessels filled with the vital fluid,
which exercise might have carried off—is one main cause of farcy; and a sud-
den check by cold after exercise stops at once the perspiration, and the blood
that would otherwise be taken up, or absorded into the circulation, remains in
those fine vessels, as aforesaid. Hot and crowded stables relax the vessels,
and indeed the whole system, when sudden exposure to the air inflicts the
same evil I have just now contemplated. The reader may recollect, that I re-
ferred the cause of fever to the same want of ventilation, to the same exposure
*ocold air, and made the remark, that the state of the animal’s bodily health
at the period of the attack would-determine whether it should acquire this or
that particular disease; the quantity and kind of cold, or chill, would also de-
{ermine whether the horse should be afflicted with inflammation of a certain
part of his inside, or of his whole system, which we term fever.

Symptoms.—T hough too well known to be mistaken, we yet may describe.

them, as, in the first place—skin tight and dry, for want of perspiration, as
just said, when some swelling is perceivable about the hind legs, and on the
Insides particularly. This symptom increases to an extremely large size in
the course of a night, when the genial heat of the animal’s system, and of the
stable, appear to have matured the disease. The lymphatic vessels, and the
more perfect glands, that run in the same direction as the veins, rise above the
surface ; and it is easy to be seen that they are sore when touched, the glands
in particular, which feel hot, light, and hard at first, similarly to the glands of
the throat, as described in the glanders. A few hours confirm the exact na
ture of the mischief; the inflammation of those glands proceeds, they become
softer, and each throws out an ichorous, unhealthy discharge. ‘They are then
wrmed farcy buds, The edges have a chancrous apnearance which it
110 FARCY, ITS THREE STAGES: TREATMENT.

foand unpossible to heal with ointments. As the digease advances, a gland
erous running at the nose takes place, with swelling about the nose, lips, and
all over the body nearly,

According to the constitution of the horse at the time of receiving the infec-
tion, so will the progress of the disease be rapid and disastrous, or unaccount-
ably slow and uncertain as tu the result. In this latter case it retains its ap-
petite, and bears up its strength for a considerable time. .

- Cure.—Three stages of the disorder present as many methods of cure: first,
when the effects are slight or partial; second, when it resolves itself into large
tumours, and a more copious discharge from a smaller number of ulcers carries
off the disease: third, when it is confirmed, general, and diffused over the
whole system. :

In the first instance, when the glands only are affected, it may be treated as
a local disorder, which has not yet found its way into the animal’s system;
and if appearing on one limb only, the natural inference is, that the system is
indisposed to carry on the threatened evil, This happens mostly to animals
in good condition, that are strong and vigorous, and of good habit of body;
with such the farcy is not brought on spontaneously, or by being engendered
in the animal, but has been acquired by infection. The limb affected is gene-
rally so to a good extent, and the corded veins scarcely visible; this happens
mostly to a fore-leg (not always), and has been considered of a dropsical na-
ture, in a slight degree, or rather, lymphatic, the glands still continuing their
functions. In this case give a purgative ball, and repeat it in three days
after; but should the animal be a very fleshy one, and full of condition, with
full pulse, this may be preceded by bleeding to the amount of three quarts,
or four.

Purgative Ball,

Aloes, 8 drachms,

Castile soap, 1 drachm,

Ligpance powder sufficient to form the ball for one
lose.

Prepare the animal with bran-mashes; let his drink be chilled, and he may be
moved about, under shelter, with body clothing on that covers the affected
limb. The limb should be fomented with warm water, or the chamomile de-
coction, taking care to rub the part dry, and wrap it up warm, This course
usually prevails against an ordinary attack of farcy, and the cure is aided
when it affects the fore-leg only, by a rowel inserted under the chest. But
the absorption or taking up of the disorder into the system, and carrying it
off by stool, is by far the neatest manner of managing the cure; for this ‘ime
pose give the following ball, after the animal has been reduced by the fore
going treatment.

Alterative Ball,

Camphor,

ce of each one drachm,

Ginger,

With mucilage sufficient to form the ball for one dose. Give one of these for
three successive nights; then stop one night between each dose, until the dis-
euse is removed,
THIRD STAGE: MERCURY, A SPECIFIC. 141

If these efforts to absorb the disease prove insufficient to conquer it, recourse
must be ‘had to the use of mercury, as recommended for the third or most viru-
lent stage of the disease, which is also the most common of the three. Mean-
time, we come to consider of that particular kind of farcy which is the least
common of all three; and this is wherein the tumours are larger than usually
happens, and smailer in number. The diseasé then partakes very much of
the nature of critical abscess (page 113), and of the strangles (page 130); bo’)
of which, the reader will perceive, are but the efforts of nature to relieve itsulf
of an accumulation of offensive matter; and, this escaping, the cure is effect-
ed. In this second kind, or stage of farcy (as I call it), nothing more is requi
site than to promote suppuration, as directed in the diseases just referred to,
and follow it with the physic prescribed for the strangles,

The third, most common and virulent kind of farcy, that which comes on
quickest, lasts the longest, and requires the most powerful means for its re-
moval, is that which is spread minutely all over the body and limbs, and has
penetrated the whole system. In whichever manner the animal may have
acquired the disorder, we may safely presume that the mass of humuurs is
hidtously depraved, and mercury, in one or other of its varied forms, is the
only antidote to be relied upon for its extinction. Previously, however, the
farcy buds_and ulcers must be reduced to the state of common sores, by means
of the actual cautery freely applied to each. "When these slough off, and the
sores assume a healthy appearance, less of the mercurial preparation will be
required ; but if these retain a livid and therefore unhealthy hue, accompanied
py a poisonous discharge that ulcerates the adjacent parts, a thorough course
of mercury is the only certain remedy, and this must be managed with cau-
tion.

Mercurial Ball—No. 1,

ZEthiop’s mineral, 2 drachms,

Opium, 10 grains,

Liquorice. powder and mucilage to form the ball for one
lose.

Give twice a day, until the patient’s breath smells very offensive, and then
discontinue the medicine a day or two, as you should also when the animal is
found to stale inordinately, or the bowels be very much disordered. But, when
the bowels are only slightly affected, increase the quantity of opium to twenty
or thirty grains,

Mercurial Ball.—No, 2.

Corrosive sublimate, 10 grai
Emetic tartar, half a drachm,
Opium, half a drachm,

Mix, with liquorice powder and mucilage sufficient to form the ball for one
dose. Give as before, at night and morning.

Feed the patient generously during the operation of this strong medicine,
watch its progress closely, and lessen the quantity, or discontinue it altogeth:
a day or two when he is agitated greatly within, particularly if a kind of sick-
ness or gurgling be discernible, and the horse is off his appetite. Let him be
clothed completely. Malt mashes, sodden corn, and coarse sugar mixed with
his corn, dry, are good assistants to the proper operation of mercury. That
‘gs a mistaken notion, which induced some farriers to give the edible roots, as

14
Itz CAUTERIZING. ANTICOR—CAUSE, SYMPTOMS, CURE

turnips, canots, &c. to the horse under a course of mercury. They war with
its operation, and cause that very commotion in the bowels we should most
sedulously avoid. .

In recommending the free application of the actual cautery to the farcy
buds, in the last page, 1 do but follow the common practice, being altogether
the safest means in ordinary hands, who apply fire in many other cases, with
much less reason than is dune in that of farcy. Butter of antimony, or sul-
phate of copper, effects the same end, and has the recommendation of being
used exclusively by the French veterinarians. What La Fosse says on this
point is emphatic, and shows his opinion of the predisposing cause of farcy:
“Do not apply fire in any manner to lumps produced by farcy, under an idea
of stopping the disorder. The disease being in the blood, treat it accordingly,
and as for the lumps, cut them off: apply blue stone, dissolved in water.”
When he forefends the “idea of stopping the disorder,” doubtless in saying
this he only allows that to be the true farcy, which I have considered as the
third stage, or confirmed kind. But the earlier or milder stages, which would -
ultimately end in the third or most virulent kind, if not stopped, being occa-
sioned by the cessation of the lymphatic function—when the attendant glands
refuse to communicate with the system (the blood,) can not have yet carried
the consequence of that stoppage into the blood. In making this remark, I
have not overlooked what was said of the practice in Morocco at a preceding
page, 135, note.

ANTICOR

ls more prevalent in France than in this country, and is so named from its
position, anti against, and cor the heart. The French words ante-ceur have
the same meaning, and are derived from the same origin. It consists in an
’ inflamed swelling of the breast near the heart, and the name is extended to
any other swelling from this part back under the belly, even unto the sheath,
which also swells: in this event anticor is decidedly dropsical.

Cause.—Full feeding without sufficient exercise, similarly to this whole
train of disorders which I have been just above considering. Hard riding or
driving, and subsequent exposure to the elements, or giving cold water to ani
mals that ave very fleshy in the forehand, as is the case with the greater part
of Erench horses; these, combined with a vitiated state of the blood, which is
then sizy, produce those extended swellings that partake somewhat of the na-
ate of swelled limb in grease, and yet terminate in abscess when the case is a
bad one.

Symptoms.— An enlargement of the breast, which sometimes extends up-
wards to the throat, and threatens suffocation. The animal appears stiff about
the neck, looks dull and drooping, refuses his food, and trembles or shivers
with the inflammation, which may be felt. Pulse dull and uneven. By press-
ing two or more fingers alternately, the existence of matter, or a disposition
to suppurate, may be ascertained (asin poll-evil) by its receding from side to
side as the pressure is withdrawn. (n the other hand, if the disease owes its
origin to dropsy, each pressure of the finger will remain pitted a few seconds
after the finger is withdrawn. Consult “ Poll-evil” in its two stages.

Cure.—As in other cases of tumour, that do not partake of critical abscess
after fever, &c., this disorder admits of being repressed, readily, by the means
before prescribed, or of being otherwise cured, as it may be allied to some disor-
aer of the constitution. To repress the swelling, bleed the patient copiously ;
give purgatives and clyster him; give bran sO nate and let the chill be taken
off his water. Foinent the throat and breast with bran mash or marshmallows,
every four or five hours; and when these have reduced the symptoms, give ab
AREASE—OWING TO DEBILITY, 143
Alterative Ball,

Emetic tartar, 2 drachms,
Venice turpentine, half an ounce.

Mix with liquorice powder enough to make the ball for one Jose. Give one
every eight-and-forty hours. On the contrary, if the swelling depend upon
dropsy, as aforesaid, let a fleam or horse lancet be struck into the skin at four
or five places distant from each other, and in the lowest or most depending
part of the swelling. From these punctures a watery discharge will take
place, that relieves the patient of his affliction hourly, and the issue of matter
ts to be promoted by keeping open the sores as directed in the case of fistula,
&c. at page 119: again, when the swelling indicates the collection of morbid
matter, let it be fomented, poulticed, and opened as directed iu cases of critical
abscess, in poll-evil, fistula, &c.: the whole series of these diseases are of the
same nature, but differing principally as to situation, which sometimes affects
the disease mainly. In this case, for example, the swelling sometimes ascends
along the throat, and goes nigh to choke the patient: recourse must be had
immediately to poultices, and let these be changed twice a day. The modee
of bandaging may be learned by consulting those I have given sketches of, in
other cases, at page 79, &c.

GREASE,

Causes.—This is another of the diseases that take their rise in a tardy cir-
culation of the’blood, and consequent indisposition to take up and carry back
again to the heart that which has been sent into the extremities for their nuur-
ishment and renovation. In Book I. at bottom of section 44, this process of
taking up, or absorption, is spoken of, whilst the few pages that are there be-
stowed on the manner in which the circulation is carried on, show the im-
portance of this function, and point out the principles that should guide us in’
promoting it, when aught has occurred to retard its action. When great age
and consequent lethargic habits cause the blood to circulate slowly, our art
can but ill supply the remedy, thqugh the evi] may certainly be alleviated by
stimulants. A small portion of beans given to aged horses admirably assists
the circulation of the blood, especially towards the heels, whilst this very spe-
cies of food given to young horses will promote humours of the hind legs in
particular, where grease is mostly situate. ‘That is to say, at the part of the
animal that is rernotest from the heart is the effect of a slow circulation most
frequently recurring, and to heavy fleshy cart horses oftcner than to those that
are lighter and freer from flesh about the heels.

Trimming. the heels of the hair, which was intended to kecp them warm
in winter, is a very prolific source of grease. Thorough-bred horses never
incur this disorder, so far as I can learn; and the chances in favour of those
which are produced by crosses from blood stock, is in proportion to the amount
of their breeding,

A cold in the heels is caught by walking the horses through water whilst
they are hot: or beirg put into the stable with wet feet at nights; or lying in
a stable that imperfectly keeps out the wind; all conduce to that stagnation
of the blood, or tardy performance of its function, that causes the animal to
generate this disease. They term it debility, but J think we had hetter sav
© want of ability,” or of vigour to drive on the circulation of the blood ; so that
if the blood that is left behind in the fine capillary vessels be ever so good and
proper fur its purpose at first, yet the very circumstance of its remaining idle
gauses an inflammatory heat, that attracts towards itsclf all such congema
a4 EXPERIMENT. WHITE FEET, LIABLE TO GREASE.

particles of the blood which may have been sent through the arteries to the
part for the propagation of new horn, or the supply of marrow—of the nature
whereof the matter partakes. Indeed, I have very little doubt that the mar-
row is.concerned ‘n the production of grease; for I have successively examined
twenty legs which were affected with grease at the time life was exting ished,
and the marrow was invariably confined to the lower part only, as if it were
fallen down there for want of vigour, whilst the upper part of the bone waz
hollow, in every iustance : healthy leg bones are always full to the top of each
and I have reason for thinking that this is the case with all debilitated horses,
Again, the glutinous substance that pervades the surface of the coffin-bone,
and to which I have attributed the formation of new horny matter of the
hoof, is always found scanty in greasy-healed subjects. See my observations
on the foot in the next chapter.

One of those legs parted from the knee, having the skin removed, but other-
wise untouched, was hung up in the yard whilst the sun was at 70 degrees
(July, 1825). In three or four days the grease might be seen to give a colour
to the lewer part at the fetlock joint, and every day the greasy nature of the
colour was evident to touch and smell, whilst the articulation of the large pas-
tern and sesamoid bones remained unaffected in either way. Upon breaking
the bones nine months afterwards, the marrow had all escaped without a
puncture, i, e. through the bone.

The-following ingenious suggestion I find among much voluminous Vete-
rinary Memoranda, but whether it be my own, or I owe it to some friend, I
have no means at hand for ascertaining, nor does my recollection serve me
sufficiently to say who. ‘ Horses with one or two white feet are more liable
to the grease in the feet that are white than in the others; and if the pr-_posi-
tion be true that white feet are weak ones, we come to the same conclusion
that the want of colour having occurred through want of vigour in the part:
then weakness and grease have the same cause.”

Symptoms.—First perceptible by a swelling at the heels, mostly of the hind
legs. This is occasioned by local inflammation, and is soon follswel bya
slight issue of greasy matter, whence the name; but it is sometimes more wa-
tery, ichorous, and offensive, which will depend principally on the constitu-
tional health of the patient. The swelling sometimes extends much higher
than the fetlock joint, even towards the hough, and occasions stiffness of the
limb and indisposition to move. He can not lie down, by reason of the un-
bending nature of his joints, and therefore stands to sleep, which renders the
disorder more virulent by the accession of fresh matter to the part; the skin
cracks at various places, and ulceration ensues. The hair sticks out like furze,
the discharge is darker than originally, is thin, acrid, corroding, and stinking.

Remedy.—T he grease is one of those disorders about which we should em-
ploy our ingenuity in prevention rather than the cure; and this indeed is the
case with nearly all the diseases that depend upon constitutional defective-
ness, or rather inability of some of the organs of life to perform aright the
functions of nature. How these ought to act I have spoken at large in the
second chapter of book the first; and pointed out the free circulation of the
blood as the principal cause of health, as would also the want of a good circu-
lation prove the harbinger of disease. Now this affair uf grease being pro-
duced entirely by such inactivity, it seems clear that exercise would be the best

reventive of it; and the horse-keeper should also keep the heels dry after work
ts over, and hand-rub him e little with as much industry as he can afford. He
should also let the hair remain on the heels of his heavy horses, and give to
the large ones sufficient. depth of stall and bed, so as to prevent such from
throwing their long .egs half way out in the stable (as too often happens) upon
‘Le cold floor, of winter nights,
WASIIES. 145

In slight attacks, a wash made of a solution of alum, as under, will correct
che disposition to grease, and a dose of physic set all to rights in a short time;
both, however, regulated according to circumstances. When considering
these, we should inquire into the preceding habits of the patient, as to his»
usual evacuations, and whether these have been stopped; for it frequently
happens that grease is caused by the suspension of the urine balls, to which
many proprietors are so very much addicted, that they give them without rea-
son, or suspend the giving through the same whimsicality. Ip this latter cawp
give the diuretic powder, and the hotse will require very little more physi".
Again, if the animal require opening physic, give him the purging ball a»
under, and in-door exercise; but should his debility be then very great, thn
commotion this would occasion might reduce him too much, and therefore, th
alterative ball will do better, with the same attention to in-door exercises if hy
can bear it. Sometimes, however, the heels are so cracked and chapped, tha
every step the animal takes only makes the matter worse; we should ther
assiduously apply ourselves to keeping the heels clean, with water of which
the chill has been taken off, and with a brush get rid of as much of the run-
ning as possible; and after drying it well with cloths, use the alum wash of
the stronger preparation; provided always the inflammation be not too high at
the time, but which the warm water without the alum wash has a tendency
to alleviate. '

I will now set down the several articles just recommended above, premising
this much as an apology for the numerous recipes here prescribed, that the
grease requires we should be always doing a something for the animal, either
of topical application, or in devising the means of ome off the cause of the
disorder by stool, by urine, or by perspiration. For, by keeping one or other
of these evacuations a-going, we enable the animal system, to take up, or ab
sorb (as before described) the watery particles of the lymphatics, which re
maining indolent constitute the disease,

Alum Wash.—No. 1.*

Alum, 2 ounces,
Blue stone, 2 drachma,
Water, 1 pint.

Mix and wash the part two or three times a day.

Strong Alum Wash.—No. 2.

Alum, d

Sugar of lead, of each 2 ounces,
Vinegar,

Water, 1 pint. Mix and use as before,

Strongest, or Mercurial Wash.—No. 3.

Corrosive sublimate, 2 drachms,
Muriatic acid, 4 drachms,
Water, 1 pint. :

Mix and apply in inveterate cases.

* Instead of this, the following Is preferred by some persons, and those good judges we

Goulard’s ext
White en { of each 1 drachm,

148 Water, ] quar. Mix.
146 SWEATING AND URINE BALLS. ALTERATIVE REGIMEN.
Diuretic Alterativc Powder.

Nitre,

Powdered resin, i of each 2 ounces.

Mix, and give in four doses, of mornings. To be continued until its effects
ere visible,
#4

Purging Balls.

Alves, 9 drachms,
Hard soap, 3 drachms,
Ginger, 1 drachm.
Max with mucilage sufficient to form the ball for one dose.

The Alterative Ball,

Aloes, 6 drachms, 7
Hard soap, 8 drachms,
Ginger, 3 drachms.

Mix with mucilage sufficient to form the mass, and divide it into four balls.
Give one every morning until the bowe!s are opened sufficiently.

The perspiration must be promoted by the following

Diaphoretic Ball.

Emetic tartar, 2 drachms,

Venice turpentine, 4 drachms. .

Mix well, with liquorice powder sufficient to form the ball into one dose; and
give every other night fora week or ten days, taking care to clothe the patient,
or put a rug on his body at least, regulating his sweats according to the
weather. Some persons do not think it too much trouble to divide the forego-
ing Lall into two parts, and give one every night for the periods just mention-
ed, which would bring the whole quantity of emetic tartar to the same amount
in the end. Becareful to buy it genuine; and if the horse be taken care of
while in his sweats, it will mainly contribute to his getting well. The patient
is not to have this sweating ball whilst he has other physic ih him; but it may
be given alternately with the foregoing powder of nitre and resin ; and is better
administered thus, when it happens that the individual requires to be set a sta-
ling, and we think best to sweat him at the same time. If the medicine makes
his bowels grumble, add to the ball

Opium, half a drachm, *

which some do pu into the prescription, whether or no. But then the opium
having a tendency to bind the body, it counteracts our labour in this respect,
and is not desirable in case the animal requires opening physic.
Regimen.— A good generous feeding should be allowed, with a few beans
for the elder patients only; and in all cases where the disorder has lasted a
long w.ale and the cure is effected with difficulty, a run at grass is greatly
conducive to comjlete recovery; especially if the convalescent. can be allowed
the onion of a field, or covered shed, lying high and dry, or the advantages
of the oomestead, with an allowance of corn and hay. This change of regi
wen i3 greatly assistant of absorption when the physicking has ceased, espe
THE MANGE-ITS ORIGIN. 147

cially where the disorder has terminated with a tedious ulceration which causes
lameness, on which event he should not be exercised; but let the parts be
poulticed with a turnip poultice, or it may be made of oatmeal and the grounda
of stale beer, or both may be employed alternately ; and then the parts, if 'uxu-
riant or thick, may be washed with a solution of blue vitriol in water, or the
wash, No, 3. Dress the cracks with the following

Ointment.

* Oil of turpentine, 3 drachms,
Hog’s lard, 6 ounces,
Litharge water, half an ounce. Mix.

This may be varied by substituting Venice turpentine, half the quantity of
the oil. In these inveterate cases we have now under consideration, a change
of medicine is desirable, if but for the change which it occasions in the animal's
digestive powers; for this purpose the blue pill has been given as an alterative,
as well as that other preparation of mercury, the well-known crlomel. Both
act upon the kidneys, and set them in motion for the production of urine; end
calomel chiefly effects this, by previously stimulating the liver, which again is
very desirable by way of change,

Alterative Balls,

Calomel, 1 1-2 drac!

Aloes, 3 drachms, “
Castile soap, 6 drachms,
Oil of juniper, 40 drops.

Mix; make into three balls and give one daily for a week; but should it gripe
the animal, discontinue it, or add opium from half a drachm toa drachm.

SURFEIT—MANGE.

Both of these diseases of the animal’s system, and the first-mentioned proves
its connexion with the second by sometimes ending in the mange. Over-
feeding, or too much of it, or gross feeding, as it is the cause of these twin dis-
easeg, 80 are the two appellations it receives in the different stages of the at-
tack descriptive of the cause: both are of French origin, as I apprehend ; sur-
fait or overdone, being tantamount to mange, in its imperfect tenses, the
effect‘of eating too much, which has brought on the disease. A surfeit, or
sur-fait, is not an uncommon disease with reasonable man, and is alike caused
by eating improperly, if not too much, and scmetimes from the preparation of
viands that are over-luxurious for the stomach that is to receive it, and is in
fact incapable of digesting it. This is a state of the stomach that is by no
means uncommon, and up to a certain extent happens every day to the ful
feeders of every genus of created beings. If, during this full and over-replen
ished state of the alimentary canal, and its then active state of lactification (0
making of new blood), a sudden check be put upon the said process, by drink
‘ng cold water for example, what happens but the rapid propulsion of some
part of the blood through the arteries, whilst the mouths of the offended lac
teals close up for a period, and the blood, already filling the capillary vessels
ot the surface, becomes extremely irritable? Perspiration ceases ; the lympha
tics refuse to perform their office of absorption, and the blood so deposited in
a due course of nature, forms innumerable small tumours under the skin, or
become scaltby, and throw off a dry scurf. The first has received the appro
148 CAUSE AND REMEDY, CONNECTED.

priate name of surfeit, the secor.d is the more loathed mange, buth having bu
one common origin. They are of the class of tubercular diseases, spoken of
by M. Dupuy quoted higher up (as partaking of ylanders, &c.), are akin tc
grease, and to other accessions of matter on the surface, differing only as t
situation, and like the grease, require that we should promote absorption anc
the application of repellants.

The cause of surfeit is thus distinctly met by the means of cure. The
symptoms, however, frequently announce the disorder that has taken place
within but a few minutes ere they subside again, to the utter surprise of all
veholders. On such occasions mischief is supposed to lie in wait, and it is
generally understood that the pustules, or tumours, only retreat from the skin
0 infest some more vital internal organ; but I always considered that such an
attack had subsided through its own weakness, for nothing ever came of it
after thus retreating spontaneously. Like surfeit in man, these tumours are
attended with a pricking pain, the animal appearing restless, flinching from
the touch, and looking round sharp at his legs and sides as if he were spurred
trivially. Whenever he can bring the parts to bear against the stall, the bail,
or the wall, the animal will rub violently, until the hair comes off, and the
skin is raw. Instead of tumours that emit a sharp, acrid, and stinking hu-
mour, like grease, a dry scurf appears, resembling scabs, and this is mange in
some animals: whilst other subjects exhibit no eruption whatever, though eve-
ty _ is affected in a small degree, the skin becomes dry, and he is then hide-

ound. -

Cure.—Surfeit is easily removed by a cooling purgative ; but if the pulse be
high, he should be bled also. Promote perspiration by means of the diapho-
retic ball recommended at page 146, with the same precautions as are there
set down. If the animal be fat, he must be reduced; give bran mashes, sod-
den oats, and good exercise; and should moisture be found to discharge from
the skin, wash it with the

Surfeit Wash.

Blue vitriol, 1 ounce,
Camphor, half an ounce,
Spirits of wine, 2 ounces.

Mix in a quart bottle, and fill it with water. Wash with soapy water warm
(as in grease), rub dry, and apply the above wash once a day, and at the samu
time give one of the diaphoretic balls, as above. Let the diet be cool and open-
ing, as scalded bran, sodden oats, or barley: and if the horse is low in fiesh,
mix an ounce of fenugreek seeds with his corn daily for a fortnight at least.”

THE MANGE

Sometimes succeeds an ill-cured surfeit ; and 1s moreover an original disease
arising from filthiness, hard ne ill-usage, and the consequent depraved
state of the system. 1t partakes of the nature of itch in ma -, is communica-
ble by means of the touch, by using the same harness, cloth. \g, &c. and pro-
bably by standing in the same stall as a diseased horse may have left.

The symptoms are stated in the preceding pages, and from its cause we
may rest assured never attacks horses in condition, As in surfeit, the horse
‘s constantly rubbing and biting himself: great patches of the coat are thug
rubbed away, and ulceration frequentiy supplies the places. Scabs appear at
the roots of the hair of mane and tail; large portions whereof fall away.
When eruptions appear, they form a scurf, which peels off, and it is sacceeded
vy fresh eruptions.
HIDE-BOUND, CAUSED BY INL ERMAL TUMOURS. 149

The cure is to be effected by topical applications of sulphur, and giving the
same internally as an alterative; but mercurials are mostly preferred by our
moderns; and there is not such a variety of opinions and prescriptions at this
moment in practice for the most momentous diseases, as for this loathsome
malady: neglect and ignorance having brought on the evil, ignorance and
stupidity engage to effect thecure. [shall subjoin a few forms of those which
are In most repute, and ‘have been found effectual: even alteration is fre-
quently found beneficial, though it may not at first seem to nave been for the

st,

Mange Ointment.

Prepared hog’s lard, 2 pounds,
Sulphur vivum, 1 pound,
White hellebore, in powder, 6 ounces.

Mx with oil of turpentine sufficient to make a soft ointment, rub the animal
wherever the eruption and scurf appear, with hair cloths, or a new besom, 60
as to get rid of the loose filth before applying the ointment. Rub it in well
every other day, and give the following

Alterative for the Mange.—No. 1.

Tartarized antimony, 1 ounce,
* Muriate of quicksilver, 2 drachms,

ea } powdered, of each 3 ounces.
+

Mix, with mucilage sufficient to form the mass; divide it into six balls, and
give one every morning until the eruption disappears,

Alterative for Mange.—No. 2.

Antimony in fine powder, 8 ounces,
Grains of Paradise, 3 ounces,

Mix, and add Venice turpentine to form the mass which divide into twelve
balls. Give one daily whilst the rubbing is contin acd.

HIDE-BOUND.

The cause of hide-bound is commonly the same as that which produced the
ast-mentioned disease, viz. poverty, only that the particular animals may not
both be in the same state of general health, and the more depraved would in-
cur mange, whilst another would become simply hide-bound. ‘This is less of
an original disease than the effect of some other, and of bad digestion and von-
sequent defective perspiration beyond all others, as may be inferred from what
I have said concerning the intimacy that exists between those two operations
of the animal system in my second chapter of book 1, at pages 23—25. The
justness of this view of the cause of hide-hound was further proved by a series
of dissections of this particular malady undertaken by me in May 1820.
invariably found tumours had formed upon the larger lacteal vessels of the
periton@um, on the gut, or the like kind of attack on the pleura that covers
the lungs. The formation of those tumours was no doubt the mediate cause
of hide-bound, and had been brought on (I have evezy ieasun for believing) by
150 SYMPTOMS AND CURE.

the inordinate use of diaphoretics, the stimulating nature whereof, as {s usual
in all such cases, had thus defeated itself.

Horses that are so affected with tumours, are they w hich become distressed
easily, though in good apparent health, upon being pushed on a journey, or
at a heavy drag, particularly when the belly is distended. Thus the cause of
hide-bound exists long before we can perceive it, and is the reason why I re-
commend the arsenical preparation hereafter prescribed, as a tonic, previous
to administering the sweating remedies. The appearance of hide-bound is
frequently ascribed to the worms, botts, &c.; but in all those subjects examin-
ed by me, amounting to half a score or more (for I kept no notes), no worms
were to be found of any consequence, for it would be ridiculous to talk of two
or three such stray insects occasioning such an extensive disorder, so remote
*om the seat of their supposed ravages. "What is very well worth remarking
though such a thing is not very singular) is, that the writer who has most
ustily cried out “ Worms, worms!” upon every occasion of disordered skin
and staring coat, has recently suggested that after all, worms are necessary to
the horse’s digestion ; and the gentleman seems to think that these insects act
upon the.horse’s stomach much in the same manner as pepper on that of man-
kind! Thus he blows hot and cold with the same breath, or rather worms
and pepper with the same pen; for, whilst the worms are so lauded in one
volume of his works, the malediction remains uncorrected in the other.

Symptoms.—As the word implies, the hide or skin seems bound or glued
to the bones; the animal is always very low in flesh, or we might aver that
the skin adhered to the flesh. ‘The pulse is low, and great weakness is mani
fest in every step the patient takes. As the tightness is first observable at the
sides of the animal’s body, before it reaches the limbs, and every hide-bound
subject examined by me proves the fact, I have no hesitation in ascribing hide
bound to disordered digestion, which includes the negation of wherewithal to
digest, or starvation and hard work. Again, one of two extremes attends the
bowels: they are either relaxed greatly, or much constipated—usually the
former; which may be the effect of a long fit of illness from inflammation or
fever, and the use of strong medicine, or much of it.

Cure the animal by the direct contrary conduct to that which brought on
the illness. If its stomach be empty, as commonly happens, fill it nearly with
food that is easy of digestion ; if it be too full, empty it; give alterative laxa.
tives and tonic alteratives afterwards; restore the perspiration by the diaphor-
etic ball recommended at page 146, and let the curry-comb and brush be assidu-
ously applied to his coat. He may then be exercised, but not before, as it is
nearly impossible without inflicting great pain. Besides which, forced exer-
cise, or sweating, as hath been strongly recommended, would in this case only
aggravate the disease ; for if the animal did sweat, it would be caused by in-
ternal pain; probably the tubercles which had formed upon the membrane
would suppurate and burst, and thus confirm the disorder internally by the
icflammation of the ps.cticular viscus where the disorder began. 7

Alterative Laxative.

Aloes, 8 drachms,
Hard svap, 7 drachms,
Anise seeds, powdered, 1 oz.

Mix with mucilage sufficient to form the mass into four balls. Give day
afler day until they effect the purpose of bringing-away a good stool. ‘Then
give the arsenical tonic alterative, thus proportioned for a large horse, witt
care,
THE WORMS—AN UNSETTLED QUESTION. 18}
Tonic.—No. 1.

Prepared arsenic, 10 grains,

Ginger powdered, 1 drachm,

Anise seeds, powdered, 4 drachms,
Compound powder of tragacanth, 2 dr,

Mix with mucilage sufficient for one dose. Give daily for a week, preceded
and followed by mashes, and then give the bark, hua ee

Tonic.—No. 2,

Cascarilla, powdered, 4 ounces,
Ginger, 8 drachms,
Salt of tartar, 10 grains,

Mix with mucilage sufficient to form the mass into four balls; give them daily.
If the eon of arsenic in No. 1 is disliked, substitute the alterative ball
at page 147, and follow it up with the bark as above (No. 2).

The following ball is calculated to improve the coat, and will be found
beneficial when the animal is recovering, if given in these proportions for ten
days or a fortnight.

Alterative Balls,

Tartarized antimony, 3 ounces,
Powdered ginger, 2 ounces,
Opium, 5 drachms.

Mix with mucilage sufficient to form the mass, to be divided into ten balls.
WORMS.

As remarked in a preceding page, 150, so many other disorders, external
as well as internal, have been charged to the existence of worms in the intes-
tinal canal by veterinary writers, that we find much difficulty in persuading
ourselves that this is not the precise ailment which afflicts the animal when
his coat becomes staring, and his skin sticks to his ribs. Most frequently,
however, that ugly appearance which denotes hide-bound, and other similas
symptoms that depend upon suspended perspiration, arise from tubercular dis-
eases of the mesenteric canal (see page 46), and not within the gut or stomach ;
for the excess or the suspension of perspirable matter must alike depend upon
somewhat of a more general affection than worms, that fasten on this or that
part of the stomach or intestine-(as we are told), and can only influence the
part they immediately occupy. Unfortunately, we know of no specific cure
for worms, the remedies that are usually prescribed being of a hot, burning,
and destructive nature, that are as likely to injure the intestine as the worm,
it becomes our primary duty, therefore, to ascertain when the disorder be real.
ly the worms, so as to prescribe the proper remedy when we have ascertained
that the fact isso. Itis very easy to say a horse “has the worms,” and tu

ive him worm medicine; but much more difficult to ascertain the real fact,
than to remove it when well authenticated. Our inquiries, then, should be
directed towards this point as much as to any other unsettled qu2stion—th-
existence and quality of true glanders, for example; and vet more fine ‘earr
182 CAUSES AND DISTINGUISHING SYMPTOMS. NATURAL REMEDIES.

ing has been bestowed upon the uncertain knowledge of botts and other
worms than has attracted the attention of our veterinary writers to any other
portion of their labours. ‘ .

Causes.—Indigestion and consequent stoppage of the aliment in the sto
mach and cecum; which again may be occasioned by bad corn, musty hay,
or hay made from rank grasses,—if all hay whatever does not contain the
means of generating insects, when used without sufficient water; also, when
either substance be swallowed, as often happens, without being properly mas
ticated, through wearing away of the teeth (see page 17), the lampers, &c.
Much pampering of the appetite, by dealers and others, to produce fine coats
by means of stimulants, as eggs, wine, ale, bread, diapente, linseed, &c.
when the effects thereof are worn away, these leave the lacteals (see page 47),
impaired or offended at being deprived of a short-lived energy. The articles
just enumerated form indigestible crudities that become the appropriate nidus
or generating worms in the canal so deprived of its natural functions by arti-
ficial means. Consult again what is said at the conclusion of the first book,
at page 54, &c. Irregular feeding also tends to the lodgment of crudities in
the coecum, or second stomach.

Symptoms.—A staring coat, with emaciation and weakness, were formerly
deemed sufficient indications of the existence of worms to warrant the doctor
in pouring into the animal his monstrous mixtures; for a worm case was es-
teemed by the professor like a little annuity, pro tem. Those symptoms,

. however, are at first rather the presage than the concomitants of worms ; since
they are also symptomatic of several other internal diseases, some of them pro-
ducing worms in the sequel, whilst other some are found still more rapidly de-
structive of life than worms are, and therefore demand more immediate con-
sideration. Slight affection of the lungs, as well as of the liver, being of long 7
continuance, occasion partial roughness of the hair, and slight hide-bound o:
the integuments nearest the seat of disorder, that spreads progressively all
over. The cough which accompanies severe attacks of the worms differs from
cold in the organs of respiration; the first being more deep and cavernous,
leaving a shake or vibrating heave of the flanks, whilst the former comes off
with a wheeze, as if not fetched from so deep a recess,

As the disorder proceeds, and the worms may be supposed to extend thei,
ravages, the patient's appetite is subject to extreme variation; he being some
times ravenous after food, at others not caring to eat at all; which shows that
the stomach is affected, and is frequently succeeded by vertigo, or staggers, A
horse with worms that give him uneasiness in the bowels will leave off eating
sometimes for two or three minutes, when a cavernous rattle may be heard
coming from his inside, and he resumes his feeding. If he endeavours to
kick his belly, it has been construed by the worm advocates into the pain oc-
easioned by worms gnawing his bowels; but neither symptom is an invariable
indication of worms, for he does the same when attacked by any other pain of
the belly—whether colic, tight girth, injury of the sheath, &c.. When the
worms appear coming away spontaneously, with successive stools, no matter
of which kind, it affords proof that the animal has taken grass or hay that con-
tains grasses of an anthelmintic property, and points out the propriety of con-
tinuing him on the same food.

A yellowish ordure appearing about the fundament something like flour of
sulphur, shows the death of a good number of small worms (ascarides) has
been occasioned by some such natural means as the preceding. Some worms
come away as soon as generated in the aliment, but if no other sign of their
existence is manifest, the solitary fact sl.ould excite no uneasiness. When botts
having been detached by similar natural means, leave the stomach—where they
do not always cause inconvenience, we find them adhering to the large intes-
REGIMEN. MERCURY, PRECAUTIONS NECESSARY. , 18:

‘nes and rectum, to which they adhere and cause the animal to rub his breech
against the wall or upright of the stall. Should those symptoms continue, and
the generating of worms remain unchecked, the horse falls into profuse sweats
on the least exertion, and when these cease, he exhibits a weak and languish-
ing conuitven, scarcely notices a brisk application of the whip, his skin adheres
to his ribs and flanks—hide-bound has commenced. Cough more or less hec-
lic according to his remaining strength, accompanies him to his end; for, as
to a cure being practicable when hide-bound arising from such a cause has
tairly laid hold of him, ’tis clean out of the question.

Regimen.—As the commencement of this disorder is mainly attributable
to the coarseness of the animal’s food and consequent incapacity of its guts to
expel the hardened materials, so will an entire change in the mode of feeding
him do more towards effecting a cure than all the medicine we can prescribe,
and all that the most liberal hand would bestow. I think it would be too much
to expect that generous treatment. alone should effect a cure of itself, but 1
certainly have known worms voided after a few days’ casual good keep; and
in these cases I apprehend we may attribute the coming away to the change
or alteration that was so effected in the state of the patient’s bowels. Hence the
propriety of any change of his usual diet, as well as the advantages of alterative
medicines. In the first place, try a run at grass, or give green food in-doors,
or succulent and agreeable vegetables. If poor living has not been the origi-

- nal cause, some defect in conformation has; and the above change, with plen-
ty of water-gruel, bran mashes, boiled potatoes, bruised corn, and the like, by
‘ubricating the parts, may detach the worm, or at least assist the medicine,
which ought to have the same tendency.

Cure.—Since the worms are not always to be killed even by strong poisons,
nor brought away by brisk Berean for a certainty, but are frequently dis-
charged in a few days by an alterative regimen, reason dictates and nature
beckons us to follow her course, in affording to the horse which can not be
spared from work, or a run at grass be obtained, to adopt the means nearest
thereto that lie within our reach. Laxative alterative medicines then obtrude
themselves upon our notice, and in all cases are found to do good, more or less
as they may be addressed to the actual seat of the disorder: in piles if the
worms lie in the intestines ; in powders or liquid, if they occupy the stomach
—in all forms alternately when we are uncertain. The various Lig ane
of mercury and of antimony, with Barbadoes aloes, as being more drastic in
operation; also common salt, box, sulphur, savin (a vegetable peony and sal
Indicus, offer a sufficient variety for the bases of as many varied prescriptions ;
and variation here is most desirable, inasmuch as some kind of worms which
resist the effects of one substance may be detached and hurried off by another.

Water-gruel, as it relaxes the parts, and prepares them and the worm for
receiving the antidote, should precede every other remedy, particularly the
mercurials; a course of which should be followed by a purgative, but not
be given together, as is commonly practised. For ascarides, which usually
infest the large guts, I have found great service in calomel to the amount of a
drachm or more, given over night twice, followed by a purgative next morn ng
after the second.

No. 1.—Mercurial Bolus.

Calomel, 1 1-2 drachms,
Anise seeds, 5 drachms.

Mix with treacle for two doses.
15
154 CALOMEL AND MERCURY, GUOD.
No. 2.—Purgative Ball.

Barbadoes aloes, 4 drachms,

Gamboge, 1 1-2 drachms,

Prepared kali, 2 drachms,

Ginger, 1 drachm,

Oil of amber, a tea-spoon full,

ayrup of buckthorn sufficient to form the ball for cme
lose.

Particular care should be taken of the horse, but he should not take any
gruel for the two days that the mercury is in him, as directed by White, -but
ive him bruised corn or other dry food with little water, the calomel not hav-
ing entered the system. Neither does he require any of the exercises usually
forced upon patients “in physic.” Let a week elapse ere the same bolus and
purge are repeated as before, when they seldom fail to bring away whatever
worms he may have in him. _Instead of the foregoing, some persist in the fol-
wowing old method, by way of laxative mercurial, which, however, I must pre-
mise, seems much too strong, notwithstanding the high character some be-
stow on it.

No. 3.—Lazative Alterative Balls,

Quicksilver, 1 ounce, and
Venice turpentine, 2 ounces.

These being well rubbed together in a mortar, add

Aloes in powder, 2 ounces,
Ginger, 1 ounce.

Mix with syrup of buckthorn, and form the compost into four balls, one to be
given with intervals of five or six days. Water-gruel or a bran mash to pre-
cede each ball, as before, and give the same when the physic may be working
off.
Some horses, however, can not bear the bolus No. 1, calomel having a ten-
dency to gripe; in that case the quantity should be divided into three balls
and given on three successive nights, followed by No. 2, on the fourth morn
ing. In like manner, if the horse be not a very oe one, the above quant:
ty of No. 3, may be divided into six or eight balls, and given at intervals of
two days each until purging is produced. Indeed, neither of these medicines
should be given, least of all continued, when the animal dungs loosely. From
those precautions, it is manifest that my opinion, so often expressed regarding
the misuse of strong medicings, remains unaltered; and if I have been suc-
cessful in impressing the reader with the same wholesome and humane truths,
he will at once perceive the absolute necessity of attending to the symptoms,
to assure himself that the patient really has the worms, and not some other
affection of the liver, kidneys, cecum, &c. as remarked by me at the head of
this article. Mistakes in these respects often prove fatal, or at least affect the
animal's future health.

If worms do actually exist, they can not fail to come away with the forepu-
ing course of medicine; and the patient, though a little weak at first, will come
out of hand with a good appetite, brisk in his manner, and bright as a ruby.
These considerations, however, shuld not influence us to neglect a trial of
the milder medicines, before enumerated, as containing anthelmintic proper-
ties, less powerful indeed than the foregcing, but not therefore less ikely a
WORMS; VARIED REMEDIES. STAGGERS. 155

rove serviceable in ordinary cases. Of these, the Indian salt (sal Indicus)

eserves the first consideration, though denounced as differing very little from
common salt, with a small portion of sulphur, both of which are known to
be goodly anthelmintic. Be its virtues what it may, the following substitute
will be found to contain all the properties of the genuine galt, and may be
employed when this can not be readily procured.

Lazative Powder.—No. 1.

Sublimated sulphur, 4 ounces,
Emetic tartar, a drachms,
Liver of sulphur, 1 ounce,
Bay Salt, 4 ounces,

Mix for six doses, one to be given daily in the corn, which should be previ-
ously moistened with water-gruel. As soon as the bowels are tolerably open-
at desist for a week at least, but should it fail to produce this effect, give the
following

Laxative Balle,

Barbadoes aloes, 4 drachn
Gamboge, 1 drachm, Es
Hard soap, 3 drachms,

Anise seeds powdered, 4 drachms,
Oil of cloves, 6 drops,

Mix with syrup of buckthorn enough to form the mass, and divide into two balls.

Give them on two successive mornings, unless the first prove effectual. I

have found these balls, without any other aid, produce worms, a few, by re-

ee as often as five or six times. Another preparation of antimony may
substituted for the first mentioned powder, viz.

Laxative Powder.—No., 2.

Laver of antimony, 3 ounces,
Cream of tartar, 4 ounces.

Mix for six doses, one to be given daily until the body is opened. But should
not this happen, the laxative ball just advised should be given.

Savin (the leaves pounded, and a spoonful given twice a day in the horse’s
oats for ten days, and then laxative balls above, bring away slimy matter with
the dung, and worms alive. ‘

Arsenic has been tried, to the amount of ten grains a day, for a week, but
its powers are tonic only: it is a dangerous remedy in unskilful hands. All
bitters are anthelmintic and tonic; thus wormwood, rue, and chamomile flow-
ers, have been attributed the faculty of killing the worms, but the fact is not
exactly so; those effects ‘are produced by. bracing the stomach, and restoring
its tone, and thus disposing the parts to throw off the intruders. ;

STAGGERS, APOPLEXY, MEGRIMS, VERTIGO, FITS.
Staccers is the common or vulgar name given to all those disorders of the

head, which consist in vertigo, or “swimming of the head.” Drowsir-ss at-
tending this symptom confers the distinction of sleepy staggers upon this kind
156 FITS, MEGRIMS, NATURAL REMEDY.

oat attack, whilst mad staggers is that affection of the brain which cau es the
animal to kick, to tumble, and plunge about: both are occasioned by diseased
stomach, brought on by inflammation of that organ, or simply by the retention
of a great mass of iegednale food there and in the intestines: constipation
attends every species of staggers, and in some cases the hardened dung ma
pe felt or observed by applying the senses to the proper parts. The breat!
is offensive, the respiration impeded, and the pulse high and sharp in mad
staggers, whilst in the sleepy it is slow, heavy, and full, without vibration [see
page 62]. When these latter symptoms continue a long time, the blood de-
termines towards the head, and the pulse increases, if the animal be one in
good condition: and unless bleeding and purging be employed tec
sooner or later ends in apoplexy, or one paroxysm only, which terminates fa-
tally. High-bred cattle, stallions, and brood mares, which are pampered in
their food with stimulants, frequently fall victims to this kind of attack, as do
their progeny whilst under training, sometimes. In some cases the animal
makes one effort, in others it drops instantaneously; so the reader may per-
ceive that he does not stagger at all: and [ infer that a manifest difference
exists between the two, although both arising from the same cause; for, the
one we may afford some assistance to, and usually succeed in performing a
cure; incase of apoplexy, the only symptom is remediless—death. ‘To pre-
scribe for such an event would be utterly useless, ;

Under the head of “costiveness” I have already considered the origin ot
staggers, and prescribed the remedy at page 68; because that is the disease,
whilst staggers, &c. are but the accompanying symptoms.

THE MEGRIMS is an occasional attack on the sensorium or brain, in which
the animal drops down as if shot, lies motionless awhile, recovers slowly, and
is next day fit to go and do the same thing again, if pushed in his work,
This disorder originated in a foul stomach, in one case that came under my
care, and was at first a fit of the sleepy kind, which afterwards degenerated
‘into megrims; the morbid state of the head, I apprehend, continued in a tri-
vial degree, which any great exertion brought into activity. Sometimes these
megrims are preceded by a short warning, when the animal rears up before it
falls, or rambles like a drunkard ; it then tumbles and plunges about with con-
siderable danger to those who may collect around it. The muscles of the
eye are usually affected, much in the way of horses in locked jaw, or the hu-
man subject ina “falling fit;” but all those symptoms disappear upon em-
ploying the proper remedies, some of them so quickly and by such means as
to appear the effect of a simple mechanical operation.

The cause of staggers, and the symptoms that distinguish the one kind
from the others, being thus settled, without distracting the inquirer with need-
less distinctions of agriculturists or the fanciful reveries of the doctors, let us
proceed to the

Remedies.—F arm horses that live much in the straw-yard, and work hard
on bad hay, &c. will sometimes stand still at once, as if struck motionless in
the inidst of their work, which is a sure sign that some great leading function
has been suspended for the moment by reason of the great exertion, The
driver has nothing more to do in this case than let the tired creature rest for
the space of a minute or two, and then proceed in his work a little more lei-
surely. Prevention is better than cure.

In all ordinary cases of staggers, simply opening the bowels will effect a
eure nine times out of ten; and when the animal shows symptoms of a disor-
dered stomach, the coming disorder may be warded off by a dose of physic. .
In violent attacks, let a clyster be first employed, of warm water, in which
common salt has been dissolved, and the hardened dung brought away by
anual assistance—as more fully detailed elsewhere—see the mude of 4 loing

 
CASE OF LOCKED JAW. 187
this effectually, at page 69. I have known violent cases of staggers cease by
this remedy alone, and the cure was completed with a purgative ball, as pre-
scribed at page 63.

The fits that constitute megrim, or the more genuine staggers, will require
the lancet, and let the quantity of blood taken be commensurate with the
violence of the animal, his bulk and fleshiness. From four to six quarts will
thus reduce his powers, and 1ided by the back-raking and purgative just re-
commended, a cure is soon effected.

LOCKED JAW

_ [s rather the effect of other diseases, of the acute kind, than an original attack

and is symptomatic of approaching death. A prick in the foot and docking
the tail, are fruitful causes of locked jaw. Hot weather is most conducive ta
this manner of dissolution, which is brought about by great excitation of the
nerves, and accompanied by imperfect digestion. The remedy would of course
be found in restoring the tone of the former, and opening the main outlet of
nature, I have seen a case of locked jaw proceeding from inflammation of
the intestines, of a very aggravated nature,

Symptoms.—The case to which I allude was that of an old horse, from
twelve to fourteen years of age, just off from hard work, which seemed to have
lived badly and suffered severely the ills of a protracted life. Date, May 14,
1820, when the weather was prematurely hot. As usual, it becan by the ani-
mal thrusting out its nose and eating with some difficulty, which increased as
the stiffness of the neck became worse. The ears stuck up, and the sufferer
could scarcely move a foot, and this with the greatest pain. Thus, every hour
the malady is found to extend itself towards the more vital parts, until reach-
ing the heart, life is then extinguished. The brain appears to be affected at
the very earliest period of the attack, when the animal evinces unusual appre-
hension, and will neigh and prick up its ears at the approach of any one, as
the last effort of nature to obtain the notice of man. The pulse is then in-
creased to about 70; but in the future stages of the disorder it falls again be-
low 40, and lower still until its final extinction.

In a few hours, the balls of the eyes of the animal just alluded to were turn-
ed back, showing the nerve which retained the ball in position in a very dis-
gusting manner; he appeared to suffer much pain, respiration had ceased, the
abdomen was drawn together, and immediate dissolution was expected mo-
mentarily. "When the subject was opened, I was struck with the inflamed
state of the mesentery, and all the lacteals assumed a bloody appearance. Pre-
viously to this catastrophe, I hit the animal hard on the forehead with my fist,
once: the blow shook his whole frame, which before was as stiff as if made
of wood; its eyes immediately returned full one-half way back again towarda
the proper situation, and I was not mistaken when I imagined that its jaws,
which had been knit together, seemed to relax somewhat, and the rigidity of
the neck gave way.

Remedies have been prescribed, and Mr. Wilkinson of New-castle reporta
several cases of successful practice upon young horses which had acquired
\ocked jaw by being nicked, or docked, or pricked in shoeing. The chief ob-
stacle to the administering of any medicine being the closeness of the teeth,
which defies the introduction of a horn, it may not be amiss to observe, that
profiting by the foregoing experiment, I have in several cases caused a little
relaxation in this respect, by placing a piece of wood upon the forehead and
striking a smart blow upon it with another piece or a small mallet. Some
substance might then be placed between the teeth to prevent their return to
vhe original closeness, whereby the remedies recommended by Mr. Wilkinsoy

*-
158 TREATMENT OF LOCKED JAW.

may be employed with much prospect of success, for he only failed in fou
cases in which the jaws were immoveable by any means which he then knev
of; and as he has treated this particular subject more happily than any vete
tinarian of our time, I think I can not do better than follow the example o.
copying his account of a well-marked case successfully treated.

When called in, he observes, “I fuund the symptoms were a spasmodic af
fection of the muscles of the jaws, head, neck, back, hinder extremities, and
abdomen, which occasioned them to become rigidly contracted, and the abdo-
men was much drawn in; the pulse was about fifty, with some irregularity,
the breathing a little quickened, the jaws were considerably shut, but not so
close but medicine might be administered as a drench with a small horn: the
appetite not diminished, but she could not masticate hay ; the head somewhat
raised, and on elevating it a little more, the haws covered great part of the
ball of the eye, the nose was thrown out from the chest, the nostrils expanded,
the ears erect or perched up, a great stiffness of the neck and back, the tail a
ittle elevated, and, upon a little fatigue, a shaking of it, a straddling of the
hinder extremities: the animal was very costive, and the urine was somewhat
diminished. The mare had been ehoed about three weeks before, and the
farrier had driven a nail into the sensible part of the foot while shoeing her.
The lameness thus produced was soon removed; and the disease came on
after performing a journey; that is, about three weeks after the injury in the
foot had been inflicted. ‘Two quarts of blood were taken off; a purgative
drench and an emollient clyster were given; considerable friction was used
over the muscles of the jaws, head, neck, and back, particularly where they
were found most rigid; a stimulating liniment of turpentine, hartshorn, mus-
tard and oil, was well rubbed over those parts, which were afterwards covered
with sheep skins, as recently taken off the sheep as they could be procured,
which soon brought on sensible perspiration. ‘The diet was principally thin
bran-mashes and oatmeal-gruel, of which she frequently took a little. The -
next day, pulse the same, breathing a little quicker, jaws not more locked; a
constant perspiration had been kept up by the sheep-skins; the purgative
drench not operating, another clyster was administered, which promoted its
action ; the liniment was repeated. Next day (the ninth), symptoms nearly
the same, perspiration copious: the purging having subsided, the anti-spasmo-
dic medicine, composed of opium, camphor, and asafeetida, was given with a
small horn morning and evening, and a similar mixture, with the addition of
three pints of a decoction of rue, was administered as a clyster, morning and
evening. The drench and clysters were repeated morning and evening till the
14th day; and during this, the quantity of opium, viz. 1 drachm, was increased
or diminished according to the violence of the spasms, which at times were
very severe, It was always administered in such a manner as to have its effects
constantly in the system, without producing much restlessness ; during thia
time, there was also a most copious perspiration going on under the sheep-sking,
The bowels becoming costive again, another purgative drench and an emollient
clyster were administered. On the 15th, the drench not operating, a clyster
was given which produced the desired effect. Pulse and breathing a little hur-
ried and Irregular, jaws not more locked, still perspires under the sheep-skins,
appetite guod; but can not masticate hay, 16th, Pulse more regular, breathing
more calm, perspires freely under the skins: the purging having subsided, the
opium, &c. were administered as before, and continued until the 21st, when
another purgative drench and emollient clyster were given. The jaws were
now more open, and the mare could masticate hay; the muscles of the head,
neck, back, and hinder extremities became considerably relaxed, and on rais
ing the head, the haws did not cover much of the eye. On the 23d day, the
surging having subsided, the anti-spasmodic medicine was again emjluyed
HYDROPHOBLA. 159

until the 10th of April, when another purge was administered. On the 12th,
the purging subsided ; the anti-spasmodic medicine was again used a few days
longer, when she was completely cured of the complaint. After this, tonics
were given, which, with a nourishing diet and suitable exercise, soun restor-
ed the tone of the muscles, and the animal became as useful as ever.”

Of the twenty-four cases described, nine came on after docking or cutting
off the tail, from ten days to a month after the operation. In such cases, the
tail was fomented with warm water, and the sore dressed with detersive oint-
ment. It should be remarked, that in all the successful cases the jaws were
not so completely closed but medicine could be given with a small horn, or in-
troduced asa bolus by means of the cane. In some instances, there appears to
have been considerable ditficulty in giving medicine at first, but by persevering
carefully, both medicine and food were introduced in sufficient quantity. With
respect to cold application, Mr. Wilkinson says, he has only tried it once, when
the whole ofa mare’s body affected with locked jaw, except the nostrils, was im-
mersed in snow for some time, without producing any relaxation of the muscles:
on the contrary, the symptoms afterwards gradually increased, and she died on
the third day. In four cases that terminated fatally, the jaws were so completely
closed, that neither food nor medicine could be given by the mouth, On ex-
amining these horses after death, there was some degree of inflammation in the
lungs, stomach, and bowels. It was generally found on opening the spinal
canal, that the membrane tovering the marrow exhibited a very inflamed ap-
pearance, and the marrow itself was tinged of a still deeper colour, whilst the
membranes of the brain exhibited some marks of inflainmation.

HYDROPHOBIA.

No notice whatever would have been taken of this dreadful malady, but for
tome additions to the stock of information already before the public as to the
means of discriminating the true from the false rabies; which 1 am enabled to
furnish from authentic sources. A disease confessedly incurable requires no
more to be said of it; but this hein been at one time or other, the case with
several other subjects treated of in this volume, I must not, consistently with
the duty [ have imposed upon myself, pass it by in silence. Even the names
of authors who have written on canine madness would be serviceable to such
of my readers as may be desirous of extending farther their inquiries concern-
ing this melancholy and appalling disease. Preceding authors have all confined
their information to the dog itself, with mere casual notices of his attacks upon
other animals, and on man. Their researches extended not to the horse, or
but trivially so. But, inasmuch as the symptoms of madness discoverable in
dogs so affected are good to be known te those who would keep their horses
out of danger, 1 am thus further induced to bestow a page or two on the dis-
linguishing character of the true symptoms, and add a hint or two as to pre-
vention, since cure is nearly hopeless at present. .

Causes.—T he bite of a rabid animal, universally of the dog, and in every
ease that I hear of, on the lip. The bull-dog, the lurcher, the mongrel, the
Danish dog, and the shepherd dog, are the kinds most disposed to run at
horses, especially when so affected (the first-mentioned, on other occasions,
usually fighting at the throat), jumping repeatedly at the horse until they get
hold, and the two first pertinaciously holding fast a long time, even unti kill-
ed off, as we hear and believe.* This will happen mostly with horses tight

“On th ming of September 9, 1826, as Mr. Hawkerford, of Bilston, Staffordshiie, waa
a oe wa janie Tom Witlow-hatl a bull-dog, which was with lw master in the road belmos
160 DISTINGUISHING SYMPTOMS. .

reined, or which we bear up in harness, whilst those having the head loose
rear and paw off the offender, or being at large, evade or trample upon him;
out however slight the bite, the mischief is already committed, su that avoidance
vy flight is the only preventive of an irremediable evil, unless we are prepared
to shoot the caitiff, or to run him through. We hear the free use of horseflesh
for keeping dogs in England, charged as one main cause for engendering rabie
or at least quarrelsomeness ; add to this, the denial of water to which some o
them are subjected at a season when dilution is most required—“ what time
the dog-star reigns,” and we think the suggestion is not very far removed from
the fact. At least, we are informed that this appalling disorder is compara-
tively small in other parts of the world, where horseflesh is less plentiful, o1
water, the antidote, is found in abundance, and Lisbon is adduced in proof,
where dogs perform the office of scavengers, and further are supplied with
water by individual housckeepers.* Our own towns, too, in which water is
easily obtained, are much seldomer subject to epidemic visitations of rabies
than others more arid, yet lying open to an access of carrion in abundance,
Dogs invariably take water with much eagerness in every stage of the disorder,
so far as [ have seen, or heard of, orally ; some printed accounts differ. Man
dreads it; but when he can get it down, which has been done within a day or
two ofhis dissolution, he finds the raging heat of his stomach alleviated by the
effort.

Symptoms of hydrophobia. In the dog, its apprbach may be known by a
marked deviation from the general habits of his kind, amounting to dislike
of former friends, a symptom which ought to be particularly regarded. ‘They
have been seen to eat their own excrement, and lap their own urine, besides
other marks of depraved appetite; though at this early stage of the complaint
they are less likely to attack a horse than to resent an affront, or be guilty of
treachery towards friends. But as the disorder increases, he shows an inor-
dinate desire to gnaw any substance whatever, and evinces augmented an-
tipathy to cats. Even the dog called Danish, though mostly kept with, and
very fond of horses, would, as soon as affected, be the most likely to snap at
his old companions’ noses. As the malady increases, his eyes become: in-
flamed, and are affected with a blearing from the lids. He howls horribly
when the throat is inflamed at the larynx, or part where the voice (barking
proceeds from ; the sound of which whoever has once heard, he can never af-
terwards forget or mistake, unless he himself be bit, or become deaf. The
zonfirmed mad dog now usually sits upon his rump to howl his obstructed
bark, through very pain from apparent intestinal inflammation. If suffered
to range about as the last stages approach, he seems bewildered and devoid
af sight, and should be either avoided or attacked with clubs and other wea-
pons to extirpation ; feeble eepeon is obviously dangerous._

The symptoms of hydrophobia coming on upon the horse are direct and
positive ; blood on the lip, and other marks of violence, convey the first intelli-
gence that the mischief has been inflicted ; for neither horses, sheep, nor neat
zattle incur rabies without inoculation. We are further told, by M. Huzart,
that they do not possess the power of communicating the disease by bite to
other animals, even though labouring under the highest degree of hydrophobia
at the time; a fact I do not further vouch for, but hick. when proven by.
well-marked cases, would go far towards inspiring confidence and certaint
in applying any of the alleged remedies. ‘What man is bold enough to ad-
minister a ball, for example, whose own life is at stake, ingloriously, by the

the horse by the nose, and retained its hold, though the horse tan away, overturned the gig, and
shrew the par-y ‘nto a hedge. Still the ferocious brute retained ita hold, until its throat was cw
ow the spot. Vide Annals of Sporting, No. 58, page 238.

*In “Annals of Sporting,” No. 46, page 217, signed J. B-
REGIMEN, AND TREATMENT. 16!

feat? Increased pulsation, inflamed throat, and evident thickening of the
membrane that lines it; soon after, the stomach being also inflamed, rejecta
food, or the patient is at least indifferent to it, which may occur about the
eighteenth day after the inoculation; four or five earlier if the animal be in
eee condition, so still sooner if high fed and full of blood. Shortly after, i.e.
rom five to eight days, the bitten parts enlarge, and difficulty of swallowing
evidently proves that the disorder is making progress; the patient rubs the
part ‘against the manger, stall, or wall, increasing in vehemence from the
twentieth or twenty-third day. He does not drink water freely, as usual,
though this is by no means a certain criterion, for his power of swallowing is
already imperfect : he does not flinch from water when sprinkled over his face,
but will even drink to the amount of a pailful, when occasionally he can find free
passage for it, and the whim may be said to seize him. Some rabid horses

‘ will take to water, and one in a very high state of excitement was known to

have run into a river. Suppression of urine next proves that the inflamma-
tion has reached the region of the kidneys, which is effected by way of the
stomach; perspiration and excessive exacerbation ensue, with inflammation
of the parts of generation, accompanied by contraction in the male—yet a geld-
ing was found to have protruded its sheath, and staled with much pain to the
amount of half a pint, about the twenty-fourth day.

‘Weakness of the back and loins sometimes is observable at any period of
the disease; some quadrupeds being thus attacked, and falling down mad
without previous indication of rabies,

The eyes glassy, fiery or red—loss of vision ; tongue sometimes shoved out,
and then gnashing of the teeth. The raging symptoms increase from the
twenty-second or twenty-fourth day to the een or thirtieth day after
being bitten, when the animal will beat itself to death, unless the owner more

- humanely puts it out of pain with a musket; for ’tis dangerous to approach

within reach: the interposition of a strong gate across the stable, and the ap-
plication of a strong rope well fastened, are good preventives of accident
during this final operation, or a cart that will bear some kicking might be
employed. :

Rerinens None will afford any permanent relief, though it has been usual
to place before it water as a test of its madness—though now known to be a
fallacious one in any state of the disorder with any animal whatever. All
horses continue to feed up to a certain period—until the stomach is attacked—
and some eat voraciously in the intervals of the fits, and drink too, but no gocd
can be expected from either, unless made the vehicles for the introduction of
some nostrum. Ifa cure be attempted, certainly nutritious food, easy of gi-

estion, and cooling, must assist it. The stomach being very much inflamed
in this disorder, points out the propriety of bran mashes, marshmallows, and
of water gruel, given cold, which will afford the means of alleviating the an-
guish of that organ, to the coats whereof the last food taken by the expiring
patient has been found to adhere after death; that is to say, the fibrous coat
of the stomach of the subject alluded to identified itself with the food su inti
mately, that it stripped off whilst the insensible coat still adhered.

Remedy.—Every possible remedy, some of them of opposite tendency, has
been tried on the dog, and on man. Sea-bathing, the Ormskirk medicine,
copious bleeding, excision of the part, the actual cautery, and cupping the

arts, have been each employed—successfully, we are told; but no reliance
van be placed on either, since they oftener fail, though there is no reason why
the horse should not undergo bleeding and cutting off the laceration as soon
after the accident as possible. When we consider that the part bitten is eve
observed to enlarge previous to the horse showing other signs of confirme.
uydrophobia, it seems clear that the cutting off the immediate cause of incipi
162 NOSTRUMS RECOMMENDED; BATIIING.

ent rabies preszes itself upon our notice as the most efficacious measure for
warding off the disease. Six months is no unusual time for dogs to conceal
rabid infection, a quarrelsome disposition being for a long time tne only indi-
cation perceptible ; but the horse seldom goes beyond the twentieth day in de-
veloping all the symptoms before enumerated ; which shows that the peculiar-
ly rapid circulation of the blood, noticed elsewhere (page 59) as the harbinger
of inflammatory complaints of every kind in the horse, naturally demands
early and copious bleeding as a good accessary remedy for this particular one.
In this case alone we should not be solely guided as to the quantity of blood
proper to be taken by the quickness of the pulse, or actual inflammatory indi-
cation, but its fulness, and habit of the patient’s body: empty his body sub-
eequently, as directed in cases of fever, with a brisk purgative, as follows:

Purgative Ball.

Aloes, 7 drachms,
Calomel, half a drachm,
Hard Soap, 3 drachms,
Oil of caraways, 12 drops.

Mix with mucilage sufficient for one dose. If the animal seem not otherwise
to fequire purging physic, omit the calomel, and omit it also if the bleeding
has been trivial on accouut of the previous low state of the animal’s system.

The application of the plant Scutelleria laterifolia is lately reported from
North America to have succeeded in several cases; but the symptoms do nat
accompany the report made to us, and we rest in doubt as to its efficacy.
However, let it be tried. So we say of “any mineral acid,” which a certain
medical gentleman recommends may be applied—a few drops on tow to the
wound whilst fresh. This may be tried in the form of oxygenated muriatic
acid, which has the property of being destructively detersive; it decomposes
the virus, and acts as a styptic. Salt water bathing has been employed upon
a large scale, and has been loudly commended; then, let common salt be also
tried to the amount of two or three ounces a day mixed with the patient’s corn.
It is but fair to add, that sea-bathing failed of effecting any good, when tried
upon the canine under the best auspices. The king’s stag-hounds, in 1823,
being more than suspected of rabies, were taken to Brighton, and the ablution
well performed under the directions of Mr. Sharpe, the huntsman, but to no
good effect ; they were all destroyed. Dr. Fayerman, of Norwich, published
1 case in the spring of 1825, of the cure of hydrophobia in a man of forty-two
years, by giving him superacctate of lead (Goulard’s extract) in doses of from
fifty to ten drops on ae of sugar. He also bled the patient, who was at
one time raging mad. Strong soap boilers’ lye, or solution of potash, in either
of-its varieties, has been used frequently as efficaciously detersive of the virus’
left by the bite or bites inflicted by a rabid enemy ; besides which, the scat of
all the wounds may thus be discovered, as they usually lie concealed by the
hair; and thus, if excision be deemed necessary, every injured part may be
similarly treated: let the eyes be guarded against the lye, and the wounds
should be quickly pressed and assiduously washed. An eschar forms and
completes the cure. The once celebrated “ Ormskirk Medicine” is unworthy
of reliance.

The subject of canine madness has been well handled by Mr. Gilman, in
his “ Dissertation on the Bite of Rabid Animals,” 8vo, Mr. Daniel, in his
‘Rural Sports,” has made some good, sensible, practical observations on this
subject. r, Thomas, in his “ Shooter’s Guide,” is more pithy than commu
nicative ; be recommends immediate death being visited upon the victitas of

N
WIK/TERS ON HYDROPHOBIA. 163

the disease ; a very effectual mode of preventing communication, truly, but he
seems not aware that premature judgments would be very likely to consign to
death man fend animals afflicted with other disorders than rabies. Subse-
quently, Mr. Johnson, in his “ Shooter’s companion,” has printed some in
teresting details of occurrences within his own proper sphere. Dr. John
Pinckard’s “ Cases of persons who have fallen victims to the bite,” are well
marked. But the labours of none are so much in point, as regards the horse,
as the researches of my friend, Mr. John Surr, Surgeon, communicated to
me, subsequently to 1810; in which year he published the result of his dis-
section of several horses which had died of hydrophobia, partly under his own
inspection.* The substance of all my friend’s observations is embodice in the
foregoing pages. A writer, who adopts the signature of H. C. in addressi
the publisher of the Annals of Sporting, has communicated much practical
information on the subject-of canine madness, that is well worthy the perusal
of all persons interested in this order of created beings,

* Those papers appeared in the “Medical and Physical Journal,” No. 131, and several euc
cessive numbers: Mr. Surr being accompanied on one occasion by Dr. Adams and Mr Petit

grew,
164

BOOK III.
OF TIE LEG AND FOOT OF THE HORSE; OR SHOEING-SMITH'’S GUIDE.

_—_———

CHAPTER I.
Structure and Physiology of the Foot ; Mode of studying it advantdfeousvy

Cenra:n disorders of the foot owe their origin to bad structure of the limb,
and tne manner it is attached to the body, which influences the tread, or bear-
ing, that the foot has upon a plane surfaced ground ; others arise from accident
or hard work, and a good number from the errors shoeing-smiths fall into
when they neglect to adapt their work to the circumstances peculiar to each
kind of horse. Furthermore, almost every individual horse has its peculiar
tread, and the scientific: workman should place himself in.a situation to ascer-
tain whether this be owing to such original defectiveness, or to the evil accu-
mulations of age and hard usuage: he must not pretend to counteract, but tc
follow the first mentioned ; the second he may endeavour to correct, to amend,
and prevent its evil effects. In order to effect these objects, he should study
the form and structure of well-formed limbs, learn the uses of each bone, liga-
ment, and tendon, and ascertain how it happens that deviations from symmetry
in the limb always affect the sole of the foot, sooner or later. .

But so much space has been already occupied in the anatomical description
of the leg, that it might properly be considered a waste of time to enter into
new details to the same purpose. The reader will therefore turn back to the
early sections of the first book (page 5, &c.) and he will readily perceive in
what manner an originally defective limb, or the ill-adaptation of the parts to
each other, or its awkward attachment to the body, may become the harbinger
of one or other of the many diseases of the foot, which we come shortly ta take
into consideration. He will know, also, that besides this error of birth, as I
call it, there are others of mismanagement: as, the employment of horses in
work that is beyond their powers, or of that kind for which nature never de-
signed them; either of which is as likely to bring on distortion of the foot, and
its train of disorders, as any accident of birth to which 1 before alluded. Na-
tural defects go much farther than shape or make, and the distinction between
these and the inflicted, or acquired, may be aptly illustrated by the fact, that
white-legged horses, whatever be tneir shape, are more disposed to contract
“grease” than those of any other colour. This is therefore a natural predis-
position to that disease; whilst the animal which is suffered to contract the
“grease” entirely through mismanagement suffers an infliction as much as
another, which, being put upon hard services, throws out splents, spavin, curb,
&c. in consequence.

Furthermore, the shoeing-smith who should inform himself of the primary
causes of badly formed feet would carry on his business with the greatest
emolument to himself, and with the most satisfaction to his employers; for he
would adapt his shoes to the natural defects, whilst the acquired ones he would

mend by degrees until he could control the horses’ heels to a healthy sha, e
MIS-SHAPEN FEET, HOW ACQUIRED. 16

and thus promote the regeneration of healthy horn, He should also accustom
himself to reflect on the various breeds of horses that are brought under his
care, their limbs and hoofs, produced in certain situations, climates, or coun
ties, as we hear them denominated, each /of which requires some peculiar

- contrivance or adaptation. Thus, horses bred in swampy situations have lorg
flabby limbs and large flat hoofs, to say nothing more of their long washy car-
cases, that predicpuss them to contract certain ills which come shortly toe
enumerated. All those “countries” where ague prevails among mankind are
unfit for breeding good horses, as is proved by the thick spongy heel and soft
foot. It was to this peculiar climate I objected some years ago, when I first
printed the advice given at page 18, which has since been corroborated by the
opinion of M. Dupuy, as quoted before at page 130. Brittle hoof is produced
by a hot, sandy breeding country, as much as by the heat and dryness of the
animals constitution, But, to whichever extreme the individual belongs that
unay come under consideration, mis-shapen hoof is visible from the earliest
years, Tvnis increases as the animal is worked, and disease of one descri
sion or another follows, which requires the care of the shoeing-smith to one
fy, or of the doctor to cure. Thus the combination of ferrier (or iron-work
er) and veterinary surgeon in the same person is not so very incongruous as
at first sight may be imagined.

 

In the anatomical treatise that occupies the first chapter in this volume, the
reader will observe (at page 11) how strenuously I insisted on the proper shape
or e.evation of the hoof; and he will not overlook the great service our shoeing-
smith, or ferrier proper, may derive from duly considering this shape and ex-
ternal form, and of adapting his shoe to each deviation from the true form, as
L shall show presently in detail. For that attendant upon and assistant to
nature, who is neglectful of her deviations, or ignorant of the causes which
produce them, is ill calculated for his office, whether that be ferrier or doctor ;
in fact, he is ever the most prizable workman of either class who is best ac-
quainted with those deviations, accidents, or errors that, for the most part, are
inflicted we know not how. ‘The boot and shoe maker, for example, who can
best suit the bumble-footcd man, is a more ingenious mechanic than he who
is wholly employed in making his cordovans for perfect-footed persons only.
But then, the “shoe maker” of either genus should not be ignorant of well-
turned feet, and the symmetry of the horse’s foot should form an especial part
in the education of an intelligent shoeing-smith ; else, how is he to work for
‘he preservation of the proper shape, of its restoration when time or circum-
stances may have effected those alterations we deplore, and strive to amend if
we can not fully restore ? : :

Let him examine nature itself in its fastnesses; let him investigate the
minute parts that constitute the whole foot, to which his operations are calcu-
lated to afford support, or to effect alterations in its form. To aid him in his
inquiries, | have annexed hereto the section of a foot of nearly perfect shape,
prepared by myself, and published some time before these sheets, in order to
meet and correct the blunders intelligent shocing-smiths were every day led

- into by relying upon the misrepresentation of the subject contained in certain
publications of the present day. 1 lamented this the more, because it is im-
possible to withhold approbation from the leading parts of the work in which
the ill-conceived picture appeared, and therefore it is very likely to have diffu.
sed error more extensively than a less popular author could possibly inflict.
As an antidote to all mistakes on this interesting topic, I would recommend
every one who has occasion to meddle with horses’ feet, as owner, groom, or
166 INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE HOOF.

shoeing-smith, to obtain a fresh hoof of a horse which has died in comparative
health, and having softened it in warm water, proceed to make a section there
of, in the sarne manner as I have here done.

Fic. 1. Secrion of THE Foor.

 

This portrait of a section of the healthy hoof was taken from a freshly
severed foot of a five year old horse, recently killed in full health. This latter
remark veterinary readers will know how to appreciate, when comparing this
with their own preparations, which may have been derived (as generally ha
pa) from the anatomy of diseased subjects, after the “blood” which should .

ave supplied fresh secretory matter has been long turned aside, or converted
to increase deformity.

To the general observer, the foot of a horse inclosed in its hoof would, in-
deed, seem like a corpse shut up in its coffin: and there is, certainly, no mode
of arriving at a knowledge how these act upon, and with, each other, than by
dissecting the hoof. By this means the whole arcana of its construction are
jaid open, but in no manner so intelligibly as by the section straight up and
down from the toe up to the coronet, and throughout between the clefts of the
frog and heel. This being done, the vessels which supply the juices for reno-
vating the wear and tear of the whole exterior are plainly bared to the view:
the ligaments, bones, and tendons, show their means and manner of action ;
and, above all, the back sinew laid flat behind the smaller pastern-bone, and
quite so at passing underneath the navicula, and at its insertion in the bottom
of the coffin-bone. On entering the hoof it acquires the term tendo palmaris
among the learned, but this course only serves to puzzle the general reader.

At (a) on the coftin-bone, the general porosity thereof is much greater than
at any other part, being the avenue or receptacle for the blood which is diffused
throughout it, except on the surface, or border, at (bbb). The shape of this
bone at the toe (/) is worthy of note, as being that which is best calculated to
give firmness of tread, fitting with the greatest nicety to the shape of the hoof;
or rather, perhaps, we should say, that the shape of the hoof of a healthy ani-
mal should ever partake of that which we have before us, and is evidently in-
structive to the shoeing-smith in his final raspings, to keep clear at the toe,
Deviations from this rule, bring the coffin-bone nearer the surface of the hoof,
as is shown in fig. 3, plate 3, where the coffin-bone (c) and the wall of the
hoof (g') are in contact; and even this representation, the picture of the Col-
tege, shows tnat the toe of the bone is much sharper than the horn, which they’
tasp away sc imuch at (1), that the new shod animals go a little groggy fora
short time.
MODE OF SEVERING A FOOn. 9)

Betwevn the hoof and the c offin-bone interpose an aggregation of secretor

vessels, forming a juicy elastic substance, that prevents concussion, as would
necessarily happen at every step but for this providence of nature. 1 have
marked it (ec); but this substance, in like manner, pervades the concurrence
of all other bones of the foot, only differing much in quality, and in structure
a little: between the shuttle and coffin-bones it is more vascular, and the blood
is still decidedly arterial. Underneath the coffin-bone at (d), it becomes more
elastic, thicker, and striated, resembling pale India rubber, which qualities in-
crease towards the heel at (e). These latter rest upon the frog (/, ‘f), which 18
horny, or perforable with a point-knife, so far as (g), where it joins the toe
of the hoof, more abruptly as the horse is most warka or otherwise.

The navicula (4,) or shuttle-bone, as it has been called, moves in the midst
of much elastic substance, resting upon and pressing the back sinew flat upon
the strongest part of that substance, above the centre of the frog. ‘This littla
bone, it will be seen, is well adapted, by its shape, to traverse the lower sur-
face of the small pastern (i,) and the lateral edge of the coffin-bone (a,) when-
ever the back sinew (4,) is drawn up to lift the foot, as it does from off the
ground, always returning into its place as the foot comes down. At (2) is the
toe, ™ is the heel of the foot, and at (n) is the near side cleft of the insensi-
ble frog. At (0) is the coronet, or coronary ring, as at (p,) the lowest end
of the large pastern bone. :

At (a) when the bone is recently cut through, no difference of structure is
perceivable, though upon stricter examination, it will be found at the central
part more porous, than that which is adjacent to the other bones; the hard-
ness increases towards the whole surface (6b 6), where the cutting presents a
perfect enamel. But the contents of the receptacle at (a), I have proved by
experiment to be unequivocally the same glutinous substance (in a state of
preparation) as the hoof itself. This process of nature is well explained by
the old aphorism that, “arteries entering bone engender bone, those of mus-
cle create muscle,” and so on; and the blood deposited in the coffin-bone, and
being dispersed over the internal part of the foot, partakes of all the qualities
of bone, membrane, muscle, and skin—the whole combined becomes horn.

If my advice be worth any thing—if my earnest exhortations to invéstigate
the subject effect their object, every man who reads these pages, whatever may
be his station in or about the stable or the smithy, will not fail to make a sec-
tion, or cut down the middle of a hoof at the earliest opportunity. ‘T’o effect
this purpose, the now industrious operator needs little more preparation than
to furnish himself with a cordwainer’s knife, and a butcher's saw with fine
teeth: if he can add to these the use of a carpenter’s vice, in which to fix his
subject, he will much accelerate his labour. aving secured the foot upside
downwards, he will cut down between the cleft at the heel until he comes to
the bone at (5), and the wall, or horny part of the hoof (at 8) where the la-

bour of sawing is to begin. The shuttle bone (/) he will feel and hear rattle
forward and backward at every stroke—the horn yields easily. As he pro-
ceeds, he will find his trouble lessened and his views of the matter in hand
much enlargea by driving into the chasm his exertions have made, some two
or three wellges of wood, whereby he will ascertain that the stiffest part of the

_horn is elastic, even though he should not have adopted the precaution of soak-
tng his preparation, as recommended. He will thus be convinced, that the
application of Bracy Clark’s jointed shoe is not without its uses. But if our
inquirer has soaked his horn as directed, he will find that the warm water
renders it more elastic, and he will conclude that the practice of permitting
their horses to stand in the kennels during the issue of hot water from brew
eries, die-houses, rectifiers’ premises, &c., must soften the hoofs, and indispose
them for immediate concussion over the rough stones of our paved streets.
{68 HORN, INOW COMPOUNDED: CONCUSSIONS.

He will also thus discern why T advise, in certain cases, the enveloping the
whole foot whenever the application of a poultice becomes necessary to any
part of it. 3 :
On completing the section, he will discover two branches of arteries which
descend into the foot at the coronet near the quarters and supplied the coffin-
bone (a), that occupies the cavity of the horny hoof, with fine blood for its re-
production. In other words, the formation of new horn is derived from the
blood, which is sent hither in good quantity, and pervades the internal part of
the coffin bone in particular. In this bone the operator will perceive a cavity,
or rather three hollows communicating with each other, in which the horny
matter is generated. Or, probably, this is the reservoir for such particles of
blood as are suited to the formation of hoof, as it may be required and called
for by the process of nature, and the demands of wear and tear, of rasping and
drawing inordinately, all which must subtract from its quantity, and leave the
bone comparatively hollow, and less fit for resisting the hard concussions to
which it is liable at every step. This fact may be ascertained by keeping a
bisected foot for a.few months, when the moisture having left it in great mea-
sure, in the cavity of the coffin-bone will be found a yellowish glutinous sub-
stance precisely of the same nature and colour as that which fills the space
between the hoof and coffin-bone at cc, in the section at page 166: without
odour and nearly tasteless, its uses are evidently the supply of new hoof.

Seeing this curious construction of the foot, we are compelled to allow that
numerous accidents may also occur to prevent the supply of blood to the parts,
to say nothing of its unfitness at times to carry on its proper purposes. The
two vessels before noticed that bring this supply of new blood descend into the
foot behind the small pastern bone, and pass with the back sinew (k) under-
neath the shuttle-bone (h), as may be noticed in the section, at page 166.
Here it enters the coffin-bone at the sole, by an indentation of the bone de
signed for the protection of the vessels passing in and out. From the recep
tacle in the coffin-bone, after concoction, the blood: issues forth—part of it to
lubricate and nourish the shuttle-bone and its adjacent ligaments, the remain-
der to effect similar ‘purposes elsewhere, but the greater part is destined to
supply the horny material of the hoof.

Those “concussions” at every step, before spoken of, as affecting the action
of the shuttle-bone upon the posterior point of the coffin-bone, occasion trivial
injury at every step in quick motion; more harm arises as the animal is much
pushed in his work; then heat and fever of the foot supervene, contractions
follow, with a train of evils that have acquired different names, thirty in num-
ber, but which [ have reduced by three-fourths, with a view to simplifying
the subject: most of these differ only in situation. Very hard concussions,
or a single injury of sufficient magnitude, produce lameness at once, which:
most unaccountably received the name of “strain of the coffin-joint,” and un-
der which general misconception J shall shortly give it a moment’s considera
tion.

 

The student who would push his inquiries farther will next turn his atten-
tion to the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, that guide the foot; that lift it
up, and suffer it again to meet the ground; that may perform these offices
firm and effectively, or being relaxed, diseased, or ill-formed, they and their
functions agree not with the well-being of the foot. Probably he will find it
convenient to lay open this part of the arcana of progression by the horse’s
wg (the lower part of it) previous to scvering the foot itself, seeing that the
subject will then be quite fresh. and that one part may intelligibly illustrate
ANATOMY OF THE HORSE’S FOOT.
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4.

Plate 2

16*

 

To face page 168
 
  

“g ‘Sg “eal ated sony a,
FOOT AND LEG DESCRIBED. 169

the other. This is more particularly the case with the flexor tendon, or back
sinew; which he will ascertain is of great length, descending all the way from
the hock, or back of the knee, behind both pastern bones, under the shuttle.
bone, and is fastened to the bottom of the coffin-bone.

‘With the following “description” before him, he will study the figures 2
and 3 of plate 3; and after removing the remainder of the integuments, and
cleansing the bones, he will then perceive the articulation of these, the man-
ner of their working in and upon each other; and as he proceeds to repeat
the investigation, he.will note the difference that exists in the shape of a |
taken from a thorough-bred horse and that of a cart-horse ; the one small an
flat-sided, or sharp before, as best calculated for speed, the other round and
heavy, as being made for heavy draught, and to support a large, muscular,
and bony frame. In giving this advice, I presume he has already examined
the superior part of the limb, though the lower bones and their covering come
more immediately under notice in this place.

Description of Plates 2 and 3, of Anatomy of the Horse's Foot.

These figures were not designed or corrected by me, with one exception,
viz. fig. 2, of plate 3; they are, however, very fair representations of the sub-
jects studied, and depicted by members of the College. I have here a small
objection to make to their mode of enlarging the cole ote which they in-
variably draw much tvo big in proportion; why, | never could learn. In fig,
4 of plate 2, for example, where the whole of the integuments are supposed
to be removed, the coffin-bone projects inordinately beyond the small pastern,
which is not the case at all when viewed in front, or at the back. a other
respects these figures speak intelligibly without further explanation.

late 2, fig. 1. Front view of a colt’s foot, hoof, skin removed, and (a) the
sesamoid bone, (6) the large pastern, (c) the coffin-bone, (d) the toe.

Fig. 2. Back view of the same—a a the back sinew, or flexor tendon, as it
appears above its ligamentary sheath and below it, descending flat into the
foot underneath the coffin-bone at (e); d the coffin-bone, having the sensible
sole still adhering to it, cc, the lateral cartilage; b is the sheath in which the
back sinew is enclosed, and moves at every step, but part of the sheath has
been removed in order to show the course of the sinew.

. Fig 3. The whole of the ligaments is here laid open by the removal of the
flexor tendon, whereby is seen (at a) the smooth surface of the sesamoid bones
over which the tendon is ordained to pass; at bb, part of the sheath is turned
back, at ¢ is the hollow part of the sheath; at dd the ligament that connects
the small pastern to the bone above is shown, with its insertion below at e,
whereby the large pastern is kept in position; ff the lateral cartilages ; g the
bottom of the coflin-bone, h the toe.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the same, but with all the integuments removed ;
aa the sesamoids ; b the large pastern; ¢ the small pastern; d the coffin-bone,
but represented rather wider than ordinary. ;

Plate 3, fig. 1, back view of the bones, in which a the shuttle-bone, is seer
that works loosely behind the conjunction of the small pastern, ¢, and coffin-
bone, d; but the small pastern s has been lifted or strained upwards inordh-
nately, as the lower part of it lies concealed, as far as the mark (c) in the
nealthy subject, behind the shuttle-bone. The shuttle bone may be seen at its
middle or thickest part, in the “section of a healthy foot,” at page 166; and
by turning the cut sideways, the perspective will be found sacrificed to no
useful purpose. ‘

Fig. 2. View of the foot, with the hoof only removed, showing the front of
dhe coilin-bone at , and the coronary ring just above it at ¢, in which the «ub
70 AFFECTIONS OF THE LEG AND FOOT.

stance is treasured up that constantly supplies the material for new horn tc the
foot below. At aa the sesamoid bones, freshly severed at the fetlock joint.

Fig. 3. A section of a foot, agreeing essentially with my subject, at pago
166, a evidently drawn from a diseased foot, the elastic process marked ccin
that picture being wanting in this, and the shuttle-bone, d, having lost its
function; neither do we perceive the descent of the back sinew (¢ in the pre-
ceding) to its insertion at the coffin-bone. At a is the lower end of the large
pastern, b is the small pastern, ¢ the coffin, d the shuttle-bone, e the cleft of the
frog, g the wall or hoof, A the situation of the sinew, ¢ the sensible sole.

Fig. 4. Transverse section of the foot, from the coronet a to the point o
the frog 6, having the wall ce on each side, and showing the divided edge of the
sensible sole d.

CHAPTER IL
Disorders of the Foot and Leg.

Introductory Observation. Au those derangements of the limbs: which
we come next to consider, I shall divide, for the reader’s more ready compre-
hension, into—Ist, those of the leg, and 2d, diseases of the foot: for it does
not always happen that affections of the leg alone can be properly denominated
diseases, whilst those of the foot are invariably so. i before observed, that
both, or either, may be occasioned by accident, derived from ancestry, or bg
the fault of misconstruction and consequent misapplication of the individual’,
joa: They may be also considered as, Ist, those of the bones, 2d, of the
igaments, tendons, and muscles. But I shall not so subdivide the heads of
my treatises on the several diseases, since each will appear under the respec-
tive heads of information, besides which (as will be seen further down), when-
ever the bones suffer eens original or acquired, the integuments fol-
low the same evil course. Enough, however, has been said on these points in
the first chapter of this volume. :

Rest is the primal remedy for all acquired disorders of the limbs, whether
those of hard work or of accident; but employing the animal whilst yet too
young, is an universal error, which is but seldom remedied by allowing it reat
when lamenessonce lays hold of him, much less is it capable of being cured. The
impolicy of this practice, the fruitful source of so many evils, is demonstrable
by the custom of the Arabs, who never mount a lame horse, even in the desert,
nor ptupagate from horse or mare which is permanently marked with the ef-
fects of overwork. One remote consequence whereof is, that the foal is not
entailed with a predisposition to contract readily such disorders as 1 come
shortly to treat of; whence the superiority of the Arab breed in this respect...
At least, the fact is to be deplored, that most of our stallions of the wagon-—
horse breed are worked at plough and in the team at two and three years
old, too much for their tender years, and permitted to cover mares at this very ,
early age ; the result of this lamentable cupidity of ownership is, that their get
are impregnated with ong or other of the maladies that I come shortly to enu
merate, ere they reach maturity; but the causes and symptoms whereof I
have shown are so similar, or proceed so naturally out of each other, that they
differ but in name for situation, in treatment nothing. Higher bred cattle
are subjected to the same disadvantages in most breeding studs, in which the
breeders prefer to derive their stock from parents which may have been
auccessful at winning three year old stakes, or probably strained every mus
ele bone, and tendon whilst yet yearlings. We owe tothe late Sir T
LAMENESS, TEST FOR ASCERTAINING. QUITTOR, 7

Bunoury, of Bildeston, the introduction of this practice on a large scaie, which
ws so evidently harmful to the rising generation—of horses.

 

Lameness is universally the symptom that denotes disordered limb; it is
the only one perceptible for some time, until its continuance throws out some
appearance on the surface; and that inquirer who can ascertain its true sea‘
28 most likely to find the cause, and to effect a cure. For instance, lameness
occasioned by disordered bone, as in ring-bone and bone-spavin, is almost un-
versally ascribed by the stable-men and humble practitioners to strain in the
stifle, in the shoulder, or the whirlbone; whereby so much valuable time is
lost in applying the proposed remedies at the wrong place, that those two dis-
orders in particular make head almost irremediably. before the true seat of ail-
ment is ascertained. The same species of blunder is propagated when a dis-
ease happens to the foot, and the precise cause thereof, even when well known
to those employed about the stable, is kept a secret from the owner and the
doctor. ‘Let them find it out” is sometimec heard muttered in the distance}
and in order to comply with the unfeeling permission, we pass the hand down
the whole leg and foot from the top to the sole, compare the size of the lame
limb with the corresponding sound one, and move the animal about. For
without this examination it would be next to impossible to ascertain the pre-
sise seat of the disorder, and quite so to apply even the right remedy at the
proper place. As an illustration of this position by its reverse, I may adduce
the coming on of bone-spavin as that kind of attack which we can ascertain
with the greatest precision of all those which lie concealed from our view and
touch. It happens, too, that this is one of the few disorders of the leg that
admits of cure by early applications, as it is also that which, being neglected,
-enders the animal wholly useless. When a horse becomes lame ofa hind

* feg occasionally, and that after rest only, the complaint going off on taking a
short exercise, we may be quite sure he labours under incipient bone-spavin,

provided no other distinct cause can be adduced for his lameness; but should

_the lameness increase with exercise, then it does not depend upon bone-spavin,

but some other malady. Further consideration of the causes, symptoms, and
cure of this disorder will be found a few pages lower down.

 

*,* When lameness occurs to his horse unaccountably, and the inquiring
reader turns to these pages for information, he had better run over once more
the whole of the next six or seven heads of information ; their great similarity
i many respects dictates the propriety of this additional trouble, as most of
the series will be found referrible to the same causes, and require much the
same treatment, though differently situated.

Throughout the whole of this chapter, the reader will find great help to un-
derstanding the details, oy carefully consulting the delineations of the le,
and foot on plates 2 znd 3, and the cut at page 166, with the description o!

-each. References are not always made in words at length, it being presum-
“ed that he is already acquainted with the preceding pages, to which he 1s now

fteferred.
‘ QUITTOR.

Under the class of fistulous affections, I spoke of ‘this disease at page 125
[o wnat is there said I may here add, that as quittor is caused ty sand-crack.
72 MILD TREATMENT PREFERABLE. RINGBONE

by a tread, or the prick of a uail, so will its situation be determined by the
precise cause, on the inside of the coronet, or the outside, near the heel, or
otherwise, as the cause may have been inflicted; and also, that the cure being
effected by harsh means, or burning remedies, these leave the foot disposed to
contract other disorders at this region, as ringbone, &c. Hence it follows, that
the more moderate the means employed to get rid of this disorder, the lesa
probability is there of the patient’s contracting some other. Therefore it is
advisable to try the milder remedies first, unless the quittor is of long stand-
tg and of very bad sort. The extent of each sinus, and the course it pur-
sues, is denoted by the colour of the soft parts of the foot, being black or livid,
or else scarcely tinged, according to its virulence. In order to pursue thig
examination more accurately, it will be necessary to stop the circulation of
the blood above, by tying a ligature tight round the fetlock joint, whereby the
skin of the healthy parts below will appear white, and thus more distinctly ex-
pose the nature of the sinuses, The pledgets that are to be introduced for
_the destruction of the pipes may thus be selected of a larger or smaller size,
as the calibre of the sinus is greater or less; as also may the quality of the
caustic application be made stronger or weaker, as the virulence may require.
Some hastily use the knife, and lay open the pipes freely along their whole
course; and if it approach near the bottom of the foot, the coffin-bone 1s usu-
ally affected with rottenness (caries), This they hesitate not to scrape off,
though, if the patient be of strong and vigorous constitution, exfoliation will
take place without extending the operation so far. Indeed, it seldom hap-
pens that more is required than to give the disorder free vent at the coronet,
whereby the necessity of operating underneath is superseded ; for it will be
seen that the ascent of the hoof-making particles from the sole will bring away
to the orifice of the ulcer any offensive matters from below ; and this process
of nature effects the cure. Whenever a sinus leads towards the back
tendon, or the joint, much care should be taken not to injure either with knife
or caustic, for a bad-looking seam is then left behind, with lameness that ter-
minates in anchylosis, or stiffening of the tendon, or growing together of the
small pastern and the coffin joint (a) and the shuttle-bone (2), in the cut at
page 166.

RINGBONE.

Causes.—At times a badly cured quittor, at others ill-shapen foot; which
occasions that concussion of the hoof and small pastern bone at their conjunc
tion, which causes the latter to swell at the coronet. Cart and wagon horses
with short upright hoofs, that do not sufficiently secure the articulation of the
coffin and pastern bones against injury, are most liable to this disease,

Symptoms.—Lameness is sometimes the first intimation we have of the ex-
tstence of ringbone, which is at first neglected, and only ascertained by pass-
ug the hand down over the part. As usual with most diseases of the foot,
she attendant commonly ascribes the lameness to a strain higher up—of the

~shoulder generally, as ringbones afflict the fore foot oftener than the hinder
one. It consists in the ossification of the cartilage in front of the foot, which
extends in time to the lateral parts also,

Remedies.—T hese may be applied to relieve, but no cure is to be found for
nngbone. As high-heel usually accompanies the short upright hoof, the con-
cussions of tne foot may be lessened by lowering the heels, Apply blisterin
ointment to the seat of the disease, and firing may also be einplayed with a
vartage,
WINDGALLS—THOROUGHPIN—SPAVIN, ITS VARIETIES, 173
WINDGALLS,

These appear a little above the fetlock, on each side of the back sinews, and
consist of small puffy swellings, that occasion no immediate inconvenience
but prove that the animal has been strained in his work, unless it has beer.
occasioned by his se been put to it too early in life. They might be oc-
casioned by the sinus of a tumour, pointing towards the pastern joint, having
Mae ee too harshly, whereby the joint oil issues forth upon their being
{ ricked.

_ Blistering, and a run in the straw-yard, are the only remedies, though expe-
riments are often tried (when it is found necessary to sell the animal) with
preparations of muriatic acid, and muriate of ammonia diluted in water. Sa-
turate a roller bandage herewith frequently, and partial absorption takes place.

THOROUGHPIN

Is of the same nature as the foregoing, arises from the same cause, and is
cqually devoid of immediate consequence to the animal’s going. It consists
of a soft flexible swelling on the inside of the hock joint, as well as the out-
side, immediately opposite each other; whence it obtains the name of thorough-
pin, being supposed to go through the joint. When one of those tumours is
pressed it yields, and the fluid it contains is thereby forced into that on the
other side; when the pressure is removed it immediately returns to the same
state as befure. -

This disorder has no other effect upon the animal’s going, or value, than its
appearance amounts to, as it conveys the information of its having bern work-
ed too hard, and too early in life, as do all these minor evils we are now con-
sidering. How this is effected, I have shown in the 15th and 16th sections
of the first book, at pages 18—20. Like unto the other disorders of this «lass,
blisters and rest are the only remedies: apply the blistering liniment composed
of cantharides and spirits of wine. 7

SPAVIN.

Bog spavin is the more common, blood spavin but rare, Both varieties, as
well as bone spavin, owe their one to hard work in early life, in the same
manner as just addaced in cass of windgall, and thoroughpin. Bog spavin
s caused by the joint oil of the hough issuing into the membrane that sur-
rounds it, and stagnating under the vein causes this to swell. The old reme-
dy of taking up the vein by ligature should be abandoned as a long and tedi-
ous mode of cure: the circulation has then to force a new channel, in doing
which irritation of the parts adjacent is the means of cure, by promoting ab-
sorption; whereas the same effect might. be produced by blistering, as in the
two correspondeut disorders just named above.

BONE SPAVIN.

his disorder consists in a bony enlargement at the upper end of the shank-
tone, inside of the hock-joint, or a little below it. It belongs to the hind leg
only; and if not undertaken in time becomes incurable. ;

At the seat of this disorder the leg is composed of three bones, which fit to-
gether into one common cavity at the hock; and notwithstanding they appear
as close together as one bone, yet possess separate motion to give elasticity te
the animal's tread. and assist him in the act of progression, as may be obser ‘ed
in the working of his haunches when the horse is going at full speed, or
making a standing leap. By mounting the colt whilst too young to bear the

17
£74 CURB—WHAT, AND HOW CURED.

superincumbent weight, by pushing him hard in his work, as well as by wark -
ing young cattle at plough, a practice some breeders of heavy horses inju-
diciously adopt, these bones get strained asunder, as it were, and inflammation
takes place.

As almost every one knows, by misusing young colts in the manner just de-
scribed, they become cat-hammed, if they do not derive that particular mal-con-
formation from parentage, as before hinted (p. Hee and is more scientifically ~
accounted for in the first chapter of Book J. enerally it happens that
horses so formed are good, easy goers, brisk and active ; but though well adapt-
eJ for light weights, are utterly incapacitated from undertaking horseman’s
weight at speed, until they are full mouthed. If heavily mounted, or hard
driven earlier in life, they invariably throw out a curb or spavin. The shoe-
ing-smith frequently contributes to the contraction of bone-spavin without
knowing it, by turning up the heels of his shoes in frosty weather unevenly.
In the same manner, when the inside heel preserves its roughness longer than
the outer heel, it is clear that this last must bear lowest, and further contribute
to the evil strain that cat-hammed horses are ever liable to, about the hock.
Cow-houghed is but another name for the same mal-conformation.

Symptoms.—Inflammation is scarcely perceptible at first, or any other
symptom; and as it is vitally necessary that we should apply the remedy thus
carly, we must employ the discriminating test described at page 171. If the
existence of adhesion, which constitutes bone-spavin, be not discovered in the
manner proposed, the disorder proceeds until it may be perceived upon com-
paring the hocks together. At first, the inflammation is but trivial, when the
horse is also lamest; but when time has been allowed to unite the bone, the
heat and enlargement increase, and the spavin is incurable, but the lameness
is less.

Cure.—At the commencement only it may be effected easily, by simply
es the part all round the hough, in sucha manner as to raise the blister
lo a good extent. Generally, in bad cases it would be advisable to repeat the
blister; in which event let the former one be first well cleansed away with
Goulard’s extract, diluted with water. But should the duration of lameness
and degree of swelling give reason for apprehending that the adhesion is un
commonly extensive, let the part be fired previously to blistering. Be careful
to keep the horse’s head up whilst the blister is operating, and subsequently
dress with hog’s lard; but do not use any greasy applications previously to.
blistering, as these only tend to harden the skin, and so obstruct the perspira-
tion and absorption which promote the cure.

Making the shoe thin on the outside at the heel relieves the pressure when
the horse is worked : the contrary form of shoe is conducive to all diseases of
the leg bones.

CURB.

Cause.—Inflammation in the sheath of the back sinew (6, fig. 2, plate 2.)
little below the point of the hock, where the sheath is attached to the ee
Like spavin, curb mostly affects young horses of the cew-hocked built, whose
legs stand too much under the body, and which have been worked prema-
turely hard, as in cases of bone-spavin. Indeed, the two diseases bear so
much resemblance to each other, in cause and symptoms, except only as to
situation, that I fecl no difficulty in referring the reader to the preceding page
for my descriptiva of these, only premising that he.can not discover the comin
of a curb, by any other means than lameness, and comparing the two legr to
each other sidewise, when a diffused swelling may be seen, but very little heat
felt, by reasor of the disorder being deep-seated
SPLENT, REMEDIES FOR. le

Ov ‘e.—It may be effectually removed at first, by blistering, as in cases of
done-spavin; but when the disease has lasted a long time, fring must be re-
sorted to with the same precautions as those before recommended. Ease may
be afforded by adding to the thickness of the heels of the shoe.

SPLENT

May be looked upon as a disorder of the fore-legs, though occurring on the
hind ones, at times,

Cause.—Working of young horses before they have acquired sufficient
stamina, or on labour which is much beyond their strength, as in case of
spavin, curb, &c. to which the reader is referred, and the concussion which
the leg receives at every step upon hard ground, stones, &c.

Symptoms.—Frequent lameness, that goes off and returns without appa-
rent cause for either, before the splent shows itself upon the shank-bone, which
it does above the knee, inside. Similarly hereto, it affects the bone of the hind
leg, and then acquires the name of bone-spavin. Inflammation of the skin is
soon felt, and the horse goes lame until the splent is completely thrown, and
afterwards he dves as well as ever, except retaining the splent mark, perhaps;

. but severe cases occur, that do not terminate so Evcarably, Such happens
when the shank bone has received the concussion, that causes the enlarge-
ment and rupture, which constitutes the disease, at the hinder part of the leg,
where it meets with tendons or the suspensor ligamnnt—{ See back view, plate
2, fig. 2, 3.) The lameness and the inflammation are then greatest, and the
splent requires our careful attention.

Remedy.—But should not the horse throw out the splent on this last men-
tioned dangerous part, and become lame, he will yet suffer much in all ordi-
nary cases; for the enlargement of the bone strains the membrane which covers

“it tightly, as described in Book 1. sect. 17. p. 20. For this purpose apply s
warm stimulating embrocation, which affords relief in the more favourable
vases; but when the splent rises under the ligament or tendon, blistering or
firing must be resorted to. The latter, however, is proper only in extreme cases,
and only to be adopted when blistering is found inadequate to the purpose ; if
the swelling is hot and tender, firing would have the effect of es the .
whole bone of the leg, and even the blistering liquid is improper when this
symptom is highly prevalent. Rather let the heat subside, or assist it in doin,
so by means of Goulard’s extract, diluted with water, frequently applied.
When this has reduced the heat, employ the following

Liquid Blister.
Cantharides pulverised, 4 drachms.

Mix with sweet oil to the consistence of treacle, and apply the same twice
during tke day ; thus,—Let the hair be clipped off close from the part, and
all round the leg, and the blister well rubbed with the hand for five or ten
minutes If this does not cause further swelling anda discharge of a clammy
nature, a third application of the liquid blister becomes necessary. After a
day has elapsed, dress two or three days with hog’s lard, and the patient may
be walked about, to get rid of the stiffness. lt may be proper, after this,
farther to reduce the heat by more applications of the Goulard’s extract, as
ove. : .
stein is supposed to occasion splents sometimes, it being the practice with
most smiths to make the inner heel of their shoes thinner than the outer; and
che inner heel being also lower than the outer, occasions the splent bone tc re
1, Vi

176 SCURVICAL ERUPTIONS. STRAINS.

ceive the concussion more sharply than the outer one; for, as I before observed
splents oftener occur on the inside of the leg than on any other part of it.

MALLENDERS AND SALLENDERS.

Scurvy eruptions on the bend of the knee-joints, or un the corresponding
bend in the hock joint; the first mentioned term being applied to those erup
tions that appear upon the fore leg, the second, sallender, is confined to those
of the hinder leg. A crack, with much soreness, accompanies both,—The
cause may be found in the gross habit of body, attended by suppression of some
evacuation, as stool, urine, or perspiration; therefore, to

Cure the patient, restore the defective evacuation by giving one of the two
purging-balls prescribed at pages 86, 87, according to circumstances ; or a urine-
ball, or the emetic tartar, at page 65, or 143, in smaller doses, and the scurf
decreases until it wholly disappears.

Let the hair be cut off close from the part affected, and the ecurf well wash-
ed with strong soap-suds, and then rub over it daily, of the

Ointment for Scurvy Eruption.

Red precipitate powder, half an ounce.
Hog’s lard, 2 ounces. Mixed well together.

Sometimes, a poultice, in which is introduced acetated litharge, becomes ne
cessary when the eruption is divided by a gaping crack, which the ointment
may have occasioned. The blue ointment is employed’ 1 by some instead of
the above ointment.

STRAINS.—LAMENESS.

These are the most deceptious class of ailments attributed to the foot of the
horse; for many such are spoken of in the most confident manner which do
not exist in reality, whilst others could not possibly happen to the parts indi-
cated by the names they commonly bear; yet shall I fall into this old method
of titling the various affections of the limbs, in order to make myself more gene-
rally understood. Our neighbours, and rival veterinarians, the French, in the
instructions issued to their smiths of the army, went a little farther in their
complaisance to error: “ All swellings of the tendons from the knee to the
coronet or from the hock to the heel, show an extension or strain of the in-
tegument. Take off the shoe and pare the foot.” In fact, their practice of
giving rest in all cases of strain, which often effects a cure with very little
urther assistance, could not be more assuredly complied with than by thus
taking off the shoes; for the Marechallerie were ill able to retain their sick
horses in quarters upon urgent occasions of active service, unless they could
demonstrate the fact upon the view to their superiors. By this general mode
of forming their judgment as to the cause of all swellings before or behind, we
may perceive they included all “extensions” of the bone in their notions of a
strain, and treated spavin, splent, curb, strain of the tendons.and ligaments, all
in the same manner at first. Of these latter-mentioned we come next to con-
sider the distinguishing symptoms and most appropriate methods of cure; and
I will here candidly allow, at setting out, that our neighbours took a correct
view of the general cause of all lameness: those strains which occasion in-
flammation of the ligaments, tendons, and muscles, always communicate fever
to the foot, whence arise thrush, canker, sand crack, &c. &c. We very im-
properly, as far as precision is concerned, term all lameness of the tendons

 
SPECIES OF LAMENESS. Nn

&c. astrain, though it may arise from any other cause, as frequently happens,
viz. a blow given by the toe of the hind foot, in dhunting over heavy lands,
when the fore foot is detained too long in the ground, coming in contact with
relling stones in leaping, the kick of another horse, &c.

STRAIN OF THE BACK SINEW AND LIGAMENTS.

Cause.—-Back sinew is the vulgar name for the tendon, which the reader
will find depicted in a section of the foot at page 166, and marked (x). It as-
cends behind the small pastern () and large pastern, up to the knee-bend of
the fore leg, or the hock joint of the hind one, respectively. In plate Q, fig. 2.
vt (2), this sinew is again shown, where it emerges out of the heel, and enters
its sheath (0), to mae it is attached in a certain degree, by means of very
fine membrane, adhering from side to side, and capable of distention or re-
laxation. The sheath itself is attached to the two pasterns, of which it thus
becomes the tendon or support; whence the back sinew and its sheath, or
flexor, together obtain the plural—tendons. Within the sheath is secreted a
fluid, intended for lubricating and defending the parts during the very great
action to which they are liable in every effort of progression. As happens in

‘all other secretions, this one sometimes fails to produce enough for the intend-
ed purpose, when the sinew and its sheath adhere together, or at least do not
act with freedom; the consequence whereof is lameness in a greater or less
degree, which may be temporary only, or become permanent, according to cs
cumstances. If the dryness and adhesion be trivial, as happens after hard
work and anight’s rest, the horse upon getting warm, loses the lameness this
deficiency has occasioned, for the secretion has been thereby renewed, and
the lubrication is now supplied in sufficient quantity ; but the horse falls lame
again next day, prebably, and if he can not be allowed rest, ’tis 7 to 1 that he
becomes permanently lame. In this respect the French beat us hollow (as
just before remarked), though they do not profess hutnanity so sensitively as
the English ; and even the Arabs, though robbers by profession, by habit, and
inclination, are too sensible of what is due to a faithful animal in distress, tc
trave! on lame horses. The same fact was before adverted to at page 170.

Symptoms.—V hat sort of strain which consists of relaxation of the back
sinews shows itseif by the horse going low upon his pasterns, in consequence
of his “carrying high,” or being trotted constantly in harness, Occasional -
lameness sometimes ensues in that fore foot which beats, or has the lead at
setting put—generally the off one; inflammation of the whole foot may be
felt by comparison with the heat of its fellow, which is aptly enough termed
“fever of the foot” by the old farriers. This is a very puzzling kind of lame-
ness, no other symptom than those presenting itself for-us to ascertain the ex-
act cause ; and of course the less observant persons are ver likely to apply the
wrong medicine, and render the horse a disservice instead of doing him good.
The lameness sometimes goes off without any treatment whatever but rest;
it is, however, more frequently accompanied, or followed, by some disease of
the sole, in consequence of the secreticn of horn in the foot being obstructed,
Sand-crack, thrush, corns, are among these evils, arising from supernatural
Bee hon ov8 it so happens, that the secretion does not restore to the entire
tendons their original motion, it follows that some part adheres to another’
inflammation is the consequence, and the horse becomes worse and worse
every day he is put to werk, the lameness never leaving him altogether.
When the adhesion begins extensively, the inflammation and swelling are
equally so; the pain is then very great, and the lameness complete and per-
manent. This denotes the disorder called “strain of the back sinews.” In

17
(Te APPLICATIONS IN EXTENDED STRAINS.

very bad cases, or where a slight attack has continued some time, the ligament
that passes between the back sinew and the pastern bones becomes
diseased, and conducts the inflammation to the fovt, affecting alike the sola
the coffin-bone, and the hoof, with heat. a

“ Fever in the foot” is that low state of the symptoms which arises from a
slight attack which has been neglected; the more virulent attack must come
under separate notice. ‘ -

Cure.—Rest is indispensable; foment the entire foot with warm bran-
water, or male the whole into a poultice sufficient to envelope the foot all
over, as high as the inflammation may extend, which is sometimes as far uy
as the fetlock. When the heat is ee at the sole, and the fever exten
no higher than the coronct, a stuffing of cow-dung will reduce the heat con-
siderably; it may be secured by thin splinters of wood, and changed twice the
first day or two—once a day afterwards. Introduce a strong solution of
nitre, and let it be strong, us you can not employ much of it. Both legs should
be stuffed at the sole, though the sound one (if one only be affected) does not
require changing. Let the animal have a louse stall during any stage of
strain, or disorder of the limbs. Look after his evacuations, and cause them
to be regular; a simple fever (or inflammation) of the foot depending very
often upon nothing more than one or the other of these being stopped,
eich affects the whole animal system sometimes, to say nothing of a single
limb, :

Violent strains*, and swelling above the fetlock joint, when the lameness is
very great, require strong physic; and the inflammatory symptoms, : when
running very high, with a quick and irregular pulse, should be lowered by
bleeding. Apply fomentations of bran, or a poultice of the same, or of oat-
meal in which saturnine lotion has been introduced, as much as it will bear.
‘When the great heat of the part has caused dryness of the poultice, saturate
it externally with the saturnine lotion, either by soaking cloths in it, and
spreading these all over the part affected, or in a poultice as above.

After this treatment has reduced the inflammatory symptoms, but not the
swelling and lameness, apply opodeldoc, which may be made as under, viz.
No. 1. Embrocations. If this does not fully succeed in the course of threw
or four days, recourse must be had to No.2: and if this does not prove suffi-
ciently stimulating, appiy the mild blister No. 3.

Embrocations for Strains.—No. 1.

Spirits of wine, 6 ounces,
Camphor, half an ounce,
Soap, 2 ounces.

Dissolve the camphor in half the spirits; mix the remainder with the soap,

and then put both together. Rub the parts assiduously twice or three times
during the day.

No. 2

Crude sal ammoniac, 2 oun
Vinegar, 1 quart. 2 oe

* The word strain, as here employed, is evidently used In the wrong sense: ft shoula be
mprain, i. e. bent or twisted out of its proper position. To strain or arene any thing long to x
greater length, as when the back sinew is sirained or elongated so as to permit the pasterrs ty
wope or bend down, asin mild cases of “breaking down,” would be more accurate.
DANGER OF RELAPSE. FIRING. IRON DEFENUE. 179

Max in a sottle. and rub the parts twice daily. Let aon bandage, dipped iv
the embrocation just prescribed, be passed tightly round the parts, beginning
at the bottcan and making it fast above the knee, or the hock, as the case may
be. Moisten the bandage after it is on.

No. 3.

Cantharides, in powder, 1 drachm,
Spirits of wine, 2 ounces.

Mix; and rub it on the part. Al.hough this acts as a very mild blister, the
aorse’s head must be tied up for a few Faure while it is operating.

A course of treatment that has been followed in this manner steadily, and
with duc caution, seldom fails to restore the animal to a comparative sound-
ness, if not completely so: though the swelling may remain after the lameness
has ceased, it generaily subsides when the convalescent animal can be per-
mitted to walk out fora little exercise, which should take place gradually, and
the use of a loose stall allowed, than which there is not in the whole catalogue
of remedies a more certain adjunct to be found. Going out too early after ap-

. panes recovery is very likely to bring on a rclapse, and a relapse, as every one
knows, is always more difficult to remove than the original disorder. \'Time
1s required for the injured parts to recover their former posture and strength,
if that event ever arrive. Fidne may be employed after a while, but is very
often-resorted to prematurely, beiore the tendons and ligaments have recovered
position, or absorption bas reduced the muscular parts to their former size, and
restored their action. When three, or four, or five months of moderate lavour
yive reason fhr believing that these events have taken place, firing is likely to
prove highly serviceable by bracing the whole together in a tight skin, much
tesembling, and greatly exceiling the long bandage prescrited with embroca-
tion No. 2, in p. 178. The reader of discernment will please to note, that if
the said artificial bracing be found to lessen the lameness in that early stage
of the disorder, no less will the bracing of the natural skin by firing be found
beneficial when healthy action is restored, but not perhaps ‘he former strength,

CHAPTER III.

SHOEING.

Terms and phrases, in all matters connected with the arts of life should
convey a good and most distinct nction of the thing spoken of. This does not
always happen in our day, formerly never, ard proved a vast stumbling-block
to the advance of science; but whoever termed the horse-shoe an “iron-de-
fence, was a happy fellow, and deserves well at our hands, inasmuch as his
appellation is goodly descriptive of the thing intended, and tells plainly what
a ares ought to be in reality. 1 not made of sufficient quantity, and of a
proper material, it proves inadequate to defend the haof from injury: if made
too heavy, or ill-shaped, the shoe becomes the cause of grievous offence, of
pain, heat and contraction of the horn, with its train of evils. Any workman
may learn by practice, and therefore every one ought to know, at least, when
too much or too little is applied. Some feet have the wall very thick, and the
shoe will requits a good bearing; if very thin, it can not carry a leavy
180 EDUCATION OF THE SMITH. FOREIGN SMITHS.

shoe, though it stand most in need of defence. Again, the horn of some
horses’ feet is so well-tempered and stout, that they might be permitted to go
without shoes without danger, if not worked upon stony roads. Time, how-
ever, and hard work, occasion brittle hoof, and distortions, with numerous
disorders that attach to the foot generally, or belong to the sole only.

When these ailments begin to show their effects, the shoeing-smith must
adapt his work according to the new pattern thus cut out for him, and here
begins his ingenuity: in some cases he will even have to adopt a different
shaped defence for the same set of feet; but in all cases, and under every cir-
cumstance, he must fasten them on firmly to the horny wall of the foot by
nailing and clenching. By paring the sole inordinately, the bones within are
pressed out of position, and the wall having now no resistance in the horny
sole to keep it expanded, it contracts and becomes shapeless and diseased,
Partial parings overmuch produce partial accidents from without, and engen-
Jer diseases within, which have received a great number of names accor ing
to the situation, but all having their origin in this or some such injury, and a
producing contracted hoof and sole. The importance of avoiding this baleful
pa may be deduced from the great anxiety of our ancestors to particu-
arize, by so many different names, this single disease of the sole arising from
contracted hoof. For whenever constitutional diseases fall into the foot, they
never affect the sole, or any part of the bottom, unless attracted thither by
accidents or contraction of the hoof, by reason of this paring and rasping away
of the natural defence,

Under each of these heads of information, I shall presently place before the .

operative reader a few plain and intelligent precepts, accompanied by some
almanitionss for most assuredly, that teacher who contents himself with tell-
ig the learner what is necessary to be done has hut half performed his duty,
if he leave uncorrected certain long-standing errors, which he knows to exist,
and to have received the sanction of ages that were confessedly working in the
dark, as regards horse-shoeing above all other operations. But the method of
performing this operation is avowedly not to be taught in its rudiments, upon
paper. Practice is indispensable, manual labour requisite; and much of it,
conducted by an intelligent mind well versed in books, is necessary towards
forming the proficient shoeing-smith, Hitherto, however, from the nature of
the black-smith’s trade, its laboriousness, and the deficiency of general educa-
tion down to a late period, most of the operatives in this branch of mechanical
labour were precluded from acquiring the additional information that books
contain, after they had once adopted their future calling. Error and prejudice
laid fast hold of our ancestors, for ages; hut the prevailing national desire of
acquiring the minor school endowments promises a different result at the pre-
sent day, and on this occasion, when Science has been disrobed of her cloak
and the niceties of Art are sought in language that all can comprehend.
The shoes affixed to the feet of their horses by the continental farriers differ
materially from our own and from each other; which proves that no fixed
rinciple is acknowledged by either of them; though the English and the
rench assimilate together the nearest of any, and are those, | apprehend,
that approach nearest to perfection; notwithstanding the controversies and
bold assumptions of superior wisdom, and the “patents” that enabled -a few
persons here to give themselves airs, and to set up pretensions they have mi-
serably failed to substantiate. The jointed shoe, for instance, of Goldfinch,
and of B. Clark, which is the best modification of the old semi-oval defence
for healthy feet, was preceded a whole century by the French author of * La
om a a folio French work, noticed by Mr. Bee in the Annals of Sporting,
for .
FULLERING—A NEW METHOD. 181
Practical Precepts.

Lhe Shoe. In quantity or size, the common defence of the full-grown
forse's foot is made nearly half an inch thick at the toe, but near the heel -ne
fourth less; here, also, it must be made narrower by the half than at the toe,
where it is an inch wide, and so continues round ‘to the quarters, lessening
away towards the heel, where it is but half an inch wide. Very near the
outer edge a groove is made, not too deep, but sloping from the side next the
rim, in order to throw the heads of the nails slanting, when the final hammer-
ing down takes place. A practice prevails of making this groove, called ful
lering, much too close to the edge; and to so great an extent does this mista.
ken notion prevail, that he who could so make it nearest to the edge without
eracking the rim was long considered the best workman. This, however, is
not the most aj proved method of our times; for the nail-holes that are to be
punctured in this groove are thus brought too near the edge of the horn, so
that the nails do not hold fast, unless Gaver and dlsiction high up on the
hoof, which also is an exploded part of practice. Neither should the fullering
he continued round the toe, nor to the quarters, lest you weaken the defence
where its protection is most required.

Iron is the only material proper, and the toughest is the best defence, as it
affords a small degree of elasticity in action, is least likely to crack, and is ca-
pable of bemg hardened at the wearing points at will. ‘The toe alone is usu-
ally hardened at the time of making, unless in winter, when it may he found
necessary to turn down the heels, termed frosting, when these may also be
hardened, or steeled.

Some persons frost all their shoes in winter, by fullering them all over the
ground surface; but this rough soon wears away, or is of little service from
the first. On turning the heel down, a crippling gait is produced if the rough
be long, especially with heavy horses, having low hoofs, which may be coun-
teracted, so long as the roughing lasts, by turning down the toe also, and steel-
ing both. But then the necessity of frequently removing the shoe, and thus
impairing the wall or crust, may be remedied by making screw-holes in the
ground surface of the heels, and providing a suitable supply of screws with
steel heads, that may be applied and screwed on fresh every day if need be.
Sizes of course would vary according to that of the horse and shoe.

Shape. For sound fect, buth surfaces of the English shoe are made per-
fectly flat, the inner rim being thinner than the outer. The shoe extends all
round the edge of the wall or crust, which it is desirable to defend, and termi-
nates where the bar and crust join at the heel. A curve upwards, at the toe,
to prevent tripping, though sanctioned by authority, and carried to an extreme
by Goodwin, and others, is seldom desirable, even with heavy horses, or those
which go close to the ground, and is well met by a modification of the Ger-
man and French method, of forming the shoe wider than ours, and conse-
quently less pointed at the toe. The toe being then rasped close to the shoe,
no tripping takes place on that account. : ate

The French form, or shape, differs from our English shoe, in being made
wider and approaching nearer to a semicircle, and instead of being flat next
tu the hoof, is hammered hollow, which renders the ground surface convex}
# mode of proceeding that suits admirably with their coarse footed horses, an
comparatively harmless roads [meaning neir petit chemin, and the sides of
their grand chemins], but is inadmissible in England, excepting perhaps with
our agriculturist owners of the like ordinary cattle. They also make thein
shoes as thick at the heel as at the toe, which isa ees aga‘nst the
general precept, at page 180, that I can not reconcile with propriety: what is
more egainst the French, they take little heed of hardening either toe or hee'
182 IMPROVED SIIOE AND FULLER. ,

An adjusting curve upwards, which they ae to the toe, could add nothing
to the security of a horse’s going along safe on our roads, whatever it might
do on theirs; but their system of punching and nailing is altogether so excel-
lent as to deserve imitation more extensively than it has hitherto been honour-
ed with, and is described with due discrimination lewer down. The horn at
the tue would of course be made of a fit shape to receive such a form of shoe
as the French; and I have reason to believe that it affects the toe of the cof-
fin-bone in process of time, which also becomes curved upwards, precisely
after the form thus factitiously given to the horn, and doubtless gave rise to
the discrepant representations adverted to at page 166.

On finishing off fine work, let the inside of the edge or rim of the hinder

shoes be well bevelled off towards the ground, and rounded, to prevent the

ossibility of coming in contact with the fore foot: with horses that are apt to
forge, the necessity of keeping the fore-shoe heel short, so that it may not
project beyond the natural heel, should never be lost sight of. So, of the in-
side of the fore shoes tu prevent cutting : let these also be filed off, sloping, to-
wards the ground, though not so far as the heels.

Animproved form of shoe, preferable to both the foregoing, has been re-
cently introduced, which is an assimilation of the French and English shoes,
Instead of adhering to the old practice of fullering the ground surface of the
common English shoe, to admit of punching the nail holes therein, it is the
improved practice to hollow that surface, and leave a shoulder towards the
outer rim as a protection to the nail heads. This is performed by a tool re-
sembling the ead of a hammer, one face whereof is well represented by the
annexed figure; the lower part at (a) being placed on the work, asis- 6
usual in fullering, but nearly a quarter of an inch from the edge; the
hammer is applied at (b), which leaves at (a) the‘desired shoulder, and
along that surface so far as nailing is necessary, a hollowness equalto 4
the inner slope of the tool. This hollow is not in fact any more than a wider
fuller, extending the width of the shoe, excepting the width of the rim left at
the outer edge; though some do further prolong the hollowing all round the
toe, and to within half an inch of the heel, whereby they leave a slight caulk-
ing that never incommodes the animal, but which may be increased in quan-
tity and hardness towards winter. The operation of hollowing the ground
surface just described, produces a slight convexity upon the foot surface three-
fourths of the shoe’s width, leaving the outer fourth still flat to ‘receive the
bearing of. the horn. Hereby tk2 distance between the sole and the inner
rim is increased, and is moreover less likely to retain stones, gravel, or filth,
than is the usual flat surfaced shoe, and possesses all the advantages of the
seated shoe of old Osmer, that has been claimed by some of our moderns.
Moorcroft took great pains to recommend the seated shoe, but finding some
difficulty in getting them manufactured, he set up a machine for puncturing
out the hollows, that quite failed of success, because the power employed was
only equal to cutting soft :ron, and this was found inadequate to the requirea
wear, we are told. Why he did not subsequently harden, or “steel” the toe
and heels, seem surprising.

Healthy fect are those alone which | have kept in view hitherto; the bar-
shoe, concave and seated shoes being contrivances for ill-formed and diseased
feet, req ire separate notice.

Objections have certainly been raised against this mode of forming shoes,
that seem plausible enough at first glance: not so fast, however; for upon cool
examination they vanish. The objectors aver, that because we can not im-
part the desired freedom of expansion to the whole of the foot, forsuoth, we
are not to allow it at any part: if we can not get all we want, we are to reject
what is within our reach. One f these. who is likewise the last, telle us,
GOLDFINCH’S JOINTED SHOE. 183

‘ In order to admit of expansion and relaxation of the hoof by a joint, it would
be necessary to make the nail-holes wide enough to allow sufficient play be-
tween the shoe and the nails [!], thus producing an effect similar to the end
play of carriage springs. But even supposing (says he) this provision were
made, the shoe would soon tear out the nails,”

The jointed shoe.—A form of shoe was propounded for cutting the shoe
into three or more several parts; then lining the foot surface with leather, and
fastening on the shoe in the usual manner, with nails that were inserted into
each part. But this contrivance though plausible, did not answer, inasmuch
as the leather had not sufficient strength to stand the wear and tear.

Mr. Bracy Clark may-have been the real inventor of the jointed shoe that
bears his name, for aught I know, but he labours under the disadvantage of
heing preceded by about a century, by a French author; so that his battered
saying that his great discovery! forms ‘‘a basis for the repose of the profes-
sion,” however elegant in expression, becomes nonsense to our ears, who con-
cede nothing to simple gentility, and less than that to self-complacent egotism.
“Clark's shoe,” in its various modifications, differs nothing from the generali-
ty of shoes, except in being divided at the toe, and fastened again by means
of a pin, screw, or rivet. The toe would require to be made thicker than
usual, let me suggest, to prevent the rivet’s parting, and to secure each head
of it in a counter sink; one half the thickness of the toe is to be cut away on
one side at the ground surface, and from the foot surface of the other hait, re-
sembling what is termed in carpentry, a mitre; and these being brought close
together, a hole should be drilled or punched through both, and let the rivet
employed be the size of the hole. Whatever degree of rigidity the workman
might restore to the entire shde, it is plain that the great weight of the horse
would very soon strain the rivet, so as to cause it to relax therefrom, and al-
low the heels to expand by so much. That this Fig. 3.
might extend over a larger part of the front of the
hoof, Mr. Clark preferred nailing the shoe pretty far
back towards the quarters, which I reckon among
the mistaken notions of the whole class of improvers.

But, mark the dissonance of our teachers! the next
inventor or improver ran into the other extreme, er-
roneously punching and nailing up intolerably near
te his rivtes or pins, for he has two of them, as per
marginal cut. a

This representation of the shoe invented by Lieutenant Colonel Goldfinch
exhibits a modification of ‘Clark’s patent.” Like it, the necessity of making
the shoe thicker at the toe than usual with the ordinary shoes is evident. The
patent was enrolled in October 1821, granting to Lieutenant Colonel Henry
Goldfinch, of Hythe in Kent, an exclusive right for fourteen years; and his
specification of its advantages and novelty, and the manner of making it, ap-
pears to be as follows: “The separation is tobe made in any indented form,
and the two’ parts fastened together with pins. It is further proposed to al-
tach the shoe to the horse’s hoof by driving the nails obliquely, as in the French
manner of shoeing. With this view, thé nail-holes are to be punched about
one-third to half the width of the shoe distant from the outer edge, and tend-
ing in a slanting direction outwards.” In this latter recommendation I cor.
dially join the colonel: he was the first writer who noticed it, and is the mode
of punching and nailing before alluded to, and hereafter described as the only
wise course. Since 1821 it was adopted by the more intelligent smiths of the
metropolis, and is hereafter minutely described. One main blunder whicn
the colonel commits is evidently intended to correct the visible insecurity or niv
184 SPECIFICATION OF COLEMAN'S SHOE.

shoe at the joint: his holes are punched so near his patent joint as to restore
the rigid immobility the patent pretends to amend.

Coleman’s patent shoe for giving pressure to the frog continues in use
(though it. a very limited de ree, notwithstanding the demonstrability of ita
inapplication to frogs already diseased. But, in the hands of the professcr
himself, and any practitioner tolerably habile in his profession, I was free te
allow, from the very first, it might be rendered available—but not in ordinary
hands ;* with these it las failed of success—in some cases from the want of
an assortment adapted to the various kinds of feet; a defect that may be
how remedied in some measure. ’

Under these new circumstances, and seeing that Mr. Coleman’s opinions
as to pressure, and the diseases consequent upon the absence of it, are em-
bodied in his specification, drawn up to obtain this patent (for the professor
has several), he may be allowed to speak for hiosell on this ever interesting
subject. e says, “the improvement proposed in this patent is to prevent
contraction, and to relieve contracted feet, contracted frogs, flat soles, corns,
sand-cracks, thrushes, canker, and quittors, and also to prevent cutting.”

The patentee observes, that the “fore feet of horses in their natural state
are nearly circular, but from the ordinary shoe worn in this country, which
keeps the frogs from off the ground, the hoofs of horses with light fore-quar-
ters are generally found to be more or less contracted, and this in proportion
as the frogs are nore elevated, and support little weight ;? whence the cause
of those diseases. ‘To remedy this defect, and to afford the necessary expan-
sion to the hoof the patentee proposed the annexed forms, observing that no
specific form of shoe can be suited to all horses under all circurnstances, and
toevery sort of road; it being necessary to alter the shoes of the same horse
at different periods.

The construction of the professor’s shoe will be seen in figures 4, 5, 6.

Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 6.

 

“ The bar of iron down the middle of the shoe, called the frog-bar, is made
broader than the frog, and welded to the shoe. This bar, when the cleft of
Le frog is diseased, is slit open in the middle.’ But all that I have seen in
use are without the slit represented in the margin; and the welding on of the
bar is greatly objectionable, inasmuch as the chief strain is at the junction of
the bar with the shoe or tip, and I have often seen the bar break off here, or
else draw the nails, and throw the patent shoe altogether.

Of preparing the hoof—The general principle of all shoeing is to support
she foot off the ground by means of the wall or crust, so that the frog shall not
eome in contact with the hard plain road, whilst it may be allowed to receive
pressure from soft ground : the first prevents injuries and resists wear and tear

“'The subject received lengthened notice, in the Annals of Sporting, for April, 4822, 9 WA

 
THE HOOF, HOW PREPARED. 18

ne latter promotes the secretion of healthy horn; the proper degree of pres-
ure being received by the heel, frog, and bars. Whatever is here said, the
‘ze foot is still kept in view, unless the hinder foot is particularly mentioned ,
and occasion will present itself for the distinction, as there is great difference
oetween the two, as regards heavy draught cattle, Greater heat, fever, and
affections of the lungs also cause the fore feet to contract disorders unknown
at the hind- feet ; whilst a tardy circulation of the blood, and the conseque’ |
relaxation of the animal system, to say nothing of the evils incurred by heavy
drags against the collar) produce affections peculiar to the hind feet. Some
ay more is said of this kind of variation at page 12, Book [.
hen very much flaky or rotten horn presents itself, the sole should then
bé pared the least, for this is a proof that great heat, or inflammation, affects
the whole sensible foot, and that the hoof is then too brittle. When the flaki-
ness is trivial, run over the whole surface with the butteris, or knife, but zo no
deeper than the removal of the loose flakes. La Fusse and Moorercft were
both in the right when they told us that paring the sole inconsiderately is “the
chief cause of contraction,” for the sole is thus rendered less capable of resist-
ing the pressure of the wall on all sides, and of the coffin-bone within, inso
much, that were the paring carried to an extreme, this bone would protrude
at the sole and come upon the ground for want of sufficient resistance,
Whenever a smith applies his thumb to the sole, and then cuts again until he
causes it to bend under the pressure, let him be admonished that he contri-
butes his aid towards contraction of the foot, and some one or other disease of
the sole. He has but to cut away a little more to arrive at the sensible sole,
which would produce blood, and ruin the horse by a quicker mode than thumb-
ing and cutting. : ;

The frog seldom requires the knife; never after the removal of a shoe
which has allowed it to come upon unpaved ground; for then the wearing
away is carried on naturally ; but if not so, the rough and rotten outside must
ye taken away, which some smiths effect by first tearing away the slips, or
exfoliation, and then paring the mealy-looking part underneath. Hereupon
the well recognised healthy horny frog makes its appearance, but is by no
means to be meddled with. The cleftisto be cleared out by means of a knife
having a sharp return at the extremity; but it must be evident that if the cleft
has incurred no foulness, nor the frog grown luxuriantly, neither the one nor
the other will require the least reduction. | will net say a word on the neces-
sity of removing the rotten overgrown horn at the toe, and round to the quar-
ters, so as to obiain a proy er seat or bearing upon the shoe, this being an affair
within every one’s compass; but the rasping should always proceed with the
shoe before the workman’s eyes, unless when he may find it necessary totake
it to the fire for the purpose of making alterations. The habit of doing this to
a nicety with a single heat may be acquired without going to the fire half a
dozen times, as 1 have seen done; least of all should the shoe be tried on hot,
that the most ignorant of workmen may see where it bears most, or the least
industrious lessen his labour by softening the horn. Ruinous consequences
attend the application of fire to the feet, and yet I remember the period when
it was the common practice to place a shovel of hot coals on brittle hoofs to ease
the workman’s labour!

‘When a foot is fitted to receive the shoe, the bottom resembles somewhat
the hollow and rim of an oval dish, On being placed on a lane surface, the
frog and heels bear equally; but when the shoe is applied, the frog is raised
by as much as the thicknoss of the shoe may be at the heel. At the heels, fot
about an inch of its length, the rim of the shoe is to project beyond the out
de of the hoof.

18
196 PREPARED SOLE. NAILING.

Take good heed that the inner edge of the shoe-heel bear not on the
ground more than the outer, but the contrary.

Nailing, a very important operation, requires much previous study of the
formation and functions of the internal sensible parts of the foot, many inju-
ties being inflicted by penetrating those parts to the quick, and thereby occa-
sioning then to fester, as we shall see presently, when treating of the diseases
incident to the sole. A good aphorism has it thus—“If it were possible to
keep the shoe in position without nailing, we should then have arrived at per-
fection in the art of shoeing ; it follows that the less number of nails that are
driven consistent with safety, is the most commendable practice.” I believe
it was Mr. Bracy Clark, in the plentitude of his many inventions, who once-
proposed to fasten on the shoe by enveloping the whole hoof in an iron de-
fence, and fastening it by screws; but the scheme failed for a must obvious
reason—its weight increased the offence adverted to elsewhere (page 179).
But [ will not speculate on novelties, nor further object, simply contenting
myself with taking the evil or puncturation as one that is fev though
capable of alleviation. Ali hands agree that the less nailing we could suffice
with, the less chance there would be of driving into the quick—hence the
firmer each nail is driven, the less liable is the shoe of loosening, and this good
never can be effected unless the nails fit the holes so nearly as to prevent shift-
ing, and also pass through a good portion of the horn. Doubtless, a couple
‘of nails on each side would be sufficient to retain a light shoe for a short time,
if the work be not heavy, and allow that desirable expansion of the heel which
all agree promotes the secretion of new horn, and the health of the foot; but
we employ double the number in common work, and seven altogether in the
‘improved shoe.”

As before remarked, the fullering usually practised upon the common shoe
is so near the edge, that the rim sometimes breaks off of high-tempered iron:
whilst, if it be soft, the punching inevitably drives out a bulge that the smith
seeks to reduce by hammering, which again contracts the size of the nail-
holes; the latter error occasions the nails to break off in driving; the former
leaves the heads exposed to be knocked off, or readily worn away; and by -
either the security of the shoe is diminished greatly and dangerously. Be-
sides which objection to the old method of fullering, there is a correspondin
necessity imposed upon the workman, of clenching high up on the hoof, whic
increases the danger of puncturing the sensible internal parts of the foot. This
entire objection to the narrow fuller, or groove, is fully remedied by adopting
the proposed manner of punching the nail-holes farther in from the edge, thus
taking firm hold of the whole thickness of the horn, and driving out sooner
and clenching lower than is ordinarily practised—say, within 3 quarters of an
inch of the shoe in all cases.

The nail commonly used is much too long in the shank for any kind of shoe,
and too thin near the head; but should be of the same thickness throughout
from the head so far as the ee takes place. The material must be of the
toughest quality, equal to Swedish, insomuch as the nail may bear bending
forward and backward half a score times without breaking; it should have a
counter-sink head to match with the second punch-holes, and the hammering
which the head receives before, at, and after driving, sufficiently hardens it to
resist the immediate effects of wear. Do not point the naiis too much, lest
they splinter in the driving, nor make two or three punctures before you drive
home each nail: both these practices proclaim the clumsy workman.

Punching.—-As before intimated, the nail-holes should be punched as far
from the ou-: edge of the shoe as the v’ ‘lis thick, A small punch of tne
size of the nail’s. shank is to be first driven smartly and visibly through, bur
not so deep as to raise a burr on the hoof side. Then, open the Lole with
NAILING SECURELY AND SAFELY. 187

pritchel; and a large counter-sink punch, the size of the nail-head, is then ir
be employed, but not driven so deep as the small punch ; the first being of the
size of the nail-shank, the sccond is to receive a small part of the head. This
mode is, of course, best adapted to the “improved shoe” recommended at page
182, where a shoulder and groove supply the place of fullering. But in ever
form of shoe, and every modification of nailing, the manifest advantage cf ad-
enti the nail-head to a rest or protection from rude concussions agamist the
ground, must be evident, when the counter-sink part of the head is allowed
to lie deep in the shoe. ‘

The number of nail-holes has hitherto been eight, but a better practice pre-
vails in some forges of driving seven nails only, three on the inside, four out-
side; whereby the fourth nail outside is thrown so much farther back than the
third nail inside. More play is thus allowed for expansion at the quarters:
and if the pui.ching and driving be performed effectively, the hold thus ob-
tained will be found fully adequate to any service to which the greater num-
ber of nails is applied. The safety of the shoe depends more upon the nails’
passing through goud sound horn, and filling up the punch-holes in the shoe,
than upon their number. A good workman can hear when the nails thus
tell, by the sound of driving. After punching, the smith must not apply heat
or a hammer to the shoe, with a view to reduce any bulge, or burr, which the
punch may have occasioned; for this exploded practice spoils the shape and
size of the holes, upon the fitness whereof wholly depends the security of the
shoe. Indeed, good and proper iron does not readily incur either of those ob-
jectionable forms, nor will it break or chip off at the fuller-edge (when such a
plan is adopted) like ordinary metal.

Driving the nails home properly includes no small share of skill. Former-
ly, he who could drive highest into the crust without occasioning lameness
was reckoned the best workman, whilst the French method of driving both
into sole and crust is an error in the contrary extreme, and argues no little
slovenliness and disregard of the construction of the sensible part of the foot.
As may be seen and accounted for by reference to the section at page 166,
immediate lameness is not always likely to succeed the pricking of the sensi-
ble-part at cc, but matter may form underneath, and lameness ensue at a fu-
ture day, unless upon removal of the shoe it issue forth at once in the shape
of blood. The hoof, which may have lost the elastic substance of this sensi-
ble part through age or infirmities, as represented at (g) fig. 3, plate 3, is usu-
ally “ précked to the quick” at once, and flinches, or goes crippling away from
the smithy. : ae ot

According to the most improved modern mode of punching and nailing, the
nail should enter at the conjunction, nearly, of the sole and crust, so as to pe-
netrate almost the whole thickness of the crust,* and be driven slanting out-
wards, so that the clinch be little more than half the usual distance above the
shoe, If the nail-holes be punched too near each other, and the driving be
performed by a workman who drives and draws his nails, and then peers into
the punch-holes, then points his nail and drives again—however well his work
may appear when put out of hand, he will but have prepared the hoof for fresh
injuries at the next shoeing: after this treatment portions of the hoof are apt
to come away, and the smith is thus compelled to fasten on his defence by the
toe, or at the quarters, and so produce fresh offence and incurable lameness,

Do not nick the hoof, as is too commonly practised, Rou to turning the
elerches; as most feet can not afford to lose so much of their natural support.
and even the stoutest foot ought not to be subjected to the loss of so much, of
its main strength. Neither rasp off the clinch, by way of finish, for the same
reason, but hammer it down like the head of a rivet.

* As shown in the figure of Goldfinch’s shoe, at page 183
188 NEW MODE. DISEASES OF THE FOOT.

Mi R. B. Teast recommends a construction of the foot surface, that seems
sery well calculated to attain his object, the preventing contraction and amend-
ing the several evils arising therefrom, by raising a ridge along the whole ex
tent of the shoe so far as the heels, exclusively, thus roan an inclined plane
outwards of the thickness of the wall or crust of the hoof. The punching
and ene place at this ridge, thus affording secure driving for the nails,
and a safe hold upon the iron. Withinside, the shoe is convex on both sur-
faces, but admits of modification, at will, on the ground surface. The hoof
must be prepared to receive this form by paring away the horn lower on the
inner part than on the outer side, or external edge of the wall; in fine, so as
to correspond with the form of the shoe. At least, this is what I understand
in the course of reading a series of very obscurely written “ Practical Obser-
vations” on the subject; for, although the plan seems admirable, none of my
connexions have seen it in actual use, notwithstanding I called at his forge for
vet purpose. This was in 1821, soon after the promulgation of Mr, Teast’s

an.

. By the means proposed, the hoof is spread outwards at every step, so as to
afford expansion to the heels, and avoid pressure upon the sole; an advantage
for such hehe as are weak or thin-soled that is at once obvious and gratify-
ing. His idea of giving pressure to the convex sole, by making his shoe with
the whole foot surface inclining outwards, is more vague, since all that is re-
juisite is attained by the first method.

Notwithstanding the French method of punching has been spoken of in
terms of approbation, and their mode of driving and clenching low is recom-
mended to imitation, let it not be supposed that in other respects they make
the best shoeing-smiths in the world, but the contrary. Their finest shoeing
is sad, slovenly work to look at; and this very excellence of theirs is more at-
tributable to laziness than to design or plan. As one instance of this undesir-
able quality, they assign two men to placing the shoe, a lacquey holding the
foot and bringing the tools, whilst le marechal himself hammers it on with
much pomp. In Portugal they employ three, which includes the gallegos,
or porter.

CHAPTER IV.

WMISEASES OF THE FOOT.

‘Wuen these can not be traced distingtly to any specific cause, they are
fairly attributable to ailment of the whole system dropping into the legs, and
“fever in the feet” decidedly so, in my opinion, when both are so afilicted,
Therefore it was that I noticed this disease along with “strain of the tendons,”
to which | attribute its origin, as much as to other causes of general heat of
the foot. Indeed the whole structure of the foot of the horse is so peculiarly
curious that it almost deserves a separate study, but we must always keep in
mind, whilst considering its ailments, that the great irritation kept up by its
extreme action is readily communicable from the one to the other, so that we
can not intelligitiy separate the leg from the foot, when speaking of the ail-
ments of either, notwithstanding on thought proper to begin this chapter
with the disorders that are situated higher up, ae mean to close it with such
as on'y make their appearance below.

But there remains still another distinction that may as well be drawn here
TARUSH, OR FRUSIL-CAUSE AND SYMPTOMS. 169

aefore I entei into other particulars, as to fore foot and hind foot. In all the
little dissertations which r have ventured upon in this book, and elsewhere, as
to the structure of the foot, and all the dissections I have made from time to
time, I have taken the fore leg and foot only, with one unimportant exception.
I know not why this preference was first made; | believe it to be general, but
is of very little importance. For the hind foot, though a little smaller, and
somewhat more upright in form, corresponds exactly in all its parts with the
fore one, until age and deformity comes on; the back sinew descending from
the hough behind the pastern bones, until its insertion underneath the coffin
bone of the hind leg, in the same manner as before described, as pertaining to
the knee and bones of the fore leg. Further, I believe the name given by the
learned to this sinew in the hind tb differs from that given to it in the fore-
leg, that being tendo plantaris, this one the tendo palmaris ; a distinction that
became necessary, perhaps, that they might be enabled to make themselves
understood by each other, when speaking of this important tendon as belong-
ing to the one or the other leg.

When we reflect upon this strict accordance between the structure of the
fore foot and the hind, and then look over and lament the numerous disorders
that the first is liable to, whilst the hinder one is comparatively free, it gives us
reason to pause. But without entering upon an elaborate investigation of this
difference as to health, I come to the conclusion that we ought to attribute dis-
eases of the fect, as 1 have already those of the body, to excessive heat of the
vascular system, promoted by the great exertions the animal is put to, and the
rude concussions the fore feet in particular endure at every step; thus creating
heat and attracting hither any evil humours that may afflict the body gene-

rally
FRUSH, OR THRUSH.

A running of matter at the cleft of the frog was formerly called “ar a
frush ;” the moderns, however, write it “thrush.” But, ¢o frush, being al
English for, to break, or crack, or crush, like the cracking of walnuts, I pre-
fer that term before thrush.

Cause.—Depraved habit of body and disordered pulse always accompany-
ing the appearance of a frush, I have no hesitation in ascribing its origin to
that remote cause, especially as it is proved to be a deep-seated morbid accu-
mulation; aided more immediately, perhaps, by an injury received whilst tra-
velling, either by the bruise of a stone, or the insertion of gravel at the parts,
‘Lhis latter, however, is not a necessary cause of frush, though the gravel and
}irt work into the ulcer as soon as it opens; for the lurking approach of the
disease towards this consummate symptom may be ascertained by turning up
the hoof and pressing the cleft, which will give pain and occasion the animal
‘o flinch: inflammation has already begun at the insertion of the back sinew
in the bottom of the coffin-bone, where the branches of crural artery also
enter the bone, at the bottom whereof is the sensible sole which separates it
from the horny sole. See this structure of the foot described at page 166,
&c. Filthy stables promote frush, ae when the cure may be nearly effect-

. cause relapse in nine cases out of ten.

Me aptma The earliest, as just said, is denoteu by tenderness at the cleft,
xecompanied by sharp, quickened and irregular pulse, as usual in all cases of
local inflammation, being at the same time both cause and effect. Of course
it follows, that as the disorder in the sensible frog proceeds towards maturity,
she blood’ feels and tells of that fact by increased disorder of the pulsation.
"These timely indications being neglected, as usually hapfens, if the animal
be then put along over stony or newly-dressed roads, the first discovered symp
18*
(90 DRESSING FOR 1. HRUSH.

tom will then be nis tumbling down through acute pain. The cleft opena
and an issue of a most offensive kind presents itself.

Cure.—If not speedily taken in hand, canker will be the consequence of a
neglected frush. But, as scarcely one in ten will take the precaution to as-
certain, fron the state of his pulse, when the horse is likely to acquire this or
any other *nflammatory disease, it may be deemed impertinent in me to say,
tnat the preventive of frush in its worse state may be found in purging phy-
sic and a cooling regimen, as prescribed for general inflammatory and febrile
complaints, set down at the commencement of book 2, pages 59, 63, &c.; for °
this disease frequently depends on some untimely suppressed evacuation, as
the urine, stool, or perspiration; then let these be restured by giving the dia-
phoretic powders, purging or urine balls, according to circumstances. A very
much hurried pulse would of course point out the necessity of immediate
bleeding; for the animal so suffering in the vital function must necessarily
contract disease of some kind or other; and that particular organ or member
which may be least able to bear it is sure to feel its effects soonest. This is as
likely to happen to a horse with defective frog, as to its size, texture, or shape,
as to any other part of him. Then, let the careful owner examine and find
out the least perfect part of his horse, let him watch it closely in all its weak-
hess, and endeavour to detéct the first symptoms of illness, that he may aid
nature and restore her functions, before these run riot beyond the help of art,

When the frog has been pared away, and the filth of the sore removed,
wash it with a solution of vitriolated capper, and apply a pledget dipped
in tar or turpentine at the opening. If the case be a bad one, the wash may
be made stronger by the addition of a few drops of vitriolic acid to the solu-
tion; and the tar may. be poured into the opening whilst warm. Place dry
tow, and keep it in position by means of splints. Repeat this tar dressing
every other day, until the injured parts slough off. Purging physic will be
necessary to complete the cure. ,

* CANKER.

Evidently a corruption of the word cancer, as applied to a running sore
human ailments, itis yet well silently to permit the innovation, the: better to
“keep the two practices separate, in small as well as more extended affairs.
uses.—Precisely the same as those which produce the frush, only making
‘ta appearance at various parts of the sole, frog, &c. Sometimes the canker is
but an aaperate frush a very bad or neglected cure becoming in my estima-
tion a canker, and next to incurable; whereas a frush, taken in time, is easily
cured. Our French neighbours write of the two under the same head, of can-
cer, let them be seated wheresoever they may.
The symptoms are those of frush, extended also to the bars of the frog, the
heel, the sole, &c.; and sois the
Cure ; with thisaddition, that the paring must be carried on to the extremity,
baring all the diseased parts, though these extend over the whole bottom of the
foot Cut away the proud flesh to the quick, and when it has bled a little,

apply
The Powder.
Sulphate of copper, 1 ounce,

Corr. sublimate, 4 drachms,
Prepared chalk, 1 ounce,

Mix and sprinkle it over the exposed surface. If the disease makes a hollow
CANKER—TREATMENT. GR )OVED SHOE, 19\

between the hoof and the coffin-bone, the powder must be introduced there by
means of a spatula, or flat piece of wood, with a bit uf tow onit; but do nut
leave the tow behind, as that might produce a fresh disorder. Butter of anti-
mony is preferred by some to the foregoing powder, because it is a liquid and
acts more generally ; but it operates only for a short time before its effects
cease, being killed by the moisture of the disease it was meant to destroy.
Bind up the foot until the following day, when the application must be re-
peated, after wiping away roughly as much as possible of the diseased parts.

As it is found of some importance to the cure, that the foot should be. kept
as much as possible from wet and filth, and seeing that the mode of tying ona
great bundle of tow in cloth, iu the manner now in vogue, often fails, a light
shoe, adapted to the present shape of the foot, should be put on, for the pur-
pose of sustaining the densities &c. which may be found necessary to put
on. The shoe has another advantage over the tying fashion, inasmuch as it
allows of the animal to place his foot fairly on the ground, a position that
mainly conduces to the cure by promoting the secretions, especially when at
length he can move about. Let the shoe be narrow-webbed, with a groove on
the inside edge, so as to admit of a tin slider being shoved in and drawn out,
when you desire to examine the under surface of the foot to change the
dressings, &c. Such a shoe will obviate the complaints usually raised by
our stable attendants, that they can not keep on the dressings, nor preserve the
foot from damp, which always retards the cure; for they are most of them
bunglers at bandaging, owing to the very little practice which falls to the share
of any one person among the whole fraternity. Splents of wood may supply
the lace of tin, when this latter may not be at hand,

Whenever the cankered parts slough off, and leave a more healthy appear-
ance, the powder need no longer be applied at those particular places. Upon
these lay on a dressing of tar, in which has been introduced about a tenth
part of blue stone, powdered. Let as much pressure be given to the sole as
can be contrived, to prevent the granulation of new flesh coming on too lux-
uriantly, which is otherwise very likely to happen, on the edges of the wound
particularly. In this respect, the grooved shoe will be found effectually ser-
viceable. if, notwithstanding all your care, the edges will grow too fast, touch
that part with lunar caustic ; and in case the horny substance grows over the
still cankered parts, it must be again pared away and laid bare. Perhaps the
animal is young and vigorous in other respects, and his system probably would
promote the secretion of new horn quicker than an older, or less healthy horse ;
thisdifference should teach us to employ some digestive for the dressings, which
has less tendency to promote the growth of new horn than tar has, which
would be found more proper for old horses. For the younger animals, let
turpentine be substituted, into which has been mixed a small portion of vitri-
olated copper. : ; : . .

From what has been said, the reader will perceive the dressings require
changing with some degree of judgment and discrimination, and that the
should not be passed over or delayed, as he values the horse; for, upon this
marked attention alone depends the cure, and such a cure as shall prevent a
relapse. Of course he will not fail to take care of the evacuations, as In case
of frush; nor that the earliest exercise the animal takes be proportioned to the
amount of disease he has undergone in an inverse ratio. : .

Prevention.—As we have seen that inflanimation is the immediate cause
of all disorders of this class, and seeing that the irritation which produces this
has been brought on by distress of the parts for the want of due pressure on
the frog, any one whose cyes are open may see the necessity of paring down
phe heels so that the frog may have a bearing, when the horse is walked over
new or turf for example. For hereby st will be seen, on turning to the bnie‘
192 SAND-CRACKS; REMEDIES.

lescription I thought proper to give at the beginning of this book, pages 167
169, &c. of the cieaial conformation of the foot, that the healthy action of the
arts upon each other is only to be kept up by the pressure of the sensible
Tog.

When the frog is nut sufficiently pressed upon, (says Mr. Coleman) it
becomes soft from the accumulation of the fluid which it naturally secretes in
great abundance from the fatty [elastic] substance, which lies immediately
under the tendon.” ‘This view of the process tallies tolerably well with my
.wn examination of the subject, at the pages just referred to, and elsewhere.

SAND-CRACK,

‘When suffered to continue, the cure is attended with great difficulty, and
the disorder may therefore be divided into two stages or degrees, like many
other affections of the horse. The name of sand-crack is derived from the
worst of these states, when sand, gravel, or dirt, has got into the crack, which
constitutes the disease.

Cause.—Brittle hoof will occasion sand-crack of a very bad sort, but the ac-
companying cause is the cessation of the function of supplying matter for
forming new horn in the vessels leading from the coronet. This may arise
from an external injury at the coronet, or severe treatment for some other. dis-
order of the foot, as a running frush. As the hoof is always hot, one main
cause of sand-crack is referred to heated roads, to travelling in deep, hot,
sandy countries; scantiness of water, and removal out of a cold to a very hot
climate, as from England to India (East and West), are all known to cause
the heat and brittleness which accompany sand-crack.

Symptoms.—A split or crack in the hoof, on the inside quarter of the fore
foot, for the most part, but often on the front of it, down towards the toe, and
occasionally on the outside, and also near the heel. Sometimes it appears on
the hind foot, on the front of it, and prevails with us generally in hot weather.
Sand-crack is either superficial and easily remedied, or deep and extensive,
requiring much attention, and an operation or two in its different stages,

Cure.—It will be seen that a slight crack may, by working the animal, be-
come one of the worst species. Pare away the rotten parts, if such be found,
and make a transverse incision across the upper part of the crack ; wash out
the sand or dirt, apply daily tincture of tar, with a pledget of tow, and give
the horse rest. Bind round the hoof tight with listing, and stop up the sole
with cow-dung, and this treatment will suffice in ordinary cases. But when
the crack extends so high, that there is no room left for making this incision
across, to stop the progress of the crack, the disorder has assumed its worst
aspect : the edges of the crack internally now press upon the sensible part, or
laminated substance that holds the coffin-bone and hoof together, and inflam-
mation succeeds, if blood does not issue forth. If the crack affects the coro-
net, you may draw one side of it down to the quick about an inch with good
effect, but no farther, as that would occasion the hoof to divide more readily;
Rest, however, will restore adhesion to the upper part of the crack, and when
this has taken place extensively, the operation of cutting across, or of firing it
across with one line only, may be performed with every prospect of success;
for.as tne hoof grows down, which it does from the coronet, this transverse ar-
lificial crack you have made intercepts the material for forming horn, on its
inside, and thus contributes greatly to fill up the chasm below. To increase
this supply of the horny material, let the coronet be anointed with a solution
af tar and tallow and hog’s lard daily,‘which should be extended to the horny
part of the hoof.

Stopping has oeen mentioned as necessary to be adopted on the firet of
CAUSES OF CORNS, FIGG, &c. 193

mildest attack, being very conducive to recovery of the lost function of sev ret-
ing the proper horny material. This, of course, will be attended to in every
other stage of the disorder, whereby moisture is applied to the dry brittle hoof,
and conveyed to its most sensible part internally. On the uses and advan-
tages of this simple remedy I took occasion to say a fcw words when speakin;
of frush at page 190, and recommend the application of a web-shoe groove ;
as an excellent auxiliary to the cure, by keeping on such dressings as might
be found necessary; and by allowing of speedy removal, it will also save much
time and labour to that description of persuns who are seldom inclined to be-
stow too much of either. A number of other contrivances may be adopted to
apply the same remedy—for affording cool inoisture to thé hoof, the readiest
of which is the leading him forth to a shaded place, and there tethering him
up, where he might stand upon the natural sod, grass, clay, or soft ground,
without a chance of running about to make the case worse, as would inevita-
bly happen. In default of this convenience, a good substitute is the sponge
boot, with bran poultice to cover the whole surface of the foot from toe to heel.
In all cases remember to keep out the sand, gravel, or dirt, which is ever
likely to insinuate ‘self and protract the cure, and, if not otherwise come-at-
able, an opening must be made for that purpose by cutting down one side
of the crack, as before recommended. Proud flesh will be found at this part
of the opening, which must be dressed with a solution of blue vitriol.

If the crack be near the heel, merely thinning the horn and taking off that
part which bears upon the shoe, will assist the cure ; and whatever shoe may
be put on, care should be taken to prevent the crack from bearing on it: the
bar shoe for heavy horses is esteemed indispensable, and some farriers apply
it invariably. Others again fire the foot, from the upper half of the hoof, ahove
the crack, to the fetlock joint. This is certainly decisive practice, as the
hoof is renewed with new horny matter, being so supplied as to thrust off the
old one; but all violent remedies should be avoided until the milder ones have
been tried and failed, which will not be the case with those means I have re-
commended above.

The bearing of our English shoe being commonly on the outer surface of
the hoof, promotes the crackling and chipping off of the wall. Mr. Teast’s
shoe (see page 188) is admirably calculated to prevent this disorder, but is no-
wise calculated to cure it, when once the ruin has fairly commenced.

THE CORN.

Causes.—I shall not repeat what is already said on the two first-mentioned
appearances a few pages higher up, but merely add, that distortion and undue
pressure on the‘sensible sole occasions that irritation which brings on inflam-
mation of its edge, where the shuttle-bone, or heel-bone, presses down upon it
at every step, and causes the utmost bending that the minute elasticity of the
hoof allows of; but contraction of the heel, which accompanies hot, brittle, and
inelaStic hoof, prevents its bending duly and truly, and lateral pressure upon
the quarters follows. The sole being thus unduly pent up, the circulation is
obstructed in its passage to and from the cavity of the coffin-bone, and a de-
posite of blood, which soon becomes offensive matter, is the consequence. Bad
shoeing, whereby the heels are pinched, also when the ragged hoof is left,
which may have contained particles of sand, will cause irritation, and end in
Y or figg.
at eae mischief thus commenced within shows itself between
the bar and the crust, or wall of the hoof, in a dirty-red tumour, with greatly
increased heat. I.ameness, ina degree proportioned to the badness of the
sorn, is usually the first symptom that directs our attention tothe sole Figg
194 TREATMENT: DISCRIMINATION NECESSARY. STRAINS.

is hut anuther name for the same kind of corn when situated close to the bar
of the frug, a little farther back in the hollow of the sole. Pain, very acute on
the touch; or, when the horse treads on a hard substance, he issues a moan,
or grunt; it is that sound in which his voice is aptly likened to the complaint
of the human sufferer.

Cure.—Although oftentimes very troublesome, returning again and again
when the farrier apprchends he has cured it radically, yet no affection is easi-
er ofa partial remedy, or effected by more ordinary means. Deceived by the
name, perhaps, resembling the hard excrescence called a corn, on the human
foot, they proceéd at once to “pare the corn out to the quick, till the blood
starts; but they heedlessly put on the same shoe upon the same thick heel
and hard hoof which first brought about the malady, and the lameness returns,
Let the heel of the shoe be cut offon the side that is afflicted, or if both sides
have corns, a bar shoe is recommended as giving pressure to the frog. The
heels are then to be rasped away free from any contact with the shoe; if they
are thick and hard, this will give them play—if thin and tender, they wil! thus
be freed from pressure. The thick heel is most commonly affected, and should
be softened by an extensive poultice that is to cover the whole foot, after the
corn has been pared and treated with butter of antimony. Tar is then a very
desirable application, or Friar’s balsam ; and if inflammation is again discover-
ed, poultice the foot once more, Fire is applied by some, but thehoof is perma-
nently injured by the actual cautery; and whatever good is achieved is thus
counterbalanced by the evil. Vitriolic acid mixed, carefully, with tar, in the
proportion of one-tenth of the former to niné-tenths of the latter, will promote
the absorption upon which the «ure depends. :

But in some desperate bad cases, the matter has already formed within, most
offensively, and discharges at the coronet by means of that curious process of
nature which I described at a preceding page, as affording the cvronet the
material for forming new horn to supply the wear and tear of the hovf. Upon
paring away the horny sole, which now becomes necessary, the offensive mat-
ter will be found to have spread itself underneath the sensible sole, which will
ooze forth and give immediate relief to the coronet. Let so much of the horny
sole as lies luose from the sensible sole be pared away, and a dressing of tar,
or of Friar’s balsam, be applied as before directed ; and if inflammaticn is agai
discovered, apply a poultice ; should the growth of horn be found too luxuriant,
discontinue the tar.

CHAPTER V.
Of Strains Generally.
STRAIN OF THE COFFIN-JOINT.

Cause.—As previously observed, lameness of the foot does not consist in #
strain of the joint within the hoof, but is referrible to general concussion of
all the parts, and is rather a strain of the back sinew at its conjunction with
the bottom of the coffin-bone. Inflammation and accelerated circulation fol-
low, and numbness of the foot succeeds: these, if not remedied betimes, are _
followed by ossification of the tendon, of the ligament of the small pastern, and
che cartilaginous process at (f), fig. 3, plate 2, also becomes bone. That the
joint of the coffin-bone with the pastern-bone may be strained, is very pro-
fable; but no injury, blew, or ccacussion, can affect it, which does not at the
WHERE SEATED. SHOULDER, HOW AFFECTED. is

same time affect all the com;onent parts uf the foot. Thin hoof and sule are
most liable to this injury. ‘s

Symptoms.—Sudden lameness, that is always increasing, and has scarcely
an intermission, without any appearance tu account for it on the limb; and
the persons who permit the horse to incur this disorder by their carelessnesa
seldom have the caudour to acknowledge that they know the cause to he a
tread, a rolling stone, or a stumble, and the doctor is left to “find it out?
4 most every one imagines the lameness to reside higher up, as in the shoul-
der or the: hip joint. Great heat and tenderness of the part soon come on;
the latter symptom may be ascertained by striking the hoof in front with a
key or small stone, when the animal will flinch considerably more than wher
the corresponding foot is struck in the-same manner. When the horse would
stand at ease, he usually does so with his toe pointing forwards, so as to keep
the pastern in a straight line with the leg, and thereby take off the tension ot
pressure upon the back sinew and ligaments: the inflammation shortly after
teaches the upper part of the sinew, as may be ascertained by passing the hand
down over it when the patient flinches. :

Cure.—Blistering at the coronet and fetlock repeatedly will reduce tne in-
flammation within. A poultice covering the whole foot also tends to the same
effect, which will be further assisted by paring the sole, if it be not already too
thin: reduce the frog also, and do the same for the corresponding foot.

Formerly they pared the toe tolerably close, and bled it there, by making a
longitudinal incision: the usual application of tar, &c. then completed the
cure. But this isan qperation that is seldom performed with sufficient exact-
ness, the incision being too often made unwisely deep, so that other diseases
were thus generated at some future day. Others, again, passed a seton through
the heel to the hollow of the frog, taking care not to touch the sensible sole.
A third set apply the actual cautery, which comes least recommended of either
of the remedies just described; especially when we consider that the actual
disease is very olen mistaken for some other; aremark that implies how much
caution should be used in first ascertaining the exact seat of the lameness, its
cause and symptoms, ere we set about the cure by such violent means.

STRAIN OF THE SHOULDER. ;

Horses that are weak before, and low footed, with an unsteady tread, are
most liable to contract this disorder, which consists in a twist or sprain of the
strong muscles that. attach the shoulder to the body. 1 think the horse is very
hable to incur this disaster, in a petty degree, whenever his progression is ac-
celerated to the utmost of his powers; but we must guard ourselves: agaiust

lacing entire reliance upon the hastily-delivered opinious of empirics, who
poral pronounce when they hope to deceive; and expect belief from the cre-

ous.

Oath the same as those which occasion concussions, blows, and
numbness of the foot, with their consequences, which we consent to call
“strain of the coffin-joint,” without the most distant possibility of knowing
whether this misfortune ever has happened. When the horse is subjected to
any rude accident, as a kick, or being thrown down, or slipping on pavement,
ice, &c., or treading on a loose stone, he is very likely to incur strain of the
muscles of the shoulder~ See conformation of the shoulder, in chapter 1, p
MP sialic by swelling upon the chest, or at the top of the shou:
der; but we think it desirable to ascertain whether the accident has taken
place before this symptom becomes apparent. Lameness immediately suc
ceeding any or either of these accidents, which may be distinguished from s
196 SWIMMING FOR STRAINED LIMBS.

strain lower down by the animal’s drawing his tue along the grouiid, froui 1
ability in oe to lift it off the ground; but when he throws out the foot in
asemicircle, described bythe segment at page 11, this shows that tiie hurt is
chiefly confined to the lower part of the shoulder near the elbow. Taking up
the fuot and bending the limb will further prove the existence of strain in the
shoulder, if the animal evince pain; whereas, if it lie in the foot, and not in
the shoulder, the lame leg can be moved as supple as the sound one, _ The
difficulty of ascertaining the real seat of lameness is sometimes so very

- great, being entirely invisible, a8 to put us upon ali sorts of expedients to find
out the real seat of the disorder. For this purpose, hold up his head high,
and after comparing and finding no difference in the shape of his two shoul-
ders, let go the head, when he will be observed to flinch upon bringing it to-
wards the affected side. Let a person rattle some corn in a sieve at a distance-
behind, now on this side, now on that, and he will be observed to evince pain
at turning the neck so as to strain the affected side; not so it the pain be in
the foot, of course. As the horse will step short, and also throw out his leg
somewhat in a semicircle, when he has received a prick in shocing, this latter
ygn is not to be taken as finally indicative of “strain in the shoulder,” until
the foot has been examined, and the shoeing-smith questioned as to his skill
and carefulness. oe

Cure.—lf the injury be considerable, as when the horse has been thrown
down, he should be bled at once, in the plate vein when it is local, but in the
neck when the injury has been more general. A laxative ball, or a puryative,
must follow as a matter of course, proportioned to the actual state of his body
at the time. A fomentation of camomile flowers, or of scalded bran, should

* be applied largely and assiduously at the chest and inside the elbow, and these
remedies, with rest from all labour and exercise, generally perfect the cure,

When the swelling is great, but not extensive, as in the case of a*kick, spi-’
rits of wine, in which a fourth of its weight of camphor has been disselved,
should be rubbed in. This will supersede the necessity of walking the horse
too early, with the hope of recovering the “use of bis limb,” by promoting the
lymphatic absorption. A rowel is sometimes employed, when the heat and
swelling are very high, with good effect;-but the old system of previously
boring and blowing, and laying on “a charge,” is exploded as barbarous and
inutile. On the symptoms abating, let the convalescent horse have a loose
stall, and in proportion as his action may be free from lameness, so should be
reguiated his return to walking, to exercise, and to work. Before he can be
fit for his former occupation, it generally is found best to give the horse a run
at grass; but previously he may try his powers in a contracted plot of ground
in the homestead, to prevent his indulging too freely in exercise, seeing that
he is very liable to a relapse, which is generally more difficult to overcome than
the original attack.

Swimming the horse “for strain in the shoulder joint,” was a favourite re-
medy formerly, but is deservedly exploded, although we could be certain that
the joint intended to be cured were the elbow. This accident, however, does
not happen often: | never saw a marked case, and merely deem it p ssible;
yet has the practice still its advocates, And it may be serviceable in other re
apects, as the muscles are thus brought into play, and the whole limb employ
ed in quite different kind of action to that of walking on terra firma. Some
persons submit their horses to bathing, by entire submersion ; an operation
that was performed most adroitly, about thirty-five years ago, by a stableman
named Denis Lawler, in the bay of Dublin. “His manner was to ride his horse
to a convenient depth of water, and then jumping forward suddenly on the
animal's head, thus souse it head foremost to the bottom. The feat caused
great marvel at the time; but not so the total disappearance upon one occg
OF LAMENESS BEIUIND. STRAIN OF THE BACK. 1s
sicn of the performer: poor Denis is supposed to have received a kick to the
bottum, and his body drifted out to sea, as his Howth friends heard no more
of him after that, though “New Harbour” underwent thorough repair since
Lawler’s last kick.

STRAIN OF THE WHIRL-BONE (ILP-JOINT).

A supposititious disorder, that is more frequently found to te a tardy attack
of bone spavin, that is slow in coming forward, and upon which M. la Fosse
nus thought proper to be very facetious: “a horse has the spavin, or he hae
it not,” says he; ‘for it is not like a jack-in-a-box, that waits to make his
appearance when you pull the string.” Either spavin or strain of the whirl-
bone, he concludes, must“be the disorder of the hind leg, when the animal
draws its toe along the road, as described just above as being a symptom of
strain in the fore Tig. When the animal has received injury in the region of
the hip, the camphorated spirits recommended in a preceding page (196),
should be applied; but if the heat, swelling, and tension, do not abate by this
treatment, blister the parts with the mild blister, No. 3, at page 179. This
application, with rest, is adequate to any ordinary case of hip-joint accident.

STRAIN OF THE STIFLE.

Simple “lameness” would better designate this so-called strain. The
same remedies as those prescribed for whirl-bone strain will apply to this part;
also fomentations, physic, and if the case be inveterate, a rowel, &c. dc. one
after another. Camphorated spirits, or ultimately a mild blister, are useful and
proper, according to the circumstances just set down. a

STRING-HALT.

A catching up of the hind leg at every step the horse takes, constitutes what
s termed string-halt. It is one of the incurables; but this consideration shall
not deter mé From observing, that this over-action of the hind leg may be
brought about by art, or rather the ingenuity of man operating upon a known
function of nature. ; ee te

The cause, naturally arising, is very obscure; but the horse-exhibitioners,
having occasion for much show at their amphi-theatric courses, sought to brin;
on this “high show” by puncturation. ‘To them let the secret belong ; it is
barbarous and unseemly.

STRAIN OF THE BACK

‘When the immediate covering of the bones, described in Book I. at page
19, become relaxed, and thereby fail to hold the joints together sufficiently
firm, the consequence naturally arising from this circumstance 1s, that they
bend a little out of place, at every movement the animal makes, and the least
accident confirms the strain, or sprain. Merely straining or stretching will
effect this evil at times, though that be no greater than an effort to telieve na-

a motion. - ; ie
ee oly affecting draught cattle of the heavy kind, and principally
incident to cities and towns, where dray arr] cart-horses are obliged to turn
short upon slippery stones, we may ascribe this disorder to what is called a
wrench, or twist in the human practice, The steady pull, unattended by a
turn, is not likely to occasion hurt of the back, be it ever so hollow originally;
because the effort that is made to pull a great weight causes the joints to prese

19
198 FOUNDER, VARIOUS NOTIONS AS TO ITS CAUSES.

straceht against each other, every capsule being than filled with its next cor-
responding convex bone,

Sympioms.—A kind of separate motion for the hind quarter, compared te
the fore one, of which the exact perceptible division is the seat of the injury.
Sometimes it appears as far back as the loins, but when farther forward than
the twelfth spinous process, (at G. 24) on the frontispiece, it affects the respi-
ration, and with it other vital functions, and the animal suffers in his general
health. It may be muscular or ligamentary, or compounded of both, in which
cases the parts adapt themselves to the derangement that has taken place, by
thickening their substance, and the first lameness decreases greatly: in this
event the horse’s condition is not at all affected. While staling, his efforta
are somewhat ludicrous; as are also all attempts to make a trot of it when out
of harness. These symptoms have deceived some persons into the belief,
that the one or the other exertion has caused the strain ; whereas it is only the
earliest demonstration of it to the observer.

Remedies applied early may assist nature, but the lameness never can be
cured completely. If the wrench or sprain has been of a violent sort, as in
case of “strain in the shoulder,” let the animal be bled to a good extent, i. e.
from three to five quarts, according to the quantity or degree of violence the
animal has sustained; for it usually happens that it has been strained all over,
in various parts. ‘Two dray-horses, which were employed in pulling beer
butts from the cellar of a public house, being backed too close to the steps, fell
in, the weight of the hinder horse dragging in the fore one upon him. Much
contusion was the consequence, as well of the accident itself as in dragging
them out: they were in fact strained all over, so that they could scarcely stand
for a while. Bleeding copiously, however, to the amount of six quarts, re-
duced the tendency to inflammation ; and although they might be pronounced
hurt all over, and the hind horse in particular, both did well after physicking,
and a few days of tight work.

{have found a fomentation of hot vinegar of very great service, in a well
marked case of recent strain ; the plan recommended by White, of administer
cng it by means of a woollen cloth or rug, steeped and loosely wrung out, be-
ing followed. A fresh sheep-skin, just flayed, was applied immediately, and
the lameness sensibly lessened, after two days, applying the fomentation four
or five times.

FOUNDER

Is a disorder, or rather a complication of disorders, of the fore feet. Some con-
troversy has crept into our books of farriery latterly, as to what really is found.
er: and whilst some would confine their consideration of the subject to the!
foot only, others follow the fashion of grooms, aud ascribe the incurable lame-
ness that has no visible specific cause, to an affection of the chest. Hence
» chest founder” of the stables, and the “body founder” of White. “Shoulder-
shook” is a provincialism of the smithy, when the farrier can perceive “no
thing amiss” with the feet—se far as he can see, feel, or understand. Sur:
bating was another name given to the symptom we now recognise as founder,
at a time when it was the practice to divide and subdivide every disorder under
many, useless, and unmeaning appellations.

Cause.— Hard work, bad shoeing, age and ill-usage, either of which pro-
duce so many other disorders perfaining to the horse in his domesticated state,
precede founder ; for, we never meet with it unless the animal has been so
‘reated or kept, and [ look upon it rather as a complication or effect of several
diseases of the foot. Some of these, we have seen, are liable to be mistaken
for others; therefore do they get maltreated, imperfectly cured, o” retain the
SYMPTOMS OF FOUNDER. 19

svous 1 fuure disease ; and founder is the name given to that wh ch is other-
wise inscrutable, has no other origin, and is badly defined by all writers and
talkers upon the subject. Out of this dilemma I do not at present attempt to
escue it: ] care not for terms, unless insomuch as they can assist us to un-
avel the character of a disorder. Contracted hcel is the slow cause of most
tases of founder, whereby the quarters press on the coffin and shuttle bone
and thus prevent the action of the latter, which is very great at every step,
and is mainly conducive to the proper secretion of the horny material before
epoken of pretty much at large. To ‘a chill” is generally attributed the im-
mediate cause of founder; and indeed the poor animal which has suffered
severely at the hands (or spurs) of his master is most open to acquire any ill
which chill or cold may inflict. When this chill takes place, the attack is sud-
den and usually violent. °
_ Inflammation always attends the first symptom of founder, if it be not an
immediate cause thereof, arising, I have no doubt, from the waste or destruction
of the secretion marked (c) (c) in the cut at page 166. To this conclusion I
am come the more positively, by reason of the absence of those secretory ves
sels in the feet of old, foundered or otherwise diseased horses; which secre
tions were designed to furnish the material for forming new horn and giving
elasticity to the tread. Fig. 3, plate 3, at (g) shows the progress of incipient
founder, where those vessels are represented as nearly dried up, and adhesion
has begun of the inner surface of the hoof and the coffin-bone, What must
follow, but brittle hoof, battered feet, or surbating, want of elasticity in the
sensible frog and tendon, accompanied by inflammation, which is a cause, if
not caused by founder?

But young horses sometimes, while breaking in, by the violence that is
deemed necessary, are foundered by the rough rider, through the rupture ot
forcing asunder the connexion between the hoof and coffin-bone, just spoker.
of. Tn such cases, the animal being vigorous and the foot replete with juices,
the coronet is greatly affected by oozing out there, in its blood and lymph state.
If youth and general good health should bring the animal through his suffer-
ings, its feet will ever after bear external marks of the internal injury.

‘Symptoms.—Curved, wrinkled, or striated hoofs, ever attend those animals
which have been so over strained in youth, appearing as if the horn had veen
carved or indented; which arises from the coronet furnishing the horny ma-
terial too luxuriantly, before it has received sufficient concoction within the cof-
fin-bone, as before described, at p. 168. Lameness in one or both fore-feet,
with evident pain, and great heat in the whole foot, attend founder in every
case, At the first attack of acute or violent founder, the horse is observed very
restless in his fore feet, which he endeavours to ease, by alternately nee

osition, and lying down when he should be feeding. He brings his hin
legs far under his belly for the same purpose, and if he is roused by hunger or
mandate he lies down again. Considerable alteration takes place in the pulse,
which indicates fever, and the patient breathes short with pain. The pro-
gress of those symptoms is very rapid, seldom occupying more than a day ot
two.

The slower or chronic founder begins with apparently rheumatic pains and
awkwardness of going, for which he usually receives the whip. After a while,
flattening sometimes appears on the front of the hoof, and the heels contract:
the older animals have now short, brittle, shining hoofs, with the small pastern
bone deeper sunk than heretofore ; the hollow of the sole is converted into the
convex, or pumice foot, so that the animal can scarce find foot-hold on the
ground, but will slip and slide about. He is then considered groggy, that iste
zay, “like a drunkard,” and may last many years : this is chest founder, and

ndeed the whole limb is usually affected up to the very chest,
200 REMEDIES: JOINTED SHOE.

Whethe: the attack be of the acute or the chron.c kind, it dies if not 1e
lieved ; for the coffin-bone becomes rotten, and the hoof is cast off without the
possibility of ever being renovated. In some constitutions, nature lends its
aid in critically raising a tumour at the coronet, the breaking whereof and the
discharge of offensive matter effects a cure. ‘The same sort of critical tumour
as denoting the crisis of general fever, or inflammation, was noticed at page
114, “Critical Abscess.”

Remedy.—As soon as discovered take off the shoe, note well the condition
of the sole, the heat, and other symptoms, for according as these vary, so must
the remedies be changed. Draw the soles a little with the buttress if found
too thick, not otherwise; rasp the heels and quarters, which will ease the pain
occasioned by the binding of the hoof, and give room for the action of the foot ;
a fact that may be ascertained by bending it at the pastern, forwards and
backwards, before the operation, and trying the same experiment afterwards,
Apply a bran poultice warm to the whole foot daily, but do not add to it any
greasy or oily substances as is too often practised. The sponge boot may be em-
ployed with advantage, made large. After three or four days, that the horn
has recovered its former consistency, put on the shoe gently, and walk the
patient, to try in how much he is now lame; and if tbe attack has been a
slight one, he may recover with very little more treatment than a turn outin a
meadow will afford. Otherwise the feet must be stopped, andekept moist and
cool, as directed in case of Canker, at page 191.

In all cases, (except where the foot is pumiced, or the sole is very thin), the -

jointed shoe of B. Clark, or of H. Goldfinch (page 183), will be found ser-
viceable, as being well calculated for giving play or action to the parts of the
foot, which produce the secretion that is so salutary to the renovation of new
hoof; but which the disorder we call “binding of the hoof” has sadly pervcrt-
ed into an offensive and harmful matter.

The proper secretion of the juicy elastic substance, for the formation of new
hoof, being essential to the restoration of the horse, and as the lameness will
not wholly subside unless this process goes on healthily, resort must be had to
blistering, provided he still goes lame any. This should extend from the coro-
net and quarters to the knee, and be repeated, taking care to keep the heels
open and the sole stopped. The good effects to the sole that will be found to
result from blistering, shows the connexion or companionship that exists be-
tween the legs and feet,,as I took occasion to observe at a former page.

But, as to drawing the sole, as before recommended generally, there is one
exception : if the lameness and other symptoms come on after an inflammatory
fever of the whole system, then we ought to look upon it as an effect of the
fever seeking to throw off its dregs thus critically ; and a swelling and dis.
charge at the coronet may be expected soon to take place that should be en-
couraged, and treated as simple abscess, not fistulous. “When thisis the case
the bar-shoe is better adapted to keep the parts in position, that the discharge
may proceed temperately.

In default of sending the sick horse to a meadow, he may be allowed to
stand on a clay-made floor in an outhouse by day, or any slip of soft ground
but by no means adopt the plan of putting the patient upon litter that is damp,
and is therefore half rotten and heating. A number of contrivances for af-
fording coolness and natural pressure to the sole and frog, besides the forego
ing, have been resorted to, and among these the admixture of vinegar, alegar,
verjuice, or solution of nitre with the clay, with the stopping, &c. are well
calculated to answer the purposes intended. Rubbing the knees with turpen
tine is also serviceable.

Physic would not of course be neglected at the earliest stages of lameness,
adanted to the previous state of the patient’s bodily health, and calculated te

XN
IMPOSTURES PRACTISED. FRENCH MODE OF EXAMINING A HORSE, 202

lower the access of inflammation, which so much pain must naturally pro
duce, Either of the three evacuations being suppressed, or imperfectly per-
formed, must be restored, and a purgative, a urine-ball, or a diaphoretic
powder be adininistered as occasion requires, and opportunity presents itself:
of course, neither of those will be given while the animal is out of doors,

 

PRECAUTIONS NECESSARY TO BE OBSERVED ON BUY
ING A FIORSE.

Much as hath been said of the make, shape, and proportion of the various
breeds of horses in Book I., some few precautionary hints, still more familiar,
seem desirable in this place. Of the several points of inquiry to which pur-
chasers apply themselves, the age of the animal is ever considered the most
deserving of attention ; the state of its legs, bodily health, and eye sight, coming
next in order, if general appearance does not precede every other. On each
of those heads | offer a few words of advice, most of which are tolerably well
recognised, though seldom in print, as most of those who deal in horse-flesh
acquire their knowledge from experience rather than books. Before all things,
the new horse-dealer should guard against imposition, and not “look at a
horse” where he has got to withstand two or three masked advisers. To be
sure, no one desirous of a nag would submit to the imposition of a cart-horse
instead; but, next to this kind of gross attempt, the thorough-paced dealezs
practise deceit of every species, and throw obstacles in the way of cool exa-
mination, especially when we come to investigate the seat of any actual defect.

General appearance: an idea of a good horse.—And first, that we may
make no blunders, and the younger portion of readers be thinking of one part
of him, whilst [ am talking of another, let the annexed plate of “ Terms com-
monly made use of to denote the external parts of the horse,” be kept con-
stantly in sight, so that there be no mistake of that sort.

Previous to stating our own old English notions, it may not be useless to
quote the instructions with which the purchasers of cavalry for the French
military service travelled (as [ believe) over that country. Its coincidence
with our own opinions and practices is at least curious, though on such a topic
no Englishman whatever requires instructions from a foreigner, if his own as-
sertions are to be taken for genuine. ‘ T'he persons sent to purchase horses
should not only keep in mind the colour, height, and price of horses for which
he is to treat; but also the usual defects of the country, that he may guard
against them; these are, faulty sight, flat hoof, too brittle, or too soft, and
efestions of the lungs. :

“ Those things being well thought on, the purchaser will look at the horse
sideways at a tolerable distance: he will choose him as nearly as possible one
tenth longer than he is high, measuring from the breast to the quarter, and
from the withers to the ground, so that if the horse be five feet high, his length
should be five feet and a half. .

“Preserving the same situation, he will see Ist, If the horse has a small
..2ad, not ton fleshy, perfectly free from tumours, and well placed, neither cat
xying it too low nor too high; 2nd, If he has not an ill-shaped neck, with his
windpipe hanging too low, or bending ; 3rd, Whether his withers be either too
sharp or too large, with fleshy shoulders; 4th, Whether he is not hollow back.
ed; 5th, Whether his chest be well formed, neither too round nor too flat,
6th, Whether he be low-bellied, with a small sheath; 7th, Whether he be
touched in the wind; 8th, If his fore legs are not too slender, or his hock de
not bend forwards too much; 9th, If the tendons or back sinews be not ailing,
i. &. either sore to the touch, or else pat be rite 10th, Whether the animal
xe not cither long-jointed, or short-jointed; 11th, Whether he be strained ta

19 *
me RIGHT ENGLISH NOTIONS OF A GOOD HORSE.

Me paxern joint, going low; 12th, Whether flat-hoofed, with low heels ; 13ta,
Wheuher he be not narrow at the hind quarters;. 14th, Whether he has not
spavin, windgall, or curb, ring-bone, or thorough-pin, or is likely tocut. Exa-
ane his sole and heel for thrush, canker, or corn, and if contraction has taken
ace.”

i; Having thus before us the Frenchman’s precautions, we come to the Eng-
lishman’s long accepted description of a good horse, and nothing else. His
head ought to be lean, of good size, and long; his ll thin and open; his
ears small and pricked ; or, if they be somewhat long, provided they stand
upright like those of the fox, it is usually a sign of mettle and toughness, Hia
forehead long and broad: not marefaced, but rising in the middle like that o
a hare, the feather being placed above the top of his eye, the contrary bein;
thought by some to betoken approaching blindness. His eye full, large, an
bright; his nostrils wide, and red within; for an open nostril betokens good
wind. His mouth large, deep in the wykes, and hairy. His windpipe big,
unconfined, and straight when he is reined in by the bridle, for, if it bends like
a bow (or cock-throttied), it very much hinders the passage of his wind. His
head must be so set upon his neck, that there should he a space felt between
the neck and the jowl; for, to be bull-necked is uncomely to sight and preju-
dicial to the horse’s wind. His crest should be firm, thin, and well-risen ; his
neck long and straight, yet not loose and pliant, which our north countrymen
term withy cragged; his breast strong and broad; his chest ceep at the girth,
his body vf good size and close ribbed up to the stifle; his ribs round like a
barrel, his fillets large, his quarters rather oval than broad, reaching well down
to the gaskins. His hock bone upright, not bending; which some do teria
eckle-houe ed, and think it denotes fastness and a laster. His legs shoul
be clean, fat, and straight; his joints short, well knit, and upright, especially
at the pe stern and hoofs, with but little hair at his fetluck; his hoofs black,
strong, and hollow, and rather long-and narrow than big and flat. His mane
and tail should be long and thin rather than very thick, which some think a
mark of dullness, :

Some do affect a small head at all hazards, thinking none other belongs to
a good horse, but much will depend upon how it is set on; if that be upon a
crane-neck, as usually happens when very small, he will carry unsteady, with
tail up as a counterbalance ; and if large head arise from thickness of the jowl,
this will also be a real deformity and interfere with his sate going: hard mouth-
ed usually accompanies the great hig head at the jowl. Expanded forehead
is quite a different thing, and belongs to neither of those objections, but on the
contrary is a redeeming sign of good breeding for any kind of faulty head, or
long or short, or thick or thin. The crest being slightly curved is always ac-
companied by distinctly marked windpipe. No horse with a bad shoulder can
carry his rider with ease and pleasure on the road, though a large one be re-
quisite for harness, ora very oblique one belong to.a speedy horse; because it
is the hind legs that send the animal along, as was eminently the case with
Eclipse. See pages 5, 9, 10, of Book I., where many other points to our pre-
sent purpose are discussed.

As to bodily health, also, the reader will not have far to lonk to enable him-
self to juise how any animal is affected which he may desire to purchase,
The whole volume now in his hands is devoted to a description of the func-
tions of animal life, and of their derangement.

AGE.

General appearance bespeaks the age of every animal, to those who have
wuch practice in ascertaining that point, and whose interest may be said we
NUMBER OF TEETH: TUSHES. 203

sharpen their judgment: in the horse we are enabled to make a fair estimate
of his years from the birth, to ten or twelve, by means of its teeth, but then
we should guard ourselves against a number of deceptious tricks that are prac-
tised on the unwary.

A certain juvenility of countenance and s ringiness of action, legs long
compared to the carcass, or filling up, large at the knees and other joints, wide
jowl, rough coat, and intractability, denote the foal and colt in succession ; all
which indications vanish gradually as it advances towards maturity, and be-
comes full mouthed. Heavy cattle assume premature age and sometimes de-
ceive us upon the first view; nor do such decay when aged so fast as the more
spirited, fretful, and lighter breeds; and as no one would purchase a horse for
use before it be fit for his purpose, nor take to one that is worn out, the vendor
hesitates not to stretch a year or so, one way or the other, as may best suit his
own interest and his customer’s wants. To aid their nefarious designs, they
are said to file the marks of age in colts’ teeth, and to bishop the aged, for
confirmation of their falsehoods. But we never rely wholly upon those marks,
but turn our attention to the curve of the tushes‘in the horse’s mouth, and the
sloping forward of the corner teeth in both sexes, to detect the imposture.

‘When we open the mouth of a full grown, or four year old horse, we per-
ceive twelve nipper teeth in front and twenty-four grinders behind: between
the two sets, above and below, a space is seen on the gum, designed by natura
to reccive the bit, and termed the bars of the upper or lower jaw, as the case
may be. About an inch behind the last of the front teeth, the male has tush-
es at this age, which seldom occurs with mares. The tushes coming up in
the lower jaw sometimes occasion soreness at the bars, when these are to Fe lan-
ced and the tushes appear: this the dealers effect prematurely at times; and
having also drawn out the two front sucking teeth, this causes the “ horse
teeth” to come up soon, so that the animal may appear four years old be-
fore its time. Pursuing the same species of deception, they proceed to draw
the remaining sucking teeth, that the animal may assume the appearance of a
five year old. Jockies have then a pass word for this operation, which they
term “all up!”

In examining the mouth to ascertain the age, we leave entirely out of con-
sideration the grinding teeth, and chiefly rely upon the under jaw; though
when deception may be suspected, the buyer should refer to the upper teeth
also, as these follow the same course of nature as the lower, but do not decay
so fast in old age.

At fifteen days old the fore teeth (two above and two below), appear above the
gums, the outside shell first, having muscular substance in the middle of the twa
shells, which fills gradually up, till about the end of the first year, when the
surface becomes smooth, and a smal} ring is observable towards the root of each.

Meantime, when the foal is a month old, the next two teeth (one on each
side) above and below, appear in like manner; and at thirteen months the
fleshy cavities of these fill up, and a ring is observable as in the former.

At four months old the corner teeth come
up, and the filling up is similarly effected at
sixteen or seventeen months old. After this
period the whole six teeth wear even, and so
continue smooth and unmarked until two
years and a half, the corner teeth being. still
the least perfect, the front ones largest.

During this state of the mouth, if the un-
principled dealer would give his animal’s teeth ——
she mark of three or four years old, he is said 21-2 yeursold
to “ file’ two or four front teeth hollow in the middle; though in fact it w

   
204 FUALS’ AND COLTS TEETH FORMING.

barnt in with an acid that is capable of destroying the hardest substancea
But this falsification may be detected, ‘Ist, by comparing the upper with the
lower jaw which they omit “to file; 2d, by noticing whether the marked
teeth have the ring before described, as pertaining to the sucking teeth, but does
not belong to the horse teeth—lastly, these latter are larger, of a brownish yellow
tange, and soon acquire tartar, very unlike the fine whiteness of thesucking teeth
: - my On rising three years old, the two fore teetk
2 (below, and two above) fall out, and are re
placed by two horse teeth, having the hollow
mark in the middle, as shown in the annexea
cut, As just said, they are also larger and of
a darker colour than the sucking teeth. But
between the third and fourth years, two fur-
ther colt’s teeth (as well above as below) shed,
and are replaced by “horse teeth,” i. e. larger
and browner than the sucking teeth, with the
black mark; the tushes also push forth, and
the horse is now fully mouthed, as re-
presented by the cut in the margin.

Only the corners now remain un-
changed from colts’ to horses’ teeth,
These differ from the others in being
shorter, smaller, and of a shell-like ap-
pearance, until the middle of the fifth
year, when these also are displaced by
horse teeth, in shape much like the
former, and their marks but just per-
ceptible within the upper surface, But,
toward the completion of five years of
age, they become larger, are more
strongly marked, and are grooved on the ~
inside, which groove denotes the age to
be five with precision; no deception can
be practised on this point, nor as regards
the tushes, which are now curved, hav-
ing grooves inside, that may be felt with
the finger, and seen as represented in the
figure annexed. At this age the two
front teeth give proof of being worn,
principally on the outer edge- the wear-
ing away goes on, and at six years the
surface is level, or as they say, “the mark
is gone,” whilst the next two teeth also
begin to wear. Now, also, the grooves
just spoken of in the corner teeth fill up;
the curve in the tushes is diminished,
at seven years their grooves fill up in like
manner, and become convex in another
year or two. Upto this age only the two
corner teeth retain the mark, and that
but slightly; when the horse. acquires
the term ‘“‘aged,” and these two likewise
soon after become smooth.

This is the state of the lower jaw at
seven years old, but the teeth of the uppe

im,

 

 
 

4K
PACES: THEY DISCLOSE LAMENESS, 205

jaw do not fill up so fast by two years; so that a tolerably shrewd guess a: ths
age of a horse may be formed until itis twelve. The marks in the two front
teeth of the upper jew are not obliterated until eight years old, and the next
two become smooth only at the tenth year of its age; being each two years
later than happens to the corresponding teeth of the lower jaw; whilst the
two corner teeth above do not lose their marks until the twelfth year.

The tushes of old horses, then, have neither curve nor groove; they wear
away at the points as ifthey had been broken off and polished again; tne
corner teeth appear long and leaning forward; the upper teeth project over the
lower, and all lose their oblong shape, whilst the the gum recedes and leaves
their roots bare, so that the teeth seem as if grown longe:. When the tecth
do not so meet evenly, certain dealers file away the projecting teeth; for this
denotation of old age, which may be attributed to a strong mouth, sometimes
happens prematurely without any other corresponding sign. In two or three
other respects we notice similar deviations from the general rule, that none .
know how to account for, unless it be that such animals were got by old
parents, when the hollowness over the eyes will be found to disfigure young
colts of the most tender age. Some, again, lose the mark in all their teeth ex-
cept the corners, as early as five years old; others have hard mouths and the
bars almost callous; but all these have the hollow just spoken of. This de-
fect dealers endeavour to rectify by puncturing the skin and blowing it up,
On the other hand, some horses are so strong in the mouth, or rather healthy
that the marks of five years old are retained by them until six or seven.

Extreme old age may be further ascertained by the mouth, with moderate
accuracy. Up to ten or eleven years old, the teeth generally retain their ob-
long figure and touch each other. From this period the teeth contract in size,
become roundish, and leave a small space between them; which space in-
creases up to the fourteenth or fifteenth year, when each tooth assumes an
angular shape, and projects forward, irregularly. In another year or two the
under lip hangs down, the jaw becomes neaped and contracted, the gum re-
cedes considerably from the roots, and the shape of the teeth is then of an ob-
long, but directly contrary to the first.

Moreover, the eyes of a horse approaching twenty years wax yellowish, he
winks much, and the inner skin of his mouth turns outward. If naturally of
a gray or roan colour, the darker spots turn rusty, and he is then what they
term “flea bitten:” gradually he turns gray, beginning with the head and
finishing with the legs.

LAMENESS

Is not easy of detection, when the horse comes from the hands of a dea.er;
who of course makes the best of him; and endeavours to inveigle our judg-
ment, and to throw obstacles in the way of examination. Perhaps, when a
horse walks queerly, or unaccountably odd, this should be sufficient cause for
rejection ; but if he suits the purchasez’s purpose in other respects, we are
usually induced to look at him a little further, and this is the reason that the
seller always puts his tit upon the pace he can perform best, commonly the
gallop. All paces are natural ones, except backing and cantering, and are
all modifications of the walk, trot, and gallop. The walk is made in four
equal steps ; the trot in two, and the gallop likewise in two, except at setting
off. When the steps are not made in equal time, then is the horse lame. This
is observable when he walks, is more apparent when he trots, but is scarcely
perceptible when he gallops: therefore to judge whether a horse be lame or
not, he should be put upon the short trot, because at the long trot it ts more
difficult to be discovered by 4eeing him go, than by hearing the uifference <f
306 BLOOD-LETTING. ERRORS CONCERNING.

sound in each alternate step. Hence, it will be seen, we must examine
whether a horse be lame by a gentle trot. To judge whether the lameness
ve before, let him come towards you, then the fore leg which falls to ground
the quickest is the sound leg, and the contrary one is faulty; but to find ow
whether the inequality of his paces proceeds from defect in the hind leg, make
him trot from you, and that leg which is longest in coming to the grouod is
affected in some manner or other; and in either case the faulty leg is to be
closely examined, according to the instructions before set down, page 171
Even then, unless the person has great experience, he is liable to be imposed
: on, as the poor animal is often lamed of a fore and a hind leg, at the same
time: an occurrence that may have been inflicted on one leg in order to coun-
teract the firet appearance of actual lameness inthe other. To detect this cruel
imposition, it becomes necessary to examine every leg, to turn up all the soles,
and to ascertain whether the horse has not been pegged between the shoe and
the sole, or his “heels opened,” by the shoeing-smith for the purpose of sale.

BLOOD-LET TING.

Every one, almost, can bleed a horse in some way or other, and it is often
found extremely desirable that the operation should be performed without de-
lay. But, like many other excellent remedies in the hands of unreflectin

ersons, this one is frequently employed imperfectly, as well as too often. Eac!

as its peculiar notions, either as to the fit part whence the blood should be
taken, the time when it becomes necessary, or the quantity proper to be taken;
the latter being the more common error, as it is also the more excusable, inas-
much as they can plead “authority” either way for what they do, is neverthe-
less demonstrably ruled by wrong principles. The practice of bleeding at
given periods, be the quantity taken ever so small, is most injudicious, to say
no worse of it; for, why should we employ a curative when there is nothing
to cure? especially when we thereby substract from vitality itself.

“Only bleed in cases of inflammation,” say the French farriers, and then
they take a large quantity, under the impression that taking a quart, ora little
more, frcm a mass of two hundred and twenty quarts, which is fairly calcu- -
lated to reside in a middling-sized horse, “is but trifling with the disorder.”
The existence of inflammation, or fever, is to be ascertained by the state of
the pulse, upon which I was tolerably minute whilst speaking of fever, &c.
(pages 61—64) the number of beats, and the kind of vibrations, being well
considered, previously to taking the fleam in hand, when the quantity drawn
should be commensurate to the extent of the disorder. Keep in mind, how-
ever, the exceeding danger of mistaking one series of febrile symptoms for
another, as may be judged of by turning to those of “low fever,” at page 67,
when bleeding would destroy the horse. See also pages 68, 69. ithout
question, if the operator entertains a doubt about the symptoms as indicated
by the pulse, the least quantity he takes is likely to perpetrate the smallest
amount of harm; whilst, if he be ccrrect in his observations, and has witnessed
the good effects of bleeding in strictly similar cases, its inadequacy can effect
no good whatever, nor repetition amend the matter one tittle, but the contrary.
So that he must be wrong either way.

For, as I proved at the pages before referred to, the disorders for which
bleeding is found serviceable depend less upon the quantity of blood that may
ne in the system at the time of the attack, than upon the construction or
‘state of the blood,’* and the degree of irritation that may exist in the ves-

That ws to say, the proportion ofits then component parts, which is mainly affected by the
MEASURE AND APPEARANCE OF COAGULUM. om

sels that contain it; both which affections, or causes of disease, are mire fre-
quently to be moved by the manner of taking any given quantity than by the
actual weight, or rather the measure tlistoat™ If the blood, for example, be
drawn from a small orifice, no matter how rightly judged the quantity may
be, however consonant tothe proportions [ have prescribed at page 63, yet the
irritation of the blood-vessels, known by the rigid feel of the artery, will not be
reduced, nor the animal recover. “ He has been bled,” is thrown in the ff ve
of the doctor, “and is no better: we have even preserved the blood.’ But the
thing has not been performed with requisite skill. Among other absurdities,
the operator will perceive the impropriety of permitting the blood to escape
upon the ground, and then ee at the quantity drawn; than which no
practice can be more slovenly and fallacious.

A measure should be provided, marked with graduated circular lines, and
numbered from the bottom by pints each. Glass forms the neatest vessel;
but pewter offers a less brittle material in horse-medicine. The blood should
be preserved awhile in the vessel, that the form it assumes in coagulating may
be noted and remarked upon; as commonly happens most indiscreetly by all
bystanders, whether it be caught or not; for very few can pronounce accu-
rately, upon the view, the quantity of disease the blood indicates, particularly
when it is on the ground; nor yet when in a vessel, unless it be caught pro-

erly.
P Let the vessel be presented so as to catch the blood fairly, and not tnckle
down the sides, whereby the manner of its coagulation is affected. Blood
that is drawn from a healthy horse, soon congeals in nearly one uniform mass,
about one fifth of water only remaining at the top; from the residue you may
wash away the red or colouring particles, and leave a pale thick coagulum or
lymph. In a pound of such blood will be found these proportions—viz, 8
ounces of thick lymph, 5 ounces of the red or colouring particles, 3 ounces
watery. If the operator keeps stirrizg the blood until it cools, the water does
not separate, but the whole forms one homogeneous mass. In cases of great
inflammation or fever, the watery proportion is much less, and the blood is
then consequently more viscid or thick; which proves that this viscidity is an
accompanying symptom of the disorder, as maintained in various parts of this
volume; but, as the fever goes on, the animal loses appetite, and he makes no
more new blood; the blood then becomes thinner in consequence of the de-
posite of lymph made in its circulation, and the red part predominates. On
the contrary, in low fever and all languishing disorders of a tardy circulation,
in cases of cedematous tumour, the watery part is found in the greatest pro-
portion, and the red part is then almost extinct; in inflammatory fever the red
particles predominate, the water is nearly dried up, and the lymph greatly de-
es,

" Taateunienti The fleam and blood-stick have been attacked as remnants
of the old school, but were unjustly stigmatized as a rude metnod of obtaining
blood. In the hands of judicious persons, the fleam has been found equal to
every purpose that was required, and when used adroitly no other means of
blood-letting, probably, ever will supersede it. But during the rage for im-
provements and new inventions, that prevailed a few years since, they sought
to avoid a certain clumsiness of its application by introducing the lancet to
general use. True it is, that the awkward method'of making two or three
aims with the stick, before striking at the fleam, occasions the horse to shy,
especially whilst every vessel of the head is swellmg with olood, in cmse

quence of the application of the ligatureround the neck; and equally true,

that careless operators frequently cut through the vein, so as to cause subse-

quent disorders ; though others, again, dangerously wounded the carotid arte

20 ,
208 FLEAM AND LANCET; LIGATURE.

that passes under the vein; yet are there insurmountable obstacles to the go
neral use of the lancet, that can never be overcome.

Of those, I need mention but one objection, viz the time occupied in mak-
ing the opening —seldom less than four or five seconds, which causes the ani-
mal to move its head, and thus to defeat the intention of making a sufficient
orifice, whereby the adipose muscle of fleshy animals is allowed to interpose,
and the blood trickles down the neck, and part of it gets underneath the skin.
By the way, this happens when the operator does not bleed sufficiently high
up the neck, the skin and muscle being much thicker lower down. Upon
large animals, likewise, the lancet is wholly incompetent to its purpose, owing
to the very thick teguments it has to pass through, leaving entirely out of con-
sideration the substance of the vein itself, To remedy those objections, the
spring fleam is more advisedly employed by less practised hands, and is found
to combine the advantages assumed for the lancet, whilst it secures the requi-
site orifice punctured by the fleam.

Bleeding is now performed without previously applying a ligature, as it be-
came apparent that the blood which was thus detained in both veins, distend-
ed also the capillary vessels in the head, which pressed upon the brain.
Hence it frequently happened that vertigo came over the animal, filling it
with the apprehension of danger. Sometimes it fell down through compres-
sion of the brain, and plunged; whereupon the disconcerted operator was
known to give it up for a bad job, at the moment it became more than ever ne-
cessary, charging the fault to account of the horse’s restiveness, with an ex-
pressed intention of resuming the attempt at some more favourable opportu-
nity. But this was a promise he was seldom able to redeem cleverly; the
alarm excited by striking the fleam again and again scarcely ever subsiding,
for the tension of the vein would but increase with the continuance of the
ligature, and caused it to slip aside more certainly. Apoplexy and death has
ensued from the same cause, namely, the application of a ligature, and the
consequent bursting of the fine blood-vessels of the brain.

A large vein is more desirable to take blood from, as an evacuation that is
to relieve the whole system, than a small one, and the jugular or neck vein,
within a hand of the jowl, is ever preferable; because the small do not con-
veniently admit of making so large an orifice, for the quick escape of the blood,
upon which so much benefit depends ; nor for the same reason allow of draw-
ing a sufficient quantity at one time, to effect any good upon the spasmodic
tendency or irritability of the vessels.

Local bleeding, in the plate vein for example, for a bruise in that region,
does not enter exactly into my present view of the subject of blood-letting ;
though as much service to the part affected may be derived from drawing off
from the circulation at the neck vein, as spraying a vein immediately at the
seat of the evil. Bleeding in the foot is the only exception I should make:
unless the practice of incising the bars of the mouth when the animal will not
take his corn, be another, or at least not of importance sufficient to be men-
tioned at all, even as an exception.

’ The jugular vein being sought for where it is largest and nearest the sur-
face, this will be found upon pressing it with the finger, a hand’s breadth from
*he setting on of the head, a very little below the place where a branch comes
from the lower jaw, and joins another from the upper part. The Frenchman
mstructs nis marechal thus pithily on this topic, at on several others—“ Do
not bleed your horse in the head, but as near to it as possible.’ Its situation
being thus found. take the fleam between the fore-finger and thumb of the
‘eft hand, and pressing gently upon the vein below with the other fingers, the
vein will rise; then strike, with stick or spring, as the case may be, and con-
anue the pressure until the proper quantity of blood is drawn off. If this
OF PINNING THE ORIFICE, ACUTE FOUNDER. 209

lattet_vecessary attendance is found inconvenient, the ligature may now be
applied without danger, but with no additional advantage.

Pinning up the orifice is the final part of blood-letting that is frequently
overdone; that is to say, too much of the skin is drawn up over the orifice of
the vein, so that the blood will flow underneath the skin, which causes a swell-
ing; and a fistulous tumour is the consequence, that “is very troublesome to
cure. Where the quantity of blood taken has been small, leaving a redun-
dancy in the system, this latter misfortune is likeliest to happen; but when
the quantity taken has been large, and the horse rests quietly after it, the
pinning up may be dispensed with, for the blood ceasing to flow of itself, the
parts being brought together will adhere almost naturally, by holding the finger
at the orifice fora few seconds. But when you must use a pin, be careful it
does-nat prick the orifice of the vein.

Ia 8 necessary to add, that the fleam should be clean, and otherwise in good
order ?

Rules, 1. Always give purging physic after letting blood. 2, Never
bleed immediately after a run; nor at the moment pretend to pass judgment
on the pulse, as it is then flurried. 3. You may bleed after a fall, or a con-
tused wound; though the pulse be not quick, it will then be irregular: incised
wounds do not require bleeding, since enough escapes at the wound. 4. If
the blood in the measure be very hard, with buff at the top, the animal may
be bled again : it indicates high fever. 5, If the blood scarcely coagulates, the
poor creature ought not to have been blooded at all.

ON ACUTE FOUNDER.

founder, as a general subject, is one of great importance; and when it is
considered as probable, that if it does not destroy, it at least renders uselesa
mre horses than all other diseases put together, its importance can hardly be
rated too high. ‘Toa proper consideration of it, however, it must be regarded
as consisting of two kinds, and these essentially differing from each other.
The one is an acute attack, dependent on diffused inflammation or fever, like
the inflammations of any other important organs: the other, a chronic, occa-
sioned by local inflammation, sometimes dependent on constitutional liability,
but much more frequently on outward occasional causes. _ ie

But as an acute founder appears to be the most general disease in this coun-
try, I shall confine myself entirely to a consideration of it. 5

Acute Founper appears to have two origins, in one case being a true me-
tastasis of primary fever, or translation of disease from one part to another;
in other instances the attack appears to be made more directly on the feet
themselves. In a great many instances it can be directly traced to the effect
of obstructed perspiration; or at least of the sudden alternations of tempera-
ture, operating in the production of general febrile affections, whose transla-
tion to the feet is sometimes perhaps accidental, and at others may be pro-
duced by some cause which has already weakened them. In this latter wa
it often occurs after very severe exertions; as very hard riding or driving, wit!
previous, present, or subsequent exposure to wet or cold, particularly of the
feet, as washing them immediately after the horse arrives; or the tendenc
may perhaps be increased by first exposing the feet to cold and afterwards
suddenly removing them into a warm stable; the vessels of the feet not being
able to bear this sudden alteration, distend and fall into inflammation. It may
in many of these cases occur prior to general fever, which will then be symp-
tomatic; or it may be consequent to it, when the founder itself is the effec
210 ACUTE FOUNDER.

of translation; and both are frequently occasioned, as before stated, by re
peated and long continued exertions with subsequent exposure to cold, espe:
cially by the custom of washing the feet and legs when hot.

Founder very frequently proceeds from cold too suddenly applied to the
body from a current of cold air acting upon it when in an over-heated state,
or from drinking freely of cold water. The symptoms are at first these:
when the horse begins to cool, he appears very stiff and feeble in his fore
quarters, and, when forced to move forwards, he collects his body, as it were,
into a heap, and brings his hind feet as far forward under him as he can, in
order to remove the pressure of the weight of his body from the forelegs d
feet ; at the same time he sets his fore feet to the ground with great pain, .us
fore parts are extremely hot, and sometimes his legs are considerably swollen,
and evidently painful to the animal when touched.

As soon as the complaint has risen to any height, the feet will be found in-
intensely hot, and the pastern arteries pulsating very strongly; there is some-
times some little tumefaction round the fetlocks, and when one foot is held up
for examination, it gives so much pain to the other that the horse isin danger
of falling. The poor beast ereane and breaks out into profuse sweats at one
time, and at others is cold; his eyes are moist and red, and his whole appear.
ance betokens that he is labouring under a most painful inflammatory affec.
tion.

In this state, the complaint shows itself the first three or four days, after
which its effects are various. In excessively bad cases, when the symptoms
stated have raged a few days, a slight separation of the hoof at the coronet
may be observed, from which a small quantity of thin matter may be pressed ;
the sensible laminz of the foot, now losing their connexion with the insensible
lamine by the effects of the inflammation, the hoofs gradually separate, and
at last drop off. At other times the effects are not quite so violent : still how-
ever the termination is sufficiently unfortunate; for coagulable lymph is thrown
out, which equally forces off the hoofs; but not until the parts underneath
have acquired some solidity, nor till the germ of a new hoof appears, which
if suffered to grow never proves perfect; on tlre contrary, the horse usually
remains permanently lame. In other cases the laming, losing their elasticity
and power, yield to the weight of the coffin-bone, which becomes pushed back-
wards, and in its passage draws with it the front of the hoof, which falls in;
the pressure also of the coffin-bone destroys the concavity of the horny sole,
which becomes convex, or pumiced, leaving a large space hollow towards the
toe, which very frequently turns up.

But when tne attack is not commenced with that violence which has been
detailed, or waen an early and judicious plan of treatment is adopted, the ter-
mination will be more fortunate; the horse will stand longer upon his feet, the
pulse, which at the onset of the disease is very high, will gradually fall, these
favourable appearances will increase daily, and in the end the animal will re-
cover the use of his feet.

As soon as the disease is discovered, take away blood from the neck to the
emount of four, five, or six quarts, as circumstances may require, or size and
condition will permit; back-rake and throw up clysters, but unless there he
much costiveness present, do not give strong purgative medicine, as the high
state of irritative fever which is generally present, forbids such practice.
Mild laxatives should be given twice or three times a day until the bowels
are moderately opened, together with the fever ball, recommended some
ages further back, twice a day, until the inflammatory symptoms have sub-
sided.

The feet should be atuended to after the general bleeding, &. In the first
piace let the shoes be taken off, and the soles pared a little; the hoaf should
ACUTE FOUNDER, 21)

be rasped as thin as is prudent, which will greatly relieve the internal sensi.
ble parts, which are tender and swollen, by removing the pressure of the sole
and hoof from them; let the feet be immersed in warm water or apply poul-
tices to them, or if preferred wet cloths may be kept round them; the
general febrile symptoms still continue repeat the bleeding and the medicine,
As soon as amendment becomes apparent, feed mildly, and allow the horse
to rest ; do not proceed to exercise until the feet have gained some strength,
nor must it be forgotten that feet once foundered, require great caution in
their future management, as they are very liable to become again affected on
any considerable exertion.
 

TERMS O°.VIMONLY MADE USE OF TO DENOTE THE EXTERNAL PARTS OF THE HORSE
HORSE TAMING AnD BREAKING,

 

BY RAREY.

Tux Horsz is so constituted by nature that he will
not offer resistence to any demand made of him which
he fully comprehends. He has no consciousness of his:
strength beyond his own experience, and can be
handled by man without force, after a little study of
his habits and disposition. Being deficient in reasoning
powers, he has no knowledge of right or wrong, of free
will and independent government, and knows not of any
imposition practiced upon him, however unreasonable it
may be. Consequently, he cannot easily decide what
he should or should not do. But being naturally of
willing and gentle disposition, it remains for man to
instruct him in a manner suited to his nature.

The horse is a timid animal; but easily becomes
familiar with objects and sounds that are at first dis-
agreeable or frightful. We must therefore accustom
him to such as he will be apt to meet with in his daily ‘
service. To do this effectually, he should be allowed
to examine closely and leisurely such objects as would
inspire terror, and to smell them and touch them. A
log or stump by the road-side may be, in the imagina-
tion of the horse, some great beast about to pounce
upon him; but after you take him up to it, and let him
stand by it a little while, and touch it with his nose,
and go through his process of examination, he will not
care anything more about it. And the same principle
and process will have the same effect with any other
object, howev2r fr'~htful in appearance, in which there
is no harm.

I thus establish three principles on which my system
of taming the horse is founded, viz.: ;

First. That any horse may be taught to do anything
214 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

that a horse can do if taught in a systematic and proper
manner.

Second. That a horse is not conscious of his own
strength until he has resisted and conquered a man, and
even in cases where he has temporarily triumphed he
may yet be subdued;—that by taking advantage of
man’s reasoning powers a horse can be handled in such
a manner that he shall not find out his strength.

Third. That by enabling a horse to examine every
object with which we desire to make him familiar, with
the organs naturally used for that purpose, viz., seeing,
smelling and feeling, you may place or display the ob-
ject around, over, and on him, provided that it does not
actually huit him or make him feel disagreeable.

With this introduction to first principles, I will en-
deavor to teach you how to put them into practice, and
whatever instructions may follow, you can rely on as
having been proven practical by my own experiments.
Knowing from experience just what obstacles J have
met with in handling bad horses, I shall try and antici-
pate them for you, and assist you in surmounting them,
by commencing with the first steps to be taken with the
colt, and accompanying you through the whole task of
breaking.

How to Get the Colt from Pasture,

Go to the pasture and walk around the whole herd
quietly, and at such a distance as not to cause them to
scare and run. Then approach them very slowly, and
if they stick up their heads aud seem to be frightened,
hold on till they become quiet, so as not to make them
run before you are close enough to drive them in the
direction you want them to go. And when you begin
to drive, do not flourish your arms or halloo, but gently
follow them off, leaving the direction free for them
that you wish them to take. Thus taking the advan-
tage of their ignorance, you will be able to get them in
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 215

the pound as easily as the hunter drives the quails into
his net. For if they have always run in the pasture
uncared for, (as many horses do in prairie countries and
on large plantations,) there is no reason why they
should not be as'wild as the sportsman’s birds, and re-
quire the same gentle treatment, if you want to get
them without trouble; fcr the horse, in his natural state,
is as wild as any of the undomesticated animals, though
more easily tamed than the most of them.

How to Stable a Colt,

The next step will be to get the horse into a stable or
shed. This should be done as quietly as possible, so as
not to excite any suspicion in the horse of any danger
befalling him. The best way to do this, is to lead a
broken horse into the stable first and hitch him, then
quietly walk around the colt and let him go in of his
own accord. Be extremely deliberate and slow in your
movements, for one wrong move may frighten your
horse, and make him think it necessary to escape at all
hazards for the safety of his life—and thus make two
hours’ work of a ten minutes’ job; and this would be all
your own fault, and entirely unnecessary—for he will
not run unless you run after him, nor will he try to
break away unless you attempt to force him into
measures. If he does not see the way at once, and is a
little fretful about going in, do not undertake to drive
him, but give him a little less room outside, by gently
closing in around him. Do not raise your arms, but
let them hang at your side, for you might as well raise
a club: the horse has never studied anatomy, and does-
not know but they will unhinge themselves and fly at
him. If he attempts to turn back, walk before him, but
do not run; and if he gets past you, encircle him again
in the same quiet manner, and he will soon find that
you are not going to hurt him; and then you can
walk so close around him that he will go into the stable
216 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

for more room, and to get farther from you. As soon
as he is in, remove the quiet horse and shut the door.
This will be his first notion of confinement—not knowing
how he got into such a place, nor how to get out of it.
That he may take it as quietly as possible, see that the
shed is entirely free from dogs, chickens, or anything
that would annoy him. Then give him a few ears of
corn,. and let him remain alone fifteen or twenty
minutes, until he has examined his apartment, and has
become reconciled to his confinement. And now, while
your horse is eating those few ears of corn, see that
your halter is ready and all right, and reflect upon the
best mode of operations: for, in horse-breaking, it is
highly important that you should be governed by some
system.

The Kind of Halter, and How to Put it On.

Never use a rope halter. The cords of the rope are
hard, and appear to aggravate and excite distrust rather
than confidence; but by all means procure a leather
halter made of bridle leather, so it will feel soft and
pliable to the touch, and to fit tolerably tight on the
head, so as not to feel uncomfortable. Before putting a
halter upon the colt, he must be rendered familiar with
it by caressing him and permitting him to examine the
article with his nose. Then place a portion of it over
his head, occasionally giving it a slight pull, and in a
few minutes he will be accustomed to these liberties,
and then the halter may be fastened on properly. To
teach him to lead is another difficulty. Stand a little
on one side, rub his nose and forehead, take hold of
the strap and pull gently, and at the same time touch
him very lightly with the end of a long whip across his
hind legs. This will make him start and advance a few
steps. Repeat the operation several times, and he will
soon learn to follow you by simply pulling the halter.
The mouth of the colt should be frequently handled,
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 217

after which introdnce a plain snaffle between his teeth
and hold it there with one hand’ and caress him with
the other. After a time he will allow the bridle to be
placed upon him. The'saddle can now be brought in
and rubbed against his nose, his neck and his legs; next
hang the stirrup strap across his back, and gradually
insinuate the saddle into its place. The girth should not
be fastened until he becomes thoroughly acquainted
with the saddle. The first time the girth is buckled it
should be done so loosely as not to attract his attention;
subsequently it can be tightened without inspiring him’
with fear, which if fastened immediately it would most
certainly do. In this manner the wildest colt can be
effectually subjugated by such imperceptible degrees
that he gives tacit obedience before he is aware of his
altered condition.

How to Proceed after Haltering,

The first time you halter a colt you should stand on
the left side, pretty well back to his shoulder, only
taking hold of that part of the halter that goes around
his neck, then with your two hands about his neck, you
can hold his head to you, and raise the halter on it
without making him dodge, by putting your hands
about his nose. You should have a long rope or strap
ready, and as soon as you have the halter on, attach
this to it, so that you can let him walk the length of the
stable without letting go the strap, or without making
him pull on the alter; for if you only let him feel the
“weight of your hand on the halter, and give him more
rope when he runs from you, he will never rear, pull or
throw himself, yet you will be holding him all the time,
and doing more towards gentling him than if you had
the power to snub him right up, and hold him to one
spot; because he knows nothing about his strength, and
if you don’t do anything to make him pull, he will never
know what he can doin that way. In a few minutes
218 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

you can begin to control him with the halter, then
shorten the distance between yourself and the horse by
taking up the strap in your hand. As soon as he will
allow you to hold him by a tolerably short strap, and
to step up to him without flying back, you can
hegin to give him some idea about leading. But
to do this, do not go before and attempt to pull him
after you, but commence by pulling him very quietly
to one side. He has nothing to brace either side
of his neck, and will soon yield to a steady, gradual
pull of the halter; and as soon as you have pulled him
a step or two to one side, step to him and caress
him, and then pull him again, repeating this opera-
tion until you can pull him in every direction, and
walk about the stable with him; which you can
do in a few minutes, for he will soon think when
you have made him step to the right or left a few
times, that he is compelled to follow the pull of the
halter, not knowing that he has the power to resist your
pulling; besides, you have handled him so gently that
he is not afraid of you, but rather likes you. After
you have given him a few lessons of this kind, at
proper intervals, he will be so tame that if you turn
him out to pasture he will come up to you to be caressed
every opportunity he gets.

While training him in the stable, you should lead
him about some time before you take him out, opening
the door, so that he can see out, leading him up to it
and back again, and then past it. See that there is
nothing on the outside to make him jump when you
take him out, and as you go out with him, try to make
him go very slowly, catching hold of the halter close to
the jaw with your left hand, while the right is resting
on the top of his neck, holding to his mane. Do not
allow any one to be present or in sight, during your
operations, either in or outside the stable. If you are
entirely alone, and manage your colt rightly, you will
soon be able to lead and hold him as easily as you
could a horse already broken.
‘HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 219

How to Proceed if the Colt is Stubborn.

If the animal you are operating upon seems to be a
stubborn or mzlish disposition rather than wild; if he
lay back his ears as you approach him, or turns hig heel.
to kick you, he has not that regard or fear of man that
he should have, to enable you to handle him quickly
and easily; and it might do well to give him a few
sharp cuts with the whip, about the legs, pretty close
to the body. It will crack keen as it plies about-the
legs, and the crack of the whip will affect him as much
as the stroke; besides, one sharp cut about the legs will
affect him more than two or three over the back, the
skin on the inner part of the legs or about his flanks
being thinner, and more tender than on his back. But
do not whip him much—just enough to scare him; it is
not because we want to hurt the horse that we whip
him; we only do it it to scare that bad disposition out
of him. But whatever you do, do quickly, sharply and
with a good deal of fire, but always without anger. If
you go to scare him at all, you must do it at once.
Never go into a pitched battle with your horse, and
whip him until he his mad, dnd will fight you: youhad
better not touch him at all, for you will establish, in-
stead of fear and regard, feelings of resentment, hatred,
and ill will. It will do him no good, but harm, to strike
him, unless you can frighten him; but if you can succeed in
frightening him, you can whip him without making him
mad; for fear and anger never exist together in the horse,
and as soon as one is visible, you will find that the
other has disappeared. As soon as you have frightened
him, so that he will stand up straight and pay some
attention to you, approach him again and caress him
a good deal more than you whipped him; thus you
will excite the two controlling passions of his nature,
love and fear: he will love, and fear you too; and, as
soon as he learns what you require, will obey quickly.

If the colt is of too mulish a disposition to yield to
220 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

careful and gentle treatment, as here given, you must
resort to the several measures recommended for taming
vicious horses, as explained elsewhere in these pages.

How to Lead a Colt with a Broke Horse,

If you should want to lead your colt by the side of
another horse, you must first put the horse into a stable
with the colt. You now attach a second strap to the
colt’s halter, and lead your horse up alongside of him.
Then get on the broke horse and take one strap around
his breast under the martingale, (if he has any on,)
holding it in your left hand. This will prevent the colt
from getting back too far; besides, you have more power
to hold him, with the strap pulling against the horse’s
breast. The other strap take up in your right hand to
prevent him from running ahead; then turn him about
in the stable, and if the door is wide enough, ride out
with him in that position; if not, take the broke horse
out first, and stand his breast up against the door, then
lead the colt to the same spot and take the straps as be-
fore directed, one on each side of his neck, and then let
some one start the colt out, and as the colt comes out,
turn your horse to the left, and you will have them all
right. You can manage any kind of a colt in this way,
without trouble; for, if he tries to run ahead, or pull
back, the two straps will bring the two horses facing
each other, so that you can very easily follow up his
movements without doing much holding, and as soon
as he stops running backward, you are right with him,
and all ready to go ahead. If he gets stubborn and
does not want to go, you can remove all his stubborn-
ness by riding your horse against his neck, thus compel-
ling him to turn to the right; and as soon as you have
‘turned him about a few times, he will be willing to go
along. The next thing, after you are through leading him,
will be to take him into a stable and hitch him in such
a way as not to have him pull on the halter, and as they
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 921

are often troublesome to get into a stable the ‘first. few
times, I will give you some instructions about getting
him in.

How to Lead the Colt into a Stable,

You should lead the broken horse into the stable first,
and get the colt, if you can, to follow in after him. If
he refuses to go, step up to him, taking a little stick or
switch in your right hand; then take hold of the halter
close to his head with your left hand, at the same time
reaching over his back with your right arm so that you
can tap him on the opposite side with your switch;
bring him up facing the door, tap him slightly with
your switch, reaching as far back with it as you can.
This tapping, by being pretty well back, and on the
opposite side, will drive him ahead, and keep him close
to you; then by giving him the right direction with
your left hand you can walk into the stable with
him. I have walked colts into the stable this way in
less than a minute, after men had worked at them half
an hour, trying to pull themin. If you cannot walk him
at once in this way, turn him about and walk him

‘around a while until you can gethim up to the door with-
out pulling at him. Then lect him stand a few minutes,
keeping his head in the right direction with the halter,
and he will soon walk in of his own accord. Never at-
tempt to pull the colt into the stable; that would make
him think at once that it was a dangerous place, and if
he was not afraid of it before he would be then. Be-
sides, we do not want him to know about pulling on the

. halter. If you want to tie up your colt, put him

in a tolerably wide stall, which should not be too
long, and should be connected by a bar or something
of that kind to the partition behind it; so that, after the

colt is in he cannot go far enough back to take a

straight, backward pull on the alter; then by tying him
in the centre of the stall, it would be impossible for him
g22 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

to pull on the halter, the partition behind preventing
him from going back, and the halter in the center
checking him every time he turns to the right or left.
In a stall of this kind you can break any horse to stand
tied with a light strap, anywhere, without his ever

knowing anything about pulling. For if you have.

broken your horse to lead, and have taught him the
use of the halter (which you should always do before
you hitch him to anything,) you can hitch him in any
kind of a stall, and if you give him something to eat to
keep him up to his place for a few minutes at first,
there is not one colt in fifty that will pull on his halter,
or ever attempt to do so.

This is an important feature in breaking the colt, for
if he is allowed to pull on the halter at all, and particu-
larly if he finds out that he can break the halter, he will
never be safe.

Powell's Management of Wild Horses,

Cause your horse or colt to be put in a small yard,
stable, orroom. If ina stable or room, it ought to be
large in order to give him some exercise with the halter
before you lead him out. If the horse belongs to that
class which only appears to fear man, you must intro-
duce yourself gently into the stable, room, or yard
where the horse is. He will naturally’run from you,
and frequently turn his head towards you; but you
must walk about extremely slow and softly, so that he
can see you whenever he turns his head towards you,
which he never fails to do in ashort time—in a quarter
or half an hour. I never knew one to be much longer
without turning his head towards me. At the very
moment he turns his head, hold out your left hand to-
wards him, and stand perfectly still, keeping your eyes
upon the horse, watching his motions, if he make any.
If the horse does not stir for ten or fifteen minutes, ad-

vance as slowly as possible, and without making the.
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 223

least noise, always holding out your left hand. If the
horse makes the least motion when you advance towards
him, stop and remain perfectly still until he is quiet.
Remain a few moments in this condition, and then ad-
vance again in the same slow and almost imperceptible
manner. If the horse then stirs again, stop without
changing your position. It is very uncommon for the
horse to stir more than once after you begin to advance;
yet there are some exceptions. He generally keeps his
eyes steadfast upon you, until you get near enough to
touch him on the forehead. When you are thus near to
him, raise slowly and by degrees your hand, and let it ,
come in contact with that part just above the nostrils, as
lightly as possible. If the horse flinches (as many will),
repeat with great rapidity these light strokes upon the
forehead, going a little further up towards his ears by
degrees, and descending with the same rapidity until
he will let you handle his forehead oll over. Now let
the strokes be repeated with more force over all his
forehead, descending by lighter strokes to each side of
his head, until you can handle that part with equal
facility. Then touch in the same light manner, making
your hands and fingers play around the lower part of
the horse’s ears, coming down now and then to his fore-
head, which may be looked upon as the helm that
governs all the rest.

Having succeeded in handling his ears, advance to-
wards the neck, with the same precautions, and in the
same manner; observing always to augment the force
of the strokes whenever the horse will permit it. Per-
form the same on both sides of the neck, until he lets
you take it in your arms without flinching.

Proceed in the same progressive manner to the sides,
and then to the back of the horse. Every time the
horse shows any nervousness, return immediately to the
forehead, as the true standard, patting him with your
liands, and thence rapidiy to where you had already
arrived, always gaining ground a considerable distance
further on every time this happens. The head, ears,
224 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

neck, and body being thus gentled, proceed from the
back to the root of the tail.

This must be managed with dexterity, as a horse is
never to be depended on that is skittish about the tail.
Let your hand fall lightly and rapidly on that part next
to the body a minute or two, and then you will begin to
give it a slight pull upwards every quarter of a minute.
At the same time you continue this handling of. him,
augment the force of the strokes as well as the raising
of the tail, until you can rise it and handle it with the
greatest ease, which commonly happens in a quarter of
an hour in most horses, in others almost immediately,
and in some much longer. It now remains to handle all
his legs: from the tail come back again to the head—
handle it well, as likewise the ears, breast, neck, &c.,
speaking now and then to the horse. Begin by degrees
to descend to the legs, always ascending and descend-
ing, gaining ground every time you descend, until you
get to his feet.

Talk to the horse while you are thus taming him; let
him hear the sound of your voice, which at the begin-
ning of the operation is not quite so necessary, but
which I have always done in making him lift up his
feet. “Hold up your foot,” you will say, at the same
time lifting up his foot with your hand. He soon
becomes familiar with the sounds, and will hold up his
foot at command. Then, proceed to the hind feet, and
go on in the same manner; and in a short time the
horse will let you lift them, and even take them up in
your arms.

All this operation is no magnetism, no galvinism; it
is merely taking away the fear the horse generally has
of man, and familiarizing the animal with his master.
As the horse doubtless experiences a certain pleasure
from this handling, he will soon become gentle under it,
and show very marked attachment to his keeper.
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 925

The Kind of Bit to be Used, and How to Use It.

In first accustoming a colt to the bit, you should
use a large, smooth snaffle, so as not to hurt his mouth,
with a bar at each side to prevent it from pulling
through either way. This should be attached to the
head-stall of your bridle, and put it on your colt without
any reins to it, and let him run loose in a large stable
or shed, some time, until he ‘becomes a little used to
the bit, and will bear it without trying to get it out of
his mouth. Repeat this several times, before you do
anything more with the colt; and as soon as he will
bear the bit, attach a single rein to it, without any
martingale. You should also have a halter on your colt,
or a bridle made after the fashion of a halter, with a
strap to it, so that you can hold or lead him about
without pulling much on the bit.

Farmers often put biting harness on a colt the first
thing they do to him, buckling it on as tight as they
can draw it, to make him carry his head high, and then
turn him out in a lot, to run half a day at a time.
This is one of the very worst punishments they can
inflict on a colt, and is very injurious to a young horse
that has been used to running in pasture with his head
down. I have seen colts so injured in this way that
they never ‘got over it,

A horse should be well accustomed to the bit before
you put on the biting harness, and when you first bit
him you should only rein his head up to the point.
where he naturally holds it, let that point be high or
low; he will soon learn that he cannot lower his head,
and that raising it a little will loosen the bit in his
mouth. This will give him an idea of raising his head
ta loosen the bit; and then you can draw the bitting a
little tighter every time you put it on, and he will still
raise his head to loosen it. By this means you will
gradually get his head and neck in the position you
926 HORSH TAMING AND BREAKING.

want him to carry it, and give him a nice and graceful

carriage without hurting him, making him mad, or

causing his mouth to get sore. Horses that have their

heads drawn up tightly, should not have the bitting on.
more than fifteen minutes at a time.

How to Saddle a Colt.

Any one man who has this theory, can put a saddle
on the wildest horse that ever grew, without any help,
and without scaring him. The first thing will be to tie
each stirrup strap into a loose knot, to make them short
and prevent the stirrups from flying about and hitting
him. Then double up the skirts and take the saddle

_under your right arm, so as not to frighten him with it

when you approach. When you get to him, rub him
gently a few times with your hand, then raise the saddle
very slowly, until he can see it, and smell, and feel it
with his nose. Then let the skirts loose, and rub it
very gently against his neck the way the hair lays,
letting him hear the rattle of the skirts as he feels them
against him; each time a little further backward, and
finally slip it over on his back. Shake it a little with
your hand, and in less than five minutes you can rattle
it. about over his back as you please, and pull it off and
throw it on again, without his paying much attention
to it.

As’ soon as you have accustomed him to the saddle,
fasten the girth. Be careful how you do this. It often
frightens the colt when he feels the girth binding him,
and making the saddle fit tight on his back. Yon
should bring up the girth very gently, and not draw it
too tight at first, just enough to hold the saddle on..
Move him a little, and then girth it as tight as you
choose, and he will not mind it.

You should sce that the pad of your saddle is all
right before you put it on, and that there is nothing to
make it hurt him, or feel unpleasant to his back, It

.
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 224

should not have any loose straps on the back part of it,
to flap about and scare him. After you have saddled
him in this way, take a switch in your right hand to
tap him up with, and walk about in the stable a few
times with your right arm over your saddle, taking
hold of the reins on each side of his neck with your
right and left hands, thus marching him abuot in the
stable until you teach him the use of the bridle and can
turn him about in any direction, and stop him by a
gentle pull of the rein. Always caress him, and loose
the reins a little every time you stop him.
You should always be alone, and have your colt in
some light stable or shed the first time you ride him;
the loft should be high, so that you can sit on his back
without endangering your head. You can teach him
more in two hours’ time in a stable of this kind, than
you could in two weeks in the common way of breaking
colts, out in an open place. If you follow my course of
treatment, you need not run any risk, or have any
trouble in riding the worst kind of horse. You
take him a step at a time, until you get up a mutual
confidence and trust between yourself and_ horse.
First teach him to lead and stand hitched; next
acquaint him with the saddle, and the use of the
bit; and then all that remains is to get on him without
scaring him, and you can ride him as well as any horse.

How to Mount the Colt.

First gentle him well on both sides, about the saddle
and all over, until he will stand still without holding,
and is not afraid to see you anywhere about him. As
soon as you have him well gentled, get a small block
about one foot or eighteen inches in height, and set it
down by the side of him, about where you want to
stand to mount him; step up on this, raising yourself
very gently. Horses notice every change of position
very closely, and if you were to step up suddenly on
228 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

the block, it would be very apt to scare him; but by
raising yourself gradually on it, he will see you, without
being frightened, in a position very near the same as
when you are on his back. As soon as he will bear this
without alarm, untie the stirrup strap next to you, and
put your left foot in the stirrup, and stand square over
it, holding your knee against the horse, and your toe
out, so as to touch him under the fore shoulder with the
toe of your boot. Place your right hand on the front
of the saddle, and on the opposite side of you, taking
hold of a portion of the mane and reins (they hang
loosely over his neck), with your left hand, then gradu-
ally bear yonr weight on the stirrup, and on your right
hand, until the horse feels your whole weight on the
stirrup; repeat this several times, each time raising
yourself a little higher from the block, until he will
allow you to raise your leg over his croup, and place
yourself in the saddle. Another and in some cases a
better way of mounting, is to press the palm of your
right hand on the off-side of the saddle, and as you rise
lean your weight on it. By this means you can mount
with the girths loose, or without any girths at all.
There are three great advantages in having a block
to mount from. First, a sudden change of position is
very apt to frighten a young horse that has never been
handled; he will allow you to walk to him, and stand
by his side. without scaring at you, because you have
gentled him to that position; but if you get down on
your hands and knees and crawl towards him, he will
be very much frightened: and upon the same principle,
he would frighten at your new position if you had the
power to hold yourself over his back without touching
him, Then the first great advantage of the block is to
' gradually gentle him to that new position in which he
will see you when you ride him. Secondly, by the
process of holding your weight in the stirrups, and on
your hand, you can gradually accustom him to your
weight, so as not to frighten him by having him feel it
all at once. And, in the third place, the-block elevates
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 229

you so that you will not have to make a spring in order
to get on the horse’s back, but from it you can gradu-
ally raise yourself into the saddle. When you take
these precautions, there is no horse so wild: but what you
can mount him* without making him jump. I have
tried it on the worst horses that could be found, and
have never failed in any case. When mounting,
your horse should always stand without being held. A
horse is never well broke when he has to be held with
a tight rein when mounting; and a colt is never so safe
to mount as when you sce that assurance of confidence
and absence of fear, which cause him to stand without
holding.

How to Ride the Colt.

When you want him to start, do not touch him on
the side with your heel, or do anything to frighten him
and make him jump. But speak to him kindly, and
if he does not start, pull him a little to the left until he
starts, then let him walk off slowly with the reins loose.
Walk him around in the stable a few times until he
gets used to the bit, and you can turn him about in
every direction and stop him as you please. It will be
well to get on and off a good many times until he gets
perfectly used to it before you take him out of the
stable. After you have trained him in this way, which
should not take more than two or three hours, you can
ride him anywhere you choose without ever having him
‘jump or make an effort to throw you.

When you first take him out of the stable, be very
gentle with him, as he will feel a little more at liberty
to jump or run, and be easier frightened than he was
while in the stable; but you will nevertheless find him
pretty well broke, and will be able to manage him
without trouble or danger.

When you first mount a colt, take a little the shortest
hold on the left rein, so that if anything frightens him,
230 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

you can prevent him from jumping by pulling his head
around to you. This operation of pulling a horse’s head
around against his side, will prevent him from jumping
ahead, rearing up, or running away. If he is stubborn
and will not go, you can make him move by pulling his
head around to one side, when whipping him would
have no effect. And turning him around a few times
will make him dizzy, and then by letting him have his
head straight, and giving him a little touch with the
whip, he will go along without any trouble.

Never use martingales on a colt when you first ride
him; every movement of the hand should go right to
the bit in the direction in which it is appliod to the
reins, without a martingale to change the direction of
the force applied. You can guide the colt much better
without it, and teach him the use of the bit in much less
time. Besides, martingales would prevent you from
pulling his head-round if he should try to jump.

After your colt has been ridden until he is gentle and
well accustomed to the bit, you may find it an advan-
tage, if he carries his head too high or his nose to far
out, to put martingales on him.

You should be careful not to ride your colt so far at
first as to heat, worry, or tire him. Get off as soon as
you see he is a little fatigued; gentle him and let him
rest; this will make him kind to you, and prevent him
from getting stubborn or mad.

To Break a Horse to Harness,

Take him in a tight stable, as you did to ride him;
take the harness and go through the same process that
you did with the saddle, until you get him familiar
with them, so you can put them on his back and rattle
them about without his caring for them. As soon as he
will bear them, put on the lines, caress him as you
draw them over him, and drive him about in the stable
till he will bear them over his hips. The lines are ‘a
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 231

great aggravation to some colts, and often frighten
them as much as if you were to raise a whip over them.
As soon as he is familiar with the harness and. lines,
take him out and put him by the side of a gentle horse,
and go through the same process as you did with the
balking horse. Always use a bridle without blinds
when you are breaking a horse to harness.

How to Hitch a Horse in a Sulky.

Lead him to and around it; let him look at it, touch
it with his nose, and stand by it until he does not care
for it; then pull the shafts a little to the left, and stand
your horse im front of the uff wheel. Let some one
stand on the right side of the horse and hold him by
the bit, while you stand on the side, facing the sulky.
This will keep him straight. Run your left hand back
and let.it rest on his hip, and lay hold of the shafts
with your right, bringing them up very gently to the
left hand, which still remains stationary. Do not let
anything but your arm touch his back, and as soon as
you have the shafts square over him, let the person on
the opposite side take hold of one of them, and lower
them very gently to the shaft bearers. Be very slow
and deliberate about hitching; the longer time you
take the better, as a general thing. Whem you have
the shafts placed, shake them slightly, so that he will
feel them against each side. As soon as he will bear
them without his scaring, fasten your braces, &c., and
start him along very slowly. Let one man lead the
horse to keep him gentle, while the other gradually
works back with the lines till he can get behind and
drive him. After you have driven him in this way a
short distance, you can get into the sulky, and all will go
right. It is very important to have your horse go
gently when you first hitch him. After you have
walked him awhile, there is not half so much danger of
his scaring. Men do very wrong to jump up behind a
232 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

horse to drive him as soon as they have him hitched.
There are too many things for him to comprehend
all at once. The shafts, the lines, the harness, and
the rattling of the sulky, all tend to. scare him, and he
must be made familiar with them by degrees. If your
horse is very wild, I would advise you to put up one.
foot the first time you drive him.

Taming a Horse with Vicious Habits,

Having given full instructions relative to my system ~
of dealing with young colts, I will now proceed to detail
the plan of operations for taming or subduing wild or
vicious horses. The principles of this method are the
same as those in managing colts—kindness and gentle-
ness—but the practice differs. When you desire to
subdue a horse that is very wild, or has a vicious dispo-
sition, take up one fore-foot and bend his knee till his
hoof is bottom upwards, and nearly touching his body;
then slip a loop over his knee, and shove it up until it
comes above the pastern-joint, to keep it up, being
careful to draw the loop together between the hoof and
pastern-joint with a second strap of some kind to prevent

‘the loop from slipping down and coming off. This will
leave the horse standing on three legs; you can now
handle him as you wish, for it is utterly impossible for
him to kick in this position. There is something in
this operation of taking up one foot, that conquers a
horse quicker and better than any thing else you can do
to him; and there is no process in the world equal to it
to break a kicking horse, for by conquering one member,
you conquer to a great extent, the whole horse.

You can do any thing you wish with the horse in this
condition, as when he becomes convinced of his incapa-
city to cope with man, he will abandon all antagonistic
demonstrations, and become willing to obey; and gen-
erally docile. Operate on your horse in this manner
®

HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 233

as often as the occasion requires, and you will soon
find him as gentle as his nature will permit him to be.
By these means the most vicious, uneasy, unruly or

 

fretful horse may be cured, though it depends upon the
age and disposition of the animal how long it will take

THE STRAP ON THE FORE FOOT.
234 HORSE TAMING ‘AND BREAKING.

to make him amiable. When you first fasten up a
horse’s foot, he will sometimes get very mad, and strike
with his knee, and try every possible way to get it
down; but as he cannot do that, he will soon give up.
Conquering a horse in this manner is better than
anything else you could do, and leaves him without any
possible danger of hurting himself or you either; for
after you have tied up his foot, you can sit down and
look at him until he gives wp. When you find he is
conquered, go to him, let down his foot, rub his leg
with your hand, caress him, and let him rest a few min-
utes; then put it up again. Repeat this a few times,-
always putting up the same foot, and he will soon
learn to travel ou three legs, so that you can drive him
some distance. As soon as he gets a little used to this
way of traveling, put on your harness and hitch him to
a sulky. If he is the worst kicking horse that ever
raised a foot, you need not be fearful of his doing any
damage while he has one foot up; for he cannot kick,
neither can he run fast enough to do any harm. And
if he is the wildest horse that ever had harness on, and
has run away every time he has been harnessed, you
can now hitch him to a sulky and drive him as -you
please. If he wants to run, you can let him have the
lines, and the whip too, with perfect safety; for he can
go but a slow gait on three legs, and will soon be tired
and ready to stop; only hold him enough to guide him
in the right direction, and he will soon be tired and
willing to stop at the word. Thus you will effectually
cure him at once of any further notion of running off.
Kicking horses have always been the dread of every-
body; you always hear men say, when they speak
about a bad horse, ‘‘I don’t care what he does, so he
don’t kick.” This new mode isan effectual cure for that
worst of all habits. There are plenty of ways by
which you can hitch a kicking horse, and force him to
go, though he kicks all the time; but this don’t have
any good effect towards breaking him, for we know that
horses kick because they are afraid of what is behind
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 235

them, and when they kick against it and it hurts them,
they only kick the harder; and this will hurt them still
more and make them remember the scrape much longer,

and make it still more diffcult to persuade them to have
any confidence in anything dragging behind them ever

 

POSITION OF THE STRAPS. ~
236 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

after. But by this new method you can harness them to
a.rattling sulky, plow, wagon or anything else in its
worst shape. They may be frightened at first, but can-
not kick or do anything to hurt themselves, and wiil
soon find that you do not intend to hurt them, and then
they will not care anything about it. You can then let
down the leg and drive along gently without any fur-
ther trouble. By this new process a bad kicking horse
can be learned to go gentle in harness in a few hours’
time.

How to Make a Horse Lie Down.

Everything that we want to teach the horse must be
commenced in such a way as to give him an idea of what
we want him to do, and then be repeated till he learns
it perfectly. To make a horse lie down, bend his left
fore-leg and slip a loop over it, so that he cannot get it
down. Then put a surcingle around his body, and
fasten one end of a long strap around the other fore-leg,
just above the hoof. Place the other end under the be-
fore-described surcingle, so as to keep the strap in the
right direction; take a short hold of it with your right
hand; stand on the left side of the horse; grasp the bit
in your left hand, pull steadily on the strap with your
right; bear against his shoulder till you cause him to
move. As soonas he lifts his weight, your pulling will
raise the other foot, and he will have to come on his
knees. Keep the strap tight in your hand, so that he
cannot straighten his leg if he rises up. Hold him in
this position, and turn his head towards you; bear
against his side with your shoulder, not hard, but with
a steady, equal pressure, and in about ten minutes he
will lie down. As soon as he lies down, he will be
completely conquered, and you can handle him as you
please. Take off the straps, and straighten out his legs;
rub him lightly about the face and neck with your hand
the way the hair lies; handle all his legs, and after he
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 957

has'lain ten or twenty minutes, let him get up again.
After resting him a short time, make him lie down as
before. Repeat the operation three or four times,
which will be sufficient for one lesson. Give him two
lessons a day, and when you have given him four les-
sons, he will lie down by taking hold of one foot. As
soon as he is well broken to lie down in this way, tap
him on the opposite leg with a stick when you take
hold of his foot, and in a few days he will lie down
from the mere motion of the stick.

Recapitulatlon, and Minute Directions.

In practicing the foregoing method upon a colt, he
should be first accustomed to be handled, and taught to
lead easily. In approaching a spiteful or vicious horse,
you had better make your advances with a half-opened
door between you and him; gradually make his ac-
quaintance, and teach him that you do not care for his
open mouth; but a regular biter must be gagged with a
a wooden bit made for the purpose, so large that he
cannot close his mouth. Here is the kind of bit to be
used:

 

Of course there is no difficulty in handling the leg of
a quiet horse or colt, and by constantly working from
the neck down to the fetlock, you may do what you
please. But many horses, and even colts, have a most
dangerous trick of striking out with their fore-legs.
There is no better protection against this than a cart-
238 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

wheel. The wheel may cither be used loose, or the
animal be led up to a cart loaded with hay, when the
horse-tamer can work under the cart through one of the
wheels, while the colt is nibbling the load.

 

STRAP No. 1.

Having, then, so far soothed a colt that he will per-
mit you to take up his legs without resistance, take the
strap No. 1, pass the tongue through the loop under the
buckle so as to form a noose, slip it over the near fore-
leg and draw it close up to the pastern-joint, and fasten |
it as represented in the engraving. But you must not
be rash in lifting the leg, and employ but little force in
doing so. It is better to wait until he lifts it willingly
by the use of gentle means. Do not get out of temper
if you have to make a dozen ineffectual attempts to
raise it. The near fore-leg being securely strapped, and
the horse secured from biting, if necessary, with the
wooden bit (described elsewhere,) you will then make
him hop about as before stated. This he will learn to
do easily. The trainer must, however, take care to
keep behind his horse’s shoulder and walk in a circle,
or he will be likely to be struck by the animal’s head or
strapped up leg. :

A horse can hop on three legs for two or three miles,
if you give him his own time, and no plan that has
ever been tried is equal to this for curing a kicking or
balky horse. After you have tired him out pretty well
in this manner, you proceed to make him lie down,
which process requires considerable patience and skill.
For this purpose take strap No. 2, and making a loop
with it put it round the off fore-leg. With a very
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 239

quiet horse this can easily be done; with a wild or vicious
horse you may have to make him step into it; at any
rate, when once the off fore-leg is caught in the noose
it must be drawn tight round the pastern-joint. Then
put a stout glove on your right hand, pass the strap
through the belly part of the surcingle, take a firm
short hold of it with your gloved right hand, standing
close to the horse behind his shoulders, and with your
left hand take hold of the near rein; by pulling the
horse gently to the near side he will be almost sure to
hop; if he will not, he must be led. The moment he
lifts up his off fore-foot, you must draw up strap No. 2.
tightly and steadily. The horse will then go down on
his knees, for if you hold the strap tight he will not be
able to stretch out his foot again As soon as a horse
recovers from his astonishment at being brought to his
knees, he begins to resist; that is, he rears up on his

 

STRAP No. 2.

hind legs, and springs about in a manner that will some-
times alarm the trainer. [See picture of horse strug-
gling on page 241.] During these struggles you must
not try your strength against the horse’s strength, but
merely follow him about, holding the strap just tight
enough to prevent him from putting out his off fore-leg.
As long as you keep close to him and behind his
shoulders, you are in very little danger. The bridle i
the left hand must be used like stecring lines, by pull-
ing to the right or left as uccasion requires: the horse,

turning on his hind legs, may be fatigued by being
940 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

forced to walk backwards. The strap passing through
the surcingle keeps, or ought to keep, the trainer
in his right place—he is not to pull or in any way
fatigue himself more than he can help, but standing up-
right, simply follow the horse about, guiding him with
the bridle so he will not precipitate himself against the
side of the stable or room in which you are exercising
him. When held and guided properly, he will soon sink
down. Corn-fed horses will hold out longer than grass-
fed ones, and the most energetic horse will scarcely strug-
gle more than ten or fifteen minutes. -Uswally at the
end of eight minutes’ violent struggles, the animal sinks
forward on his knees, sweating profusely, with heaving
flanks and shaking tail. If he still resists he may be
forced by the bit to walk back-wards and forwards, but
this is generally unnecessary, as by pushing gently at
lis shoulder, or by pulling steadily the off-rein, you can
get him to fall, in the one case on the near side, in the
other on the off side; but this assistance should be so
slight that the horse will not attempt to resist it. The
horse will often make a final spring when you think he
is quite beaten; but at length he slides over, and lies _
down, panting and exhausted, on his side. If he is a
pretty spirited animal, take advantage of the moment
to tie up the off fore-leg to the surcingle, as.securely as
the other, in a slip-loop knot.

Now let your horse recover his wind, and then en-
courage him to make a second fight. It will often be
more stubborn and more fierce than the first. The
object of this tying-up operation is, that he shall
thoroughly exhaust without hurting himself, and that
he shall come to the conclusion that it is you who, by
your superior strength, have conquered’ him, and that
you are always able to conquer him.

Under the old rough-riding system, the most vicious
horses were occasionally conquered by daring men with
firm seats and strong arms, who rode and flogged them
into subjection; but these conquests were temporary,
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 241

and usually personal; with every stranger, the animal
would begin his game again.

One advantage of this system is, that the horse is
allowed to exhaust himself under circumstances that
render it impossible for him to struggle long enough
to do himself any harm. It has been suggested that
a blood-vessel would be likely to be broken, or apoplexy
produced by the exertion of leaping from the hind legs;

but up to the present time, no accident of any kind has
been reported.

 

THE HORSE STRUGGLING.
242 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

Treatment of the Horse After He is Down.

If the horse has fought hard in going down, he will
then usually lie perfectly still, and you can gentle him,
scrape the sweat off and rub him down, smoothing the
hair of his legs, and drawing the fore one straight out.
In this position you have the opportunity of making him
perfectly familiar with you, and the more you fondle
him and reconcile him to you the better. If you are
treating an unbroken colt in this way, you may now
mount his back, and thus, by finding out that you mean
him no harm, he will learn to submit to being mounted
when he stands up. You can also lay a saddle or har-
ness on him and familiarize him with those articles.
His head, tail and legs should now be handled with ,
freedom, caressing and talking to him all the while. If
he has hitherto resisted shoeing, handle all his legs with
a view to accomplish it, and if he attempts to resist,
continue until you subdue him, speaking to him with a
voice of authority. If he is a bad kicker you may be
obliged to confine his fore legs; and, with those tied,
you may spend an hour in handling his legs, tapping
the hoofs with your hand or a hammer—all this to be
done in a firm, measured, soothing manner; only now
and then, if he resists, crying, as you paralyze him with
the ropes; “Wo!” in a determined manner. It is by
this continual soothing and handling that you establish
confidence between the horse and yourself. After pat-
ting him as much you deem needful, say for ten minutes
or a quarter of an hour, you may encourage him to rise.
Some horses will require a good deal of helping, and it
may be necessary to draw out their forelegs before
them. The handling of the limbs of colts in this con-
dition, particularly requires caution. A colt. tormented
by flies, will kick forward nearly up to the forelegs. If
a horse, unstrapped, attempts to rise, you may easily
stop him by taking hold of a foreleg and doubling it
back to the strapped position, If by chance he should

ee
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 243

be too quick, don’t resist, for it is an essential principle
of this system never to enter into a contest with a horse

THE HORSE ON HIS KNEES.

 

unless you are certain to be victorious. In all these
244 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

operations you must be calm, and never be in a hurry,
or in a passion.

The principle established by this mode of treatment
is that you show no violence to frighten the horse, and
yet you force him to submit to your will, caressing him
when he assents, and gently forcing’ him when he does
not. Repeated lessons will convince the most vicious
horse that you are his master, and your gentle caresses
consequent on his submission will, at the same time,
give him confidence in you. It has been suggested that
a novice should begin his practice on a gentle horse that
he can handle at pleasure, and the plan is a good
one. He may thus become familiar with the process
before trying it, in earnest, on a vicious or unbroken
animal.

A singular fact in illustration of the beauty of this
treatment of refractory horses is mentioned in an Eng-
lish periodical. A beautiful gray mare, which had been
fourteen years in the band of one of the Life Guards
regiments, and consequently at least seventeen years
old, would never submit quietly to have her hind legs
shod; the farriers had to put a twitch on her nose and
ears, and tie her tail down; even then she resisted
violently. After three-days’ treatment similar to that
above described, she was easily shod with her head loose.
And this was not done by a trick, but by proving to her
that she could not resist even to the extent of an inch,
and that no harm was intended her.

- How to Manage Balky Horses,

Horses know nothing about balking until they are
forced into it by bad management. When a horse balks
in harness, it is generally from some mismanagement,
excitement, confusion, or from not knowing how to pull,
-but seldom from any unwillingness to perform all that he
understands. High-spirited, free-going horses are the
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 245

most subject to balking, and only so because drivers do
not properly understand how to manage this kind. A
free horse in a team may be so anxious to go, that when
he hears the word he wii! start with a jump, which will
not move the load, but give him so severe a jerk on the

  
    

(oe Ss

See

THE HORSE PROSTRATED,

shoulders that he will fly back and stop the other horse.
The teamster will continue his driving without any ces-
sation, and by the time he has the slow horse started
again he will find that the free horse has made another
jump, and again flown back. And now he has them
246 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

both badly balked, and so confused that neither of them
knows what is the matter, or how to start the load.
Next will come the slashing and cracking of the whip,
and hallooing of the driver, till something is broken, or
he is through with his course of treatment. But whata
mistake the driver commits by whipping his horse for
this act! Reason and common sense should teach him
that the horse was willing and anxious to go, but did not
know how to start the load. And should he whip him for.
that? If so, he should whip him again for not knowing
how to talk. A man that wants to act with reason
should not fly into a passion, but should always think
before he strikes. It takes a steady pressure against
the collar to move a load, and you cannot expect him to
act with a steady, determined purpose while you are
whipping him. There is hardly one balking horse in
five hundred that will pull truly from whipping:
it is only adding fuel to fire, and will make him more
liable to balk another time. You always see horses
that have been balked a few times, turn their heads and
look back as soon as they are a little frustrated. This is
because they have been whipped, and are afraid of
what is behind them. This is an invariable rule with
balky horses, just as much as it is for them to look
around at their sides when they have the bots; in either
case they are deserving of the same sympathy, and the
same kind of rational treatment.

When your horse balks, or is a little excited, or if he
wants to start quickly, or looks around and don’t want
to go, there is something wrong, and he needs kind
treatment immediately. Caress him kindly, and if he
don’t understand at once what you want him to do, he
will not be so much excited as to jump and break
things, and do every thing wrong through fear. As
long as you are calm, and can keep down excitement
of the horse, there are ten chances to have him under-
stand you, where there would not be one under harsh
treatment; and then the little fare up would not carry
with it any unfavorable recollections, and he would
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. Q47

soon forget all about it, and learn to pull true. Almost
every wrong act the horse commits is from mismanage-
ment, fear or excitement; one harsh word will so excite
a nervous horse as to increase his pulse ten beats in a
minute.

When we remember that we are dealing with dumb
brutes, and reflect how difficult it must be for them to
understand our motions, signs and language, we should
never get out of patience with them because they do
not understand us, or wonder at their doing things
wrong. With all our intellect, if we were placed in the
horse’s situation, it would be difficult for us to under-
stand the driving of some foreigner, of foreign ways
and foreign language. We should always recollect that
our ways and language are just as foreign and unknown
to the horse as any language in the world is to us; and
should try to practice what we could understand were
we the horse, endeavoring by some simple means to
work on his understanding rather than on the different
parts of his body. All balked horses can be started
true and steady in a few minutes’ time; they are wil-
ling to pull as soon as they know how; and I never yet
found a balked horse that I could not teach to start his
load in fifteen, and often in less than three minutes’
time.

Almost any team, when first balked, will start kindly
if you let them stand five or ten minutes, as though
there was nothing wrong, and then speak to them with
a steady voice, and turn them a little to the right or
left, so as to get them both in motion before they feel
the pinch of the load. But if you want to start along a
team that you are not driving yourself, that has been
balked, fooled, and whipped for some time, go to them
and hang the lines on their hames, or fasten them to the
wagon, so that they will be perfectly loose; make the
driver and spectators, if there are any, stand off some
distance to one side,\so as not to attract the attention
of the horses. Uuloose their check reigns, so that they
can get their heads down if they choose. Let them
248 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

stand a few minutes in this condition, until you can see
that they are a little composed. While they are stand-
ing you should be about their heads gentling them. It
will make them a little more kind, and the spectators
will think you are doing something that they do not
understand, and will not learn the secret. When you
have them ready to start, stand before them, and as you
seldom have but one balky horse in a team, get as near
in front of him as you can, and if he is too fast for the
other horse, let his nose come against your breast. This
will keep him steady, for he will go slow rather than
runon you. Turn them gently to the right, with the
wagon. Have it stand in a favorable position for start-
ing out, letting them pull on the traces as far as the
tongue will let them go. Stop them with a kind word,
gentle them a little, and turn them back to the left by
the same process. You will'then have them under your
control by this time, and as you turn them again to the
right, steady them in the collar, and you can take them
where you please.

There is a quicker process that will generally start a
balky horse, but not so sure. Stand him a little ahead
so that his shoulder will be against the collar, and then
take up one of his fore feet in your hand, and let the
driver start them, and when the weight comes against
his shoulders he will try to stop—then let him have his
foot and he will go right along. If you want to break
a horse from balking that has long been in that habit,
you ought to set a day apart for that purpose. Put him
by the side of some steady horse; have check lines on
them; tie up all the traces and straps, so that there will
be nothing to excite them; do not rein them up, but let
them have their heads loose. Walk them about to-
gether for some time as slowly and lazily as possible.
Stop often and go up to the balky horseand gentle him,
but keep him just as quiet as youcan. He will soon
learn to start off at the word, and stop whenever you
tell him.

As soon as he performs right, hitch him to an empty
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 249

wagon. It would be well to shorten the stay chain be-
hind the steady horse, so that, if it is necessary, he can
take the weight of the wagon the first time you start
them. Do not drive but afew rods at first. Watch
your balky horse closely, and if you see that he is get-
ting excited, stop him before he stops of his own accord,
caress him a little, and start again. As soon as they go
well, drive them over a small hill a few times, and then
over a large one, occasionally adding a little load. This
process will make any horse true to pull.

Choking a Means of Subduing the Horse.

This is another method of conquering a skittish, stub-
born or refractory horse. It is resorted to in cases
where the measures before described fail to produce the
desired effect. The principles on which the plan of
choking are based, are, that you must make a powerful
appeal to the intelligence of the animal by physical
means before you can subdue him. Now we know that
most animals, in fighting, seize each other by the throat,
and that adog thus held by his antagonist for a few
minutes, on being released, is often so thoroughly cowed
that no human artifice can induce him to again resume
the unequal contest. It is, then, reasonable to suppose
that choking will have a similar effect on the horse.
When it can be done without injuring the animal, it is
an easy mode of subduing him, for by its operation he
becomes docile, and will thereafter receive any instruc-
tion which he can be made to understand. Teaching the
horse, by this means, to lie down at our bidding, tends
to keep him permanently gentle towards man, for it is
a perpetual reminder of his subdued condition.

It requires a good deal of practice to tame a horse
succéssfully by choking; also a nice judgment to know
when he is choked sufficiently, as there is a bare possi-
bility that he might get more than would be good for
him. We advise persons not perfectly familiar with a
250 HORSH TAMING AND BREAKING.

horse to resort to the strapping and throwing-down
process, unless the animal to be operated upon is so
vicious and intractible that he cannot be cured by it.
It is the fault of most people who have owned a horse
to imagine that they are experts in his management;
while on the contrary, many professional horsemen are
the very worst parties to attempt his subjugation.

In practicing the choking process, retire with the
animal to be operated upon into a close stable, with
plently of litter upon the floor (tanbark or sawdust is
preferable). In the first place fasten up the left fore-
leg with strap No. 1, (p. 238,) in such-a manner that it
will be permanently secured. Then take a broad strap with
a buckle, or buckle frame at the end, and pass it around

 

the neck just back of the jaw-bone, in the position given
in the engraving. Draw the strap as tight. as possible,
so tight as to almost arrest the horse’s breathing. The
strap must not be buckled, but held in this position to
prevent slipping back. The animal will struggle for a
few minutes, when he will become perfectly quiet, over-
powered by a sense of suffocation; the veins in his head
will swell; his eyes lose their fire; his knees totter and
become weak; a slight vertigo will ensue, and he will
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 951

grow gradually exhausted. By now backing him around
the stable, he will come down on his knees, in which
position it is an edsy matter to push him on his side,
when his throat should be released. You must now
operate with the horse in the same manner as described
after getting him down by straps. Speak kindly to
him, rub him gently the way the hair lies, fondle him in
various ways, and he will be completely subdued. You
should not attempt to fondle him, however, until you
are satisfied that he has got over the excitement which
the choking caused in him. It is only necessary in ex-
treme cases to repeat the operation of choking, as no
horse can effectually resist its terrible effects.

It should be constantly borne in mind that the oper-
ator must not be boisterous or violent, and that the
greatest possible degree of kindness is absolutely essen-
tial. "When the horse is prostrate he should be soothed
until his eyes show that he has become perfectly
tranquil.

 

Another process of choking is described by the above
engraving. After tying up your horse to the manger,
make friends with him by some one of the coaxing pro-
cesses heretofore given, and when you get him in
252 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

thorough good humor with you, begin the choking by °
seizing him on the throat near the jaw, at the same

time holding on to his mane with your left hand.

When you have exhausted him sufficiently, let go the

mane and rap him gently on the forelegs until he lies

down; or you may touch him with your foot instead.

After he is down, rub him gently, speak kindly to him,

and as soon as he is properly composed, fondle and

caress him.

General Rules and Remarks,

In taming the horse, either by choking or any of the
other processes here given, the following rules should
be observed: First—When forcing down the horse in
either of the ways described, be careful of his neck. Do
not let him fall upon that, or he may break it, as the
spine of the horse is easily broken. Second—Do not
force him down violently under any circumstances. The
way to get him down is by patiently choking him and
waiting until he goes down easily and from sheer ex-
haustion. Thirdly—Keep him very quiet by stroking
or patting him with your hand in a gentle and delicate
manner, until he is entirely over the excitement which
your operations have caused in him. Youcan generally
tell when he is appeased by the expression of his eyes.
Fourthly—In backing the horse, never use violence.
Hold the halter and off rein in your left hand, while
managing him to bring him down.

In teaching a horse to follow you, and in curing him of -
kicking or biting, or balking, or indeed any bad habit,
the choking operation is resorted to with equal success
as in the case of taming or breaking. If he continues
stubborn, you have only to repeat the operation, giving
him one or two lessons a day, and in a short time he
will be perfectly subdued. A young horse learns to
obey quicker than an older one. When you get a horse
down by any of the processes we have mentioned, a
quarter of an hour or twenty minutes is ample time to
> HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 253

‘keep him prostrate for the purpose of subjugation.
Breathing into a horse’s nostrils when he is down is
practiced by some horse-tamers, and this is undoubtedly
a soothing operation, as it brings you into close contact
with the animal, thus giving him’an opportunity of ex-
amining you with his nose—a process peculiar to horses.
You should always litter your stable well when you
perform these operations of flooring the horse. Clean
straw or tan bark, or anything to make a soft stable
bottom will answer.

How to Make a Horse Follow You,

Turn him out into a large stable or shed, where there
is no chance to get out, with a halter or bridle on. Go
to him and gentle him a little. Take hold of the halter
and turn him towards you, at the same time touching
him lightly over the hips with a long whip. Lead him
the length of the stable, rubbing him on the neck, say-
ing, in a steady tone of voice, as you lead him, “Come
along, my boy!” or use his name instead of my boy, if
you choose. Every time you turn, touch him slightly
with the whip, to make him step close up to you, and
then caress him with your hand. ‘He will soon learn to
hurry up to escape the whip and be caressed, and you
can make him follow you around without taking hold
of the halter. If he should stop and turn from you,
give him a few sharp cuts about the hind legs, and he
will soon turn his head towards you, when you must
always caress him. A few lessons of this kind will
make him run after you, when hesees the motion of the
whip—in twenty or thirty minutes he will follow you
around the stable. After you have given him two or
three lessons in the stable, take him in a small lot and
train him, and from thence you can take him into the
road, and make him follow you anywhere, and run after
you.
254 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

To Make a Horse Stand Without Holding,

After you have well broken him to follow you, stand
him in the centre of the stable—begin at the head to
caress him, and gradually work backwards. If he moves,
give him a cut with the whip, and put him back to the
same spot from where he started. If he stands caress
him as before, and continue. gentling him in this way
until you can get around him without making him move.
Keep walking around him, increasing your pace, and
only touch him occasionally. Enlarge your circle as
you walk around, and if he then moves give him another
cut with the whip, and put him back to his place. If
he stands, go to him frequently and caress him, and
then walk round him again. Do not keep him in one
position too long at a time, but make him come to you
occasionally, and follow you around the stable. Then
stand him in another place, and proceed as before.. You
should not train him more than half an hour at a time.

To Prevent a Horse from Scaring.

This process is very simple. Whenever a horse
scares at objects on going along the road, always stop
him, and let him face the object. Lead him slowly to-
wards it, and let him touch it with his nose. Take the
pains to do this on every occasion, and it will soon break
him entirely. If your horse is frightened at an um-
brella, you can soon learn him to be used to that. Go
into the stable with him, and first let him look at the um-
brella before it is opened—let him touch it with his
nose. Open it a little way, and then let him see it, and
finally open it wide. By ordinary patience you can
soon learn the horse to have the umbrella opened sud-
denly in his face, without his being afraid of it. By a
similar treatment you can break any horse from scaring
at almost anything that may look frightful to him. It
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 255

you wish to make a trial of this theory, just take a
horse into the stable, and let him examine the frightful
object afew minutes, after his mude of examining things,
and you will be perfectly satisfied. There is a singular
fact connected with taming the horse that I would have
never believed if I had not tried it. If you accustom
him to any particular object by showing it to him on
one side only, he will not be afraid when he sees it with
the eye on that side, but he will be afraid if you ap-
proach him with it on the other side. It is therefore
necessary to pacify him on both sides in all cases. After
you have accustomed him to the umbrella, or whatever
you may wish to make him familiar with, on his right
side, repeat the operation on the left side in the same
manner as if you had not approached him at all.

Blinds, or Blinkers,

All my experience with and observation of horses,
proves clearly to me that blinkers should never be used,
and that the sight of the horse, for many reasons,
should not be interfered with in any way. Horses are
only fearful of objects which they do not understand, or
are not familiar with, and the eye is one of the principal
mediums by which this understanding and this familiar-
ity are brought about. The horse, on account of his very
amiable nature, can be made in the course of time to
bear almost anything in any shape; but there is a
quicker process of reaching his intelligence than that of
wearing it into him through his skin and bones. How-
ever wild and nervous a horse may be, he can be taught -
in a very short time to understand and not to fear any
object, however frightful in appearance. Horses can be
broken in less time, and better, without blinkers; but
horses that have always worn them. will notice the
sudden change, and must be treated carefully the first
drive. After that they will drive better without the
blinkers than with. I have proved by my own experi-
256 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

ments that a horse broken without blinkers can be
driven past any omnibus, cab or carriage, on a parallel
line, as close as it is possible for him to go, without
ever wavering or showing any disposition to dodge. I
have not in the last eight or ten years, constantly hand-
ling horses, both wild and nervous, ever put blinkers on
auy of them, and in no case have they ever shied at
‘passing objects.

The horse’s eye is the life and beauty of the anamal,
as well as the index of all his emotions. It tells the
driver in the most impressive characters, what the
horse’s feelings are. By it he can tell the first
approach of fear in time to meet any difficulty; he can
tell if he is happy or sad, hungry or weary. The horse,
too, when permitted to see, uses his eyes with great
judgment. He sees better than we do. He can
measure distances with his eyes better than we can,
and, if allowed free use of them, would often save him-
self, by the quickness of his sight, from collisions when
the driver would fail to do so by a timely pull of the
reins. It would also save many accidents to pedestrains
in the streets, as no horse will run on to any peron
that he can see. Blinkers are rapidly going out of use
in the United States, and I have yet to find the man,
who having once left them off, could ever be persuaded
to put them on again. They are an unnecessary and
injurious incumbrance to the horse, and in years ‘hence
will be a thing to be read of as one of the follies happily
reformed in the nineteenth century.

Rules to be Observed in Feeding.

Never give a horse whole grain. By bruising it, and
wetting it with soft water, you save thirty per cent, of
its nutricious effects. Steam it in preference to wetting,
if you have facilities for doing so. Feed your horse two
hours before he begins his day’s work. Give him the
largest feed at night. -Never tie him up to a rack; itis
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 257

cruel to thus prevent a horse from lying down when he
is tired. The best way is to take away your rack alto-
gether, and arrange your stable soas to make it unneces-
sary to tie up the horse. The stable should always be
dry and well littered. Never give your horse hard
water to drink, if soft water is to be had. If you can-
not get soft water, draw tha hard water out of the well
two hours before you let him drink it. Beans should
be full a year old before they are fit to feed to horses;
they should be bruised, the same as grain, not ground.
Youatt recommends for horse feed, the following mix-
ture: Cut hay, two parts; cut straw, three parts—
add to this a quantity of bruised beans, oats, or other
grain—wet the whole with soft water, and mix it well.
Do not feed your horse too much with hay, as it is not
only a waste of provender, but when he is put to work
with an overloaded stomach it endangers his wind. If
left to pull hay out of the rack at pleasure, a horse will eat
and waste some thirty pounds a day, whereas, by cut-
ting up his hay and mixing it with other feed, as above
described, ten pounds is an ample abundance for twenty-
four hours. Horses, when worked, should be fed three
or four times a day with a mixture of hay, straw and
grain, as above described. Give them their food in the
manger, and be careful that it is sweet and clean. By
following these rules, your horses will always be in
good condition—will not have that swelled belly so pe-
culiar to animals who are allowed to fill their stomachs
with hay—and will usually enjoy good health.

Rules for: Purchasing a Horse,

When you are looking to purchase a horse, first ex-
amine the eyes well. The best judges are sometimes
deceived in the eyes, therefore you cannot be too care-
ful. Clearness of the Eyes is a sure indication of their
goodness; but this is not all that should be attended to
The eyelids, eyebrows, and all the other parts, must
258 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

also be considered; for many horses whose eyes appear
clear and brilliant, go blind at seven or eight years old.
Therefore be careful to observe whether the parts be-
tween the eyelids and the eyebrows are free from
bunches, and whether the parts round under the eye-
lids be full, or swelled; for these are indications that
the eyes will not last. When the eyes are remarkably
flat, or sunk within their orbits, it is a bad sign; also
when they look dead and lifeless. The iris, or circle
that surrounds the sight of the eye, should be distinct,
aud of a pale, variegated, cinnamon color, for this is
always a sure sign of a good eye, and it adds beauty to
the appearance of the animal.

In the next place, examine the Zeeth, as you would
not wish to purchase an old horse, nor a very young
one for service.

The Yet should next be regarded; for a horse with
bad feet is like a house with a weak foundation, and will
do little service. The feet should be smooth and tough,
of a middle size, without wrinkles, and neither too hard
and brittle, nor too soft; the Heels should be firm, and
not spongy and rotten; the #’rogs horny and dry; the
Soles somewhat hollow, like the inside of a dish or bowl.
Such feet will never disappoint your expectations, and
such only should be chosen.

Particular regard should be had to the Shoulders;
they should not be too much loaded, for a horse with
heavy shoulders can never move well; and on the other
hand, one that has very thin shoulders, and a narrow
chest, though he may move briskly so long as he is
sound, yet he is generally weak, and easily lamed in his
shoulders; a medium should therefore be chosen.

The Body, or Carcass, should neither be too small
nor too large. The Lack should be straight, or have
only a moderate sinking below the Withers: for when
the back of a horse is low, or higher behind than be-
fore, it is both very ugly and a sign of weakness. The
back should also be a proper length. The ids should
be large, the Wlanks smooth and full, and the Hind-
HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING. 259

parts, or uppermost Haunches not higher than the
shoulders. When the horse trots before you, observe if
his haunches cover his fore-knees. A horse with a
short hind-quarter does not look well.

The next thing to be regarded ina horse is his Wind,

_ which may be easily judged of by the motion of his
flanks! A broken-winded horse also pinches in his
flanks, with a very slow motion, and drops them
suddenly, which may be easily perceived. Many
horses breathe thick that are not broken-winded ; in-
deed, any horse will in foggy weather, or if foul fed,
without sufficient exercise ; but if a horse has been in
good keeping, and had proper exercise, and yet has

- these symptoms, there is some defect, either natural
or accidental ; such as anarrow chest, or some cold
that has affected the lungs. ;

There are other particulars that should be observed
in choosing a horse. If his Head be large and fleshy,
and his Weck thick and gross, he will always go heavy
on the hand, and therefore such should never be chosen.
A. horse that has his océs very wide, seldom moves
well, and one that has them too near will chafe and cut:
his legs by crossing them. Jleshy-legged horses are
generally subject to the Grease, and other infirmities
of that kind, and therefore should not be chosen.

The Temper of a horse should be particularly at-
tended to. Avoid a fearful horse, which you may
know at first sight by his starting, crouching, or creep-
ing, if youapproach him. A hot and fretful horse is
also to be avoided, but the buyer should be careful to
distinguish between a hot, fretful horse, and one that
is eager and craving. The former begins to fret the
moment he is out of the stable, and continues in that
humor till he has quite fatigued himself; and the
latter only endeavors to be foremost in the field, and is
truly valuable ; he has these qualities that resemble
prudence and courage ; the other those of intemperate
heat and rashness. ;

A horse that goes with his fore feet low is very apt
260 HORSE TAMING AND BREAKING.

to stumble ; and there are some that go so near the
ground that they stumble most on even roads ; and
the dealers, to remedy this, put heavy shoes on their
feet, for the heavier a horse’s shoes are, the higher he
will lift his feet. Care also should be taken that the
horse does not cut one leg with the other. A horse
that goes near the ground will cut the low side of the
fetlock joint, but one that goes high cuts below the
knee, which is called the speedy cut. A horse that lifts
his feet high, generally trots fast, but is not the easiest
for the rider. Some horses cut with the spurn of the
foot, and some with the heel; but this you may soon
perceive by their standing ; for ifa horse points the
front of his foot inward, he cuts with the spurn, and if
outward, with the heel.

These few instructions may be of use in purchasing
horses; but I advise every one to get some experimental
knowledge of them before he trusts to his own judg-
ment, for the dealers have so many arts to hide the de-
fects of their horses, that the best judges are often de-
ceived.
FASTEST RECORDED T

,

 

ME.

 

THE TROTTING TURF.

Live Horses that have Gone in 2:25 or

Name. Record.
Maud §. . 2210954
Jay Eye See @. +2:10
St. Julien.. ...2:11%
Clingstone.. sete site 2:14
Trinket... ova see, e23ld
Hopeful...........2:14%
Phaillas.........2..2:15%
Wilson..........65 2:1614
Darby... 22 216K
Edwin Thorne....2: 16%
Jerome Eddy..... 2:16%
Charley Ford..... 2:16%
Clemmie G........2:17
Director...........2:17

  

Fanny Wither-

spoon. nae
Majoli@a........... 2:17,
Black Cloud ......2:1734

221734
17
117%
217%
2A1TkK
2:1794
2:18
2:18
2:18

Piedmont.......
So-So
Phylis............
Robert McGregor.
Santa Claus.......
Duquesne.........
Dick Swiveller ..
Great Eastern....
Judge Fullerton..
Midnight
Monroe Chief. :
Rosa Wilkes......2¢
J.B. Thomas..... 2:18%
William H.... 218%

 

 

al DUeKOG. <. sossanue

 

Bonita (4)....-++..2:18%

 

Better.

Name. Record.
Cleora .............2:18%
Nutwood..........2:18%
Patchen...........2:18%
Adele'Gould......2:19
Albemarle........ 2:19
ATLCY. 0. cece eee 2219
Catchfly.. +2319
Edward.. 2:19
FrancisAl’xand’r 2:19
Graves............2:19
Kitty Bates.......2:19
Minnie R..........2:19
Aldine.............2:19%4
CLOXIC: iain. 000 sinc D8) 2:1914
Joe Bunker....... 2:19%4
Overman..........2:19%
Parana..........-.2:19%4
Sleepy Joe........2:1934
Abbotsford.......2:1934
DPLVel es sie sc00 cae’ 231914
Forest Patchen ..2:19%4

Hinda Rose (8).. .2:19%
Modoe.........-+5- 2:191%4
Moose........--04-' 219%
Nellie R.. --2:19%
Romero.. 4 eno 1944
Thomas c Young. 2:1944)
Tony Newell......2:19%

2:19%
Troubadour.......2:1914
Von Arnim........2:1944
Will Cody.........2:19%

 

 
 

Name. Record.
Deck Wright .....2:19%
Dr. Norman ...... 2:19%
John S. Clark.
Josephus ..... 2
Bay Frank dt
Captain Emmons.2;20

Etta Jones........2°

 

George V... 23
Humboldt ........ 2:20
John H..........-+ 2:20

Maud See woe

Orange Girl.. 2:20

Amy.. wae oo 2120%
Billy Button . + 2:2034
Brandy Boy.......2:20%4
Buzz Medium... 0 21201
Capt. Lewis ......2:20%4
Early Rose ......-2:2014
Fanny Robinson .2:204
Fred Douglass ...2:20%4
J. P. Morris.......2:2014
Louise N.........- 222014
LUcy 2... ee ee ee oe 1 222014
Maxy Cobb .......2:20%

Mazo-Manie ......2:
Naiad Queen.....2:
Sheridan..........2:

 

Daisydale,..,.....2:19%

Silverton .........2:2044
Voltaire...........2:2034
LOG Bes oncanvn cess 2204
Chance............2:2048
Glendale.,.........2:20%
H, B. Winship....2:20%
262

  
  
 

 

 

 
 
  

 

Name. Record.
TRON esse seas aes +2:2046
Lida Bassett 2:20%
London........ 232044)
Abe Downing 2:20%
Huntress..... 2034
King William. 320%
PRE oss 120%
Yellow Dock...., .2:202¢
Young Fullerton.2:203;
Banquo ...........2:21
Castleton..........2:21
Gen. Garfield..... 2: 21
Helene............ 2:21
Lady Pritchard...2:21
Lumps.............2:21
NICK sssisieicising oaiee Qt 21
Phil Thompson. ..2:
Powers .... ......2:21
Richard........... 2:21
Scott’s Thomas. ..2:21
bs COW as cr tascus 2:21
Wild Plower .....2:
Brigadier...

Bronze (5)

Cornelia

Dan Smith.

Ezra L. . Sede nae

H'mbietonian Ba-
SLAW seek sess cand 2:2134

Howard Jay.. 2:21

Independence... ..2:21%,

Ino......

eacnentans tial
Jersey Boy... f

King Almont.
Mamie......
Sweetness
Amelia C.
Bliss ....

Ewing..... 2144
Judge Davis... 2114
Mattie Graham. ..2:21%

Nellie G........
Red Cross......... 2 321%

  
  
   
  

Name. Record.
Charlie Champlin 2:21%
Day Dream (4)....2:21%
eM visas sassaacee 221%
Albert W.,........2:22 °
Bella...... O08
Calmar ..... 2:22
Deucalion .. 2:22
Emma B.... 2:22
Handicap.. na |

  
    
    
     

Little Gypsy. wees:
MambrinoDudley 2 22
Oakland Maid B

Saturn .....
Silversides.
Star King. .

Dictator .
Gladiator.
iIlannah D....
Kitty Patchen. ‘
Lady Rolfe.......2:
Unolala...

Blackwood Jr....2:2

 
 

 

 

 

Steve Maxwell... .2;21%

FASTEST RECORDED TIME.

N ame. Record.
Allen Roy........- 2:23
Big Soap........++ 2:23

  
 

Blue Mare........2:23
Bonner Boy.......2:23
Clara Cleveland. .2:23
Clifton Boy....... ql
Commodore......

Dave Young..

  

Eureka...
Hector
Hugh ee 23°
Idol..

02123

 

Joe Rhea...
Kate McCall....

 

"12:23

King Wilkes...... 2:23,
Lady Turpin.. :
Lillian...
Oceana Chief..... 4

 

  
    
  
 
   
 

Scott’s Chief..
Trampoline...
Onknown.
Volney. .

 

Capitola ..........2:29%4| Alta...
Charles W. Wool- Argonaut.
ley.............-2:2214|Belle Echo........2:
Chestnut Hill.....2:22%)Dan Voorhees.. ..2:2334
DOM is.seisieiers 2:2914|Echora......
Gibraltar.......... 2:2214|Florence..
Happy Thought .. Goldfinder..
Jewett........... 2% |Harry Wilkes... ..2:23%4
i|Joker......... 2:221%4|Independence.. ..2:2314
Little Sioux . .2:22%|Leontine ..........2:2314
Manon.. ; 2:2246 Longfellow hasnie 2 2314
Neta Medium. . ..2:2244) Lucrece.. 23238
Onawa........... 2:22% Madeline... eee ee 2 123KG
Reliance... A PH es serene verisa 234
Scotland..........2:2214|Post Boy..........2:2384%
Sweetheart. ......2:2214|/Prospect Maid. ...2:23%4
Tanner Boy....... 2:22M¢// Robert Lee .......2:23%
1) 1 1: ee 2:22%|Sciola.............2:98%
saennae Tolu Maid......
Stranger.......... 2:2234| Wizz.. sha
Algath (4).........2:23 Belle Wilson ..

 
FASTEST RECORDED TIME.

Name. Record.
Big Fellow........2:23%
Ellen Doe.........2:23%

0212816

 

 

Gloster. ....2......2:23%
Gray Cloud....... 2:238%
Tron Age..........2:2314
DIM. seco serve avnn e231
BONO iu ia canes saved 2:23%
Knox Boy........, 2 323%
Lady Voorhees.. .2:23%
EAE Tica oimwos 232344
Lizzie O'Brien... ..2:23%
Lona Guffin.......2:934%
MAPION. «24 sexeuaes 22346
Mary Russell.....2:23%
NANCY sinsisieane vata 232316
BOW cds cute gama 22314)
Novelty........... 223%

Poscora Hayward 2:23%

 

 

Shepherd Boy....2:23%
SlerMaM.....0v.+. 2:23M%
Stephen G........ 2:23%
St. James.........2:2346
Tom Rogers...... 223%
Abe Edington ....2:23%
Argonaut......... 2.323%
Ashley...... 20 2128
Damon... .s0-4 04. 212334
Durango...........2:23%
Foxie V..:........2:28%
Franks, ss eesceue 2:2394
Harry Clay........ 2:233¢
Hersey..........-. 232394
Kate Taylor...

Major Lord.....
BrecZe........++++. 2:24

Brother Jonathan2:24
Champion Jr.....2:24
Crown Point.

 
 
  

Defiance.... 224
Del Sur .. oe 2124
Empress..........2:24
Geo. B. Daniels.. 2:24
George M.... vg 104
G. T. Pilot. 2:24

Glide.......

Name. Record.
Harry Gilbert.....2:24

Ina G..........., 2:24
Jesse Hayes......2:24
Joseph A....,..... 2:24
Kitty Van........ 2:24
Lady Star..........2:24
Magdallah........ 2724
May Howard......2:24
Middlesex ........2:24
NCOMGssmsciea saad 2:24
Sadie Bell......... 2:24
Sooner.. oe Bild
Tommy Dodd.. oi ROd:
Tommy Gates ....2:24
Wild Lily......... 2:24
Abdaliah Boy.....2:244

Alice Stoner......2:24%
Barbara Patchen.2:244
Belle H...........+ 2:24
Carbolic. . ita DID
Cora Belmont.....2:24%4
Corisande......... 2:24
Gentle Frank.....2:2414
GCOTLE. 6... eee 224
Laura Williams. ..2:24%
Loafer.............2:244%
Magenta..........2:24¢
Mystery. we ne D246
Planter............2:24%
Stonewall...

 

 

 

Valley Boy........ 2:24%

Amy B............2:2444
Arab (5).....00006 2:24
Belle Wilson......2:2414
Big Jobn....... + 212414
Big Lites... 00.00.28
Dick Taylor ......2:2414
POT! Fe cxe cove BBA)
Fred Douglas.....2:24%
GYPSY .... 0.0.6.0. .2:24%
Jimmy Stewart... .2:24%4
John Hall......... 22414
Lucy Fleming ...,2:2414
Malvina...........2:244
Monarch Rule.. 1.21244,
Pilot Knox....... «222414

wens 222416)

263

Name. Record.
Wilbur F..........2:24%
Winds’r (D'sp’teh)2 2413

   

  

Almonarch .....,.2:243;
Blondine..........2:24%
OCR coc ccna dey
Col. Dawes... .....2:243/
Dan Donaldson. . .2:243¢
Edwin A........,.2:24%
Galatea............ 2:2494
Hardwood........ 2 3249¢
Lady Mills........2:24%
LOUIS Dw o5s 00000 REY
May Thorne......2:24%
[Will Benham. ... .2:243%4
Anodyne..........2:25
Aulinda.. 2:25
Barrett .. 2 2125
Bonnie Bae onyeten2B
Charlie Mac ......2:25
Chicago Maid.....2:25
CYCHODG i. sacaas ves 2185
David iis. ne e+. 8B
Douglass..........2:25
EN Br caseaeaod 2:25
Elsie Groff........ 2:25
Frank Tl........... 2:25
Frank Munson.. -2:25
Gen. Hancock....2:25
George A.. 2 2525
George H... ,
Glamis.....

Gold Note
Joe Ripley........ 2:25
Lady Moore.. ....2:25
Lady Thorne.....2:25
Largesse..........2:25
Lark (Charley B.).2:25
Little Mary.......2:25
Mamie M..........2:25
Modo ......00ce0e 2:25
Modoc ......2.44442i25
Ned Wallace......2:25
Nellie Irwin......2:25
Ottawa Chief (5)..2:25
Pat Hunt.........2:25

 

Queechy Maid....2:25
964 FASTEST RECORDED T.ME.

 

Name. Record. Name. Record.| Name. Recora
Robert B. Thomas2:25 |Stranger..........2:25 |Valley Chief...... 2:25
Rosco... 2:25 |Tom Hendricks...2:25 |Vulcan............2:25

 
 
 

St. Louis..........2:25 |Tom Keeler.......2:25 |Willie Woods.....2:25

 

Best Trotting Times, Different Ways of Going.

2 mile—2:1014, Maud S., against time, in harness, accompanied by
running horse. Rochester, N. Y., UE. 11, 1881 2:10%, second
best record, Maud S., against time, in harness, Pittsburgh, Pa., July
13, 1881 2:10%, Jay-Eye-See. seals time, in harness—best five-

ear-old record—Providence, R. +, Sept. 15, 1883: 2:114%4, 2:11,
aud 8., harness, against time, fastest third trial, and two consecu-
tive trials, Chicago, Ill., July 23, 1881- 2:12, 2:1314, 2:12144, Maud
S., (same), fastest three consecutive trials, Philadelp 1a, Pa.,

July 28, 1881 2:1344, best time in a race between horses, Maud

Bi

S

 

 

 

 

 

 

S., Chicago, Ill., July 24, 1880 2:1514, 2:17, 2:16%, Smuggler,
harness, fastest time and best two and three consecutive heats by a
stallion, Hartford, Conn., Aug. 31, 1876 ——2:15%, 2:17, 2:16%, 2:17,
2:18, 2:19%, fastest five and six consecutive heats, and best six-heat
race; Smuggler won the first and second, the third was dead be-
tween him and Goldsmith Maid, and the latter-won the three fol-
lowing—Hartford, Conn., Aug. 31, 1876 2:15%, 2:1644, 2:15%,
2:17, best four-heat race; Goldsmith Maid won the first heat, Lula
the others—Rochester, N. Y., Aug. 14, 1875 2:15%, Great Eastern,
under saddle, third heat, Morrisania, N. Y., Sept. 22, 1877 -2:1644,
2:17, 2:17, Hopeful, fastest time and best two and three consecutive
heats to wagon, Chicago, IIl., Oct. 12, 1878———2:1614, 2:18%, 2:19,
2:20, 2:1814, 2:19%4, best five and six-heat stallion race; Black Cloud
won the second, fifth and sixth, Jerome Eddy the first, and the
third and fourth were dead heats—Buffalo, N. Y., nue 3, 4, 1882
——- 2:17%, 2:18, 2:17, 2:20, Smuggler, harness (second heat dead
with Judge Fullerton), fastest four consecutive heats by a stallion,
Philadelphia, Pa., July 15, 1876 2:18%, Bonita, 4 years, against
time Lexington, Ky.. Oct. 11, 1883-——-2:19!4, Hinda Rose, 3 years,
third heat, Lexington, Ky., Oct. 10, 1883-——-2:19%, Charley ‘Ford,
harness, best sixth heat, Hartford, Conn., Aug. 26, 1880 22M,
Wildflower, 2 years, against time. San Francisco. Cal., Oct. 22. 1°81
2:3644, Hinda Rose, yearling, against time, San Francisco,
Cal., Nov. 24, 1881.
2 miles --4:46, against time, Monroe Chief, with running mate, Lexing-
ton, Ky., Oct. 21, 1882 4 :4814, 4:51, fastest two consecutive heats.
in harness, Steve Maxwell, Rochester, N. Y., Aug. 10, 1880
4:5614, to wagon, Gen. Butler, first heat, June 18, 1863, and Dexter,
second heat, Fashion Course, L. I., Oct. 27, 1865. °
3 miles—7:214, Huntress. harness. Brooklyn, L. I., Sept. 21, 1872———
7:32%, Dutchman, under saddle, Beacon Course, Hoboken, N. J.,
ane. a 1839. 7:53, Longfellow, wagon, Sacramento, Cal., Sept.
4 miles—10:344%4, Longfellow, wagon, California, Dec. 31, 1869
Dutchman, saddle, May, 1836
Course, L. I., June 13, 1849.

5 miles—13:00, Lady Mac, harness, San Francisco, Cal., April

13:43%4, Little Mac, wagon, Oct. 29, 1863. c poRD Eager

10 miles—27:2314, Controller, harness, San Francisco, Cal., Nov. 23,
1873——28:0244, John Stewart, wagon, Boston, Mass., June 30, 1868,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10:51.
11:06, Trustee, harness, Union

 

 

 
FASTEST RECORDED TIME. 265

20 miles—58:25, Captain McGowan, harness, half-mile track, Boston,

Oct. 31, 1865 58:57, Controller, wagon, San Francisco, Cal.,

. April 20, 1878.

50 miles 3.55:4014, Ariel, harness, driver weighing 60 lbs, Albany,

N. Y., 1846 3.59:04, Spangle, wagon and driver weighing 400 lbs,
Union Course, L. I., Oct. 15, 1855.

7 ee ee Conqueror, in harness, Union Course, L. I., Nov.
2, 1853,

101 miles—9.42:57, Fanny Jenks, Albany, N. Y., 1845.

 

 

 

WITH RUNNING MATE,

1 mile—2:08, Frank, with mate—(J. O. Nay), Prospect Park, Brook-
lyn, N, Y., Nov. 15, 1883———2:1014, H. B. Winship and mate, fastest
second heat, Brooklyn, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1883 2:16, 2:1034, 2:11%,
H. B. Winship and mate (Hiram Bruce), fastest third heat and three
consecutive heats, Providence, R. I., Nov. 1, 1883.

 

DOUBLE TEAMS,

1 mile—2:16%, road wagon, against time, F. Work’s Edward and Dick
Swiveller. Gentlemen’s D. A. grounds, Morrisania, N. Y., July_ 13,
1882-——2:16%, sulky, Sout. time, W. Rockefeller’s Cleora and
{Tndepenence, Charter Oak Park, Hartford, Conn., Aug. 25, 1883.

The 2:25 Pacing List.

Name. Record. Name. Record. Name. Record.
Johnston... ..2:10 |Jim Jewell.......2:1914|Sallie B...........2:28
Buffalo Girl. ..2:1244/Sorrell Billy ,2:20 |George......-.....2:2314

   
 
   

 
  

 

 

Richball...... 2:12 |Joe Braden.......2:2014|Jack Hark........2:2334
Flora Belle. . .2:133;|Charley H.........2:21 |Estella............2:238%4
Fuller... .2:133;| Billy Scott... .2:21 |Little Willie......2:24

 

 

Gem..... ..2:13%| Winder.... ..2:21 |Leviathan.........2:

Westmont. .2:1514|Silvertail..... oeee 2214) Billy M.........0.- :

Ben Hamilton....2:1644|Bessie M.......... 2:215%;|Don Cameron.....2:2414
| Billy § 216% | Chestnut Stars.....2:22° (PTZ scnces va ox eves 202k

 

Sailor Boy........ 2:174| Daisy D...........2:224|Chief.............. 2:24
Eddie D...........2:17%|Gray Frank.......2:2234|Lotty P...........2:24%
Limber Jack......2:18)4|Billy N..........-.2:224|Kismet....
Lone Jack........2:19 |Eddie C...........2:22M4|Jack Rapid.......2:25
Princess .. ...0..-.2:19AITIUrO..... 20.20... 2222%

   

 
266 FASTEST RECORDED TIME.

Best Pacing Times Different Ways of Going.

1 mile—2:10, Johnston, harness, Chicago, IIL, Oct. 9, 1883 211%,
second best time, Little Brown Jug, harness, Hartford, Conn., Aug.
24, 1881. and Johnston, against time, harness, Chicago, Ill., July 19,
1883 2:1134, 2:11%, 2:1244, Little Brown Jug, harness, best two
and three consecutive heats, Hartford, Conn., Aug. 24, 1881
2:1244, Sleepy Tom, harness, fastest fifth heat, Chicago, Il., July 25,
1879 2:12%, (Richball), 2:144%, 2:14%, 2:12, (Buffalo Girl),
fastest fourth heat and four consecutive heats, harness, Pittsburgh,
Pa., July 27, 1883 2:13%4, 2:1616, 2:15, 2:15%4, 2:13%, 2:14, harness
—fastest sixth, and six consecutive heats; Rowdy Boy won the first,
Sleepy Tom the second, fifth and sixth, and Mattie Hunter the third
and fourth heats—Rochester, N. ¥., Aug. 14, 1879. 2314144, Billy.
Boyce. under saddle, Buffalo, N. Y.. Aug. 1, 1868- 2:16%, 2:19!4,
half-mile track, Little Brown Jug—Red Wing, Minn., June 8, 1882.
2:17%, Pocahoitas. wagon and driver weighing 265 lbs, Union Course,
L June 21, 1855———2:18, 2:18, 2:1734, 2:1844, 2:19%, 2:16%, to
wagon, fastest four, five and six consecutive heats; Sweetser won
the first, fourth and sixth heats, Lucy the second, and Sleepy George
the fitth, Buffalo, N. Y., Aug. 2, 1878.

2 miles—4:5614, Hero, harness, Union Course, L. I., May 17, 1853
4:5714, James K. Polk, saddle, also Roanoke, Philadelphia, June 30,
1850 4:58, Young America, to wagon———5:044, Bowery Boy,
saddle, Centreville, L. I., Sept. 7, 1829.

3 miles--7:44, Oncida Chief, saddle, Hoboken, N. J., Aug. 15, 1843-———.
7:44, James K. Polk, harness, Centreville Course, L. I., Sept. 13, 1847.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE RUNNING TURF.
% mile—:47%, Olitipa, 2 years, 97 lbs, Saratoga, N. Y., July 25, 1874.

% mile—1:00', Neyella, 2 years, 87 lbs, Salem, Oregon, Sept. 18, 1882,
and J eet years, 115 lbs, nat Eran, Cal., Nov. 3, 1883.
o1: », Onondaga, 2 years, 115 lbs—best at age and weight—

Long Branch, N.J., Sati 7, 1881. = =

 

% mile—1 :13, Force, 5 years, 121 lbs, straight track, Louisville, Ky.,
Sept. 24, 1888-——1:13%, Matinee. 2 years, 102 lbs, straight track,
Louisville, Ky., Sept. 24, 1883 1:14, Barrett, 2 years, 110 lbs, Mon-
mone aoe Se Eee a ap eee Tee 3 years, 77 lbs,

eepshead Bay, L. I., Sept. 1880; an onarch, 3 ye
Saratoga, N. Y., Aug. 22, 1880, i , E aeeabReu iss

 

 

% mile—1:28, Sweetbriar, 2 years, 1071s, San Francisco, Cal., Nov. 3.
1883———1 :28%, Little Phils 4 years, 11 Ibe, Long Branch, N-J.. July”
3, 1882; and Jim Douglass, 5 years, 118 lbs, Oakland,Cal., Aug. 16, 1883.

1 mile—1:39%, Ten Broeck, 5 years, 110 lbs, against time, Louisvi
Ky., ee 24, 1877, 1:401%4, Boardman, t years, 94 tie wate
horses, Sheepshead Bay, L. I.. Sept. 21. 1880, 1:41%, Victim 5
years, 117 Tee noes at bhe Toe Ge, N. Y., Aug. 1, 1881.~ ——

f reeze, 2 years. s—best by a two- -old—|
Bay, L. I, Sept. 19, 1882, 7 penold -BArppa wed

 

 
FASTEST RECORDED TIME. 267

1 as uel Aae, Creosote, 4 years, 114 Ibs, Louisville, Ky., May

 

1% maa Rosalie, 4 years, catch weight, Brighton Beach,
Coney Island, Aug. 18, 1881 1:54, Bob Woolley, 3 years, 90 lbs,
Lexington, Ky., Sept. 6, 1875, and Pearl Jennings, 4 years, 76 lbs,
Louisville, ey. June 2, 1883, 1:54%, Greenland, 3 years, 108 lbs,
Saratoga, N. Y., July 23, 1881 1:5644, Checkmate, 6 years, 131 ]os—
best at the weight—Saratoga, N. Y., Aug. 13, 1881.” -

 

 

 

144 miles—2:07%, Getaway, 3 years, 100 Ibs, Saratoga, N. Y., Aug. 4,
1881 2:0814, Hindoo, 4 years, 123 Ibs—best at Weight—Louisyille’
Ky , May 27, 182.

1mile 500 yards—2:10%, Bend Or, 4 years, 115 lbs, Saratoga, N. Y.,
July 25, 1882.

1% miles—2:21%, Uncas, 4 years, 1071lbs, Sheepshead Bay, Sept. 23, 1880.
1% miles—2:34, Luke Blackburn, 3 years, 102 Ibs. Monmouth Park, N.J.,
Aug. 17, 1880 2:36, Hindoo, 3 years, 118 lbs, Saratoga, N. Y., Aug.

4, 1881
15g miles—2:49, Bend Or, 4 years, 1251bs, Saratoga, Aug. 19, 1882.
1% miles—3:01, Glidelia, 5 years, 116 lbs, Saratoga, Aug. 5, 1882.

 

2 miles—3:27%, Ten Broeck, 5 years, 110 lbs, against time, Louisville,
Ky., May 29, 1877 -——3:28, Wildmoor, 6 years—best in race between
horses—Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 29, 1882: 3:32, Hindoo, 3 years,
118 lbs—best at the weight—Saratoga, N. Y., Aug, 11, 1881.

2% miles—3:4414, Monitor, 4 years, 110 lbs, Baltimore, Md., Oct. 20, 1880.

21% miles—3:564, Preakness, abet 114 Ibs, and Springbok, 5 years, 114
Ibs, dead heat, Saratoga, N. Y., July 29, 1875.

- 24 miles—4:2744, Aristides, 4 years, 104 lbs, Lexington, Ky., May 13, 1876

 

 

25 miles—4:5814, Ten Broeck, 4 years, 104]bs,Lexington, Ky., Sep.16, 1876,
2% miles—4:58%, Hubbard, 4 years, 108 lbs, Saratoga, N.Y., Aug. 9, 1873.

3 miles—5:25, Lida Stanhope, 4 years, 102 lbs, Sater , Aug. 26, 1882
5:264%, Eole, 4 years, 120 lbs—best at weight—Sheepshead Bay,
L. L., Sept. 9, 1882.

4 miles—7:15%, Ten Broeck, 4 years, 104 lbs, against time, Louisville,
Ky., Sept. 27, 1876.

10 miles—26:18, Mr. Brown, 6 years, 160 Ibs, ridden by H. C. Peel,
match for $1,000 with L.L, aged, 160 lbs, ridden by A. Belmont
Purdy—Rancocas, N. J., Mareh 2, 1880.

 

HEAT RACING.

 mile—:23%4, :2214, Suspender; Los Angeles, Cal., April 10, 1883.

mile—:48%. :49, Red Oak, aged. 114 Ibs, Carson City, Ney., Sept. 16,
" 1879 ———Three heats in five—:49%, :10!4, :49%, Dottie Dimple, Los
Angeles, April 5, 1883.
268 FASTEST RECORDED TIME.
% mile—1:024%4, 1:0314, Sadie McNairy, 3 years, 98 Ibs., Chicago, IIl.,
July 2, 1883.

% mile—1:134, 1:13%, Lizzie S., 5 years, 118 lbs, Louisville, Ky., Sept.
ee ae 1:18, 1:16, Callao, aged, 108 lbs, Louisville, Ky., Oct, 10,

 

1 mile—1:4144. 1:42, 1:44%. first heat won by Ada Glen, 4 years, 166 Ibs;
others by Dan Spariing. 4 years, 106 lbs, Sheepshead Bay, L. I. Sept
21, 1880 1:41144, Kadi, 6 years, about 90 lbs—fastest second heai
Hartford, Ct.. Sept. 2, 1875 1:42, 1:414%,. Bounce, 4 years, 90 Ibs,
Sheepshead Bay, L. T, Sept. 7, 1881 1:4214, 1:41%, Gabriel, 5
years, 115 lbs—best at weight—St. Louis, Mo., June 13, 1881 1:42,
1:44, Lucky LB, 3 years—best third heat—Stockton, Cal., Sept. 19, 1883.

 

 

 

 

1 1-16 miles—1 :4934, 1:49, 1:51%, Boot ltek won first heat, Bend Or, 4
years, 117 lbs, the others, Louisville, Ky., May 25, 1882.

1% miles—1:56. 1:56, Gabriel, 4 years, 112 Ibs, Sheepshead Bay, L.I.,
Sept. 23, 1880 1:57, 1:57%, 1:58, Getaway, 3 years. 95 lbs, won
first and third heats, and Pacific, 5 years, 115 lbs, the second, St.
Louis, Mo., June 10, 1881.

 

2 a 3:29, Bradamante, 3 years, 87 lbs, Jackson, Miss., Nov.
’ a os

3 miles—5:27)4, 5:2914, Norfolk, 4 years, 100 lbs, Sacramento, Cal., Sept.
28, 1865-——5 :28, Brown Dick, 3 years, 86 lbs, best second heat, New
Orleans, La., April 10, 1855———5:28%. Mollie Jackson, 4 years,
101 Ibs, best third heat, Louisville, Ky., May 25, 1361.

4 miles—7:23\4. 7:41, Ferida, 4 years, 105 lbs, Sheepshead Bay, L. I.,,
Sept. 18, 1880 7:30%, 7:31, fastest second and third heats, Glen-
more, 4 years, 108 Ibs, Baltimore, Md., Oct. 25, 1879.

 

 

OVER HURDLES.

1 mile 4 hurdles—1:50, Suanannona, aged, 120 Ibs, Brighton Beach,
Coney Island, July 16, 1881.

Mile heats, 4 hurdles—1:50%, 1:50%, Joe Rhodes, 5 years, 140 Ibs, St.
Louis, Mo., June 4, 1878.

1% miles 5 hurdles 2:06, Raven, aged, 144 Ibs, Saratoga, N. Y.,
sul eh 1882———2:07, Glasgow, aged, 160 lbs, Saratoga, N. Y., July

 

14% miles 5 hurdles—2:16, Jim McGowan, 4 years, 127 lbs, Brighton
Beach, Coney Island, Nov. 9, 1882 2:18, Speculation, 6 years, 140
Ibs, Brighton Beach, Sept. 22, 1881.

 

144 miles 6 hurdles—2:47, Kitty Clark, 3 years, 1301bs, Brighton Beach,
C.I., Aug. 23, 1881, and Speculation, 6 years, 125 lbs. same course,
July 19, 1881 2:47%4, Ike Bonham, 6 years, 137 1bs, Brighton Beach,
Coney Island, Sept. 9. 1881 2:48%, Buster, 4 years, 148 lbs, Long
Branch, N J., July 31, 1883.

 

 

1% miles 7 hurdles—3:17%, Judith, 5 years, 150 lbs, Monmouth P:
N, J., Aug, 19, 1880, , ’ ’ uth Park,

 

 
FASTEST RECORDED TIME. 269

2 miles 8 hurdles—3:47}4, Tom Leathers, aged, 117 lbs, New Orleans

d

La., April 16, 1875-——3:4844, Ventilator, aged, 135 lbs, Sheepshea
Bay, L. L, June 24, 1880. - sii , _

214 miles 9 hurdles—4:33, Cariboo, 5 years, 154lbs, Monmouth Park,
N. J., Aug. 28, 1875.

STEEPLECHASES,

.

verome Park, full course—4;28, Disturbance, aged, 155 Ibs, June 4,

Saratoga, full course, adout 2% miles—5:20, Postguard, aged, 160
Tbs, Aug. 3, 1882.

LONG-DISTANCE RIDING.
10 miles—20:02, Miss Belle Cook, five horses, changing five times, Min-

neapolis, Minn., Sept. 10, 1882.

20 miles—40:59, Little Cricket, changing horses at will, Minneapolis’
Minn., Sept. 7, 1882.

50 miles—1.50:031%4, Carl Pugh, 10 horses, changing at will, match race,
San Bernardino, Cal., July 7, 1883.

60 miles—2.33:00, George Osbaldiston, 11 horses, Newmarket, England,
Nov. 5, 1831.

100 miles—4.19:40, George Osbaldiston, 16 horses, as above.

155 miles—6.45:07, John Murphy, Match against time, 20 horses, New
York City, July 3, 1876.

200 miles—8 hours, Nell H. Mowry, 30 horses, Bay View Park, San
Eeenoieeny Aug. 2, 1868; in 8:42, George Osbaldiston, 29 horses, as
above.

201 miles—52 hours, Hesing Jr., in match with G. Guyon, pedestrian,
Exposition Building, Chicago, Ill., Jan. 9, 10, 11, 1880.

300 miles—14.09:00, Nell H. Mowry, 30 horses, as above.

559 miles 754 yards—Pinafore, in six-day race against other horses
and men, Mechanics’ Pavilion, San Francisco, Cal., Oct, 15-20, 1879.

1,304 miles—90 hours, 15 hours per day, changing mustangs at will,
Anderson, Bay District Track, San Francisco, Cal., May 15, 1880,
INDEX,

ABSCESS and tumors, how en-
gendered.. an sea 110)
, critical treatment ‘of.

 

 

 

ee Wd

——, Drawing poultice..
--———, deep-seated, danger. of. . 15
Acute founder, origin and treat-

MEeNE Of.... ccc cece ee eee eens 209
Age of horses, how to estimate

Air, effects of, on the blood.... © 39
——-, confined or noxious, a

cause of incflammation......
, the importance of keep-
ing out a draught or current

 

 

of, in stables................ u4

-——., tells, controversy con-
GOINING scdiag ox cesses seiigiicies 82
Anatomy of the foot............ 169
Animals, character of.......... 291
s form Of..........0. 666s j++ 284

Animal system, general obser-
vations on the.. ‘

, definition of the ‘term... wa
"how deranged...........
, lesser parts of the, de-
SCTIDEd.... 2... cee eee eens sinieis
Anticor, prevalence o?, in
Bran is ciececancecrcces osaee 142

» cause, symptous, and
method of curing............
, Alterative ball...........
Arabs, practice of the, in cases
oflameness............ « 170, 177
Arteries and veins, their office. 41

64
54
55

 

 

 

56

 

142
143

 

‘BACK, strain of the, cause
and symptons of.. pastes
——-, effects of, and remedies

Back-raking, in cases of cos-

tiveness, method of........, 69

 

Balky horses, how to manage.. 294
Best Pacing Times, different
ways of going.. .. 266
Best Trotting Times, ‘different
ways of going. psvena aey marae’ 264
Bile, excess and deficiency of.. 50
Bishoping, how to detect........ 204
Bit, the kind of, and how used. 225
Bladder, construction of the.... 53-
, diseases of the........ 54, 104
, inflammation of the,
cause of.. ;
, aymptouia and panied.
-——, cases of stone found in
SENG haciendo 25 eiatsetenrente rete Atiaase
Bleeding, copious, in certain
cases recommended...... 74, 198
, dangerous, after continu-
ance of inflammation.......
, of the employment of the
fleam and blood-tick in..... 207
, objections to the lancet. 208
, local remarks on........ 208
, modern method of
, on pinning up the orifice
after the operation of....... 209
, rules to be observed in.. 209

 

 

- 105
105

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blind-gut, itsuses............... 46
Blinds or Blinkers.............. 255
Blistering, to divert inflamma-
tion, considered............ 15
Blood, circulation of the....... 38
, effects of air on the...... 39
/ ——, how cleansed -. 40
, fluidity of the............ 42
, effusion of the........... 42
——,, the, how made........... 48
—,, healthy proportion of
the component parts of a
POUNG.......-.ccccceee cere cree 207

Blood-letting, remarks on,..,., 206
 

, use of a graduated meas-
ure recommended in........
Blood-vessels of the fovt........
Bone spavin—See Spavin.
Bones and integuments of the
foot and leg, description of

WE eiieskbs ohaG vavedeind HeERe 169
Bones of Animals............... 288
Bowels, inflammation of the

symptons of..\............065 88
Breaking the horse to harness. 230
Breeders, advice to............. 18

Breeding, importance of more
attention to the principles of 297
‘ Broken wind, 82. (See Organs

of Respiration... fine 78D
Brood-mares, treatment ‘of. ear 18
CALCULUS, or stone. in the

bladder, cause of.. 107

 

, its resemblance to colic. 109
Calving Table................005 317
Canine madness, causes of .....
Canker, causes, symptons, and

 

 

 

 

 

 

method of curing........... 190
, treatment in cases of... 190
——., how prevented........... 191
Cat-hams, how contracted...... 13
Chest of animals................ 285
Choking, a means of ee
the horse.. » 249
Choking, (illustrated) ‘process
OF. fis sete ath Raga iaas 250 251
Circulation of the blood........ 36
Cline, Mr., his opinion regard-
ing hereditary roaring...... 85
Coffin-joint, strain of the, how
CAUSED: cccceanads Yeas eens 194
, symptoms and cure of... 195
Cold, progress of a......... ieieweig 88
, mistreatment of a....... 35
Cold or Catarrh, causes of a.... 76
, symptoms of a........... 77
, remedies in cases of..... 78
Colic, a prolific source of inflam-
MALION .......e seen eens cree es 88

 

INDEX.

 

, spasmodic or flatulent,

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

symptons of..............90, 96
, definition and re-produc-
TIODLOR. fois bes. cccicrsiamassieiniees 94
, causes and progress of.. 95
——, Drench, No. 1............ 98
. «No. 2 --. 98
, Sedative ball..... smile sania 98
Colts, consequence of mounting
£00 CATVY...... 6.2 cee ee ee eens 19
Concretions, cause of, 107; the
coecum, 46; kidneys, 51;
DIAMGON) visi cic: cs sircneete sales earn 53
Consumption, definition of the
HOLD ss anise aiersceieirde de He aera 82
Contraction caused by paring
the sole inconsiderately,... 185
Corns, how caused,............. 193
, symptoms and mode of
CULING....... cree ee Slisescio avauata 193
Costiveness, causes of, . wees 68
, symptoms of,............ 68
, remedy in cases of,....68 92
, restoratives,....... 69
, laxative drench,... 69
, tonic ball, No. 1,... 69
—. ‘ No. 2,... 70
, cooling decoction,. 70
Cough Remedies for,..... + 9
: expectorant ball No.1,.. 80
—.-. « No. 2,., 80
, a laxative ball,.. . 81
, & diuretic ball... Ne 81
, drench, No. 1,.... 81
, drench, No. 2,. 8t
,diet and regimen in
cases of,. patidivassea. ION
“y chronic, described, 36
, Symptoms of,......... 86
, plethoric, how brought
Oy sascaunewd sg ax conde seme . 86
, remedy in cases of,... 86
——, purgative Dally sseyensaes 86
» periodical, treatment of, 87
——-, mild purgative ball, Retsies 8&7
—-. alterative ball,.. .. 87
- COnMitutional,......06.+. 88

 
INDEX.

 

; , drench,......... 88
Crossing the bends, good ‘and
bad effects of,...........5... 292
Curb, description of, and how
CULCO ois sinicereituinves voedaoan 174
DEAD subjects, duty of ex-
AMINING, ........ cc cece sees 2

Defectiveness, constitutional,.. 110
Diabetes, cause and symptoms

 

Of caicsesenavns sarsloatis aisle icity 106
, remedies for,............ 106
Diet and regimen in cases of
cough,.. wraeraine BL
Digestion, the: process ‘of, aieiereia 43
Directions how to lay the horse
GOW), BGrcenserocvve sans vane 236

Diseases of the lungs, review
of,
, origin of constitutional,
Disorders, inflammatory,.......
, of the foot and leg, in-
troductory observations on, 170
Dissection, how to proceed

48
59

 

 

 

WIN ecscaies ccedeuncumesemacs 2
Docking, introduction of the
practice Of,.......s..ceeee0+. 56
UGC Of er ccxiasincs ccue 157
Double teams,........-...-...+. 265
Dung, an indication of the state
Of the DOG Y ys isesscisvevewwen 65
EARS, the, by their move-
ments, indicate the pas-
sions,.. aa aiwisiwee DT
Eclipse, the race-horse, . oa By 10}.
-—-, weight of the heart of,.. 37
Englishman’s description of a
good horse,............+.005 202
Eruptions, scurvical, treatment
OL eave reese scarartialevacei2 es Gyan seater 176
Exercise, effects of,............ 42

Eye, appearance of the, a crite-
rion by which to judge of

the constitution,............ 57

‘

FARCY and poll-evil, connex-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ION Ofjecca s sesdnsmsveseavicases 121
, distinction between, ties 121
» CAUSE Of,..........00. 0005 140
+ Symptoms, .. seeeee 140:
, treatment and ¢ cure of,
_ in its three stages,......... 141
» mercury, a specific in, « 142
Farcy-buds, the free applica-
tion of the actual ere
recommended to,.. eee 143:
, burgative ball,... ar Wioieiezajnis 141.
, alterative ball,......... . 141
——, mercurial ball, No. 1,... 142
a? “ “No. 2... . 143°
Fastest recorded time,......... 261°
Feeding the horse, rules for.... 256°
Fever, predisposition to,....... 59:
, and inflammation, slight
distinction between, ....... 60+
——-, remedies recommended
in cases Of, ........ -..e eee 61:
» high, indications of, .... 62:
, simple, ° ace and
treatment of, . wooo 68%
-——, danger of “relapse, in.
f= CASOS O8y casiveae ives opecnaee 655
, low, cause of,.. 665
» Symptoms of,.... 66%
-y remedy and restoratives
in cases of,. BS siaiaeiaeid sal 67
, typhus or r putrid, causes
and symptoms of, .......... 70
, epidemic, cause of,...... 71
, Symptoms of,..........

 

 

, in the feet,...
. purgative ball

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLYSEOT) siciavieiciene oe sicemucace
—, fever. powder, No. 1, 65
—_—_— se No. 2,. 655

» ever drink, w.sceesveeeen be
——, laxative draught,..... wen OT

, diuretic ball,.........2005 6T
Figg. See Corns. | °
Firing, barbarity of the opera-

TION OF, .....cccceccvecccrssen BE
INDEX.

--——, In cases of strains, when

PRODED) vaxievesvicavqeasgs cd TIT
‘Fistula in the withers, cause

OB yafase:ss cnn sisieicid vis orataie wiasbaye sease AOS
2 SYMptoms,.........0.+06. 122
—-, method of cure, ......... 122
, operations necessary in, 123
BON LOCIODy wescsceavevave 124
':Fleam, the spring, advantages

OF, ssiswicwegsccueweseps dasseneeceOt
: Fluidity of the blood,........... 43

: Follow you, how to learn a
OTBE £0, .. 02 ee eeeeeeeseneeee 25

- Fornaiitations, great service
of, in strains, .. o-. 198
_ Food of the horse,.............. 43

‘Foot, constitutional defects in

the form of the, ............ 7
, cutting away the horny
part of thesole, reprobated, 56
. 2 Section of the.......... 166
, structure and physiology

Of the, s.csncswelaniancas 164, 168
-——, mode of severing a, ..... 167
. blood vessels of the,..... 168
,Tigaments and tendons
of the,...... sinndjevelsvoiiornate trewidies LOS.
, anatomy of the, ......... 169
,and leg, description of

the bones and integuments

Of they...0. 6255 ce 24. » 169
_—_—, observations on ‘the dis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

orders of the,...... Pessieeess 170
. remarks on the diseases
of the,....... peaiGRReS Teens. 188

. Form, the improvement OF ps: .i50 28

France, ida of anticor
AD seeeciosareee
_French method "at cleaning
BONES es ei eeiccecewe seis TOE
, notions of strains,.. . 176
——, military service, instruc--
ttions to the purchasers of
: cavalry for the,............. 201
| Founder, causes of, ..... . 198
— --, im young horses,......... 199

 

 

 

 

 

, syffiptoms attenuing, ... 199
—, distinction between
acute and chronic,.......... 200
, remedies in cases of,.... 200
. the effect of inflamma-
tory fever, .............00005 200
, acute, origin and ‘ treat-
ment Of,.........cececcne cess 09
Frush. See Thrush. °

 

 

 

a
GENERAL rules and remarks
on choking......... shewesnie O02
Genitals, how nourished,. i
Glanders, how generated,
——-, observations on,...
. predisposition to, ....... 129
——. symptoms of the true,... 134
——,as described a” La
Fosse,..... Bidets dase vii ASD)
‘ controversy + as : to, com-
municable, ...5:..,-....+-006 135
, of three sorts—two con-
tASlOUS pce ceccssvacieiear os seca8 136
, cause of,
, symptoms,.....
, tests of true, ........ .... 138
, remedies for,............ 189
, legal restraints regard-
ING pss coeswewsnts iGavinigeces 1S
Glands, on the functions and
diseases of the,...........29, 129
Grease, causes of,.. ‘
——,, white feet liabie to,.... . 144
, Symptoms Of,.........+.. 44
» preventives and remed-
LOS) ies secevanis asvweaeindwieiewneccn, LAE
, regimen recommended,. 146
-——, alum wash, No. 1,....... 145
—, strong alum wash, No. 2, 145
-~——, strongest, or mercurial

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

 

wash, NO. 3,.....0.seeeeeeere 145

, diuretic alterative
powder,.......... as Sea eeeare . 146
, purging ball,... sone 146
, alterative balls, 146, 147
——, diaphoretic ball,. «.. 146

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

, Molten, physiology of,.. 93

, its causes traced,.....,.. 94

, treatment of, ~ oF

, Sedative clyster, ........ 94

Great gut, course of the.... 46
Gripes and inflammation of the

bowels, distinguishing

symptoms between,.. 90
eens symptoms

of,... 96

3 treatinent'd in eases “of. 97
HALTER for the colt, the

kind to be used, ............ 216

Haltering the colt, how to pro- ©
Ce6d BICOL, cs. anaanerexnes ves 217
Harness, breaking the horse

 

¥
Head, motions of the, indica-

 

 

 

 

tions of pleasure and pain,. 14
,@ large, a sign of slug-  -
BiShNESS, .... 0... cc eeeeee wees 17
, of animals,.......... seers 286
Heart, structure and funetions
of the,........... “ 3
, organization of ‘the,. eisreie 37
, shape of the,......... ‘
, weight of oe

 

 

Heat racing, ..........02+
Hide bound, caused by i fits
tumours, ctienee te

 

  
 

 

 

‘ symptoms,..... sradeib oigteieis ‘150

——, method of curing, . 150

, alterative laxative, 150

, tonic, No. 1,..... 150

——, “ No. 2,..... 151

—— , alterative balls, ... - 151
Hip-joint, treatment in cases ‘ot
strains of the, ............+.

Hitching the horse toa sully.

“ aid shape and make of the,. 11
, duty of studying deform-

pees of the,.. . 164

—, bisecting the perfect, .. wee 166

-, internal structure of the, 166
, component parts of the, 166

 

 

a

 

 

. brittle, a cause of sand-
crack, . ‘i
Horse, external, structure, ‘of
My vennsnanawane 5
, evils resulting from ‘bad
make and shape of the,.... 6
-——., length of body of the,... 15
hollow back,... ~
. food of the,..
of the leg and “foot ‘ot
the,...... Pik ‘sziacpeenaaies «
. impolicy of working the,
too early,............-.-.-19, 170
, advice to purchasers of a 201
, Englishman’s descrip-

+ 192

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tion of a good, .............. 202
, criterion by which to as-
certain the age of a,........ 203
Hydrophobia, an incurable
Malady} ssssccccsasecisees'ss 19
» Cases Of,........ 02... eee 159

 

. symptoms of, in the dog, 160
——, im the horse,............. 160
——, water no true test of, ... 161

. regimen recommended

 

 

 

in, .. ass
, writers ‘one
-——,, purgative ball, ......... 162
INDIGESTION, diseases of,.. 45

Inflammation of the stomach, 44, 88
, of the liver,..
, and fever, distinction be-

 

 

 

, causes Of,..............59
. restoratives in cases of,.
, of the lungs, causes of,..
, Symptoms,.. a3 2
, stage horses liable ‘tol:
, how incurred, ...........
, how ianeceiaaae from
Re ete aie 90
———, of the kidneys, et Bl, “90 102
, of the bowels, symptoms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

, of the liver, eause of,.

 
INDEX.

 

» symptoms of, before yel-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lowness comes on,.. 99
, liver and kidneys, ‘treat-
ment i in cases oOf,............ 100
Tron defence. See Shoeing.
Instructions, French military,
for the purchase of pee 201
Instruments,.. 2 -. 316
Intestines, construction | ‘and
diseases of the,...........44, 88
Jaundice, or yellows, cause of, 101

, symptoms of,..... . 101
-——, cure for,..............06. 101
Kidneys, functions and dis-

eases Of the................. 51

, influence of inflamed.... 91

, inflammation of the..... 102

9 CAUSES OF..........0.c00ee

+ Symptons..

POUL O Bic ieit itera innieicizyscse a a
——, Mild purgative ball...... 104
-——, Embrocation............. 104
Knowledge and Parnes @ of the

horse..... a ‘ wee 213

LAERTES, Mr. ee a
capital leaper.. wissaisess 9

  

 

 

 

Lambing table.. ie i ‘ 317
Lameness, test for. ascertain-
ing... +171, 205
_ remarks on.. -..-171, 105
, rest indispensible in
eases Of........... Mepeeeeaigtine 170

Lampers, or Lampas, descrip-
tion, symptoms, and method

Of CULIN aeezcaacesaaebencecce 128
Lancet, objections to the, in

blood-letting................. 208
Lawler, Denis, anecdote ‘of piace 196
Laying down the horse, how to

UG Wisse tate temtnceenaaen woes 236
Leading the colt into a stable... 221

Leading the colt with a broke

Leg and foot, on the disorders

OF CDQ ceereeee sees cess eeeeees 170

-| MADNESS, canine, c~uses of.

 

Legs, mechanical explanation
of the form of the........... 6
Ligaments and tendons of the
foot.. aes - 168

Live Bees that as gone in
2:25 or better.. sieslam ais

Liver, situation of ‘the. efaviosie eas
» functions and diseases
of tS sca. ceineriic ial Sscoeieteinis a
, Inflammation of the..
——, ulcers and tumors on the,
———. complaints, and kidneys,
discriminative symptoms
OL iar vies ssid ¢ sige
Locked jaw, s' symptoms.
, remedies for..
, treatment of.
Long-distance riding....
Lungs, description of the.
-——, experiments on the......
——-, review of diseases of the,
, ulcer on the, frequently
mistaken for worms........
» causes of inflammation
Of CE si cicnnseeeau asain cress
» Symptoms................
, restoratives in cases of

261
49

 

99
99
102

 

102
. 157
_. 157

 
   
 

 

 

 

 

72
72

 

 

15
Lymphatiecs, importance
stimulating the......

159

 

, Symptons of..............
———+ Weatnient OF ees scccsaee
Mallenders and sallenders,
cause and cure of...........
Man and the domestic animals,
the relations between......

Mange, cure for the, 148.—See
Surfeit

» Ointment.............6..

—-, Alterative forthe No. 1..

“ “No. 2..

Medicines, apparatus for com-
pounding..

Medicines, list ‘Of...

 

149
142
149

 

ws - 316
teserceeree 316

 
INDEX.

Mengrims, tharacteristics of... 156
» remedies............ tee DBE
Membranes, construction of the 27
, cellular, diseases of the, 28
Mercury, a specifie in farcy.... 141
green food improper
under a course of,........
, precautions necessary in
the use of................... 154
Midriff, its uses..............26, 34
Miller’s horses most liable to
stone in bladder, and why,. 108
Minute directions to lay the
horse down.............4 eens 248
Molten grease. See Grease.
Mounting the colt, how to do it, 227
Muscles of animals........ aeecee 287
Muscles, their construction,
shape, and uses..

 

 

 

 

cansiesantee 28
NAILING, importance of the
operation of......... »» 186
risks attending the old -
method.. . 186
———, improved modern rode
OP ses. . 187
“Nerves, construction and uses
OLTBG cow asns x

 

30

ORGANS, large and small, de-
scription of.. . 21
, of respiration, libable to
several kinds of diseases... 35
, urinary, diseases of the. 105

 

 

PACING list, the 2:25......... 265°
Pasture, how to oe the colt
LOM iad eassanccdeanes beeen 214
Pegged, how to ascertain f
whether a horse has been.. 206
Pelvis of animals............... 286
Perspiration............. 23

Phenomena, the trotting mare, 6, 9
Physiology of the stomach......
Pinning up the orifice, after

bleeding, cautions relative

 

PICUPISY 5.08 ssanscsisicecwenines as te. RE
Poll-evil, causes of....... . 115
» symptoms of............. 116
———, cure for by dispersion,
116, by suppuration. . . 117
-—-, cure for by dispersion,
116; by suppuration.........
, form of bandage for.....
» Method of operating, in
CSCS Of ia ss cues cangeaaan ve
, the seton, how applied

 

 

 

. 118

 

. 118
, general remarks OB. 121
, and farcy, connexion of, 121
, distinction between...., 121
, embrocation......... vee. 116
, alterative ball..... _ 17
——,, irritating mixture....... 119
digestive ointment, No. 1, 119
» scalding mixture, No.1 120
—_, aE No. 2, 120
——,; Hs No. 3, 120
, digestive ointment, No. 2 121
Powell’s Management of wild

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Principles of the new method of
horse-taming...

Pulmonary patients, treatment
Ob seneicees sade

Pulse, observations on ‘the: state

- 213

 

, a register of the state of
the, recommended to be
seetecseceeee 62
Purchasers of horses, advice to, 201
Purchasing a horse, rules for... 257

 

 

 

Putting a Halter on the colt..,. 216

QUITTOR, how caused........ 125

——,, method of curing..... ae. 125
, mild treatment of, rec-

ommended.. sistem sajna se TD

, first alterative pall.. sees 126

. second Se | | Maite 126

RABIES, incurable,........... 159

——, means of discriminating
the true from the false,..... 160
INDEX.

 

, progress of symptoms in, 160
,hostrums recommended
Afi ae * j « 162
Racing o: over r hurdles... seacees 268
Regimen and diet in cases of
CONE i iinie es ene sjators Slay eunrahenteaterors
Relapse, danger of, in cases ‘of
SIFOIDS csvrscevaveeesseesxcsw 119
Respiration, its close connexion
with the formation of blood, 31
, the organs of, liable to
several kinds of diseases, ..
, and exercise, effects of, .
Riding a colt, how to do it,
Ringbone, causes, symptoms,
and remedies, ...........+++
Roarers, hereditary, Mr. Cline’s
opinion respecting,.........
Rules to be observed in bleed-
IDSs ediesio'se
Running turf,.............ceeeee

 

81

 

35
42
229

 

172

85

SADDLE galls, how caused,
and remedy for,............ 124
Saddling the colt,... wrisiedataier 220
Sand-crack, cause of,. wi vaio 192
, Symptoms of,............. 192
, treatment in cases of,... 192
, remedies for, ............ 192
Searing, howto prevent a horse
from,
Secretions, uses of, redundant
and defective,...............
Shoe, shape of the, English, .
, French,. cia theneeeaes
, aD improved form of
described,..........c0. eee ee 182
---——, the patent, remarks on,
sees oo. 180, 184
—, ‘the jointed, “183; Bracy
Clark’s, 183; Goldfir.ch’s
jointed, 183; Coleman’s frog
shoe, 184; Teast’s...... sesee 188
, Tuinous consequences of
trying on the, hot,..........
-——-—, importance of the opera-

  
   

 

 

 

22
- 181
181

 

 

 

 

tion of nailing the,......... 186

Shoes, various, for diseased
feet,....... iceieis SivisRieieveias aitieiels 188
, east iron, objection to
the use of,
Shoeing, remarks on,
, of preparing the hoof for, 184
, French method of,....... 187
Shoulder, conformation of the, 10
, lameness of the..... 15
See Strains.
Sitfasts, how to remove,........ 125
Skeleton, explanation and prac-
tical use of the,...........+
Sole;aanger of paring the, too
180, 185
Sores, French method of clean-
ING ye swecaiee ceicg sete sate iatets sees 124
Spavin, varieties of, . 173
, bone, causes of,..... seeee 173
» symptoms and cure of,.. 174
Splents, cause and symptoms of, 175

 

 

 

 

 
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

, remedies for,.........-+. 175
, in some instances, occa-
sioned by shoeing,.......... 175
. Liquid blister,... 175
Stables, close, prejudicial to
health, cccccsseissgsecsgeaawe 3D
, the necessity of ventila-
tion in,.... asatecale wince 148

Stabling the colt, how to do it,. 215
Staggers, origin of,
» Varieties Of,.......... 0066
, remedies for,
, mad, acase of,
Staling, excessive, or diabetes,. 1
Stallion, the condition of a,.... 3C7
Stallion and the brood mare...
Stallions, on the choice of,.....
Stand, without holding, how to
make the horse,.............
Steeplechases........... aSieisertiies
Stifle. See Strains.
Stomach, physiology of the,.... 43
, inflammation of the..44, 88

 

 

 

 

25
269

 

Stone, cases of, found in the

 
INDEX.

——, of the back, sinew and
ligaments, cause of,
, Symptoms of,.....
——,, method of curing,.. . 178
, danger of relapse, ‘in
cases of,. cowieigws seal BID.
. Embrocation, No. 1,.... 178
No. 2,..... 178
—-, Blister, No. 3,........+.6. 179
, of the coffin-joint, cause
Of cas wanparsecsccwscagewaeen BOE
-, symptoms of, ose 195
» remedies for, 195
, of the shoulder,cause and
symptoms of,
, treatment in cases of....
——-, whirl-bone (hip-joint) re-
medies for,.........cseeevece
, stifle, treatment of,. ...
, back, cause and symp-
toms of,. #08 -» 197
‘ remedies, Tecommended
Wijscwe . 198

Sthausien,: cause on ili, a. . 180
—, symptoms of,.... 131
, cure of,
, bandage for,.......
, inoculation for the,

 

 

 

 

—_—. “

 

 

 

 

 

195
196

 

197
197

 

 

 

  
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

, of the gullet,....... 133

, bastard,........ 184

, laxative ball,. o. 132

——, laxative drench, oad denies 132

, stimulating liniment,. . 132

, fumigation,.....ecec+ee. 133

Stringhalt,..........scecceeseee 7, 197

Stubborn colt, how to manage ~

OG aus vay meme cuensnaennt ee 219

Surfeit, effects Of,.....-....0++8- 147
, cause, remedy, and cure

DE ccauas vemwereiiaarecancaia ie TAB

1 WASD,.. ec cece ce cerenee sees 148
TABLES, weights, and mea-

SUTOS,.- 2. cece cee se cnseee voce 315

Taming a horse with vicious
Habits,.....cesveeceeeveveerey 202

 

Teeth, descripticn of the,...... 203
Tendons and ligaments of the
LOO cc siessscicew cides wearers 168
Thoroughpin, cause of, and re-
medies for,..... a setae stsioiare ac 173
Throat, sore, remedies in cases
OL pieces cahicisjncuyemstieaiestotcrreke 78

 

, method of baudaging for 79
Thrush or “ frush,” cause and
symptoms of,. :
——-, method of curing,
Timidity of the horse,..
Tongue, state of the, a health-

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

guage,.. 56
Tonics requisite ‘after inflam-
matory diseases,.. on 69
Treatment after the ‘horse i is
HOWE caw srenaran area tox . 244
Trotting turf 261
Tumors, internal and external, 42
, on the liver............66.
, definition of.....
——, how engendered.
-——, distinction between the
single and the varied....... 112
, the kind of horse most
Tale WO wssninrs sccxornnaiocas 112
, on the joints............. 113
. and abscess, general ob-
Servations ON.............008 110
ULCER on the lungs, fre-
quently mistaken for
worms.. 39
Urinary organs, diseases of: the, 105
Urine, secretion of the......... 52
, chemical analysis of..... 53
, a good indication of the
state of the body......
, suppression of the
, balls, evil effects of..... 104
, incontinence of......... « 105
, bloody, cause of, and
treatment recommended... 103

VEINS and arteries, their co-
CONSETUCTION......+s0eceecees
INDEX.

Ventilation of stables, the im-
portance of......... aan He 74
Veterinary knowledge, the ad-
vantages Of.....c..ceeene eens 1
Vicious habits in a_ horse,
treatment of.. albieiaan
Vives, description, cause, ‘and
symptoms of............. 126, 127
——, its connexion with farcy
and glanders................ 127
, cure for.. ae . 127
, false, method of remov-

 

 

 

WARBLES. See Saddle-galls
and Sitfasts.

Water, no true test of rabies...

Whirl-bone, strain of the, reme-

161

222
82
82

Wind-broken, how acquired...
——, varieties Of..........00.06

 

 
 
 
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~——-, causes Of..........64. 83
, regimen in cases of 84
, tonic ball,........ 84
, ball. 84
Windgalls, causes of... . 173
, temporary cure of....... 173
Windpipe, construction of the. 32
Withers, fistula in the.......... 122
Worms, general remarks on... 151
» CAUSES, Of eciccecasecacesa 152
, distinguishing symptoms
WOE cose eib0eg sas fois vSres oid sbisiniauibjeis sicca . 152
——, regimen recommended
in cases Of........-...0eee eee 153
, cure for auowte 158
, No. 1, mercurial polus,. +. 153
——, No. 2, purgative ball..... 154
, No. 3, laxative alterative
DANS sc caunrs eee aeawasaen 154
, laxative powder, No. 1.. 155
» DANS. c.secircsisnar svawmerwi. 156
, powder, No. 2 .

 

 

YELLOWS. See Jaundice.

RES
STUDIES IN ENGLISH SP

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Might oft be prevented
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To clean out the house with Sa-
POGLIO!

 

 

LING.

FOURTH LESSON.
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When the housework in hand she

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SIXTH LESSON.
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Whose troubles with “helps” were
etolonel
Now her leisure enjoys
For the “new girl’? employs
SAPOLIO in housework diolonel!

 

 

 

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