2^^-. 
 
 t LIBHAKY 1)F C ^MIHE SS. i 
 
 f UNITED STATES OF Ai¥ERICA. 
 
 I 
 
THE 
 
 AMERICAN HORSE DOCTOR, 
 
 COXTATXIXf; A DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 DIFFERENT DISEASES OF THE HORSE, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH THE 
 
 Latest aad most Approved Mode of Treatment^ 
 
 WRITTEN IX PLAIN lANCrAGE, 
 
 DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR HORSE OWNERS. 
 
 / 
 
 13y Dr. D. j/sELDE:Nr, 
 
 VETERINARY SURGEON, KT. VERNON, O. 
 
 CLEVELAND: 
 
 FAIRBANKS, BENEDICT A CO., PRINTERS, HERALP OFFICE. 
 1 S 6 . 
 
 c/ 
 
Eutexcd according to Act of Congress, ia the year 18G6, b}^ 
 
 Dr. D. J. SHELDEN, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, 
 
 in and for the Northern District of Ohio. 
 
 ip 
 
 
TO ALL OWNERS OF HORSES WHO HA^'E BEEN LOOSERS 
 
 BY MALPRACTICE OR IMPOSITIONS AT THE HANDS 
 
 OF THE IGNORANT OR DESIGNING, 
 
 THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
A B V E K T I S E M E N T . 
 
 Since writing this book the Author has concluded^to 
 illustrate it by attaching a Chart containing about one 
 hundred and forty cuts illustrating the different dis- 
 eases. This chart has been obtained only at great 
 expense, but by making this addition it will be the 
 most complete and useful work for horse owners that 
 has ever been published. 
 
 It is not designed to sell this book through the book 
 stores or any of the many publishing houses. The only 
 place that it can be obtained is of the Author. By 
 enclosing Five Dollars in a letter and sending it to Dr. 
 D. J. Selden, at Mt. Vernon, Oliio, it will insure a 
 copy by return mail. 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 TuE AuTHOii of tliis work lias beeu practising and 
 teacliiug tlie Science of Doctoring Horses for more tliau 
 thirteen j'ears. AYitli this extended experience he has 
 become satisfied of the necessity- of there being a more 
 extended kuowledg ^ among liorse owners with refer- 
 ence to the diseases of horses. In this coimtry we 
 have no Veteriuarj- Scliool, or at least none of any 
 great repute, and but very few Veterinary Surgeons, 
 consequentl}^ most owners of horses are obliged to do 
 their own horse doctoring. Hence the necessity of a cor- 
 rect guide to be in the hands of every owner of horses 
 There have been three difterent classes of Horse Doc- 
 tor Books already'- issued in this country : One class 
 is those really scientific works that are designed for 
 the Veterinary Surgeon alone, as the}' are too compli- 
 cated and written in too high language for the use of 
 horse owners. Then there is a class of small receipe 
 books that are reall}* good, but they fail to give the 
 requisite knowledge to make application of the receipes. 
 Then there is a class that are written l^y men who have 
 no knowledge about the diseases of horses, and only 
 issue them to make money. No doubt but some sci- 
 entific men, in perusing this book, may condemn it be- 
 cause it is in such plain language, if there are such 
 homely phrases made use of to convey the ideas ; or 
 they ma}' say that it does not contain enough, or that 
 it should have shown more interest on the subject of 
 anatomy. To the first objection I have to say that this 
 work is designed especially for persons that have no 
 
medical education, and if tliey can understand it the 
 educated certainly ought to. To the next objection I 
 have simply to say that I think it contains all that is of 
 use to the owners of horses ; and to the last objection, 
 it would be almost impossible to get most horse own- 
 ers to read on the subject of anatomy, they considering 
 it too dry and of but little use to them. 
 
 In compiling this work the Author has been careful 
 to use such language as may be readily comprehended, 
 and to give instructions that would be of the most use 
 to horse owners. With this conviction he offers it to 
 the public. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
REMARKS AND EXPLAMTIONS. 
 
 Undoubtedly there is no subject in which own- 
 ers of horses are more interested than the diseases 
 of horses, and still there is no subject that is lock- 
 ed up in such ignorance and superstition. Even 
 what are called our best horse men have no knowl- 
 edge about the disease. They are mostly governed 
 in their treatment by what they have learned of 
 that most ignorant class, such as stage drivers and 
 stallion groomers, and because they are wide- 
 mouthed in self-praise of their knowledge in man- 
 aging and doctoring horses, their words are con- 
 sidered by most of horse men as law and gospel. 
 It seems to me that the simple matter of being a 
 horse owner for many years, or having been among 
 horses a long time is a poor recommend for a horse 
 doctor. I think the only recommend that is of 
 any account is the number of scientific works that 
 the person has attentively studied, and the num- 
 ber of subjects that they dissected. I would much 
 rather trust a sick horse in the hands of some good' 
 common-sense person, that had never been associ- 
 ated with these horse men, because his mind would 
 
8 
 
 be iiiitrammeled by these superstitious and bigoted 
 natives. I have always found that those that talk 
 the most and make the greatest pretensions were 
 really the mopt ignorant they attempt to make 
 up in blow and bluster what they lack in knowl- 
 edge. The better way for any person that has 
 sick horses, if they have not confidence in their 
 own ability, pay no attention to what every person 
 that comes along may recommend, for if you do, 
 it will be most sure to result in injury to the pa- 
 tient. It is truly astonishing with what readiness 
 every person will prescribe for a sick horse, if they 
 are not the owner; they arc always willing to have 
 experiments tried on their neighbors' horses but 
 when they get a sick horse they are sure to call for 
 advice, which shows at once that there is a want 
 of confidence in themselves when their own prop- 
 erty is at stake. I have cautioned all horse own- 
 ers to beware of all such and take none of their 
 advice. Do not be led into giving medicine when 
 they tell you that it will do no harm if it does no 
 good, or W'hen they claim that they have cured 
 some horse that was sick in the same way; for per- 
 haps it was sick in the same Avay, but the chances 
 are that it was not, for such persons are not capa- 
 ble of judging whether it was the same disease or 
 not. 
 
 I will now give some plain advice which it will 
 be well for every owner of horses to treasure up. 
 
When you are about to examine a sick horse do 
 not approach the horse, but stand off and notice 
 his appearance, his position and motions and 
 the appearance of the countenance, then ob- 
 tain all that is possible about the history of the case 
 from the person that has had the horse in charge. 
 And here let me caution the practitioner to not 
 take all that they may tell for truth, for oft times 
 they will purposely deceive in order to have it 
 correspond to their own notions or they may de- 
 ceive through their ignorance, but believe only 
 so much as looks reasonable. Be careful about ex- 
 pressing an opinion until you have made a 
 thorough examination and are sure you are right. 
 Do not be governed by what others may say, but 
 make your own examination and rely entirely on 
 your own judgment; form your judgment accord- 
 ing to the symptoms, and when once formed do 
 not alter your opinion unless there is some new 
 symptom discovered. After noting the appearance 
 of the horse, approach him in a gentle and kind 
 manner, and notice the pulse, (the number of times 
 per minute — the natural pulse is about thirty-six 
 per minute), you feel the pulse by placing the fin- 
 gers on the inner edges of the lower jaw-bone un- 
 til you find a small artery about the size of a pipe 
 stem. Not only notice the number of pulsations 
 but the size of the artery, and whether it feels 
 ridged and hard or whether it is full and soft. A 
 
10 
 
 quick pulse denotes excitement or inflamation. A 
 quick and hard or wirey pulse we find in inflama- 
 tion of tiie bowels, and, also, some other diseases. 
 A soft and not too full a pulse is considered a good 
 symptom, as it shows that there is a free circula- 
 tion. A slow but jerking pulse, together with 
 coldness of the limbs, denotes congestion. A little 
 practice in examining the pulse will be of great 
 benefit to the practitioner. After noticing the 
 pulse then look into the nostrils, and the color of 
 nostril tells how the horse feels, as well as the color 
 of a man's face indicates his feelings, then feel the 
 limbs and ears; see whether they are cold or hot; 
 listen to the sound of the lungs, by placing the 
 ear upon the left side of the horse, just back of 
 the forward leg, see if there is any unnatural sound; 
 then place the hand against the bowels and press 
 hard to see if there is any soreness of the bowels, 
 in this way the practitioner may, by being careful, 
 form an opinion what organs are afl^ected, then 
 make up your mind what efifect you want to pro- 
 duce on the patient and what medicine will be 
 most likely to produce that effect, and give the re- 
 quired dose, and be sure and give it time to pro- 
 duce an effect before giving more. It is not 
 expected that the practitioner will always use just 
 exactly the medicine that is recommended in this 
 book, but use something that will produce the 
 same effect, and when you are in doubt go to your 
 
11 
 
 nearest physician and consult him about it, as the- 
 diseases of horses and men are almost exactly alike 
 and want doctoring with the same medicines, us- 
 ing twelve times as much as you would for a man- 
 Be sure you never give medicine until you are sure 
 what is the matter and what efiect you want to 
 produce and then do not give over doses, thinking 
 that if a little is good more is better, for some 
 medicines, when you give over doses, will create- 
 the very disease which you are trying to destroy,. 
 And finally, good common-sense is about all that 
 is required to treat most of cases successfully. 
 
TFIE AMERICAN HORSE DOCTOR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 DISEASES OF THE BRAIN. 
 
 INFLAMMATION CF THE BRAIN. 
 
 The real cause of this disease is unknown, but 
 probalj arises from over exertion or exercising on a 
 full stomach. The symptoms are that the horse 
 will be dull and stupid for a few hours or days, 
 then will become wild and furious, is apparantly 
 crazy, the countenance will have a wild expression, 
 perhaps beat and thump around in a fearful man- 
 ner, perhaps get the breast against a beam or fence 
 and stand and pull with all his strength, or may 
 Tun in a circle. 
 
 The treatment is first, bleed from the neck, 
 from one quart to one gallon, or until the horse 
 seems to be easier, then bind cloths on the head 
 wet with cold water and change them often so as 
 to be sure to keep them cold; give 1 1 pints of 
 linseed oil in a drench or any kind of physic 
 that may be most handy ; repeat the physic every 
 
13 
 
 12 or 15 hours until it operates, and in the mean- 
 time give the following. 1 oz. tincture of lobelia,, 
 i oz. tinct. of opium, every hour until better. 
 This is a fearful disease and usually results in 
 death, and many times in a few hours, but the 
 above treatment is all that can be done. 
 
 BLIND STAGGERS. 
 
 Cause, over feeding and over exertion on a full 
 stomach. 
 
 Symptoms. — The horse is usually taken sud- 
 denly, while driving, with a staggering gait, does 
 not mind the rein, perhaps falls, and while down 
 struggles and keeps the limbs moving as though 
 still traveling. 
 
 Treatment. — Bleed from the neck vein until 
 somewhat better, then give a strong dose of any 
 kind of physic that may be most handy, and give 
 Tincture of Lobelia 1 oz. at a dose every hour 
 until better, then a run at grass for a few weeks 
 if convenient ; if not give the cleansing powders 
 every day for two or three weeks, and it will 
 probably not return again if it is the first attack. 
 But if the horse has had more than one attack 
 there is no chance for a cure, and it may return 
 at almost any time, and without any apparent 
 cause. The attacks becoming more frequent until 
 at some time they result in death. Such a horse 
 is dacgeious to drive and of but little value. 
 There are other diseases of the brain, such a.s 
 
14 
 
 Megins, Appolexj. Vertigo, Concussion of the 
 Erain, Lethargy, &c., &c., which, it is not necessary 
 "to discribe in a work of this size, and it is of no 
 practical benefit to the horse owner ; for in all 
 Brain diseases there is so much similarity to 
 ■what has already been said, and the treatment be- 
 ing about the same and fully laid down, the 
 author does not deem it best to bewilder the horse 
 ■owner with mere technicalities. 
 
 HYDROPHOBIA OR MADNESS, 
 
 This is caused by the bite of some rabid animal 
 •and usually demonstrates itself within six weeks 
 after the bite ; but it is stated by some authors 
 that the poison may remain dormant in the system 
 for a year before it results in apparent injury. 
 
 Symptoms. — This seems to be almost entirely a 
 mervous disease, and first the horse will commence 
 iicking his skin with wonderful energy in dififer- 
 ■ent places, which seems to itch intolerably ; the 
 appetite is always affected; sometimes there will 
 he but little appetite, then again he will eat every- 
 thing before him even to the most filthy, or dry 
 -and hard substances. Sometimes he may drink 
 large quantities of water, then again the sight of 
 water may cause spasms. Then he will have 
 regular spasms, frothing at the mouth and 
 biting at any article that may be in his way. 
 The spasms becoming more frequent, until death 
 •ends the suffering. Whenever there ii 
 
15 
 
 that a horse has been bitten by a rabid animal or 
 shows symptoms of madness he should be put into 
 a strong stable by himself, and as few people al- 
 lowed to go near him as possible until the case is 
 clearly made out, and if it is a case of hydropho- 
 bia the humane man would cause the horse to be 
 shot or put to death immediately, in some way, so 
 as to end his misery, as there is no possible chance 
 for him to recover. 
 
 TETANUS, OR LOCK-JAW 
 
 Is caused, usually, by some injury, such as a 
 prick from a nail, or knife, or any sharp instru- 
 ment penetrating or injuring some nerve, or it 
 may be caused by being out in a cold storm or a 
 sudden draught of air, and many other causes that 
 will effect the nervous system. 
 
 Symptoms. — The tail is elevated, the ears point- 
 ed forward, the head raised, the legs stiffened 
 and stretched out, and the jaws tightly locked; 
 the membrane in the inner corners of the eye is 
 drawn backward so as to partly cover the sight of 
 the eye ; which shows clearly that it is a case of 
 lock-jaw. 
 
 Treatment. — Place the animal in a solitary sta- 
 ble and allow no person to go near him but the 
 one that he is most acquainted with, first having 
 given him a large dose of physio, place a bucket 
 of water and some food within reach, and leave 
 
16 
 
 him alone, only going often enough to change the 
 food and water, and if the disease lasts so long 
 that there is dan^^er of the horse starving, life 
 may be sustained by introducing a tube of gutta 
 percha or some soft substance into the nostril and 
 inject with a syringe through the tube a sufficient 
 quantity of corn meal gruel to sustain life. 
 
 This disease scarcely ever lasts more than four 
 or five days, and everything depends on keeping 
 the horse entirely quiet, free from even the small- 
 est cause of excitement, and getting the bowels 
 open and keeping them loose. It would also be 
 of service if you could get some Tincture of Lobelia 
 down him in some way. Say 1 oz. every hour in 
 -^ pint of water. 
 
 PARALYSIS, PARTIAL OK COMPLETE. 
 
 This is a difiiculty of the spinal nerve, caused 
 by a strain, taking cold, or some undue exer- 
 cise or exertion, and may come on very sudden, 
 and is often times mistaken for a difiiculty of the 
 kidney, or strain across the loin. It is tn be re- 
 membered that all motion is controlled by the 
 nerves, which originate in the brain, and pass 
 out through the first bone of the neck, (except 
 the cptic nerve of the eye,) and along the 
 back, branching out in Jifi'erent directions to 
 every part of the system. Consequently, when 
 there is an injury to this spinal nerve, all of the 
 
17 
 
 system back of the iDJury is paralysed just in 
 proportion to the amount of injury. Complete 
 paralysis is when the nerve is so badly injured 
 that the animal looses the entire use of the part 
 which lays back or beyond it. Partial paralysis 
 is when the injury is so slight as not to loose all 
 motion. In some cases it will only affect one 
 limb or one side, or only the hinder parts, or 
 nearly the whole system may be affected. When 
 it is the hind part that is affected, most persons 
 think that it is a strain across the loin and conse- 
 quently will subject the horse to much suffering 
 by applying blisters or stimulating medicines to 
 the loins. This kind of treatment is entirely 
 useless in paralysis and, I think, injurious. If it 
 is possible to determine the exact location of the 
 injury it is best to apply some cooling application, 
 like salt and water, or something to subdue in- 
 flammation, keep the bowels loose by giTing bran 
 mashes, and, if necessary, some mild physic, like 
 linseed oil, say 1 pint at a dose, just to keep the 
 bowels open ; then give strychnine, half grain at 
 a dose, twice per day, made into a pill by mixing 
 flour with it and increase it gradually, so that in 
 six weeks to have it so worked up to one grain 
 and a half at a dose and leave the rest to nature. 
 This is a lingering complaint and when they get 
 well, it takes many months, for there is little that 
 can be done with medicine. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE EYE. 
 
 Most of the writers on the Horse have divided 
 the Diseases of the Eye into a number of different 
 classes. That is all well enough for the scien- 
 tific practitioner, but in this country where we 
 have no Veterinary Schools, or at least none that 
 have acquired any reputation, we have so very 
 few really scientific practitioners, that most of the 
 horse owners have, of necessity, to be their own 
 horse doctors, and as this book is designed for the 
 horse owners instead of Veterinary Surgeons, it 
 would be the greatest of folly for me to give a 
 detailed description of all the different diseases 
 when the treatment is the same in all. It matters 
 not what disease it is that ails the eye, the princi- 
 ple is to reduce inflammation and to strengthen the 
 eye. This, in slight cases, may usually be done 
 by the application of cold water, which should be 
 applied by bathing the eye at least every half 
 hour during the day time, each day, until the 
 inflammation has entirely subsided. Then bathe it 
 three or four times per day for two or three weeks 
 until it has had time to gain strength. If this 
 
19 
 
 should fail, use the following wash : 2 grains of 
 sugar of lead, 1 grain sulphate of zinc, 1 dramtinct. 
 of opium, 1 dram tinct. of arnica, 2 oz. soft water. 
 This should be applied three times per day by put- 
 ting a twitch on the nose, then put the nose or mouth 
 of the phial into the eye, being careful that the phial 
 is perfectly smooth, and tip it up, letting the medi- 
 cine run in. The eye will clear up in three or 
 four days and look much better ; then reduce the 
 medicine by adding water, and continue to use it 
 for two or three weeks after it looks entirely well, 
 so as to gain strength. If the disease still proves 
 stubborn, give the cleansing powder for two weeks, 
 put a rowel into the cheek below the eye and 
 continue the wash. If this all fail there is but 
 little chance for a cure. Do not use any of those 
 harsh and cruel medicines which are so frequently 
 used, for the horse's eye is as tender as your own. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE MOUTH. 
 
 LAMPERS 
 
 Is supposed by most liorse owners to be a very- 
 troublesome complaint among young horses, and 
 ignorance has caused much cruelty to be practised 
 on that noble animal for a purely imaginary com- 
 plaint. I have been practising for near fourteen 
 years and have never seen a case of lampers. It 
 is natural for the gums of the upper portion ol the 
 mouth in all young horses to protrude or drop 
 below the teeth, some more than others, and they 
 do no harm. If the horse should have the lam- 
 pers, the gums would be as red as scarlet with 
 inflammation, and then I think that burning, 
 which is so much in practice, would be a very bar- 
 barous way to reduce inflammation. In most cases 
 when horses are supposed to have the lampers the 
 difficulty is in the back part of the mouth, for the 
 colt at three years old cuts eight grinders, or 
 molar teeth, and the same at four years old. 
 With some young horses they are very sore, and, 
 consequently, it is difficult for the horse to feed, 
 but let it alone and it will all come right, but if 
 
21 
 
 iguorance or superstition still prompts you to do 
 somethinof for an imaginary complaint, I think a 
 little scarifying, or cutting the gums, should sat- 
 isfy you, and the less the better. 
 
 I might here say that a horse scratching the 
 tail against the side of the barn or stall has nothing 
 to do with the mouth, but take a little saleratus 
 water and wash the tail two or three times and 
 it will end the difficulty. 
 
 CANKER, OR SORE MOUTH. 
 
 These are small ulcers or canker sores forming 
 on the mouth and tongue, with inflammation and 
 sometimes swelled lips. Others make several dif- 
 ferent diseases of sore mouth, but I shall include 
 it all in one, so as not to confuse the owner. Wash 
 the mouth two or three times a day with the fol- 
 lowing wash : Borax 5 oz., sage tea 1 gallon, honey 
 or molasses 1 quart. After it has cooled hold the 
 horse's head up and pour half a pint into the 
 mouth ; after a moment let the head down and 
 allow the wash to run out. Keep the bowels open 
 by soft food, and do not permit the horse to be 
 worked until the disease has entirely disappeared. 
 If it proves stubborn, give the cleansing powders 
 for a week or more, to cleanse the blood. In all 
 cases of injury to the tongue or lips by the bit or 
 other means, treat the same as any other injury, 
 as will be explained in the proper place. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE NOSTRILS. 
 
 NASAL GLEET, 
 
 Is a discharge from tlie nostrils ; sometimes 
 only one nostril, but more commonly both are 
 affected. The discharge will vary in color and 
 quantity, sometimes being nearly white, at other 
 times being yellow or even a dark brown. It 
 usually has no bad smell, but in bad cases the dis- 
 charge has a very bad smell. It does not seem to 
 affect the general health of the horse but if bad, 
 he will run down and loose flesh unless well cared 
 for. This disease is not contagious and I do not 
 think there is any danger of its terminating in 
 glanders, it is caused by exposure or the result of 
 distemper, or it may result from a blow or injury 
 to the head. 
 
 Treaiment. — Let the horse have rest; take of 
 allum I lb., resin h. lb., blue vitrol ^ lb , ginger 
 2 lb. Mix all well together, and give a table 
 spoonful twice per day, being careful to keep the 
 bowels loose by giving bran mashes, or green 
 feed. It will take some time to complete a cure, 
 
23 
 
 but do not get discouraged but continue the medi- 
 cine. 
 
 NASAL POLYPUS, 
 
 Is a pendulous sack wbicb forms in the nostril 
 and only attached to the membrane lining of the 
 nose at the upper end, and hanging down in the 
 nostril and becomes so large as to obstruct the 
 breathing, for it is to be remembered that a horse 
 cannot breathe through the mouth. The only 
 cure is to take a zinc wire and bend it in such a 
 shape as to work it up above the sack to the neck 
 or small part, and draw it tight around it and leave 
 it, and it will slough off in a few days. There is an 
 instrument made in somewhat the form of a crook- 
 ed pair of shears that is used to separate the sack 
 from the membrane, but it is difficult to obtain 
 them, so the best means usually at hand is to use 
 the wire. Often times it will grow in again; if so 
 remove it in the same way. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE THROAT. 
 
 SORE THROAT. 
 
 This disease seems to be contagious for when it 
 once gets into a stable most of the horses in the 
 stable are apt to have it, and through the neigh- 
 borhood. The first perhaps that would be noticed 
 is a dry hacking cough, and within a few days a 
 difficulty of swallowing, which will continue to get 
 worse and worse, until it is with the greatest of 
 difficulty that the horse can swallow water, and 
 within a few days there will be a copious dis- 
 charge of matter from the nostrils, and perhaps 
 the mouth, and in a few days the horse will re- 
 cover. There is usually no swelling on the out- 
 side of the throat, but in a few cases I have seen, 
 the glands swell similar to distemper, but there 
 will be much more soreness on the inside of the 
 throat; the horse will seem to be much weaker, and 
 experience greater difficulty of swallowing than 
 with distemper. 
 
 Treatment. — When the horse is taken sick put 
 him in some place where he can have plenty of 
 pure air to breathe, give only soft moist food or 
 
25 
 
 gruel to drink. Give no Medicine unless there 
 is great difficulty of breathing, if there is put a 
 poultice of common brown sugar and bar soap, 
 equal parts moistened with water on to the throat 
 by means of a bandage about six inches wide, long 
 enough to come under the throat and over the 
 head to tie ; tear into each end in three places, 
 so as to make four tails to it ; bring it up over 
 the head, and tie two of these tails together in. 
 front of the ears and two back of the ears, and it 
 will then keep its place and hold the poultice. 
 Leave this on, keeping it moist, until the discharge 
 is running freely from the nose, and if there is 
 great difficulty of breathing it is a good plan to 
 build a small fire and put a little tar or old 
 leather on it ; then put a blanket over the horse's 
 head, and hold his nose over the smoke, making 
 him breathe as much of it as possible without 
 strangling, and continue this for several hours, or 
 until the horse breathes more free, or the dis- 
 charge is free from the nostril. In most cases of this 
 kind of sore throat, it is not necessary to use any 
 medicine. They get along without anything. The 
 danger seems to be of the inflammation in the 
 throat becoming so great as to close the air pas- 
 sage. Consequently all that is needed to be done 
 is to get the discharge from the nostrils started, 
 and the inflammation will soon subside. They are 
 usually sick a week or two, and are apt to have a 
 
26 
 
 coiigh for sometime afterward. If they do not 
 seem to thrive after recovery, or the cough is bad, 
 or ulcers break out afterwards in any part cf the 
 body, it is because the blood needs cleansing, con- 
 sequently give the cleansing powders for a w^eek 
 or two. 
 
 COUGH. 
 
 This may be caused by an irritation of the lungs- 
 or membrane lining of the Vvund pipe, or an irrita- 
 tion of the upper portion of the wind pipe, what 
 is called the larynx, which gives it the name of 
 Laryngitus, and it may originate from a difficulty 
 of the Bronchial tubes. It is very difficult for an 
 inexperienced person to determine the exact loca- 
 tion of the difficulty that causes the cough, so I 
 think the best way would be to treat it on gener- 
 al principles. Take a tea- spoonful of powdered 
 lobelia and mix it with a handful of salt, and 
 throw it into the feed box every day, and the- 
 horse v/ill lick it up; and if this does not do, give 
 the cleansing powder so as to regulate the whole- 
 system, and give the following twice a day on the 
 food : from ten to twenty drops Oil of Tar, Bal- 
 sam of Copaiba, Tincture of Capsicum, and Tur- 
 pentine, equal parts. 
 
 CHOKING. 
 
 When there is any foreign substance lodges in^ 
 the Esophagus or what is commonlv called the- 
 
27 
 
 gullet, there is no danger of it causing immediate 
 death. In some cases it may be detected by feel- 
 ing with the hand on the outside ; if so, it can 
 generally be worked in a downward direction with 
 the hands, but if you can't find it with the hand 
 or cannot remove it, get a smooth round stick like 
 a whip stalk that w^ll bend, and make a wad of 
 tow or cloth on the end, and tip the head up, and 
 introduce the stick down the throat ; and by gen- 
 tle pressure force the substance down into the 
 stomach. I have known horses to be choked on 
 oats and to have the choke continue for six or 
 seven days, and finally get vrell without any as- 
 sistance. 
 
CHAPITER VI. 
 
 DISEASE OF THE CHEST. 
 
 LUNG FEVEll. 
 
 With, most of authors on horse diseases they 
 •give a lengthy description of the different dis- 
 •eases of the chest, such as congestion in the 
 field, congestion in the stable, Bronchitis or in- 
 fiammation of the air passages, Plurisy and Pluri 
 Pneumonia, all of which is either congestion or in- 
 flammation of some of the different organs of the 
 ■chest, and the treatment being the same with each 
 ■of the organs, I do not deem it best to bewilder 
 the horse owner by these nice destinctions, which 
 is all right for the scientific practitioners, but 
 would be likely only to lead the inexperienced in- 
 to error. I shall proceed to describe the symp- 
 toms (as they are nearly the same with each of 
 the foregoing diseases,) and the treatment which 
 :has universally proved successful with me. 
 
 Symptoms. — These diseases usually commence 
 by a chill or shivering fit, and the horse will stand 
 back at the end of the halter, head down and 
 breathing hard, legs rather braced out as though 
 .afraid of falling ; will make no motion more than 
 
29 
 
 to occasionally turn his head slowly around to his 
 side, his legs will be cold, his ears cold and nose 
 cold, the membrane of the nostril will have a very 
 pale and sickly appearance. This is the conges- 
 ted stage ; congestion of some of the organs of 
 the chest. Now the object would be to cause the 
 system to react, for the blood vessels of the conges- 
 ted organ are over-charged with blood, while there 
 is not enough blood in the extremities or limbs, 
 which causes the coldness. Now our object should 
 be to equalize the blood to get it to circulate all 
 through the system as near alike as possible. 
 This we do by rubbing the parts that are cold so 
 as to draw the blood to them and relieve the con- 
 gested organ or organs where there is too much 
 blood. The horse should be well covered with 
 blankets and his legs thoroughly rubbed with the 
 naked hands or hay wisps by at least two persons 
 at a time, or washed with hot red pepper tea or 
 even warm water as warm as the hands will bear, 
 and continue to rub and apply warm applications 
 to the limbs until they get warm and the chill has 
 passed off. I have attented many cases where 
 this treatment alone actively applied has thrown 
 the disease off entirely. Bat if the congestion is 
 not relieved soon inflammation will follow. If in- 
 flammation sets in you can readily tell by the ap- 
 pearance of the skin or membrane jining of the 
 nose assuming a red or fi^carlet appearance, the 
 
30 
 
 legs will be hot, breath hot, tongue parched and 
 dry, the pulse being full and quick, (the natural 
 pulse is about thirty-six pulsations a minute.) If 
 you cannot readily find the pulse, note the beating 
 of the heart (which would be the same) place your 
 ear down on the horses right side, just back of 
 the forward leg, and listen carefully and you will 
 discover an unnatural grating or harsh sound of 
 the lungs, which you would readily detect by com- 
 paring with a well horse, and then the great 
 symptom is that with any of these diseases the 
 horse never lies down until death occurs or the 
 disease has left him. The trouble now is that the 
 whole system has become contracted, or at least 
 the blood vessels which cause the quick, hard 
 beating of the heart in its effort to force the 
 blood through the vessels, and forcing the blood 
 through the contracted vessels produces friction, 
 which causes the unnatural beat. 
 
 Now our object should be to relax the whole 
 system so as to enlarge the blood vessels and 
 stop the friction, and so lessen the fever. This 
 we do by giving repeated doses of anything that 
 will make the horse sick at the stomach ; I gen- 
 erally use tincture of lobelia, giving it in 1 ounce 
 doses, mixing with water, every hour, until I 
 have got the pulse or the beating of the heart 
 down to at least fifty per minute ; then give the 
 doses as would be necessary fo keep it down, and 
 
31 
 
 as long as you can control the action of the heart, 
 the patient is doing well enough, and will recover. 
 In bad cases, it is well to blister the chest, and 
 back of each of the forward legs, by rubbing in 
 the following prescription: 2 oz. turpentine, 2 
 oz. tincture of Spanish fly, 2 oz. aqua amonia, 1 
 oz. oil organum. Mix all together, and rub in 
 with the hand every hour until it blisters. If it 
 is not convpijient to get tincture of lobelia, go to 
 your nearest physician and get of him the same 
 kind of medicine that he would give to the hu- 
 man subject, using from eight to twelve times the 
 quantity and use it the same, and treat the dis- 
 ease as near as though it was a man as possible. 
 But be very careful and not give any powerful 
 physic, for with the horse, there is that sympathy 
 existing between the chest and bowels, that to 
 give physic with any of these diseases of the 
 chest would most likely bring on inflammation of 
 the bowels, which would be most certain to result 
 in death. This is a disease that sometimes will 
 result in death in seventeen hours, but more fre- 
 quently lasts for several days, and even weeks ; 
 and when they recover, it is usually slow. I 
 used to follow the old fashioned treatment of 
 bleeding and blistering for this disease, and used 
 to lose many patients ; but since I have adopted 
 the above treatment I have never lost a patient 
 where I have had the management from the com- 
 
32 
 
 mencement. I neglected to notice that the bow- 
 els should be moved two or three times per day 
 by giving injections up the rectum with a 
 large syringe, of soapy warm water. Inject a 
 quart at a time, and repeat every half hour until 
 there is a passage. It is best for the horse own- 
 er to bear in mind that whenever a horse has a 
 chill, there is great danger of lung fever, and 
 consequently it needs immediate and constant at- 
 tention. Do not give any whiskey and pepper or 
 any of those stimulating medicines that are often 
 prescribed by the ignorant, for in many cases, the 
 stimulating medicines bring on inflammation when 
 otherwise it might pass off without further diffi- 
 culty ; and after inflammation has once set in, all 
 that is needed is to control the action of the 
 heart. Do not pay any attention to what others 
 may say who are so free to give advice without 
 fee or reward. Remember that advice about dis- 
 eases in men or horses, that is good, comes only 
 from these that obtained their knowledge by hard 
 study, and they value it too highly to voluntarily 
 give it away. 
 
 DROPSY OF THE CHEST. 
 
 This is usually the result of pleurisy or lung fe- 
 ver, or of bad treatment in either disease. This 
 is easily detected by the sound of the lungs. 
 Place the ear low down on the side and you will 
 
33 
 
 hear no sound ; but back and High up you may 
 hear the lungs, which will have a dull, heavy 
 sound. Keep your ear against the horse while 
 some one slaps the horse with the flat of the hand 
 on the opposite side, and you will hear the sound 
 of the water. There is but very little prospect of 
 a cure. The only chance would be to tap the 
 chest, and you would have to employ a Veteri- 
 nary Surgeon, in order to get the proper instru- 
 ments to do with, and the chances of a cure 
 would be so slim that it would not pay to be to 
 so much trouble about it. 
 
 HEART DISEASE. 
 
 This is not an uncommon disease among hor- 
 ses, and it is very difficult, even for a practical 
 Veterinary Surgeon to detect heart disease on the 
 living subject, and if we could, it would be a 
 matter of small importance, for there is no cure, 
 and is certain to result in death, and that very 
 sudden. The horse may appear well and even 
 lively, and the next instant fall dead. Many ca- 
 ses where horses have died suddenly with this 
 disease, after a post mortem examination by inex- 
 perienced persons, they have pronounced it Botts. 
 The scientific man could have readily told that it 
 was heart disease. 
 
CHAPTEI^ VII. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE STOMACH. 
 
 ACUTE INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. 
 
 This disease is usually caused by some poison- 
 ous drug which has been given to the horse, and 
 the symptoms depend almost entirely upon the 
 kind of poison that has been given ; and if it is 
 not certainly known that poison has been given 
 yo.u had better treat it as a case of cholic, for the 
 symptoms will be nearly the same, and so with 
 the treatment. But if it is known that poison 
 has been given, then you give a pint of any kind 
 of soft oil that might be at hand, and if not re- 
 relieved in twenty minutes, give the following : 
 I2 oz. tincture of opium, 1|- oz. sulphuric ether, 
 I2 oz. tincture of camphor, i oz. saleratus. Mix 
 with one pint of water, and if not better in i 
 hour, repeat. 
 
 CHHONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. 
 
 This disease is brought on by some derange- 
 ment of the stomach. Bad food, standing in 
 filthly stables are very common causes, and are 
 
35 
 
 most Gommon at the age of five or six years. 
 The symptoms vary with different subjects. 
 There is always a deranged appetite. Perhaps 
 the animal will not taste food at all, or may eat 
 everything before him, or may refuse good clean 
 food, and still eat the most filthy ; may gnaw old 
 pieces of bricks, mortar, or clay ground, with 
 seeming good appetite ; may have a sudden at- 
 tack of scours, and as suddenly stop altogether 
 and be troubled with costiveness. The dung will 
 be dry and hard and easily crumbled when 
 pressed upon. A dry cough may be present. 
 The membranes of the nose and mouth have a 
 pale appearance, the mouth is cold, and they 
 soon lose flesh and become mere skeletons. I 
 should commence the treatment by giving i oz. 
 of saleratus dissolved in water, and repeat this 
 once in every three or four days, and in the 
 mean time, give the following powders : Pulver- 
 ized blood root, 2 oz., gentian pulverized, 2 oz., 
 ginger 4 oz. , calomel h oz. Mix all together and 
 give a table spoonful twice a day in the feed, 
 being careful to keep the bowels open by giving 
 green or soft food, and if necessary, give a dose 
 of linseed oil, one pint at a time. If the bowels 
 are too loose, give the following : 1 oz. tincture of 
 opium, 1 oz. tincture of camphor, 1 oz. tincture 
 of capsicum, 1 oz. tincture rhubarb. Mix all 
 together, and give T)ne half in i pint of water. 
 
36 
 
 If not better in one hour, give the balance, and 
 so continue the medicine as the symptoms may 
 indicate. 
 
 CKIB BITING OR WIND SUCKING 
 
 Is by some considered as a disease, and by others 
 a habit. Some contend that the habit is caused 
 by a sourness of the stomach ; some contend that 
 it is a habit learned by standing beside a cribber, 
 or idleness, while others claim that it is learned 
 while cutting teeth, the itching sensation of the 
 gums causing the horse to bite on the manger, 
 and learns the habit of cribbing. It is my opin- 
 ion that all of these causes may produce the dif- 
 ficulty or habit, but I believe that all have failed 
 to find a cure. I think the best way to manage 
 a cribber, is to keep him in a smooth stall, without 
 manger, and suspend a basket by a rope to feed 
 him, there being nothing to get his teeth on to he 
 could not crib. Then when you take him out, 
 have the throat strap of the bridle paade of thick 
 leather and put some brads through it, so that 
 when he attempts to crib, the glands of the neck 
 fulls or swells out, and would fill the strap and 
 cause the brads to stick him and cause him to let 
 
 go- 
 
 BOTS. 
 
 Bots are a small grub or worm about three- 
 fourths of ah inch long, of a brownish cast and 
 
37 
 
 rough skin, that are attached or stuck into the 
 inner or cuticules coating of the stomach of most 
 horses that are kept in the country, but in large 
 cities we frequently find horses without any Bots 
 in the stomach, which shows that they are not 
 necessary to the existence of the horse. They 
 are also frequently found in the stomach of cows, 
 oxen, sheep and dogs, and even in some cases in 
 the human subject. They are said to originate 
 from the eggs or larvae of the gad-fly that we so 
 frequently see so busy in depositing their eggs on 
 the hairs of the legs, shoulders and about the 
 head. These eggs, by some means, probably by 
 the horse licking the part and the hair adhering 
 to the tongue, and by that means get into the 
 stomach and then form the bot and remain at- 
 tached or stuck into the walls of the stomach un- 
 til the following spring, when having got their 
 growth, let go and pass off through the alimentary 
 canal, and after a short time are changed from a 
 bot to a fly, when the female becomes pregnant 
 and lays the eggs as before. It has never been 
 determined why these bots are in the stomach, as 
 they do no good, and it is my opinion, and I be- 
 lieve that it is the opinion of all Veterinary Sur- 
 geons of the present day they do no inj ury, or at 
 least never cause sudden sickness or death. I am 
 well aware that I shall meet with strong opposi- 
 tion on this point by ignorant men, or men who 
 
38 
 
 have failed to reason on this subject. In writing 
 these pages I do not intend to pamper to the pre- 
 judices or superstitions that have been handed 
 down from generation to generation, since the 
 days of witchcraft to the present, but to give to 
 the public the benefit of my experince and reas- 
 onings, and more especially on the subject of bots, 
 thereby washing my hands of, and being no longer 
 accessory to the murders thai are so frequently 
 committed on that most noble of all animals the 
 Horse. In the manner of bots, only to think of 
 the mal-practice, ignorance and superstition that 
 have been covered up by that wonderful and en- 
 tirely imaginary disease called Bots. 
 
 I will now give some of the reasons why I 
 think bots never cause sickness or death of horses. 
 First, that they do not choke a horse to death, 
 because they cannot get into the wind pipe, and 
 to clog the esophagus or gullet would not stop the 
 breathing or effect any of the vital organs that 
 would result in death until inflammation should set 
 in and extend to the vitals, which would take 
 several days. That they do not eat or knaw the 
 stomach, because the mouth of the bot is so 
 formed that it would be impossible, and while 
 the stomach is in a healthy condition the little 
 animal is too comfortably situated to attempt to 
 destroy its own habitation, and when the stomach 
 becomes diseased so that it becomes disagreeable 
 
89 
 
 it would hardly be supposed that it would fall to 
 work and eat large quantities of that which it 
 was trying to escape from, and if they should eat 
 the stomach so as to cause death there certainly 
 would be marks of violence, such as would be 
 plain for any man to see of blood spilled and la- 
 cerated internal organs, until following the march 
 of these infuriated insects they had passed through 
 the strong and thick walk of the stomach and to 
 attack upon the diaphragm or midrif, that strong 
 wall which nature has placed to guard the en- 
 trance to the vitals by way of the stomach, and 
 have destroyed this wall, and have seized upon 
 the vitals of their victim, and have wounded or 
 pierced the heart or lungs, and have finally ac- 
 complished their murderous designs. This may 
 look like an overdrawn picture, but stop and rea- 
 son. Is it not all true that for bots to cause 
 death they must effect some of the vital organs, 
 and the only way they could accomplish this 
 would be by a direct attack, or by producing in- 
 flammation of the stomach that would extend into- 
 the vitals, which would take from four to twelve 
 days to accomplish after the attack upon the 
 stomach. But you must remember that there 
 never was a case where bots was through the- 
 stomach and the stomach was inflamed. Now 
 unless you find that there has been a direct attack 
 upon the vitals or that the injury to the stomach 
 
40 
 
 has produced inflammation, and that extended to 
 the vitals to cause death. You have no evidence 
 that bots kill horses. Suppose that bots should 
 penetrate the stomach, every sane man must know 
 that would not produce death without inflamma- 
 tion any more than the same injury would to the 
 skin of the horse. A man would live with a hole 
 shot through the stomach from four to twelve days, 
 and in many cases have got well. Then why is 
 it that the injury of a few bots to a horse's stom- 
 ach should cause almost instant death ; and why 
 is it that bots only practice their murderous de- 
 signs on the horse when they are found so fre- 
 quently in the stomach of other animals; and why 
 is it that if sage tea, milk and molasses, or any 
 other of the humbug remedies for this imaginary 
 disease, will cause the bots to quit their murder- 
 ous designs, and to heal the stomach of the injury 
 that has already been done, and prevent inflamma- 
 tion from following the injury in so short a space 
 of time, as we are told that it will. Why would 
 it not heal a bullet wound, or a wound produced 
 by other means, in the same length of time ? The 
 reason why men have run into these errors is be- 
 cause they have believed that the same appear- 
 ance which they find in a dead subject would 
 appear in the live one. They do not stop to con- 
 sider that the gastric fluid in a horse's stomach 
 might destroy the strength of the stomach with- 
 
41 
 
 out altering the appearance in twenty minutes 
 after death, so that there is but little to hinder 
 the hot from working through ; even a slight mo- 
 tion to work a hole through ; and that when they 
 find them in either the upper or lower passages, 
 congregated in quantities, or through the stomach, 
 that they are merely attempting to save their own 
 lives by escaping from the dead carcas, where it is 
 certain death to remain. Now I hope that the 
 horse owner, after perusing the foregoing, will no 
 longer torture the sick horse by giving these great 
 bot remedies, or subject themselves to the loss of 
 their valuable property by doctoring for an imag- 
 inary disease, while the horse is dying with some- 
 thing else. It is usually colic or inflammation of 
 the bowels that ails horses that are supposed to 
 have the bots. See article on Colic. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE BOWELS. 
 SPASMODIC COLIC, i^RET OR GRIPES. 
 
 This is a very common complaint and has prob- 
 ably destroyed more horses than all other diseases- 
 together, and still it is a disease that is most easily 
 managed. I never knew a case where a horse 
 died with colic when the 23erson that doctored 
 him knew what ailed him, and doctored him for 
 colic. But men are so apt to go to doctoring for 
 that imaginary disease bots, or to mistake the 
 disease in some way, that it has resulted in the 
 death of thousands of valuable horses. 
 
 Spasmodic colic is caused by a change of food, 
 over driving, large draughts of cold water, stand- 
 ing in a draught of cold air, and in some horses 
 the digestive organs are so impaired that they are 
 very subject to it. The pain is caused by a griping 
 or pinching together of the outer coating of the 
 intestines. Some call it cramp colic, and it is in 
 reality cramping of this coating of the intestines 
 which pinches the intestines together and causes 
 that extreme pain ; then it will relax, let go and 
 
43 
 
 the horse will be partially easy for a short time, 
 when, perhaps, the spasmodic action will seize 
 some other part of the gut, and so continue on, 
 dodging about from place to place. After death 
 the places where these spasms had seized the gut, 
 may be easily recognized by the light or pale 
 appearance, and being darker each side. Some 
 owners of horses suppose that they never have the 
 colic unless they bloat or swell. We often see 
 men having colic and no bloating, and why not a 
 horse? In fact there is probably twenty cases 
 of colic where the horse does not swell to one 
 where he does. 
 
 The symptoms are perhaps a sudden catching 
 up of the hind leg, or pawing with the forward 
 foot, switching the tail, looking around toward 
 the side, biting at the side, turning up the upper 
 lip, hump up and lie partly down, perhaps lie 
 clear down, paw, kick and thrash about, perhaps 
 lie down and roll over on the back, and show by 
 all means that they are suffering pain in the bow- 
 els. If the horse is discovered when first attacked, 
 perhaps a handful or two of salt thrown into the 
 mouth and a little gentle exercise will relieve 
 him, but if not better in ten minutes give the fol- 
 lowing : 1 oz. tincture of opium, 1 oz. sulphuric 
 ether, 1 oz. tincture of camphor, half a pint of 
 water. If not better in thirty minutes repeat, 
 and in bad cases this may be ^increased, even. 
 
44 
 
 doubled with safety, and continue to repeat every 
 thirty minutes until relieved. I never failed in 
 curing a case of colic with the above, alone, where 
 there was enough life left in the patient for the 
 medicine to have time to take effect. I have 
 given this recipe to some men living who would 
 not do without it for hundreds of dollars. Every 
 owner of horses should prepare some of this, cork 
 it up tight and keep it on hand, as colic is so com- 
 mon and the cure so sure and easy. 
 
 WINDY COLIC. 
 
 This is caused by a sourness, or fermentation of 
 the food in the stomach, which generates gas that 
 bloats or swells the horse and causes intolerable 
 pain. Death is caused by the gas rupturing the 
 stomach or some of the intestines and escaping 
 into the cavity of the body and pressing against 
 the midrif, or diaphragm, with such force that the 
 iungs can not be expanded, and consequently ends 
 in suffocation ; or the stomach may be distended 
 by the gas without rupture so as to produce suf- 
 focation or smothering. This disease is usually 
 very rapid in its course, and there is no time to 
 be lost in applying remedies, after you are sure 
 what ails them. The symptoms are about the 
 ■same that they are in spasmodic colic, with the 
 ■addition of the bloating. Give the following : 
 Tincture of opium 1| oz., saleratus IJ oz., tinct. of 
 
45 
 
 camphor H oz., sulphuric ether IJ oz. Mix all 
 together, add one pint water. Repeat every half 
 hour until better, and in the mean time it is well 
 to give one or two injections of soapy water, add- 
 ing a hand full of salt or a little red pepper tea, 
 or something to stimulate the rectum, so as to aid 
 the escape of gas. In bad cases it is best to intro- 
 duce the hand into the rectum and remove the 
 hard dung so as to open the passage. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. 
 
 This is produced by many different causes, such 
 as severe attacks of colic, acid in the stomach and 
 bowels, foreign substances, cold and sour grass, 
 over exertion, change of food, foul air, genera- 
 ting from filthy stables, &c. The attack may be 
 apparently sudden, or it may be slow in its ap- 
 proach ; or it may commence by scouring ; or 
 there may be constipation of the bowels. The 
 disease is usually ushered in by repeated shiver- 
 ing fits, and then attacks of colic ; and if not 
 careful, it will be mistaken for colic, for they will 
 go through the same motions that they do 
 with colic, but the pain is usually more steady 
 than it is with colic. The horse is very much 
 tucked up in the flank, breathes short and quick. 
 By pressing against the bowels with the hand, he 
 will flinch, showing soreness ; the pulse will be 
 quick, small and wiry, the color of the nostrils 
 
46 
 
 will be almost a scarlet red, the tongue scarlet 
 red, the edges a purpleish color in the center ; 
 but the symptoms are always so obscure and 
 mixed, the derangement being so general, that it 
 is oft times difficult to determine ; but there is one 
 test that will make it perfectly plain. Introduce 
 the hand into the rectum and remove the hard 
 dung, which will usually be covered with streaks 
 of slime. Then again introduce the hand as far 
 as possible, and let it rest for a moment, and you 
 can readily tell whether it is the heat of inflam- 
 mation or the natural warmth of the body. 
 Treatment. — Take J oz. of calomel, and mix 
 enough of flour with it to make into four pills ; 
 give one every two hours, and in two hours after 
 giving the last one, give one pint of linseed oil 
 and repeat the oil every eight or ten hours, until 
 it operates, and in the mean time, give the follow- 
 ing : 2 oz. tincture opium, ? oz. tincture of cam- 
 phor, i oz. tincture of rhubarb, J pint water. 
 Give every half hour until the pain is relieved, 
 then, afterwards, whenever the horse is in pain, 
 until the physic operates. If the physic ope- 
 rates too much, add ^ oz. tincture of capsicum, 
 and continue to give every half hour until 
 ohecked. This disease is sometimes very rapid in 
 its eff'ect, producing death in eight hours, and at 
 other times lingering for weeks, and finally assu- 
 ming a chronic form. You should be very care- 
 
47 
 
 £ul about the food. Green grass is best if it can 
 be obtained; if not, scalded oats, porridge or gruel, 
 but do not give them any bran mash, as it acts in 
 this case almost like poison. If the disease as- 
 sumes a chronic form, or the horse does not do 
 well afterwards, give the cleansing powders for a 
 week or two, so as to regulate the whole system. 
 
 ACUTE DYSINTERY. 
 
 This is caused by some accursed substance being 
 taken into the stomach, either as medicine or by 
 accident, and is usually first discovered by fre- 
 quent watery discharges from the bowels, attend- 
 ed by some pain and griping, and after a time by 
 great thirst. Give the following : 1 oz. tiocture 
 of opium, I oz. tincture of camphor, 1 oz. tinc- 
 ture of rhubarb, i oz. saleratus, 1 pint of water, 
 and give one-half the above dose every half hour 
 until the discharge is checked. Let the horse 
 drink freely of linseed tea or slippery elm tea, or 
 a weak solution of gumarabic. Be very careful 
 about the food. Allow them only cooked food, 
 and the above teas for a week and gradually bring 
 them back to dry food by giving small quantities 
 at a time. 
 
 CHRONIC DYSINTERY 
 
 Is most frequent with very old animals that are 
 poorly kept. It commences by a looseness of the 
 
48 
 
 bowels, which should be early attended to. The 
 food should be immediately changed, and only 
 the most nourishing and sound kind allowed, and 
 give the cleansing powders. But if the disease 
 continues, give the following: 1| oz. tincture of 
 opium, ^ oz. tincture capsicum, J oz. tincture 
 camphor, ^ oz. tincture rhubarb every hour or 
 two, as the case may require, continuing the 
 cleansing process for two or three weeks. 
 
 WORMS. 
 
 Horses are subject to all the different kinds of 
 worms that people are, and they frequently pro- 
 duce serious difficulty. The symptoms are a slight 
 cough, and dullness, a deranged appetite, wasting 
 of flesh ; dry harsh feeling to the skin and hair, 
 staring coat and especially across the loins each 
 hair stands erect as though afraid of its neighbor; 
 occasional patches of slime covering the dung, the 
 anus being partially covered with a yellowish 
 substance or stripes of yellow slime hanging down. 
 I think that the best medicine that I have ever 
 seen for worms is the cleansing powders, to be giv- 
 en for a couple of weeks, adding z oz, calomel. 
 This will clear the stomach and intestines of 
 worms and regulate the whole system. 
 
 INFLUENZA 
 
 Is supposed by some to be contagious, but I 
 think it is more frequently brought on by impure 
 
49 
 
 air, improper food, &c., than any thing else. It is 
 marked by a general derangement of the whole 
 system ; stupor or weakness, swelling of the legs 
 and joints, swelling of the head and lips ; will per- 
 haps be very lame in one limb, the limbs being hot 
 and tender ; short breath, copious tears, sore 
 throat, tucked up flanks, compressed tail, hot feet 
 and in fact, the horse seems to be affected in every 
 part ; consequently we want to rouse up the whole 
 system by acting on all the organs at once. First, 
 wash the whole body over with saleratus water, 
 wiping it dry, then give the following : I oz. cal- 
 omel, 4 oz. gum camphor, i oz. aloes, I oz pulver- 
 ized saltpeter, 2 oz. ginger. Mix all together, 
 add enough flour to make it into pills, divide into 
 four pills, give one every four hours. Then in 
 four hours after giving the last, if it has not opera- 
 ted give 1 pint of linseed oil, and wash the legs 
 frequently with a half oz. of blue vitriol dissolved 
 in two gallons of water, and it is well to steam or 
 smoke the horses head every few hours until there 
 is a copious discharge from the nostrils being care- 
 ful that he does not take cold afterwards. The 
 steaming or smoking is done by throwing a blan- 
 ket over the horses head and holding a kettle of 
 hot water or boiled herbs under the nose ; or to 
 smoke, build a fire in a kettle or on a shovel, and 
 put tar or old leather on it so as to create a stink- 
 ing smoke and hold it under the nose and continue 
 
50 
 
 this until the breathing is easy. Do not give any- 
 active physic, or bleed, blister or rowel for all 
 such treatment has too great a tendency to weaken 
 the system which is already exhausted. But we 
 should rather try to strengthen and only give 
 enough medicine to cause each organ to perform 
 its proper office until the disease is thrown off. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DISEASE OF URINARY ORGANS. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS, 
 
 Happily is not of so frequent occurance as it 
 formerly was, since most horse owners have 
 abandoned that very injurious practice of fre- 
 quently giving horses niter or rosin, or something 
 to keep his water right; there is no more necessity 
 for giving a horse medicine to regulate his water 
 than there is a man. But inflammation of the 
 kidneys may be caused by musty hay or bad oats, 
 or bad and foul air. The symptoms are a strad- 
 dling gait, humped up back, flinching when there 
 is pressure made on the back, frequent turning of 
 the head around toward the hind parts, a hard 
 and quick pulse, short and quick breathing, and 
 scanty urine, and will almost refuse to turn short 
 around in the stable. 
 
 The treatment is, first, apply a strong mustard 
 poultice across the back, and give the following 
 drench : i oz. tincture of opium, 1 oz. spirits 
 of nitre, -^ oz. tinct. of camphor, 1 oz. tinct. lobe- 
 
52 
 
 lia. Mix and add i pint of water, and give every 
 two hours -until relieved ; keeping on tlie poultice, 
 and be careful to keep it moist. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER 
 
 Is not a very frequent disease, and the symptoms 
 are similar to inflammation of the kidneys, only 
 instead of the roachedback, the back will be rather 
 dropped down more than usual, the water is dis- 
 charged in small quantities and frequent. The 
 treatment is the same as inflammation of the kid- 
 neys, only omit the poultice. 
 
 STOPPAGE OF THE WATER OR SPASM OF THE 
 URETHRA. 
 
 This disease has been frequently mistaken for 
 colic or inflammation of the kidneys. It is not 
 near so frequent a difficulty as is supposed by 
 most horse owners. Mares are very seldom trou- 
 bled with it. It is easy to detect from the wide 
 spread legs, or straddling movement of the horse, 
 the pain being constant, the absence of any 
 discharge of water, but the frequent eflfort, at- 
 tended with pain, shown by a grunting noise ; 
 and if there is any doubt about it before giving 
 medicine introduce the hand and arm into the 
 rectum, and feel below the bumb gut, and you 
 can readily feel the bladder, and see if it is so 
 full as to cause pain. Now instead of giving the 
 
53 
 
 usual remedies, such, as nitre, rosin, &c., wkicli 
 only increase the quantity of water, and add 
 to the difficulty, our object should be to relax the 
 system so as to cause tbe spasm to pass off. Take 
 2 oz. of tincture of opium, and 2 oz. of tincture 
 of lobelia, mix together, add i a pint water and 
 give the whole at one dose, and if Lot better in 
 twenty minutes or half an hour repeat th.e dose, 
 and inject with a syringe, through the penis, 
 some of the same preparation, and continue as 
 above, even though, you give repeated doses, until 
 the water passes freely. 
 
 STONE OR CALCULUS IN THE BLADDER. 
 
 The only way to detect a stone in the bladder, 
 to any certainty, is to examine by introducing 
 the hand into the rectum and examine the bladder 
 and if there is a stone it may readily be felt with 
 the hand. But this is of but little benefit to the 
 horse owner, as there is no medicine that can 
 reach it, and the only cure is by a surgical opera- 
 tion, which is very dangerous, even when prac- 
 ticed by a skillful Veterinary Surgeon. A horse 
 that is troubled with these calculus growths is 
 subject to severe troubles in passing the urine, 
 which will get worse as time goes on until event- 
 ually it will cause death. 
 
54 
 BLOODY URINE 
 
 Is a discharge of blood with the urine, sometimes 
 in clots, and at others merely coloring the water. 
 When there is a copious discharge of blood there 
 will be no pulse at the jaw, the pupils of the eye 
 will be dilated, the breathing short and quick, 
 the head down, the back roached up, the mem- 
 branes of the nose are colorless and cold, the 
 flanks tucked up, the legs widely straddled ; to 
 raise the head and hold it up for a minute would 
 cause the horse to stagger. 
 
 The treatment consists in disturbing the horse 
 as little as possible. Give the following : two 
 drams of sugar of lead, dissolve in half a pint of 
 water ; if not better in twenty minutes repeat the 
 above, adding 1 oz. tincture of opium ; if this 
 does not do, dash two or three buckets of cold wa- 
 ter on his back, standing up over him so as to 
 let it fall some distance, and inject some of the 
 cold water into the rectum, as the cold may stop 
 it ; or, as a last resort try this ; ergot of rye 4 
 drams, pour half a pint boiling hot water on to it, 
 and when cold add one oz. tincture of opium, and 
 give at one dose, and continue the pouring of the 
 water on the loins ; and if this fails wait six or 
 eight hours and repeat as before. 
 
55 
 
 DIABETIS, OR TOO FREE A DISCHARGE OF 
 
 URINE. 
 
 This is caused by medicines that have been 
 given, or improper food. Give one dram iodide 
 of potasium, dissolved in half a pint of water, 
 twice a day until relieved. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 
 
 MANGE. 
 
 This is horse itch, and corresponds to the itch of 
 the human subjects, and originates from, the same 
 cause, and usually first appears on the shin under 
 the mane. By examination you will find a quan- 
 tity of dry scurf, and the horse will scratch or 
 rub against any object that may be within reach. 
 This loose scurf will spread over the neck and 
 shoulders, and if allowed to run on will extend 
 over the whole body, but scarcely ever effect the 
 legs. Rub the part afiected with sulphur oint- 
 ment every day, and give the cleansing powders 
 for a week or two. 
 
 RING WORM 
 
 Is a small round spot where the hair falls off, 
 leaves a bare spot, and increases in size. Take 1 
 oz. oil of tar and mix with 1 oz. of lard, and 
 grease the part every day, washing it with soap 
 and water before applying the ointment. 
 
 SURFEIT 
 
 Is small blotches or spots, resembling heat blotches 
 
57 
 
 that raise on the skin of the human subject in hot 
 weather, " They raise up in round, blunt lumps. 
 Give the cleansing powders until some time after 
 the disease entirely disappears, so as to get it all 
 out of the system. 
 
 HIDE-BOUND 
 
 Is not a disease of itself, but the result of expo- 
 sure, bad or insufficient quantity of food, or the 
 result of some other disease. The food should be 
 of the best quality and plenty of it. Give a 
 handful of salt every day in the food, and give 
 the cleansing powders until the constitution is 
 improved. 
 
 LICE. 
 
 Horses oftentimes get lice by allowing chickens 
 to be in the stable, or by having to roost too near 
 the stable; but most generally they are generated 
 by a diseased condition of the animal. To re- 
 move the lice merely grease the whole body over 
 with any kind of cheap grease, and then attend 
 to whatever disease there may be. If there does 
 not seem to be any particular disease, then it is 
 a derangement of the whole system, and I give 
 the cleansing powders in such cases for two or 
 three weeks, so as to improve the general condi- 
 tion. 
 
 LAKVvE, OR GRUBS IN THE SKIN. 
 
 These are caused by the deposit of an egg from 
 the fly on the horse's back, and the warmth of the 
 
58 
 
 horse hatches the egg into a sort of maggot which 
 burroughs into the skin and remains until the next 
 ppring, causing a small lump to rise which is quite 
 painful to the horse, and very annoying to the 
 owner. The best and surest way to get them out 
 is to open a small hole through the skin and 
 squeeze them out, and then apply any healing 
 application to the wound that may be at hand. 
 
 WARTS. 
 
 Warts are of two kinds, one being lumps form- 
 ing under the skin and having a smooth surface^ 
 and seeming loose when felt of with the hands. 
 These should be opened with a knife, when you 
 will find a sack formed there. The contents 
 should be removed and then treat it as any other 
 fresh wound. The other kind forms on the out- 
 side of the skin, usually having a small base and 
 rough surface, and generally increases in size, and 
 are oft times bloody, and it is supposed by some 
 that the first wart breeds others; others claiming 
 that the appearance of numerous warts on the 
 skin only shows a tendency of the system to pro- 
 mote such growths. Certain it is that where there 
 is one wart others are very apt to appear, conse- 
 quently there should be no time lost in destroying 
 them. I think the best way is to cut them off 
 with a knife and then to sear or burn the part, 
 with a hot iron, to stop the bleeding; or, instead 
 
59 
 
 of burning, you might apply a solution of lunar 
 caustic, say ten grains to half an ounce of water, 
 or any other plan to stop the bleeding. Some 
 take them off by tying a small cord around them 
 and allowing them to slough off, and others re- 
 move them by applying lunar caustic every day^ 
 say ten grains to half an ounce of water, merely 
 wetting the wart with the solution. This will 
 take some time, but will accomplish it in the end; 
 or almost any kind of caustic medicine, if applied 
 long enough, will remove warts. 
 
 TUMORS 
 
 Are of so many different kinds and forms, and 
 come in so many different locations, that it is im- 
 possible to give a complete description of all. 
 Some of them may be safely removed with the- 
 knife, while others should be let alone, as there 
 would be great danger in removing them. The 
 better way is when a horse has any enlargements 
 or unnatural growths, before being operated upon, 
 some experienced person should be consulted as 
 to the safety of making the operation. There is 
 a peculiar kind of enlargement which comes upon 
 grey horses, called mellaniosis, which will be 
 spoken of in its proper place, and which the young 
 practitioner had better notice before operating on 
 a grey horse for any kind ol tumors. The only 
 way to remove tumors is by cutting out. {See 
 Operations) 
 
60 
 
 SWELLED OR STOCKED LEGS. 
 
 This is a very frequent complaint, especially in 
 the fall of the year when horses are taken from 
 grass, and is caused by a want of circulation in 
 the limb. Usually a good rubbing with the hands 
 and exercise every day will relieve the difficulty, 
 but should it remain and continue to get worse, 
 while the horse is apparently enjoying good health, 
 then we must resort to an operation to get 
 up a renewed action in the limb. Make a hole 
 through the skin, the size of a pen knife blade, on 
 the outside of the leg, about four or five inches 
 back of the stifle joint; then insert, under the skin, 
 in a downward direction, a quill or tube and ap- 
 ply the mouth to the tube and blow wind under 
 the skin, and push it down the leg by applying 
 the hands on the outside and rubbing down until 
 you have got enough wind introduced to cover 
 the whole limb from the stifle joint to the hoof, 
 leaving the wind there. It will escape through 
 the pores of the skin in a few days. Then apply 
 the following : 2 oz. turpentine, 1 dram of car- 
 bonate of amonia, l- dram venitian red; mix to- 
 gether and apply with a small brush, all over 
 the leg, enough to merely moisten the hair, being 
 careful not to get too much in one place, as it 
 might blister. One application is enough. Then 
 give the horse exercise, say to go five or six miles 
 every day for two weeks. The limb will be some 
 
61 
 
 swollen and considerably stiff and sore for a few 
 days after the operation, but pay no attention to 
 that but attend to the exercise and it will come 
 all right. But you should bear in mind that if a 
 horse that is troubled with legs that will stock 
 when standing without exercise, is out of condi- 
 tion in any other way, or other diseases are troub- 
 ling him, he must have those troubles attended to 
 before making the above operation. 
 
 SITE A ST. 
 
 Sitfast is a sore usually located on the back of 
 the horse, and is generally caused by a bad sad- 
 dle. It is a sore with a black spot in the centre, 
 the spot being composed of a hard substance re- 
 sembling a piece of horn, which holds very tight 
 to the flesh. Cut out the hard or black spot and 
 then treat as any other sore. There is a very 
 good application, which you will find in the back 
 part of this book, called Healing Wash for Old 
 Sores. 
 
 GREASE HEEL 
 
 Usually shows itself in the form of scratches,, 
 and is caused by filthy stables, running out on 
 cold and wet grounJ, or by cutting the hair from 
 the leg and exposing it to the cold and wet. But 
 it does not always commence as scratches. It 
 may be occasioned by the leg getting poisoned 
 
62 
 
 with poisoned weeds, or being injured with a 
 rope getting round the leg below the fetlock, and 
 in fact, most any injury to the leg below the fet- 
 lock is liable to result in grease heel. When it is 
 grease heel, the leg will be very hot and tender. 
 There will ooze out of the leg a fluid that has a 
 very miserable, bad smell, and if this is allowed 
 to continue, after a while there will little bunches 
 raise up below the fetlock, resembling a bunch of 
 grapes. This becomes a blood disease. That is, 
 the whole system becomes affected. Wash the 
 leg every day with castile soap and soft water 
 and rub it dry. The horse should have one 
 hour's walking exercise every day. Give the 
 cleansing powders twice a day for two weeks if 
 the leg still continues sore. Use the healing 
 wash for old sores on the leg twice per day until 
 healed and all the inflammation is gone, being care- 
 ful to wash as before every day, and to continue 
 the cleansing powders for a couple of weeks after 
 the disease has entirely disappeared, so as to be 
 sure not to have it return again. 
 
 MALANDERS AND SALLENDEKS 
 
 Are small patches of rough scurvy skin located on 
 the leg. Malanders appear on the back of the 
 knee. Sallenders appear on the front part of the 
 hock joint, and if allowed to remain, are liable to 
 become bad sores. Wash the part with castile 
 
63 
 
 soap and rub every day, and apply the healing 
 wash for old sores twice a day. 
 
 SCRATCHES OR CRACKED HEELS, 
 
 This is caused by neglecting to keep the legs 
 clean, or by exposure in cold or wet weather, or 
 by running on low, wet ground ; and if not cured, 
 are very liable to terminate in grease heel. Wash 
 the leg every day with castile soap and water, 
 and rub until it is dry, and if the horse is allowed 
 to go out, it should be washed every time he 
 comes in, so as to be sure to keep it clean. Then 
 every time after washing, apply the following : 
 Take a table spoonful of fine gun powder and 
 mix enough lard with it to make a salve, and rub 
 it in with the hand. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SPECIFIC DISEASES. 
 
 HEAVES OR WIND-BROKEN. 
 
 Most authors on horse diseases call heaves 
 wind-broken, but as it is understood in this coun- 
 try, they are two separate diseases. Heaves are 
 brought on by anything that will create irritation 
 of the lungs ; being much in the dust, taking cold, 
 musty hay, eating large quantities of food and 
 being fast driven immediately afterward, are 
 among the causes that produce irritation of the 
 lungs, which causes the mucus membrane that 
 lines the air cells of the lungs to become thick- 
 ened, which partly closes the air cells, and causes 
 the labored effort in breathing, and is known by 
 hard breathing, that is much worse by being exer- 
 cised, and a peculiar jerking motion of the flank. 
 This disease there is no cure for, because we cannot 
 reach the lungs directly with any medicine that 
 would reduce the thickening of the membrane. 
 All that we can do is to relieve as much as possi- 
 ble. A horse with heaves should be allowed but 
 a small quantity of hay at a time, and be kept 
 
65 
 
 entirely away from any dust, and give a teaspoon- 
 ful of tartar emetic once per day as often as is 
 necessary to give relief. Give it in the feed. 
 
 WIND-BROKEN 
 
 Is the ruptured air cells of the lungs, caused 
 by violent exercising. When the horse is 
 standing he does not show any difficulty of 
 breathing, but on moving, he breathes hard, 
 with a peculiar roaring sound, and on stopping, 
 the breathing becomes regular almost instantly. 
 For this distressing difficulty there is no remedy, 
 although there are some unprincipled horse dealers 
 that fix such a horse so that for the time being 
 he show^s no difficulty, so as to defraud some un- 
 suspecting person. This is done by making a 
 hole into the body with a small knife, immediate- 
 ly above the anus and below the tail. So long 
 as this hole remains open, the breathing is regu- 
 lar, but as soon as it closes, the difficulty appears 
 again. 
 
 MELLANOSIS 
 
 Is a disease tha-t is scarcely ever found on 
 any but gray horses. It usually commences 
 on the tail, though it is many times found 
 on other parts of the body. It is a small black 
 lump with a smooth surface, and should it be 
 cut into there would be found a black, inky sub- 
 stance. The lumps remain for years without any 
 
66 
 
 apparent injury, then, all of a sudden, increase to 
 an enormous size. There are sometimes a num- 
 ber of them. I have seen cases where the whole 
 tail was covered with these unsightly black 
 lumps, besides ihose appearing on other parts of 
 the body. On dissecting a subject of this kind, 
 it is astonishing what a number of these same 
 lumps we find, affecting the internal organs, and 
 in fact, the whole system will seem to be affected 
 by them. When the lumps appear on the skin 
 do not attempt to do anything for them, as by 
 doing so, you would undoubtedly provoke the 
 growth and make it much worse than before. The 
 only way is to let them alone, and if they get to 
 such a size as to destroy the usefulness of the an- 
 imal, put him out of his misery. 
 
 WATER FARCY 
 
 Is caused by anything that has a tendency to 
 reduce the system; over work, insufficiency of food, 
 bad food, filthy stables, foul air, want of exercise, 
 are all causes of farcy. This disease in this coun- 
 try usually shows itself by a swelling under the 
 belly around the sheath, along on the belly, and 
 may continue into the breast, or it may attack one 
 of the limbs ; it scarce ever attacks two limbs at the 
 same time. "When it comes on the belly it usual- 
 ly is slow in its progress, and is not very painful 
 to the horse ; by pressing the fingers against the 
 
67 
 
 swelled part it will leave a dent that will remain 
 for several minutes ; when it attacks one of the 
 legs it is usually sudden, you might leave the horse 
 apparently well, and in one hour return and find 
 the animal holding up one limb, and one of the 
 joints swollen badly, and the horse suffering great 
 pain; the limb seems very tender to the touch. In 
 a case of this kind I commence by putting rowels 
 in the breast, and if the case is a bad one into the 
 swollen parts also ; I then wash the swollen part 
 every day with castile soap and soft water, and 
 hand rub it until it is dry; I then give the follow- 
 ing : 4 oz. pulverized blood root, 4 oz. pulverized 
 gentian, 4 oz. pulverized golden seal, 2 oz. crude 
 antimony, 2 oz. pulverized nitre and f oz. of calo- 
 mel. Mix altogether and give a large tablespoon- 
 full twice per day in the food, and if the horse 
 will not eat it mix it into pills by adding a little 
 flour and molasses, and put it down them ; keep 
 the bowels loose by giving bran mashes, or if nec- 
 essary some mild physic, just enough to loosen the 
 bowels. Water Farcy is a species of dropsy, so 
 do not bleed or give any powerful physic, as he 
 needs strengthening instead of weakening, 
 
 PURPURtE hemorshagica, 
 
 Or commonly called swelled head. The cause 
 of this disorder is not well understood, for it is 
 not many years since it first made its appearance, 
 
68 
 
 but it has now become quite common, and it usual- 
 ly is sudden in its attack and may caase deatb in 
 a few hours, or it may linger on for several days, 
 and many times get well, but as a general thing 
 the treatment is not very satisfactory. The 
 horse might be left at night apparently well, and 
 on opening the stable in the morning be found 
 with the head, nostrils and lips swelled enormous- 
 ly, besides being swollen in other parts of the body, 
 and the swelling will increase until there will ooze 
 out of the skin a fluid often times mixed with 
 blood, and there will be great difficulty of breath- 
 ing, and the tongue will often times swell so that 
 it will protrude from the mouth. If the tongue 
 swells so as to protrude there is great danger of 
 its being bitten off, so there should be no time 
 lost in returning it to the mouth. First make 
 two or three small cuts in it, say three eighths of 
 and inch deep, so as to let it bleed a little, then 
 rub and work it with the hand until the swelling 
 is enough reduced to return it to the mouth, then 
 give the following : 1 pint of linseed oil, 1 oz. 
 tinct. of camphor, 1 oz. of spirits of nitre, 1 oz. 
 sulphuric ether, and 1 oz. tinct. of lobelia. Mix 
 all together and give in a drench, and if not 
 breathing better in half an hour, repeat the dose, 
 and if not better in one hour give 1 oz. of sul- 
 phuric ether, 1 oz. tinct. of camphor, i oz. tinct. 
 of lobelia, and 1 oz. spirits of nitre, in 1 pint of 
 
69 
 
 water, and repeat every hour until easier. Wash 
 the whole body and limbs over in saleratus water, 
 and rub dry every day, and give the swelled parts 
 a plenty of hand rubbing. 
 
 DISTEMPER OR STRANGLES. 
 
 This is a common complaint among young hor- 
 ses and sometimes attacks old ones, and is sup- 
 posed to be contagious. They usually have the 
 disease but once. It is a swelling of the glands, 
 under the jaw, and attended with some fever and 
 soreness of the throat, and is supposed to produce 
 the same effect on a horse the measles does on the 
 human species, and so wants treating on the same 
 principle with measles. The object is to keep it 
 on the outer surface ; and so with distemper. The 
 object is to get it to discharging out of the system 
 as soon as possible. Many horse owners are in 
 the habit of bleeding and physicing; I think this 
 has a tendency to drive it back into the system 
 and to cause other diseases. When a horse swells 
 in the glands under the jaw with distemper, put 
 a poultice on it of common brov/'n sugar and bar 
 soap, equal parts, being careful to keep it moist, 
 and so that it will fit so tight that the air cannot 
 get under it, and keep it on until there is a soft 
 place on the swelled parts that shows that matter 
 has accumulated there, and the sooner you get it 
 to discharging out of the system the better. So 
 
70 
 
 open it with a knife, inserting tlie knife about f of 
 an inch; be careful to make the hole large enough 
 so that there may be a free discharge. It is nee- 
 esary to keep a good warm bandage on after tak- 
 ing off the poultice to prevent taking cold ; some- 
 times by bad management, taking cold or other 
 causes, the matter may not all be discharged, and 
 is carried back into the system, and they break 
 out in ulcers, or the legs swell. If there are ulcers 
 treat them with the poultice, and open as soon as 
 soft ; if the legs swell wash the whole body with 
 salaratus water, and rub dry with cloths or a 
 brush ; put rowels into the breast and give the 
 cleansing powders twice per day, so as to get it out 
 of the system ; the cleansing powders should be 
 given for a week or ten days after the swelling 
 has disappeared. 
 
 GLANDERS. 
 
 This is a loathsome disease, and one that is 
 highly contagious. It will in some cases produce 
 death in one week, while in others it assumes a 
 more chronic form and will linger on for years. 
 It is a disease affecting the whole glandular sys- 
 tem, not as some suppose, confined to the glands 
 of the head and throat, but the whole system is 
 affected, and particularly the lungs. In chronic 
 cases the lungs are effected almost like consump- 
 tion of the human subject. The first that is us- 
 
71 
 
 lialjy noticed is a discharge from the nostrils of a 
 thin fluid that may only discharge at times. In 
 this stage there is no certain test for it, but in a 
 short time the discharge "will assume a more yel- 
 low cast and will stick to the edges of the nos- 
 trils ; by looking into the nostril there will be 
 ulcerated places found, perhaps high up, so that 
 it will require care in making the examination. 
 By taking a little of the matter that discharges 
 from the nostril and feeling of it between the fin- 
 ger and thumb, it will have a sticky feeling. 
 There is no cure for this terrible disease, and the 
 best way is when a horse is suspected of having 
 the glanders put them by themseles where there 
 is no danger of others taking it, until it is con- 
 firmed, and as soon as certain, destroy the horse, 
 and cleanse the premises in every part where the 
 horse has been. It is necessary for persons that 
 go about glandered horses to be careful and not 
 get any of the matter onto the skin where there 
 is any fracture, or into the nose or mouth, or any 
 of the light membranes, as by doing so they 
 would take the glanders, which would certainly 
 result in death. 
 
 BUTTON FARCY 
 
 Is of two kinds, the big and the little. The large 
 usually makes its appearance on the inside of the 
 hind legs up towards the body, while the small 
 
72 
 
 may come in any part. It is caused by being 
 kept in filthy places, neglect in grooming, want 
 of exercise, bad food, or it may be taken by in- 
 noculation. It seems to be of the same nature as 
 glanders. A horse may be innoculated with 
 gleandery matter and have the farcy, or they may 
 be innoculated with farcy matter and have the 
 glanders. When they are attacked with farcy 
 they have the glanders before death, and when 
 they are attacked with glanders they show symp- 
 toms of farcy before death. Farcy is a lump ris- 
 ing up under the skin, and there are many time^ 
 numbers of them, and sometimes only one that 
 ulcerates and discharges a yellowish fluid, and 
 becomes a running sore. I have cured many 
 cases of farcy, and some very bad ones, by giving 
 them the cleansing powders alone. To give them 
 twice a day for some time after there is no ap- 
 pearance of the disease, but it is well to grease 
 the sores with sulphur ointment, and also put 
 rowels into the breast. 
 
 YELLOW WATER. 
 
 Yellow Water is what in human subjects is 
 called jaundice. Many men have the notion that 
 whenever the hairs in the mane and tail become 
 loose so that they may be easily pulled out, and 
 especially when the ends look yellow, that it is a 
 sure symptom of yellow water. At any time 
 
73 
 
 when the horse becomes ver/ debilitated or run 
 down the hairs in the tail and mane are apt to be- 
 come loose, so that it cannot be taken as a symp- 
 tom of yellow water ; it is only a symptom of de- 
 bility. This disease is readily detected by the 
 white of the eye assuming a yellowish color, and 
 the edges of the eyelid, the nostrils and the roof 
 of the mouth will all assume the same color. It 
 is very common for horse owners to excuse their 
 own negligence and penuriousness by claiming 
 that the horse has got the yellow water. They 
 neglect to give the horse proper grooming, and 
 keep in a filthy and unhealthy stable, and either 
 a miserable quality or scant supply of food, and 
 many times over -worked; and then, when the 
 horse fails in flesh, becomes stupid and dull, and 
 has become too weak under his accumulated bad 
 treatment to do his daily task, then they excuse 
 their own faults by saying the horse has got the 
 yellow water, or has become hide bound, when a 
 little more attention and good food would remedy 
 the whole difficulty. Yellow water is a bilious 
 difficulty, and consequently is more frequent in 
 warm than in cold weather. It is a diseased liv- 
 er, and the way to treat it is to give the cleansing 
 powders,^adding i oz. of calomel. 
 
CHAPITER XII. 
 
 DISEASE OF THE LIMBS. 
 
 BONE SPAVIN 
 
 Is the result of some injury to the joint. Some 
 suppose it to be hereditary, but this is doubtful, 
 any farther than like begets like. So a horse or 
 a mare that has naturally weak joints, the oif- 
 spring would likely be the same, and of course, 
 according to the strength of the joint is the lia- 
 bility to complaints of this kind, and I might 
 here say that it is poor policy to breed from stock 
 of this kind, as it only brings into the world an 
 animal that is of but little use or benefit to the 
 owner. Spavin is first an injury to the joint, that 
 produces inflammation of the sinovial membrane 
 that surrounds the joint, and the cartilege that 
 covers the ends of the bones becomes diseased, 
 the sinovial fluid which lubricates the joint is 
 dried up or absorbed, there is a bony deposit 
 formed there that is of a porous nature ; it is at- 
 tached to the bone and there is no removing it 
 with medicine, and even could it be removed, I 
 think it would be bad practice, for it seems that 
 
75 • 
 
 nature has deposited this bony matter there to 
 strengthen the already weakened joint. The way 
 to manage diseases of this kind is to take them 
 on the start and remove the disease before there 
 is any enlargement. Spavins are of the bony char- 
 acter ; are usually located on the inner and lower 
 edge of the hock or spavin joint, or what some 
 horse owners call the knee of the hind leg. They 
 are sometimes found higher up near to what is 
 usually called the gambrel joint, and in fact any 
 bony enlargement there is about this joint is called 
 spavins, as they are all caused in the same way, 
 but the difference in location oft-times make a 
 difference in the lameness. To examine for spav- 
 in always go in front of the horse and stoop down 
 so as to look through between the forward legs 
 at the hind legs, having the horse stand the hind 
 legs as near alike as possible, then you can com- 
 pare the two together, and in this position you 
 can detect a spavin when it is not preceivable in 
 any other; if you do not see any enlargement then 
 place your hand on the joint, let it rest a moment 
 and see if you cannot detect a little heat more 
 than there should be ; if not yet satisfied, have 
 the horse led along on the level ground and no- 
 tice his step ; compare the step of the hind foot 
 with the track of the forward foot, and if you 
 find that with the lame leg he does not step as 
 far ahead as he does with the well one, then 
 
76 
 
 mark it down as a certainty that the lameness is 
 in the spavin joint, and spavin will undoubtedly 
 be the result if not cured. Horses may be lame 
 for months and even years in the primary stage 
 of spavin before there is any enlargement, while 
 with others there will be an enlargement within 
 a few weeks after lameness shows. There are many 
 cases of spavin, where there are so many different 
 organs surrounding and composing the joint that 
 are effected that there is but little can be done 
 for them. There are also many of them that have 
 been of long standing and been doctored with all 
 kinds of quack medicines, until the parts seem to 
 have lost their vitality, and medicine produces no 
 effect. There has undoubtedly been more cruel- 
 ty, quackery and ignorance displayed on this 
 disease than any other disease that horse is heir 
 to. Whenever you meet with a pretender that 
 claims to take off spavins or ringbones, and there- 
 by make the animal more valuable, set him down 
 as either being ignorant or a swindler, and have 
 nothing to do with him. Do not allow a faithful 
 servant to be tormented by such pretenders. I 
 have tried many different remedies and have seen 
 the result of many others, and I am satisfied that 
 the prescription which you will find in the back 
 part of this book is the best ever known. 
 
77 
 
 SPLINT 
 
 Is a small bony enlargement usually located on 
 the inside of the forward leg, below the knee and 
 above the ankle joint. They scarcely ever cause 
 lameness only when first coming. They usually 
 disappear before the horse is nine years old. 
 Sometimes they are located so near the knee joint 
 that they interfere with the joint and cause lame- 
 ness. Sometimes we find them located on the out- 
 side of the hind leg, below the hock, but they 
 scarcely ever cause trouble. Splints can usually 
 be removed in a few days by applying the spavin 
 and 'ringbone medicine. (See back part of this 
 book.) 
 
 RINGBONE 
 
 Is of the same nature as spavin, (see article on 
 spavin,) and is produced by the same cause. It 
 may be low down near to the foot or it may be 
 most up to the ankle, all on one side, or all in 
 front, or on both sides, on the forward or hind 
 limb,and in fact, any hard, bohy enlargement, form- 
 ing from any cause, or in any shape, between the 
 ankle and foot, is ringbone, and it should be 
 t:peated the same as spavin. 
 
 CURB 
 
 Is an enlargement on the back side of the hock 
 or spavin joint. There seems to be some dispute 
 
78 
 
 about the cause and cliaracter of curb, but is evi- 
 dently the result of some injury to that part of 
 the leg, either a strain or a bruise. In its first 
 stage, when it is hot and tender, there should be 
 a bandage put around the leg and kept wet with 
 cold water until every appearance of inflamma- 
 tion has departed, then apply the spavin and ring- 
 bone medicine. (See back part of this book.) 
 
 BOG SPAVIN, THOROUGHFIN AND WINDGALI.. 
 
 Bog spavin is a soft enlargement on the front 
 and inner side of the hock joint, and is caused by 
 some injury that produces slight inflammation, 
 and that increases the supply of the senovial 
 fluid or joint oil, which lodges in a sack. Some- 
 times by pressing on the enlarged part with the 
 hand, it would show through on the back side of 
 the limb, or by pressing on the side, it will show 
 through on the other side. It is then called thor- 
 oughpin. 
 
 Windgalls are soft enlargements in the vicinity of 
 the ankle. Bog spavin, thoroughpin and windgalls 
 are the same disease, and originate from the same 
 cause, only being in different locations. They scarce- 
 ly ever produce lameness, but are liable to undergo 
 changes, and to be converted into bone, and to 
 cause serious difficulties, though this is not com- 
 mon. The treatment is, in the first place, while 
 the enlargement is quite soft, put a compressed 
 
79 
 
 bandage on. This is done by using a sponge 
 that is of the proper size, or by using three or four 
 thicknesses of cloth, and put a piece of cork over 
 it and bind it on to the enlargement, so that it 
 will make a tight and constant pressure on the 
 enlargement ; then steep some white oak bark in 
 water until it is quite strong, then keep the ban- 
 dage w^et with this, and keep it on for ten days 
 or two weeks. If this does not effect a cure, or 
 the enlarged part appears to be somewhat hard, 
 and feels more like gristle than it did in the start, 
 then use the spavin and ringbone medicine. (See 
 back part of book.) 
 
 STRINGHALT. 
 
 This is a sudden jerking up of the hind leg, 
 sometimes one and sometimes both being affected. 
 With some cases it only shows itself when the 
 horse first starts ; with others, only when they 
 are excited or going down hill, or standing over 
 in the stable. With most cases it is worse in cold 
 than warm weather, and is more frequent in high 
 spirited horses. There seems to be a variety of 
 opinions among our most scientific authors about 
 the cause and location of stringhalt ; some claim- 
 ing that it is an affection of the muscles of the leg, 
 others claiming that it is an affection of the spinal 
 nerve, besides many other theories, all of which the 
 author thinks are of but little account ; but among 
 
80 
 
 all tte different theories there are none of them that 
 have found a cure. The author will not advance 
 any theory as to the cause and location of the 
 disease, but proceed to give the plan by which he 
 has cured many cases, although he has tried it in 
 cases where it produced no effect. First, fasten 
 up the forward leg on the side of the borse you 
 wish to operate on, and place a twitch on tbenose, 
 and let the attendant hold it while the operator 
 makes a hole through the skin with a com- 
 mon knife, about three inches, directly back of 
 the stifle joint, on the outside of the limb. Make 
 the hole a little larger than a penknife blade, 
 then introduce a tube or goose quill, something 
 that you can blow through. Shove it down un- 
 der the skin a convenient distance, then place the 
 mouth on the tube and blow wind into it, and 
 with the hands force it down the limb until it 
 covers the whole limb clear down to the hoof; 
 then take the following mixture : i oz. carbonet of 
 ammonia, 1 tea spoonful of Venetian red, ^ pint 
 turpentine, and with a brush merely moisten the 
 hair all over, then with both hands, rub the leg 
 up and down, using all your strength for about' 
 a minute to each leg, then give the horse exercise, 
 say to go about six miles every day for two 
 weeks. This has resulted in the cure of string 
 halt in many cases under my direction, and I 
 think will cure most if not all. 
 
81 
 
 SHOULDER JAM AND SWEENY, 
 
 What is usually understood by shoulder jam, 
 stoved shoulders, sweeny, and old chronic cases of 
 founder and chest founder, are all the same thing, 
 the same disease in perhaps a little different form. 
 Neither one of the above terms conveys any idea 
 what the trouble is, and still men are tenatious 
 abont the name, and there is often times great dis- 
 putes whether a horse is shoulder jammed or swee- 
 nied, when there is no difference in the disease. 
 If I was to give the difficulty a name I should 
 call it chronic rhumatism, as it resembles that dis- 
 ease more than any other, but as there is but little 
 difference I shall not stop to argue about the name, 
 but to describe what the disease is and the cure, 
 for I believe that most of the cases of horses 
 that are stiff in the forward part may be cured. 
 This difficulty consists in a stiffness or soreness of 
 the forward part, sometimes only one limb or 
 shoulder is affected, but more frequently both are 
 affected, and shrinking or perishing of the mus- 
 cles, perhaps the shoulder perish, or perhaps the 
 shoulders, chest and arm of the leg, all shrink 
 some. It is caused by some injury to the muscles, 
 perhaps a founder, collar too large or too small, 
 hard driving, a slip or strain, driving fast on hard 
 -roads, driving fast down hill, jumping fences, and 
 in fact anything that injures the muscles of the 
 
 leg or shoulder enough to create an inflammation, 
 
 6 
 
82 
 
 will cause this difficulty. The inflammation is 
 usually of a chronic form, tKat is, it is not very 
 severe, but there is inflammation there which you 
 may readily convince yourself of by feeling of the 
 skin on the shoulder of a stiffened horse, and a 
 sound horse. With one you will notice a dry 
 harsh feeling, and the other a soft and moist feel- 
 ing, which shows that there is an inflammation 
 that produces adhesion of the celuler tissue that 
 is between the muscles and facia, or striffin that 
 lays between the skin and muscle, then the mus- 
 cles are as it were tied up, that is, the horse has 
 not a free use of them, he can make a short step 
 but he cannot reach out so as to travel off free. 
 Well, now the cure would be to break this adhes- 
 ion loose and then stimulate, and have the mus- 
 cles used at the same time, and they will become 
 restored. I know the plan which I shall recom- 
 mend here has been tried in some parts of the 
 country with poor success ; but I believe where it 
 has failed it was either when it was not properly 
 applied, or else there was some other difficulty 
 connected with it, for I certainly have cured hun- 
 dreds of cases by this means. First examine the 
 feet and see if they are contracted ; {8ee article 
 on contracted feet ;) then see if there is no lame- 
 ness of the coffin joint, (See coffin joint,) then ex- 
 amine the other joints, and if there are no enlarge- 
 ments then there is a fair prospect of a cure. Put 
 
83 
 
 a twitch on the nose and with a knife make a hole 
 through the skin and striffin or facia that is im- 
 mediately under the skin; make the incsssion on 
 the lower part of the shoulder near down to the 
 arm of the leg, and about midway of the shoulder, 
 and introduce a pipe or tube, being careful to get 
 it through the facia, then apply the mouth and 
 blow wind into the tube and under the skin, and 
 with the hands push up and down until you have 
 introduced enough to cover the whole surface from 
 the hoof to the top of the wethers, and with the 
 hands push it clear down and up, and some of it 
 around onto the chest so that it will cover it all 
 over about alike, then with a common shaving 
 brush apply the following : 1 dram of carbonate 
 of amonia finely pulverized, one teaspoonful of 
 vinetian red, and 3 oz. turpentine ; shake well and 
 apply just enough to moisten the hair, being care- 
 ful not to get too much in one place or it will blis- 
 ter, for a few days after the horse will be very 
 sore and stiff, but pay no attention to that, but 
 make sure he travels at least five or six miles every 
 day for the next two weeks; let the wind remain, 
 it will work out through the pores of the skin in 
 time. When you push the wind over be careful 
 that it covers every part, and bear on to it with 
 your hands with considerable force to be sure that 
 it penetrates to every part, so as to break down 
 all the adhesion. One operation and application 
 
84 
 
 of tlie medicine is all that is necessary in most 
 cases, but in case tlie horse does not get entirely 
 well, make another operation in a month or six 
 weeks. In cases of this kind if the feet are con- 
 tracted doctor them at the same time. 
 
 CAPPED KNEE. 
 
 This is located in the forward leg, a soft enlarge- 
 ment and scarce ever produces lameness, it corres- 
 ponds to the bog spavin on the hind leg, and is 
 produced by the same cause, and is liable to the 
 same changes, but it should in no wise be neglec- 
 ted as there is great danger of its causing open 
 joint by weakening the sinovial membrane that 
 surrounds the joint, causing it to become per- 
 manently stiffened or grown together. This should 
 be treated the same as bog spavin, and in all these 
 cases it is best to let the horse have rest while he 
 is undergoing treatment. 
 
 CAPPED HOCK. 
 
 This is a thickening of the skin, and an enlarge- 
 ment under the skin on the point of the hock 
 joint, on the back side, and is caused by a bruise. 
 When this first appears it can usually be taken 
 away by constant rubbing with the hand for a 
 few days. Employ a man and let him do noth- 
 ing but rub the enlargement with the hand; but 
 if it has been on for a length of time and has be- 
 
35 
 
 come considerably hard, the only way is to cast 
 the horse and lay the skin open, and with a knife 
 take the enlargement out, and close the skin with 
 a stitch or two. Do not cut out any of the loose 
 skin but let it remain as it will eventually all 
 shrink down and heal without a scar, but if you 
 remove any of the skin it will leave a scar. This 
 is a very safe operation, as there is no large blood 
 vessels, and but little to contend with. The only 
 difficulty there is about it is that it heals slow. 
 The best healing wash to use after any surgical 
 operation is chloride of zinc dissolved in water, 
 say one grain to the oz. of water. 
 
 CAPPED ELBOW. 
 
 This is an enlargement on the joint, on the for- 
 ward leg up next to the body, and is called the 
 elbow joint. It is caused by a bruise, frequently 
 done by resting that part on the shoe of the hind 
 foot while lying down. I have often seen these 
 enlargements opened, roweled and blistered, but 
 never saw any benefit from it. The only way to 
 get rid of them is to cut them out as directed for 
 capped hock. 
 
 THE STIFLE. 
 
 It has usually been supposed by horse men that 
 the stifle joint is very liable to get out of place, 
 what is called being stifled; and I have seen 
 
86 
 
 miTcli cruelty practiced on horses by causing them 
 to stand on the lame leg by placing what they 
 call a stifle shoe on the well leg. This is a very 
 cruel and barbarous pratice, and should never be 
 allowed, for such a thing as getting the stifle out 
 is impossible, which any person can convince 
 themselves of by merely dissecting the stifle joint 
 of a horse or a beef. The stifle may sometimes 
 get bruised or strained which may readily be 
 known by the swelling and inflammation that will 
 follow, and should be treated the same as p^ny 
 other strain, by making some cooling application. 
 (See article on strains.) The stifle joint is made 
 almost exactly like the knee joint of a man with 
 the knee cap in front called the patella. This 
 patella may sometimes get out of place, but it is 
 not frequent. Some of our oldest practitioners 
 that have practiced a life time, have never met 
 with a case. It may readily be known by the 
 limb being extended backwards, and impossible 
 for the horse to bring it forward or to bear the 
 least heft on the limb ; the patella always slips 
 on to the outside, so that it may readily be seen 
 by there being a large lump on the outside of the 
 joint. When this does occur, put a rope around 
 the ankle of the limb and let two men take hold 
 of it and stand in front of the horse and pull 
 steadily while the operator stands by the side of 
 the animal and pushes it into its place, and holds 
 
it there for a short time with th^ hands ; then 
 wash it frequently with oak bark wash make by 
 boiling the bark in water and throwing a handful 
 of salt into it ; then let the horse rest for a few 
 months ; and if it is the first time, it may never 
 trouble him again, but if the patelia luxated the 
 second time, then it is liable to get out at any 
 time, and the horse becomes worthless. 
 
 BLOOD SPAVIN. 
 
 This is a disease that is scare ever known now 
 days. I have not seen a case in over ten years. 
 It is an enlargement of the large vein that passes 
 down the front side of the hook joint. A horse 
 with blood spavin will actually suffer more pain 
 than they do with bone spavin, and will be very 
 lame. The only cure is to dissect the enlarged 
 part, and tie a ligature above and below, and 
 take the enlargement out entire. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DISEASES AND ACCIDENTS OF THE FEET. 
 
 CRACKED HOOF. 
 
 This may be on the front of the foot, called toe 
 -crack, or on the side, called quarter crack. It 
 may extend from bottom to top, or it may only 
 reach part way ; in either case take a knife and 
 cut the edges of the crack so as to form a groove, 
 and let the inner edges come together; then put a 
 stout shoe on the foot, and be careful that it is 
 always kept tight so as not to allow the foot to 
 spring ; then either cut or burn across the top of 
 the crack so as to start it to growing together. 
 Then apply the following : linseed oil i pint, 
 turpentine 4 oz., oil of tar 6 oz., oil of arganum 
 3 oz., mix all together, and shake well every time 
 before using, and apply every night after the 
 horse is done work for the day, around the top of 
 the hoof, about one inch down, enough to wet it 
 thoroughly. This is to soften the foot and keep 
 it growing. Continue this until the crack has 
 grown out. 
 
89 
 FALSE QUARTERS. 
 
 False quarter is the absence of a portion of the 
 outer or hard covering of the hoof, located on the 
 side or quarter, and only leaves the soft, spongy 
 under surface to protect the hoof. This oft times 
 will crack, when it does it should be treated as 
 directed for cracked hoof. When there is found 
 any granulated flesh gets into it apply the follow- 
 ing : li oz. blood root, I oz. gum camphor, 3 oz. 
 tincture of arnica, put all into 1 pint bottle, and 
 fill it up with alcohol, and shake well ; apply this 
 three or four times a day until the proud flesh has 
 disappeared and it has healed over, but it will be 
 impossible to cause a new outer covering to grow. 
 All that we expect to do is to make it as comfort- 
 able as possible. 
 
 SEEDY TOE. 
 
 This consists in a portion of the outer or hard 
 covering of the hoof becoming loose, or there be- 
 ing a division between the soft and hard part of 
 the hoof. The outer and loose part should be all 
 cut away, and then apply the wash as for cracked 
 hoof, and if possible let the horse rest for a time, 
 until the foot becomes sound, and keep a stout shoe 
 on the foot. 
 
 CALKED TREAD, OR OVER-REACHING. 
 
 This is caused by the horse stepping on to his 
 own foot, cutting with the calks. Sometimes 
 
90 
 
 these wounds are slight ; if but slight smear them 
 over with tar to keep the dirt out, and they usual- 
 ly get well in a few days. But many times the 
 wound will appear but slight on the surface and 
 at the same time it is very deep. It is always 
 best to examine it and see how deep it is ; if con- 
 siderable depth, then there is great danger of its 
 resulting in quitter. (See article on quitter.) It 
 is necessary that the wound should be kept clean, 
 not barely to wash the outside, but to use a sy- 
 ringe and cleanse it to the bottom ; wash it out 
 once per day with soap and water, then inject the 
 cloride of zinc wash, say 1 grain to 3 oz. of water, 
 and continue this until it heals. If proud flesh 
 gets into it use the healing wash for old sores. 
 (See back part of this book.) 
 
 CORNS IN THE FEET 
 
 Are caused by a bruise in the feet. They are 
 usually caused by the shoe resting on the sole of 
 the foot. In contracted feet, they are caused by 
 the hard or horny part of the foot pressing against 
 the laminary or soft part. They are seen when the 
 blacksmith pairs the bottom of the foot. A red 
 spot on the sole of the foot, near to the heel, be- 
 tween the frog and the rim. If it is a flat foot, 
 cut the corn out as low as possible, put the shoe 
 on, and in three weeks take it off, and cut the 
 corn out again, as the corn grows faster than the 
 
91 
 
 rim of the foot, and the object is to keep it cut 
 out often until the foot grows down and the corn 
 has disappeared. If the foot is contracted, cut it 
 out as before, and have the surface of the shoe 
 that is next to the foot made in a convex form 
 or slanted out, so that when the horse stands on 
 it, the heft will cause the foot to keep sliding off 
 on both sides and spread the foot without any in- 
 jury, then apply the following: linseed oil, 4 oz., 
 turpentine, 2 oz., oil of tar, 3 oz., arganum, H 
 oz. ; mix and shake well before using, and apply 
 every other day around the top of the hoof, down 
 one inch, enough to wet it thoroughly, and con- 
 tinue this until the corn has disappeared. 
 
 QUITTER 
 
 Is a running sore in the foot that discharges at 
 the top. It may be caused by having the foot 
 cut by the calk of the other foot, or by a severe 
 bruise immediately above the foot, or by being 
 pricked with a nail in shoeing, or getting grav- 
 eled, and in fact, anything that injures the foot 
 so as to cause matter to accumulate ; and not hav- 
 ing a free discharge, it burroughs deeper and 
 deeper, forming pipes that branch off in different 
 directions. The first appearance of quitter is a 
 large swelling around the top of the foot, very 
 hot and tender, and causing severe lameness. 
 This should be poulticed until it becomes soft ; 
 
92 
 
 then open it with a knife, making the cut as low 
 ■down as possible ; then inject into it twice or three 
 times a day, the chloride of zinc wash, 1 grain 
 to the ounce of water. If it has been of long 
 standing, and there are pipes formed, which can be 
 known by taking a splint from a broom and ma- 
 king the end smooth, and probe the sore, being 
 careful to examine all around, and if there is a 
 pipe formed, take some nitrate of silver, finely pul- 
 verized, and add three times as much flour, and 
 mix well together ; then wet the splint and dip it 
 it into the pow^der and put it into the pipe, and 
 repeat this until sure that the powder has 
 oame in contact with every part of the pipe. 
 This will cause it to swell and be very sore for 
 about two days, then there will appear a sort of 
 creamy discharge ; then use the zinc wash to heal 
 it, injecting in with a syringe. 
 
 THRUSH OR CANKER OF THE FOOT. 
 
 Thrush in the foot is a disease of the frog. It 
 is caused by standing in filthy places, and may 
 be known by a thin discharge from the frog, and 
 portions of it sloughing off, and usually has a 
 bad smell. Cut away all the unsound parts of the 
 frog, then pore a little veniss turpentine on it, and 
 warm it in with a hot iron, and keep the horse in 
 a clean place. This scarcely ever causes lame- 
 ness. Canker seems to be an aggravated case 
 
93 
 
 of thrush, and not only the frog becomes affected, 
 but the edges of the sole are more or less affected, 
 and instead of portions of it sloughing off, there 
 will grow rough, ugly looking lumps of fungoid, 
 horny substance. All of the diseased parts should 
 be out away, then apply the following : 2 oz. pul- 
 verized blood-root, J oz. pulv. gum camphor, and 
 moisten it with tincture of arnica ; then put a shoe 
 on the foot, and put the mixture on, and put 
 some cloths over it, and fasten them there by 
 springing some thin pieces of iron across, under 
 the shoe so as to make it press well on the diseased 
 part. Remove this in two days and cut away any 
 diseased part that may appear, and dress again, 
 and so repeat, until there is no more fungoid 
 growths. Then take the same mixture, and add 
 enough tincture of arnica to make a wash, and 
 apply two or three times per day until healed. 
 
 FOUNDER. 
 
 Founder may be produced by taking grain or 
 water into the stomach when it is not in proper 
 condition to receive it, or by an over-feed of grain, 
 or over- driving, or taking a sudden cold that set- 
 tles in the forwar d limbs, and may be known by 
 the horse being very stiff, and getting the hind 
 leg under the body so as to keep the weight off 
 the forward limbs, which makes him appear as 
 though he was stiff all over, when in reality, the 
 
94 
 
 difficulty is most all confined to the forward 
 parts. It affects the muscles of the legs, and 
 especially the inner or soft part of the feet. The 
 horse will refuse to eat, the mouth will be very 
 dry and usually very thirsty, and trembles as 
 though having a chill. This may come on sud- 
 denly, or may be several days in coming on. It 
 is what some authors call laminetus, which means 
 fever in the soft parts of the foot. If this disease 
 is not properly treated, the feet are liable to 
 slough off, or the bone of the foot to be pressed 
 down out of its natural place, so as to cause the 
 foot to bulge on the bottom, and shrink away on 
 the top side, and the toe of the hcof to become 
 spongy, what is called pumiced feet, or it may af- 
 fect the muscles of the leg in such a manner as to 
 cause adhesion of the celular tissue, and result 
 in permanent stiffness. When it is discovered 
 that the horse is foundered, give a large dose of 
 physie of any kind that may be most handy, 
 then stand the horse in water that will come up 
 to his knees. If this is not convenient, wind the 
 legs with hay ropes clear up to the body ; then take 
 a tea kettle and pour cold water on them every 
 few minutes until the physic operates, which will 
 usually be in about twenty-four hours. If the 
 physic does not operate within twenty four hours, 
 repeat the dose, and be sure to keep the legs wet 
 with cold water until the physic has operated ; 
 
95 
 
 and in the mean time, give 1 oz. tincture of lo- 
 belia every hour, or as often as may be necessary 
 to control the fever, which you can tell by the 
 pulse. Do not bleed, for in doing so, you weaken 
 the system, and make the more danger of the 
 feet sloughing or breaking down. The reason 
 why some bleed in cases of this kind is to lessen 
 the fever. This may be done with the lobelia 
 without bleeding. The object in this treatment 
 is to keep the limbs cool, and ease the fever in 
 the body until it can be physiced out, and to 
 keep the fever down as much as possible in the 
 mean time. I have practiced this treatment for 
 many years, and have never failed of curing 
 founder in its first stages, so that the animal was 
 as sound afterwards as before. 
 
 COFFIN JOINT LAMENESS. 
 
 This is an injury of the gristly cartiligeous sub- 
 stance that covers the ends of the bones, done by 
 fast driving on hard roads, or driving fast down 
 hill, or jumping fences, or something of that sort; 
 the cartilege is inj ured so that a low grade of im- 
 fiammation starts in, then ulceration takes place, 
 and eventually the joint will become grown to 
 gether. This is a disease that there can but little 
 be done for, rest for several months is the best 
 that can be done, but it is best for the horse owner 
 to know how to detect this disease as it has always 
 
96 
 
 been considered very diffiault to detect. By rais- 
 ing the limb backward and placing the end of the 
 thumb into the hollow that is on the back side of 
 the limb, down near to the foot, and press hard, 
 and if it is the coffin joint lameness the horse will 
 flinch badly ; the horse will also travel mostly on 
 his toe as though it hurt him to put the heel 
 down. After the joint has become grown together 
 it may be known by the stifl'ness of the joint, that 
 it will not ben d, and there will also be some en- 
 largement on the back side in the hollow place 
 just above the foot. A horse with this disease 
 can be made most comfortable by keeping the toe 
 of the foot pealed down on the bottom side, and 
 not cut the heal, so as to keep the foot and ancle 
 standing up as near like the sucking colt as pos- 
 sible. (See article on shoeing.) 
 
 HOOF-BOUND AND CONTRACTED FEET 
 
 Is caused by some inflammation in the feet, per- 
 'hsiips bad shoeing, perhaps coffin joint lameness or 
 some difficulty of the limb or shoulder, so that 
 the horse does not stand on it as much as on the 
 others. In either case there is a fair prospect of 
 a cure by having them shod properly. In order to 
 cure, it is not best to keep the shoe on more than 
 three weeks ; it should have all the nails as near 
 to the toe as possible, and from the back nail hole 
 have the shoe made with a good deal of slant or 
 
97 
 
 bevel on the out side, so that the heft of the horse 
 will cause the foot to slip off on to the out side and 
 spread the foot by a gradual process ; do not have 
 the shoe spread with the tongs or any instrument 
 as that is injurious to the foot ; be careful to have 
 the shoe the shape of the foot and no wider than 
 the foot at the heel ; then keep the foot soft by 
 running in wet pasture, or by applying the follow- 
 ing : linseed oil 4 oz. turpentine 2 oz. oil of tar 3 
 oz. arganum 1 i oz. Mix and shake, and apply 
 every other day around the top of the foot one 
 inch down enough to wet it thoroughly. By the 
 end of three weeks the hoof will begin to spread 
 over the shoe, then have it taken off and spread 
 out with the foot again, and so keep doing until 
 the feet are out as wide as they should be. In de- 
 termining whether a horse has contracted feet, 
 lift up the foot and look on the bottom side ; if it 
 is contracted the space between the frog and bar 
 of the foot will be pinched together. Sometimes 
 only one side of the foot is contracted, then only 
 have the side of the shoe beveled on that side, 
 and treat as above. 
 
 SHOEING. 
 
 It is astonishing to see with what readiness men 
 that have no knowledge of the antomy of a horse's 
 foot, nor have spent anytime in studying nature's 
 
 designs, will give directions how a horse should 
 
 7 
 
98 
 
 be shod, as though they thought the foot of the 
 horse was a block of wood that thej could cut 
 and carve to their own liking ; they seem to think 
 that the blacksmith has spent years of time only 
 to learn to handle his tools according to their di- 
 rections, and usually the more ignorant the owner 
 of the horse about the true principal of shoeing, 
 the more directions he will give to the smith, and 
 especially if he thinks the foot is contracted, to 
 direct it to be shod wide at the heel, which only 
 makes the foot worse. Owners of horses are 
 usually very much at fault in letting the shoes 
 remain to long without being removed; no horse 
 should be allowed to wear his shoes more than two 
 months at one time, and a horse that is used on 
 the road should be shod at least every six weeks be- 
 cause the toe of the foot grows much faster than the 
 heel, and by leaving the shoe too long the toe gets 
 grown out long, and throws the ancle back and 
 strains the joint, and often is the cause of ring- 
 bone, windgalls, contracted tendons, thickened 
 ancles, &c. ; and many times shoulder difficulties 
 are caused by the toe being so long as to cause 
 the horse to make false steps and strain himself in 
 various places. A horse's foot should be kept as 
 near in the same position as a sucking colt's as pos- 
 sible. I shall now proceed to give some plain in- 
 structions about shoeing, without argument, mere- 
 ly saying that I have practiced these principles 
 
99 
 
 for many years, and whenever these principles 
 have been carried out as directed have never had 
 any difficulty with the feet, and not only that, it 
 will keep the feet in a handsome and neat form. 
 When a horse is to be shod, the less noise and con- 
 fusion the better he will behave, the blacksmith 
 should never halloo at or scold a horse, and much 
 less beat or strike them ; if coaxing does not do, 
 take some plan to confine them, as that is much 
 safer and does not spoil the disposition of a horse 
 or smith. When the foot is raised the blacksmith 
 should never try to wrestle with the horse to hold 
 the f :ot, but if a reasonable amount of force does 
 not hold the foot, let go and confine them in such 
 a manner as to oblige them to stand, so as not to 
 strain or injure them ; then be careful to cut all 
 the clinches so as to pull off the shoe without 
 wrenching the foot or allowing the clinches to 
 lodge in the foot to- cause lameness; then pear the 
 foot on the bottom side on the toe until all the 
 dead horn is gone, and nothing but good sound 
 horn left; clean out all the dead horn from the bot- 
 tom or sole, do not cut the frog only to cut off the 
 loose particles, no matter if it does project below 
 the shoe, it will do no harm, then with a rasp 
 level the heel, leaving as much as possible ; then 
 the foot is ready to have the shoe fitted; never at- 
 tempt to fit the shoe until the foot is peared. 
 Then fit the shoe just the shape of the foot follow- 
 
100 
 
 ing tae rim of the foot around to tlie frog. It is 
 not necessary for the shoe to project any at the 
 heel, either at the side or behind. Do not place 
 the shoe on to the foot ^hen hot to burn the foot 
 as the steam that is generated by the heat will 
 penetrate much farther than most persons would 
 suppose, and injure the foot; but with a common 
 rasp the foot may be leveled so that the shoe will 
 rest all the way around alike. Never spring the 
 heel to keep them from resting on the foot as that 
 brings too much pressure in one place, and causes 
 corns, or split hoof, or some other disease; drive 
 the nails no farther up than is necessary to get a 
 good substantial hold, as in driving them farther 
 it cuts the hoof to pieces unnecessarily. Wide 
 thin nails are the best, the nails should always be 
 as thin as they can be driven so as not to press 
 against the inner or sensitive part of the foot; and 
 in finishing the foot do not rasp it above the nails, 
 for in doing so the cuticle is destroyed and sub- 
 jects the foot to injury in getting wet and dry, &e. 
 It is not best to have the shoe any heavier than 
 is necessary to protect the foot, the calks should 
 be no larger than is absolutely necessary, and if 
 there are calks on the heel, there should be on the 
 toe also, so as to keep the foot standing level; the 
 calks should always lean a little from each other, 
 so as not to hold dirt or snow; the toe calk should 
 always project well forward, so that when the heel 
 
101 
 
 is raised the toe will still hold, and not slip to 
 strain or discourage the horse. Horses that cut 
 or interfere should have the inside of the foot 
 raised and the outside lowered, either by pearing 
 the foot or making the shoe thickest on the inside; 
 the object is to tip the ancles apart so as to give 
 room for the foot to pass. It is not necessary to 
 turn the calk or to bend the heel farther under the 
 foot, as they cut with the side of the foot instead of 
 the heel. For contracted feet, (See article on hoof- 
 bound.) For over-reaching or clickiDg, or cutting 
 the forward feet with the hind shoe, sometimes 
 the short shoe is best and sometimes the long one; 
 the only way is to try first one and then the other. 
 The whole science of shoeing consists in keeping 
 the foot as near the natural form as possible, for 
 when we attempt to force the foot from nature's 
 form we do an injury. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 INJURIES. 
 
 POLL-EVIL AND FISTULA. 
 
 This is caused by some injury to the poll of the 
 head, or to the wethers. When the poll is injured 
 it may be done by hitting it on the upper portion 
 of the stable, pulling at the halter, or knocking 
 over the head with a club, or by tight reining. 
 Fistula may be caused by a bad collar, or by bruis- 
 ing when rolling on the ground, by hitting it 
 against a stick or stone. Poll-evil in the first 
 stage, is a swelling on the top and back part, or 
 poll of the head. That is hot and tender, and 
 after a time matter accumulates, and forms in a 
 sort of sack, then breaks and discharges; the mus- 
 cles around then contract this sack until it is in 
 an oblong form ; then it is called a pipe. Fistu- 
 la is the same thing only located on the wethers. 
 When Poll-evil or Fistula first appears, examine 
 it carefully with the hand, and if there is no soft 
 place, then there is probably no matter formed, 
 and it may be driven away. Make a sack of thin 
 cloth large enough to cover the swelled place, and 
 
103 
 
 fill it with coarse salt, then moistea it with wa- 
 ter, and pour on it 1 oz. of venus turpentine, and 
 bind it on the swelled place at night, lor two or 
 three nights, moistening it w^ith water every time 
 before using, and if there is no matter accumula- 
 ted it W'ill drive it away. If on examining it 
 there is a soft place, or you think that there is 
 matter there, the sooner it is opened the better ; 
 take a seaton needle and put a piece of tape or 
 some kind of string into it, and smear the string 
 over with common fly blister salve, then put the 
 needle down through the swelling, and draw the 
 string in and leave it there ; in putting the needle 
 through put it in at the soft place and run it out 
 as low down as possible ; either tie the ends of 
 the string together, or tie a stick into each end, 
 so that it will not get pulled out ; turn it once a 
 day so as to keep the hole open. Let it remain 
 a week or ten days ; then pull it out and it will 
 readily heal up, and needs no medicine. If it is 
 already broke and discharging, it is then best to 
 give the cleansing powders for a week or so, so 
 as to get the system in a healthy condition ; then 
 wash the sore place off, and make some small 
 sticks, a little smaller than a pipe stem, and use 
 them for probes. Introduce one of the probes 
 into each place that matter is discharging, and 
 run them down as far as possible ; that will show 
 the depth and direction of the pipes, then take 
 
104 
 
 the roweling needle, as before directed, and intro- 
 dnce it by the side of the probe. The probe will 
 serve as a director ; and run it down to the bot- 
 tom of the pipe ; by measuring with the probe 
 and marking it on the needle, you will know 
 when you have got to the bottom. When at the 
 bottom take the probe out and guide the needle 
 out as low down as possible, and fix the string as 
 before directed. There must be one through 
 each pipe. Let the string remain ten days, or 
 until the matter that discharges becomes bloody ; 
 then take it out and it will heal without medicine. 
 It is best always to use the rowels if possible. 
 Sometimes the pipes run in such a direction that 
 it would not be possible to use the rowels ; if such 
 is the case take some nitrate of silver and pulverize 
 it finely, and add three times as much flour, take 
 the probe, wet it, dip it into the powder and 
 push it into the pipe, and repeat this until the 
 pipes are all filled, and leave it for three days ; 
 then with a syringe and soap and water clean it 
 all out nicely, and be very sure to keep it clean 
 by washing it out three or four times per day, and 
 each time after washing inject enough of the fol- 
 lowing to wet it nicely : chloride of zinc 2 grains, 
 to 1 oz. water, and continue this until it is h aled 
 up. If it does not heal up it is because the pipes 
 are not all destroyed, and the powdered nitrate of 
 silver will have to be used again, as before direc- 
 
105 
 
 ted. If it is an old standing case, or tlie disease 
 seems to be deep seated, or should you fail with, 
 the above treatment, then the only chance is to 
 cast the horse and cut it open, and take out all 
 the diseased parts, and treat it then as any fresh 
 wound. The chloride of zinc wash is the best to 
 heal it, as it will prevent proud flesh, 1 grain to 
 the oz. of water. In treating poll- evil and fistu- 
 la it is of the utmost importance to keep it clean, 
 and the horse should be kept in a stable, as in 
 running at grass and holding the head down, it 
 makes it worse, and almost impossible to cure ; 
 and after it is cured the horse should not be turn- 
 ed out for six months, as holding the head down 
 might bring it on again. It is also necessary 
 to be very careful to not let the harness rest on 
 the place where it has been cured, as the place 
 will remain tender for a long time, and there is 
 great danger of inducing it to break again. 
 
 INFLAMMATION OF THE VEIN AFTES 
 BLEEDING. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to mention a disease of 
 this kind, as it is so seldom met with ; but in 
 years gone by, when it was a common thing to 
 bleed for most any trifling complaint, it was very 
 common. The first appearance of this disease is 
 that theeages of the wound will spread apart, and 
 there will ooze out a thin, watery fluid ; then a 
 
106 
 
 small lump will appear, and perhaps several of 
 them along the course of the vein. These will 
 perhaps break and become running sores, and in 
 the end, the vein will be destroyed, and the 
 smaller blood vessels will have to perform the 
 office of the one destroyed. In the first stages of 
 this disease, the treatment must be in repeated 
 blistering ; and as often as one blister has healed, 
 apply another on the affected part. If the lumps 
 break and become running sores, then, with a 
 knife, make a cut so as to make them all into 
 one ; that is, run the cut from one to the other, 
 so as to let them all open, and treat the same as 
 any fresh wound. 
 
 FISTULIOUS PARATOIl) DLX^T. 
 
 There is, on the inside of the cheek, a duct or 
 pipe that conveys the saliva from the glands into 
 the mouth when the horse is eating. Sometimes, 
 the mouth of this duct gets closed by getting 
 hay seed, or some foreign substance into it, or there 
 may be a calculus, or lining enlargement that 
 closed the duct, and as the horse eats, the move- 
 ment of the jaw causes the glands to pour forth 
 the saliva into the duct, and that being closed, it 
 breaks through the cheek and makes an unnatu- 
 ral opening where the saliva will squirt out when 
 the horse moves the jaw. This is not a very 
 common complaint, and it is well it is not, as it is 
 
107 
 
 very difficult to cure. The plan is to first cut the- 
 edges of the openiug so as to make them raw^ 
 and as soon as the bleeding is stopped, take a good 
 sticking plaster, cut into strips, and draw the- 
 skin so as to bring the edges together and put the- 
 plaster on so as to hold it together ; and it is well 
 to put several of them on, one over the other,, 
 for the principle is to keep the edges together un- 
 til they heal. If you fail the first time, try 
 again, until you succeed in keeping them to- 
 gether. 
 
 BROKEN KNEE. 
 
 This is usually caused by a fall, or hitting 
 against some hard substance, and is usually of 
 much more importance than most of horse own- 
 ers are aware. Any bruise of the knee joint 
 should be attended to immediately, or the worst 
 consequences may follow. This injury is usually 
 on the forward limb, and if the skin is not bro- 
 ken, salt and water, or tincture of arnica, 2 oz. 
 in a quart of water, applied every half hour by 
 merely wetting the part ; and be sure to keep it 
 wet until there is no appearance of inflammation. 
 But if the skin is broken and loose below the 
 wound, make a hole through the skin at the low- 
 est part that it is loose, so that there may be a. 
 free discharge below ; then wash the wound off 
 by pouring water on it. Do not rub it with a 
 
108 
 
 sponge or your hands. Then keep it wet as above 
 directed, until the matter begins to discharge, 
 and be careful to keep the hole open below, and 
 do not put any bandages on. Then, instead of 
 the above wash, use the chlorade of zinc, say 1 
 grain to the oz. of water. Use this by merely 
 pouring it on so as to wet the place, four or five 
 times per day. The above treatment is all that is 
 required, with any injury to the joints, even 
 though the joint oil may discharge. This treat- 
 ment, properly applied, will stop it in a few days. 
 
 WOUNDS. 
 
 Wounds are of so many different kinds and 
 locations that it would hardly be possible to 
 describe them all, so I will only give the general 
 principles. If a wound has cut any of the blood 
 vessels, and they are of any size, they will have 
 to be taken up. This is done by catching hold of 
 them with a small, sharp hook, and tieing a piece 
 of white silk thread around them. If the wound 
 is of much size, it must be sewed up ; and be 
 •careful to take the stitches deep into the skin, so 
 that they will not break out in a few days. A 
 white silk cord, thoroughly waxed with beeswax, 
 is best, and make each stitch separate ; that is, 
 tie each stitch, so that if OLe breaks out it will 
 not involve the balance. If the wound is small 
 .and deep, then the hole should be made longer 
 
109 
 
 by cutting, so as to be sure to give a free dis- 
 charge. Then keep them wet with salt and wa- 
 ter, or tincture of arnica, 4 oz. to one quart of 
 water, until it begins to naatterate ; then use the 
 chloride of zinc wash, say 1 grain to the oz. of 
 water, four or five times per day ; and if proud 
 or fungoid flesh should get into the wound, use 
 the healing wash for old sores. It is best to nev- 
 er bandage a wound on a horse if it is possible to 
 get along without it, as the bandage chafes it and 
 creates inflammation., 
 
 STRAINS OR SPRAINS. 
 
 "Whenever a horse sprains, strains or bruises 
 any part, it should not be neglected, as it may 
 result in something very serious. I believe that 
 two-thirds of the blemishes that we so often see, 
 that are caused by strains and bruises, might be 
 avoided if attended to on the start. Many times,, 
 when a cord, or tendon, or ligament is strained 
 or bruised, there will be no serious symptoms for 
 several days. Then it will take an inflammation 
 of a serious character; and when these organs 
 once become diseased they are very difficult to- 
 manage. Neglect in a case of this kind is dan- 
 gerous indeed. The principle to be adopted in 
 all cases of strains, bruises, or injuries of this 
 kind is to subdue inflammation. This can always 
 be done by keeping the part constantly wet with 
 
110 
 
 tinything that is cooling. For instance, salt and 
 water, tincture of arnica and water, or any cool- 
 ing application, but it must be kept on cold all 
 the time, and if by neglect or inattention, mat- 
 ter accumulates, then the place should be opened, 
 always being careful to open in such a position that 
 there can be a free discharge, and then use the 
 wash aa above directed. 
 
 OPERATIONS. 
 
 NERVATOMY. 
 
 This is dividing the nerve of the forward leg, 
 just above the ankle, to destroy the sense of feel- 
 ing to the foot, and is highly recommended by 
 some of the English authors for certain diseases 
 of the foot, but in this country, it has got into 
 disrepilte, because it has been indiscriminately 
 practiced by men that either did not know the 
 consequence, or did not care ; aad the result was, 
 that in most cases, horses that have been nerved 
 have lost their feet by sloughing off. But for all 
 this, no doubt it is a humane operation, and re- 
 sults in much benefit when judiciously applied, 
 in certain cases. 
 
 TREACHOOTARY 
 
 . Consists in making a hole through the wind-pipe, 
 about fourteen inches below the jaw, and insert- 
 ing a tube about one inch in thickness, for 
 
Ill 
 
 the horse to breathe through in cases where they 
 are liable to strangle by some throat disease, and 
 let it remain until the disease is cured, then re- 
 move the tube and let it heal. 
 
 ROWELING. 
 
 This is done by threading a piece of tape into 
 a seton needle, and putting the needle through 
 the akin, and draw the tape in and let it remain, 
 either tying the ends together or tying small 
 sticks into each end to prevent it from getting 
 pulled out, and to put something on to the tape 
 to create a discharge. I generally use common 
 fly blister salve. All rowels should be pulled 
 through every day so as to keep the hole open. 
 Rowels are used many times in cases of inflamma- 
 tion of the eyes. Then they are put into the 
 cheek, three or four inches below the eye. They 
 are used in most cashes of blood diseases. Then 
 they are put into the breast, and I generally, in 
 cases of this kind, put in at least two. In water 
 farcy, they are put into the swelled part. In the 
 poll evil and fistula, they are put down through 
 the pipes. They are frequently used in swellings 
 and callouses, and whenever they are used they 
 should be allowed to remain as long as they dis- 
 charge freely ; and in some cases, it is best to 
 put more blister salve on the string and draw it 
 in, to renew the discharge. When it begins to 
 
112 
 
 dry up, and it is thought best to take them out, 
 merely cut the string and pull them out, and it 
 will heal up itself, and will not need medicine. 
 
 DOCKING 
 
 Is cutting off the tail, and it is done whenever it is 
 wished to make a bob-tail. Many times, horses 
 have very long and heavy tails, so that they do 
 not carry up, and by cutting a piece off the tail 
 it will improve them ; and it is also done when 
 the tail is crooked near the end. It is done by 
 first parting the hair nice and even at the place 
 where you wish to cut, and tying the hair that 
 is designed to leave on the tail, back out of the 
 way, then lay a block on the top of the hips, and 
 stand by the side of the horse ; draw the tail 
 up over the back until it rests on the block 
 in the right position, and let an assistant stand 
 on the other side of the horse and hold it there ; 
 then place some sharp instrument, like a chisel, 
 on it, and with a blow from a mallet, or hammer, 
 cut it off. Be sure to cut it at one blow. Then 
 let it bleed a few minutes, and bind on the end a 
 small bunch of hog manure, or horse manure, and 
 pull the hair down over it, and tie it in such a 
 manner as to keep the manure tight up against 
 the end of the tail, and that will stop the bleed- 
 ing. Let it remain for twenty-four hours, then 
 take it off and wash the tail clean, and it will 
 
113 
 
 heal without difficulty, and leave scarcely any 
 bald place. Do not burn the end of the tail, or 
 cord it tight to stop the bleeding, as that will 
 cause the hair near the end to drop out and leave 
 too large a bald place. 
 
 PKICKING OR NICKING. 
 
 Nicking is to take a piece of the cord of the tail 
 out, so as to make the tail stationarily erect. This is 
 an old-fashioned practice, and is not used now. 
 Pricking is merely to separate the cords on the low- 
 er corners of the tail, so as to allow the tail to be 
 raised higher than it otherwise would be. The tail 
 may be cut off so as to make a bob-tail or not, ac- 
 cording to fancy. To prick a horse, place him in 
 stocks or fasten them so they cannot kick the opera- 
 tor. Stand behind the horse and grasp the tail with 
 the left hand and raise it so it will be straight up, 
 and with the right hand, insert a knife a little up 
 on one side, near to the edge of the hair, and 
 about one inch from the body, and push the blade 
 towards the center of the bottom of the tail un- 
 til it reaches nearly to the center, but do not push 
 it clear out. Then turn the edge of the knife 
 towards you and cut until you feel the edge of 
 the knife against the skin with the thumb, or un- 
 til the cord is cut entirely off. Then change 
 hands, and with the left hand, cut the other side 
 
 in the same manner. Once cutting on each side 
 
 8 
 
114 
 
 will be enougli, if it is only wished to raise tlie 
 tail without cutting it off, or if it is wished to 
 have it straight from the body out ; but if it is 
 wished to have a half jockey tail, or to have it a 
 little curved up, then cut again on both sides, 
 about two inches farther out ; and if it is wished 
 to have a full jockey tail, or to curve well up, 
 then make still another cut on each side, about 
 one and a half inches farther out towards the 
 end. If it is merely wished to raise the tail, it is 
 not necessary to put the horse in pulleys, but 
 every day give the tail a sudden and hard pull up 
 over the back for three or four weeks ; but if it 
 is desired to make a bob-tail, then stand the 
 horse in a narrow stall, and attach a pulley to the 
 upper floor, on each side, so that they will be 
 about opposite the horse's hips. They should be 
 attached by strings so as to allow them to turn 
 either way ; then attach a cord in the center to 
 the hair on the end of the tail, and let each end 
 of the cord run up over the pulleys and down to 
 the floor, and attach just enough weight to each 
 end of the cord to pull the tail up a little higher 
 than it is wished to have it when it is done. Give 
 the horse some feed when he is first put in the 
 pulleys so as to attract his attention until he gets 
 used to them ; and it is necessary to keep him 
 standing in a position to keep the tail straight all 
 the time he remains in the pulleys. After the first 
 
115 
 
 night, he will lay down and make himself 
 comfortable, and thej generally gain in flesh 
 faster while in the pulleys than at any other time. 
 The next day after the pricking take him out 
 and wash the tail clean, and move the horse gent- 
 ly for about fifteen minutes, then put him back, 
 and do so every day for four or five days ; if the 
 tail gets hot and feverish keep it wet with salt and 
 water so as not to loosen the hair. In about a 
 week cut the tail off, (See Docking,) leaving the 
 length about one inch for every hundred pounds 
 weight of the horse, thenpuUy again but be care- 
 ful to not use any of the hairs at the end of the 
 tail, but use the hairs that are farther back, and 
 keep the horse in the pulley for two weeks steady, 
 then afterwards keep him in when not at work 
 for two weeks longer. 
 
 CROOKED TAILS. 
 
 Many horses carry their tails to one side, which 
 is considered by most horse men as a serious de- 
 fect ; this may be remedied by cutting the cord 
 on the side that the tail crooks to, the same as 
 pricking. (See pricking and nicking.) The cut 
 must be made about the point where the crook is 
 and only cut on one side. Sometimes it is necessa- 
 ry to cut it in two, and, even then place as the 
 judgment of the operator may decide ; then the 
 tail should be kept tied around to the collar on 
 
116 
 
 the opposite side when the horse is not at work 
 for three weeks, so as to keep the ends of the cords 
 apart until the vacant place fills up so as to 
 lengthen the cord on that side. 
 
 BLEEDING. 
 
 The practice of bleeding horses for every diffi- 
 culty that used to be so common, and I am sorry 
 to say is still practiced by some professional horse 
 doctors, I believe is abandoned by practitioners 
 on the human subject, and why not abandon it on 
 horses, fcr every thinking man must acknowledge 
 that blood is never drawn from the system without 
 injury ; but there are some cases where the symp- 
 toms are so urgent that we have to bleed to give 
 temporary relief, even though it does injury in 
 the end ; and above all the practice of bleeding in 
 the mouth I consider most cruel and barbarious. 
 What would be thought of the physician that 
 would bleed his patients in the mouth. I believe 
 that some claim there are great results from allow- 
 ing a horse to swallow the blood when bled in the 
 mouth ; even was this so, would it not be better to 
 draw it from the vein and drench with it, then 
 the practitioner would know how large a dose he 
 was giving. The most convenient place to bleed 
 is in the jugular or neck vein, place a cord around 
 the neck near to the body and draw it tight, and 
 the vein will fill with blood so that it may be 
 
117 
 
 plainly seen, then place the fleam on and with a 
 suitable stick knock it in and the blood will spout 
 forth, or it may be done with a lance or common 
 knife. Take the blade between the thumb and fore 
 finger allowing enough of the blade to project to 
 penetrate the vein so that the thumb and finger 
 will form a guard, and not allow the blade to enter 
 too far, and always make the cut lengthways of 
 the vein. The vein may be penetrated wherever 
 it shows itself the most plain. As soon as you have 
 got blood enough slack on the cord and it will al- 
 most stop bleeding ; then stick a pin through the 
 edges of the skin and draw them together, and 
 pull a little hair out of the mane and wind it 
 around ; pull it out in twenty-four hours after- 
 wards. Sometimes it is necessary to bleed below 
 the eye in acute inflammation of the eye ; place 
 the thumb of the left hand across the face about 
 two inches below the eye and press on to it, and 
 the vein will show itself above ; then with any 
 sharp pointed knife open the vein, and a very little 
 blood will answer, and it will not be necessary to 
 pin up the hole as it rarely ever bleeds enough to 
 do injury ; but bleeding below the eye is simply 
 temporary relief consequently it is necessary to 
 proceed at once with medicine for the eye. 
 
 SURGICAL OPERATIONS. 
 
 It will be impossible to describe the different 
 surgical operations that are necessary some times ; 
 
118 
 
 but a few plain words of advice will perhaps not 
 be out of the way. Before attempting even the 
 smallest surgical operation, the operator should 
 have a correct knowledge of the parts where he 
 is going to operate, as there are sometimes serious 
 results from cutting that is done by the hand of 
 the ignorant. To make any surgical operation, 
 contemplate well the part where you are going to 
 operate, and make up your mind before com- 
 mencing just where you are going to cut, and how 
 much you are to cut, and always be careful to 
 accomplish as much at one cut as possible. Draw 
 the knife smoothly, so as not to mangle ; be sure 
 that the patient is well secured before commencing, 
 also be sure that every thing is at hand that may 
 be wanted — water, sponge, needles, cord, knife, a 
 hook to take up the blood-vessels, and caustic to 
 stop the bleeding, and all necessary dressings to 
 dress the wound. In sewing up a wound make 
 each stitch by itself; that is, tie each stitch before 
 making another, so that should one stitch break 
 it would not affect the next. Never cut out any 
 of the loose skin where you have taken out a 
 tumor, as it will eventually all shrink down and 
 leave the less scar. The operator should always 
 allow the assistants to confine or cast the horse 
 under his direction, so as to keep his nerves calm. 
 Always be sure that there is as little noise and con- 
 fusion as possible when cutting. Should the 
 
119 
 
 horse struggle, wait until the struggles cease. If 
 there is any skin to be kept out of the way, put 
 a cord through it with a needle, and allow one of 
 the assistants to hold it ; and also if there is a 
 tumor being cut out, put one in for the operator 
 to hold on to and turn in either direction, as the 
 case may require. The operator should never be 
 governed by what the bystanders may say, but 
 be careful and keep himself free from excitement, 
 and work with a bold and firm hand, and good 
 common sense will direct nearly everything that 
 is to be done. 
 
 DISLOCATED JOINTS AND BROKEN LIMBS. 
 
 It will hardly be possible to give any correct 
 knowledge on this part of the subject, without the 
 reader has a correct knowledge of Anatomy, but 
 still some plain directions will not be out of place, 
 as it is not always possible to obtain the services 
 of a veterinary surgeon. Happily dislocated joints 
 are not very common with horses. After a joint 
 is dislocated the sooner it is put into place the 
 easier it can be done. The directions here given 
 for dislocated joints will answer equally as well 
 for broken limbs. If the joint has become so badly 
 swollen that you cannot feel the joint plainly, 
 then go to work with warm hop tea and keep 
 bathing the part until you get the swelling 
 enough reduced to operate. I will hear relate a 
 
120 
 
 case tlidt I once treated which, will serve as a 
 guide. A fine four year old stallion dislocated 
 his ankle so that the foot turned almost up by the 
 side of the leg ; the owner was about to destroy 
 the horse, but finally concluded to send for me. 
 "When I arrived, after examining the limb, I or- 
 dered one the assistants to bathe the joint with 
 tincture ot lobelia and warm water, to relax the 
 parts, and to continue the bathing for half an 
 hour. I then ordered a bandage to be prepared 
 of good stout cloth, about two and a half inches 
 wide and five or six yards long, and to have it 
 starched with good flour starch. I then rolled it 
 up into a small bunch and prepared some splints 
 about eight inches long and one inch wide, and 
 then I ordered the horse to be cast, which was 
 soon done, and the well legs well fastened togeth- 
 er. I put a long strap around the foot of the 
 limb that I was to operate on, and had one of the 
 assistants take hold of it and pull straight out, 
 commencing gently at first, and increasing the 
 force unil it was sufficiently extended, and then 
 with my hands I crowded the bones into place, 
 and allowed one of the attendents to support the 
 limb while I bound the bandage on by putting it 
 round and round, and drawing it tighter every 
 time ; after I had wound it several times around 
 I placed the splints on and bound the bandage 
 over them and pinned the end. I then allowed 
 
121 
 
 the horse to rise, the next day he could bear a lit- 
 tle heft on the toe. I let the bandage remain one 
 week, then removed it and applied a bandage of 
 flannel cloth, and allowed him to wear that one 
 week ; and in three weeks after I set the joint the 
 horse was driven to a buggy and run away with- 
 out injuring the joint. 
 
 The above will I think be sufficient to instruct 
 how to manage most of cases of this kind. Good 
 common sense will direct most any person how to 
 manage a broken or dislocated limb. 
 
 HOW TO GIVE mp:dicines. 
 
 Some kind of medicines may be given by put- 
 ting it into the food or drink, but more frequently 
 it has to be given in a drench or pills. Never 
 drench a horse through the nose as it is danger- 
 ous. When you want to drench a horse, put a 
 bridle on to him and allow an assistant to get up 
 over head in the barn and draw the head up, and 
 be sure to get it well up ; do not pull the tongue 
 out for the horse needs the use of it in swallow- 
 ing ; then with a long necked bottle or horn, pour 
 enough into the mouth for one swallow, and if the 
 horse does not readily swallow it, wait and give 
 him time ; and if that does not do, place the hand 
 over the nostrils and stop the breathing for a 
 moment, and as you let go, give the head a sud- 
 den start or push, and whatever there is in the 
 
122 
 
 moutli will go down. Never pound the throat or 
 halloo at the horse, but take tinie enough and get 
 it down without injury, or abusing the sick horse. 
 To give pills get a stick like a whip stalk, and cut 
 a notch in the end, cover the pill with very thin 
 paper and grease it with some soft oil ; put it on 
 the end of the stick ; let the assistant raise the 
 head and pull the tongue out at one side ; you 
 then grasp the lip on the upper jaw to assist in 
 keeping the mouth open, and to steady the head^ 
 then put the pill as far back on the tongue as 
 possible, and turn the stick so that it will drop 
 off, and let go the tongue, and it will go down. 
 
CHA]PTER XV. 
 
 Ik 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 SPAVIN AND RINGBONE iMEDICINE. 
 
 This medicine is to be used for any case of 
 ringbone or spavin. It is good for windgalls, 
 thickened glands, and old callouses. Apply as 
 for windgalls. Take of cantharides, 2 oz., mercu- 
 rial ointment, 4 oz., corrosive sublimate, 3 drams, 
 turpentine, 3 oz., tincture of iodine, 2 oz., eu- 
 phrobium, 1 oz. ; mix well with 2 lbs. of lard. 
 If for ringbone or bone-spavin, cut off the hair 
 from the part affected, and merely grease the 
 lump with the ointment, rubbing it well in with 
 the hand. In two days, grease the part with lard, 
 and in four days, wash it off with water and 
 soap and apply the ointment again, and repeat it 
 every four days. If for windgalls, bog-spavin, 
 curbs, splints, enlarged glands, or any unnatural 
 growths, lumps, or callouses, apply only every six 
 days. 
 
 HOW TO MAKE DROPS TO MAKE OLD HORSES 
 YOUNG. 
 
 Take tincture of asafoetida, 1 oz., tincture can- 
 tharides, 1 oz., antimony, 2 oz., fennegreak, 1 oz. 
 
124 
 
 fourth proof braady, i galloa ; let it stand 10 or 
 12 days, and give ten drops in a pail of water of 
 one gallon. 
 
 NERVE AND BONE LINIMENT. 
 
 Ooe oz. spirits of turpentine, i oz. oil arganum, 
 
 1 oz. oil spike, 1 oz. British, oil, 1 oz. tine, of myrrh, 
 
 2 oz. compound tine, of myrrh or tine, of capsi- 
 oum, 2 oz. tincture camphor. For any old chron- 
 ic complaint, add 1 oz. tincture of cantharides. — 
 
 1 have used this liniment for over fifteen years 
 •on man and beast, for strains, bruises, cuts, burns, 
 and particularly rheumatism. It will pay every 
 •one to keep some of it on hand. 
 
 CLEANSING POWDERS. 
 
 These are good for all cases where the blood is out 
 of order, such as farcy, yellow water, grease heel, 
 indigestion, worms, loss of appetite. They are to be 
 used as a general cleansing condition or regula- 
 ting medicine, and wherever it is used it is high- 
 ly spoken of. Take 4 oz. powder gentian, 4 oz. 
 pulverized blood root, 4 oz. golden seal, IJ oz. 
 nitre, J oz. crude antimony, i oz. calomel ; mix all 
 well together, and give one large spoonful at a 
 dose, in wet food. They are perfectly safe. If the 
 horse is troubled with worms or yellow water, add 
 
 2 oz. more calomel. 
 
125 
 
 IODINE OINTMEKT, EXCELLENT FOR MAN OR 
 
 BEAST. 
 
 For rhenmatism, sprains, burns, swellings^ 
 bruises, or any inflammation on man or beast ; 
 chapped bands or lips, black eyes, or any kind 
 of bruises. Take fresb butter, 2 lbs., tincture of 
 iodine, 3 oz., oil arganum, 2 oz. Mix these well 
 together for fifteen minutes, and it is fit for use. 
 Apply every night and rub in well with the 
 hands. If for human flesh, lay on with flannel. 
 
 LINIMENT FOR SWELLINGS. 
 
 Take linseed oil, i pint, tincture iodine, 3 oz., 
 turpentine, 4 oz., oil of arganum, 1 oz. ; shake 
 well and apply it every day ; rub it well with 
 your hand ; wash the part well with soap and 
 water before applying it. This is good for any 
 swelling. 
 
 LINIMENTS FOR CONTRACTED TENDONS OF THE 
 
 NECK, OR ANY CONTRACTED TENDONS 
 
 OR CORDS. 
 
 One pint of sweet oil, 1 oz. gum camphor, 1 oz. 
 tincture of opium. Apply and rub the part well 
 with the hand. 
 
 HEALING WASH FOR OLD SORES. 
 
 Four oz. pulverized blood root, 1 oz. camphor 
 gum, 6 oz. tincture of arnica, and add enough 
 alcohol to make one quart. Shake it well, then 
 let it settle and it is fit for use. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 »♦ » 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGB. 
 
 DISEASES OP THE BRAIN, 12 
 
 luflammation of the Brain — Blind Staggers — Hydrophobia 
 or Madness — Tetanis or Lock Jaw — Paralysis, Partial or 
 Complete. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE EYE, 18 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE MOUTH, 20 
 
 Lampers — Canker or Sore Mouth. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE NOSTRILS, : 22 
 
 Nasal Polypus. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE THROAT, 24 
 
 Sore Throat — Cough — Choking. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE CHEST, ITS DISEASES, 28 ' 
 
 Lung Fever— Dropsy of the Chest — Heart Disease. 
 
7 
 'I 
 
 127 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE STOMACH, 34 
 
 Inflammation of the Stomach — Chronic Inflammation of the 
 Stomach — Crib Biting — Bots. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE BOWELS, 42 
 
 Spasmodic CoHc — Windy Cohc — Inflammation of the Bow- 
 els — Acute Dysentery — Chronic Dysentery — Worms — 
 Influenza. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DISEASES OE THE URINARY ORGANS, 51 
 
 Inflammation of the Kidneys — Inflammation of the Bladder 
 — Stoppage of the Water — Stone in the BUidder — Bloody 
 Urine — Diabetes, or too free a discharge of the Water. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE SKIN, 56 
 
 Mange — Ring Worm — Surfeit — Lice — Larvae, or Grubs in 
 the Skin — Warts— Tumors — Swelled or Stocked Legs — 
 Sitfast — Grease Heel— Malanders and Sallanders — 
 Scratches or Cracked Heel. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SPECIFIC DISEASES, 63 
 
 Heayes or Wind Broken — Mellanoises — Water Farcy — Pur- 
 pura Hemorrhagica — Distemper or Strangles — Glanders — 
 Button Farcy— I'ellovy Water. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DISEASES OF THE LIMBS, 74 
 
 Bone Spavin — Splint — Ringbone — Curb — Bog Spavin and 
 Thoroughpin — Stringhalt — Shoulder Jam and Sweeny — 
 Capped Knee — Capped Hock— Capped Elbow— The Stifle 
 -^Blood Spavin. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DISEASES AND ACCIDENTS OF THE FEET, . . 88 
 
 Cracked Hoof— False Quarter— Seedy Toe— Calked Tread 
 and Over-reaching — Corns in the Feet — Quitter— Thrush 
 or Canker of the Foot— Founder — Coffin Joint Lameness 
 — Hoof Bound and Contz-acted Feet — Shoeing. 
 
128 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 INJURIES, 102 
 
 Poll-Evil and Fistula — Inflammation of the Veins after 
 Bleeding — Fistulious Paratoid Duct — Broken Knee — 
 Wounds — Strains or Sprains — Operations — Nervatomy — 
 Treachootary — Roweling — Docking — Pricking or Nicking 
 — Crooked Tail — Bleedmg — Surgical Operations — Dislo- 
 cated Joints — How to give Medicine. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 RECEIPTS, 123 
 
 Spavin and Ringbone Medicine — How to make the Drops to 
 make the old horse young— Nerve and Bone Liniment — 
 Cleansing Powders — Iodine Ointment — Liniment for 
 Swellings — Liniment for Contracted Tendons of the Neck 
 — Healing Wash for old sores. 
 
4