9£> W '-^; THE OUTLINES OF THE VETERINARY ART; OR, THE PRINCIPLES OF MEDICINE, AS APPLIES TO THE STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONS, AND OBCONOMY, OF THE HORSE, AND TO A MORE SCIENTIFIC AND SUCCESSFUL MANNER OF TREATING HIS VARIOUS DISEASES: COMPREHENDING, ALSO, A CONCISE VIEW OF THOSE OF NEAT CATTLE AND SHEEP. ILLUSTRATED BV ANATOMICAL AND SURGICAL PLATES. BY DELABERE BLAINE. COMPLETELY REVISED, AND ENLARGED BY IMPORTANT ADDITIONS AND NEW FIGURES. LONDON: printed for boosey and sons; longman, hurst, rees, orme, brown, and green; callow and wilson; sherwood, gilbert, and piper; G. B. WHITTAKER; SIMPKIN and MARSHALL; J. DUNCAN; HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.; BURGESS AND HILL; AND S. HICHLEY. 1826. Compton and Ritchie, Printers, Middle Street, Cloth Fair. PJRT THE FIRST. SECTION I. Pase. HiSTORYof Veterinary Me- dicine .......... . 1 SECTION II. History of Veterinary Medi- cine in Great Britain 10 History of the Veterinary Col- lege 14 SECTION HI. Of the proper Means for the Attainment of the Veteri- nary Art 24 SECTION IV. Exterior Conformation of the Horse 26 Ofthe Teeth as characterising the Age 32 Colour of Horses 50 Page. Varied Form according to the several Uses to which Horses are applied 52 SECTION V. Paces of the Horse 63 SECTION VI. Condition of Horses 62 Getting a Horse into Condition 71 SECTION VII. Stable Management 73 The Stable itself tb. Feeding • 79 Watering 84 Dressing, or Grooming 85 Management of the Feet. ... 86 Appointments ofthe Horse. . 87 Exercise ib. PART THE SECOND, THE ANATOMY OF THE HORSE. SECTION VIII. Osteology, or the Bones of the Horse.. 92 Bones of the Head 95 of the Trunk 106 of the Anterior Extre- mities 113 ■ ofthe Posterior Extre- mities r 124 SECTION IX. Syndesmology,or the Appen- dages to Bone 132 SECTION X. Myology........ 135 Muscles of the Headand Neck 139 of the Trunk 143 ...^ — of the Extremities. . 337, 353 CONTENTS. SECTION XI. Page. Buisalogy , 146 SECTION XII. Angiology 147 Of Arteries, generally ib. Ofthe Pulse 153 Distribution of the Arteries 155 The Anterior Aorta ih. The Posterior Aorta 160 The Pulmonary Vessels 164 The Veins, generally ib. Of particular Veins 166 The Anterior Cava 167 The Posterior Cava 171 General Remarks on the Blood Vessels 172 Absorbent System 173 SECTION XIII. Neurology 179 The Brain ib. The Cerebrine Nerves 183 The Spinal Nerves 188 SECTION XIV. Adenology 194 SECTION XV. Splanchnology 196 Common Integuments ib. TheHair ib. The Cuticle, or outer Skin... 199 The Cutis, or inner Skin 200 The Adipose Membrane and Fat 201 The Cellular Membrane 203 The Panniculus Carnosus ib. Anatomy of the Head 205 TheEar ib. The Eye 209 TheNose 219 The Cavity of the Mouth and surrounding Parts 222 The Pharynx and Larynx., 228 Voice in Animals 230 Anatomy of the Neck 237 Anatomy ofthe Thorax 239 The Pleura, Mediastinum, an d Diaphragm 242 The Heart 244 The Circulation of the Blood 247 The Lungs 250 Page. Physiology of Respiration... , 253 Nature and Properties of the Blood 255 Anatomy of the Abdomen 262 The Regions of the Belly .... 263 ThcStomach 266 Physiology of Digestion 272 The Intestines 281 Economy of the Intestines. . . 287 The Liver 289 Economy of the Liver 291 The Pancreas 292 The Spleen ib. The Kidnies 294 Secretion of the Urine 296 The Pelvis 298 The Bladder 299 Male Organs of Generation. . 301 Female Organs of Generation 312 SECtlON XVI. (Estrum, Conception, Preg- nancy, and Evolution ofthe Foetus 315 Physiology of Gestation, and the subject ofthe Breeding of Horses considered 321 The Fcetal Colt 326 Management of Mares during Pregnancy, and of the Colt till reared 333 SECTION XVII. Structure ,Functions, and Eco- nomy of the Extremities.. . 334 Description of the Fore Limbs 336 Their Muscles 338 The Ligaments of the Fore Limbs. , 342 Description of the Hinder Limbs. 345 Muscles of the Hinder Limbs 348 Ligaments of the Hinder Limbs.... 353 Structure, Functions,andEco- nomy of the Foot 356 Its Exterior Parts 357 Its Interior Parts 366 SECTION XVIII. Hygrology, or a Description of the Fluids 370 CONTENTS. PART THE THIRD, DISEASES OF THE HORSE. The Terms commonly used by Farriers are distinguished by Italics, and inclosed in Crotchets. PHge. Of Disease Generally,. . 376 CLASS I. Diffused or general Inflam- 'mation "378 Of Fever Generally 386 Common Fever 388 Epidemic or Catarrhal Fever \_Distemper'] 392 Malignant Epidemic Fever [^Murrain or Pest] 398 Symptomatic Fever 402 CLASS II, Inflammation of Organs essential to Life. Inflammation of the Brain \^Mad Staggers, Phrenzy Fever] 404 Specific Inflammation of the Stomach [Stomach Stag- gers] 408 Inflammation of the Lungs [The Rot, Rising of the Lights] 413 Chronic Inflammation of the Lungs, or Pulmonary Con- sumption 427 Inflammation of the Heart. . . 428 • of the Stomach . ib. — — of the Intestines [RedColic] 429 of ditto, from Superpurgation 432 of the Liver..... 433 • of the Kidnies . 435 — of the Body of the Bladder 439 • of the Neck of the Bladder 440 of the Womb. . 441 CLASS III. Inflammation of Mucous Membranes. Page. Catarrh [Morfoundering, or Common Cold] 443 Roaring 444 Chronic Cough 446 ThickWind 448 Broken Wind 449 Modes of distinguishing Sound- ness and Unsoundness of the Wind 453 Sore Throat 454 Glanders 455 Farcy 462 Dysentery [Molten Grease, Body Founder] 467 CLASS IV. Diseases of the Braiii andJVerves. Inflammation of the Brain — see Class II Epilepsy [Sturdy or Turn- sick] 471 Paralysis ib. Spasm' 472 Locked Jaw [Stag Evil].. . . ib. Stringhalt 479 Spasmodic Colic — see Class V CLASS V. Diseases of the Alimentary Canal. Inflammation of the Intestines — see Class II of the Stomach -see Class II Spasmodic Colic [Gripes, Fret, or Gullion] 478 Indigestion, Chronic 482 Acute [Staggers in Horses, Hoven in Cattle] 483 CONTENTS. Page. Lanipas ,\ 48G Worms 487 Costi vencss 493 Diarrhoea, or Looseness [^Scour- ing] ih. Cribbiting 498 Hernia 499 Stones iii the Intestines — see Class IX. CLASS VI. Diseases of the Glands. Hepatitis — see Class II Jaundice [ Yellows'] 50 1 Inflammation of the Spleen. . 502 Bloody Urine ib. Diabetes, or Profuse Staling [Piss- ing E ml] 503 Gravel— ^ee Class IX Stone in the Kidnies — .^ee Class IX CLASS VIL Diseased Collectio7is of Fluid within circumscribed Cavities. Dropsy of the Head 504 of the Chest ib. . of the Pericardium.. 506 of the Belly ib. Capsular Dropsy— .^ee Class XV. CLASS VIII. Diseased Collections of Fluid ivithin the Cellular 3Iembrane. Dropsy of the Skin [prater Farcy] 507 Swelled Legs ib. CLASS IX. Calcular Concretions. Stone in the Intestines 509 in the Kidnies ib. in the Bladder ib. CLASS X. Morbid Poisons. Malignant Epidemic — see Class I Glanders and Farcy— see Class III Mange— ^ee 67«5* XIX Rabid Madness 511 Venomous Reptile Bite 512 Vegetable Poisons ib. Mineral Poisons 513 LOCAL INFLAMMATION. Page. Principles and Doctrine of Local Inflammation 514 CLASS XI. OffTounds 518 Wounds of the Head 522 oftheNeck 523 of the Chest ib. of the Belly 524 of the Joints 525 of the Bursae and the The- cal Cavities 527 of Arteries 528 of Veins 529 Morbid Consequences of Bloodlet- ting ♦ ib. Broken Knees 532 Gunshot Wounds 533 CLASS XII. Of Ulcers. 534 Pole Evil 535 Fistulous Withers 537 Ulcers in the Mouth 538 Thrush — see Class XX Strangles 538 CLASS XIII. Of hiflammatory Tumours. Phlegmon 540 Abscess ib. Pole BvWsee Class XII Fistulous Withers— .y^e Class XII Tumefied Neck — see Class XI Parotids — see Strangles CLASS XIV. Of Indurated Tumours. B\{QVim2kt\s,m[Fly in g Lamenesses] , 541 Anticor 543 Lamp as — see Class V AVarbles 543 Bruises 544 Strains, General Treatment of ib. Extension of the Muscles of tlie Shoulder [Strain] 545 Extension of the Flexor Tendons and their Sheaths [Clap in the Back Sinews] 547 CONTENTS. Page. Tumefied Tendon from Overreach- ing [^OverreacJi] 549 Rupture of the Suspensory Liga- ment \_Breahing Down~\ . . ib. Rupture of the Flexor Tendon of the Foot \_Brea1cing Down'] 550 Extension of the Ligaments of the Fetlock [^Strain in the Fetlock'] ib. Extension of the Ligaments of the Pastern and Coffin [^Strain in theCoffin] 551 Extension of the Articulations of the Femur with the Pelvis [AS'^r«m in the TVliirlbone] ib. Extension of the Femur with the T\\i\di\_Strain of the Stifle] 552 CLASS XV. Of Encysted Tumours. Varix \_Blood Spavin] ..... 553 Diseased Enlargement of the Bur- sse Mucosae of the Pasterns IJVindgalls] 554 Ditto of the Inside of the Hock \_Bog Spavin] 555 Ditto of the Posterior Part of the Hock [^Thoroughpin] .... 556 Ditto of the Point of the Hock [Capulet] ib Ditto of the Elbow ib. Ditto of the Knee 557 CLASS XVL Fractures and Dislocations Fracture of the Skull of the Zygomatic - of the Jaw Bones. . - of the Nose - of the Ribs - of the Vertebras. .., - of the Extremities. Dislocations , 557 558 Arch ib. ib. 559 ib. ib. . 560 562 CLASS XVH. Diseases of the Bones. Caries, or Mortification 562 Exostosis • 563 Splint 565 Page. Bone Spavin 567 Of Curb 669 Of Ringbone 570 Of Anchylosis ib. CLASS xvin. Diseases of the Eye. Ophthalmia Membranarum [^3Ioon Blindness] 572 Cataract 580 Gutta Serena [^Glass Eyes]... 581 CLASS XIX. Diseases of the Skin. Grease 581 Mallenders and Sallenders . . 590 Warts 591 Mange ib. Surfeit ib. Hidebound 593 CLASS XX. Diseases of the Feet. Founder, Acute 593 Founder, Chronic ; or Contracted Feet 598 Groggy Feet 613 Pumiced Feet ib. Corns 615 Thrush.: 618 Sandcrack , 620 Pricked or Punctured Foot.. 622 Tread, or Overreach 625 Quittor ib. Canker 629 False Quarter 632 OPERATIONS. Shoeing in Generdl. History of 632 La Fosse's Shoe 634 Osmer's ditto 635 Mr. Clark's ditto ib. Mons. St. Bell's ditto ib. Mr. Morecroft's ditto ... ib. Veterinary College ditto 636 Mr. Bracy Clark's Paratrite.. G38 A general Shoe 639 An improved ditto 643 Restraints ; as the Twitch line, Casting, &c 043 Castration 647 Bronchotomy 049 OiJsophafifotomy ib. Neurotomy 050 Dockins: 055 CONTENTS. Pa^e. Side- Page. Nicking.. 050 Cropping 060 Phlebotomy, or Bloodletting.. 661 Purgation, or Physicking. . . , 603 Firing 672 Blistering.. .. 674 PART THE FOURTH. VETF.RINARY MATERIA MEDIC A 079-714 DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. Plate I to face page 94 '^ II 39 i/ III 205^ IV 239/ V 281*^ VI 334 ^. VII 335 / VIII c 340 ^ IX 356^ ERRATUM. Page 511, for the head line " Hydrophobia," read Rabid Madness. The few Typographical and the more numerous Orthographical and Sj'ntactical Errors ?hlch have escaped the Author's notice, he trusts the candid Keaderwill rectify and exc«be. PREFACE THE Veterinary Outlines having passed through two large Editions, and a Third being now called for, it remains for me to assure that Public under whose kind patronage it has thus flourished, that no endeavours have been wanting on my part to render this Third Edition also worthy of the same reception, by making it a summary of all the additional experience I have myself gained, and of all the improve- ments projected or carried into effect by others. That such public patronage may not be thought to be granted without some discrimination, 1 may add that the Work has now been translated into almost every European language, and that from some of the most celebrated Continental Veterinary Schools the Author has received the most flattering testimo- nials of the estimation in which it is held. A new Plate has been added on the Operation of Neurotomy, together with a full Account of the Method of performing this popular addition to the Veterinarian's practice, and the Cases to which it is applicable. I PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. FOURTEEN years have elapsed since the first appearance of this Work, during* which period a very extensive veteri- nary practice may be supposed to have enabled me to make many important additions to it, particularly to its practical part. In fact, the present Edition has been entirely recom- posed ; and some subjects which entered into the former, and which may be, perhaps, as conveniently gained from other sources (as a History of Human Medicine, a Treatise on Comparative Anatomy, &c.)., have given place, in the present, to a more minute Examination of the exterior Conformation of the Horse ; a philosophical and mechanical Inquiry into the Nature, Cause, and Manner of Progression ; a compre- hensive Treatise on Condition, Dieting and Stable Manage- ment, &c. ; which alterations, it is presumed, will render the work as interesting and useful to the amateur as to the prac- titioner and veterinary student. To this Edition has also been added a Veterinary Materia Medica : if, therefore, in its former dress, it received the following honourable testimonies to its merits, it is hoped that, in its present improved state, it will be no less favourably received, and will prove still more extensively useful. ' Mr. B had previously published the Anatomy of the ' Horse, re-published in this Work, in which he professes the * parts treated of have been most of them taken from his own ' dissections. So far he has a fair claim of originality.' — * The drawings appear extremely correct; are executed in 'the most handsome manner; and the descriptive part is * equally entitled to praise.' — London Medical Review. * The second division of the Work is occupied with the ' Anatomy of the Horse, including the physiology, or know- * ledge of functions. This part of the Work is materially ' illustrated by engravings, the execution of which has con- * siderable merit.' — ' The third division is allotted to the * practical part of the veterinary art, or a description of the * diseases of the horse, ox, sheep, and dog, with the most ' approved modes of cure. Fronft the length of the anato- * mical part of the work, the present part is, perhaps, more PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION,. lii ^ compressed than might be wished. The classification * adopted by the author will materially assist the student in ^ this branch of medicine, who is too apt to be misled by the * barbarous and unmeaning jargon adopted, in general, in * books of farriery/ — Medical and Chirurgical Review. ' Mr. Blaine, we believe, is the first who has attempted, ' in the English language, a systematic view of the whole, < founded upon scientific principles, in conformity with the * modern discoveries in anatomy and physiology ; and with * the modern theories, concerning the nature and causes of ' the different morbid changes which the living frame under- ^ goes.' — ' In treating of each disease, he gives a clear and ' accurate description of its symptoms ; points out its causes, * states the degree of danger, and usual modes of termination ; ^ and subjoins a simple, rational, and scientific plan of cure. ^ What a pleasing contrast this forms to the miserable pro- * ductions entitled '' Stable Directories," " Complete Far- * riery," &c., every page of which is crammed with farragoes, * called recipes ; certainly not in^rt, but often possessing a * potency of the most dangerous sort!' — * It appears to us, * that this Work is the best and most scientific system of the * veterinary art that has hitherto appeared in this country; * and we therefore recommend it to all who are desirous of *' acquiring a competent knowledge of the structure and dis- * eases of the horse, and other domestic quadrupeds.' — Bri- tish Critic. To the above testimonies it may be added, that this work has been translated into French, German, and Italian, by the order of the Veterinary Colleges of France, Germany, and Italy. The Monifeur, of the 25th July, 1804, contained a very copious review of this work by M. Peuchet, the cele- brated French Professor, and which ended with the following summary : — ' Nous pensons a la maniere claire et simple dont ' I'auteur a traite chaque objet, qu'il a rempli son but ; que cet * ouvrage a le double merite d'etre a la portee de tons de tons * les genres de lectures ; que les personnes dont la profession ' est de faire la medecine des animaux se priveraient d'un '- grand sec ours en negligeant de le consulter, et qu'il pent * tres utilement servir a ceux qui se livrent a la plus impor- ' tante branche de reconomie rurale, celle de I'education des ' bestiaux.' A 2 INTRODUCTION. IF the animals domesticated by man be essentially necessary to his comfort and convenience, no apology need be oflfered for attempting to reduce into a system the arts of preserving them in health, and of removing their diseases ; both of which must be founded on a knowledge of the structure and func- tions of the animals in question : and it is these, therefore, that form the groundwork of what is called the Veterinary Art. The deplorable state of this art in Great Britain has, until lately, been animadverted upon by every one who has written on the subject; and the principal cause of complaint appears to have been its total confinement in the hands of persons prover- bially ignorant. Custom reconciles the grossest absurdities ; and hence, though the value of the animals in question, and particularlj^ of the horse, is a theme that has exercised, in every age, the pen of thousands ; yet the knowledge of the means of preserving them in health, and of curing their dis- eases, has, till of late, been regarded as a subject beneath the dignity of a man of education, and the practice as derogatory to the character of a gentleman. Thus every improvement that was at these times witnessed, made its way by stealth, and crept into notice by the exertions of some enlightened physician or surgeon, as Gibson, Bracken, Bartlet, and Osmer. But, at length, superior to vulgar prejudices, mankind are content to consider this among the liberal arts, and to regard the profession and practice of it as no longer incompatible with the pretensions of the scholar, or the rank of a gentle- man : much has been already done by the establishment of a Veterinary College, and the exertions of its eleves ; and it wdll undoubtedly continue to rise in dignity and utility. Nevertheless, these scholastic improvements must neces- sarily be slow and difficult of general diffusion ; therefore, any more summary mode of teaching this branch of the heal- JM'RODLICIlO>. T ing art syslematically, must prove highly beneficial to the world at large. The possessors of horses of every description will be interested therein ; p^ticularly those of rank and for- tune, whose leisure may permit them to become acquainted with the fundamental principles of the art, by the acquisition of which, they will be enabled to direct in cases of emergency for themselves. Medical men, in general, are interested in such a production, for their opinion is often required on cases in which analogy totally fails, but in which they might other- wise be willing to act and prove useful*. To farriers, it is needless to say how valuable such a work may become : the awakened attention of the public to the gross errors of their general practice, has convinced many of them of the necessity of receiving instruction, but which the very nature of their situation prevents them Irom seeking at the seminary established for that purpose. To diffuse, there- fore, that art among all ranks of persons, which the Veteri- nary College is attempting among individuals, is the intention of the present work ; and it is evident, that in such an under- taking a very wide field of research must be entered into. To teach the art properly, there must be a groundwork laid down ; the anatomy of the body must be known, together with the laws of the animal economy, its deviations from health, the causes of these deviations, the progress of return towards a healthy state, and the modes of hastening this re- turn. By these means, practitioners will be taught first to think and then to act ; and instead of having a system of far- * The medical world, in general, are more interested in the welfare of the \eterinary art than may be at first apparent ; and, although the super- structure of such art has been principally raised on the base of human me- dicine, yet it is more than probable it will finally repay all the benefits derived from its parent by the important facts elicited from its own practice. Among the advantages to be derived from a fair parallel drawn between tlie two arts, even in its present state, we may instance the beneficial em- ployment of blisters in numerous cases of veterinary surgery, where they are almost unthought of in human practice; as, in obstinate strains arising from ligamentary extensions, &c. &c. Neither is it impossible but that the use of the actual cautery may become as extensive an agent in human as in brute surgery, from an observation of its powers in the latter ; and that ac- tive internal diseases also may be combated, as in Java and Japan, by the employment of actual fire. The benefits derived from the practice of neu- rotomy hold out a prospect of a new era in medicine, equally perhaps use- ful and important to the one as to the other. tVl IxNTKODUCTlON. riery in their closets only, it will exist in their minds. The former writings on this subject, however good, are but few of them direction posts to improvement ; on the contrary, they are themselves the extent of what they profess to teach. To compass the end I wish, an arrangement of instruction, gra- datory and systematic, will be attempted. It will be proper first, by a history of the art, to shew that it is defective, as it has hitherto been practised among us. And, when the pre- sent state of the art has been examined, and the necessity of a more scientific manner of pursuing it has been pointed out, it will lead to our ultimate object, which is to teach the mode' by which these defects may be remedied. The generality of farriers, unfortunately, are not willing to be put to the trouble of learning, nor to the mortification of owning that they need it ; hence they obstinately maintain, that nothing is necessary but what is already known; and that theirs is purely a mechanical art, learned by imitation, and even descends in perpetuity from father to son. But farriers should be aware that there is no mortification in candidly pleading ignorance ; on the contrary, ingenuous- ness would ennoble them. Nor should this useful body hastily conclude, that those who teach the reformed practice are at war with their persons, or wish to lessen their employ- ment ; on the contrary, they combat only their errors, and, when they point out the methods by which these may be cor- rected, they at once heighten their respectability, and in- crease their practice- I am disposed to think, that the term veterinarian has had some share in promoting this hostility ; but it should be well understood by farriers, tliat, however desirable it is that they may be enabled to attend a regular course of veterinary instructions at the National School esta- blished for that purpose, yet, that a residence there is by no means necessary to even their proper assumption of this term of art, provided that they, by extending their researches be- yond the mechanical process of a ferrier, farrier, or shoer of horses, deserve it. The Veterinary College is not invested with the power of giving this or that appellation ; they col- lect and condense the means of attaining the art on proper principles : but although not so conveniently, certainly, yet the means they pursue are in the reach of other persons : THEY possess no secret arts. The book of nature and the INTRODUCTION. Vll practice of art are equally open to the meanest farrier, if he pursues investigation upon equally excellent principles, and equally fit him to become a veterinarian. There are farriers who are sensible, intelligent men, and conscious of their own defects ; but there are many of a con- trary cast, ignorant, assuming, and obstinate : these pertina- ciously hold out against improvement, and virulently contend that the system, as at present practised, cannot be mended, though their practice itself fatally proves the reverse. These persons look on every attempt at improvement as an unjust innovation on their right, and, on every exposure of error, as an attack upon their persons. We find one of them saying, ' Whatever may be wTitten by those new-fangled farriers, of ' the advantages resulting from a minute knowledge of anato- ' my, nothing in their practice has proved its utility; and as ' Gibson has so well demonstrated the anatomical structure of * the horse, nothing further on the subject is necessary, and ' cannot tend to elucidate the practical part of farriery.' Such an apology for ignorance of a subject that all writers in every age have allowed is the groundwork of improve- ment, would excite surprise, w^ere it less common than it is ; but, as this is the general language of many of this class, it may be worth while to indulge a few moments in comparing the differences between the old and the new practice. By dissections of morbid subjects, we can accurately as- certain the effects of inflammation on the lungs, and by this very anatomy it is that we are now taught, instead of treating horses with cordial balls, and " comforting'' drinks, whereby such inflammations are certainly forced into gangrene, and then ' the horse died rotten, rotten as a pear, and had long been unsound;' instead of such a destructive practice, -which has been in common use, we now give no cordials, but we bleed and blister profusely ; and if we are luckily employed in time, we certainly save our patient. To pursue the matter further ; anatomy taught the principal seat of glanders to La Fosse, beyond the possibility of doubt : subsequent investi- gations have thrown still greater light on this subject, and, as the knowledge of anatomy has been further extended since his time, so it was to a less advanced state of it that we must attribute the important error he propagated, when he described the lymphatic glands for the sublingual. Barllct adopted -Vil^l INTRODUCTION. this error ; and from a defect also in anatomical knowledge^ he likewise fell into a still more barbarous one, when he di- rected that the haws should be cut away from the eyes, con- sidering, as spongy excrescences, what we now know to be necessary and important parts. The diflferent diseases of the bowels are all not only illustrated by morbid anatomy, but we have thereby been enabled to make the important distinc- tion between inflammatory and flatulent cholic ; this has also led to the detection of the fatal practice in use among far- riers, of giving gin, oil of juniper, &c. in the former cases. It is by anatomy we know that molten grease is no stirring up or melting of the fat of the body, which has been a most gross and dangerous error of long standing ; but that it is simply a throwing out of coagulable lymph, or the white parts of the blood, on the surface of the intestines, in consequence of inflammation ; and hence our treatment is now judicious and beneficial. It has taught us, likewise, that strong physic is always dangerous, because what was mistaken for fat, is only the effect of inflammation. In our amended practice, we do not attribute to an affection of the shoulders that which we now know to arise from tenderness of the feet. Thou- sands of suffering victims have been tortured by applications to these parts for chest-foundering, when the evil existed in contracted hoofs; which, by thus standing inactive and heated, became worse for the treatment. Innumerable other in- stances might be adduced, would our limits allow of detail. The subject-matter of the Work I have divided into Four Parts. The first of these comprises what may be termed the collateral branches of the art, commencing with a General History of Veterinary Medicine from its origin to the present time; and a concise account of those who have contributed, by their works, to its improvement. To which succeeds a summary of its progress in this country, by which the reader will be enabled to judge how far we stand removed from other nations in this particular, what they may be supposed to have borrowed from us, or we to have learned from them. Next, is presented a short detail of the proper means to be pursued for the attainment of the Veterinary Art. Thirdly, a minute ex- amination of the exterior conformation of the Horse. Fourth- ly, a philosophical and mechanical inquiry into the nature, causes, and operations of progression. Fifthly, a treatise on INTRODUCTION. IX coudition ; and. Lastly, the principles and practice of stable management, with its components, dieting, grooming, and ex- ercise. The second division of the Work presents an anatomical de- tail of the parts of the body of the horse ; the description of which is blended with a physiological account of the functions and economy of the parts, and of the morbid states into which they are liable to fall ; and, as the knowledge of the extre- mities forms one of the most essential points in the practice of farriery, I have described them separately, that the prac- tical remarks on them might come into one point of view. I have illustrated the anatomical part of the Work with plates, as I deem them of the greatest possible assistance to the ac- quirement of anatomical knowledge, particularly where re- course cannot be had to the subject itself; and, as they were all drawn by myself from my own dissections of the dead sub- ject, I can venture to assure my readers they are correct. In the parts represented, I have endeavoured to form such an arrangement, as that those most important, either in eluci- dating the economy of the animal, or as more immediately concerned in the practice of the art, may be particularly brought forward and represented. The first and second divisions are formed into sections ; the third is subdivided into classes ; and the fourth presents itself naturally in one mass. I have made use of the terms that are usual in human anatomical descriptions, but I have in the Index, as well as throughout the description, introduced the synonima of the farriers ; and it will appear, whenever it has fallen to my choice, I have used the English and popular terms ; for I am averse to seeking the reputation of a scholar, were it even in my power, at the expense of those plain unlettered classes who may be benefited by it. Other classes can compre- hend it in a plain as well as a classical dress, but these can understand it in no language but their own. The third division of the Work is allotted to the practical part of the veterinary art, or a description of the diseases of the horse, ox, and sheeip, and the mode of cure, which com- prises two parts. The first, speaking with analogy to the human, comprehends that practice which falls under the cog- nizance of the physician ; and the second, that which is usually confined to the surgeon. I have likewise attempted some« X INTRODUCTJOX. tiling like a classification of diseases ; not, I am convinced, so perfect as it might be, but such as I conceive the present state of the science best admits of. Had I attempted a more strictly nosological arrangement, I might have bewildered the uninformed, and, perhaps, have lost myself: but a classification of diseases has great advantages, for, as sonic remote parts of the body follow the same laws in structure and economy, so they are liable to similar diseased affections. The inflammation of mucous membranes produces similar ap- pearances in many respects, whatever part of the body it takes place in. The inflammation of the cellular membrane producing phlegmon and abscess, is the same, whether it oc- curs on the cheek or on the buttock ; hence a knowledge of these diseased aft'ections can be rendered more comprehen- sive by their being classed under one head, than when suffered to remain scattered through all the varieties to which, from the different parts affected, they have hitherto been. This classification forms twenty heads or classes ; ten of which in- clude the medical part of the art, and ten belong to the sur- gical ; after which, the operations that occur in farriery arc introduced. The fourth division comprehends a full account of the articles in use among veterinarians as medicaments. A Veterinary Materia Medica is particularly wanting, that the junior practitioner may not be misled into a belief that a few articles only of trifling expense are requisite in the practice of his art. I have added a very copious Index, that, by this means, those subjects that are otherwise disjointed, may come into one point of view : by this, the whole that has been said on any article throughout the Work, appears at once ; by this, likewise, the reader will be enabled to find immediately any subject he wishes, under any term that is familiar to hirs, as the subjects are arranged under all the names in common use, as well under such as are more scientific. OUTLINES OF THE VETERINARY ART. Man, ^ttu I. HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. ever ready to improve surrounding objects to his ad- vantage, would not be long without subjecting to his use such animals as his reason led him to suppose would prove most useful, or his experience had proved were the most tractable. Animals, when domesticated and removed from a state of nature, could not long continue in perfect health ; and hence their owners were led to search for such remedies as their small stock of information pointed out : thus veteri- nary medicine must, in some degree, have been coeval v>^ith the domestication of the animals in question. Homer, who flourished nine hundred years before Christ, celebrates the management of the Greeks with regard to their horses, and the pains that were bestowed to train them for their courses. Xenophon, a Greek philosopher, poet, and warrior, wrote a treatise on equitation, De Re Equestri, nearly five hundred years before the birth of Christ, in which he quotes several authors who had written on the same subject long before ; from which we may naturally conclude the treatment of the diseases of the horse had been attended to before these periods. The term veterinary appears, also, a very antient one, as may be learned from the relics of literature, saved from the devastations of the barbarous ages ; in which are frequently met with the terms veterinarius, and veterinarius medicuSy but which, it is argued, apply strictly to those who* undertake the medical treatment of beasts of burden only: they are now, however, understood as applying to the dis- eases of brute animals in general. The French use the term ve- terinaire for the science of animal medicine in general, and Hippiatre, for that which treats of horses. * Hippiatre, me- decin du cheval; d'lppos, cheval, iatros, medecin/ Diet. d'Hippiatrique*. By the investigations of Democritus and Hippocrates, attention was turned, in some degree, towards anatomy, or the internal formation of the body ; and, as these early researches were practised only on brutes, so it naturally ^ The terms veterinary and veterinarian have occasioned some dispute among the learned. An enquiry of this kind is foreign to my purpose : the French are great sticklers fur terms ; and we see the respectable name of Huzard to a v\ ork eniiiled— Notice sur Its mots Hippiatre, Veterinairc, et JIarechaL H HISTORY OF VETEUINARY MEDJCINK. led, at limes, to an observation of tlie morbid appearances which presented themselves, and which must have paved the way for attempts at counteracting their diseases. That it did so is very evident; for, we are informed, this subject was, at this time, deemed so important, that the great Hippocrates himself wrote a treatise on veterinary medicine. It farther appears, from antient testimony, that it was usual for the most celebrated physicians to make this art a part of their study, and that many of them practised indiscriminately upon man or beast. * On pent aussi remarquer que ces deux medecins des *hommes & des brutes, etoient autrefois exercees par une ' meme personne ; Apsyrtus nomme souvent un medecin de ' chevaux, & quelquefois simplement un medecin. Ansi, au ' commencement du 1 livre, il y a pour inscription, Apsyrtus ' a Hippocrates, medecin de chevaux, salut ; & au chap. 22, ' Apsyrtus a secundus, Medecin de chevaux salut : au chap. '42, Apsyrtus a Statilius Stephanus, medecin salut; & au ' chap. 69, Apsyrtus a Hegesugoras, tres-bon medecin, salut. * Tous ces hommes la, pratiquant la medecin sur les chevaux, ^ consultoient j^psyrtus touchant leurs maladies les plus im- 'portantes.' — Did. d' Hippiatrique, tom. ii, p 411. It will appear from this, that the veterinary art was deemed, at this early time, both important and honourable ; and that it was as regularly practised as human medicine, not only by physicians in general, but, probably, by persons set apart for the purpose. We have not, however, any written remains of importance on the subject till after the Christian aera; from which time several antient fragments have been preserved. Valerius Maximus mentions one Herophilus, a farrier, equa- rius medicus, who had written ; but his works have not been preserved. It was fifty years only after the birth of Christ, when Columella wrote his celebrated treatise, in which he mentions au eminent? cotemporary author, Pelagonius, but of whose works I believe we have no remains. From this time, till about the third century, we have little transmitted down to us, but the names of some of those who either practised or taught this art. Nevertheless, these testimonies are sufficient to shew that, from the earliest ages, veterinary medicine was in the highest estimation. \ About three hundred years after the birth of Christ, the true father of this art appeared; the veterinary Hippocrates, Vegetius, who wrote his De Arte Veterinaria, which became the oracle of many succeeding ages, and upon which even many of the future improvements were built. Vegetius likewise gives an account of all the most celebrated authors and prac- titioners before him, among whom are Columella, Ai^syrtus, Chiron, and Pelagonius. The art appears to have gained little in addition for several centuries subsequent to this ; HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. O fhough some writings on it are known to have appeared, of which we have onlj'^ extracts remaining, and for which w^e are indebted to Constantine Porphyrogenet, who commanded that all the works on this important subject that had appeared should be collated, and the substance of them formed into one body, for the future guidance of practitioners, and the preservation of the antient opinions. A copy of this compi- lation, by some means, escaped the general devastation that afterwards took place, as well as a copy of Vegetius ; and it is to these we are principally indebted for our knowledge of the state of this art in antient times. On the restoration of civilization and learning which fol- lowed the irruptions of the barbarous nations, iron shoes be- gan to be worn by horses ; at which time, by an association only to be excused by the state of the times, the treatment of the diseases of the animal became the province of the maker of his shoes ; and what medical assistance was wanted for other beasts was gained from goatherds, shepherds, &c. But in the sixteenth century, w^hen Europe became still more enlightened, and the liberal arts encouraged, the necessity of a more strict cultivation of this useful branch appeared evi- dent. Francis the First ordered the collection of Constan- tine's to be translated from the original Greek into Latin by Ruelli, a physician; from which it was soon afterwards ren- dered into Italian, German, and French ; and by this means became dispersed over Europe. Nearly at the same time, likewise, the works of Vegetius w^ere translated into several languages: and, from this period, we may date the gradual improvement of the art ; as a proof, many treatises upon the subject appeared in different parts of Europe ; among which, and deserving of particular notice, may be reckoned that of the celebrated historian Gessner, who compiled from Aris- totle, Pliny, ^lian, Oppian, Varron, Columella, Vegetius, and others, an extensive history of animals, enriching it with some valuable remarks on their diseases. Vincent, an Italian author, published recipes for the cure of all the maladies of horses in the first half of this century ; and soon after the celebrated works of Laurentius Huffius appeared in Latin. The latter half of this century produced the natural history of ruminant animals, with the phenomena of rumination, by ^miliano, published in Venice. Libro de marchi de cavalli, Vmiice 1588 ; Hippol. Bonacossa, tractatus, equorum, Venice 1590; as well as L'Hipposteologie, par J. Hernard, Paris 1599. It was, I believe, in this century also, that the cele- brated and learned Leonarda da Vinci, an eminent Italian painter, published his anatomy both of the human body and of the horse, which works are extremely scarce : there was a copy of the latter, I believe, in the late queen's library. This il- lustrious author is not usually mentioned in histories of 4 HISTORY UV VKTEllINAIlY MEDICINE. medicine; though, at the time his works appeared, they* far surpassed in merit those of all his cotemporaries. During the seventeenth century, the veterinary art gradu- ally advanced, and numerous publications on the subject were elicited from various hands ; as those of Caesar Fiarchi, Pasqual Caracciolo, dementi Corti, Ruini, Dumesnil, Beau- grand, Delcampi, Epinay, Liberati, Debaurepert, Hobokeni, Peyeri, Blasius, Solleysel, and others. Fiarchi wrote an Italian treatise on horsemanship, in which he introduces a very rational method of shoeing, forbidding the use of calk- ings as destructive to the feet, but, where they are absolutely necessary, he recommends a small one only on the outside heel. The infermila, ^ siios remedii, delSignor Carlo Ruini, was published in Venice, 1618. It is from this celebrated and elegant work that Snape, Gibson, and most of the French authors, have copied their anatomical plates. I never saw but one copy of it, but I was surprised at the elegance of the drawings, and, considering the time they were published in, their correctness. In 1654, the Grand Mareschal Francois, a very large and meritorious work, appeared : it was said to be composed by several hands. In 1675, Gerard Blazius, a Dutchman, published, in Amsterdam, a treatise on the ana- tomy of the horse, with plates, which was highly spoken of. In the latter end of this century, 1698, the art received a very great addition from the elaborate work of SoUysel, whose at- tention was drawn to the subject from his situation as ma- nege or riding master, in whose hands the treatment of the diseases of the horse was at this time very generally con- fined ; we therefore observe, that almost all the treatises on this subject, of this century, are united with the practice of the manege, and the modes of riding ; and it is to this unhappy union of arts, conducted by persons not medically educated, that we must attribute the little improvement in veterinary medicine during this century. Sollysel was the first who ob- jected to burning for the lampas, as dangerous and absurd. He first reprobated the bleeding in the palate in fever as use- less, and pregnant with mischief, from the liability of wound- ing the palatine artery. He taught the impropriety of introducing feathers with stimulating substances into the nose, as the inflammation occasioned might produce ulce- ration and the glanders. He likewise pointed out the danger and folly of tying down the testicles, when they were drawn towards the abdomen by pain and irritation, but directs that means should be used for lessening the irritation. The eighteenth century will ever make a distinguished figure in the annals of history, for the great advances that took place in the liberal arts in general ; among which none experienced a greater alteration than Farriery. As commerce drew wealth into countries, and luxury followed riches, so HISTORY OF VETEfUNAUY MEDICINE. O the number of horses increased and their value augmented. The writers of this century were numerous ; I shall notice only the most eminent. In 1734, Mr. Garsault translated Snape into French. In the same year, I. and G. Saunier, two Dutch practitioners, published a celebrated veterinary work. In 1742, the Amphitheatrum Zooticum of Valenti appeared. It w^as about the middle of this century, also, that several of the continental countries, opening their eyes more fully on the importance of this branch of science, established seminaries for the purpose of teaching it scientifically. One of the first, as w^ell as the most eminent of these, Avas esta- blished at Lyons, over which was placed the celebrated Mon- sieur Bourgelat. Monsieur B. was a voluminous author. In 1750 he published his Elements of Farriery, in 3 vols. ; in 1765, his Materia Medica, for the use of the veterinary pu- pils. Soon after, his Elementary Treatise on the Anatomy of the Horse appeared, which is the most complete w ork of the kind that had then appeared. In 1766 he published his Elementary Botanical Demonstrations, for the use of the pupils of the veterinary college. He likewise gave to the world a treatise on bandages applicable to the horse. About this time, likewise, the King of Sweden granted some honour- able privileges to those who professed this art, which drew to that country some of the best practitioners from France and other countries. In 1752, appeared the celebrated work on Natural History composed by Messrs. Bufi*on and Daubenton ; w^hich, as it contained many hints on the conformation of animals, and on their economy and diseases, therefore may be ranked as an acquisition to the art. About this time like- wise was published the well known work of Guereniere, but which had no merit as a veterinary treatise. As a cotemporary with Bourgelat lived the elder La Fosse, a name that wdll ever be respected in the annals of veterinary medicine. La Fosse made numerous improvements and dis- coveries, which he usually communicated in the form of me- moirs to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris. In 1754, he collected these into one volume, which was quickly trans- lated into other languages, a sufficient proof of its merit. The first of these memoirs describes the foot and its diseases. The second is the celebrated communication on the glanders, wherein he considers it to be a local inflammation of the pitui- tary membrane, and recommends the use of the trepan; but which, it has been said, was not a new mode of treatment, it having been practised in England before. The third of these memoirs described the use of the lycoperdon, or pufi'-ball, in haemonhages. The fourth contained his celebrated improve- ments in shoeing ; and the fifth exposed the error of attri- buting an epidemic, then prevalent, to the bite of the shrew mouse, which was the generally received cause. Most of HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICIA'E. these were translated into English by Bartlet, and from them it may be judged how much the art was indebted to him. In I755 appeared Garsault's Parfait Marechal, which Buffon frequently quotes ; but it appears not to merit any distinc- tion in this place. In 1756 there was published, in Paris, a translation from the Swedish, of an Essay on the Raising and Perfecting Cattle, which was very highly spoken of, but which I have never met with. It was at this time, likewise, that the first grand Dictionary of Arts and Sciences ceime out, in which M. Bourgelat and Genson were engaged. It appears that the veterinary articles furnished by these gentlemen oc- casioned some controversy ; for we afterwards find some re- marks on them, published by M. Rondon, farrier to the great stables of the king. In 1763, the Maison Rustique made its appearance in Paris ; but the author was not generally known. About this period, also, some treatises on difierent parts of the art were written by Brecand, Boutrolle, Le Clerc, Bar- baret, a physician ; and Bartlet's works were translated into French at the same time. In 1766, La Fosse, junior, who occupied the same situa- tion his father bad held (that of farrier to the lesser stables of the king), presented his Guide clu Mareclial, a work well known in this country, though it has never been translated into English. The anatomical part is concise, and accom- panied with some good plates. But his principal production was the Cours cV Hippiatnque, which was then, and still re- mains, the most expensive and superb work that has appeared on the subject in any language. It consisted of sixty-five folio anatomical plates, coloured after nature, with corre- sponding descriptions in letter-press, and first appeared in 1772. After this he published his Dictionnaire d'Hippia- trique, in 4 vols. This valuable work is but little known in England, but at the time it appeared it was certainly the best practical system of farriery in existence. In 1776, appeared a very extensive work by M. Vitet, who styles himself doctor and professor in medicine. Had the execution of this been equal to the plan on which it was intended to be formed, it would have been an excellent one ; but with a very elegant systematic arrangement, which he borrowed from a foreign author, and a most extensive collection of subject, it is but an indiscriminate compilation of good and bad. Its prin- cipal merit consists in an analysis of authors, to which I am indebted for an acquaintance with the names of many of those who have ^vritten on this subject. There was about this time published, in Spain, a very voluminous work on veterinary medicine, in nine volumes; but of which I know no par- ticulars. After tlie death of Bourgelat and La Fosse, we hear of no character of any eminence for some years ; but it appears. HISTORY 0¥ VETERINARY MEDICINE. 7 that, since the revolution, the subject has again been dili- gently studied, and the names of Hartman, Chabert, Huzard, &C.&C. &c. stand forward. Soon after, or about the time above alluded to, there appeared a considerable work, called The Rational Dictionary of Medicine, Surgery, and Farriery, in 6 volumes ; and very soon after a Veterinary Dictionary, by Buchoz, but which had not merit equal to that of La Fosse. In 1787, Monsieur Chabert published a Treatise on the Mange of horses ; he afterv^ards wrote on the Peripneumony of black cattle, and on several other subjects. There also appeared an essay on the Grease of horses, which gained the prize medal of the society for the promoting the health of animals ; to which was joined a report on chest affections and broken windy- hut I do not know who was the author. In 1788 there came out a Treatise on the Haras, with the method of shoeing, cut- ting, and all the lesser operations, translated, from the Spanish of Hartm an, by Huzard . Likewise, Instructions and Observa- tions on Domestic Animals, w4th remarks on breeding, rearing, buying and selling the same ; with an analysis of previous authors, by Chabert, Flandrin, and Huzard. The above authors have also published, conjointly, a Vete^ rinary Almanack, containing the history and progress of ani- mal medicine, since the establishment of the veterinary schools. In 1791, Monsieur Lompaigieu Lapole, veterinary surgeon, published Observations on the Health of the Animals of St. Domingo, dedicsited to the Veterinary College at Alfort. In 1797, Monsieur Chabert and Monsieur Huzard published, by order of government, a Treatise on ascertaining the Ex- istence of the Glanders, the Means of preventing it, and de- stroying the Infection. In 1809 appeared Cours Complet; ou Diet. Universel d Agriculture, Pratique d'Economie, Rurale et Domestique, et de Medtcin des Animaux, par I'Abbe Rozier. From this time to the present the writings on the veterinary art have become so numerous in every country, that no limits would suffice to notice them. In the course of the present work, many of the most popular will be quoted. The names of Tessier, Dupuy, Gohier, Huzard, jun. and Girard, imme- diately present themselves as voluminous and meritorious writers : many others I do not recollect, but the curious on this head may receive every information by a reference to the Veterinary Catalogue of Madame Huzard's extensive Library, ]^^o. 7, Rue TEperon, Paris. I shall conclude this History by a slight notice of the pub- lic seminaries established at various periods on the continent for the instruction and dissemination of this valuable art. The first of these was established at Lyons in 1762, and was placed under the inspection of M. Bourgelat. It occupies a large space, and employs a director, and several profes- ,sors. The infirmary, which is spacious, is intended to receive 8 HISTOKY OF VETERINAPxY MEDICINE. domestic animals of all descriptions. It has a botanical gar- den, laboratory, theatre, and museum. Next in order of time, but first in order of importance, is the Veterinary College established at Alfort, near Paris, in 1766, by that father of the art, Bourgelat. It is at present under the immediate inspection of M. Huzard, whose son, himself a veterinary professor and author of celebrity, kindly accompanied me on a visit to it this autumn. This excellent establishment forms not only a model for all others, but under its roof almost all the professors of other continental veteri- nary schools have received their education. The present build- ino- being in a dilapidated state, is about to be replaced by a more extensive and appropriate erection. It comprises ex- tensive hospital boxes and standings (bailed) for horses and other domestic animals, over which are apartments where the pupils are lodged. Three noble galleries are appropriated ; the upper to an extensive veterinary library ; the next to a museum of anatomy, with numerous splendid specimens, but which, for want of a museum conservator, are in a state of de- cay. The lower apartment is occupied by some stuffed spe- cimens in natural history, philosophical apparatus, a curious collection of veterinary instruments of every form and age, a collection of the shoes of every country, morbid specimens, &C.&C. Other portions of the building are appropriated to a chemical and pharmaceutical laboratory, an anatomical thea- tre, dissecting and operating rooms ; all w^hich are distinct and appropriate. It has been well observed that every thing in France is on a large scale, and that there, public institu- tions combine many parts of science which we keep distinct. Thus veterinary medicine is always considered as an insepa- rable part of agriculture, and the one is always taught with the other, and which method is likewise pursued throughoutthe con- tinent ; from which one might infer that this bantling of science and art, when it escaped from its union with the manege, found itself unable to stand alone, and therefore sought refuge and support in the tall stems of agriculture. In this way this building is found surrounded by a small farm devoted to ex- perimental agriculture, with a portion allotted to a botanic garden. In conformity with this view^, likewise, stallions of various breeds, for the use of the provinces, and Spanish asses for propagating a large race of mules, for the same, are also kept. Bulls, cows, goats, and sheep of curious and exotic breeds, are here also fostered and propagated with extreme method and care. The course of education, which is rigid and severe, is con- ducted by seven professors, who lecture daily on some of the following subjects : anatomy, comparative and particu- lar ; physiology, pathology, natural history, medical botany, pharmaceutical and operative chemistry, materia medica. HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 9^ surgical operations, veterinary jurisprudence, and the prac- tice of shoeing. Each department sends three pupils, and each cavalry regiment one. When I visited it, there were one hundred and thirty residing within it, each of whom pays a small stipend for board : a college dress is worn, and the con- duct of the whole is under the surveillance of a director, who is wholly independent of, and unconnected with, the medical teachers. A residence of three years is required to authorise the practice of veterinary surgery, and of five years to enable the student to act as a veterinary physician. It was at first intended that human medicine should form a portion of the education of each pupil to fit him for practice in the provinces, but which plan was, I think unfortunately for both human and brute medicine, afterwards laid aside. Each pu- pil takes immediate charge of one patient, and each operates in turn, first on the dead, and then on the living subject. From this outline it will be seen how admirably such an insti- tution is calculated to perfect the ends proposed : nor is this all the stimulus that the students have to cultivate the art. There are numerous prizes ofiered by government and by agricultural bodies for facts, treatises, or successful exer- tions, tending to keep alive emulation and foster early en- deavours. It is only to be regretted that we can do nothing more than admire this liberal policy ; and lament that mis- taken economy in the government of our own country, which withholds the means for conducting our veterinary seminary on an equally liberal scale. The veterinary school of Vienna was established under the late Emperor Joseph. Mr. Sewell, who visited it in 1816, speaks favourably of its arrangement. Prague and Dresden are without veterinary schools. The veterinary school of Berlin was established by the late Frederic II. Mr. Sewell informs us that it is less exten- sive than the Paris school, but larger than that at Vienna. It contains a museum and an infirmary, usually filled with pa- tients ; it contains also hot and cold baths, an ice house for the application of ice in cases we should not venture to employ it, and a very powerful electrical apparatus. The most cele- brated professor of this school was educated at Paris, as I was informed, by Monsieur Huzard, who also remarked that two years' residence authorised the pupils to engage in prac- tice. The veterinary school of Hanover was established by the present King of that country. It is small, but, according to Mr. SewelFs account, well arranged and conducted. Of the schools of Italy and of Spain I know nothing ; but in both they have celebrated writers on the veterinary art. In Russia, a school has been, I believe, lately established, over which I was invited to preside. Copenhagen has also one. B 2 lO HISTORY OF VETERINARY MED r CINE. I have thus brought the history of this art on the continent in a concise manner down to the present period. With the advantages I have noticed, it cannot but have become greatly improved, more particularly in France, where it is cultivated with ardour. The immediate line of practice the French pur* sue may be gathered from the notices which will appear when treating of diseases ; and M. Huzard, who, having visited and examined them all, is peculiarly fitted to judge, informs me that the practice in all the other continental schools is nearly the same as in that of France. In the practice of veterinary surgery and operations, I think, from the inquiries and obser- vations I made, they excel us ; but in the department more immediately belonging to the veterinary physician, our neigh- bours have not to boast of any superiority over us : on the contrary, it is my opinion that they are even behind us. This deficiency perhaps arises from an adherence, on their parts, to the humoral pathology, by which the treatment of internal and acute diseases has continued inert and unsuccessful. Their prescriptions have been filled with decoctions of sim- ples, and they appear unacquainted with the medicinal vir- tues of the more active remedies in use among us. Still ad- hering to an opinion that the blood and humours are the seat of disease, they are continually washing them sweet with correctors, entirely unmindful of the derangements of the solids, and of the connexions between living blood and living vessels: but the pathology of Cullen, being now gene- rally adopted not only in France but throughout the Conti- nent, and this having led to an adoption of the improvements of John Hunter, it is reasonable to expect that when by these means the errors of the humoral pathology become banished, improvement will rapidly proceed, and a more active and energetic practice will be resorted to. Suu II. HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE IN GREAT BRITAIN. THE veterinary art in this, as in other countries, was long buried in the grossest ignorance ; and even the few improve- ments that did take place were borrowed from our neigh- bours. During the seventeenth century, manege riding was very prevalent in this kingdom, which we likewise copied from our continental friends, and, consequently, we had Ger- man and French riding masters in abundance, who took the direction not only of the actions, but of the health of the ani- mal, into their hands ; by which domestic improvement be- came neglected, and foreign publications alone studied. But as horse -racing and hunting became prevalent, so the maneare declined amons: us. Still the treatment of the dis- HI STORY OF VETKIUNARY MEDICINE. 11 cases of horses remained in the hands of those immediately placed about the persons of the animals ; and, as grooms and blacksmiths are usually less enlightened than riding mas- ters, so it was a retrograde step to improvement ; and now and then only was there a feeble and individual attempt to rescue this noble art from oblivion, which effort soon ceased to attract attention, and still sooner to excite amendment. Blundevilie, who lived in the reign of Elizabeth, appears to have been one of the first veterinary writers in this country. His work was chiefly a compilation from antient authors, of which he translated several into English. His ideas were fettered with his attachment to the manege, and consequently introduced the errors and absurdities with which that system was then prevalent. Subsequent to him appeared Mascal, Martin, Clifford, Burdon, &c., on whom Bracken published notes. Nearly about this time, also, lived the celebrated Gervase Markham, whose Treatise on Farriery, though strictly empirical and grossly absurd, went through numerous editions, and became the guide and waypost of almost every practitioner. During the reign of James the First, there ap- peared many other lesser publications, some originals, and some translations from the Italian, German, and French. Among the former, De Grey is more generally known. The next in order, appears to have been the superb work on horsemanship by the Duke of Newcastle, but which had little connexion with the veterinary science. Succeeding this ap- peared The Anatomical Treathe on the Horse, by Snape, far- rier to Charles II. His plates are mostly copies from Ruini, and a few of them from Saunier; but not so well executed: his descriptions are likewise taken from these authors ; and where he deviated from them he made the human body his guide. In his description of the eye, he mentions nothing of the membrana nictitans, and describes the omentum as reach- ing to the pelvis, with numerous similar instances : it is said, he projected a larger work on diseases, which he never lived to execute. About this time, an epidemic contagion raged among the black cattle of this country, which produced many publications on the subject ; one of which was much read, and is still in many persons hands, by Dr. Layard. In the reign of George I, Soliysel's celebrated work was translated from the French, which had, in some measure, an influence in combating the general errors at that time prevalent; for it was very customary, in some diseases, to tie or bar the veins. In the founder, the legs were tied, that the inflamma tion might not proceed upwards ; which inevitably occa- sioned mortification, or loss of the hoofs. In affections of the head, the cervical ligament was bored through with a hot iron, and the pole evil frequently produced. A cough raised a supposition that the horse had swallowed feathers, or hen's 12 HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE dung, and he was treated as skilfully as such an ingenious supposition would dictate: this, among grooms, is not yet done away. A stumbling horse had his nose slit. Some diseases were supposed to be occasioned by the bite of shrew mice ; and even to this day, among country people, the fern owl, or eve jar, is supposed to inflict a disease on calves as it flies, by striking them, but which disease is occa- sioned by a species of oestrum, or gad fly. The harmless hedgehog long lay under the obloquy of sucking cows. It is therefore evident, that Sir William Hope's translation of Sollysel must have contributed greatly, among the intelligent, to place these errors in a proper point of view. About the middle of the last century, the art experienced still further improvement by the labours of Mr. Gibson, who was origin- ally a surgeon to a regiment of cavalry ; from which situa- tion it is probable he was first led to turn his attention to the diseases of the horse, and by which he was at length enabled to present the best treatise on farriery that had appeared in the English language. It is said, he afterwards lived in Duke Street, Grosveuor Square, where he practised with great re- putation. He appears to have written several books ; but his principal work is that before alluded to, which w as pub- lished in quarto with anatomical plates, copied from Snape or Ruini ; and called The Farriers Guide : but, though his anatomy was incorrect, and the functions and economy of the animal neglected, yet his treatment of diseases was ge- nerally very judicious, and his account of symptoms accu- rate and interesting : and, as he was guided mostly by his own observation, so he became the best writer and practiti- oner that this country had then produced. As a cotemporary with him, lived the celebrated and eccen- tric Dr. Bracken, who w^as a physician of great abilities, and extensive knowledge in his profession ; a man of consider- able erudition, a sportsman, and a wit of a peculiar cast. His works have been as much admired and read for the pecu- liar style in which they are written, as for the real information they contain. Though there is great ingenuity in his writings, and though, in some respects, he may be said to have improved upon Gibson, yet, as a practical work, his was much the inferior : nor was his information given in a way that could benefit the generality of his readers. Independent of his style being too peculiar, and his reasoning too abstruse, for farriers ; his manner of pursuing his subject was so desultory, that few readers had patience to follow him. Nevertheless his works, which were several, and passed through many editions, have raised him a fame that can only die with the art. Bartlet, who was a successor to the two former, was like- wise a surgeon : he formed himself on the model of Gibson IN GREAT HRITAIN. 1^ and BmckcD, culling ail their excellencies, .and giving the sum ol their treatment in a much more compendious and practical form. Bartlet likewise enriched his works, and benefited the art, by translating La Fosse's improvements and discoveries. But he was principally a copyist and compilator, bringing forward little of his own, except a cruel and absurd alteration in the mode of nicking. It is evident, that Bartlet had not, when he wrote the first editions of his work, seen much vete- rinary practice ; and, throughout the whole, it is apparent he had paid no attention to the anatomy of the animal he treats of; he even fails in attempting the description of the tail, which should have been his particular study. Besides his Gentleman's Farriery, he published a Veterinary Pharma- copoeia. Bartlet's principal help to the art, was the intro- duction of a much better mode of shoeing, or, at least, of managing the feet, by his translation of La Fosse. To him succeeded Osmer, who was likewise bred a sur- geon, but who afterwards practised the veterinary art in Ox- ford Street. His Treatise on the Lamenesses of Horses, with an improved mode of shoeing, is most deservedly esteemed. His system of shoeing perhaps receives its greatest compli- ment, when it is known that it is that adopted by Mr. More- croft, with very trifling alterations. He first commented upon La Fosse's method, and pointed out the excellence of his mode of treating the feet, at the same time shewing that the short shoe was inadequate to the support and protection of the foot in the present improved and hard state of our roads. The practical part of this treatise on lamenesses is likewise excellent ; but his reasoning is sometimes defective. From the above works there were soon many compilations made, which were generally below mediocrity ; amongst which, one called the Farriers Dictionary, though a most wretched composition, met with a very rapid sale. I must except from these a small treatise by a Mr. Blount, surgeon, which is above the common class, and worthy of notice from an ingenious contrivance, depicted on a plate, for securing a fractured limb. Mr. Clarke, of Edinburgh, the king's farrier for Scotland, soon after this, gave the world his excellent Treatise on Shoeing and Diseases of the Feet ; and which was afterwards followed by one on the Prevention of the Diseases of the Horse. Nearly at the same time, or very soon after, the public were indebted to Lord Pembroke for his work, which, though professedly written on the management of dragoon horses, contains some excellent observations on shoe- ing, and the general treatment of the animal. Lord Pern- broke derived the principal of his medical hints from Mr. Clarke. About this period appeared the elegant plates of Stubbs on the Anatomy of the Horse. Mr. S. was a very eminent honsc painter, who, to a high professional excellence ia his 14 HISTORY OF THE VETERINARY COLLEGE. art, added a very considerable knowledge of the animal frame, particularly of the horse; but Mr. S. appears to have gone too far as a painter, and not far enough as an anatomist. From these periods, till the establishment of the Veterinary College, the attention of the public was occupied by Mr, Taplin. This gentleman likewise began his career as a sur- geon, but turned aside to the then more profitable track of farriery. Mr. T. set out by decrying all who had gone be- fore him, and all who were in practice with him ; yet his works were compilations from those very authors whom he abuses, and whose errors he perpetuated ; consequently, as might have been expected from the late improvements, Mr. Taplin lived long enough to find his writings despised and himself neglected. HISTORY of the VETERINARY COLLEGE. I now come to a period, from which the principal im- provements in this art must be dated, and which will ever re- main a memorable epoch to the veterinary amateur : this was the establishment of the Veterinary College. We are in- formed, by Monsieur St. Bel*, in his works, that he was born at Lyons, in France; that he became junior professorial assistant to the royal veterinary college there, but that the commencement of revolutionary principles in France drove him to this country, where he had before been in 1788, and published proposals for instituting a veterinary school, but without success. His second visit, in 1790, was more suc- cessful ; for, on his again renewing his proposals, they were noticed by the agricultural society of Odiham, in Hampshire. The gentlemen of this society in conjunction with some others, who saw the utility of such a measure, proposed to form an institution, called The Veterinary College of London, and to appoint M. St. Bel to the professorship, with whom I was afterwards joined as assistantf. * I am at a loss to conjecture on what authority the late professor's name is spelt Sainbel by some of the writers of the present day. In a letter of his addressed to me, and now lying before me, he distinctly signs himself St. Bel t Notorious as this residence was, and notorious as was my employment in teaching the principles of anatomy, physiology, and general pathology to the pupils of the then infant establishment ; yet the present leaders in the art affect to deny my being a regularly graduated veterinarian, because I never could condescend to solicit a diploma from that very school in which I was a teacher three years before the present professor was elected, and at a time when he had not even turned his thoughts towards the pro- fession. As far as regards my own feelings on the point, I am quite wil- ling to concede it, and I should have been as well pleased even had I never aspired to the honour of veterinary celebrity at all : but that the future mem- bers of that body may know in what degree of relationship they may, if they please, consider me as standing towards them as a veterinarian, and like- wise that I may preserve some character for consistency with my relatives and friends, who have considered that I degraded myself by relinquishing the profession of human for that of brute medicine, I will, in the face of a HISTORY OF THE VETERINARY COLLEGE. 15 From the first appearance of this institution forming itself into a regular establishment, the number of subscribers daily increased, and, at last, a president, vice-presidents, and di- probable charge of egotism, offer the folio wiug sketch of my professional career. At fourteen years of age I entered on the customary medical apprentice- ship with an eminent practitioner in Buckiiigiiamshire, from whence 1 re- moved to the Borough hospitals, where I remained for two years ; when from my general acquirements, but particularly from my known attachment to comparative anatomy, I was thought a fit person to be recommended to instruct the pupils of the Veterinary College in anatomy and the art of dissecting, and also to translate and demonstrate the public lectures of M. St. Bel, who had been appointed professor of the infant concern. In this situation I remained about twelve months, when some impolitic attempts of mine to convince the professor that many of his anatomical ideas were incorrect, made him wisely conclude that it would be imprudent to retain one about him who was able to detect his errors (which, as an anatomist, were numerous indeed), and I was in consequence removed from the situa- tion. I had, however, remained long enough to imbibe a strong attach- ment to veterinary medicine, and, circumstances removing me to Lewes, in Sussex, I there gave a course of public lectures on the anatomy and pathology of the horse, and commenced a course of veterinary practice. It was here 1 first entered on a series of experiments on the never-ending subject of contracted feet. This situation was also particularly favourable to a study of the diseases of oxen and sheep, which I did not neglect, and in which I was greatly assisted by the liberality of the Sussex farmers, who furnished me with subjects ; and it was here I made the discovery of the celebrated Remedy for the Distemper in Dogs. But as the prac- tice of economy was not at that time my fort, my experiments, which were expensive, and my expenditure, which was considerable, so far exceeded my income, that I was under the necessity of relinquishing these pursuits, and of accepting an ensigncy and assistant-surgeoncy in the East Middle- sex Militia, where I remained till General Gwynne recommended me to a surgeoncy to one of the troops of horse artillery, then stationed at Wool- wich, with which I remained more than two years, extending my know- ledge of human medicine by witnessing the judicious management of the Woolwich Artillery Hospital, under the direction of the late ingenious Dr. RoUo. Nor had I less opportunity also for improvement in the veten- nary art, from the circumstance of all the sick horses belonging to the estabhshment being placed under my inspection. It is probable I might have remained here some years longer, but, my relations becoming urgent with me to settle in life, I left the army practice, and settled as a surgeon in the neighbourhood of Queen Square, London : but, although thus en- gaged, I could not remain forgetful of my former predilections ; my leisure lime was therefore employed in dissecting, drawing, and arranging mate- rials for a folio edition of the Anatomy of the Horse, with coloured plates, which I afterwards brought before the public. But fate at that time seemed to have ordained that I was not to remain long in one situation ; for after a twelvemonth spent in this manner, I came into the possession of a considerable fortune by the death of a relative, which induced me to retire into the country. Unfortunately, I had not yet gained a prudential mode of managing money, and, after living expensively as a country gen- tleman for a few years, I found myself again under the necessity of enter- ing active life. I first accepted a commission in the North Gloucester Regiment of Militia, and passed a campaign in Ireland during the rebel- lion ; but after two years wasted in this manner, prudence dictated that it was doing nothing towards my future welfare ; and on the announcement of the expedition to the Helder, I offered my services to the Medical Board, which were accepted, and I was appointed surgeon io the second battalion 16 HiSTOUY OF 'VHE VETERINARY COLLEGE. rectors, were chosen from among the nobility, and other distinguished characters, who felt interested in it. A house was taken at Pancras, and pupils were admitted to board ; of the 40th legiraeiit of infantry, and immediately embarked with them for Holland. As this regiment particularly distinguished itself, and bore the brunt of several actions, my experience in my profession received consi- derable additions. On our return from Holland, I finally quitted the army, and retired, for a twelvemonth, into Northumberland, where my days were occupied in iield sports, and my evenings in arranging the materials for the first edition of this work. But this plan of life also furnishing no l)rospect of future advancement, I debated what ultimate course it would be most prudent to pursue, when the practice of human medicine natu- rally stood foremost to my view ; but it was unpleasant to reflect that I had lost some years in my start, and that my cotemporaries, from the advantage of early residence and locality, had outstripped me in the race; and that, the market being already overstocked with human surgeons, I had numerous difficulties to overcome, and additional time to waste, before I could hope to get even into tolerable practice. While thus irresolute what course to steer, my former pursuits and writings having gained me some little popularity, I was, as it were, irresistibly, and almost insensibly, drawn into correspondences and practice on the diseases of horses and dogs, which increased, at length, so much as to determine me to devote all my future professional energies to these subjects. In this almost un- beaten track I might hope to reap both fame and emolument ; and al- though it might not appear so honourable a calling as that of human medi- cine, it was, at least, a very useful one, and, under all the foregoing cir- cumstances, the most prudent one. Actuated by the above motives, I abandoned my wanderings, and maintained a steady perseverance in these pursuits ; and from thence has resulted that popular and extensive prac- tice on the diseases of animals in general, so well known in the British metropolis ; and from the same source have sprung those several veterinary publications, all of v. hich have passed through several editions, and most of which have been translated into continental languages. From these cir- cumstances, as well as from the testimonials of consideration their author has received, both from abroad and at home, it might be supposed these works deserved some place in the catalogue of useful contributions to the art they profess to treat of: yet in the face of these testimonies, but in accordance Avitli the same spirit which denied me the honour of acknow- ledgment as a graduated veterinarian, some of the popular writers of the regular school \m\e omitted all mention of my productions, even when pro- fessing to enumerate and examine all that has appeared on the subject : by which these gentlemen reduce themselves to this dilemma, that either they set their individual opinions in opposition to the almost universal one, or that, from motives which, to say the least of them, look suspicious, they de- prive their readers of a notice they profess to furnish them with, and thereby commit a kind of fraud on them. Confident as 1 am that the Veterinary Outlines will live long under the character of a valuable compendium of the principles and practice of the veterinary art, I should have |)assed over the circumstance in silence, if it were not for reasons connected with the art itself, and not with myself in particular. 1 solicit not the honour of their notice: let this and all my other works stand on their oun merits, and without merit they certainly would not stand even under the protection of a college diploma, as has been witnessed by the fate of several writers im- mediately from the school, whose works are sunk into the oblivion they merited. With those who are the real patrons of the art, I may, I hope, lay claim to some consideration for a course of exertions for its advancement, which has been arduous and unceasing. Of canine medicine, I believe no one will dispute Unit 1 am the absolute lather; and whether, also, of vetc- HISTORY OF THE VETERINARY COLLEGE. 17 but, from the difficulty of regulating the concerns, and pro- bably from some domestic disadvantages under which he laboured, the professor did not at first push into effect any active or regular system of instruction. To me, it has ever been a matter of surprise that it was established at all, with M. St. Bel at its head. That he was an ingenious man, and understood the manege, and was indefatigable in promoting the interests of the college, no one will deny ; but that by his knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the horse he was fitted to become veterinary professor, no one of those who most strongly supported him can believe. His writings and his practice bear me out in this opinion ; and it must have arisen only from a wish that the college might be established, and from a supposition that no other person then in the king- dom was better able to undertake its management, that his examination, which took place in 1792, by the most eminent medical men of the day, was passed over as satisfactory. Nevertheless, M. St. Bel was possessed of such good natural abilities, and had the welfare of the institution so much at heart, that I make no doubt his deficiencies, had he lived, might have been in a great measure made up by application. In March 1792, it was resolved, that a temporary stabling for fifty horses, and a forge for shoeing, should be built near the house taken for the college. But in August 1793, M. St. Bel w as attacked with an illness, which proved fatal in about a fortnight. His remains were interred in the vault of the Savoy chapel, in the Strand, at the expense of the Ve'.erinary College. M. St. Bel's works were an Essay on the Geometrical Pro- portions of Eclipse ; Lectures on the Elements of Farriery ; the Art of Horse Shoeing, and Diseases of the Feet. And a volume of posthumous works y collected for the benefit of Mad. St. Bel. The treatise on the Geometrical Proportions of Eclipse appeared soon after M. St. Bel became known, and paved the way for his future promotion, by gaining him many admirers and patrons. It assumed the elegance of its style from the assistance of the accomplished Mr. Penn : the sub - ject matter itself may be seen, with little alteration, in the first volume of Bourgelat's Elemens d'Hippiatrique, published at Lyons in 1750; where the same tables, and nearly the same proportions, appear. Nor can his Lectures on the Elements of Farriery claim any greater originality; not rinary medicine in general, I may not be considered as one of its earliest and warmest friends, the above aecount is best calculated to shew. I have readily pursued its best interests according to the plan I originally proposed to myself; and to which I have adhered so rigidly, that a tempt- ing offer, some years ago, made me to go to India, and a still more tempt- ing and honourable invitalion to go to Russia, of later date, both in my professional capacily, failed to move me; and I now reap the fruils of my exertions in a well-earned reputation and a moderate competence. 18 HIS'iOliY OF TtiE VETERINARY COLLEGE. only the substance, but frequently a literal translation of La Fosse, appears in them, collected from the Diet. d'Hippia- trique. On the death of M. St. Bel, the public attention was of course engaged in considering on whom the vacant professor- ship would devolve ; and Mr. Morecroft, who was then in private practice as a veterinary surgeon, appeared the most eligible person. Mr. M. was originally a student of human medicine, but he had lately studied veterinary medicine in the French schools, and w^as universally considered as pos- sessing extensive information on the subject. Mr. Coleman was also a medical pupil of the Borough hospitals, who had distinguished himself by some physiological inquiries, and who had lately, by the advice of his friends, engaged in some experiments on the diseases of the eyes of the horse : but his designs had never, I believe, reached further than this, nor had his attention at that time ever been engaged beyond that point. Between the eligibility of these two gentlemen there could, therefore, be no comparison. The fitness of Mr. More- croft was, however, so nicely balanced by the interest of Mr. Coleman, that it was determined to unite them in the professorship ; and, with the practical knowledge of the one, and the investigations of the other, every thing was to be hoped from the association. But, unfortunately for the in- stitution, Mr. M. soon seceded, and Mr. C. was appointed sole professor. The general establishment now received some important alterations ; a handsome theatre for the de- livery of lectures, a dissecting room, and a museum room likewise, were erected. A medical committee of assistance was also appointed, consisting of the most distinguished medical practitioners in London: by these gentlemen the pupils were to be examined, and, if found to have acquired a sufficient knowledge of the art, certificates were to be granted them. It was finally determined, that an annual subscriber of two guineas should have the privilege of sending two horses to the college, to receive medical assistance, the proprietor pay- ing for the keep only. A subscriber of twenty guineas had this advantage made perpetual. Pupils were now admitted to the practice of the institution, which, from the erection of a very extensive infirmary, and the encouragement it had re- ceived from the subscribers, had become a considerable field of medical practice. A regular course of lectures is now also given throughout the season; private dissections are canied on, in which the pupils have the benefit of the in- struction of the professor or his assistant. These advantages are received for twenty guineas, paid by each pupil on his entrance. It should not be omitted in this place to note, that, by (he liberality of the distinguished characters who HISTORY OF TETE VETERINARY COLLEGE. 19 compose the medical committee, the pupils are admitted to their lectures gratis, and this spirited example has been fol- lowed by several other professors of human medicine. I should be inexcusable, also, if I proceeded without a tribute to that active promoter of every branch of the healing art, Mr J. Hunter. Veterinarians will ever remember with gra- titude how much they were indebted to him for his zealous promotion of this establishment. The country at large, also, has fostered it as a rising plant ; in proof of which, the British Parliament has annually voted a sum for its support : and, as an inducement to young men of education and re- spectability to become students, his late Majesty granted the rank of comniissiooed officers to such veterinary surgeons as might be appointed to regiments. Mr. Coleman's professional works, since his succeeding to the college chair, have been, first, a pamphlet On the For- mation and Uses of the Natural Frog of the Horse, with a Description of a Patent Artificial Frog. Even by the author's friends, this was not considered a fortunate production ; and, whatever may be thought of the principles themselves, the application of them has been found impracticable. Mr. Cole- man's second veterinary publication, however, whether we consider the importance of the subject, the ability displayed in the anatomical execution of it, or the splendid manner in which it was got up, reflected the greatest credit on him. It was entitled Observations on the Structure, Economy, and Diseases of the Foot of the Horse, and on the Principles and Practice of Shoeing, in 2 vols, quarto. (See Shoeing among the Operations.) It was likewise proposed, that a volume of Transactions should be published annually ; and accordingly, in 1801, the first number appeared, but was not afterwards continued. To the college was appointed, some years past, an assistant professor also, of whom report speaks highly, and of w^hose exertions for the improvement of the art some very valuable and lasting memento exist. In the former editions of the Veterinary Outlines, I entered into an examination of the merits and defects of this esta- blishment, but which I now purposely avoid, as a work expressly on the subject is announced. Personalities are apt to creep into such accounts : and those who wish well to the art, however they may lament the defects in a public in- stitution, and however they may regret rumoured schisms among its leaders, will rather pass them over in silence than expose them. The institution, as now managed, has cer- tainly conferred incalculable benefits on the country ; and, if it has not yet done all that was expected, extended means and extended experience may remedy the defects. I shall now proceed with the account of Veterinary Au- tliors. 20 HISTORY OF VETERINARY AUTHORS. In 1790, Mr. Prosser, a gentleman engaged in the practice of physic, advertised his intention of practising farriery; and, as a previous step to it, published a Treatise on the Strangles and Fevers of Horses. It contains some judicious remarks on other authors, but offers little original matter. In 1796, appeared a very elegant work in quarto, the pro- duction of S. Freeman, Esq., an amateur in the manege, and a gentleman of fortune, learning, and great ingenuity. This publication consisted of a Description of the Structure and Economy of the Foot; accompanied with a set of plates highly finished, in Skelton's best style. The subjects were dissected under the inspection of Mr. Home, or an assistant ; and, except some slight errors in the ligaments of the na- vicular bone, appear very correct. This publication, for the elegance of its engravings, and the general spirit of the whole,, will be long admired. A Mr. John Lawrence, also, about this time, published a small volume, containing extracts from M. St. Bel, Osmer, Clarke, and Lord Pembroke. In 1798, this gentleman brought forward a Philosophical and Practical Treatise on Horses, and on the Moral Duties of Man towards the Brute Creation, in two volumes. The part of this work on the general treat- ment of the horse is humane and interesting ; but when he attempts to treat on farriery, he may be said to lose sight of his object, and rather to disseminate error than benefit the art. In 1800, Mr. Morecroft published a small pamphlet, en- titled a ' Cursory Account of the various Methods of Shoeing Horses, with incidental Observations.' The mode of shoeing recommended will be noticed in the course of the work. This year likewise produced a vindication of the present practice of farriers, in a pamphlet by a Mr. Lane. I shall only remark, that if this gentleman was delegated by the body general, they could not have been more unlucky in their champion. It was one thing to retort the abuse cast on them, but it was another to support and vindicate their ab- surdities. In 1801, Mr. White, of Exeter, who had been veterinary surgeon to the first regiment of dragoons, gave to the public a small Vade Mecum of Farriery. Such was the beginning of a work that has passed through several editions, and is now comprised in four octavo volumes. The first is termed a compendium of the veterinary art. The second compre- hends the veterinary materia medica. The third is a sort of supplementary volume, containing Mr. W.'s experiments and observations on some particular diseases, as glanders, farcy, staggers, &c. The fourth comprises observations on the diseases of cows, sheep, swine, and dogs ; the mode of performing the most important operations in farriery ; with HISTORY OF VETERINARY AUTHORS. 21 additional remarks on the epidemic catarrh, and diseases of the eye. It is greatly to be lamented, that this most valuable work is so totally without order or method, that more than one half of its excellence is hidden or lost. Subjects, that ought to be brought into one point of view, are scattered through the various volumes in detached parts, and only finished in an appendix. Mr. White, however, appears to me, in the law term, to have travelled out of the record, when he enters on the diseases of other animals ; it otherwise would not have been necessary for this ingenious writer to have submitted to gather from such authorities as John Lawrence and Mr. Daniel. Mr. White's first and third volumes will always remain monuments of his industry and observation. His materia medica would have been more worthy of him, had it treated more largely and more practically of essential articles, and less of others that might have been, indeed, altogether omitted. The detail of operations in the fourth volume en- titles him to gratitude from the junior practitioner. In the appendix to this volume, he adds some additional account of the hydrophobia, extracted from the pamphlet of Mr. Oilman. Mr. W., I make no doubt, was totally unaware from what source Mr. G. was enabled to make that minute account with which he favoured the public ; but if Mr. White will be at the trouble of comparing it with the account of rabies, published by me in the fourth edition of the ' Domestic Treatise on Horses and Dogs,' three years before, he will readily detect the source so glaringly and uncandidly drawn from. The year 1801, likewise, produced a work of considerable elegance from the pen and pencil of Mr. Richard Lawrence, of Birmingham, veterinary surgeon. It is much to be re- gretted that a gentleman, who appears to possess so much in- genuity, should pass over subjects of such importance in so light and cursory a manner. The plates are elegant, and extremely well designed, particularly those that regard the proportions and paces of the horse; those which describe the internal structure and diseases are not so happy. It has been since re-edited, and published in an octavo volume, with al- terations and improvements. About this time, also, appeared Mr. Downing's Description and Treatment of the Diseases of Cattle. An old writer on the same subject, Topham, appears pretty largely borrowed from by Mr. D. This work is in considerable repute among farmers, graziers, and even some farriers ; and it may be re- garded as a pretty faithful, though melancholy, picture of this part of the veterinary art, as practised among the greater number of farriers and cowleeches. 1803 produced a large volume quarto, by Mr. John Feron, veterinary surgeon to the 13th dragoons, entitled A New System of Farriery, S^c. ^c. This neiv system appears to be, 22 HrSTORY OF VETERINARY AUTHORS. first, a pretty literal copy of M. St. BeFs proportions of a horse ; and, secondly, an indifferent transcript of the college practice. Since which time, Mr. Feron has appeared also in octavo, extending his medical instructions to the treatment of cattle. About the same time, likewise, \vas presented to the public Mr. Ryding's Veterinary Pathology, in large octavo. This gentleman was also an army veterinarian. It is needless to say more of this production, than that it was usual at this time, with young men from the Veterinary College, to give themselves consequence with their regiment by publishing. But as this was usually done at the commencement, instead of the close, of their practice, so the proposed end was seldom attained. 1805. — If size constituted merit, this year would have been a memorable one for bringing forth a voluminous production in the form of a Veterinary Dictionary, from the pen of Mr. Thomas Boardman, veterinary surgeon to the third regi- ment of dragoons ; price £3.. 3s. This expensive and large w ork is a compilation from all the modern writers ; and, if our author had made his selection with as much judgment as industry, it might have been a meritorious production. As it is, it may prove an useful reference ; particularly as it gives fac-similes of most of the plates contained in the various works of merit that have appeared. This year, also, the indefatigable Mr. John LawTence pub- lished a General Treatise on Cattle. The various animals it treats on are principally considered as articles of domestic economy, with a few pages dedicated to their diseases and the treatment. It is altogether a very respectable publication, and may prove entertaining to the amateur, and useful to the farmer and grazier. In 1806, Mr. Francis Clater, a chemist and druggist, pub- lished an octavo volume, entitled Every 3Ian his own Farrier. It consisted of the old jargon, a little leavened with the new ; the usual number of diseases, and nearly a similar number of never- failing recipes from the old school, somewhat me- liorated. And since, with equal claims to merit, has ap- peared, by the same hand. Every Man his own Cattle Doctor. [n 1809, that very ingenious veterinarian, Mr. Bracy Clark, of London, favoured the public wdth the first part of his Dis- sertation on the Foot of the Horse, ivith Experiments on Shoe- ing; and the next year he brought forward the second part of the same : since which time a third part has appeared. The object of this elaborate and elegant w^ork is, by ac- curately describing the foot of the horse, to enable the reader to comprehend the hurtful effects that the present system of shoeing, even under the best hands, has upon the foot. It is HISTORY OF THE VETERINARY ART. 23 the author's opinion, that the application of an Iron Shoe by means of nails, as now practised, is the natural cause of the alteration that is found to take place in the feet of all horses after shoeing, and which alteration it has been usual to at- tribute to other causes. This opinion will be further ex- amined when we treat on shoeing. Mr. Clark's dissertation is intended to introduce an alteration in the present mode, by bringing forward an invention called the Paratrite, or shoe that may be applied without nails, having instead, an elastic steel band embracing the hoof as its means of attachment; the details and figures of which appear in the third part.—- Mr. Clark's other works are, A Treatise on the Casting of Horses, in which he introduces an improved apparatus, which has, 1 believe, been still farther simplified and improved by others since. A Description oj the Section of the Horse : A very accurate figure accompanies this anatomical detail, and the philosophical examination of the general form is highly interesting. An Essay on the Gripes of Horses, in w4iich Mr. C. introduces a more active treatment by means of an early administration of pimento, or allspice and spirit. A Reformed Pharmacopeia, with a plan of a portable surgery and pharmacy. In this, as in all his other works, Mr. Clark evinces his talent and research ; and the art must acknow- ledge him as one of its brightest ornaments : but whether the classical dress into which he puts even the most trivial mat- ters, does not rather tend to the advancement of his own character as a scholar, than to the improvement of the art among the plain unlettered men who form the majority of veterinary practitioners it is intended to benefit, I leave others to decide. 1814. — This year. Professor Peale, of the Royal Dublin Society, made his debut as an author in a v/ork which will long remain as a monument to his industry, zeal, and ability. It is entitled. Observations, chiefly practical, on some of the more common Diseases of the Horse : together ivith Remarks on the general Articles of Diet, and the ordinary Stable Ma- nagement of that Animal, It would, indeed, be well if a few other of our most popular writers on this subject of the pre- sent day would copy after Mr. Peale's plan, and render their works less philosophic and more practical. We are most of us too apt to write for a reputation, founded more on our in- genuity or learning than on our practical utility to the art we profess to teach, which, after all, will probably ever re- main principally confined among, if not illiterate, at least among men of but moderate learning. 1818.— Mr. Wilkinson published A Treatise on the Tetanus and Epidemic Catarrh of Horses, If Mr. W. has not mis- taken some other complaints for tetanus, which his clear account of symptoms and references to cases would seem to C 24 MEANS OF ATTAINING THE VETERINARY ART. render unlikely, his treatment of this formidable disease has been very successful, and deserves general adoption. On epidemic catarrh nothing new appears. 1820. — A New System of Shoeing Horses, with Accounts of the various 3Iodes practised by different Nations; Observations on Diseases of the Feet, ^c. appeared from the pen of Mr. Goodwin, late Veterinary Surgeon to his Majesty. This ingenious writer, to whom the art is indebted for various im- provements, has in this work, after a very creditable exami- nation of the causes of lameness, added an interesting ac- count of the horse shoes in use in other countries. His attempts appear to be directed to introduce a modified system of French shoeing, but which shoes are to be forged oi patent malleable cast iron. The system, to say the least of it, is in- genious, and the work in general highly creditable to the author's ingenuity; bat so many difficulties stand in the way, that I question whether this plan will not follow many others that have preceded it. 1823. — in this year appeared the elegant work of Mr. Per- ceval, Veterinary Surgeon to the Royal Artillery, entitled, A Series of Elementary Lectures on the Veterinary Art. If the future volumes maintain the same rank which the present is entitled to, Mr. P. need not blush for his authorship. These lectures are calculated to encourage a philosophical conside- ration of the subject; and, in point of correctness and lan- guage, they vie with the most elegant medical productions of the day. Minor works have also appeared ; among which, I believe, the names of Budd, Powis, and others, appear ; from all of which something may be gained, and to all of whom the merit is due of adding their efforts to the common weal. &nu III. OF THE PROPLR MEANS FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF THE VETERINARY ART. THE mode in which any art is attained must be, in a great measure, directed by the future views of the learners. It ap- pears to me, that there are three distinct classes of persons who are likely to study this branch of useful knowledge. The first is composed of persons of fortune, wdth enlarged minds and extended educations. The second includes surgeons, whose situation in country villages may render their services in this art highly useful, upon occasions when no farrier is at hand, or in cases in which farriers of the common class are unable to judge. The third is formed of farriers themselves, or persons intending to profess veterinary medicine. MEANS OF ATTAINING THE VETERINARY ART» 25 Gentlemen and amateurs^ who wish to accumulate infor- mation on this curious and interesting subject, within the reach of the Veterinary College, will find their account in at- tending a course of lectures there ; if not, I hope they may gain all they want from the following sheets. A good surgeon has travelled three-fourths of the road to- wards making a good veterinarian ; but he must diligently travel the remainder to arrive at excellence. He must by no means sit down contented with the analogy between the human and brute subject, or he may be led into very great error ; for though this analogy is, in some cases, very striking; yet there are others in which the similarity fails, and he is left to act upon different principles. It must likewise be re- membered, that the operations of medicines are very different in the one and the other, arising principally from a peculi- arity of conformation in the stomach of the horse. This will evince the necessity for a conversance with such anatomical variations from the human structure and functions, as will naturally lead to variation in the practice also between them, of which the feet form a notable instance. The specific dis- eases, as glanders, farcy, strangles, grease, &c., must also occupy his particular attention ; as here all analogy would fail. The third class of veterinary pupils is composed of farriers already practising, orwho intend to practise, this art exclusively. To such persons it must be evident, that entering themselves at the Veterinary College, if within their power, is a matter of great importance. Not only will they derive benefit from the course of instruction there carried on, and from the numerous opportunities of observing diseases in the infirmary of th(r institution ; but those already practising will become ha- bituated to a different mode of considering the art altogether. In fact, a new field vAM open to their view also. But when, from circumstances, farriers, or persons intend- ing to practise farriery, cannot possibly attend the Veterinary College, still let them not despair ; improvement is yet within their reach : and, provided they will be content to enter on a systematic and regular plan of accumulating information, the acquirement of the art may be made both easy and agreeable. In the first instance, recourse should be had to some of the numerous elementary works on human anatomy, such as those of Fife, jSooper, Shaw, Lizars, &c. &c. By reading these attentively, the memory will become habituated to anatomical language and facts, and the mind will be gra- dually led to wish to form a further acquaintance with the subject. In the next place, the anatomical detail of the pre- sent work should be closely studied, and committed to me- mory; after which, dissection may be proceeded on: any small animal may be first dissected, to enable tlie learner to C2 2i) EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. use his iiistmmcnts properly. He may then proceed to dis- sect the horse with some authorities by him which will assist him to make out parts ; but too scrupulous an attention to numerous descriptions will only bewilder. The necessary in- structions for dissection, and the preservation of parts, may be gained by a recourse to Poole's and Parkinson's works, professedly written to instruct the pupil in these particulars. When he is well acquainted with the appearances of the parts in a healthy state, he should take every opportunity of examin- ing the same under disease, which are seldom w^anting at the tan-yard or the kennel. He should now make himself ac- quainted more intimately with physiology, for which purpose he may begin with the light and ingenious publication of Mr. Saumarez, and then proceed with Haller, Cuvier, and finish with Richerand. Pathology, or the doctrine of dis- eases, maybe gained, it is hoped, fiom the following sheets, assisted by the excellent English authors, both antient and modern, that grace our veterinary bibliotheca. A general acquaintance with human pathology will also greatly as- sist the veterinarian, for which he may study the popular treatises on this subject, as Hooper, Thomas, Cooper, and others ; and his general pursuits may be assisted by a reference to Parkinson's Pupil's Guide. Sttt IV. EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. THE horse, in zoology, and according to the Linnasan system, is a distinct genus of animals of the order of bellufB, The characters of this order are, that the fore-teeth are six in each jaw, the upper, erect and parallel; the lower, more pro- minent : the canine, or dog-teeth, are single, placed at a dis- tance from the others, and but little longer than the incisive ; the hoof is formed of one piece*. * * Aiiimale genercsiim, siiperbura ; fortissirniim in currendo, portando, * traheiido, aptissimum eqwitando, ciirsii fureas ; sylvis delectatnr, poste- * riora curat, cauda Caiiopes Tabaiiosque abigit ; alteram scalpit, pulium Mnjuriae obiioxium reponit; hinnitu socium \'ocat; dormit post noctem ; * calcitrando piignat ; sudaiis se volutat ; vegetabilia edit bove propius, se- * mina disseminat; stercus iiicaleseit, cystide feliea caret; uoii vomit; * eqmdeus Hyppomane natus, pedibus eloiigatis ; leeditur globalo auris, ' litis, Padi herba, Phellandrii, curculione, conope irritante. Laborat hernia < mediastiui, polypo cordis, ortopnsea, oestro bovis, nanasali, ha£?morrhoidali * scabie, tartaroque pedum, bubone colli; Hyppocomia instruitur. Edit ' impune aconitum. Utero gerit 290 diebus, placenta non fixa. Laniarios * dentes quinto anno v^cquiritJ—Si/stema Naturce. * Le cbeval est sans contredit le plus utile des aniraaux soumis a Tempire ^ de rhomme; nous avons pour premier garand de ses grandes qualites, EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 27 This noble animal is considered to have been originally a native of what is called the old world, and, by industry, to have been planted in the new*. It also appears the genus exists 'naturally in greatest perfection in warm climates : nevertheless, care and attention have improved the breed in climes less congenial, to that degree, that the northern horses now greatly surpass, in excellence, the southern ; and it is now not uncommon to send stallions from England to im- prove the breed in those very countries from whence the ori- ginal stock of excellence is supposed to be drawn. In the arid plains of India the horse is naturally of a moderate size, beautiful, spirited, and very speedy. As he approaches more temperate climes, he enlarges in size, but decreases in beauty : this is, however, compensated by his becoming more hardy, strong, and patient. In countries where pasturage is luxuriant, and the plains extensive, he is found naturally bulky ; and from such sources we have been furnished with our grand breed of coach and cart horses, as Belgium, Nor- way, Sweden, &c. &c. The horses of the British Islands were originally a small, ill-shaped kind, few exceeding four- teen hands and a half in height. In the more mountainous districts, as Wales and Scotland, they were even less ; but they were hardy and very sure-footed. Those situated at the most northern points were still smaller, and covered with a great quantity of thick long hair to defend them against the severities of the weather. At what precise time foreign horses were first brought into Britain is uncertain; but it must have been at a very early one, since history informs us tliey were sufliciently numerous, and their uses well known, when Julius Csesar invaded the island. In Henry the Fourth's time the public attention ap- pears to have been particularly directed to the necessity of improving the breed of horses ; and some public ordinances were promulgated to that effect. In the reigns of Henry VII and VIII, it became common to import foreign stallions for this purpose from Barbary and Spain. In the next reigns, others were imported from Belgium, Flanders, and Denmark : and as the former were intended to improve the speed, spirit, and beauty, these latter added greatly to the size of the future breeds. As early as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,, there were horse-races in England ; but these were probably * l-estime generale dans laquelle il a toujours ete; cette estime a eU port6c ' anciennement a mi degre si liaut, qu'on a accorde a iin Dieu puissant du Paganisme.'— Ze Parfait MareehaL ' Fudit equum raagno telliis percussa tridenti.' — Virgil. Georgic. lib. i. - * If, however, thefossile bones found at Hatfield Chace, Yorkshire, and in the Isle of Dogs, Middlesex, be really asqiiine {Parkinson's Organic Re- mains, vol. i, p. 67-95), it would appear that horses were indigenous in England: but Cuvicr seems to doubt then- characters being genuine.— yinn. de Museum, torn, xiv, p. 33. 28 EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HOUSE. only ordinary trials of speed between the native animals. In the reign of Henry VIII, horses bred from the Barbary race were trained for the purpose ; and it is from this epoch that we may date the principal improvement of the horses of England, till they now not only vie with, but excel, all the horses of the world, both in beauty and qualities. The exterior conformation of the horse is a branch of know- ledge that very properly precedes a consideration of his in- ternal structure ; and the animal, considered generally, may be divided into head, neck, trunk, and extremities : the dif- ferent parts comprising each of which, have various terms of art in general use appropriated to them; and it has been found, from long experience, that there is a peculiar form for each of these that is best adapted either to the general pur- poses of the animal, or to the uses we put him to. Never- theless, it is not possible to reduce this state of perfection to a geometric scale ; hence reducing the horse into a square, and giving various admeasurements for the separate parts as a standard, is not found by experience to exemplify the art: on the contrary, it proves fallacious, and leads into erroneous conclusions*. Nature will not be limited, and the perfection of her operation is not dependant on exterior symmetry only, but on a harmony and accordance of the whole, internal as well as external. In considering a horse exteriorly, his age, his condition, and other circumstances, should be taken into the consideration ; and to determine, with precision, to what perfection a horse may attain, when he is seen under various imperfections, is, perhaps, the nepliis ultra of a Hippopota- mist's knowledge. A horse of five years' old, though con- sidered as full grown, yet experiences very considerable alterations in his form between this age and seven or eight. At these latter periods he becomes what is termed furnished ; his points all shew themselves ; that is, he is in fact more angular, and, in a painter's eye, would be more picturesque, but less beautiful. A horse, likewise, very low in flesh and condition, is not the same animal as one full of flesh and in condition. And, again, the sleek fatness of full and gross feeding, with little exercise, is utterly unlike the robust form acquired from generous diet with corresponding exertion. The head is a very important part, considered wdth a view to the beauty of the animal ; and in no part is an improve- ment in the breed so soon detected as in this. Can any thing be conceived more dissimilar than the small inexpressive features attached to the enormous head of a cart horse, com- pared with the bold striking lines that grace that of the blood horse ? It is probable, that the heads of the native horses * Mr. Clark seems to be of adifl'erent opinion ; and, consequently, in his Stciion of I he Horse, he lays great stress on the uniformity of these propor- tions, and the advantages resulting from a knowledge of them. EXTERIOU CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 29 of Britain were all large and heavy till the introduction of the eastern blood. The head, in the improved breed, be- came small and angular, the eyes prominent, the ears spirited, small, and pointed ; the forehead wide, straight, and some- times slightly curved inwards at the lower part, and in them the facial angle is about 25°, whereas, in the heavy breed, it is more generally 23°; its junction with the neck also is less easy and elegant than in the improved kind. A superficial observer might, perhaps, overlook the ex- treme beauty in the head of the horse, and particularly the great fire and expression of his countenance, when animated by any leading passion: and this is to be the more admired, when it is considered how few aids this part has in the brute, compared with the human. Man borrows much of his facial expression from his eyebrows, and, when to these the varied action of the mouth is added, it amounts to more than a half of the total expression. Upon studying the Greek and Ro- man models, one is led to form but an unfavourable opinion of their horses, from the heavy inelegant heads that are pre- sented to us in their studies and pictures. Either they de- spised the lighter and more animated breeds from Egypt and India, or their artists too often studied imaginary heads, compounded from the human and brute countenances ; and this really appears to be the case, from the sunken eyes, overhanging eyebrows, contracted nostrils, and lips thick and generally wide apart, observed in their statues and pictures. The ears are usually supposed criterions of the spirit of the animal, and I have seldom seen a horse who carried one ear forward, and the other backward, during his exercise, especially if on a journey, but what was lasting and good. The reason appears a plain one : a horse of spirit, strong, and not easily fatigued, is attentive to every thing around him, and directs one ear forward and one ear backv/ard to collect sound from every quarter. I need not mention, that the ears are an indication of the temper of the animal ; and that he is seldom either playful or vicious, but the ears are laid flat on the neck. It was kind in Providence to give us such a warning in an animal who does not want craft to sur- prise us, nor strength to render his resentment terrible. The eyes should be very particularly attended to in an ex- terior examination of a horse : the globe should be full and pro- minent, with a thin surface of eyelid. Vf hen it is small, or sunk within an orbit surrounded by much adipose or membranous substance, such eye is found more prone to inflammation than the former. It is prudent, however, to guard against too great a convexity of the globe, which now and then does actually exist, and renders the horse shortsighted. The eyes should alwavs be examined in the shade : no better situation 30 EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. can be chosen than that the horse's head should be pointed outwards, but that his eyes remain half a foot within a stable door. The cornea, or transparent part of the eye, should be perfectly clear throughout its whole extent of surface. Some- times it appears so on a slight inspection, but, more atten- tively examined, opaque milky lines may be traced crossing its surface. In other cases, nearly the whole may be clear except the extreme limits, which will be found surrounded by an opaque line : when such an appearance exists, it bespeaks the remains of former inflammation, and a great danger of recurrence ; though it may be proper to notice, that an acci- dent, such as the stroke of a whip, may leave an opaque speck or line, and that such eye may be no more liable to inflame than though the injury had not taken place ; but then very clear evidence ought to be obtained that accident had really occasioned the blemish, and which in such case will seldom be found at the circumference. Not only must this exterior glassy covering of the eye be examined, but the attention should be likewise directed to the deeper parts with- in the pupil, the appearance of which, in a moderate light, should be perfectly transparent. In a strong light it should exhibit a lively blueishness ; but if, in a moderate light, it appears turbid or milky, there is latent mischief, and the ex- amination should now be still more minute : the eye should be viewed in every direction, and it is more than probable that a speck or line of white, more conspicuous than the rest, will appear ; in which case a cataract has already began to form (see Eyes in Splanchnology). In other instances, again, though the parts within the sight may not appear opaque or milky, yet they may exhibit a glassy greenishness, which also is a proof of the existence of a most destructive aftection, called, by the farriers, glass eyes; but, properly, guttaserena. The existence of this may be proved by observing whether the iris, or the curtain forming the pupil, contracts and di- lates ; that is, when the hand is placed over a sound eye for a little time, the iris will dilate so as to increase the size of the pupil to admit more rays ; but, on the removal of the hand, will again contract and lessen the pupil, to exclude them. A blind horse likewise usually carries his ears as though alarmed, in quick changes of direction, and hangs back on his bridle or halter, lifting his legs up very high ; in fact, he presents every indication that a person blindfolded w ould do. Immediate inflammation of the eyes is known by the ap- pearance of tears running down the face, and by an impa- tience of light. When the iris, or moving curtain that imme- diately surrounds the pupil or opening into the eye, is of a lighter colour than brown, such horses are said to be wall- eyed; but, however it may detract from beauty, it no farther aflects the eye. In some horses, the transparent cornea is EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 31 small in its circumference, in which case the opaque cornea must necessarily be large, and shew much of the ivhite of the eye. It is necessary to distinguish such instances from others, in which, though the opaque or white coat shall be of its natural dimensions, yet, from the greater contraction and dilatation of the eyelid, more of it is seen. In the former, it is evident that the white of the eye shewing itself in a con- siderable degree merely from a small superficies of trans- parent cornea, is the simple form of the organ, and can have nothing to do with the temper : but, in the latter instance, a large appearance of ivhite may be received as an indication of a vicious disposition; for extraordinary motions of either the eyes or ears, and which are generally in unison, are conse- quences of the wants and passions of the animal. If a horse is suspicious, he generally looks out for opportunities to re- venge former injuries, or to repel new ones ; and the retro- verted direction of the eye, in which, of course, much of the white is seen, is merely intended to guide the blow he me- ditates. The face comprehends the part between and below the eyes : when there is much white in it, it is considered as a blemish. If the white extends down the face, it is termed a blaze; and, when continued into the muzzle, it is called blaze and snip. If only a spot of white appears in the fore- head, it is called a star, and is esteemed a beauty. If, vvith a star, white begins below, and is carried downwards, it is called race ; and, as has been beforementioned, if it is con- tinued into the muzzle, it is called snip. Thus, when a stolen horse is described, these distinctions become useful ; and, in regimental accounts of the marks of horses, they are parti- cularly attended to. Such a particular horse is said to have star, race, and snip white, while another has a blaze only. All the lower part of the head, including the nostrils and lips, is called the ^nuzzle. The darker the colour of this part, the more is the horse esteemed. Very dark brown horses are, however, an exception to this, for, in them, the muzzle is generally of a tan colour, which is also prized. The lips themselves should be thin and well supported; when hanging loose and pendulous, they bespeak age, slug- gishness, or debility ; and it is of more consequence than is usually supposed, that their commissure, or the opening of the mouth, should be of sufficient extent. If too small, it is unfavourable to beauty; but what is worse, it is inconve- nient for the well placing the bridle. The mouth itself is a subject of importance, as upon the various appearances of the teeth we form a criterion of the age. The bars also are essential to the proper obedience of the horse, and are those ridges in the posterior jaw, between the tush on each side and the grinders. Like the beard, the 32 AGE OF THE HORSE. bars should neither be too fleshy nor too lean, too round nor too sharp. If by a rude hand they have been scarred, the feeling from the bridle can never be true. Of the Teeth, as characterising the Age; with the Auxiliary Marks. A COLT is usually foaled with six grinders in each jaw, three on each side. In ten or twelve days he puts out two nippers in front, above and below. In a fortnight after, the two middle ones appear; and in two or three months from this, the corner nippers are pushed out. From this, till he is a year old, no great changes take place, except thai the cavity in the nippers begins slightly to fill up, and appears worn, and the neck of each tooth is particularly distinct. He has likewise now four grinders on each side above and below, three of the milk set, and one per- manent. At a year and a half, the cavity in the nippers is nearly filled up, and he has now three milk ajjd two permanent grinders in each jaw, above and below. At two years, the mark in the nippers is wholly effaced, and they appear like the same teeth in a horse eight years old : at this time, likewise, the first milk grinder above and below falls. At about two years and a half old, the two front nippers fall cut; and as the permanent ones are some little time coming to perfection, a colt may experience some difficulty in grazing: it might be proper, therefore, at those times, to give him some cut food. Between the third and fourth year, usually about three and a half, the two next nippers appear above and below, and the second milk grinder disappears about the same time, leaving him now six molar teeth on each side above and below, one colt's, and five of the permanent set. About four and a half, the two corner nippers fall out, to give place to the last set. The last milk grinder likewise does the same, and soon after the tushes appear. From this time he is no longer called a colt, but a horse: and if a female, on the falling of the corner nippors, she drops the name oi jilhj, and assumes that of mare, it is about this time that a horse is supposed to become strong, and capable of enduring some fatigue ; and as, till this period, he is objected to for the purposes of utility, so it be- comes a matter of study with dealers possessing colts, to make them appear older than they really are. It is, therefore, very common for them in a promising well-grown colt, less than four years old, to draw^ out the corner milk teeth, on which the horse teeth below appear soon after ; the reasons for which we have before explained : they likewise, at the same time, cut the bars to produce the tushes ; and when such a colt is docked and nicked, it is not easy to detect the deception : but if to an examination of the usual appearances is added an observance of the grinders, the imposi- tion may be discovered ; neither can the animal gain the true appearance of the age they wish, luiless the front nippers appear filling, and the corner ones are nearly equal with the rest. The deception is also rendered con- z5picuous,when this is the case, by the animal not being h\^^c\^\^\\^ furnished, as it is termed ; that is, by his not having lost his coltish form, and his mus- cles not having become swelled and furnished by exercise. A foiu* year old horse is leggy, his forehand is thick and low, his feet are round and very wide at the bottom, his muzzle is round, and his mouth has no depth. At five and a half, in a natural state, the internal wall of the corner nippers appears on a level with the rest, and the tushes are completely out, and now present a pointed body curved inward, with the outer surface round and smooth, but the inner surface concave and grooved. (Sec Plate II.) At six years old, in genera! cases, the black mark or cavity in the two AGE OF THE HORSE. 33 front lower nippers, which was before wearing, now becomes completely effaced. At seven, the same mark or cavity in the two next, or intermediate teeth of the posterior jaw, likewise is completely worn out, and the tushes appear something blunted. At eight, the cavity in the lower corner teeth is lost, and now a horse is said to be aged, and to have lost his mark. But the cavities in the upper nippers are found to disappear more slowly ; and at eight, when the whole of the others have become effaced, it is common to find only the two front upper ones filled. Two years elapse between the disappearance of each of the next pairs; that is, that as the front upper nippers are found filled up at eight, so the two next are filled at ten, and the two upper corner teeth lose their mark when the animal is twelve. But though the cavity in these teeth disappears in something like the above order, they do not do it with sufficient regularity to be altogether depended upon ; nor should a veterinarian ever give a decided opinion from this alone, as he may subject himself to much mortification. At ten years, therefore, in a great number of instances, the two interme- diate upper nippers will be found filled up : the tushes become very blunt, and lose their internal concavity, and the fleshy ridges of the roof of the mouth become leaner. At twelve, where the disappearance of the upper cavities is regular, those in the corner are effaced, and the tushes are now only a rounded button ; the fleshy ridges are still less evident, and the nippers now begin to push forward in an horizontal direction. When a horse lives to fifteen, his incisive teeth become nearly trian- gular, and still more horizontal, the upper projecting over the lower, and the upper corner tooth frequently becoming sawed, as it were, into two parts. The teeth now appear yellow, and frequently the grinders become irregular: the eyes likewise sink, and the pits over them look deep. As the animal advances in age, all these appearances strengthen. The nippers flatten at the sides, separate from each other, become furred, and furrows arc seen on their surface ; grey hair appears over the eyes, the anus pro- jects, while the cellular membrane surrounding becomes absorbed; the lips are also thin and pendant, the lower being often nearly paralytic. But as horses are evidentl}', for many years after they have lost the mark, as it is termed, active, hardy, and fitted for every exertion; so, when a dealer becomes possessed of a horse whose teeth bear more actual marks of age than either his limbs or spirit, it is an object worthy his attention to give them a more youthful appearance. The principal part of this art consists in the operation called bishopping ; which is the making an artificial cavity in the upper surface of the nippers, by means of a sharp hard tool, and making the cavity permanently black with a heated pointed instrument : but the strokes of the graver detect the imposition, and the two inner grooves of the tushes cannot be restored by similar means ; nor can its blunt point be again made sharp and prominent. The tush, therefore, should always be at- tended to in examining the teeth for a horse's age. It is, indeed, in many respects, a more certain criterion than the nippers, and is, among judges, more attended to. The judgment formed from the teeth, though general, is liable to error, as some horses living wholly on grain, and early worked, must necessarily wcar theirs more than others which feed principally on succulent matter. In crihbiters, and those which champ much on the bit, this variation may be very considerable, and make not less than two years' difterence between them and others. A too strict adherence to the teeth marks very fre- quently leads those who are only moderate judges into very great error, by causing them to reject the most useful and valuable horses without these marks, as being supposed past their work. Nothing is more fallacious than this ; the commonly received marks of the age, grant a criterion of not a third of the natural life of (he animal; nor of one half of the time in which 34 AGE OF THE HORSE. he is perfectly useful, and fully capable of answering all the purposes for which he was intended : and it is only in a country like our own, where these generous animals are so early put to labour, and so unremittingly forced to pursue it, that this mark is so much attended to. A subordinate attention should be paid to the appearance of the teeth, if a horse appear what is termed fresb and sound ; that is, if all his organs be capable of their several functions, the limbs being firm, and exhibiting no appearance of too early, too great, or long continued exertion. The early ruin of English horses is not only to be attributed to the excellence of the roads, by which persons are induced to ride hard ; but it is principally to be laid to the account of their being too soon worked, before the maturity of the system is complete, or the motive organs completely evolved. By the premature exertion taking place before parts are well capable of bearing it, early weakness is produced, and nature takes artificial means of strength- ening the debilitated organs ; hence the cavities between the tendons and their sheaths are destroyed ; parts take on a bony structure, whose original formation was cartilaginous, as the lateral cartilages of the feet, and the articular processes of the vertebrae, and a greater quantity of bone is deposited on the surface of some bones than is natural, forming spleuts, • spavins, ring-bones, &c. : and to counteract the unnatural waste, other secretions are likewise preternaturally augmented, producing, in the mu- cous capsules, windgalls, blood-spavins, &c. But where horses are suffered to attain their full growth, and the complete evolution of their stamina, if they are afterwards put to full exercise, not altogether inordinate, they become competent to the exertions expected of them, and reach old age sound and vigorous. Many good judges will not purchase a horse for hunting earlier than eight years old, and regard him only in his prime at ten or twelve. It is but little considered that the period of a horse's life, with moderate care and good usage, is protracted to twenty-five, thirty-five, and forty-five years: and an instance lately occurred of a horse dying at fifty. The accounts of their being vigorous and strong at thirty, and thirty-five, are very numerous; and nearly as frequent as activity in men of eighty and ninety. • A gentleman at Dulwich, near London, has three monuments of three horses, who severally died in his possession at the ages of thirty-five, thirt3-seven, and thirty-nine. The oldest, it is to be remarked, was in a carriage the very day he died, strong and vigorous; but was carried off in a fewliours by spasmodic colic, to which he was subject. AtChesham, in Buckinghamshire, there was a horse of thirty-six years old, v/ho exhibited no symptoms of debility, nor any external signs of age, but by being nearly covered with warts. It vvas remarkable, with regard to this four-footed Nestor, that when an unusual hard day's work was required, he was always chosen, as never failing in what was expected from him. ]\Jr. Culley, in his Ohservatioiis on Live Stock, mentions a horse he knew, which lived to forty-seven years, having during that time a ball in his neck, received in the battle of Preston, in the rebellion of 1715; and which was extracted at his death, which Isappened in 1758: and, judging him at four years at the time he received the wound (and it is probable he was more), he must, at his death, have been forty-seven. These, it is true, are not very common instances, but it is not the natural economy of the animal makes them so ; but his early application . to full exertion, and the unremitting continuance of this, whereby his race is begun frequently before he is three, in the brake, lunge, or riding-house ; before five, his utmost speed is exerted after the hounds in winter, and as a hackney against time in the summer ; at seven, blind, foundered, and spavined, he gallantly shines in the mail or stage ; at eight, he falters in the fish cart ; and, before ten, worn out with disease and inanition, his re- puted old age gains him an honourable exit at the slaughter-house. Hence it must be at once evident how small a proportion of a horse's nutural hie is eight years; and yet this is the period that the majority of persons begin to consider him as aged, and unfit for service. The more I EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 35 see of Jiorses, the more I am astonished at the want of attention and con- sideration this evinces : my long acquaintance with the animal has induced me to draw the following comparisons between the ages of man and the horse ; that is, at these several periods of comparison, the constitution of the man and horse may be considered as in an equal degree of perfection or decay, according as youth or age preponderate. Thus, the first five years of a horse, may be considered as equivalent to the first twenty years of a man ; that is, that a horse of five years, may be comparatively consi- dered as old as a man of twenty ; a horse of ten years, as a man of forty ; a horse of fifteen, as a man of fifty ; a horse ©f twenty, as a man of sixty ; of twenty-five, as a man of seventy; of thirty, as a man of eighty; and of thirty-five, as a man of ninet}'. Oxen and sheep have their ages observed by their horns, which are more conveniently examined, and more certain in their appearances than their teeth. Oxen have a j)ermanent and temporaneous set of horns. Sheep have only the permanent set. In neat cattle, the age is sufficiently indicated by the general appearance till the third year, when the temporaneous horns fall, and are replaced by a permanent pair. These appear with a kind of button at the end ; and as each succeeding year's growth protrudes this knobbed extremity from the head, a circle or ring round the horn is formed ; consequently, in these animals, if three years be reckoned for the button at the extremity, and an additional year for every circle, we shall gain the age of the beast; though it is not unusual to scrape or rasp down these rings, to deceive the unwary. In those kine who have no horns, the general appearances are considered, with the whiteness and equality of the teeth, which in the aged are uneven, yellow, and sometimes black. Neat cattle have incisive teeth only in the posterior jaw : there was no necessity for anterior nippers in them, for they gather long grass principally, which they wrap into a tuft with their tongues, and, applying it to the under or posterior jaw, they cut it off with the under teeth. They change their temporaneotis set earlier than the horse, beginning at two years to renew the front nippers, and getting a pair every year till they are five years old : thus, they have eight nippers at this time, when they are called full mouthed, JSheep have their age indicated by the horns and teeth. The horns in those v^ho have them, are more usually examined : these do not change, but, as each succeeding year presents a ring, one year is counted for the point, and an additional year for every one of these rings. Where they have no horns, the teeth are attended to. At twelve months, a lamb puts out his new front nippers; and every succeeding year, he gains two more, till he is four years old, when he then has eight in his lower jaw, his upper, like the ox, being deprived of them. The age of goats may be ascertained in the same way ; and in deer it is told by an additional branch appearing to the palm in the antlers or horns. EXTERIOR CONFORMATION of the HORSE. [Continued from p. 32.] The channel, among horsemen, is the hollow that is formed between the two branches of the posterior jaw ; internally it lodges the tongue, more exteriorly are placed glands, vessels, and fat. It should not be too wide, or the head will appear clumsy ; but, on the contrary, if it be too narrow, it becomes a still greater defect, both in the riding and the carriage horse ; for in this case it will prove painful for the horse to bend his head inwards, or to rein in-to the bridle, either in riding or driving. The neck should form from the head to the withers an ele- gant but moderate curve: its under surface should be nearly 36 EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. straight. In point of length, it is of consequence that the neck be duly proportioned : if too long, the head will be too weighty. The long neck, likewise, seldom presents a firm or proper resistance against the pressure of the bit. When, on the contrary, the neck is too short, the head is frequently ill placed, and the lever in the hand of the rider will be also too short. Such necks are often likewise weighty, and over- loaded with flesh. When the upper surface of the neck is thick and heavy, it is a very sti'ong presumption of a sluggish disposition, particularly in geldings and mares. In stallions, it is a distinctive sexual mark, and hence less to be depended on. Now and then, the neck is arched downwards, which is called ewe-necked. When the deformity is considerable, it prevents the head from being carried in its true angle ; in- stead of which, the nose, from being projected upwards and forwards, has occasioned such horses to be called stargazers ; to remedy which, it is usual to draw down the head by a martingale. In the horse, and all the grazing tribes, the bulk of the head is in an inverse proportion to the length of the neck, otherwise the muscles would not be able to lift it ; and the length of the neck is such, that, added to the angle re- sulting from the head, the length of both is equal to the height of the shoulders from the ground. It may not also be amiss to mention, that, in the purchase of a horse, it is pru- dent to observe whether the upper part of the neck bears any marks of a tight collar having been worn. When such an appearance does exist, it commonly arises either from a strap worn to prevent the action of cribbiting, or such a horse is apt to unloose himself, which is almost an equal defect. The mane is that long hair which crowns the neck through- out its whole extent ; that part of it immediately in front of the head is called the foretop. Nature appears to have de- signed this part simply for beauty to the animal: had it been for a guard to the neck, it would have grown on both sides ; whereas, when not altered by art, as in dragoon horses, it hangs naturally to one only. In stallions, the mane is generally thick and long: a white one, exhibited some years ago, had it some yards in length, and which was carried in a bag. It is usual, to thin the mane and tail, to wrap a tuft of the hair around the fingers, and pull it out by the roots: but this mode prevents its lying well, and dis- poses some horses to resist. In my own stable, I have found that the frequent use of a three-pronged angular iron was the best means of keeping the hair thin, and assisting it to lie well*. The trunk comprises various parts, but which, when sepa- rated from the limbs, has been by Mr. Clark fancifully but not * This irou, which was my own iiivcnlioii, maybe found among the list of veterinary instruments at the end. EXTER[OR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 37 inaptly likened to a boat containing the various organs en- closed by ribs, as in these vessels. This form, as he observes, is admirably adapted by its figure to make its way through the atmosphere. The ivitJiers are formed from the long trans- verse processes of the dorsal vertebrae ; and as their use is to serve as levers to the powerful lumbar muscles, so their length must be of great advantage ; hence, horses with high withers usually go much above the ground ; that is, the mus- cles of the back acting to greater advantage, the fore parts are more elevated during progression; and this may serve to shew that a horse going thus does not depend altogether upon the elevation of either the shoulders or legs, but likewise upon the extent to which his general forehand is raised by the action of the lumbar muscles. Nevertheless^ when that is well up, as it is termed, it gives greater capa- bility for the other parts to be moved through a larger space ; for a horse, it is evident, can describe a greater portion of a circle in the time of a considerable elevation than in that of a small one ; and as his fore legs describe a segment of a small circle, while his withers describe a portion of a larger, and as these may be considered as proportional, so it fol- lows, that the higher the withers are carried, the greater ex- tent there will be for the legs to act in, and a longer time for a higher elevation. But it is evident this applies only to such horses as are wanted for particular purposes: in the cart horse, a weighty forehand is of great service, as he draws by an effort to preserve himself from the tendency to the centre of gravity ; so the more he is loaded before, and the nearer he approximates this centre, the more advan- tageously he applies his powers. Nor is the height of fore- hand so essential to the race-horse ; on the contrary, most ani- mals designed for speed have their foreparts low. There are horses, particularly of foreign breeds, who are remarkable for going high above their ground, though their withers are not high ; but this is done in them, from the great strength of the muscles of their haunches and croup, and from the inclination of the hinder extremities, both in the obliquity of their angles and in their increased approach to the common centre of gravity of the whole body. But the above remarks must not be supposed to detract from the importance of the functions of the shoulders ; on the contrary, on their just proportion and proper situation, in a great measure, depend the perfection of the animal pro- gression. The shoulders extend from a little below the withers to the points of the arm in front of the chest, and which points, from this circumstance, are often called the points of the shoulder, when they are in reality wholly formed of the humerus or arm bone (see o. Skeleton). The shoulders are too apt to be con- 38 EXTERIOR COiNFORMATION OF THE HORSE. founded with the withers, and which confusion between the two leads to great error in justly appreciating the power and operation of those parts. The withers may be high at the same time that the shoulders may be narrow, straight, and altogether badly formed. The shoulders, to be perfect, should be sufficiently muscular to be powerfully acted on, but by no means heavy with extraneous cellular matter. These parts cannot present too large a surface, provided it is swollen by the muscular masses alone, and which may be known by the prominent lines formed by their action; for when we con- sider the uses of these organs, we shall be at once con- vinced that immense muscular power is necessary as well for their connections as for their motion ; for it is to be observed that the shoulders in the horse are not connected with the body by means of a bony but wholly by a mus- cular union, he having no clavicle or collar bone. Large mus- cular masses unite the broad expansive scapula by its upper and inner surface (see a, I, k, fig. 2, p. 6) to the chest, while other powerful muscles belovv^, as it were, suspend the ma- chine between them. By this admirable contrivance elasti- city is preserved, which it would not othervvise be; as v/e know by riding on the croup of a horse, where the union be- ing bony throughout, the motion proves very uneasy. When the body is propelled forward, its tendency to the centre of gravity is counteracted by the fore extremities, w^iich then receive the mass: had the shoulders, therefore, possessed a bony connection, the machine at this time would have expe- rienced a powerful and hurtful shock ; but as it is, the strong muscles of these parts receive and sustain what the hind quarters have thrown on them during progression. This con- nection is not rendered strong by the power of these muscular masses alone, but also by the geometrical situation of the scapulae or shoulder-blades themselves, which being approx- imated above, form a kind of partial arch, receiving the trunk within the entrance of its arms ; consequently the more force is applied, either by gravity or otherwise, the nearer v/ill these segmental portions be approximated and their strength in- creased. The muscular attachments of the shoulder are also favour- able to its uses in progression, but strength is not alone suf- ficient to operate all that is wanted; just proportion and situation are also requisite. The centre of action in the shoulders is within their common centre, and the extent of action of any part moving on its centre is dependent on its length. The motion the shoulder enjoys is confined to the perpendicular backwards, and to as great an elevation as the muscles will admit of forwards ; which being commonly the same, it will be at once evident that the m.ore oblique the si- tuation of the shoulder, the greater number of degrees it can run through ; and that when it is long and deep, as well as Colts Teeth. 5 Years . 7 YT-^ aY^f EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 39 oblique, that this extent will be consequently increased. It is therefore easy to comprehend why breadth and length, but particularly obliquity of shoulders, are favourable to the safety of action by elevating the limb, to the elasticity of it by in- creasing the spring, and to the celerity of it by enlarging the angle. To the safety of action this form of shoulder is pecu- liarly favourable ; for as the angles formed between the shoul- der, the arm, and the fore arm, are consentaneous, and make a kind of bony arch when in action, so an oblique and deep shoulder is generally accompanied with a full bending of the knee. The converse of this form is common with mares, who, from a decreased obliquity in the shoulders, have the angle regulated by an increased obliquity in the whole limb down- ward ; or, as is familiarly expressed, they stand with their legs under them. The immediate reason of which apparent defect is, that, by such a position of their fore extremities, the pelvis is raised higher, and the foal thereby becomes more conveniently placed, and less likely to be ejected. Few rules can be laid down for observance in the exterior conformation of the horse, that are of so general application, as that a short and upright shoulder, particularly if united, as is usually the case, with an inclined direction of the whole limb backward, is a sure mark of an unsafe pacer, and commonly, though not so universally, of a slow one also (and which fault the English horses are taxed with too much truth, as being common among them) ; for it is to be observed that the fore limbs in general, and consequently the shoulders, as a part of them, are less concerned in propelling the machine forwards than the hinder ones, their principal office appearing to be the support of that portion of the machine which they receive, which is, perhaps, two thirds of the whole ; for instead of being considered as placed at the extremity of the trunk, they should, in conse- quence of the weight of the head and neck, and the dip or in- clination of the trunk between the fore legs, be regarded as but little inclined from its centre. Thus the fore limbs pre- sent a perpendicular form which adapts them to sustain this weight, but which perpendicular, it is to be remarked, is not so perfect as to.deprive the limb of elasticity ; for downwards it is broken by the angle of the limb below the pastern, and still more inferiorly the elasticity is increased by an ap- paratus admirably fitted to fulfil this end, in numerous elastic attachments connecting the superincumbent weight to a hard box formed to resist the impressions received by the ground ; as we shall have occasion more fully to shew here- after. Upward the perpendicular is broken by the angle presented between the arm and shoulder. But this reasoning must not lead us to suppose that the fore limbs are not more or less concerned in progression ; on the contrary, the shoul- der particularly is materially concerned in it, and perhaps D 40 EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. in a greater degree in the slower paces of the short gallop, the trot, and the walk. The part between the points of the arms or shoulders is called the breast or counter. Its form should be regulated by variety in the animal. In the saddle horse, it should be only moderately wide and extended ; when very confined, the lungs have not sufficient room for expansion, or otherwise they must press backwards and interfere with the stomach; and we do actually find that narrow-chested horses have seldom a good digestion, and consequently are seldom durable. The shoulders likewise are not sufficiently muscular, and the ap- proximation of the limbs is unfavourable to stability: but on the contrary, when the breast is too wide, particularly when it projects and hangs over, such a horse must be weighty, and consequently unsafe in his mode of going. This form how- ever, for these reasons, is peculiarly favourable to the draught horse, particularly for those employed to move heavy loads. Opposed to the arm point is the elbow; the width of which part, and that it forms a considerable angle with the arm, are matters of importance in progression ; for as it becomes a lever for the extensor muscles of the fore arm, so its length must make all the diff'erence in power between a long and a short purchase. The elbow should also stand on a level with the arm, laterally ; when it is turned inward, it confines the action considerably ; when it is too much turned outwards, the toes are often turned inward. The space between the point of the shoulder and the elbow, is, properly, the arm; though it is not usually, among horsemen, considered as such; originating from a want of consideration of the internal structure. This part should be placed in the line backwards, as the shoulder is forwards, and the more acute the angle betvv^een them the better ; for the greater will be the extent and strength of the motion described by the opening of this angle. The fore arm, usually called the arm, should be large, wide, and muscular; for in every instance a small fore arm is a certain indication of weakness. All animals intended for quick motion have this part long likewise ; the knee of the greyhound is but three or four inches from the ground ; but though this part should be long for quick progression, it is not found equally eligible for the cadences of the manege, and hence horses of this description are chosen with a short fore arm. The joint immediately below this, which forms the wrist of the human, is, in the horse, termed the knee. This, like the other of the joints, ought to be broad and extended, whereby the surface of muscular and ligamentous contact is increased, and the stability, in proportion, augmented ; and by this form it also removes the tendinous insertions farther from the cen- tre of motion, thereby increasing their power. The knee EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE, 41 should be examined to see whether the skin has been broken by falls, and great caution is necessary in this, for the hair sometimes grows so well over it, as to leave the scar hardly discernible ; frequently, also, the dealers use some colouring matter, whereby the part is rendered black : but it does not follow that a mark or scar always indicates a stumbler ; and persons are too apt to forget, that the best horse may have an accident and fall, which will never influence his future manner of going, unless the cicatrix should be of such extent as to interfere with the motion of the joint: if, therefore, the arm and fore arm be strong, the forehand high, and the horse shew good action, he should not be rejected wholly for an accidental blemish. The canon or shank is the part below the knee, and it is highly requisite this part should be well formed, that is, thin and broad ; for as it is purely bony and tendinous, so any in- crease in size laterally must only arise from cellular sub- stance, or accidental swelling, which will interfere with the motion without adding to the strength. There is within the knee, and at the superior part of the canon, a bone of the ear- pus purposely set out at a distance from the rest (see 1, 1, jig, of Skeleton), for the insertion of a muscle, and likewise for the supporting of ligaments that bind down the tendons or back sinews : when this is prominent, the muscles which bend the parts below are situated more advantageously for action, and the flexor tendons are likewise not bound too closely ; but being removed considerably from the centre of their motion, their powers are much increased : and this is so certain, that a horse tied in under the knee, as it is called, is never found to be able to bear exertion long ; he soon becomes strained, and the legs get bowed or arched, and totter on the slightest exertion. Dealers frequently assert that such a horse was foaled so : it is true the colt was born badly formed, but the effects come on afterwards. This also may be considered as a rule admitting of few exceptions; that hardly one horse in fifty reaches eight years old with straight legs and sound pasterns, who is tied in, or narrow in this part. The large powerful tendons supporting and moving the parts below the knee, are called, by horsemen, the back sinews. It is neces- sary, for the above reasons, that they should be set out wide from the bone, not only at the knee, but continued down so, making a broad wide surface laterally : they should also be large and firm. In blood horses this form is particularly observed ; on the contrary, in the cart horse the back sinews are sel- dom proportionally so large, and more seldom so well placed. These tendons should be distinct and clear from the knee to the fetlock ; when any thickening is observed, some injury has been received. If the swelling appears nearer to the bone than the tendon, particularly if on the inner side, it betokens D2 42 EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. a splent. If a splent be situated not far from the knee, and be evidently distinct from the tendons, it frequently occasions no future inconvenience ; but when a splent appears to extend itself inwards and backwards among the back sinews, it irri- tates these parts, occasions inflammation, and ends in an en- laro^ed callous swelling. When the whole tendon is swelled, and rounded, as it were, into one mass with the bone, leaving no distinctive marks between the one and the other, still greater mischief, probably, has at some time happened. Either some of the ligaments have become ruptured ; or such a relaxation has taken place from strain, as will always keep the limb weak. To detect lesser enlargements of the tendons and ligaments, the eye alone should not be trusted, particu- larly in hairy-legged horses ; but the hand should be delibe- rately passed down the shank before and behind. The inner and under surface of the knee should also be examined in purchasing a horse. If an enlargement or a scar appear, it arises from the speedy cut, so called from its being a blow given to the part by the foot of the opposite side when the horse is trotting fast. A sore scabby eruption within the bend of the knee sometimes exists, particularly in cart, or low bred fleshy horses. These eruptive appearances are called malleiidersy and render the horse very objectionable, as they prove frequently obstinate against healing, and always be- speak a bad habit. The next part below the canon or shank is the pastern or fetlock. General usage, however, applies the term fetlock to the joint itself, and pastern to the phalange or part proceeding from the fetlock to the foot : properly speaking, the fetlock is only the posterior part of the joint of the pastern, from which grows the footlock of hair. It is of great consequence in the exterior conformation, that this part should be duly propor- tioned. When the pastern is very short and upright, the limb is deprived of much of its elasticity, and such horses prove uneasy movers : they are also unsafe ; for the pastern being so nearly in an upright position, requires but a small resistance, or slight shock, to bring it forwards beyond the perpendicular, in which case the weight of the machine increases the prone tendency, and the animal falls. Nor are these the only evils occasioned : this formation tends also to an early wearing out of the legs ; for the ends of the bones being opposed to each other in nearly a straight line, receive such a jar or shock at each progressive movement, as gradually deranges the part, producing an overshot joint, absorption of the cartilages, and thickening of the ligaments. When, on the contrary, the pasterns are too long, they are frequently too oblique, and must then be also proportionally weak ; though, from the in- creased elasticity occasioned by this formation, such horses are commonly pleasant and easy in their paces. EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 43 These joints, both before and behind, are subject to what are very erroneously termed windgalls; but which are nothing- more than a diseased enlargement of the mucous capsules, or bags, placed towards the bottom of the shank, between the bone and back sinew, for the purpose of lubricating the joint. Their existence is detected by the appearance in this part of a puffy elastic swelling of greater or less size, and commonly existing, one on the inner and one on the outer side of the joint. The sw elling itself is not detiimental, un- less it be very large ; but its existence shews that the limb has suffered an extraordinary degree of exertion, the inflam- mation brought on by which has so increased these other- wise natural and necessary parts. The inner part of the fore and hind fetlock is also subject to the accident cdiWed. cutting, which is nothing more than a blow given either by the hoof or the shoe, when, in its elevation, it passes the opposite fetlock. A cutting horse, who lifts his legs very high, does not touch the fetlock ; but, as we have before noticed, he strikes the canon immediately under the knee. Cutting in the fetlocks is often a defect in the form of the limbs, as when they stand too near together, or when the feet turn either in- wards or outwards. It is also frequently brought on by weakness; hence lean, jaded, and tired horses, will do it at times, who, under other circumstances, will go free and not interfere. For the same reasons, many horses cut before they become strong and furnish, that never cut afterwards. The feet are next to be considered, and, in the examina- tion of a horse, too much attention cannot be paid to them. We shall here point out what is immediately necessary to our present purpose: much more may be seen relative to their structure, when treating on the anatomy of the part. The feet are more liable to be found too small than too large ; though, in horses bred in low marshy situations, as Lincoln- shire and Cambridgeshire, the hoofs are often naturally of a larger size than ordinary ; and, however convenient this may prove to the animal while moving on the quaggy surface of these marshy districts, they are very unfit for speedy and light movements in more dry situations. Such horses go heavily, and stumble ; and as the horn, of which these enor- mous feet are formed, is always weak, so, by use on hard roads, the anterior or front part falls in, and the sole, or un- der part, projects outward, reducing this part, at last, from a concave to a convex surface: such feet are then called pumiced. Horses are, in general, born with their feet perfect; but some breeds are more liable to the grand and frequent evil of contraction than others : it is peculiarly the case with blood horses. Colour, also, seems to have some influence in con- tracting the feet ; hence I have observed dark chesnuts parti- 44 EXTEIUOR CONFORMATION OF Tx4E HORsB. cularly prone to it. A good foot should exhibit a proper line of obliquity : when the horn is very upright, however wide and open the heels, such feet soon become defective. This is but seldom attended to, even among those who esteem themselves judges : but no rule admits of fewer exceptions, than that such a foot soon becomes faulty. There should also be a proper height of horn : when too high, it disposes to contraction ; when too low, the heels, quarters, and soles, are all weak, and a tenderness in going must be experienced. But, above all, the heels should be attended to ; they should be wide, and the frog healthy, firm, yet pliable and elastic. There is a peculiar state of disease, not mentioned in authors, or rather it is the beginning of a disease, in which there is a diminished secretion of horn. It shews itself not by any con- traction of the heels ; on the contrary, they are in general fuller than natural, are rounded upwards, and are particularly soft to the feel and shining to the eye : in such cases the frog also is large and softer than natural. Contraction of the feet is their most general evil, and it begins generally at the heels ; when therefore the heels are narrower than the quarters, par- ticularly if the quarters are indented under the coronet, all is not right. Such a foot will probably feel hotter than natural ; the frog also will be compressed and small, and very likely thrushy. Thrushes are always strong objections to ahorse; for when they exist in an open foot, that foot will not long remain so, if they are not stopped ; and, as some horses have a strong natural tendency to thrushes, so their existence is always suspicious, and deteriorates much from the value of the animal. Nevertheless, when it can be ascertained with cer- tainty that they are not of long standing; when the matter only exudes from the middle cleft of the frog, and not from any lateral sinuses, and neither the form nor firmness of the frog being altered ; and also when circumstances can be learned that prove the horse has been placed in such situations as favour the approach of thrushes, as moist litter, or long con- finement; then such a horse need not be rejected, for these thrushes may be permanently healed. But when the com- plaint accompanies a foot already smaller than natural, when the heels are, as it is termed, wired and drawn in, the frog rotten and pinched, and the whole circumference of the hoof perhaps encircled with rings; reject such a horse, let him go as he will, for he cannot long remain sound. When a horse's foot is held up, the sole should present a concave surface ; if it be less concave than natural, that sole is weak, and will not bear much pressure ; and it is more than probable it will continue lessening in concavity until it becomes a plane, when every subsequent shoeing will endanger the laming of the aninial. White feet are very objectionable on this account, for they are particularly liable to become flat in the sole ; EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 45 their quarters, also, are commonly weak, and fall in; and when neither of these evils take place, they yet have seldom strength enough to resist contraction : and it may be deter- mined on, that, when there are three dark, and one white foot, in nineteen instances out of twenty, the white foot becomes defective sooner than the dark ones. Corns are another evil to which horses' feet are very liable ; and, unless the shoes are removed during the examination, it is not easy to detect them : though, when the foot is well picked out, if a corn has been of long standing, some marks of former cuttings out will appear under the heel of the shoe. A.nother very serious complaint is a brittleness of hoof ; but which may be gene- rally detected by the marks of the fragile parts detaching themselves from every old nail hole. This kind of foot, par- ticularly in hot weather, breaks away, till there is no room for the nails to hold ; when the horse, of course, becomes useless. In an examination of the foot, the eye should also be di- rected to the wearing of the shoe: if it be unequally worn, particularly if the toe be worn down, such a horse is probably a stumbler, and cannot step true, either from defective feet, or natural gait. In the circumference of the walls of the hoof, sometimes cracks are observed .• when these are longi- tudinal and deep, they are called sand cracks. Any such crack should be well examined, and if it occurs in a hoof ap- parently contracted, it ought more closely to occupy the attention. In fact, unless very strong reasons operate to the contrary, any crack at all resembling a sand crack should cause such horse to be peremptorily rejected. This evil hav- ing once occurred, is very liable again to return. On a review of the conformation of the fore extremities, it may be remarked, that though the hinder ones appear to be more particularly concerned in the quickness of the pro- gression ; yet, that upon a proper form and a true direction of the various component parts of the fore limbs must depend the stability, the truth, and the safety of the movements. Viewed anteriorly, the legs should stand rather widest at the upper part, inclining a little inwards as they proceed down- wards. Viewed laterally, it is of the utmost importance that the fore legs should stand in a direct line downwards, neither forwards nor backwards ; the toe should naturally place it- self under the point of the arm or shoulder. If the foot should stand beyond this, which is seldom the case, the action will be confined, as the limb will have already passed over a part of its ground. Such a horse, however, generally treads fl^t, even, and safe. When the foot stands behind the direct line, the defect is more considerable ; for, inasmuch as it re- moves the centre of gravity too much forward, so it inclines the animal to fall ; and as it is, in general, the consequence 46 EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORsE. of a want of extent and obliquity in the shoulder, so it lessen* the speed ; unless, as has been before said, the hinder ex- tremities should be particularly strong, in which case, though the speed may not be materially affected, yet still the safety of the action may. Some of the best runners this country ever produced, have been very defective in the formation of their fore limbs. Eclipse was a strong instance ; but in him, as well as in all the others, there existed a very particular degree of perfection in the hinder ones. To be speedy, there- fore, it would appear to be absolutely necessary that the hind quarters should be strong and well placed. To have truth, ease, and safety, in progression, it is also as absolutely ne- cessary that the fore quarters should have strength and per- fection of form. Having finished the fore extremities, we shall now proceed with the body; and first, with that part usually called the carcase, which consists of the ribs, the belly, and flank. An- teriorly, the ribs should be wide upwards, and as much deepened below as possible, affording what is popularly termed great depth in the girth. This form is of great conse- quence, as it increases the surface of attachment of muscles, and very materially assists respiration. Posteriorly, the ribs should form the body as much as possible into a circular figure, that being of all others the most extended, and the best surface for absorption; thus barrelled horses are, as they are called, greatly preferred. When the chest is too straight and flat, the belly is also small; hence neither can the blood absorb its vital principle from the air, nor the lacteals the chyliferous juice from the intestines in sufficient quantities ; therefore these horses are weak and seldom du- rable. As less nutriment is taken up by the constitution, so less is eaten ; thus also they seldom are good feeders; and as the pressure on the intestines must be considerable from the small containing surface, so are they usually what is termed washy, that is, easily purged, whereby an additional cause of weakness exists, from the too early passing off of the food. Nevertheless, it must be remarked, that these sort of horses sometimes prove better workers than one would expect, and are commonly spirited and lively. A knowledge of the ad- vantages gained by size in the belly, is what constituted Mr. Bakewell's grand secret in the breeding of cattle ; he always bred from such as would be most likely to produce this form, well knowing no other would fatten so advanta- geously. The back. Where the withers end, the back begins. It should not be too long, for a cylinder of a certain length \Yill not be so strong as one of a less length, nor can it bear so much; hence long-backed horses are easy, because the action and re-action are considerable, and thus resemble a spring ; EXTERIOR CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 47 but what they gain in ease they lose in strength ; both liga- ments and muscles are longer, and hence act to greater dis- advantage. When the back is too short, such horses, by having their extremities too much approximated, usually overreach. The back may be curved inwards or outwards ; when inwards, it is termed hollow, or saddle-backed, and which formation is not favourable to strength; but as the counterpoise is kept up by other curves, so the crest is ge- nerally good : such horses ride pleasantly, and commonly carry considerable carcase; sometimes, indeed, too much. But when the curve is outwards, the horse is said to be roach-backed , which prevents liberty in his action, renders him uneasy in his paces, and, from the approximation of his hinder extremities, he will commonly overreach. To coun- teract, also, the curve of the back, in these cases, not only are the hinder extremities drawn under the animal, but the head, for the same reason, is also carried low. A short backed horse is in considerable request with many persons ; but when the back is too short, there is seldom great speed, for the hind legs cannot be brought sufficiently under the body to propel the mass forwards: the points, likewise, between the ilium and the lower angle of the femur approach too much, and in their flexion press too much on the abdo- minal viscera to allow of free motion. The loins occupy the attention of all good judges in their consideration of a horse ; the back extends to the posterior- part of a common sized saddle, and where the back ends, the loins begin. Sometimes, from a defect in the sacral pro- cesses of the vertebrae, this junction of back and loins pre- sents an indentation, as though the union was incomplete. This may be considered, in some degree, as a defect, in- asmuch as it deprives the part of muscular attachment, and such horses are said to be badly loined. The strength of the loins depends on the extent of the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae, which should be long, that there may be an extensive surface for the attachment of the muscles of the back ; and these muscles should also be large and pro- minent on each side, giving width to the loins, and seeming by their enlargement, as it were, to swallow the back bone. When the protuberances of the ilium are very prominent, the horse is called ragged hipped, which operates disadvanta- geously only in appearance. From the loins to the setting on of the tail, the line should be long and very slightly Tounded ; by which means also, the distance between the hip and the point of the buttock will be considerable. This for- njation is peculiar to the improved or blood breed, and in every point of view appears the most perfect ; for it affor ^j^^.^^ drains. Nitrate of potash (nitre) j Snpertartrate of potash two or three drams Nitrate of potash ditto Powdered sulphur half an ounce. Either of these will gently stimulate both the stomach and kidnies, and produce, by consent of parts, a favourable effect on the skin, and hair also. Violent diuretics are never ad- visable ; nor have I seen their mildest form, unaccompanied by other remedies, produce much good, unless there has been joined to the other symptoms, swelled legs, either with or without discharge. When morbid condition arises in horses which, from age, previous deprivations, severe work, long confinement in bad stables, or feeding on unwholesome provender, are not to be supposed plethoric, yet in such cases, if no actual debility is present, I have often derived great benefit by commencing the treatment with a very mild dose of physic, the horse being previously fully mashed, to make a small quantity of aloes sufficient ; for I have generally found that the stomach tonics to be afterwards administered have had double effect for this previous preparation of the alimentary canal. But where the debility has been extreme, or where there has been already sufficient laxity of bowels, or perhaps even super- purgation from drastic physic, begin at once with either of the following tonics, or of any of those detailed under that head in the Materia Medica : CONDITION OF HORSES. J\ Socotiine aloes, in powder one dram Winter's bark, ditto .two drams ^rugo (verdigris) one dram Treacle or Honey to form a ball. Or, Oxide of arsenic (arsenic) 8 grams Pimento (allspice) in powder ..1 dram Extract of gentian half an ounce. Make into a ball with liquorice powder. Or, Sulphat of copper a dram and half Sulphat of iron , ditto Powdered ginger a drachm Horse turpentine to form a ball. Either of these formulae may be given some time in each day, at the convenience of the practitioner or owner. It would, however, where practicable, be more prudent to let it be given in the morning, fasting, allowing the horse but a hand- ful or two of hay for an hour after its exhibition. If a liquid be preferred, either of the above forms may be dissolved and horned down as a drink with ale. In cases oi morbid condition , marked with emaciation and debility, a full allowance of car- rots is advisable ; and in default of them, or alternating with them, malt mashes or speared corn may be usefully brought in aid of the other tonics. The essentials of the common cases of morbid condition, as far as regards their immediate medical treatment, are com- prised in what has been already said. More may be gained by a reference to the numerous articles connected therewith. What relates to aliment, to stabling, clothing, exercise, &c. proper in these cases, may be gained from the subject which immediately follows. I have here to add, that, as a topical auxiliary remedy, I have derived great benefit, in cases where the skin has been peculiarly hard, dry, and scurfy, but parti- cularly where the hair has fallen off in patches, as after sur- feits, &c. from the use of flower of sulphur mixed with oil, and rubbed well into the skin every other day for a week. — I shall now proceed to the process that appears the most natu- ral, and which my experience has proved the best adapted to promote a condition fitting the horse for useful purposes, on his removal from situations in which, although probably in sufiicient ordinary health, yet the state in which he will be found is requiring an artificial alteration to accommodate him to the artificial uses required of him. Getting a Horse into Condition, When a horse returns from grass, or straw-yard, both his external appearance, and the internal state of his body, in general, require considerable alteration before he can be said to be in such a state as to fit him for the extraordinary exer- tions which luxury or commerce have rendered common. F 72 CONDITION OF HORSES. These alterations are popularly called getting a horse into condition. It should be first impressed on the recollection, that nothing is more imprudent than to take a horse from so moist a food as grass, and at once to place before him hay and corn, without caution or limitation. When he returns from a straw-yard, this caution is not so immediately necessary ; yet, even in this case, corn should be given at first sparingly : but in the removal from grass, both corn and hay should be given with considerable restrictions. The hay, for the first two or three days, should be moistened, by sprinkling it with water : the corn should also be given in very small propor- tions, mixed with bran, and mashed. Great caution is also necessary with regard to the variation of temperature likely to be experienced between the former and the present situa- tion. It is highly improper to remove a horse from grass or straw-yard at once into a warm stable ; on the contrary, he. should be placed at first in a loose box, barn, or other cool open place. K any green meat can be procured, for the first three or four days give him some of it ; and if this is not at hand, carrots may be possibly obtained ; and, in default of both, let the hay be moistened, as directed, and let plenty of water be allowed to drink. A bran mash should also be given every night, so as to keep the body gently open : a mo- derately relaxed state of bowels, under these circumstances, greatly promotes condition, and prevents the coat from set- ting as it is termed, or the skin from becoming hidebound. No fear need be entertained, that, by this mode, the flesh will not harden, or the belly be got up. A week or ten days more time may be required by these milder and more natural means than those usually practised, but the future state of the con- dition will amply recompense their adgption. It is the hasty change from the one state to the other, that produces so many failures in getting a horse into condition, and brings on the various appearances of hidebound, surfeit, chronic cough, &c. &c. After ten days or a fortnight have elapsed under the prescribed plan, and after having removed the horse to his usual stable, but which should be still kept very airy and cool, give a mild dose of physic. A very mild one will ope- rate sufficiently, if the bowels have been kept properly open ; and in any case, it must be recollected, that very strong purging medicines protract the condition materially. When this first dose of physic has set, give dry corn daily, and a bran mash every other night only ; increase the exer- cise, which, before this, ought to be but moderate; and now begin to dress the skin with a currycomb, which before ought to be only whisped and brushed ; and as the coat will now probably begin to fall, increase the warmth of the stable, but still to a moderate temperature only. In a week or ten days from the setting of the first dose of physic, give a second. STABLING OF HORSES. 73 rather stronger; after which, the feeding, exercise, and warmth*, may be increased to the full quantity intended: dressing and trimming may be now pursued to the desired end ; and, if it be thought necessary, or that the horse be in- tended for hunting or racing, a third dose of physic will finish the process. To the thorough-bred groom, and to the profes- sors of the quackery of training, this plan of promoting con- dition will appear infinitely too inartificial : but as I wish to teach from principles, so I will venture to affirm, that in a due observance of these simple rules consists all the mystery of training and getting into condition : whatever is added to these, outsteps nature, and generally defeats its own pur- pose. »ttU VIL STABLING OF HORSES. The Stable itself, ON the important circumstances connected with the state of confinement in which we necessarily place our horses, if I should be found to have dilated much more than in the former editions, a sufficient reason will at once present itself when the extreme importance of the subject to their well be- ing is considered. In this examination of the matter I have purposely avoided all topics directly unconnected with the health of horses : these are the immediate province of the riding-master and groom, and to them I leave them. The stabling of horses, as it is wholly a deviation from Nature, so it surely paves the way to the attack of many dis- eases ; and we really find that the higher this artificial sys- tem is carried, so much the more are the horses which be- come the subjects of it, obnoxious to disease. A stable should, therefore, be regulated on principles which the least tend to this hurtful efiect : one of the principal circumstances, and that in general too little attended to, is to have it suffici- ently airy and cool. It is supposed that warmth is conge- nial to horses, particularly of the blood kind, as being ori- ginally natives of a warm climate ; but few arguments will bear examination less than this. Horses are natives of all temperate climes ; and although our own have been mixed with eastern blood, yet the various intermixtures it may be supposed, and indeed has been proved to, have destroyed the constitutional exotic peculiarities, and to have enabled * In using this expression I am complying with the popular prejudice in favour of warmth. It is in vain that my single and feeble voice is raised against any thing but a veri/ moderate temperature for our stables at all times ; but I do not despair yet of seeing the time when truth and nature shall predominate over error and the malversation of art. F2 74 STABLING OF HORSES. them now to exist best under the common circumstances in which they are placed. Neither will the argument in favour of heat apply with much more force for full-blood horses than for others ; for a removal from the common agencies of aparticu- lar climate soon lose their force, and the constitution soon learns to submit to the new agencies resulting from the climate to which an animal may be removed ; and in a few generations he wholly loses the dependencies of an exotic. Our game fowls, although original descendants from the poultry of the east, are now indigenous and equally hardy with any other of the feathered tribe. The beautiful camelia japonica, which, a few years ago, would live only in a green house, with artificial heat, will now bear exposure to the rigours of a British winter without doors: and the blood horse, or eastern variety, experience shews, does not require more heat for the purposes of a healthy state than any other. On the contrary, the same experience convinces us, that to confined stables, where the same air is rebreathed over and over, and where the enervating effects of unnatural heat are always present, we owe many of the diseases which swell the veterinary catalogue, and which is fully proved by the trifling ailments which befal those who are never or seldom confined. Is the animal inhabitant of every description of the east confined in his bulk ? is he equally confined in his energies? and is his life shortened by the agencies of a torrid zone ? and can we expect our animals to ripen into bulk, to foster into strength and activity, and to push life to its ut- most verge by the self same means which retard it in other climes? Is it not alike repugnant to judgment and experience to expect to keep animals in health, that, from stables heated to sixty degrees, and further protected from cold by warm clothing, are first stripped, and are then at once exposed to a temperature at the freezing point?— and yet such is the daily fate of thousands of our best saddle and carriage horses. It will, perhaps, be argued, that exercise makes up with them the deficiency of the heat and clothing they have left ; and such would be the case, were they to be constantly in exer- cise when out : but how often do the finest carriage horses wait for hours exposed to the cold? nor are saddle horses, however valuable, exempt from the same treatment. If, as (it is hoped) has been proved, this unnatural heat be not ne- cessary to the well being of the health of even the full-bred or eastern variety of horse, now he is domesticated with us, what benefits, it may be asked, are really gained by the conti- nuance of this system so obstinately persisted in ? The benefits gained, are, the satisfying a sophisticated taste for an appear- ance wholly unnatural to the animal. It is contrary to Nature to expect or desire to see a horse with a sleek glossy coat in winter in any clime, but in our own particularly, for here N a- STABLING OF HORSES. /€) tiire provides specifically for the rigors of her wintery ijlasts, by giving- a long warm exterior covering : to avoid which pro- vision, we invert her order, and keep up a tropical climate by heat and clothing; and under which treatment the constitution, not being subjected to the stimulus of necessity, provides a covering suited only to the climate the stable represents. Removed from this unnaturally heated temperature, when horses enter on their work, it is evident they at once enter a new climate, rigorous in itself, and rendered still more so by being forced into it naked and deprived of both natural and artificial clothing: under which treatment can it b© wondered that they become subject to disease? and that they are not still more so, is attributable only to that wise provision of Nature in giving capability to resist ordinary changes of tem- perature, but which capability is unfortunately not always present, as in debility, constitutional predisposition, &c. &c. In all cases it is desirable to have the heat of the stable graduated by a thermometer, always kept there for the pur- pose ; and that such heat should not exceed 50 degrees of Fahrenheit in winter, or 60 or 65 in summer. To renew the air, the stable should be well ventilated, and such venti- lation should be as near the ceiling or top of the stable as possible, as the impure air ascends. The ventilators, some- times seen, which revolve quickly on their own centres, are not, I tliink, good, because they occasion a draught of air; for which reason also windows should not be so constructed as to open directly on either the head or the stern of the horse. Windows so situated and constructed may be ea- sily so altered as to admit the air, and yet to break its direct current. One of the very best methods of ventilation is by means of one or more tubes or funnels, according to the size of the stable, which should be. let into the cieling of the stable by a larger end of tvvelve or eighteen inches square, which, as it ascends, should narrow at its summit to about four or five inches, and this should pass out at the roof of the building, having a raised cup over its top to prevent the wet from descending. Light is essentially necessary to a stable; when it is otherwise, the newly received light the horse gains when he goes out, is a painful stimulus to the eyes, and his imperfect vision makes him start ; and, how- ever horses may be supposed to fatten in dark stables, and which itself is questionable, it must be the fat of a pig, and not the lusty and cheerful gain of a horse, open to the cheer- ing influenpe of the sun. Stables should be well ceiled, and that very closely : when this is not the case, not only does the dust from the hayloft fall on the horse, but it frequently enters his eyes ; and the impure air, composed of nitrogen and ammoniacal gases, which always ascends, lodges in the hay above. In fact, it would be better that both the hay and 76 STABLING OF HORSES corn should be altogether removed from the sphere of action of the ammoniacal effluvia of the stable. It is still more im- proper to keep hay or corn immediately within the stable i these articles should be brought to the animals as they are wanted. Narrow stalls are very prejudicial to horses; strains in the back are often occasioned by them ; and whenever a stall is less than six feet wide, the groom should have peremptory orders never to turn a horse in that stall, but always to back him out. Bars or bails are also objectionable, from the ease with which horses may play with and kick each other over them, and likewise because it is seldom that horses eat alike in point of quickness ; and thus, when they are separated by bars only, the slowest eater gets robbed of his food. The acclivity of the generality of stalls is also a very serious objection to them, for they occasion a horse to stand unequally ; and an undue proportion of weight is thrown on the hinder extremities, and the appui or bearing of both hind and fore becomes incorrectly placed; by which the flexor tendons, or back sinews, are put on the stretch to correct this departure from the true perpendicular of the limbs ; to which circumstance there is little reason to doubt many of the lame- nesses of horses are attributable. The ground should be either even, or made with only a very slight slope. To re- medy the inconvenience of the urine not flowing freely ofi", in many stables, where the stalls are level, in the centre of each stall is placed a small grating which covers a little well im- mediately under the horse's belly. But this is not only dis- advantageous because it is inapplicable to mares, but it is more particularly so because it retains the urine, which thus continues to diffuse at every moment the effluvia it should be so much our study to avoid. It is much better that each stall should be furnished with a grating placed over a small drain, so constructed, as immediately to carry off the urine or washings from each horse into one common cesspool. It is of more consequence than is supposed that this ac- cumulation of liquid matters from a stable should be com- pletely removed out of doors, to prevent its saline exhalations from injuring the air within. Such a cesspool, or well, should be perfectly secured against the access of the external air, otherwise a current injurious to each horse will pass up through the gratings. Professor Peal, in his excellent Obser- vations, has entered largely into the injurious effects of the ammoniacal exhalations arising from the urine : to these he attributes, in a great measure, the ophthalmia by which so many valuable horses are ruined. This separation of volatile alkali is not confined to the urinary secretion alone— it ex- tends to the faeces also ; to the insensible perspiration as well as to the seasible. The urine, from the experiments of that able chemist Dr. Egan, begins to separate ammonia in a STABLING OF liORSES. 77 few hours after its separation from the body, and there is reason to suppose that the faeces as readily fall into this early decomposition; therefore the greater necessity exists for their early removal. The extreme pungency and stimu- lating qualities of this volatile alkali are familiar to our senses on every entrance into a close stable ; and when soiled litter has been suffered to accumulate, even in those more open, we may remember how painfully our eyes and noses have been assailed by the acrid effluvia. Is it to be sup- posed that the animals themselves, who are by nature in- tended to live in the purest atmosphere, and all of whose organs are remarkably susceptible of stimuli, can receive the daily, the hourly attack of this unnatural agent with- out hurt ? It will therefore be evident that cleanliness, in every sense of the w^ord, is also necessary in a stable, but par- ticularly in the frequent removal of the urine and dung that falls, and in a daily change of all the soiled litter. There is much contrariety of opinion relative to the pro- priety of permitting horses to stand during the day on litter : there are cogent arguments for and against it. Litter en- tices horses to lie down during the day, which, if the sloping be too great, or if they be in constant severe work, is cer- tainly desirable. Litter, likewise, when the stable is paved roughly, prevents the unevenness of the stones pressing on the feet. On the other hand, horses are very apt to eat their litter, and which often proves unwholesome. It is, likewise, too apt to retain the urine, and thereby to generate the acrid salts we have described. Constantly standing on the litter makes many horses' legs swell, which is proved by removing it, w hen such legs immediately return to their proper size : the warmth and moisture retained, likewise, are very apt to occasion cracks and swelled legs. Those who are advocates for litter under horses during the day, should, however, be very careful to have it changed as often as it is either soiled or wet. But whoever attends minutely to the subject on an enlarged scale, will be at no loss to determine on the pro- priety or impropriety of suffering horses to stand constantly on litter. It is my opinion that this custom is the cause of lameness in many instances. It is the first and most fruitful source of contraction in the feet, and it brings on this ruinous affection much more certainly than the hardest work. Horn has a natural tendency^ to contract towards heat wherever ap- plied. The feet, it must be evident, are more hotly placed in litter than on the bare and moist ground, consequently the horn gains this additional stimulus to contraction. The litter keeps them dry as well as hot, and thus one of the best pre- ventives of contraction, which is moisture, is not suffered to come near them. In my own stables no litter is ever suf- fered to remain under the fore feet during the day. The 78 STABLI^^G OF HORSES. horses stand on the bare bricks, and which in summer are watered to make them more cool : by which simple means, I have experienced both prevention and cure. Behind, a little litter is strewed, because horses are apt to kick and break the bricks with their hinder feet, and because, when no gratings exist, or no slope is present, the litter thus placed sucks up the moisture of the urine, which would be detri- mental to the hinder feet, which are more liable to thrushes than contraction. With regard to racks, I cannot recom- mend the general sloping principle in common u^e ; the hay seeds are very apt to fall into the eyes, as I have seen in a great number of cases : hay racks should, on the contrary, be upright, and by no means so much elevated from the ground as they usually are, by which undue elevation the horse's neck is put continually on the stretch, tending to con- gest the blood within his head, and laying the foundation for many affections of it. It is evident that such a mode of eat- ing is a total departure from the natural one, in which the horse seeks his food, and is therefore likely to be punish- ed, in common with all artificial habits, by ill conse- quences. A horse should always be brought into a stable with his skin nearly of the temperature of the stable. It is not ge- nerally known, though certainly it is the case, that passing from a cold atmosphere into a warm one will give cold, with almost as much certainty as removing from a warm into a cold situation. But when, unavoidably, a horse be brought home very hot, he should not be hung, as is often the case, by the bridle at the door till he get cold ; he should, on the contrary, be walked till he has become cool. The legs, in very dirty weather, may be washed; but, unless they be rubbed dry afterwards, it would be far better not to wash them at all. In cases w^here fears are entertained on this head, it is a safer plan to rub off the loose dirt from the legs with a very soft broom, and then to wisp them till dry, after which it is proper to curry or rub off the remaining dust com- pletely. The feet should, however, be always washed on a return from exercise, and carefully picked out. It is a most convenient appendage to a stable, to have a box, or large loose place ; if the box be distinct from the stable, it will be so much the better. It should be so formed as to be capable of being cooled to nearly the temperature of the external air, or to be made as warm as may be requisite for some cases of sickness. No projections should be allowed in its walls to hurt the hips in cases of falling from weakness, staggers, &c. It should, also, have a grate in the centre communicating with an outer cesspool, with a general slight bearing of the flooring to the grating. The conveniences resulting from a loose box are innumerable. To a horse fresh from grass, to STABLING OF HORSES. 79 a sick horse, to a lame one, or to a fatigued one ; in either, or all of them, it is of great importance and utility. Stable Management. — This is also a subject of much impor- tance. The duties of a master of horses is himself to superin- tend his groom, whose duties consist in feeding, dressing, exer- cising, Siud attending to their feet ; in addition to which, he has the care of the appointments, as the harness, saddles, bridles, &c. I shall not at all interfere with him in any of these par- ticulars further than regards the health of the animal ; but on every thing that does concern the health, these sapient gen- tlemen must pardon me if I should ditier from them. The feeding of horses forms the most essential part of their treatment ; and, from a non-observance of nature, and a want of consideration of the internal oeconomy of the animal organs, more errors are committed in this essential matter than at first sight appear. In the food of horses we are apt to locate our notions to the matters around us, without con- sidering that every country has its peculiar products, from some of which the materia dietetica of horses are gained. In some very sterile countries, horses are forced to subsist on dried fish ; and in many others, animal matters are given as part of their dietetics — as milk in Arabia — flesh balls, eg/, nut or navicular. BONES OF THE HEAD. The Cranium, or Skull. The bones of the head are those of the skull, face, and pos- terior jaw; and the juncture of most of these is effected by sutures, which in the ruminants are more marked than in the horse. The skull is a vaulted cavity for the reception and pre- servation of the brain, and is composed as follows : — The /row^aZ bones (ossa frontis), as they unite by age, are frequently, but erroneously, described as a single bone. They are situated in the front of the head fa, b, c, d, Plate I), and receive and lodge the anterior and inferior portion of the brain. The two tables of which they are composed separate to form two cavities, called the frontal sinuses'^. The frontals are united together by a continuation of the sagittal suture; late- rally they are connected to the malar bones by the orhitary process, forming the zygomatic suture ; inferiorly to the nasal bones, and interiorly to the ethmoid and sphenoid. The orbitar process forms the greater orbitar fossa, ovcsi\ity oyer the eye-f; * These cavities La Fosse directs to be opened, in his treatment of glanders, by the trepan. They are sometimes found filled with worms, particularly in oxen and sheep, astyus sinus frontis ruminantium. t It was formerly supposed impracticable to perform the operations of couching and extracting the eye of the horse, from the great strength of the retractor muscle ; but by making an opening under this process the globe may be secured, and either operation performed. The real impracticability of ob- 96 OSTEOLOGY. in which process (see plate of skeleton hetiveen a and b, bones of head) is seen a nitch or hole, called the superciliary fora- men, giving passage to a branch of the fifth pair of nerves and to the blood-vessels, furnishing the supercilia and parts adja- cent. The parietal bones ( ossa parietaliaj , which are square-like, are placed between the temporal, frontal, and occipital bones : they unite together by the sagittal suture, to the frontal by the coronal, and laterally to the temporal by the squamous suture. In the ox and sheep the ossa parietalia are united into one bone. The temporal bones fossa temporumj are divided into two portions, a squamous and a petrous, which in the horse remain always distinct*. Considered, as they usually are, as one pair of bones, each has a single cavity, very irregular in figure, and uniting with all the bones of the skull but the eth- moid. The squamous portion is joined to the parietal by the. squamous suture, and has a large peculiar process, called the zygomatiCy which contributes, with a lesser one of the malar bone, to form the zygoma, or arcli of the cheek: nearly at the root of this process is a protuberant cartilaginous cavity, arti- culating with and receiving the condyloid process of the lower jaw. Within the petrous portion, which is situated at the root of the outer ear, is a distinct cavity to each, forming the bony hollow called the internal ear. The sphenoid (os sphenoides) is a very irregular bone, and connected with all those we have described, to which it is, as it were, a key. It presents several processes, as its alee or ivings ; its orbitar apophyses ; and. likewise its cuneiform, occi- pital, and temporal processes. It has within its body a cavity, called the sphenoidal sinus, which communicates with the ethmoidal cells. It is connected to the cuneiform process of the occipital, superiorly and posteriorly to the ethmoid and the vomer ; inferiorly and posteriorly to the squamous portions of the temporal, and to part of the palatine bone. The ethmoid (os ethmoides) of the horse forms a very consi- derable bone, which, from an intermediate plate or septum, called christa galU, has been described as two : it is situated under the superior part of the nasal fossae, between the frontal and sphenoidal bones, and is made up of numerous cells of very irregular figures and direction, which are all lined with the pituitary membrane, and communicate with the frontal sinuses, terminating in the anterior turbinated bonesf. The sella tur- tainiiig a successful issue, arises from Ibe derangement of the internal parts of the eye, as well as from the imperfect vision that would be gained by the removal of the opaque lens. * Mr. Stubbs, misled by anatomical analogy between the human and the horse, has described these as united portions. t These cells are filled with purulent matter in fjlanders ; and in the dis- temper of dogs they are so likewise, when it is very virulent. BONES OF THK HEAD. 97 sica, a cavity lodging the pituitary gland, which in the human is in the sphenoid, in the horse forms a part of this bone : its orbitary process likewise forms the superior optic foramen, which in the human subject is formed by the sphenoid. The occipital (os occipitisj, called by farriers the knoll bone, diflers widely from the same bone in tiie human, both in figure and situation. In the young subject it is composed of two pieces, but in the adult of one. It is situated at the summit of the head {vide g, h, i, k, Plate I), and is the largest of the bones of the skull, articulating with the parietals by tiie lambdoidal suture, to the temporals by their petrous portion, and by its cuneiform process to the sphenoid bone. It rises superiorly into a ridge, or perpendicular process, to which the cervical ligament of the neck is attached ; and its inferior surface pre- sents several processes and eminences, two of which, arising from the posterior part of the bone, are peculiar to the horse, or at least do not exist in the human : they have been called styloid, but are more properly the pteregoid processes {vide k, Plate I). The condyloid apophyses articulate with the atlas ; and its cuneiform process, which is very large {vide h, Plate I), is received as a wedge among the bones of the skull. Its prin- cipal cavities are the foramen magnum, giving passage to the spinal marrow, and the condyloid foramina, penetrating the condyloid apophyses. In the horse, the foramen magnum is found at the posterior aspect of the skull*. The nasal bones {ossa nasi; vide p, Plate I) are united to- gether throughout their, whole length ; which union internally forms a groove, receiving the cartilaginous septum narium. They are connected interiorly with the anterior turbinated bones ; superiorly with the frontais ; superiorly and laterally with the angulars; and inferiorly with the lower maxillary. The nasal fosscB are formed of these bones, in conjunction with the maxillaries laterally ; superiorly of the posterior table of the frontais, forming the frontal sinuses, with which they com- municate; and posteriorly of the palatine bones, and which fossae are the principal seat of glanders. The angulars, or ossa unguis, are in the horse wholly ossi- fied, and situated at the inner angle of the eyes {vide o, Plate I), forming a considerable portion of the orbits. Each is nearly square, and joined to the nasal, malar, frontal, and superior maxillary ; and is so formed as to present an inner, outer, and * It is exacti}- at the posterior part of this bone that the disease called pole evil takes plgice, and which usually commences by an injury done to the inte- guments, and sometimes to the ligaments also ; from whence, in bad cases, it proceeds to the mucous capsule of the bone, and lastly to the bone itself. This bone has been known to be fractured by a violent elfort: such a case occurred in the Strand, where on a frosty morning a horse fell, after many violent exertions to save himself: when he reached the ground, he died al- most immediately. On examinatien, the occipital bone was found to be di- vided into three or four pieces. 1)8 OSTEOLOGY. orbitary surface : between the outer and ojbitary surfaces, i» the orbitary ridge, and the latter of these surfaces is perforated by a canal, just within the inner angle of the eye, forming the lachrymal cluctj or duciifs ad nasiwi, carrying oft' the super- fluous tears into the nose. This duct passes bony between the turbinated bones, and then becomes membranous under the in- ferior or posterior of them. The malar, jugaly or cheek bones {ossa malarum), occupy the posterior part of the orbits (vide n, Plate I), between the angu- lar, superior maxillary, and temporal bones; to the last of which each is united by its temporal process, which forms part of the zygomatic arch. The superior maxillary bones {ossa maxillaria superiora) are the largest of those particularly belonging to the face, and are connected anteriorly to the nasal ; inferiorly to the inferior maxillary ; and internally to each other, and to the palatine by their palatine processes : they are connected also to the vomer, and within the orbit to the zygomatic process of the temporal bones. Their exterior surface is convex, and has upon it the maxillary spine continued from the malar: midway between this and the junction with the nasal bone, there is a foramen called the anterior maxillaiy canaly which is continued through each of them, and transmits the second branch of the fifth pair of nerves, with some vessels; all which go to supply the molar teeth : its inferior edge is pierced by the molar alveoli. By their junction with each other posteriorly, these bones form the infe- rior portion of the palatine arch, or roof of the mouth ; the su- perior part of which arch is formed by the palatine bones them- selves, to which the maxillary are united. At the inferior por- tion of this arch, these bones recede, as it were, to give place to a pair of bony plates, which, as they appear in a great mea- sure distinct, should be called, I think, inferior palatines. The cavities formed by the internal surface of each of the maxillary bones lodges the turbinated bones, with which the anterior of them is nearly filled ; therefore, part of what has been described by authors as maxillary sinuses, and so often mentioned as such by La Fosse, might as properly be called the turbinated. {Vide q, r,s, Plate I.) The inferior maxillary bones {ossa maxillaria inferiora) have been frequently considered as parts of those last described, although the division between them is as evident as that be- tween the frontals and parietals*. Mr. Stubbs falls into the same error. These bones are wanting in the human, and are peculiar to animals with long jaws; they unite together bj^ ♦ Bliimenbach terms it the inter max illarff ; aiul as it is not found in man, he considered it as a distinctive mark between the human and brute sub- iects. It is. however, found that no such bone exists in some of the lonj?- tailed monkics, although it is present in some of the short-tailed tribes: such • listinction, therefore, is falhiciousi. BONES OF THE HEAD. 99 symphysis, and to the inferior maxillary and nasal bones by the suture, called harmony. They concur in forming part of the nasal fossae, and at their inferior edge have six alveoli^ lodging the anterior incisive teeth. The tush is now and then lodged in the posterior edge of this bone, but generally in that of the superior maxillary. At the symphysis is a foramen, giving passage to blood vessels and a nerve. (Vide t, Skel.) The superior palatines {ossa palati superiora) are situated at the upper part of the bony palate, beyond the superior maxil- lary, to which they unite, and jointly form the arch of the palate : superiorly, they unite to the wings of the sphenoid, and leave an oval opening between them and its body, which forms the entrance of the nasal fossa into the pharynx. Os triquatra (vid. o, rj . It is not uncommon to find a tri- angular portion of bony plate interposed between the unguis, superior maxillary and the nasal bones. In oxen and sheep it is seldom met with. The inferior palatine bones {ossa palati inferiord), although I think sufiiciently distinct from the superior maxillaries, are often described, and considered as the same. They are small frangible plates ; usually situated between two receding portions of the superior maxillaries, but now and then their inferior part is received between similar portions of the inferior maxillaries. The pteregoid (ossa pteregoidesj are two small crooked bones, about which likewise authors differ. Bourgelat considers them as portions of the palatine bones ; by others they are described as their styloid processes : but they may be regarded as de- tached distinct bony portions, situated between the vomer and palatines, forming a cartilaginous ring, through which passes the tendon of a muscle of the palate. The anterior turbinated bones (ossa turhinata anterioraj are thin, bony lamellae, that occupy part of the space formed by the cavity within each superior maxillary bone. They are connected with the nasal bones, and receive the continua- tion of the ethmoidal cells, and are seen, on opening the nos- trils, forming a species of tortuous cavity. The posterior turbinated bones {ossa turbinata posteriora) occupy the remainder of the cavity of the maxillary bones, and by their mutual tortuosities have been called by the French the inferior cornets of the nose, as the anterior are called the superior cornets. The turbinated bones are very spongy, and slight in their texture, being sieve-like, and have sometimes in glanders become absorbed : they increase the surface of the pituitary membrane, which is the reason they are so consider- able in brutes, and so trivial in man*. * Some discrepancy often arises in tlie description of the maxillary cavi- ties, from their intimate connection with these bones. By considering the maxillary sinuses as an anterior and posterior, of whirh the latter is the 100 OSTEOLOGY. The vomer, or ploughshare, extends from the inferior part of the nasal fossae, so as to divide, in conjunction with the car- tilaginous septum, the nostrils into two equal cavities; supe- riorly it joins the sphenoid, and inferiorly is received into a groove of the palatine process of the maxillary bone ; it is likewise connected with the ethmoid. The posterior maxillary bone {maxilla inferior), or lower jaw, is in the foetus composed of two pieces, afterwards inti- mately united by symphysis at the chin. The anterior edge, by a separation of its tables, forms the alveoli for the recep- tion of the molares or grinders, the tushes, and incisive teeth. The inner surface presents a foramen, called the posterior maxillary canal, w^iich gives a passage to the third branch of the fifth pair of nerves, and to an artery and vein, which fur- nish the teeth with nourishment. The inferior part of the an- terior edge forms the bars on which the bit rests. At the su- perior portion, this bone on each side turns up into two consi- derable branches ; the external angle of each of which is the thickest of the whole, and is called the tuberosity ; the branches themselves end in two processes with an intermediate groove. The first and most superior of these, is called the condyloid process, and forms a Hat head tipped with cartilage which articulates with a cartilaginous depression of the zygo- matic process of the temporal bone (see Skel.)'^ between which articulations is placed, as in the human, a moveable cartilage, accommodating itself by its figure to the motions of the jaw. The second is the coronoid process, and is flat, passing under the zygomatic arch {vide f and m, SkeL), and having the cro- taphite muscle inserted into it. From this, the use of this arch becomes evident; for were it not for this guard, every acci- dental pressure, and every slight injury, would impede the motion of the jaw, and starve the animal. The whole likewise of this bone shews the most admirable mechanism : the molar teeth, on whom most is dependant, and whose exertions are greatest, are placed immediately under the actions of very^ powerful muscles : and as the upper jaw in most animals is nearly fixed, so it was necessary in the horse, and other gra- minivora, that the lower should have considerable extent of moving power for the purpose of a grinding process, and it is accordingly so formed as to admit of motion in every direction*. The condyloid process is attached to the temporal bone by a larger, and forms a projection within the nasal cavities, the true nature and number of the cavities will be gained. * A mere inspection of the articulation of a brute jaw separated from the body would enable a naturalist to determine whether it belonged to a carni- vorous or herbivorous animal. AYhen the articulation is so formed as to ad- mit of vertical motion only, it may safely be determined to belong to one of the carnivora ; but when it appears endowed with both vertical and horizon- tal motion, it will be found to have formed a part of an animal of the herbi- vorous order. , THE TEETH. 101 ligament (which inserts itself behind the zygomatic process), as well as by a large capsular ligament : the coronoid process, on the contrary, is attached by means of the crotaphite tendon. Had this been a ligament as well as the former, the mouth could not have been opened sufficiently, as in the act of gaping, &c. and without this additional attachment, the condyloid ar- ticulation would not have been sufficiently strong. The OS Jiyoides is composed of five bony pieces, which are so distinct, that it has been by some described as five bones. It is situated at the root of the tongue, and articulates with the skull by means of the temporal bone; by which it is rendered very useful as an attachment to the muscles of the tongue, as well as to those of the larynx and pharynx. ( Vide i, i, Plate III, Jig. 2.) It is divided into a body, two larger, and two lesser branches. The body forms a species of cross, that articulates with the first cartilage of the larynx, and then gives an appen- dix pointing towards the teeth, to which the tongue is attached. On each side of this are the lesser branches uniting with the body by a moveable articulation, and to these the larger branches unite by an acute angle, and enlarging, extend up into the head, within the membranous cavity of the eustachian tube. {Vide d, fig, 1, Plate III.) Description of the Teeth. The teeth, the hardest and most compact bones of the body, are situated in casities between the tables of the jaw bones, called alveoli : there are usually forty in the horse (and thirty-six in the mare), the latter commonly wanting the tusks, or tushes. They are divided into incisores, ciispidati, and molares, or, as they are called by farriers and horsemen, nippers, tushes, and grinders. Each tooth is formed of a crown, neck, and root. The crown is the upper part, and is variously formed in the dif- ferent teeth; the neck is not very evident in the adult horse, but is more distinct in the colt. The roots are received into the alveoli in a conical form, and are not spread out into dis- tinct fangs as in the human. The teeth are composed of an osseous part of the nature of common hone; of a compact shining portion of extreme hardness and durability, called enamel, and which is not simply spread over their outer sur- faces as in the human, but enters within their substance in the horse. A third substance also enters their composition, called the crusta petrosa. This latter is principally spread over the incisor teeth at a young period of their growth, but some of it remains through life. The teeth are the only bones which are without periosteum, being naked upwards, and below covered by the proper membrane of the gums. Most quadrupeds have during life two sets of teeth, a tempo- raneous or milk set, and a permanent or adult set. The first usuedly appears at, or soon after birth ; the other about the 102 OSTEOLOGY. adult period. This change, by which the milk are displaced for the permanent set, is very gradually performed, some years elapsing between the appearance of the first and the last ; by which means the animal suffers no inconvenience : were they all, or even several of them, to remove at the same time, the animal would suffer great injury. To prevent such inconveni- ence to the elephant, the replacement of his teeth is so con- ducted as never to be completed, or, at least, not to the age at which observation has followed him. It is thus nature com- passes the same ends by different meaus ; and were we fully conversant with the natural history of each animal, we should find that each mode was best suited to the wants of its pos- sessor. In the horse also some speciality occurs in this re- spect, for the three last pairs of molar teeth are usually per- manent and seldom shed. The dentition of the ruminants follows nearly the same order as that of the horse: nor is their dental structure dissimilar. Although the temporaneous and permanent sets of teeth ap- pear with an interval of some years between them, yet the ru- diments of both are formed nearly at the same period ; at least we know, that as soon as the temporaneous are evident, the traces of the other can be distinguished immediately under them, and they are only prevented from making their appear- ance by the pressure occasioned by the first: thus, when one of the first set is drawn, its place is soon filled up by one of the second set, and this appears to be the intention of their early formation, by which they may be always ready to fill up any acci- dental displacement that may occur before the usual period. If it be asked, why does not the same pressure which keeps down the permanent set remove the temporaneous above them? it may be readily answered, that these lower teeth are not suffi- ciently consolidated, but as soon as they become so, they in turn become the pressing bodies, and the roots of the temporaneous set, submitting to the stimulus, become absorbed. Dealers, aware of this early appearance of the second set when the first are accidentally removed, frequently eftect the removal by ar- tificial means, to make young horses appear older than they are. It was essentially necessary that there should be two sets of teeth ; for as these bodies grow but slowly in proportion to the jaws, so, had there been but one set, the disproportion in growth between the teeth and jaw bones must have separated the teeth from each other, and thrown them wide apart as the jaws increased in length ; hence there is given at first a small and less numerous set, adapted to the size of these bones ; but as the rudiments of the second set are larger as well as more numerous, so they take up more room, and are therefore at this early period actually situated within the branches of the posterior jaw, necessarily evolving only as the jaw lengthens THE TEETH. 108 out. The living powers in the teeth are kept up, as in bones in general, by nerves and blood vessels, which may be traced entering the hollows in their roots from trunks described in An- giology and Neurology, and we have sufficient proof of their having absorbents, by the removal of the roots of the tempo- raneous set by the process of absorption*. The incisive or nipping teeth are six to each jaw, which the French distinguish by the terms pinces, as applied to the two in front, mitoyenne to the intermediate, and coins to those at the corner. In the older books of farriery they are also called nippers, gatherers, and separators ; but it would be better to begin at the corner, and to call them the first, second, and third incisives. These teeth are curved, which is favourable for the pressure they undergo, the upper more so than the lower ; they have two surfaces, an inner and an outer, the former of which is rounded, but the outer presents a groove up the middle on their upper surface, surrounded by a dark marking ; a re- markable oblong hollow is seen into which both the enamel and crustra petrosa enter. This cavity is not complete in the corner teeth, being interrupted by a species of artificial side or internal wall received within an inflection of the outer : these teeth are also slightly triangular and shelly in the foal, and are thinner than the others in the adult horse. (See Plate of Teeth.) This cavity of the nippers is not of great depth, but appears most considerable in the corners, less so in the contiguous teeth, and least of all in those in front ; from which circumstance the re- gular wear of these teeth by attrition has furnished us with a pretty just criterion of the age, as before noticed, in the suc- cessive disappearance of these cavities. The two front nip- pers, as having a shallower cavity, are soonest filled up, and which takes place at about six years old. At seven, the cavity of the next disappears ; and at eight, the corners become plain. In the upper nippers the cavities are originally deeper and much more permanent, not being wholly effaced before the age of fifteen or sixteen. At very advanced periods of life, as twenty-five or thirty, the direction of these teeth alters materi- ally, partly from their curved portion wearing away, and partly from an alteration in the alveolar portion of the jaws. The four cuspidati, caninef, or tusk teeth, are usually, but not invariably, wanting in mares, and are situated one on each *The morbid phenomena of dentition are happily not common to the brute young as to the human infant, neither do they seem to sutler an}' sympathetic sensibility as is frequent in ourselves. t A¥hy these tusk teeth, common to various orders ^f quadrupeds, and to man also, should receive the generic term canine, appeais extraordinary. In man, the monkey, the horse, &c. &c. they may be considered as intended to preserve that beautiful regularity conspicuous throughout the links of Na- ture's vast chain ; while to the elephant, the boar, the dos^, and some other H 104 OSTKOLOGY. side of the upper and lower jaw, in the space between the in- cisive and molars. Those of the anterior jaw are usually nearer the nippers than the posterior. There are no tempora- neous tushes, but one set only, which appears about the adult period, growing slowly, and, when completely evolved, pre- senting a curved appearance, turned inwards, with an outer plain surface, and an inner one with two perpendicular grooves, and an intermediate rising. The upper part is pointed, which point wears away by age, leaving the tush blunted, and the internal surface smooth and equal with the outer ; and as these appearances cannot be restored, the tushes may be depended on as a guide in judging of the age when a horse is suspected of having been bishopped^. The molares, or grinders, are twelve to each jaw. The up- per are larger and stronger than the under, as they form the fixed point on w^hich mastication is performed. The milk or molar teeth are oblong and even ; the permanent set presents an oblong at the first appearance of each, w^hich pressure gra- dually lessens into a more perfect square. The grinding surface of each of these teeth presents irregular rising lines from the interposition of plates of enamel within the osseous portion f ; quadrapeds, being long and pointed, tbey form advantageous weapons of defence. In these animals tbey migbt tberefore with propriety be called jmg- natory teeth. * Bisbopping appears to have derived its name from a singular species of deception practised by a person of the name of Bishop; and which consists in indenting on the plane surface of the worn teeth a fresh cavity by means of a very highly tempered pointed instrument. This done, the new formed ca- vity is burnt black. t By comparative anatomy we are frequently enabled to throw great light on the functions of particular parts of the human body, by which some of the obligation due to the knowledge of the latter are repaid. I have had fre- quent occasions of pointing to this mutual advantage ; perhaps a more feli- citous one does not occur than the present, in which erroneous notions on the subject of the preservative use of the enamel have prevailed, and are yet every day insisted on by dentists. Were a preservative quaUty the principal use of the enamel, the teeth of both man and beast would be seldom tree from decay. In both the one and the other, parts of the teeth are entirely deprived of it, and in neither does decay take place at such parts. The de- pressions on the broad surfaces of the horse molar teeth are, as described above, purposely formed from the first without enamel, and on the surface of the in- cisors or nippers it early wears away, and yet caries is almost unknown to both. The human incisors also wear from a sharp edge to a flattened surface entirely uncovered by enamel, but on which surface caries never commences ; on the contrary, when these decay, the disease commences at the neck of the tooth where the enamel is thickly encrusted over. The first carious spot usu- ally seen in the human molar teeth, is in the deep depressions on their semi- incisive grinding surface where the enamel can sufler no abrasion : add to which, that decay in a tooth may generally be stopped, if the whole of the diseased portion be filed away. Some tiibes among the Indians, remarked for the soundness and goodness of their teeth, always keep them filed to a point ; we therefore learn by collating these facts that the enamel of the teeth operates but little in preserving them from morbid decay, but that its THE TEETH. 105 by which admirable contrivance an uneven surface for tritura- tion is constantly kept up, the enamel wearing less easily than the bony portion ; and as the anterior or upper teeth hang over and project beyond the others, so the ridges of the one set are received into the depressions of the other ; by this means not only rendering the grinding process more complete, but per- mitting a just application of the teeth, and a consequent com- plete shutting of the mouth during a state of rest. The grind- ing surfaces of both the upper and under molar teeth are not perfectly horizontal ; on the contrary, they have an inclination inwards, and the upper teeth are not so closely applied to each other as the under, by which the masticated food finds a more ready passage, and more naturally falls within the mouth. The teeth of the horse are but little subject to the carious de- cay common to the human teeth ; they are however somewhat subject to exostosis, and sometimes to the addition of little supplementaries, called wolves teeth : but the principal evil to which they are subjected arises from an inordinate degree of wear, the consequence of the hard nature of the food we force them to chew. Hay, it is evident, is much more difficult of mas- tication than grass, and corn infinitely more so : and as in a state of nature horses would be unlikely to meet with much of these matters, so the wear on the teeth in full-fed horses may be supposed more than was by Nature intended for them, and consequently more than their powers are equal to. That such is really the case is confirmed by what occurs in many old horses, in whom great wasting and weakness often occur without the cause becoming apparent, in consequence of which they are sometimes destroyed in the full enjoyment of all their other capabilities, under a supposition that they are altogether worn out. In such cases a defect in the teeth is often the only cause of the evil, and if the horse be attentively watched he will probably be observed to incline his head altogether, and particularly his under jaws, in such a direction as to favour the application of the food to the deranged surfaces. Such a horse will also often be found to quid as it is termed, or to partially chew his food, and then to throw it out of his mouth. If an examination of the mouth be made in such cases, it will frequently be found that a misapplication of the teeth exists, the effect of long and undue wear ; the inner surfaces of both the upper and under grinders, but more particularly so of the upper, being worn away and bevilled, rendering mastica- tion difficult and incomplete ; to remedy which the animal en- deavours to throw the wear on the outer edges, which occa- sions the peculiar inclination of head mentioned. It also principal use is, by its extreme hardness, so to temper the teetii, as steel tempers iron, that they may resist the impressions of constant mastications, and make the wear of these organs commensurate with those of the body in general. H2 106 OSTEOLOGY. sometimes happens that this uneven wearing leaves pointed prominences which penetrate the cheek, by the increased efforts in the molar muscles to force the food in a new direction: mas- tication now becomes painful as well as difficult, and the horse refuses his food. This latter case may be commonly remedied by either the chisel or file ; but when the misapplication of the general surface is considerable, it requires much care and pains to remedy the defect, which can only be done by using a very well tempered file, having first cast the horse and propped open his mouth. I have however succeeded by a daily application of the file without casting the animal ; by which I fatigued myself less, and did not at all endanger the horse. Unless the process be very effectually done, it is sur- prising how soon the defect returns ; and even when it has been very judiciously practised, one or two years is apt to renev/ the evil, except the horse be ever after kept on mashed food, grass, carrots, &c., when he may remain useful for a consi- derable time. The Bony Trunk, The trunk of the horse consists of the spine, pelvis, and tho- rax or chest. The spineis formed of seven cervical*, eighteen dorsal, six lumbar, and five sacral vertebree, with the addition of an inde- finite number of small bones of the coccygis, or tail, usually amounting to about thirteen. The spinal bones are thus di- vided, on account of the varieties they present ; but they have some characteristics in common ; each being composed of a spongy considerable substance, named its body, and parts protruded therefrom, thence called processes. These processes unite to form a hollow, through which the medulla spinalis or spinal marrow is transmitted, and by some of them the ver- tebrae are articulated with each other, as well as by their bo- dies anteriorly and posteriorly; by which means the surface of attachment of these bones is much increased, and the strength of the spinal column thereby rendered very great. Though but little motion is allowed between any two of these bones, yet the flexibility of the whole spine is considerable; by which wise contrivance the spinal marrow, nerves, and blood vessels, are not liable to compression. The cervical vertehrce, which are by far the largest of the whole, are situated within the neck, and are known to farriers and butchers by the name of rack bones. They have but a very indistinct spinous process, but by a common base on each side arises a very considerable prominence, which branches out into two transverse processes, at which base is * It was the remark of that great physiologist, John Hunter, that the number of the cervical vertebrae is the same in almost every known quadru- ped, although the number of the other vertebrae varies very considerably. THE BONY TRUNK. 107 seen a foramen for the passage of the vertebral arteries and veins. Each neck vertebra likewise forms a groove poste- riorly, which, united to one in its opponent, produces a hole, which, communicating with the great spinal canal, allows the cervical nerves to pass. (See description ofSkeL) The vertebrae are each connected together by a round head, received into a corresponding cuplike cavity at the posterior part of every one but the first ; and which union has articular cartilages, dense capsular ligaments, and all the appendages of a joint. It will be evident, that from the strong means of articulation they have with each other, not only by the round head and corres- ponding cavity, but more particularly by their oblique pro- cesses, that no dislocation can take place between any of these vertebrae but between the first and second, in which case the animal inevitably dies from the compression of the spinal marrow ; and which accident is what is usually called breaking the neck. The first cervical vertebra (vide a, vertebrae Skel.) in the human receives the name of atlas, but which is here inapplic- able, for the head does not rest on it, but is rather supported by it. It branches out laterally into two transverse portions ; anteriorly it articulates with the occipital bone, receiving into its fossae the two occipital condyles : on each side are two foramina, one of which transmits the vertebral vessels, and the other a pair of nerves. Posteriorly it articulates with the second cervical vertebra, receiving its odontoid process into its great cavity. This vertebra is the only one of the cervicals that has not the great suspensory ligament attached to it, which had it so done, would have interfered with its freedom of motion. The second cervical vertebra, which is named dentata (vide d, e,f, plate of Skel. vertehrce), from a considerable process supposed to resemble a tooth, by which it enters the great ca- vity of the first, is in the horse a large long bone, presenting several peculiarities. Instead of a spinous process, it has a longitudinal dorsal ridge, to which the cervical ligament is attached ; neither can it properly be said to have any oblique processes, for anteriorly what would be so called are blended together so as to appear a mere extension of its body: poste- riorly they become more conspicuous, and articulate with the upper oblique processes of the third vertebrae (vide h), whose head is received into a cup-like articulating cavity in its body posteriorly. Another peculiarity arises from its transverse protuberance, which presents only a posterior point fvide d, dj, forming a single process on each side. The non-attachment of the cervical ligament to the first cervical bone, and the pecu- liarity of the articulation between that and the second, leaves an opening, which exposes the spinal marrow or pith of the neck, as it is termed by knackers and butchers, who, when they 108 OSTEOLOGY. want to kill without effusion of blood, plunge a pointed knife into this opening between the first and second rack bones, which, dividing the spinal medulla, instantly kills, and which they call pithing. The thirdy fourth, audi fifth cervical vertebrae bear a common resemblance, and possess the general characters of anterior and posterior articular processes (h, n) ; as w^ell as of lateral trans- verse ones fi, k). Their dorsal ridge is small, and their fora- mina and perforations are the same as in the preceding. Each articulates anteriorly with the one before it by its head, and posteriorly with that which follows it by its socket. The sixth diflfers from the former only in wanting an inferior ridge. The seventh (h) is the smallest of the whole, presenting transverse processes, small and not bifid as those of the pre- ceding ; neither is it perforated by a foramen : its spinous pro- cess is more elevated than that of the others, and by its poste- rior oblique processes it articulates with the two first ribs, pre- senting at the back part of its body two semilunar articulatory cavities, which, uniting with fellow hollows in the first dorsal vertebrse, form appropriate indentations for the reception of the heads of the first and second ribs. The dorsal vertehrce are eighteen, in a few instances there are nineteen (vide 18 vertebrae, Plate I), and do not essentially differ from each other but in the length of their spinous pro- cesses, which in the first seven or eight is considerable, for the purpose of giving a long lever to the dorsal muscles. It is these processes that give height to the withers ; and as they are covered with muscles that act on them strongly, so their length is of great consequence to progression. Their four oblique pro- cesses are small, as well as their two transverse. They articulate with each other by their anterior and posterior surfaces, and by their oblique processes ; and each articulates with two ribs on each side. As they advance in number they increase in size, are pierced by the spinal canal, and transmit by their lateral holes the spinal nerves ; but they have no foramina at the base of their transverse processes. Between each is interposed a substance of the mixed nature of cartilage and ligament, which is most compressible at its sides, permitting the motion of the spine, and forming, by the solidity of its centre, a fulcrum or pivot for the bones to move on. This substance is nearly ossi- fied in the old horse. It is not, therefore, to be wondered, why the motions of the animal should be less elastic, or why, in horsemen's language, an old horse should be less springy in his gait. The six lumbar vertebrcB differ but little from the dorsal ; their bodies are rather larger,and their spinous processes consequently rather broader ; but their transverse processes bear no compa- rison to the others : for as there are now no ribs to protect the THE BONY TRUNK. 109 contents of the abdomen, nor to support the dorsal muscles, these take their place, and consequently become much length- ened out ; and hence they have no articular surfaces but those by which they unite with each other : the last of them joins with the sacrum. ( Vide 1, 5, vertehrce, Plate I.) It will appear evident from the foregoing description, that the vertebral bones enjoy different powers of motion; that the head is enabled to rotate and move extensively upon the first ; and that this first moves also freely on the second. The remain- ing cervical vertebrae have likewise much motion from the form of their articulation, and the smallness of their spinous ridge. The dorsal vertebrae can have little freedom on account of the straightness of their union, and the situation of the ribs ; while the lumbar enjoy rather more, though from the length of their transverse processes the difference carmot be considerable. The vertebrae of the spine in the horse very seldom take on spontaneous ulceration: but they are liable to malconformation, the spinal column being sometimes curved upwards, and some- times downwards more than is natural. These bones are also liable to exostoses, to such a degree sometimes as to anchylose nearly the whole dorsal and lumbar joints. It is to this cause that old horses are, many of them, so stiff, as to be unwilling to lie dow n ; or when down, to rise up again. The lumbar ver- tebrae are also the usual seat of those injuries called broken backs, chinked in the chine, &c., and which are known by the peculiar straddling, unsteady gait of the animal. Anchylosis will sometimes occasion this affection, by the increased deposit of bone pressing on the medulla spinalis, by which a partial paralysis ensues. (See Exostosis.) In some instances, though rarely, fractures or dislocations likewise occur between these bones, from casting or other accidents : when dislocation is complete, or a fracture extends through the whole body of the bone, total paralysis of the hinder extremities occurs. (See Fractures and Dislocations.) The pelvis. —The trunk is bounded by a bony mass or irre- gular ring of great extent and substance, directed horizontally forwards and backwards with a small intermediate posterior appendage named coccygis. These united masses are named the pelvis or basin, from their containing within their bounda- ries important viscera. The largest portions are formed by the sacrum and tw^o ossa iiinominata. The sacrum, which in the colt is formed of five pieces or false vertebrae, is so united in the adult horse to increase its strength, that it forms one solid mass, resembling in form the lumbar vertebrae. It presents a convex form externally, and a concave one internally, which is smoothed for the reception of the pelvic viscera. By an imperfect oval head it articulates with the last lumbar vcrtebrse, with the oblique processes of which it is also 110 OSTEOLOGY. united by two articular surfaces: a groove is jointly formed be- tween these bones on each side, for the transmission of the last dorsal pair of nerves. The transverse processes are strong, and extend its whole length; the spinous are directed backward and downward. The spinal canal begins to diminish consider- ably in size in this bone, from the medulla parting with most of its substance to form the sacral nerves, which are transmitted through eight pairs of foramina at the under surface of the bone. Two articular surfaces appear on it, by which it joins the ilium: posteriorly it articulates with the first cocc^^gal bone {vide xx). The coccyx, or bones of the tail, vary in number : there are generally about fifteen (in the ass sometimes sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen), which degenerate in their vertebral character as they descend. The spinal canal, through which the medulla is continued under the name of cauda equina, is purely bony in the first four or five of them only, being continued partly bony and partly ligamentous in the remainder. The first two or three pieces have marks of transverse and spinous processes, and the whole number articulate with each other by true joints. The two ossa innominata {a, h, c, d, e,f, g, iSA^e/.) are usually described as three pair of bones, though all traces of their dis- tinct existence are lost long before the adult period. In quadru- peds like the horse, ox, and sheep, not born indigent, but in- tended for early exertion, they are consolidated even at birth, and are only to be found separate in a foetus of three months. The three portions, of which the os innominata is early formed, are the os ilium, the os ischium, and the os pubis. The ilium (a, b, c, SkeL), which is the most considerable of these, is not rounded as in the human, but extends out into three distinct branches by portions of which the haunches are formed (vide a): when they are more extended than usual, the horse is said to be ragged hipped. From the tuberosity, one of these branches runs towards the sacrum, and turns up into a tuberous spine, very unlike the human, and which articulates by its inner sur- face with the sacrum {vide b), to which it also unites by its posterior angle. Anteriorly it is roughened for the attachment of the abdominal muscles, and its inferior branch terminates in the ischium. At its superior branch is seen a remarkable space between two of the dorsal apophyses, apparently intended to give considerable flexibility to this otherwise stiflppart. From a slight inspection of this portion of the pelvis, it will be evident that the rugged outline of the rump in cattle arises from the great prominence of the spine of the ilium, assisted by the extended tuberosity of the ischium. In the horse the dorsum of the ilium is also large, and in some of his neglected breeds the tuberosity of the ischium, and the extension of the protuberant lateral branches of the ilium, give almost as deformed an outline to them also. BONES OF THE TRUNK. Ill The OS ischium, or hip-bone, is a larger portion of the inno- minatum than the pubis, but a less one than the preceding (vide e, /). It has three angles, and an inner and outer sur- face : by the anterior of these angles it unites with the ilium and pubis, and forms part of the cotyloid cavity : by its poste- rior it stretches back jointly with the superior to form a curved process, called its tuberosity {vide /), which is very different to the same part in the human. Its superior angle is convex, and gives attachment to the sacro-sciatic ligament. Between the anterior and posterior angle it forms, jointly with the pubis, the oval cavity called /orame/i thyroideum, or ovale (vide d). The OS pubis, ot share- bone {vide g, g), is the least of the three portions : by its anterior edge it unites with the ilium, and, with its fellow, forms the symphysis pubis. On the outer and inferior part of these pehic bones a cotyloid cavity or socket presents itself, lined with cartilage, and which is in- tended to receive the head of the femur. This articulatory cup is called the acetabulum, and is formed by the assistance of each of the above portions, but in unequal degrees; the pubis adds least, and the ischium most. The depth of this cavity is greatest superiorly and anteriorly, where the danger of dislo- cation is most ; at the lower portion it is very superficial, and has a kind of interruption, by which formation the thighs are enabled to cross themselves to a certain degree, and to pass under the body: but, that this interruption might not endanger the safety of the articulation, it is filled up by a ligament, and its whole brim is deepened by a cartilaginous crust around it ; from which wise precautions, the thigh bone is very seldom thrown out of this socket. The pelvic bones are strongly at- tached to the sacrum by the articulating surfaces we have de- scribed, and are held in these attachments by strong ligaments from the anterior and posterior edge of the articular part of the ilium, uniting it to the risings corresponding with the transverse processes of the sacrum. The whole of the large posterior opening between the innominata and sacrum is fiilled up by two strong layers of ligament, which in the animal should be called its sacro-iliac and its sacro-sciatic ligaments. These two layers divide and permit the pyriformis muscle, the sciatic nerve, and posterior crural vessels, to pass out of the pelvis. From this, therefore, it may appear, that the basin forms a very complete cavity, having all its openings closed either by ligaments, muscles, or integuments, except an abdominal one before and an excretory behind. The thorax, or chest, comprises the sternum and ribs. The sternum of the horse differs very much from the human breast- bone, which is a perpendicular flat pile of bones ; but in the horse is inclined, and not dissimilar to the keel of a vessel, furnished at both ends with a cartilaginous portion ; that of the posterior being considerable, and from its figure called xiphoid. 112 OSTEOLOGY. or ensiformis*. It is, in the colt, composed of six pieces, which unite in the adult : the three anterior portions are sharp, and covered with cartilage ; the remainder are flatter. The tw^o la- teral surfaces receive the cartilaginous extremities of the true ribs. ( Vide d, Skel.) The costce, or ribs, are long perpendicular bones, with one end attached to the spine, and the other connected with the sternum, either directly or indirectly. They are usually thirty- six, eighteen to each side, seven or eight of which articulate with the sternum, and are thence called true ribs ; while the remaining ten or eleven unite together by intervening carti- lages, and are called false ribsf. The central ones are the longest, the others gradually decreasing in length both towards the neck and loins. The first is placed almost perpendicularly, the second less so ; and their curvature, as w ell as their incli- nation, increases as they advance, so as to enlarge the dimen- sions of the chest, till it becomes nearly circular (see Plate of Skeleton). As they proceed towards the pelvis, their inferior extremity is carried backwards, increasing still more the di- mensions of the carcase, and strengthening the parietes of the abdomen. Each of them has a body, an upper and a lower extremity, and an upper and under surface. The upper extre- mity presents a small head {vide a), and a small tuberosity : this head articulates by two surfaces to the bodies of two ver- tebrae, and the tubercle with the transverse process of the pos- terior of these two vertebrae. The upper extremity is rounder than the body and inferior extremity. The anterior edge of each has a groove, in which run the intercostal vessels and nerve, which it is very necessary to be aware of in operations on the chest. Above this, likewise, is a ridge to which the in- tercostal muscles are attached, fixing themselves into the op- posite edge of the next rib. To the lower extremity is a car- tilage firmly attached, articulating with the sternum, or with each other. The ribs are fixed to the breastbone and spine by strong liga- ments : each lower extremity has attaching fibres fixed into the articular pits in the sternum ; and the upper extremity is con- nected by articular as well as capsular ligaments. It must be evident that the ribs in the horse have but little motion, and * In lean subjects the anterior part of the sternum may be often seen, and is so prominent as to be liable to be wounded or bruised. When a tumour follows, it is apt to be called anticor ; but is then very different to the anti- coeur of the French, among whom it is most prevalent. (See Anticor.) t In the former edition I have stated the number of true ribs definitely as eight: in some cases there are seven only, but in many others a slight articu- lation is evident between the sternum and the eighth rib. When the number exceeds thirty-six, which it sometimes does, the eighth is always a true one, and sometimes even the ninth is so likewise. In the Woolwich Museum an instance of forty ribs occurs. The number of costae in the ox and sheep are ejaht iYy\^ and five false. BONES OF THE TRUNK. 113 that what they have, must be forwards, particularly in the true ribs, the first of which is completely a fixed point for the rest to act upon : the false can be elevated a little, by means of the flexibility of their inferior attachment, and which appears the reason that they are thus attached. But this small motion would not be sufficient without some other contrivance to en- large the chest during inspiration, which is effected by a very moveable diaphragm. The animal thorax could not have been formed as the human, without detracting from the ease and sta- bility of motion ; hence to approximate the fore extremities, it was necessary to flatten the chest : yet a posterior expansion of this cavity is not only allowed, but required, and is as essen- tially necessary to the horse as to the man. The greater con- vexity the ribs have, the more the chest has a cylindrical form, which is, of all others, the most extensive, and hence capable of carrying on the important functions of chylification and respiration to greater perfection ; for, as the belly usually par- takes of the form of the chest, so a flat- sided horse is generally without much carcase also. It must, however, be observed, that where the chest possesses great depth, the defect, as re- gards respiration, is remedied ; and this form seems the best adapted for animals of speed, as we witness in the race-horse and greyhound. But where hardihood and a ready separation of nutriment are studied, the circular form (although when car- ried to an extreme it detracts from the perfection of the fore extremities by removing the scapulae distant from each other, and constituting a thick shoulder) is the most advantageous. The Anterior 'Extremities. These bear but little resemblance to the human arm, particu- larly in those quadrupeds, as the horse, who have but one pha- lange : in those with several, the resemblance approximates much more, till in the fore extiemities of the ape they differ little but in the thumb, which forms a bad antagonist to the fingers. It appears a very wise provision of nature, who has given a colt very long limbs at birth, that the form of parts might not be much altered in their future evolution ; but, at the same time, the hinder ones are by much the longest ; because, were the fore equally so, the young animal would have been too much elevated from the ground, and rendered incapable of grazing, or even of sucking conveniently. The scapula, or shoulder blade, is a broad and rather tri- angular bone, applied to the chest, so that its apex reaches be- tween the first and second ribs, and the posterior part of its base as far as the seventh*. It is, therefore, situated oblique- * Mr. Percival remarks, that Stubbs, and other delineators since his time, have represented this bone higher than it is naturally placed, as well as less oblique in its situation. In this observation I believe Mr. P. is correct. It is, perhaps, not altogether so high in the living subject even as represented 114 OSTEOLOGY. ly, with its broadest portion above, and its tuberous extremity below. Its internal surface is flat and smooth, and its external is divided into two unequal portions by its spine. Ets anterior edge (vide m, i), as it continues down, contracts inwards, and ends in a blunt rounded extremity, called in the human its coracoid process, but which in the horse is not very beak-like ; on the contrary, the horse cannot, strictly speaking, be said to have either coracoid acromion or recurrent process. Its supe- rior surface is furnished with a considerable cartilage, strongly adhering to it by ligamentous fibres, by which the surface of attachment of the muscles of this part is much increased ; yet the weight and thickness of the bone are but little augmented thereby. The posterior edge inclines inwards, and ends in the cervix, or neck, which furnishes a superficial excavation to receive the head of the humerus or arm, called its glenoid ca- vity {vide e) . The spine {vide h) is a considerable rising which divides the external surface into two portions, till towards the lower part, v*^here it forms a rounded extremity, which in the human is stretched out, to form a sharp process, called acro- mion, but which in the horse is absent ; for, as in him there is no clavicle to articulate wdth, so such formation would have been useless. The two portions formed by the spine are called the antea and postea spinatusfossce. The antea spinatus fossa {vide /) is the least and most superior ; the postea spinatus fossa is the larger and most inferior {vide g). The scapula is attached to the chest by very strong muscles, but it has no bony nor any ligamentous miion, unless the strong aponeurotic expansion from its cartilaginous base can be so considered : it is particularly held in its situation by the serratus major, which is so spread as to attach the scapula, and sustain the chest by its very strong tendinous fibres. At its lower part it is fixed by the pectoral muscles ; and we ac- cordingly find, that when, from a slip, the legs have been forced too wide asunder, forming what is termed a shoulder wrench, these muscles become tumefied and tender. By this muscular attachment, the scapula has much motion round its own centre, having no clavicle to confine it. Its usual situation is, to a plane perpendicular to the horizon, under an angle of thirty degrees, and it has a motion, in its greatest extent, of about twenty degrees ; hence, as it does not pass beyond the perpen- dicular backwards, so the more oblique its situation, the greater number of degrees in the circle it can move through ; and in the same degree it can assist the action of the humerus, with whose angle its own is commonly consentaneous. The use of in my plate; but I cannot agree with him, that in a natural state the process improperly called coracoid is opposed to the sternal extremity of the first rib. The correctness of the general degree of obliquity (for it varies considerably in dijQerent horses) is, I believe, perfect in my representation of it, and the height also nearly so. BONES OF THE FORK LEGS 115 this bone is to serve as a moveable point to the arm^ which greatly enlarges the motion of the whole extremity, and renders it more universally extensive than that of the hinder limb : hence it becomes also evident that a glenoid cavity is fully able to protect this articulation; and that a dislocation be- tween the scapula and humerus, as being so moveable, is even less frequent than between the acetabulum and femur, where the OS innominatum is not able to follow the motion of thethigh *. The {os humeri) humerus^ or bone of the real arm, is strong, short, and very unlike the same bone in man. It extends from what is called the point of the shoulder to the elbow {vide n, o, p, q, S/ceL), forming an angle with the scapula, extending obliquely backwards, as the shoulder does obliquely forwards. At the posterior part of the extremity, the bone stretches out into a round head supported on a cervix (vide n), with a cir- cular fossa surrounding its base, for the insertion of the cap- sular ligament ; this head is received into the glenoid cavity of the scapula. The anterior part of this upper extremity is what is improperly termed the point of the shoulder (vide o), and has three prominences, into which the extensor muscles of the arm are inserted ; and between the two most anterior of which the firm flattened tendon of the flexor radialis anticus passes, tied down by a cross ligament. This tendon is almost of a cartilaginous hardness, and is flattened out into a species of patella to this articulation ; answering all the purposes of the patella of the knee, and effectually preventing any disloca- tion of this joint forwards ; which is the only point in which it would otherwise be at all probable. The body of this bone has an external and internal tuberosity, for the insertion of the adductor and abductor muscles : as it proceeds it becomes broader, and at its superior extremity it terminates into its in- ner and outer condyles {vide g), divided by articular risings and depressions, which are received into similar depressions and risings in the superior extremity of the radius ; thereby confining the motions of this joint to flexion and extension. In the front of this extremity is a cavity to receive the protu- berances of the radius, in the greatest flexions of the fore arm; and behind there is a very deep depression for the reception of the olecranon or elbow, when it is again extended. The hu- merus is attached to the scapula by a capsular ligament, which extends from this bone to the cervix of the omoplate or shoul- der blade ; over which are extended, both externally and in- ternally, strong ligamentous layers from one bone to the other; and when are added to this the peculiar tendon I have de- • The different situations of the aequine and human scapulte must at once strike the observer. It has been very justly remarked, that the horse here presents no proper back, for the withers can hardly be considered as such. In the horse the shoulder blade does not pass out of the plane of the os hu- meri, whereas in the human it forms an angle with it. 116 OSTEOLOGY. scribed, and the tendinous expansions of the other muscles, it will be seen that this articulation between the humerus and scapula is a very strong one. The os humeri is confined in its motions to being brought from its inclined position backwards to a perpendicular one of the limb m situ forwards. When its length is too great, it necessarily brings the legs of the horse too much under him, and, to keep the angle correct, this defect is always united with an upright shoulder. The /ore arm is composed of the radius and ulna [vide/, r], (called among horsemen, by an erroneous though very old custom, the arm and elbow), but which become so intimately united in the old horse, as to be by some, and without any great impropriety, described as one bone *. The radius is the long cylindrical portion composed of a body and two nearly equal extremities. The superior end is flat, and receives into its ar- ticular depressions the condyles of the humerus ; it presents anteriorly tuberosities for the attachment of muscles, and pos- teriorly an articulating surface for the ulnar portion of the bone. Its body is slightly convex anteriorly, and its inferior extremity is furnished with four eminences, covered with car- tilage, which articulate with the first bones of the carpus or knee. The anterior part of this extremity is depressed with * Bourgelat describes the radius and ulna as one bone, under the name of cubitus. La Fosse speaks of them as two bones, radius and cubitus. Cubitus in veterinary authors is sometimes applied to either bone, because in the hu- man these bones are nearly of a length, and not far distant from the measure of a cubit; but as this will not apply to either of these bones in the horse, the term ought to be rejected entirely. A parallel of comparison between the human and brute subject will here fail in many essential particulars, and some speciality of formation in these bones, but of the ulna in particular, from the human, is observed in all true quadrupeds, and which is always guided by the habits of the animal to which they belong. Nevertheless, as the intentions of Nature are best displayed where her works are the most complete, it will materially illustrate the uses of brute parts, to examine the same at the fountain head. In man the elhow-joint w ill be found to be a com- plex and curiously contrived piece of mechanism ; and that in him the ulna, instead of being an unimportant part, and a mere appendage to the radius, is, in fact, the larger of the two, receiving above a tubercle of that bone, whilst be- low it is the radius which furnishes the articulatory cavity, and the ulna supplies the tubercle ; by which formation the human hand enjoys fully the rotating motions of pronation and supenation, the radius moving on its own axis at the upper end, and revolving round the ulna at the lower. In the canine, fe- line, and some other tribes, where the paws are used in some measure as prehensile organs, the ulna is also found sufficiently perfect for variety of motion ; but in the horse and the ruminants, where a supine state of the limb w ould have been inconvenient, it shrinks into a mere process, not moving on the radius, but anchylosed with it. By this firm union great strength is gained. Nor would the safety of this important part have been studied with- out such provision, for the immense lever of the extended process or olecranon would have endangered any other opposition of it, without thereby gaining any advantage, its motions being confined to flexion and extension, as the member it belongs to is principally employed in progression. Support and progression therefore being in the horse expected from the fore limbs, they exhibit every contrivance to increase their strength without destroying their elasticity or increasing their bulk. BONES OF THE FORE LEGS. 117 three sinuosities, receiving the tendons of the extensor muscles of the foot. It is observed in all animals intended for speed, that the length of this bone is very considerable ; in the hare and greyhound, the knee is but a very small distance from the ground; and a long fore arm is found by experience to be equally favourable to celerity of motion in the horse also, and such formed legs are by good judges always preferred. The parts below the knee appear to be bent in progression, to receive the weight of the machine, but not to add to the extent of its pro- gress ; and if the extent of progression be effected by the parts above, the longer they are the better. It must likewise ap- pear, that a decrease in length in the parts below must be equally favourable to strength as the increase above is to the speed, though it possibly detracts something from the ease and rebound of the spring ; for which reason amateurs in the ma- nege always choose a short arm as better adapted to the ca- dences taught by that art. The ulna is articulated in the young horse at the posterior and superior part of the radius with intervening cartilages, and strong ligamentous fibres; it then stretches downwards (see Skeleton) unattached, permitting vessels to pass between, till it has reached the middle of the radius, when it terminates in a point, which is likewise at- tached by ligamentous fibres. As the horse advances towards age, the intermediate cartilages become absorbed, and bony fibres thrown out, which form an inseparable and anchylosed union between them. The ulna stretches out superiorly into a powerful process covered with cartilage, which is received into the great posterior fossa of the humerus; from which the whole extends backwards to form the olecranon, so called in conformity with human anatomy, whose whole surface is rough, for the insertion of the strong extensor muscles of the fore arm. On the slightest inspection of the skeleton, it will ap- pear how much the motions of the fore extremity must depend on the length and obliquity of this process ; which acting on the principle of a lever in the extension of the arm, must ne- cessarily, as it is long or short, make all the difference between a long and a short purchase. This bone likewise serves to keep up an equilibrium between the flexor and extensor mus- cles. The ulna and radius are articulated with the humerus, by a very extensive capsular ligament which takes in the whole articular surface. This articulation is strengthened by an ex- ternal and internal ligament, extended from the condyles of the humerus over the head of the radius, and likewise by powerful tendinous and aponeurotic expansions spread over the whole, by which means this joint is wholly prevented from dislocation : but the olecranon has been found at times frac- tured ; under which circumstances, from the great strength of the muscles implanted into it, a proper and complete apposi- tion of the fractured extremities would be extremely difficult. 118 OSTEOLOGY. Punctured wounds likewise sometimes happen In this part* when, if motion be kept up, a large quantity of air becomes absorbed, forming extensive emphysema. Both these bones are occasionally the subject of deformity, and are likewise now and then affected with exostoses. The carpus^ or knee, as it is universally called in the horse, ac- cording to the human anatomical nomenclature is the wrist. It is therefore evident, that either carpus or knee is an erroneous term, of which this is not the only instance by many wherein an adherence to the human anatomical terms is attended with in- convenience, begets confusion, and encourages palpable misno- mers. These circumstances have occasioned some attempts among modern veterinarians to correct the more prominent in- stances of incongruity by a more appropriate nomenclature, which the discrepancies have certainly called for*; but un- willing myself to intioduce discordance between this and the former editions of the Veterinary Outlines, and still more to set myself up as the arbiter, I shall continue the nomination of these bones as in the former edition. In the articulated skele- ton there are seven principal carpal bones met with, and which in fact are all that are necessary to the joint: but in the recent subject there is commonly but not invariably found an addita- mentary osselet of the shape and size of a pea, situated behind and articulated with the trapezoid alone: sometimes it is wholly unarticulated, and at others altogether absent. This small bone, when it does exist, ought to be considered as the true pisiform. The seven carpal bones which compose the knee of the horse are arranged in two rows. The upper row articulates with the inferior extremity of the radius, and is formed of the os scaphoides, as the first of them commenc- ing from the inside of the row (2, 2). It is the most consider- able bone of this range, and articulates with the internal con- dyle of the radius anteriorly, and laterally with the lunare ; so that the scaphoid and lunare are placed over the magnum in front of the knee, as, in building,' two bricks are placed so thai their line of division is over the centre of a third, by which means great strength is given to this articulation; it likewise articulates inferiorly with the trapezoid. The lunare is the se- cond bone of this row {vide 3, 3), articulating above with the middle and anterior part of the radius, below with the magnum and cuneiform, and laterally with the scaphoid and cuneiform, and by a small posterior point to the pisiform. The cunei- * Mr. Percival has very correctly observed that it is erroneous to call a bone of the shape and size of a pea trapezium, or a large quadrilateral one by the name of pisiformis. It is not a little singular, that among the French authors equal discordance exists on this subject ; hardly any two of them naming the carpal bones alike. Bourgelat describes them as nine in number, but says little more of them, nor does he, if I remember aright, attempt to name them. BONES OF THE FORE LEGS. 119 form* is the outer bone of the first row {vide 4), and articu- lates above with the external condyle of the radius ; posteriorly with the pisiform; below with the unciform, and laterally with the lunare. Thepm/ormf {vide 1, 1) projects posteriorly on the outer side of the superior row, so as to give a greater power of attachment to muscles, and to raise the ligaments of the knee from compressing the tendons, but it takes no part in sup- porting the weight of the machine. It articulates with the outer and posterior part of the radius by one surface, and by another to the cuneiform. The trapezoid, {vide 7) is the first and smallest bone on the inner side of the second row, and is situated at the posterior lateral internal part of the knee, arti- culating above with the scaphoid, below with the internal small metacarpal and a small part of the cannon, and laterally with the magnum. The os magnum is the middle bone of the se- cond row {vide 5, 5), and is the largest of the whole ; receiving above the scaphoid and lunare, and resting below on nearly the whole of the surface of the large metacarpal or cannon; articu- lating at the lateral internal part with the tarpezoid, and at the lateral external with the next bone. The third and most external of the second row is the unciform {os uiiciforme, vide 6); it rests upon the external small metacarpal, and in part upon the great metacarpal; and articulates above with the cuneiform, and laterally with the magnum. The carpal bones are covered with cartilage on their articular surfaces, and their non-articu- lar are rough for ligamentary attachment, by which the whole are very closely connected together, allowing but little motion between any but the first and second row ; yet some little is allowed between the whole, by which the jar is taken off when the limb approximates the ground. The capsular is a very extensive carpal ligament ; arising from the inferior extremity of the radius, it passes to the first row of bones, to which it is attached ; it then proceeds more loosely to the second, from whence it is continued on, investing the superior extremities of the large and small metacarpals. Within this, is secreted a large quantity of synovia or joint oil; and it is the escape of this, and the inflammation of the cavity of the joint, that makes deep wounds of the knee so dangerous. The carpal bones are liable to exostosis, or a throwing out of bony matter, on any violent injury, as blows, strains, &c.; but more particularly after the escape of the synovial fluid. There are also several layers of ligamentous fibres, some of which are applied to the * As it is desirable that an uniformity of nomenclature should be ob- served among the teachers of anatomy, and as Mr. Stubbs, Mr. Coleman, and others, call this cuneiform ^ I have in this edition adopted their nomina- tion. t It is evident that this is very improperly called pisiform. It is called OS posticum by Mr. Clark, and trapezium by Mr. Percival ; either of which are more appropriate names, but the former is more particularly so. I 120 OSTEOLOGY. bones ; others are more loose, and stretch over the tendons to form annular bands. Each bone likewise has individual fibres connecting it to the bones with which it is attached, forming on the whole a most complex ligamentary plan, greatly strength- ening the knee joint, and preventing a possibility of dislocation. The mechanical advantages of this assemblage of bones must be at once evident. Not only is the surface of attachment for ligaments, muscles, and tendons thereby increased, which is evidently favourable to motive power, and strength of con- nection; but it acts most advantageously as a spring placed between the two solid perpendicular arms of the radius and cannon, by which the jars or shocks of violent exertions are divided and distributed among the bones ; or, as it were, carried over an extended and contiguous, but not continuous surface. That such is its principal use, we learn from the fact that in animals not designed for quick or long-continued exertions, as. the ruminants, these bones are less numerous, and the joint altogether less favourably formed ; as another instance of which inferiority, we may observe their os pisiformis is small and less prominent than in the horse. The metacarpus (os metacarpi magni, vide t, t\ or what is termed the cannon or shank, is formed of a large metacarpal bone and two small ones, which the French term styloids or perones. The cannon is a plain cylindrical bone with its two extremities rather enlarged, the superior of which articulates with the second row of the knee, and presents little correspon- dent risings and depressions with those bones. Anteriorly its head forms a tuberosity encircling the bone ; posteriorly this is indented into two surfaces, receiving the small metacarpals. Its inferior surface is formed into two condyles, divided by an eminence, and articulates with the pastern and sessamoids. This articulation is admirably formed to preserve the utmost freedom of flexion and extension, yet to deny any lateral motion which would have detracted from the necessary great strength of the joint. By its three convexities being received into cor- respondent concavities on the upper surface of the large pastern bone, it forms a perfect hinge, and is so dovetailed as to be almost incapable of dislocation. The small metacarpals {ossa metacarpi parva, vide u, u) are placed one on each side of the posterior part of the cannon, each having a superior articu- lating surface uniting it with the carpal bones; each has like- wise a surface of attachment with the cannon at its superior part, having a cartilaginous lining for this purpose, and being firmly tied in its situation by ligamentous fibres. They then pass tapering down less closely united, nearly two thirds of the length of the bone, where they terminate by an unattached point or little button. The small metacarpals are attached to the large by a strong aponeurotic expansion, which will be described with the extre- BONES OF THE FORE LKGS. 1^1 mities ; but they are more immediately comiected with the large metacarpal boue by strong appropriate ligamentous fibres ; yet not so closely but that they have some motion, and hence can de- scend, or in some degree yield, when pressed upon by the bones of the knee; and which appears one of their principal uses. The internal receives the weight of the trapezoid, the external receives part of the pressure of the unciform, and hence the spring in action can be wonderfully increased. But as the animal grows old, and his exertions become greater than his strength, so nature, sympathising with the general weakness of the parts, unites these bones by throwing out osseous matter between them ; by which means, though their union becomes consolidated, their assistance as a spring is lost; for in old horses these bones are almost always united closely to the cannon. In young horses also, from the deposit being greater than the absorption, there is often a very considerable degree of bony union between them, and which forms what we term splent. x\s it is usual to raise the outer heel of the shoe, by which means an undue share of weight must be thrown on the inner small metacarpal ; this has been thought to be the reason why splent is generally confined to the inner side ; but perhaps this will not w^holly account for this partiality to one side more than the other. There is more reason to believe that the natural form of the parts likewise gives a tendency to this; for we find that the weight of the carpal bone pressing on the outer small metacarpal, is divided between it and the cannon ; but that the internal receives nearly the whole weight of the trapezoid. Under this view of the matter, which a careful inspection of the parts will shew to be correct, we cannot agree with those com- parative anatomists who consider these bones are mere styloid appendages, intended only to keep up a harmonic connection between the horse and the digitated animals. The pastern. The large pastern hone is called by some au- thorities OS suffragenis^. In conformity with human anatomy, * Although I think that hereafter a more classic nomenclature will be ap- pended to the veterinary vocabulary, and that great praise is due to thoso whose literary acquirements fit them for it, to attempt the clothing of the in- appropriate and inelegant terms in a classic dress ; yet as I would particularly encourage the study of the art among the great body of practitioners called farriers, so in the present state of the art I prefer to continue the more com- monly received terms. For this reason I have not introduced os suffragenis to the exclusion of the old term of pastern. In fact, suffrage is equally or in- deed more applicable to the hock. Columella, in recommending washing of the legs, desires that the hinder may be wetted to the hocks, " Laventur pedes Sf deinde suffragineo ;" and he has again, " equus suffraginosusj'* a spavined horse. For similar reasons to those above detailed, 1 have continued Stubbs* term of phalanges to these bones, although in some degree incorrect. I am aware that it may be argued, that, however appropriate phalange may be to the human digitated hand, which presents a phalanx («aXayi) of bones, a cylindrical pile of single pieces can hardly deserve the appellation by even forced analogy. In the digitated animals, as the monkey, cat, dog, &c. a I 2 122 OSTEOLOGY. Stubbs, and most comparative anatomists since his time, have described this as the first of four bones which form the single phalange by which the extremity of the horse is terminated, to which are added two small supplementals under the name of sessamoids. The ^reat pastern bone or first phalange {vide V, v) is a cylindrical bone situated obliquely forward, and upon its length and obliquity depends the ease and elasticity of the motion of the animal : nevertheless, when these properties are very considerable, it requires too great an effort in the ten- dinous and ligamentous parts to preserve it in its situation; and thence very long-jointed horses are weaker and more liable to become strained than others. The superior surface of the bone receives the greater part of the inferior surface of the cannon ; its posterior upper part articulating with the sessamoids, and its inferior with the coronet or small pastern. It has in front a rising portion, which, continued through the upper part, divides, it into two articulatory depressions ; the body is much smaller than either end, particularly than the upper. The inferior ex- tremity ends in two rounded articulating protuberances, resting on articular depressions of the small pastern. It has a cap- sular ligament at each extremity, with lateral fibres to strengthen the junction ; the suspensory ligament is likewise continued on it, by all which means it becomes firmly articulated. The sessamoids {ossa sessamoidea iv, iv) are two small wedge- shaped bones, situated at the point of the fetlock, exactly op- posed to the posterior and inferior part of the large metacarpus or cannon, and to the posterior and inferior part of the great pastern bone, with both of which, bones they articulate very closely by depressions suited to the prominences of those bones, the upper of which, in some measure, rests a portion of its weight on them. They are placed side by side, with their thinner portion pointed upwards, and their thicker and more obtuse part below, by which portion they are firmly attached to the pastern bone by strong ligamentous fibres, as well as by the supensory ligament. Between them a hollow is left, invested with a bursal capsule, through which the flexor tendons slide with freedom and security. Small as these bones are, they are very important aids to progression, and the mechanism pro- duced by them excites sentiments of admiration. Principally attached by their inferior portions, their upper are left in some measure free; and their elastic connections, to use the words of Mr. Percival (who has given the most luminous description of their use that has yet appeared) serve as a hinge to move on ; " for every time they receive the impulsive force" (i. e. are perfect phalanx of bones is equally met with as in the human, but in some degree degenerated. The thumb of even the monkey is but an imperfect antagonist to his fingers; while the fifth or dew-claw of dogs and cats is still less useful. The cloven-footed have two perfect and two imperfect pha- langes ; the whole-hoofed has one only : but to keep up the harmony of Na- ture, he has two imperfect but useful metacarpals. BONES OF THE FORE LEGS. 123 pressed on by the metacarpal above and the general action below), " the sessamoids spring backwards and downwards in such a manner, that their apices describe the segment of a circle, while the lower (portions) simply turn upon their own axes." Acting in this manner, they are improperly said to " de- scend at eveiy step the horse takes;" neither is their action perfectly described by the term recede"^, although the ingenious author who uses it was the first who described the action of these parts with precision and accuracy. The cessation of the impulsive force, i. e. the weight of the machine, necessarily re- places these bones in their former situation, and thus they may be considered as acting the part of true springs to this part of the limb, on which the elasticity of motion principally depends, and consequently the grace and ease of it also. Under these views, we are at no loss to account for the great elasticity pro- duced by long oblique pasterns, which, operating on the angle formed between the two opposed members of this joint, places the sessamoids more under the centre of gravity, and enhances the spring of their return. Thus the improved breeds of horses, in which these peculiarities of formation are prevalent, are easy and pleasant; while the contrary formation of short upright pasterns, so common among cart and most low-bred horses, renders quick progression uneasy to their riders, and hurtful to themselves. The lesser pastern, {os coronce) or coronet bone, forms the second phalange, and receives the great pastern, and is peculiar in having its largest extremity below ; it presents an inferior, an anterior, and posterior surface ; but cannot be said to be square (vide oc, x) . Its anterior eminence is received into the anterior inferior depression of the large pastern ; and poste- riorly the upper surface is formed into two depressions, re- ceiving the pulley-like surface of that bone. Inferiorly it terminates in two similar pulley-like surfaces, and an anterior depression corresponding with the anterior eminence of the cofiln bone. It likewise articulates with the navicular bone, by two depressions which receive the navicular prominences when the joint is fully extended. This bone at its upper ex- tremity receives the capsular ligament of the pastern, as well as strong ligamentous fibres on each side : inferiorly, besides its capsular, it receives the ligaments of the navicular bone, as well as an appropriate ligamentary junction with the coftin. The coffin hone (os pedis) is a very peculiar one, and forms the third phalange (vide y) In shape it corresponds with the hoof, which, with its appendages, it fills : in structure it is very * " In consequence of forming- the back part of the large pastern joint, and . articulating with the lower and posterior part of the cannon, they contribute very essentially, by always recedinfj whenever the loot conies in contact with the ground, to act as a spring to the animal, and to prevent concussion." — Professor Colcmnn on the Foot of the Horse, vol ii, p. 24. 124 OSTEOLOGY. porous, having its bony fibres perpendicularly placed so as to give it a rough linear appearance, particularly at the lower part. When viewed in front, an eminence is seen at the upper part to which the tendon of the extensor pedis is attached : its lateral parts are not so high, but project farther back, and form two lateral processes, but which are not always very distinct. In the lower of these processes, or between the two, a con- siderable branch of an artery is seen passing from the posterior part, and which traversing around two thirds of the semidiameter of the bone, is then ramified within it and its laminae. There is likewise usually a lower lateral groove, from which a branch of this upper trunk passes to furnish the under surface of the bone. Above these processes is a concavity which receives the lateral cartilages of the foot, and gives attachment to the capsular ligament likewise. Round this outer surface of the bone are placed the sensible laminae, which indenting them- selves between the linear asperities, greatly strengthen their attachment. The inferior surface has two concavities ; the an- terior of which has no foraminas, and is covered by the sensible sole : the posterior surface appears hollowed out of this, and a rising line shews the extent of attachment of the perforans flexor tendon, which strongly implants itself into the remainder of this surface. Two grooves that lodge two considerable arteries indent a part of this concavity; and immediately under the flexor tendon, ligaments are also attached to it. Above this concavity is seen an articulatory narrow surface for the re- ception of a correspondent one on the navicular bone. Beside the foraminae particularized, numerous smaller ones perforate the bone in every direction, giving passage to nerves and blood-vessels. The upper surface of the bone presents two ar- ticular depressions divided by a rising line continued from the anterior eminence, and which are covered with articular car- tilages. See Plate IX, ivliere this hone is represented. The navicular (os naviculare), nut, or shuttle 6o?2e, is situated at the posterior part of the coffin, to which it is articulated by a surface just described ; its upper surface forms a continuation of the articulating surface of that bone, by which they jointly receive the broad extremity of the little pastern. It is, as it were, laid upon the flexor tendon, which passes up over its posterior edge (vide Plate IX). These parts will be more par- ticularly considered when we describe the feet {vide z, z. y,y)* The Posterior Extremities. These difi*er much from the anterior, not only in the strength of the parts, but in the length and direction of the bones form- ing them. The femur {os femoris), or thigh bone, is the largest, thickest, and strongest bone in the body. It is, however, short in the horse compared with most other animals, and its surface ex- BONES OF THB HINDER LEGS. 125 hibits risings, asperities, and indentations for the attachment of powerful muscles, unequalled in magnitude by any other quadruped. It does not, as in the human, appear beyond the parieties of the abdomen, but, being hidden within the skin, is apt to be overlooked, and the next bone is therefore, in horse- man's language, called the thigh. From its upper extremity, the cervix, or neck {vide h), bears the caput, or rounded head, with which it is articulated with the pelvis by means of the acetabulum. This neck is not long, as in the human, and the head is placed nearly at right angles with the body of the bone, by which formation its motions are principally confined to flexion and extension. Within the head is a cavity, giving origin to a flat ligament, but improperly termed the round, which is implanted in the acetabulum, and thus retains the head of the bone very strongly in its situation : below the head is a linear asperity for the insertion of the capsular ligament; and from the inner part of the cervix a ridge extends down, in the middle of which is a process {vide I), called the internal trochanter. On a line with the caput or head, is a large de- pression receiving the tendons inserted into it. From this, the bone is stretched up into a very tall epiphysis {vide i), called its great trochanter, which is curved forward, and by its form afibrds a favourable attachment for the gluteus maximus : be- low, there is a very considerable tuberosity, that has been called the small external trochanter, which in the human, in- stead of being placed laterally, is situated almost behind : below which again, there is on the outer side a curved process, peculiar to the horse, called the lateral external trochanter {vide k*). The body has two flattened surfaces, one situated posteriorly, the other at the lateral and external part : usually about the middle, is a foramen for the transmission of the me- dullary vessels. Its inferior extremity terminates in four large condyles. The anterior unite to form a surface on which the patella slides {vide m, m] : the posterior {vide n, n) have a cavity behind them in which the crural vessels pass protected, surrounded by fatty substance. The femur is not, as in the human, curved outward, but is straight in its body, though ob- lique in its direction, being carried forward, so that the patella falls within the line of the haunch, at an angle of about forty- five degrees. The upper extremity articulating with the pelvis is called the whirl or round hone by farriers; and is held in its situation, first by the flattened ligament we have described, next by a strong capsular one, and, lastly, by the large muscles sur- rounding the joint: nevertheless, powerful as is this articula- * Every part of the os fenioris of the horse betrays marks of the great powers required of it. This process, which gives attachment to the vastus externus, fascia lata?, and m. f. glutealis muscles, and is wanting in the ru- minants, as well as the greater number of rpjadrupeds, i,s called by Stubbs the protuberatinj? part of the liuea aspira. 126 OSTEOLOGY. tion, this bone is now and then dislocated ; though a violence of such magnitude more usually fractures the head from the neck of the bone. Like most of the other bones, it is subject to exostoses. In the dog, cat, and many lesser animals, whose limbs are capable of diversified motions, a small bone is com- monly attached to the external condyle, but which is wanting in the horse. The patella is called by farriers the stifle (o, o) ; it is nearly an- gular, and has an anterior rough concave surface to which ligaments are attached, and an interior which is cartilaginous, adapted to the convexity of the femur and tibia. The patella has some of the tendons of the strongest muscles of the thigh inserted into it, and which are from thence continued over to the tibia. This bone must thus greatly assist the motions of the leg, and give these muscles much power. It is attached in its situation by the strong muscles implanted into it above, and a ligament from its lower part, united with an expansion of the rectus tendon stretched over and fixed into the depression at the head of the tibia. The tibia is a large bone situated within that part called the thigh, though, speakiog with analogy to the human, it is pro- perly the leg {^vide q, q). It is formed of a large epiphysis called its head, and a small attached pyramidal part called the fibula {vide r, r) : which is altogether w^anting in the ruminants, while the dog and cat possess a very perfect one, by which the motions of their hinder limbs are diversified, and the surface for the digitated lower portion increased. Another epiphysis forms its lower extremity, which is furnished with articulating protuberances termed malleoli. This bone is placed obliquely backward, as the femur is obliquely forward ; forming with that bone an obtuse angle. The superior extremity has an anterior flat protuberant surface receiving the patella in the flexions of the limb, and having ligaments inserted into it: it has likewise an upper surface with two slight articular fossse separated by a rising edge, which enters between the condyles of the femur. On this likewise the semilunar cartilages are placed (vide p, p), and in a hollow formed for this purpose are lodged the cer- vical ligaments of this joint: and behind run the popliteal vessels in an appropriate cavity surrounded by fat. The body is nearly triangular, the anterior angle of which is called its spine, and which forms the human shin ; and on this body is seen a foramen for the transmission of the medullary vessels. The inferior extremity is formed into three considerable pro- tuberances, and a lesser one, corresponding with the pulley-like surfaces of the astragalus; the risings of the one being received into the depressions of the other, so as to form the strongest possible articulation. The fibula in the horse is nothing more than an epiphysis to the former bone, uniting with it by age. It appears more de- BONES OF THE HINDER LEGS. 127 signed to keep up that beautiful connexion we observe through- out animated nature, than for any great use in the machine. It is attached by a cartilaginous surface to the lateral superior and posterior part of the tibia, with its base upwards and its point directed below {vide r, r) ; reaching a quarter of the length of the tibia, to which its lower point is attached. The articulation of the tibia with the femur presents a glenoid cavity, consequently this joint requires strong ligaments, or a dislocation might take place, and which on a superficial ob- servation seems very probable : but so perfect is the me- chanism here displayed, that I never heard of an instance of it. The semilunar cartilages, by being thick on the outside and thin in the middle, increase the depth of this otherwise super- ficial joint ; but the principal strength of the articulation is derived from its ligaments, which are a capsula,r, lateral, and crucial. The capsular is extensive, and completely invests both extremities of the bones forming the joint. The crucial ligaments arise within a depression in the articular surface of the tibia, which crossing each other are inserted into the pos- terior part of the condyles of the femur. The lateral ligaments are an external and internal, arising from the condyles of the femur, and inserted into the head of the tibia. The tarsus or hock is, in the horse, an assemblage of six bones {vide Skel.^), forming a most complex and important joint, and so intimately united as to appear a solid mass. The astragalus is the largest of the tarsal bones, and presents a very irregular figure {vide 3, 4. 3, 4) . Its upper and ante- rior surface is pulley-like, having two remarkable circular risings with an intermediate depression, which articulate with the malleoli of the tibia. Posteriorly it has several surfaces of attachment with the calcis, receiving the eminences of that bone into considerable depressions : inferiorly it has similar surfaces for articulation with the great cuneiform, upon which it rests ; and posteriorly at the lateral external part it has a surface of attachment with the cuboid. The calcaneum^ os calcis, or hock point [vide 1,2.1,2), is placed nearly behind the centre of the joint, and into it the tendo achilies, or twisted tendons of the gastrocnemii muscles, are inserted : the longer therefore is this process, the longer is the lever these muscles have to act by ; and a very slight increase or diminution in the length of this bone must make a very great difierence in the pov/er by which the motions of the joint are operated. It is by this ten- don, that when the animal has inclined the angle between the cannon and the tibia, or, in other words, when his hinder extre- mities are bent under him in a gallop, or one of them in the trot, that he is enabled again to open it. The calcaneum is not placed so as to rise exactly from the centre of the joint, * Now and then, by a division of the internal ciineiform? (here are seven bones. 128 OSTKOLOGY. but rather externally; and this formation leaves a space on the inner side, by which the flexor tendons of the foot, with the vessels and nerves, pass protected from pressure : inferiorly it articulates by a concave cartilaginous surface with the cu- boides, and anteriorly it is received into the depressions of the astragalus. The remaining bones are more wedge -like, and only serve to increase the surface of attachment; one of them is called os cuboides, the other three cuneiform. Cuneiform magnum {vide 5, 5), or great wedge like, is placed under the astragalus, articulating with it by a concave, and inferiorly by a convex surface ; it rests upon the middle wedge-like: pos- teriorly its internal, as well as part of its inferior surface, arti- culates with the cuboid, which Mr. Stubbs calls navicular; it has likewise posteriorly and inferiorly a small surface of attach- ment with the little cuneiform. Immediately behind this, on the outer side appears the cuboid (vide 6): by its cartilaginous surface it articulates, superiorly, with the inferior concave sur- face of the calcaneum, receiving the inferior posterior edge of the astragalus, and resting inferiorly on the external small styloid or metatarsal bone, and part of the cannon : it has like- wise two surfaces of attachment with the cuneiform magnum, and one with the medium. The cuneiform parvum or internum (vide 8) is situated most posteriorly on the inner side, imme- diately under the posterior internal part of the cuneiform mag- num, and over the internal small metatarsal bone. It articulates by a small upper surface with the next bone, projecting rather forward, to rest partly on the cannon ; but its principal portions articulate with the great cuneiform superiorly, and with the in- ternal small styloid or metatarsal inferiorly. — The cuneiform medium {vide 7, 7). The greater part of this bone appears on the front of the hock, articulating by its superior cartilaginous surface with the great cuneiform, and inferiorly with the whole head of the cannon, or great metatarsal. It is slightly trian- gular, wi h its acute part pointed posteriorly, and articulates by a posterior lateral internal surface with the cuneiform par- vum, and at the lateral external part with the cuboid. Though the bones of the hock have all cartilaginous surfaces, yet they have but little motion except between the tibia and astragalus, and this is confined to flexion and extension. Each of them has peculiar plans of fibres, stretching from one to the other in every direction, by which means they are individually joined together. The capsular ligament arises from the inferior extremity of the tibia, stretches backward to insert itself into the calcaneum behind, and before into the ridge of the cannon; besides which, the lesser bones have also peculiar capsules. From the malleoli on each side, arises a strong common liga- ment extending laterally over the joint, firmly fixing itself to the bone in its passage : a plan of its fibres forms likewise the annular ligaments, under which the tendons insinuate them- BONES OF THK HINDER LEGS. 129 selves in their passage. A short plan also of strong fibres ex- tends from the inner and outer sides of the tibia into the astragalus ; and likewise a very strong posterior one from the calcaneum passes over the cuboid and cuneiform medium, which, uniting with the small metacarpal and posterior part of the cannon, covers all the back part of the joint. The in- flammation of this ligament occasions the disease called curb. The structure of the hock alone bespeaks its importance; and, when it is observed, that in the horse it is peculiarly com- plex, and its component parts more numerous than in most other quadrupeds, we are led to consider it as greatly assistant to the peculiar properties of this animal, which are that of im- mense strength, united with great elasticity and capability of rapid and long- continued motion. The same necessity of adhering to the parallel of human anatomy, both in conside- ration and nomenclature, before remarked on, is here the cause of some confusion, and great misapplication of terms. The vast dissimilarity in parts between those animals, who like the horse, by having elongated, tarsal, and metatarsal bones, walk on all the parts below the hock, and man, whose tarsus rests wholly thereon, must be at once evident. The human tarsus, which is called the instep, is composed of seven bones, and forms a right angle with the tibia, resting on the ground : but, instead of preserving a plane line of direction, they are arched, to give firmness and to favour elasticity. In the horse, the two •central cuneiform bones are united into one. His navicular bone (as so called by Mr. Stubbs, but now more appropriately named cuboid) has little resemblance to a boat ; nor is the one beneath it more like a wedge. In situation, the tarsal bones correspond as little to the hock of the horse, as they do in shape; and it has been very justly observed, that the cuboid, astragalus, and calcis, are the only tarsal bones that answer to the appella- tions they have hitherto received. The hock of the horse will bear exactly the same reasoning applied to it, which has been already applied to the carpus or knee. It is extended to give solidity and extent of surface for the attachment of tendons and ligaments ; but, like the knee, the assemblage of bones is more particularly favourable to resist the effects of shock ; for the weight carried downward by the tibia is here received, not by one opposed bone only, and that in a right line with itself, but, being itself oblique, it transmits its impulse not in a direct but in an angular direction, and not to one bone alone, but the effort is communicated and dispersed through seven, whose impulses thus directed, without concurrent jar, are again given to the great metatarsal bones, and by them continued downwards. Thus, in the ox and sheep, whose motions are less agile, instead of six bones there are but four; and a peculiarly formed and perfect hock seems essential 130 OSTEOLOGY. to those animals who are intended not only to gallop, but to perform all their cadences with perfection. Not only does the hock receive the superincumbent w^eight, but it is calculated to extend the general motive powers by the extension of the pro- cess of the OS calcis, into the point of which very powerful tendons implant themselves, and thereby act with all the ad- vantage of a lever : nor will it be difficult, under this view, to perceive that the increased or diminished length of this process, or, in other words, that broad or narrow hocks are favourable or unfavourable to progression. The complexity of this joint, and the great powers required of it, renders it very liable to disease and derangement; and that more particularly in those horses who are naturally dis- posed to set themselves, or are taught to throw their weight on their haunches ; for in them the greatest stress is then laid on this joint: whereas, in the mode of riding usually practised in England, the weight is more thrown on the shoulders and fore limbs ; hence w ith us, these are the parts that generally first fail; but, in France, and the whole of what is called the Con- tinent, where horses are taught to go much on their haunches, this joint is more liable to suffer, and spavins are equally plenty as with us. The rest of the bones of the hinder extremities are similar in nature and number to those of the fore ; nevertheless, there are some small variations {see Skeh). The large metacarpal hone, or cannon, is longer, and altogether larger than that of the an- terior extremity; it is articulated above wdth the cuneiform medium, and in part with the cuneiform parvum and cuboides; and below with the pastern and sessamoids. The external small metacarpal is considerably larger than the internal, arti- culating superiorly wdth the cuboides, and laterally with the cannon. The internal is less, articulating above with the little cuneiform, and laterally with the internal edge of the cannon ; in other respects they resemble the anterior. The pastern, or first phalange, is longer than the anterior, and its situation is less oblique : it resembles in other respects those before. The sessamoids are two, and do not difi'er from those already described. The coronary bone partakes of the form of the pastern, being likewise less oblique in its position, resting more on the coffin, and less on the navicular than in the front; thus, in the posterior coffin, the fossa of articulation is deeper ; the reason of w hich appears to be, that, as a horse has frequently to support his whole weight on his hinder extremi- ties, so it was necessary that these bones should be opposed to each other in a more direct line, whereby they acquire strength ; the loss of elasticity occasioned by which, is made up by the formation of the hock : and as, in action, the natural inclination of the posterior extremities must carry them much under the animal, to gain the common centre of gravity ; so, USES OF THE BONES. 131 had these articulations been equally oblique as those before, the navicular bone would have been too much pressed upon : add to which, that in throwing a horse on his haunches^ his fetlocks would have been brought to the ground ; but in the present formation^ the bony pillar takes off much of that stress that would otherwise have been forced upon the tendons. Of the Skeleton, considered mechanically. It is evident, that the progression of animals depends principally on the form and direction of the parts forming the base of the machine; and we shall find that the mechanical structure of the skeleton is admirably adapted for giving ease and celerity to motion. The horse presents a quadrilateral figure, with four supporting pillars to an inclined cylinder*, which is not placed in equal lengths upon these supports, but has the head and neck projected for- wards : which is again counterpoised by the additional weight in the hinder parts, so as to leave the line of direction still near the centre of the whole. The length of a cylinder may be such as not to support its own weight; Nature has, therefore, wisely limited the length of the spine in animals, and their general growth : hence, ceteris paribus ^2i^ho\i-h?iGk.eA horse must be stronger than a long one ; it is likewise upon this mechanical principle, that smaller animals can carry proportionably more than larger. In the bony pillars form- ing the legs, scarcely any of the bones are perpendicularly opposed to each other ; yet it will be found, that a perpendicular from their common centre of gravity falls nearly in their common base : by which means they are supported as firmly as though their individual axes had been in a line perpendicular to the horizon. It likewise greatly increases our admiration of this mechan- ism, when we observe the contra-disposition of the angles between the fore and hinder pillars or legs. Had these angles existed in the same direction, the body must have been precipitated forward or backward; but each angle opposing a counteraction to the other, the machine is firmly sustained between them. In progression, also, this contra-position of angles must alone destroy all that coincidence between their mode of action, which St. Bel so much insisted on:—" It will be seen what will be the situation of the limb the in- stant before the motion of the body; the curve described by tlie hind legs will necessarily be reverse to that delineated by the fore ; it will, in the former case, be concave towards the horse, while in the latter it is convex." The fore and hind limbs present, beside, other distinctive marks; indeed, alto- gether a different character. Less angular, they appear more in the true character of pillars, and are purposely formed to receive the weight impelled on them by the hinder limbs. This weight they sustain until their elevation is forced upon them by the central tendency of the whole, and the impulsive force from behind. The hinder extremities, having less weight on them, and at no time bearing an increase ©f pressure as the fore do, from the impetus communicated from behind, are much more angular, and, by being thrown into a backward direction, afford the necessary means for propelling the body forwards. Having also this important office almost wholly dependent on themselves, as that of sustaining it is principally confined to the fore legs, so they are necessarily much stronger, both in their bony and in their muscular apparatus ; by which their angles can be advantageously opened and closed with effect in progression. The angular construction of the limbs is greatly favourable to their elasticity also. Had they been perpendicularly opposed to each other, there could have been but little ease or quickness in motion ; every exertion would have been a jar, and every increased effort a luxation or fracture. This deviation from an upright position in the bones, must ne- * The human is a perpendicular body, supported by two pillars; the spine of which appears as two pyramids joined into one common base ; and though no where straight, is so ingeniously contrived, that a perpendicular from their common centre of gravity falls into their common base. The human, by this alteration in position, becomes a much more com- plex machine, than the brute. 132 SYNDESMOLOGY. cessarily, however, Lave powers to correct it, which is done by muscles ; and wherever the angles are found greatest, the muscles will be found strongest. This muscular exertion to counterbalance the angular inclination, occasions fatigue, which is the reason why one posture continued for a length of time gives a sense of pain : the set of muscles immediately engaged becoming weary, the animal is obliged to call another set into play ; which change is necessarily more or less frequent, as the animal is weaker or stronger. The extent, therefore, of the action of parts is the produce of their length, direc- tion, and the diflerent angles they are capable of forming; the force arises from the direction, in combination with the agency of the muscles. The repe- tition of the action is dependent on the muscles alone ; but as the original action arose out of the length and direction of the parts, so it will be evident, that, in every subsequent repetition, it will be more or less extensive, as these were more or less perfect in their formation, even though the muscular exer- tions should be the same ; hence some strong animals cannot move so fast as weaker ones, as the cart horse and racer, or the greyhound and mastiff. The power of muscles is increased or diminished as they are situated near or more distant from the centre of motion: thus, the bones are usually so placed, as to give the muscles this advantageous position; some are formed into angles, as the femur and tibia; others into processes, as the olecranon, calcaneum, &c. Every change in the position of a body must occasion a similar one in the centre of gravity: in order to preserve which, the feet are changed to form a new centre for the moving machine, which forms what is termed progression: the different modes of conducting which, and the degrees of celerity, are called paces. — See Paces. &tiU IX. SYNDESMOLOGY COMPREHENDS all the appendages to bone, as the carti- lages, periosteum, medulla ^ ligaments, and synovia. Cartilages may be divided into three kinds ; articular, non- articular, and temporary. Considered generally, cartilage (familiarly called gristle) is a smooth, minutely fibrous, white, uniform, elastic substance, harder than most other parts, but less so than bone, with little vascularity; and having a mem- brane reflected over it called perichondrium. Articular or obducent cartilages furnish the extremity of every articulated bone, by means of a layer or tip, which is thickest at the point of extreme pressure. By these means, the bones slide easily on one another, and the elasticity of the interposed cartilage prevents the effects of that concussion, which must otherwise take place between two such inelastic bodies. The nonarticular cartilages are divided into the attached and unattached. The attached are placed on the ends of bones not articulated, as the spine of the ilium, sides of the foot, ends of the sternum, supercilia of cavities, &c. They are likewise in- terposed between bones immoveably joined, as the symphysis pubis. The cartilages of the ribs are of this kind, and are of great use to give flexibility to parts that would otherwise have but little. The septum narium is an attached nonarticular car- CARTII^GES, PERIOSTKUM, MARROW. 133 tilage, serving the purpose of bone. The unattached are such as sustain parts without adhering to any bone ; those of the ears and larynx are familiar instances. A variety exists, which may be named cariilago ligamentous, partaking of the properties of both cartilage and ligament; as those between the bodies of the vertebrae, &c. Bones attached to each other by this union, as the splent bones, the ulnae, and fibulae, are fortified from all dislocation, yet enjoy the advantages of a limited joint, and possess sufficient motion to form a spring, and to resist the eff"ects of concussion. The temporary cartilages are those of which the ends of bones are formed in young animals, being very vascular, that they may be easily absorbed, and bone formed in their room. The description of individual cartilages will appear in the pro- gress of the work, therefore we shall not particularize them here. The powers of life in cartilage, though small, yet are fully evinced by their liability to ossification, and which appears more common and universal in those of the horse than of any other known animal ; there being very few cartilaginous parts in him that have not been found ossified, and to which dispo- sition the stifibess of age and want of elasticity are principally owing; the elasticity of the cartilages decreasing with the pro- gress of ossification. The ulceration of cartilage, from its slight vascularity, is necessarily very slow, as we witness in its attack on the nasal septum, and in the lateral cartilages in quittor : but from some connection with the vascular parts around, it is much quicker at the ends of bones where an opening into the joint has been made. It is not ascertained that true cartilage is ever reproduced : but a cartilago ligamentous substance is substituted sometimes by healthy granulations. The periosteum is a general investing membrane to bones and their appendages, receiving different names as it covers different parts; that investing the skull being called pencrawmm ; that stretched over cartilages, perichondrium; and when it covers ligaments, peridesmium. The uses of the periosteum appear to be to circumscribe the form of bones, and to protect them by its tenseness. It is also the medium whereby they are furnished with their vessels. Periosteum, in a healthy state, has but little sensation ; but, like some other parts, when diseased it becomes very sensible. The marroiv is a soft, oleaginous or fatty matter, deposited in the cancelli of bones, particularly of the long ones, by means of little sacs, which do not communicate, or the marrow would gravitate : and which, as keeping the unctuous matter distinct from the bones, convince us, that the use of the marrow is not that of preventing brittleness in these organs. The medullary vessels secrete the marrow within these cells; and which secre- tion, being in itself wholly inorganic, confutes the foolish notioa 134 SYNDESMOLOGY. of the exquisite sensibility of the mariow. The real use of the marrow is undoubtedly, like that of the fat, to prove a resource to the constitution against occasional want. During the hyber- nization of animals, the fat and marrow become alike absorbed for the wants of the frame during torpidity. Thus, long fasting and emaciation waste it ; whereas, in fat animals, the bones are found full of it. Ligaments are dense, white, fibrous substances, of great tena- city; either cordlike as tendons, or expanded into more plane layers. In still greater tenuity, it becomes a common mem- brane in every part of the body; but is more particularly ap- propriate to bones, and hence generally described with them. Ligaments are generally inelastic: there are however exceptions, as the cervical and the suspensory of the extremities. Some of them partake of the nature of cartilage, and are hence called cartilaginous ligaments, being hard and little vascular. Liga- ments divide themselves into connecting, suspensory, and cap- sular. Connecting ligaments are endless in form, strength, and situation. They are usually found stretched from one part to another. Thecas, aponeuroses, and fascias are modifications of connecting tendinous ligaments. Suspensory ligaments suspend parts, as that of the head of the femur suspends it within the acetabulum. The ligaments of the liver suspend it also in its situation ; and those which attach the sessamoid bones to the fetlock joint are likewise of this kind. Capsular ligaments surround the ends of articulated bones, and form the joint into a complete cavity; which appears a principal end in their formation: for they are frequently of considerable length, often of no great thickness, but are always impervious. By the density of their structure, and by their ine- lasticity, they must, however, add to the strength of the joint, and assist in preventing dislocation. Capsular ligaments are not very sensible without, but they are extiemely sensible and vascular within; and secrete from their inner surface a mucus called synovia. It is from the sensibility of this inner surface, that the inflammation produced on wounds into the cavity of a joint is so extreme. After the escape of the synovia, the whole sur- face of the joint, which is very large when expanded, receives the stimulus of the external air, as well as sufiers attrition, and becomes irritated and inflamed to the highest degree. {See wounds in joints.) The individual ligaments will be described with the parts they belong to. The synovia is a fluid popularly but erroneously termed joint-oil, for it is simply mucilaginous, and not unlike the white of an Q%g. It appears to be secreted by the vessels of the cap- sular ligaments. Its lubricating use is very great; for without it, the attrition between the articulated ends of bones would most painfully prevent motion: but by this slippery medium they readily slide over each other, without pain or difficulty. MYOLOGY. 135 This fluid may be secreted in undue quantities, and then forms capsular dropsy, which is not, however, frequent in the horse. Bursal dropsy, under the name of windgall, is sufficiently common. ^ttU X. MYOLOGY. MUSCLE is that part in an animal we term flesh, »in distinc- tion from skin, gristle, bones, &c.; and the phenomena it exhibits are so universal, that it is probable it exists in every animal, though we are not so easily able to detect it in some as in others. Sluscles appear composed of reddish bundles of fibres laid alongside of each other, divisible into lesser fibrillae of the same figure, but the ultimate division of which it is im- possible to trace*. When these bundles are connected toge- ther into a determinate form, it is called a muscle : and as the motions of an animal are very various, and the circumstances under which they are brought about equally so ; the peculiar shape these motive masses take on, is as variedf. Muscular fibre is spread over the body, and it has been very judiciously remarked that our ideas of it are probably too much limited J: thus, it constitutes a principal part of all the viscera, and en- ters into the composition, it is probable, of many membranes ; and, in fact, forms the bulk of the body in most animals. What is, however, generally understood by a muscle, is a distinct body, having its determinate parts. The vascularity of muscles is extreme; in the red-blooded, their colour being wholly de- rived from the quantity of blood within them. But from the circumstance that many muscular parts are colourless, red blood does not seem essentially necessary to muscular pheno- mena. Their ultimate power, however, is connected with blood * The muscular fasciculi are not of uniform size ; in some muscles they are larger and coarser than in others : they are particularly so in the masses of the glutei. In some specimens in the same families, the muscular texture is universally coarser : as we see in the grain of some beef and mutton. Bull- beef is as obnoxious for this, as for the rankness arising from spermatic diffu- sion. The direction of the fibres is not always the same, which has given rise to the division of muscles into rectilinear or straight, radiated or in rays, com- pound or intersecting each other, and penniform when the fibres branch out in an angular direction like the plumes of a pen. f Sluscles, from their infinite variety, are named according to their form, as triangularis, trapezius, &c. ; or after their course, situation, and attachments, as recti, subscapularis, sterno brachialis, &c. : or their uses, as flexors, exten- sors, abductors, adductors, &c. &c. Each is again divided into its origin or head; its body or belly; and its insertion : but this admits of latitude, as these parts change by the action of the muscle itself under various circumstances. t We must not conclude those parts only as muscular that are of a red colour ; for the muscles of insects, of fishes, and of many fowls, are wliite. The iris, the stomach, the bladder, and the intestines, whose contractions are powerful and distinctly muscular, want the characteristic hue of red flesh. The hydatid is a transparent bag ; yet, when put into warm water, produces motion and contraction, and must therefore be supposed muscular. K 13G MYOLOGY. in general; for when deprived of a part of it, they become weak ; and if it be wholly lost, they will wither and die. On the contrary, by exertion, which is but another term for in- creasing their vascularity by forcing more blood into them, they increase in size, in strength, and colour. The condition of a racer or hunter, is that admired swelling of the muscles gained by exercise, under the name of training, contrasted with the plumpness arising from interstitial matter. From the ex- treme vascularity of muscles, their living powers are very great. They are also plentifully supplied with nerves ; yet, from expe- riments made on the living subject, they are not found so sen- sible as has been supposed. Their lymphatics are also plen- tiful. Thus furnished, they have the general living powers of all other parts in a high degree; and, besides which, they own a power peculiar to themselves, whereby they contract and shorten at pleasure; during which contraction, they become . thicker and harder, but without actual increase to their bulk. This power is dependent on the will, in the voluntary muscles, and in the involuntary on appropriate stimuli, as blood stimu- lates the heart, and light the iris. The contractile power of these motive organs has been for ages a subject of wonder and dispute : this disposition to be acted upon by stimuli has been called their irritahility , and exists after death; and like- w^ise remains in them on their removal from the body, whence it must be inherent in them*. If, however, the nerves going to voluntary muscles are tied, we lose our power over them, they become paralytic, and incapable of obeying the commands of the w'ill ; hence it w^ould appear, that nervous influence is the proper stimulus to voluntary muscles. Neither can the will force the muscles to contract beyond the capacity of their phy- sical powers ; and hence, after exertion, they become fatigued, • and at last paralytic f. Muscles are called voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary muscles are such as are immediately under the influence of the will, as those of the arms, legs, eyes, mouth, &c. Involuntary mus- * It is to these contradictory facts, that our total ignorance of the pheno- mena of muscular contraction is principally owing: for as the muscles can contract, not only after what we understand by death, but also when cut off from all communication with the brain and nerves; so it would appear, ci •priori, that their contractile powers were independent of them. But so far is this iiom being the case ; the brain and nerves are not only the medium through which we operate on the voluntary muscles, but they have a para- mount influence on the voluntary and involuntary also ; as we see in tetanus, epilepsy, &c., which we are assured, from incontrovertible facts, are irritations on the sensorium, or its adjuncts the nerves. The exertions of a phrenetic horse, and of a maniacal man, are infinitely greater than either are capable of under full health; and which are alone dependent on the increased excitation aflTorded to muscular contraction by the brain and nerves. This will also ex- plain why horses when vicious, or when running away through fear, exhibit such uncontrollable cti'orts. t It is by this ijifluence over the contraction of the muscles by nervous ex- citement, that various other phenomena also can be readily explained. It is MUSCLES. 137 cles are such as are not under our guidance, and whose func- tions go on without controul, as the heart, the respiratory and digestive muscles. A third sort may be added, which partake of the nature of both, and are thence called mixed: such are the respiratory muscles, whose action we can increase or di- minish, but cannot wholly suspend. Muscles acquire a power of acting, dependent on their situation, and according to their fixed point; and as these points can be altered by the muscle itself, their actions become very various, of which diversity some appear to be more capable than others. Voluntary muscles have usually antagonists, whereby the perpetual tendency to con- traction is counterbalanced ; they are likewise commonly in- vested by a cellular or membranous covering, which in some instances is very dense, called /a^da, whereby they are bound down and assisted in their action. Tendons. — To the generality of muscles, particularly to those ending in bones, is added another part called tendon, of a very different texture, being an insensible, inelastic, fibrous sub- stance, of extreme tenacity. The forms of tendons difi'er, as round, flat, or extended. When such extension is thin and considerable, it is called an aponeurosis. With still greater extension and tenuity, it becomes fascia. The size of the ten- dons is not proportionate to that of the muscles they belong to, and some muscles are altogether without any. Tendons are but little vascular, nor can w^e easily detect any nerves in them ; their powers of life are consequently small, and from being so little vascular, they are hardly putrefactiv'e ; nor are they at all sensible but under inflammation ; w^hen they, in common with some other insensible parts, as the periosteum, become sensible either by themselves; or probably by their granula- tions*. The thecal membrane covering them becomes, when injured, highly sensible, which wdll account for the extreme pain and tenderness consequent on sprains. Their absorbing system is also trifling ; under w^hich deprivations their diseased and reproductive processes are necessarily slowf; neverthe- less, both in the ass and dog, a divided tendon has reunited ; and the tendon Achilles in man also. The uses of the tendons thus we learn why the relative forces of large and small muscles are not in the ration of their bulk ; for some small muscles are much stronger than larger ones, and some small animals than those of greater magnitude. The exer- tions of the blood horse are, comparatively with his bulk, much greater than those of the cart horse; because the nervous excitement of the one is greater than the other. * When the extensor tendon has been exposed in broken knees, if it be pricked or irritated, the animal immediately evinces much pain. fMr. Percival has a very excellent practical remark on the tedious process of ulceration in tendons: " So that if matter be poured forth under a tendin- ous fascia, unless we discover its presence in time, and give it free issue by puncture, it will burrow among the muscles, or other soft parts, and produce extensive mischief; whereas, had it been collected under the skin, ulceration of the integument would have readily discharged it, w^ithout any surgical as- sistance." — Lectures, p. 201. K 2 138 MYOLOGY. are very important : they combine increased strength with di- minished bulk; hence are peculiarly appropriate to the muscles of the extremities, where symmetry of parts and freedom of motion are required*. Tendons have a general covering from the cellular membrane ; and an individual thecal or sheath, is appropriated to many others, by which they are prevented from displacement during action. At the extremity of most ten- dons, inserted into moveable parts, or between the tendons and their thecal appendages, and sometimes at the points of contact between two tendons which move on each other, is situated a ^ bursa mucosa, or tendinous capsule, containing a lubricating mucus, of the nature of synovia. {See Barsalogy.) An accurate description of the individual muscles of the horse would prove by no means an easy task ; particularly so, as his general anatomy has but lately made any progress among us. Neither would such a knowledge of many of the muscles do much to advance the art of curing his diseases, which is the great end intended in anatomical pursuit : but it is very diffe- rent v/ith the myology of the extremities, where the minutest part is of importance, and where an individual knowledge of each muscle is necessary to the veterinarian. On these I have bestowed great labour and attention ; and they, 1 believe, will be found correctly and fully described. Nor have I wholly neglected the others: on the contrary, I have at times gone over them all by dissection ; yet not perhaps with that perfect correctness, necessary to class, divide, and name them arbi- trarily, as I have those of the extremities. Unwilling, there- fore, to run any chance of palming error on the student, by giving a mutilated myology, I have presented Bourgelat's divi- sion and nomenclature of the muscles of the head and trunk ; reserving to myself the liberty (which, it will be observed, I have very frequently taken) of correcting in the notes what I conceive to be erroneous. By this means, I hope that the table of muscles will be, at least, more perfect than any plan yet made public. I may here add, that I would not advise any student, who dissects these organs, to trouble himself with re- ference to numerous authors, or he will probably, what with different nomenclatures, a variety in the mode of description, and perhaps the division of one muscle into two or three por- tions, become so bewildered, as to turn with disgust from the rugged task ; but I would recommend him, if at all advanced in anatomy, and alert in the process of dissection, to make use of no reference ; but carefully to mark every muscle, with its origin, attachment, insertion, with his own ideas of the uses, and afterv> ards to compare this with the authors most to be de- pended upon. * What would have been the form of the limbs in the racer, light, eleg:ant, and flexible as we now see him, bad the muscles been continued down of the bulk we see them at their origin in the arm before, or in the buttock behind! MUSCLKS OF THE EAR, EYE, &C. 139 When the muscles are single, that is, ^vhere there is only one muscle of that kind in the body, I have marked it with a star in front; therefore, whenever this does not appear, the muscle described is to be considered as one having a fellow, or one muscle of a pair. It will be also observed, that, where Bour- gelat's appellation is grossly erroneous, or uncharacteristic, I have added what would be a more appropriate distinction con- sistent with the human myology : and as it will be evident I have been studious to get much matter into the least possible room, so, instead of the words Origin, Insertion, Use, of the muscles, I have used the initials only, as O, /, U, placed to characterize the Origin, Insertion, and Use. MUSCLES OF THE EXTERNAL EAR*. First.-— Origin. From the spine of the occipital, parietal, and frontal bones. — Insertion. Into the side of the ear. ■ — Use. To draw the ears together. Second. — 0. At the spine of the occipi- tal bone. — /. The base of the ear.— U. Assists the first. Third. — 0. At the posterior part of the same bone.—/. The posterior part of the base of the ear. — U. Draws the ear backwards. Fourth. — O. Below the preceding.—/. The most inferior part of the ear. — U. Draws the ear outwards and down- wards. Fifth — 0. By a thin expansion from the parotid gland. — /. At the ante- rior part of the base of the ear. — U. Draws the ear forward and outward. Sixth. — 0. At the internal part of the cartilage situated in front of the ear. — /. At the posterior and inferior part of its base. — U. Draws the ear backwards, and assists the second. THE MUSCLES OF THE INTERNAL EAR ARE four; THREE TO THE MALLEUS AND ONE TO THE STIRRUP, First f. — 0. At the superior part of the bony meatus. — /. Into the handle of the malleus. — U. To draw the mal- leus forward, and to relax the tym- panum. SecondX- — 0. External part of the eu- stachian cavity. — /. Long process of the malleus. — U. To tighten the mem- brana tympani. Third.~0. Internal part of the eusta- chian cavity. — /. Base of the long process of the malleus. — U. Assists the former. Stapedius. — 0. The petrous canal near the bottom of the cavity of the tym- panum. — /. To the stapes. — U. To elevate the base of the stapes, and shut the oval opening. MUSCLES OF THE EYELIDS. Orbicularis jjalpehrarum^. — 0. Around the internal surface of the skin of the eyelids. — /. By a tendon to the angular process. — IT. To shut the eye. Levator palpebr a superioris. — 0. Around the bottom of the orbit. — /. Into the superior part of the tarsus.— P". To open the eye. MUSCLES OF THE EYE. Levator oculi\\. Depressor occulu Ad- ductor oculi. Abductor oculi. — O. From the bottom of the orljit. — /. The anterior part of the sclerotic coat, opposite to each other. — U. To draw the eye upwards, downwards, inwards, and outwards. Obliquus major, seu trochlearis % . — 0. From the bottom of the orbit, passes through a pulley-like process. — /. Superior and anterior part of the globe. — U. To turn the eye on its axis, and carry it forwards and downwards. Obliquus minor**. — 0. Near the ductus nasalis.— /. The back part of the •These muscles, it is evident, are very improperly named by Bourgelat, as thereby their uses are not characterised. The student will readily detect their uses, and name them ac- cordingly. This division of Monsieur B.'s may be also questioned, and the number is certainly incorrect, there being several minor muscles omitted. + Laxator tj^mpani. t Tensor tympani. ^This muscle is very difficult to demonstrate witliout great care; it is commonly raised with the skin. II These muscles will be more fully explained when wc treat of the eye. ^ Obliquus superior. •• Obliquus inferior. 140 MYOLOGY. eye.— LT. Directs the eye forwards and upwards. Orbicularis, or retractor. — 0. From around the optic forameii, surrounds the optic nerve.—/. The posterior part of the cornea transparens.— 6^ To draw the eye into the orbit. MUSCLCS OF THE LIPS, ^ Orbicularis. — 0. Around the mouth, and thus forms a species of sphinc- ter. — U. To shut the mouth and con- tract the lips, and likewise the nos- trils. External molar^. — O. Anterior part of coronoid process. — /. Internal mem- brane of the mouth. — U. Various actions of the lips and mouth. Internal molar f. — 0. From the supe- rior maxillary bone and posterior maxilla. — /. The commissure of the lips. — U. Operates jointly with the others, to elevate the angles of the mouth. Cutaneous. — 0. From the external sur- face of the masseter muscle by an aponeurosis. — /. Ey two portions to the commissure of the lips. — f/. As- sists in elevating the mouth. Levator X' — 0. Below the orbit near the junction of the angular, maxillary, and malar bones. — /. By an aponeu- rosis uniting with its fellow into the anterior part of the upper lip. — U. To raise the lip. Maxillary ^. — 0. From the maxilla su- perior and angular bone, below the preceding. — /. By two portions to the angle and anterior part of the up- per lip. — U. Assists the former. Middle anterior ||.— 0. From the alveo- lary edge at the upper incisive teeth. — /. In the upper lip. — U. To depress the lip. Levator inferiori ^. — 0. At the external part of the posterior jaw near the molar teeth. — /. In the skin of the chin.-— L^. To elevate the under lip. Middle posterior *^. — 0. The alveolary edge of the vinder incisive teeth. — /. In the lower lip. — U. To depress the lip. MUSCLES OF THE NOSE. Transversal. — 0. From the nasal spine. — /. To all the cartilage forming the nose. Pyramidal. ^O. By a thin expansion, from the middle and external part of the superior maxillary bone. — /. To all the external circumference of the nostrils. Brevis.—O. From the lateral external part of the nose.—/. Into the skin of the false nasal fossa. Cutaneous. — 0. By the groove at the anterior edge of the maxillarj bone. — /. Into the skin and false nasal fossa. — U. All these muscles operate in opening the nose. MUSCLES OF THE POSTERIOR JAW. Masseter.— 0. From the maxillary and zygomatic spine. — /. At the external edge of the tuberosity of the poste- rior jaw. — U. To shut the mouth. Crotaphiteff. — O. From the frontal, parietal, and occipital bones ; filling' up the cavity called the eye-pits. — /. By a strong tendon to the coronoid process of the posterior jaw. — U. It assists the masseter. Spheno maxillary. — 0. From processes in the sphenoid and palatine bones. — /. To all the internal surface of the posterior jaw opposed to the masse- ter. — U. It acts with the former in contracting the jaws. Stilo maxillary.— 0. By strong attach- ment to the stiloid process of the oc- cipital.—/. To the tuberosity of the jaw. — U. Draws the jaw backwards, and opens the mouth. Digastric— 0. From the extremity of the above process. — /. To the inner surface of the jaw near its symphy- sis. — U, Acts in concert with the other. MUSCLES PROPER TO THE HEAD PERFORM- ING ITS MOTIONS. Sterna maxillary. — O. From the point of the sternum. — L To the tubero- sity of the posterior masilla. — U. Brings the head downwards, and as- sists in opening the mouth. Long flexor XX-^O. By little tendons from the transverse processes of the 3d, 4th, and 5th cervical vetebrae.— /. To the cuneiform process of the occipital. Little flexor. — 0. From the lateral part of the body of the first cervical vete- • Ruccinator. + Levator anguli ori."?. J Levator anguli oris 5 Pyramidalis, or second portion of levator labii superions. "Winsto-w. il Depressor labii superioris ■T Levator labii iiiferioris. •• Depressor labii inferioris. U Temporalis. This muscle i.s covered by an apoi'.enroH5 arising fioi oriRtn, which serves to 'strengthen it. *l Longvi; colli, Hie brng above its MUSCLES OF THE TONGUE, &C. \ bra. — /. To the styloid process of the occipital. Short flexor. — 0. From the first cervical vetebra. — /. To behind the cuneiform process of the occipital. — U. These three muscles flex or bend the head. Splenins. — 0. From the spinous pro- cesses of the 2d, Sd. 4th, and oth dor- sal vertebrae ; from the cervical liga- ment, and by another portion from the first five cervical vertgbrae. — /. By an aponeurosis to the mastoid process.— £7. To bring the head back- wards. Complexus major. — O. From the spinous processes of the 2d, 3d, and 4th dorsal vertebrae, to the first six transverse processes of the same, and the last five cervical vertebrae. — /. Into the transverse protuberance of the occi- pital bone. — U. To draw the head backward, anxl to one side. Complexus 7ninor'^.—0. From the trans- verse processes of the .3d, 4th, and 5th cervical vertebrae, and by ano- ther part from the 6th, and 1st, of the back. — /. Into the mastoid process of the occipital. — U.To assist the former. Rectus capitis major. — 0. From the su- perior part of the spinous process of the second cervical vertebra. — /. To the posterior part of the occipital bone. — U. To move the head back- ward. Rectus capitis minor. <—0. From the 1st cervical vertebra, and the edge of the articular cavity.—/. To below the condyles of the occipital. — U. It assists the former. Obliqwis 7najorj:—0. From the spine of the 2d cervical vertebra. — /. To the transverse eminence of the first. — U. To draw the head backward, and rotate it. Obliquus minor X.— O. From the trans- verse process of the 1st cervical ver- tebra.—/. To the lateral transverse eminence of the occipital. — U. To assist the former. MUSCtES OF THE OS HVOIDES. Mylo hyoideus. — 0. From the internal part of the posterior jaw. — /. To the ap^Dendix of the os hyoides. Genio hyoideus — 0. From the inferior part of the concavity of the jaw. — /. In the same manner with the preced- ing. — U. These two muscles bring this bone forwards, and depress it. 141 Sterno hyoideus. — 0. From the point of the sternum. — /. To the anterior part of the body. Hyoideus^. — From the internal sur- face of the little pectoral.—/. With the preceding. — U These two mus- cles carry the os hyoides backwards. Stylo hyoideus —0. From the point or superior extremity of the long branches of this bone. — / To the lateral part of its body, permitting the tendon of the digastric to pass through it.— t/". Draws the body of the bone upwards and sideways. Cerato- hyoideus. — O From the little branches of the bone — /. To the in- ferior part of its large branches. ■^ Arytmnoideus trausversus. — 0. From each side of the little branches of the bone, so that the fixed point is in the middle of the muscle. — /. To the in- ferior part of its large branches. — U. To draw the branches together. MUSCLES OF THE TONGUE. Genio glossus. — 0. From the inferior part of the concavity of the jaw. — /, To the base of the tongue — U. To draw the tongue out of the mouth. Bcisio glossus. — 0. From the body of the OS hyoides — /. To the base of the tongue.— ZJ. To draw the tongue in- wards and backwards. Hyoglossus. — 0. From the external and inferior part of the grand branches. — /. To the base of the tongue. — U. To draw the tongue sideways and backwards. Sterno thyroideus — 0. From the point of the sternum, dividing into two portions. — /. The anterior and late- ral part of the thyroid cartilage.- — U. Draws the larynx downwards. Hyo-thyroideus. — O. From the lateral part of the body of the os hyoides.— /. To the edge of the thj^roid carti- lage.— C^. Raises the larynx Crico-thyroidens.— O. From the lateral external part of the cricoid cartilage. — T. To the inferior edge of the thy- roid cartilage. — U. To draw the thy- roid and the cricoid cartilages to- gether. Crico-arytcBnoideus posticus. — 0. From the posterior surface of the cricoid cartilage.—/. To the inferior part of the arytenoid cartilage. — U. To dilate the glottis. Arytenoideus. — 0. From the posterior • Traclileo mastoid je us, or mastoir!seu.s lateralis. It is divided into two parts; Bonrgelat «lescribes the lower with the coniple.xus major. + Obliquus capitis inferior. * Obiicjuiis capitis superior. i This muscle should be coraco hjoidseus: it partly arises from the humerus^ and has two. iM."ierlioiis; one into the splieiioid bone, as well as one into the os hyoides. 142 MYOLOGY. part of the larynx, and from one ary- tenoid cartilage to the other. Crico arytenoideus — O. From the su- perior edge of the cricoid cartilage, — /. To the lateral external part of the arytenoid. Thyreo arytanoideus. — 0. From the in - ternal and middle part of the thyroid cartilage. — /. To the lateral part of the arytenoid, — IT. These three mus- cles shut the glottis. Hyo epigJottideus.—O. From the base of the appendix of the os hj'oides. — /. To the convexity of the epiglottis. — U. It elevates the epiglottis, and di- lates the glottis. MUSCLES OF THE PHARYNX. Pterigo palato pharyngeus. — 0. From the palatine and pteregoid processes of the sphenoid bone.—/. To the su- perior part of the pharynx. Cerato pharyngeus.— 0. From the inter- nal part of the great branches of the hyoides. — /. To the pharynx below the preceding.—?/. These muscles di- late the pharynx, drawing it from be- fore backwards. Hyo pharyngeus. — 0. From the lateral part of the body of the hyoides — /. To the posterior part of the pharynx. Thyreo pharyngeus. — 0. From the thy- roid cartilage. — /. To the posterior pai't of the pharynx. Crico pharyngeus — O. From the crycoid cartilage. — /. As above. — U. These three muscles straighten the pharynx by drawing the parts together. Arytceno pharyngeus. — 0. From the infe- rior part of the arytenoid cartilage. — /. In the pharynx. — U. It sixpports the pharynx. ^ CEsophageus. — O. Arises and termi- nates in fleshy fibres on each side of the pharynx. — U. To shut the pha- rynx, and thereby facilitate the de- scent of the masticated bolus. MUSCLES OF THE VELUM PALATI AND EUSTACHIAN CAVITY. Perestaphelini externus'^. — 0, From the styloid process of the temporal bone, and eustachian cavity. — /. To the inferior part of the velum palati. Perestaphelini internns.-^O. Arises with the preceding. - /. With the above. — U. These muscles elevate the velum palati. Velo palatine. — 0. By a thin tendon to the palaiine bones or their juncture. — /. Into the inferior and middle part of the velum palati. — U. This muscle assists the others. Scalenus f. — 0. By two portions; one the first and larger from the external surface of the 1st rib, the other from the 4th, oth, 6th, and 7th transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae. — /. To the lateral anterior part of the bodies of the 7th, 6th, 5th, and 4th cervical vertebrae. — U. When the rib is the fixed point, it bends the neck ; when the neck is fixed, it assists re- spiration. Flexor longus. — 0. By numerous mus- cular fibres from the sixth dorsal to the first cervical vertebra. — /. By a tendon common to the two muscles, to the middle and anterior eminence of the first vertebra of the neck.— C/". This muscle bends the neck, Transversalis longus. — 0. From the transverse processes of the first dor- sal, and the five last cervical verte- brae. — /. By a tendon which unites with that of the splenius and com- mon muscle. — U. It bends both head and neck. Transversalis hrevis. — 0. From the transverse processes of the five first vertebras of the back by so many small tendons.— /. To the transverse processes of the last cervical verte- bra. — U. To extend the neck, Sjnnatus longus. — 0. The superior part of the spinous processes of the first 13 dorsal vertebrae. — /. To the spinous processes of the three last cervical vertebrae. Spinatus hrevis.— 0. Inferiorly by ten- dons from the spinous and oblique processes of the first dorsal, and the five last cervical vertebrae.—/. By a strong tendon to those processes of the second cervical vertebrae. — U. This and the above extend the neck. Cutaneous. X — 0. From the cervical li- gament covering all the muscles of • Circumflex, seu Tensor palati- t The second portion of tliis in the luiman is the scaleiis medius. jThis considerable expansion is to be regarded as a muscle of the skin of the neck; as the cutaneous described among the muscles of the nose, is to the skin of the face. (See Pamnicu- lus carnosus.) This is the tirst mnscle that appears on raising the skin of the neck, and is attached by aponeurosis to the spine of the scapula; and very intimately to the common muscle. These two muscles have been described,! believe as one, under the name of levator humeri ; and from the origin and insertion it does appear, that this is a more proper descrip- tion of it; at the same time that it must be allowed the upper portion can corrugate the skin, and that there is a line of division between it and the part that BourgelHtcalls the common; I shall therefore, at present, continue this division. MUSCLES Ql- THE BACKj LOINS, &C. 143 the neck, of the head, and part of the scapula, united with the common muscle — I. By uniting with its fel- low in the front of the neck, opposed to the trachea, and to the point of the sternum. — U. A species of pannicu- lus carnosLis to the neck. Inter transversales. — O. From the inter- val between all the transverse pro- cesses of the cervical vertebrae, except the first. — U. Assists in the bending of the neck. Musculus communis^. — 0. From the in- ferior and anterior part of the arm, passing to the point of the shoulder, when the body extending up the neck divides into two portions. — /. By one portion having several tendons, into the second, third, fourth, and fifth transverse processes of the cervical vertebra;. By another into the tube- rosity at the petrous part of the tem- poral bone. — U. To move the head, neck, or arm, according to its fixed point. (See Muscles of the Arm ) MUSCLES OF THE BACK AND LOINS. Longissimtis dorsi. — O. From the outer crista of the ilium, the transverse and spinous processes of all the lumbar vertebrae, and from the spinous pro- cesses of the five last dorsal.—/. By fleshy portions into the upper part of the ribs, and by tendons into the transverse processes of all the dorsal, and the two last cervical vertebras. — U. To stretch the vertebra, and to draw the trunk upwards- therefore it must be of great use in rearing, gal- loping, leaping, &c. Inter transversales. — O. These are small muscles whose number is equal to the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, situated obliquelj^ on each, from behind for- ■vvard ; extending from the transverse process of one, and from the spinous of the other from the sacrum. — U. To draw the spinous and transverse pro- cesses together,assisting in the flexion of the back. Inter spinales.— O. These occupy the in- terval which the spinous processes leave between them. — U. To assist in the motions of the spine. Psoas lumbarisf. — O. From the lateral part of the bodies of the three last dorsal vei'tebras, and the four first lumbar. — /. To the inferior and in- ternal part of the ilium near the co- toloid cavity. — U. It is an antago- nist to the long dorsal, serving when the animal rises to bring the body down again ; when, on the contrary, he rises behind, the point that was before fixed now becomes the move- able point, and the hinder parts are brought forward by it. It acts in concert with the muscles of the lower belly, and assists in various motions. MUSCLES OF RESPIRATION. The muscles used in respiration are common and proper. The first are those whose use is common to this function, and to the motions of other parts ; the proper are those only used in the eleva- tion and depression of the ribs, or the enlargement of the cavity of the chest. {See Respiration ) The proper are, Levatores costarum'^.— O, These are five to each side ; arising, the first from the transverse process of the second dorsal vertebra; the second from that of the third, and so on. — /. The first to the anterior and superior part of the third rib ; the second to the fourth, and so on with the rest — U. To ele- vate the ribs. Intercostals, external and internal. — O, They fill up the intervals between the ribs, and cross each other, the two plaus being separated by a cellular tissue; the external arising from the posterior acute edge of each anterior rib, the whole length, pointing ob- liqueljrfrom downward upward ; and the internal in the same manner, but under these, and point contrarily from above downwards, — 7. Both ex- ternal and internal into the sii:^osity of each posterior rib. — U. To elevate the ribs, acting on the first, which, being immoveable, is thus the fixed point. Transversalis — O. From the external surface of the first rib passing over the second and third. — /. To the external surface of the fourth. — U. It assists in elevating the chest. Sterno costalis. — O. From the internal surface of the sternum. — /. By a ten- dinous production to the cartilages of the true ribs. — U. It is similar to the former. * The common muscle is so called as being common to the head, neck, and arm ; this and the cutaneous have been considered by some English veterinarians as one, the levator hu- meri. This portion can act upon either, as its fixed point is altered. Bourgelat describes it -as giving off a part at the point of the shoulder to the sternum; but tiiis part is evidently a distinct muscle, the sterno brachialis: nor is it inserted so low, or attaclied so low in the arm as he describes, though its aponeurosis exten lular membrane ; but when its great power of contraction is considered, it is more than probable that it has a muscular structure. Cremaster. — O. From the posterior edge of the obliquus internus, the aponeu- rosis of the fascia lata, and the trans- versalis. — /. By a fleshy expansion around the cord, and over part of the vaginal coat of the testicle. — ?/. To draw the testicles upwards during violent exertions, that they may not be injured, for which it is particularly fitted, being a part of those muscles alread)'^ at such times in strong action. Erectores. — O. From the posterior, su- perior, and internal part of the tube- rosity of the ischium, descending obliquely from behind forward, em- bracing the two cavernous bodies of the penis.—/. To the lateral parts of those bodies. — U. To draw, constrict, and raise the penis. Acceleratores.—O. From the ligament at the posterior part of the pubis, and the membranous part of the urethx-a in an oblique direction. — /. By a ten- dinous line into the urethra nearly its whole length. — U. To accelerate and press forvvrard the urine and semen. Triangularis, seu transversalis. — O. From the tuberosity of the ischium. — /. Into the accelerators and the urethra. — U. To assist the former. MUSCLES OF THE CLITORIS. First pair, seu sphincter vagincB. — O. From the lateral parts of the sphinc- ter ani. — /. Into the lateral parts of thebody of the clitoris. — U. Contracts the vaginae, and compresses the clito- ris. Second pair, sen erectorcs clitoridis.-~0. The inner part of the crus of the is- chium. — /. To the root of the clitoris. — U. It raises the clitoris. MUSCLES OF THE ANUS. The muscles of the anus, I have found, in the subjects I have dissected, to be two pairs, and a single one ; retractores, levatores, and a sphincter. Bourgelat describes the levatores as a small pair, which they are: but totally overlooks the retractores, which are very conside- rable. La Fosse notices these, but makes no mention of the others. The levator pair are similar to the__transver- sus jjerenei of the human ; but seem more immediately appropriated to the anus, hence 1 have so termed them. Retractor ani.—O. From the ischium superiorly, where it forms the aceta- bulum; and in part from the sacro ischiatic ligament, passing VAtber up- ward and backward, =-/. Into and 146 MYOLOGY. around the rectum, leaving a line be- tween its insertion and that of the sphincter.— [/. To retract and draw in the anus. Levator ani. — O. From the lateral mus- cles of the tail, and from above, hav- ing an aponeurosis, giving it firmness. — /. Into the bottom of the anus at the outer part, crossing its fibres.— f7. To elevate the anus. ^ Sphincter ani. — O. By a strong fleshy- band from around the end of the rec- tum, having a line of separation be- tween it and the retractors. — /. Runs into and around the anus, forming an orbicular muscle. — U. To close the anus, preventing the constant escape of the faeces, and the entrance of air, insects, &c. MUSCLES OF THE TAIL. These muscles are very intricate and diflacult to dissect, so as to render them distinct from each other. It appears to me, that the divisions made both by La Fosse and Bourgelat'are too numerous j and that there are fewer real muscles, with more numerous origins ; but as Bourgelat is apparently the most cor- rect, I shall continue to follow him. Sacro coccygiens superior. — O. From the superior part of the sacrum, where its transverse processes appear. — / By short tendons into all the bones of the tail superiorly.— U. To elevate the tail. Sacro coccygiens inferior externus. — O. From the lateral intej^al part of the sacrum.—/. By strong tendons rather inferiorly into each bone of the tail. Sacro coccygiens inferior intermis. — O. By an intermixture of heads in the same manner with the preceding. — /. By tendinous production to the first five bones of the tail. — U. These two muscles depress the tail. Lateralis. ^O By tendons from the spinous processes of the last two lum- bar vertebras and sacrum laterally. /. By tendons into all the bones of the tail, laterally. Ohliqmis.--0. By a flat tendon from the sacro-sciatic ligament, passing obliquely upwards — /. To the infe- rior part of the sacrum and first five bones of the tail. — U. These two mus- cles perform the lateral motions of the tail. The tendons and fleshy parts of the muscles of the tail all take rather a lateral direction, so as to form it into a kind of square. The eleva- tors run on each upper angle, and the depressors and oblique on each lower angle. The depressing muscles are much the strongest, which has given rise to the practice of nicking, or di- viding those' muscles whose contraction depresses the tail. The lateral muscles are, I conceive, the strongest depressors of the tail, when both are in action : when one acts alone, the tail is carried to one side^ and as these are placed very near the centre of motion, and the tail is a long body to wield, especially when armed with long hair^ so it was necessary thej- should be strong to en- able the animal to brush himself, and prevent the attack of insects. Besides these muscles, those forming the upper angles likewise act laterally when only one side contracts at a time : were this not the case, a nicked horse could not afterwards carry his tail to either side ; for the lateral muscles of the lower an- gles are usually divided in the sections made in this operation, and it is neces- sary they should, being, as I before mentioned, when in conjoint action, strong depressors. It is from a want of anatomical knowledge of the tail, that it is so often set awry ; for if the sec- tions, particularly those more remote from the tail, are not made of an equal depth and extent laterally, some part of the contracting fibres will remain, and the horse carry a false tail. The muscles of the extremities are described in Section XVII, which is de- dicated to a minute examination of all the parts forming the fore and hinder limbs. Smtou XL BURSALOGY. THIS subject comprises a knowledge of those appendages to tendons, whereby the effects of friction are prevented. Tendons are usually furnished with a sheath or theca, within which IS secreted a glairy, slippery mucus, of the nature of the synovia; by which they are enabled to slide within these sheaths with great case. At the extremities of the tendons. BURSALOGY. X47 and in fact between tendons and other parts, and between tendons themselves, wherever they are liable to pressure or friction, they are frequent, and form distinct membranous sacs not unlike the capsular ligaments, and are called mucous capsules or hursce mucosce. These appendages to tendons appear formed of a dense cellular membrane, whose internal surface is very vascular, and whose vessels secrete this mucus. From external injury, or other causes, this surface becomes at times inflamed ; and when its resolution is not effected speedily, coagulable lymph is thrown out, which being not always again absorbed, remains between the tendons and its sheath, and occasions distention and lameness, from the prevention that arises to the freedom of motion ; therefore, we are at no loss to account for those hardened enlargements that are frequently seen in hard worked horses in the neighbourhood of the flexor tendons or back sinews, nor for the stiffness they occasion. The mucous capsules at the extremities of the tendons also are extremely liable to become diseased; and bursal disease receives very different names according to its situation, as windgalls at the fetlock; hog spavin or tJiorougkpin in the body of the hock; and capulet at the hock point. Occasionally they are seen in the knee also. They appear to be brought on by undue exer- tion of the parts they are intended to lubricate ; and which exertion appears to act as a stimulus to them to increase the mucous secretion within. (SeeWiiidgalls, ^c) For a detailed account of the bmsce mucoscB, I w^ouid refer the student to Monro's description of them, v/ith plates ; and to Fourcroy's Memoire des Tendons ; for, as it has been seen that the muscles of the human and horse have a considerable similitude, so it may be readily imagined those of the tendons and mucous capsules have likewise. ANGIOLOGY. THE vessels of the body are divided into arteries, veins, and absorbents; and, except the hoofs and epidermis, there is perhaps no part of the body without them. Of the Arteries generally. The arteries are canals originating from the ventricles of the heart by two trunks, the aorta and pulmonary, whose subdivi- sions are destined to supply the whole body with blood. Con- sidered generally, arteries are long membranous tubes, which by reason of their numerous bifurcations become smaller as they proceed to the extreme parts*. In their course an especial * Although the individual vessels themselves diminish, yet the conjoined area of the numerous subdivisions springing from them is greater than the parent trunks ; which increase appears to arise from the greater capacity of the subdivisions, and the proportional increase to their coats. 148 ANGIOLOGY. regard is observed towards their safety ; hence they are deep seated, and pass on the inner sides of the limbs rather than the outer. They appear equally guarded against accidental pressure from neighbouring parts, by passing over the bending surface of a joint; and where the extension of soft parts and their frequent motions would render the blood within conti- nually liable to obstruction, they proceed in a tortuous course*. An artery*is composed of three different substances, united by means of cellular membrane into one elastic tube. These are its tunics, the external of which is called its elastic coat, as the inner is its cuticular or membranous ; between which is situated the muscular. The external, appears a thick, dense, cellular membrane of peculiar whiteness, whose elastic powers are so considerable, as to preserve the cylindrical form of the principal canals when empty. By their elastic power, the arteries are capable of being distended so as to admit of a larger quantity of fluid than is merely sufficient to render them cylindrical : by this likewise they can adapt themselves to a smaller quantity than is usual ; were it not for this power, a small haemorrhage must prove fatal. It is by this elasticity, which is acted longitudinally as well as circularly, that the divided ends of a wounded artery retreat within the cellular sub- stance around, and thus close their divided orifices. When this is prevented by a partial division only, the haemorrhage continuesf. The elastic powers appear in different proportions in different horses, as in different men ; from which arises some phenomena in the different constitutions of individuals of each species, giving some a greater disposition to inflammation; which is called a sanguineous temperament. The muscular coat of the arteries is interposed between the two others, and appears formed of fibres nearly circular, extending around the artery by several segments joined together, which are stronger in the small than in the large branches, and strongest of all in the capillaries. The muscular tunic appears to exist in greater proportion in the horse than in the human'; and this accounts for the stronger disposition in the horse to inflam- mation ; and that in him gangrene is so soon produced, that the process of ulceration is peculiarly quick, and that granulations so speedily form. To this cause it is probably owing, also, that acute inflammations in the horse run through their stages so much quicker than similar affections in the human. Inflam- mation of the lungs frequently terminates in mortification in forty-eight, and sometimes thirty-six hours. From this * The tortuous direction of the arteries serves also some other purpose than that of preserving them from accidental obstruction by pressure : this we learn from finding them so in the brain, testicle and uterus, where they can be little liable to it. Here retarding the flow of the blood is probably studied. t Aware of this circumstance, a prudent surgeon immediately divides the vessel entirely; and if it be not a large one, this division alone is sufficient to •top the flow of blood. THE ARTERIES. 149 power also it is, that a horse can bear the division of a much larger artery without danger than a man. Even dividing of the carotids takes a very- considerable time to produce death, while in the human it follows almost instantaneously. From the strength of this muscular coat in the capillary arteries, when they are stimulated, as in the cold fit of fiever, the blood is forced back into the larger vessels, or pressed forwards into the veins. It is this that produces shivering and a sensation of coldness in these cases*. Our knowledge of the termination of these vessels is very con- fined ; we can readily see their ordinary termination by anastomo- sis, or the uniting of one branch into another, whereby the blood has its course in some measure altered, and the constitution re- ceives safety under the division of the vessels of a part, from its being thus furnished by some other. Our practice of surgery is greatly extended by this knowledge, and we no longer fear taking up a large artery: likewise, by free communication, pressure is less injurious than it would otherwise be. We also know, that arteries terminate by means of their capillary branches in veins, because we can empty the arteries, by drawing the blood from the venal trunks ; and because injection forced into the arteries, in many instances, enters the veins. They likewise terminate by excretory ducts on secreting surfaces, or within bodies called glands; by which the contents of the arteries become changed, and part of the blood having remained to enter into new combinations, the remainder is returned by venal branches. Arteries have also another common termination, by exhalent openings on extended surfaces. It is by this means the insensible perspiration passes off; and by the same means serous fluids are emitted throughout most membranous surfaces and cavities. A more confined termination of arteries is that into cells, from w^hich veins arise to take it up again, as in the spleen, &c. Differerent parts are more or less plentifully supplied with arteries according to their nature: secreting organs have usually large trunks, as the kidneys, spleen, liver, &c. They are likewise themselves furnished with arterial and venal branches, for the nourishment of their tubes. They have also nerves, but are nearly destitute of feeling. Their absor- * A muscular coat has, however, been denied, from the uniform whiteness of the arteries; but we have had other occasions of pointing out that want of colour is no proof of the absence of muscular structure. Mr. Hunter first demonstrated this muscularity of the arteries Having bled a horse to death he found that the area of these vessels was considerably diminished • the aorta had lost one-twentieth of its original breadth, while the radial artery was contracted to one-half. Other proofs are not wanting to establish the muscularity of these vessels: a principal one is the fact of their acting with- out acceleration, or alteration of the pulsations of the heart, as we" know from slight topical inflammations, and from a blash on the cheek, all M^hich excite heat and redness in the part, but do not disturb the general circula- tion.— Vide Hunter's Lectures; Wilson on the Blood; and Dr. Thompson on Ivfiammation. 150 ANGIOLOGY. bents, if any, are too minute to be detected, although Mr.Cruick- shanks conceives he found them on the human aorta. The living power of the arteries must be great, for they are capable of extending themselves through coagulable lymph thrown out, whereby they organize it : this we see take place in the callus of bones, and in cicatrices, which in time become vascular ; but an artery, when divided, will not become pervi- ous, though a vein will. The evident use of the arteries is to convey the blood from the heart to the different parts of the body, furnishing them with nutrition, by keeping up their vital principle, and affording them heat. It is through their agency the blood is carried to form all the parts of the body, as well solid as fluid ; they repair decay, and reorganize. An intimate knowledge of their functions, therefore, forms a very principal branch of physiology ; as a well grounded acquaintance with their situation is likewise essentially necessaiy to the veterinary surgeon. IVlr. Hunter has taught, that there is a strong affinity or pecu- liar connection between the blood and its vessels ; and his opinions on this subject have led to considerable alterations in our manner of treating diseases in general, and woimds in particular. The fluid state of the blood appears connected with living vessels ; blood parted from them dies and coagu- lates. The blood likewise stimulates its vessels, which, perhaps, is one very principal cause of their contraction : this stimulus should be in a certain degree ; if increased, disease is produced: it is not unlikely, likewise, that a defect in this stimulus may also produce derangement. As tbe use of the arteries is to convey the blood from the heart, so the heart itself appears to be the first but not the only agent. The arteries equally unite in the office ; and as the force of the heart decreases by distance, that of the arteries strengthens the farther they are removed from it ; so at last the column is pressed on by one regular force : thus in every minute artery divided, there is a regular stream, with scarcely any jet: this, however, only takes place in the minutest arteries. We thus see why there is no pulsation in the veins ; they receive the blood from the arteries in one equable stream, and continue it by the last impulsive force of the heart, and the new one of the arteries. Pulsation is a certain sensation in the artery ; which, from various expe- riments, is found to arise from its being alternately in a state of distention and relaxation. It appears, that when the left ventricle contracts, and forces the blood into the arteries, the pressure of the fluid occasions a distention of their coats, and a consequent dilatation, which is termed their diastole : when the left ventricle ceases to act, and becomes distended, then the impetus against the sides of the vessels ceases, when the muscular fibres of the artery contract and lessen its size ; and this state is called its relaxation or systole. THE PVLSK. 158 Of the Pulse, This momentary increase of capacity in the artery whereby its diameter is enlarged, is called its pulse ; and the more fre- quent are these dilatations in it, or the less numerous, so is the pulse quicker or slower. The circulation being slower in all large animals than in small, the standard, i, e. the healthy pulse of the horse, is from 45 to 50 ; in the human from 68 to 75 ; and in the dog from 90 to 110. In young animals, the weak- ness of the system, and its irritability are considerable, hence they have a much quicker pulse : the colt's pulse is from 60 to 65 ; the human infant's beats more than 110 : this gradually lessens to the adult period, when it follows nearly the standard we have noticed. As the heart of a large animal has a longer way to send its blood, and its resistance is consequently in- creased, so it takes a longer time to accomplish its contraction ; and thus there is not only a difference between the different species of animals, but between individuals of the same species as they vary in size ; from which, the smaller the horse, the quicker will be the pulse. As very few active diseases can exist in the body without disturbing the circulation by either accelerating, retarding, or interfering with its regularity ; so the pulse has been resorted to as furnishing a criterion of the nature and severity of the disease ; not altogether invariable or arbitrary, but sufficiently so to deserve the most serious attention of the veterinarian, who will find it in cases of danger and obscurity frequently his only practical guide. To a due consideration of the state of the pulse, not only the immediate state of the disease itself, but many surrounding circumstances, must be taken into the ac- count. A cold temperature will lessen the circulation ; a par- ticular irritability of the system in some horses quickens their pulse ; and the action of fear materially influences it, for which reason great caution is necessary to avoid alarming the animal, or the pulsating vessel may present a wrong indication. The circulation being universal, and the motions of the blood being uniform, it follows not only that the pulse may be felt in every part of the body, but that the pulsations are synchronous. It is, therefore, of little importance where the pulse is felt, provided we have the opportunity of pressing the pulsating artery against some hard body, or of actually embracing it between the finger and thumb ; which, however, is seldom to be done. Bartlet recommended the pulse to be felt by the leg, by the carotids, or by the heart itself. Mr. Clark describes it as most easily felt at the origin of the temporal artery at the base of the ear. Others point out the metacarpal arteries as the most conve- nient point. It is not a little remarkable that a branch of the internal maxillary artery, which branch passes over tho anterior portion of the tuberosity of the posterior jaw^ I4 152 ANGIOLOGY. (video, Plate IIIJ (sec also Angiology) should have so long remained unnoticed ; which I believe it had done entirely, until pointed out by myself. The situation of this vessel is in every respect so convenient, and its ready application to the hard body of the maxilla, as well as the height in which it is placed as regards the examiner, are all so favourable, as to give it a decided advantage with all candid practitioners. With those who embrace nothing but what emanates from themselves, or are ashamed to introduce the improvements of others, these instruc- tions have nothing to do. Having detected the artery, press it moderately against the inner side of the jaw by means of the fore- fingers, when an accurate examination of the pulse maybe readily made. Every veterinary practitioner ought to accustom him- self to the natural state of the pulse, by frequently feeling pulses of different healthy horses ; by which means the varieties produced by disease will be more easily detected: for an affected pulse does not only consist in its quickness and slow- ness, but also in its hardness and softness: the differences between either of which, and that of health, can only be learned by attention and habit. A full strong pulse, where the resist- ance to the pressure of the fingers is very considerable, giving a bounding stroke, and evidently betokening an increase of the diameter of the artery, seldom exists in the diseased horse. Some natural excitements may bring it on, as lust, exercise, &C.&C. and it is now and then met with inphrenitis, or staggers. The l^ull pulse of the horse under the highest inflammatory affections has always some confined vibratory hardness, and never gives the full bounding feel, present in these cases in the human : thus though the pulse of the horse presents a much more unerring criterion of the state of disease than that of man, yet the analogy is by no means perfect between them. In treating therefore on diseases, whenever the term full pulse occurs, it must be considered as intended to convey the above idea only. A. hard pulse with increased frequency is the most common in the inflammatory affections of the horse, in which case the arterial action is stronger, with diminished diameter of vessel. It is detected by the peculiarity of feeling like a cord vibrating under the finger, and not like the full un- dulations of an overcharged vessel. This vibratory hardness with increased frequency is the usual attendant on the active stages of visceral inflammations. In the more early stages of peritoneal inflammation of the intestines, or red colic, it is the great characteristic between that and the spasmodic colic or gripes: for in the latter, although after a few hours continu- ance there is often some, hardness in the pulse, it is always accompanied, when purely spasmodic, with a degree of fulness also, unknown to the other. This pulse is common to all in- flammations of parts less essential to life, as of the cellular membranes, muscles, skin, &c. &c., when sufficiently violent to affect the constitution. It accompanies the early stages of THiK PULSE. 153 bad catarrhal affections, and occasionally of pneumonia also ; but in the former it usually exhibits more frequency than in the latter. The wiry pulse is a very important modification of the hard, in which the sensation is contracted from that of a vi- brating cord to that of a jarred wire, whence its name of wiry, thready, &c. It is commonly accompanied with in- creased frequency, but by no means invariably so ; and is often present in the protracted stages of visceral inflammation, and in some few it accompanies them from their outset. It appears to be the common consequence of the former pulse, and thus succeeds to it so frequently in the secondary or protracted stages of all inflammatory afibctions of magnitude ; particu- larly of such as commence slowly. The oppressed pulse is also a modification of the hard pulse, and appears the conse- quence of the opposing efforts of the muscular and elastic portions of the artery ; the efforts of the one appearing to be employed to restrain the distention forced on the other, by a congestion within some part immediately concerned in circu- lation. It is from this cause that it is so common to the active stages of pneumonia, or inflammation of the lungs ; and it is probable that, when it is present also in other visceral affec- tions, it arises from the secondary effect produced on the res- piratory organs. When the difficulty is in a certain degree removed to the transit of the blood through the right side of the heart, by abstracting a large quantity of it, and thus re- moving the congestion ; it is remarkable how this oppressed pulse, creeping, labouring, and often slow, will rise into a more full, free state, but still with remnants of its parent hard- ness remaining ; and as long as such alteration is produced by bleeding, it is prudent to pursue it. A small pulse is usually present in all cases of great debility, and is generally attended with increased frequency. When it is very small and thread-like, it shews that the debility is ex- treme, and prognosticates a fatal termination of the existing disease, the heart and arteries attempting to make up by quick- ness what they want in strength. If with this degree of small- ness it vary in its regularity, or intermit, it is even more certainly a fatal prognostic. We must be careful not to be misled by a small oppressed pulse frequently present in inflam- mation of the vital organs, particularly of the chest, to mis- take this for a pulse of debility. The distention of an artery may be so great as to overcome its contracting power, as any elastic body may be distended beyond its tone or capability of recovery ; hence a small pulse is not always a sign of general debility : for in inflammation of the vital organs, this distention of the vessels frequently takes place to such a degree as to prevent their natural contraction ; and a small pulse is by this means produced: but if the over-distending column be removed by copious bleeding, the over-stretched muscular coat recovers L2 154 ANGIOLOGY. its tone, and can contract on its contents ; and thus, in such cases, the pulse is found to rise on bleeding. The bladder, we know, under long retention of the urine, becomes so distend- ed as to be incapable of contracting on its contents, and, un- less it be artificially emptied, the muscular coat will give way and burst. It is therefore probable, that an inflamed part is not in a state of increased strength, though it is of increased action, but on the contrary ; for as the vessels are preternatu- rally distended, they are in consequence weakened ; hence, in some local inflammations, or where the vessels of a part only are under this state of increased action, topical bleeding, by emptying those particular vessels, will often prove highly use- ful ; while, on the contrary, general bleeding may, in the same case, be prejudicial, because, by weakening the system in ge- neral, it must still further weaken those particular vessels, and render them less able to contract. We may, therefore, learn that instances do occur where diminishing the general strength may augment the inflammation. A quick pulse usually denotes irritability in the system ; but there may be natural or common causes for such quickness of pulse ; as youth, diminutive size, fatigue, a hearty meal, or a particular temperament; but when none of these natural causes are present, great quickness of the pulse proves a dis- eased irritability of the vascular system, and often a want of power also. But its indication becomes very different as it is accompanied by fulness or smallness. When the frequency of the pulse is considerable, with an increase of strength in the action of the artery, it may be gathered, from what has already been said, to betoken inflammatory action, general or local. A slow pulse may be occasioned by pressure on the brain from the efi*ect of accidents, or from congestion, as in lethargy, sleepy staggers, epilepsy, &c. It may also be brought on through the medium of the stomach by various substances taken in. White and black hellebore, aloes, digitalis, hem- lock, and whatever excites nausea, decreases the frequency of the pulse in the horse as in the human. But unfortunately in the horse our means of exciting this sensation are usually limited to such matters as are in themselves sources of great irritation, and hence hurtful. Neither is a simple alteration in the frequency all that is necessary. To a beneficial end we should render the pulse soft also, without which a slow pulse may retain its inflamlnatory base, as we witness in the lethargy of staggers . A s(^t pulse is in all its characters the reverse of the hard, the full, or the oppressed. It is frequent at the decline of in- flammatory aff'ections, and usually shews the cessation of the in- flammatory diathesis ; thus, after the hot fit of fever is re- moved, the pulse from being hard becomes soft. Suppuration, as a termination of inflammation, also produces it; and when- THE ARTERIES. 155 ever there has been great local inflammation, and pus forms, the slow pulse is generally present. A regular pulse is sometimes found under very diseased af- fections ; ITut it is usually increased in its fulness or smallness, or in its hardness or softness: a regular pulse v»dth a propor- tionate fulness is one of the strongest marks of health ; as an irregular pulse almost always shews disease : but the irregular- ity may be occasioned by organic affection ; that is by a pecu- liar formation of parts, or some disease about the heart, as ossifications of its valves, or of the larger vessels. Irregularity in the pulse is a mark of great irritability, and when not arising from any organic affection, it is a mark of great debility also. Inflammation of the heart is usually ac- companied by great irregularity in the pulse, with extreme op- pression and smallness ; the heart contracts several times, and then stops till more blood be sent to it. An irregular pulse in fever shews great danger : it usually accompanies mortifica- tion and gangrene ; and when inflammation of the lungs ter- minates in this way, this pulse is usually present. A very pe- culiar irregularity of the pulse is also present when a serous fluid is thrown out into the chest after these inflammations ; in which cases, besides its intermission, the pulse appears as though undulating through a bladder of water. This pulse should be particularly noticed, as, when once felt, it need never be forgotten . The Distribution of Arteries. The aorta is the principal vessel of the arterial system, and originates from the left ventricle of the heart, at its anterior and middle part, between the vena cava, pulmonary artery, and the trachea : it soon divides into two branches, one of which is carried forwards to furnish the head and extremities ; the other proceeds backwards to be distributed to the rest of the body, but exhibits no incurvation, as in the human. These divisions form the anterior and posterior aortas ; but previous to this division, the original trunk has given off a pair of small arteries, immediately at its origin, under the semilunar valves, called the coronaries. The anterior aorta is continued single to between the second and third rib, where it divides into two unequal portions, called its right and left branches. The left division gives first a small branch to the pleura, next what may be called the dorsal ; then two others, penetrating between the first, second, and third ribs, under the names of anterior and posterior cervicals : from this, passing towards the first rib, it gives off the left ver- tebral, and the internal pectoral ; when bending its course over this rib, it takes the name of axillary. The right division of the anterior aorta is much larger, as well as longer than the left. Its first considerable branches arc. one to the pleura, an 156 ANGIOLOGY. anterior and posterior cervical, or what has been called a bronchial, and the internal pectoral. The carotids are the next divisions of this branch, and arise by one large trunk. The continuation of this right division of the aorta then gains the edge of the first rib on the right side, and forms the right axillary. The arteries coronaricB arise from the aorta immedi- ately on its leaving the heart, one on the right, the other on the left side, and are distributed around the base of that organ like a garland, from whence they draw their name. The pleural is usually the first branch given off" by the anterior aorta ; but it sometimes arises from the dorsal, distributing its ramifications- to the pleura. The dorsal form the next pair, the left arising from the left division of the anterior aorta usually, and the right from the right division; sometimes it arises from the right cervical. The dorsal pair gives ramifications to the pe- ricardium, to the muscles under the scapula, to the neck ; and it generally furnishes the first two or three intercostals. The cervicals are two pair on each side. The left pair usually arises from the left division of the anterior aorta ; passing be- tween the first, second, and third ribs, its ramifications are distributed to the cervical ligament, and to tlie muscles of the neck and withers. The right cervicals arise from the right di- vision of the aorta, and give rami to the oesophagus, medias- tinum, and surrounding parts. The vertebrals are two important arteries, the right arising from the right division of the anterior aorta, after those we have described ; and the left from its left division : they are given oflf opposite the first rib, and pass under the transverse process of the first dorsal vertebra, insinuating themselves be- tween the sixth and seventh cervical, and are continued up through the foramina at the base of the transverse processes of the remaining six of these vertebrae : as they pass, they send off small branches through the lateral notches in the vertebra to the spinal marrow, and likewise to the muscles of the neck. From these divisions they become very small near the head ; where they give a small ramus, which usually passes through a foramen in the oblique process of the atlas, to communicate with the external carotid, by which a communication is kept up between these vessels. After they have made a number of inflections apparently to retard the circulation, they unite, and form the basillary artery, which runs on the inner surface of the cuneiform process of the occipital bone, and is finally ra- mified in the cerebellum, first giving a branch which unites with a similar one of the carotid to form the circulus arteri- osus. The internal pectoral is usually the next pair, which arises from the left division of the aorta ; that of the right side sometimes arises from the right axillary, after it has given oft' the carotids. Having furnished the external pectoral, each is continued along the internal surface of the first rib, where it THE ARTEIUES. 157 gives branches to the pleura, when, gaining the sternum, it passes along its internal surface, giving rami to the medi- astinum, diaphragm, and parts around ; £ind is finally ramified in the muscles of the chest, usually giving off a branch to anas- tomose with the epigastric. The axillary arteries.— "The left branch of the anterior aorta having furnished these principal, and other lesser branches, has its trunk curved about midway over the anterior part of the rib, and inclines in the axilla, passing out at right angles with the head of the humerus. In its passage to the glenoid cavity, where it takes the name of humeral, it generally gives off three branches, two of which furnishing the scapula, may be called scapularis inferior, and scapularis superior : the third is distributed about the articulation of the scapula with the hu- merus, and is thence called arteria articularis. The humeral artery descends along the internal surface of the humerus, giv- ing a considerable ramus that penetrates the biceps extensor cubiti : when arrived at the inferior part of that bone near its articulation, it makes a fresh division, giving sometimes one, at others two considerable branches, one of which passes be- tween the ulna and radius. The ulnar branch proceeds posteri- orly between the two bones, and down the lateral external part of the fore arm, giving the medullary vessels to both ulna and radius, and rami to the muscles of this part, anastomosing at the knee with a branch of the radial, and continuing often in a small branch down the canon. The radial first gives off a branch that passes between the condyles of the radius, in com- pany with a vein immediately under the extensor pedis anticus, and over the extensor metacarpi radialis, and is distributed to the anterior part of the knee. The main trunk is then con- tinued down under the muscles, behind the radius ; penetrates the ligaments, and passes within the arch of the pisiform bone; in which passage it sometimes gives a small branch, which runs down the ligament of the canon, ramifying with its parent trunk and with the ulnaris. — The metacarpal. Conti- nued down and penetrating the sheath of the flexor tendon, the radial trunk takes this name, and in company with the meta- carpal nerve is continued on the inner side of the flexor sheath; gaining the under portion, and descending in front of the bifur- cating suspensory ligaments, in which course it furnishes the canon with its medullary branch, and with a ramus anasto- moses with the preceding. At the lower part of the canon, in company with the metacarpal vein and nerve, it divides just above the fetlock into the two. Pastern or lateral arteries, each of which passes over its opposed sessamoid bone, behind the vein at the lateral part of the pastern, tending rather posteriorly. The pastern nerve which accompanies each is situated posteriorly to it; so that the pastern artery passes between its fellow vein and I^^ ANGIOLOGY. nerve; which is of importance to remember in some opera- tions on these parts, particularly in that of neurotomy, lately so much practised. See Plate of Feet; see also Neurotomy.) The pastern arteries having passed over the sessamoids, usu- ally form a small branch to furnish the posterior parts of the pastern, and a more considerable one which divides and fur- nishes the anterior part of the joint: sometimes there are more than one of these anterior branches. When arrived at the co- ronet, near the upper point of the cartilage of the foot, each gives off a branch, called the coronary, which passes in front, surrounding the anterior of this part, plentifully supplying its vascular ligament, and anastomosing with the opposite one. Near to where the coronary is given off, another ramus runs backwards and downwards within the ed^^e of the lateral carti- lage, and is distributed throughout the fleshy frog. Having given these branches, they are continued within the cartilages to the posterior part of tlie coffin bone, w^here they ramify with- in it and the sensible laminae. The lesser branch is continued in a groove in the inferior process, curving over the lower edge of the bone, to be ramiiied on its under surface. The posterior branch of the main division finds a passage within a groove at the convex surface of the coflin, behind the line of insertion of the flexor tendon, being distributed both to the soft parts and to the bone, which it pierces in every direction, anastomosing by this means with the branches on the anterior surface. The right branch of the anterior aorta is considerably larger and longer than the left. The branches arising from it have been noticed. The bronchial arteries we only named in speak- ing of the general division of the aorta. Their origin is not in- variably alike : sometimes they arise as already mentioned ; at others, they are given off from the posterior aorta, and now and then from one of the intercostals. They pass one on each side to the right and left lung, and appear to be distributed on the ramifications of the bronchia, to secrete the bronchial mucus. We have already noticed that the right division of the anterior aorta, after having given these different branches, furnishes the trunk of the carotids, and then ends in the axillary. We shall now^ trace these vessels, following nominally, one only, as they are both similar in distribution. The carotid common trunk, arises from the right branch of the anterior aorta, and soon divides into two portions. Each ca- rotid is a very long vessel, whereby the strong action of the heart is counteracted ; and hence the horse is less liable to af- fections of the head than ourselves, in whom these vessels are infinitely shorter. There are only a few insignificant rami given by this artery, before it approaches the head, when it divides into what are termed the external and internal carotids ; which designation they receive more from the parts they furnish, than from their immediate situation. —The internal carotid does not THE ARTERIES. 159 arise exactly the same as in the human; for in man the external gives off some considerable branches first; but in the horse, this vessel appears rather to divide at once, without previous branchings. This internal division is very contorted in its course before it enters the skull, which it does by a large fora- men near the junction of the sphenoid with the cuneiform pro- cess of the occipital bone : by its tortuosities the blood sent by it to the brain cannot be too much accelerated ; nor by this contrivance can accidental pressure deprive the brain of its support. As it enters the base of the skull, it gives a branch, which uniting with a similar one from the vertebral, forms the circulus arteriosus. It anastomoses likewise with the internal carotid of the other side, as well as gives branches to the adja- cent parts, and finally it ramifies throughout the anfractuosities of the cerebrum and cerebellum. The external carotid first gives off a branch to unite with the vertebral, which has also been called the occipital, and which branch, as it passes up, gives several rami to the parts around, and furnishes one or two twigs that enter the skull ; likewise two or three to the internal and external ear; and a branch also to the parotid gland. The principal trunk then makes a curve, and, passing over the os hyoides, it gives off a considerable branch, which has been named the posterior maxillary, princi- pally furnishing the masseter muscle : it likewise parts with the temporal, which is erroneously supposed to be distributed to the eye; and as such, has been recommended to be taken up in inflammations of that organ, but which is wholly spent on the upper part of the masseter muscle. As this forms a consider- able error in the practice of some veterinarians, the real dis- tribution of this vessel is carefully marked in the plate of Splanchnology. The parent trunk, which is then called the in- ternal maxillary, is continued under the parotid gland, giving first a branch to the pharynx, next the sublingual or ranine to the tongue ; and sometimes another ramus or two, before which a large branch passes off to the external part of the face, and which v*e w^ill trace last. Having parted with this principal branch, the internal maxillary next gives a considerable twig, which after entering the posterior maxillary canal, in company with a portion of the fifth pair of nerves, to furnish the teeth with their blood, emerges at the symphysis of the chin, and loses itself in the muscles of the lips. The remaining trunk then passes through the sphenoid bone, along the junction of the palatine with the maxillary bones, where it forms the pala- tine artery, and ramifies around, giving rami which enter the brain, and others to the nose. The external branch of the in- ternal maxillary, which might, with propriety, be called poste- rior facial, is an important vessel, not only from its magnitude, but from its forming the most convenient part for examining the pulse of the horse. (This vessel, with its exact situation, is 160 ANGIOLOGY. shewn in the plate of Splanchnology, where it is the middle vessel of the three, as it comes from the under edge of the jaw, and then crosses the parotid duct, passing upwards towards the eye. See also, o, Plate III.) It passes over the posterior jaw near where the tuberous part ends, proceeding upwards, when it branches usually into three principal divisions, which are evi- dent in the plate : the first of these is generally given to the masseter, anastomosing with the temporal: the next may be called the nasal, which furnishes the superior and external parts of the nose ; it also gives some branches which commu- nicate with those given to the internal parts of the nose from the palatine. It likewise gives a ramus that runs up to the angle of the eye, communicating with some branches from the inside of the skull. This ramus is, from this course, called the angu- lar, and is the proper branch to divide in inflammations of the eye, and not the temporal, which is sometimes done : for the ramifications of the angular are particularly distributed to the coats of that organ ; whereas the temporal artery, as we have already shewn, is given wholly to the masseter muscle. — The third division of the posterior facial, or external branch of the internal maxillary, is the labial, which is the most inferior of the three, and passes down to furnish the muscles and parts below. The Posterior Aorta, The posterior aorta is continued from the division of the great trunk posteriorly (see Plate of Splanchnology, but where there is too great a mark of incurvation) , inclining to the left side of the vertebrae, nearly as far as the sacrum. Ductus arteriosus, — The aorta, where it passes posteriorly, having a slight curve over the pulmonary artery {see Plate IV), pre- sents the remains of a canal, by which, in the foetus, it com- municated with that artery, but which in the adult becoming shrunk and closed, appears now only as a slight ligamentous connexion. The intercostals. — The first three or four of these vessels are furnished from other sources ; the remainder arise from the pos- terior aorta, from each side posteriorly, as far as the diaphragm. They are continued on the inner surface of the intercostal mus- cles, at the posterior edge of each rib, nearly as far as the ster- num, furnishing the intercostal muscles in their course. It is evident from this distribution, that in any operation on the ribs, we should be cautious to avoid cutting on their posterior edge. — The phrenics are two arteries given off to the diaphragm as the aorta passes the crura of this muscle. The splenic, — This vessel forms a great variety in the horse from the human. In man, the splenic is a branch of a considerable trunk, which furnishes this as well as the coronary, the hepatic, and the gas- tric, and is itself called the ceeliac; but corresponding to which THE ARTERIES. 161 there is no such artery in the horse. In this animal the splenic arises from the aorta, and besides furnishing the spleen, it gives some branches to the stomach, the blood of which is likewise returned by the splenic vein ; but it does not furnish the pan- creatic, which arises usually by a distinct branch. —The gas- tries, right and left, arise generally by one trunk. The right gastric passes along the great curvature of the stomach, distri- buting its branches over it, which anastomose with the coro- nary. The left gastric is distributed to the lesser curvature and other parts of the stomach. — The pancreatic is in the horse generally a distinct branch from the aorta, furnishing the hepa- tic to the liver, and the coronary which supplies the duodenum, and the pyloric extremity of the stomach. — The hepatic ar- tery, derived from the pancreatic usually, is so small, that it is evident it can only furnish the liver with pure arterial blood for its support, but not with blood for its secreting offices. — — • The anterior and posterior mesenteries are two considerable branches given off from the aorta at some little distance from each other. The former is distributed to the mesentery, small intestines, and a small branch to the pancreas. —The poste- rior is likewise a considerable trunk, and furnishes the large intestines and mesocolon. These two arteries anastomose freely with each other by a particular branch, and surround the intes- tines, so as to form a network of vessels. ( Vide k, Plate IV.) In this artery there have been found worms, particularly in asses. — The emulgent, or renal arteries, are very considerable trunks given off, one from each side of the aorta. The right is considerably longer than the left, on account of the situation of the aorta, and its inclination to the left side of the vertebrae (vide Plate IV, where these vessels are displayed). It is like- wise usually more anterior than the left, from the kidney of this latter side being pressed backwards by the spleen. The emul- gents are large, and part from the aorta nearly at right angles, by which the circulation is retarded, for the purposes of secretion. They run almost in a direct line to the kidneys, and divide in the depressions of those glands into several branches, which are ramified throughout its secreting portion. The capsular are two small arteries usually arising from the emulgents, ante- riorly, and distributed through the renal capsules.— The sper- matic are two small arteries given off from the aorta soon after the emulgents ; connecting themselves to the spermatic veins by cellular tissue, they are continued down to the abdominal ring, or opening corresponding to what is so called in the human, where they cross the ureters in their passage ; and having join- ed the vasa deferentia, the whole being gathered into one rope by means of cellular membrane, is called the spermatic cord : they are finally distributed to the testicle, to furnish the semen ; and thus the division of these arteries as effectually castrates, as re- moving the testicles themselves. In marcs these vessels arise iQi ANGIOLOGY. in the same manner, but do not in them pass out of the abdo- men, being distributed to the ovaria and fallopian tubes. — The lumbar arteries are usually five or six small pairs, which arise from the superioi part of the aorta, similar to the intercostals, and are distributed to the spinal canal and lumbar muscles. The iliac arteries. — When the aorta has arrived to about the fifth lumbar vertebra, it divides into the two external iliacs, or rather it gives them off; and in about three quarters of an inch more, in a moderate sized horse, the trunk divides finally into two larger divisions, called the internal iliacs. — The internal iliacs are so called, because they are continued more inwardly towards the pelvis, and because they are priacipally distributed to the parts within it. — The umbilieals are usually the first branches from the internal iliacs ; sometimes these arise where the division of the aorta commences, [n the adult horse the umbilieals pass under the urethra, and gain the lateral parts of the bladder, to which they give some rami ; and then are lost. In the foetus they are, on the contrary, continued up to the um- bilicus, or navel, and carry blood between the placenta and the foal. In some instances they are quite obliterated after birth, and only a ligamentous rope is left ; in others they continue pervious to the bladder, as we have described. After this the internal iliac divides into several branches, but whose numbers and distribution are by no means always the same. — The inter- nal pudendal is often the next division of the internal iliac, passing between the bladder and rectum, and is principally dis- tributed to the parts of generation. — The sacral arteries are frequently, but not invariably the next, and are two or three small twigs, usually arising from one of the principal divisions; they enter the sacral holes, and furnish the nerves and membranes of that bone, and the tail. — The gluteal is generally the next pair : each runs along the internal part of the pelvis in company with the sciatic nerve, giving branches to all the parts around, and is finally ramified in the glutei muscles. — The ohturatrix, or is- chiatic, forms the next. Each passes out of its proper foramen thyroideum, and furnishes a branch to the corpora cavernosa in the male, and clitoris in the female. It is finally ramified in the articulations of the thigh bone with the pelvis. — The exter- nal iliacs pass more externally, and likewise furnish parts with- out the pelvis. They proceed one on each side down the iliac muscles towards the Fallopian ligament, in which course it gives off a branch to the psoas and abdominal muscles.— The epigastrics are given off within the pelvis; run obliquely upon the tendon of the transversalis, pass forward on the abdominal muscles, and then ramify with the internal pectoral. — The arte- ricB profunda are given off sometimes within and sometimes without the abdomen : occasionally the epigastrics arise from them. Each is a considerable branch, and runs down on the inside of the thigh,, to be distributed to the muscles of the upper THE ARTERIES. 163 part of the extremity. — The external pudendals go out by the crural arch, communicate with the internal pudendals, and are distributed to all the external parts of generation, giving branches to the inguinal glands : they are then carried along the penis, to be finally ramified throughout the glans. This artery in the mare furnishes the mammae, or bag. The crural arteries. — The external iliacs, passing out of the abdomen at the crural arch formed by Faliopius's ligament, receive here the name of crural, and accompany the psoas muscles out of the abdomen. Each crural artery descending along the lateral internal part of the femur, passes for some way in company with the crural veins between the pectineus and sartorius muscles, to about the middle of the femur ; where passing obliquely, it gains the pos- terior part of the thigh, and is continued down behind that bone. In its course, as already mentioned, it sometimes funiishes the profunda, which is distributed to the muscles of the inner side of the thigh, that this grand trunk might not be weakened by too numerous divisions. It usually furnishes some small branches to the neighbouring parts, one of which is given off soon after its origin, and may be called circumflexa, as it turns backwards to furnish the joint of the acetabulum, and some of the muscles close to the bone, as well as the bone itself ; it likewise gives other small branches. Continuing its course in the ham, be- tween the posterior condyle of the femur in company with the vein, the crural then changes its name to the popZiYea/, which ^Yst furnishes a large ramus to the articulation of the femur with the tibia, called articularis: after this, the main trunk soon divides into two principal divisions. The posterior tibial is one of these, which is continued down the posterior internal part of the tibia, giving the medullary artery in its passage under the flexor minus pedis, accompanying the vein, and like- wise joining the nerve in its course, through a groove formed by the calcaneum (vide IV, Fig. 1, Plate of the Posterior Extremities) : It passes in this groove in company with the perforating tendon of the flexor pedis muscle : it here gives several branches, the principal of which furnishes the hock, anastomosing by all its rami, but by one more particularly with the anterior tibial : another branch is continued down on the inner side of the internal metacarpal bone, which in its pas- sage gives the medullary artery to the canon. In this passage it may be called the internal metacarpal, and which is finally ramified into the 'integuments and parts at the posterior of the canon and pastern, anastomosing freely with the next. The anterior tibial. — The anterior tibial forms the other division of the politeal, and runs from between the condyles of the femur obliquely to the external superior part of the tibia, passing be- tween it and the fibula, in company with the vein {vide 15, Fig. 2), where the artery takes its course under the extensor longus pedis ; and again becomes evident between its tendon 164 ANGIOLOGY, and that of the lateral extensor, passing with them under the annular ligament, giving a branch to furnish these parts, and another that passes backwards to anastomose with the posterior tibial. It here changes its name to the external metacarpal ar- tery ; which passing from under the ligaments of the hock, is continued down obliquely over the front of the canon, towards the outer small metacarpal bone {vide 3, Fig, 2), which having reached, it penetrates between it and the canon, and is conti- nued on its inner side under the flexor tendons ; in its passage anastomosing with the internal metacarpal, frequently by a di- rect cross branch behind the bifurcating ligament. Accompa- nying the nerve and vein, it gains the superior part of the sessa- moid bones, when it bifurcates into the two lateral or pastern arteries, in the same manner as in the fore extremities ; being accompanied in its division in the like manner by the veins and nerves. The pastern arteries follow exactly the same distribu- tion as in the fore feet ; we shall not, therefore, pursue them farther, but refer to those. The Pulmonary Vessels, The passage of the blood through these vessels is termed the minor circulation^ and is effected by the pulmonary artery and veins. The pulmonary artery is a trunk of five or six inches in length, growing out from the right, or anterior ventricle of the heart: it is continued upon the side of the aorta to its division; where it is connected with that artery by means of the mem- branous canal we have described, called ductus arteriosus: im- mediately after which it divides into the right and left branches, whose length is nearly equal, but the size of the left is more considerable than that of the right. Each of these branches is divided upon its entering the lungs into others, which ramify throughout the parenchymatous substance in every direction. From the minute distributions of the artery, the blood is re- ceived by the ramifications of the pulmonary veins, when the venal recipient branches increasing gradually, unite into eight principal trunks, which all terminate in the left auricle of the heart*. The Veins generally. The veins are vessels that correspond with the arteries in their common office of carrying the blood ; but with this differ- ence, that the arteries distribute their blood from the heart to every part of the body, and consequently diminish in their indi- vidual diameter as they advance : whereas the veins bring back the blood from the parts the arteries had carried it to, and re- * In the human there are only six original veins, the two cavas, and the four pulmonary. In the horse, on the contrary, there are ten original veins, which are the two cavas, and the eight pulmonary. It is remarkable, that neither Bourgelat, La Fosse, nor Vitet, notice this peculiarity in the animal from the human. THE VEINS, 165 store it to the heart; gradually enlarging in their calibre as they advance. They may, therefore, be considered, as long mem- branous canals arising in every part of the body, and termi- nating in the heart. Their fabric is much more slender than that of an artery, allowing the colour of the blood to be seen through them, and never preserving their cylindrical figure when empty : nevertheless, they have very considerable strength, and though their coat may become distended, yet they very seldom burst. The number of the veins is greatly superior to that of the arteries in general. In some few instances, as in the lungs, the proportions are equal ; but in others, as in the extremities, the veins infinitely e^tceed the arteries in number. Their quan- tity is always, however, correspondent to the uses of the part, and to its liability to pressure. They are composed of two principal coats, the outer of which is either muscular, or of the^ nature of the elastic tunic of the arteries. Blumenbach con- tends for their muscularity ; but he was only able to detect thi& structure in the largest trunks. Certain it is they are highly elastic, as we know by their returning to their original size after the distention of exercise, or when a ligature has been applied. As the venal trunks are subject to pressure from muscular ac- tion, and as their coats are not strong, like the arteries, to resist it; and as likewise the stoppage of the blood would be attended with the greatest inconvenience ; so there are two orders of veins, a superficial and a deep seated; but which communicate with each other by anastomosis*. The superficial order, which is not so numerous as in the human, runs immediately under the skin; and are those vessels which become so prominent on violent exercise. This appearance judicious painters always express when they depict a horse either in action, or imme- diately after it ; by which nature is followed, and great force, beauty, and strength, given to the representation. But ignorant painters seeing this, have fallen into great error ; for it is not unusual to see two portraits of the same horse, one under cir- cumstances of the greatest exertion, the other perfectly at rest, with each the same number of superficial veins, swelled and prominent alike. To avoid the evils of pressure, another spe- ciality is observed in the veins, which is that some of them, particularly about the jaws, whose almost constant motion required it, enlarge into sacs or cavities, to prevent the hurtful effects of distention. The deep-seated order accompanies the arteries in their course, lying alongside of their trunks. Veins, having less solidity in their coat, are provided with * Mr. Perceval gives a familiar and good practical illustration of this. If, for example, you are drawing blood from the shoulder of a horse, and you take up the other fore leg, you know that the blood will flow in a much freer stream than if you allow the animal to favour the limb from which you are taking it ; for, by making him exert the muscles of the bleeding leg, the blood is pressed from the deep-seated into the superficial veins. — Lecture VI, 166 ANGiOLOGY. membranous projections called valves. A valve appears a duplicature of the inner coat of a vein, rising into a kind of curtain or fold, of which folds there are in the human seldom more than two, but in the horse often three. The valves are so formed, that the blood passing forward, keeps the vessel continually open ; but when, by pressure, the fluid is stopped in its course, the valve is pressed backward, and by that means expands, and prevents the retorn of the blood. These valves are not distributed equally throughout the venous trunks, but are much more universally placed in the horse than the human : in some they are rather more numerous, in others are entirely wanting, as in the foot, where the arterial force is sufficient without them. They exist in most of the cutaneous veins, and in most of those of the extremities, except the parts we have mentioned ; but there are but few^ in the viscera, nor are there any in those parts where the circulation is necessarily very slow, as in glands. The origin of veins is not so nume- rous as the terminations of the arteries. Four are well known to us : they spring from the inner surface of those cells into which the arteries have previously terminated. They arise also from larger cavities or sinuses : they also terminate by direct continuity of canal with minute arterial branches. The fourth is a more complex origin, being from the termination of other veins, as the vena portae. Veins, like arteries, are furnished with arterial blood for their support, by the vasa vasorum, which is returned by corresponding little veins, termed venae venarum. They have also their nerves, and undoubtedly their absorbents also. The blood is returned to the heart by a regu- lar flow, at least no pulsation has ever been satisfactorily de- tected ; nor have the veins, that we know of, any contractile power, beyond their elasticity. Of particular Veins, The original trunks in the horse are ten ; which are the ante- rior and posterior cavas, and eight pulmonary : to which may be added, the vencB portce, Yf e shall first consider the two cavas. There are two modes of describing the veins, beginning either by their extremities, and following the course of the blood, tracing their gradual augmentation, and final termination into the right auricle of the heart: or by beginning at the heart, and proceeding to the extremities. The former appears the most correct, and has been followed by some of the most eminent anatomists: but as it is to be considered that the arteries, by having been already described in their proper course, give a considerable key to the knowledge of the veins, which in most cases accompany them, which advantage, if this description were reversed, would be in a great measure lost ; so to avoid this I shall consider the veins as vessels merely springing THB VEINS. 167 from the heart, and distributed as the arteries to all parts of the body, without reference to the course of the blood within them. The real origin of the cava has not, by comparative anato- mists, been described sufliciently : It is spoken of, as though it arose by one trunk, and then divided; whereas it goes out of the heart by two trunks, from separate parts of the right auricle op- posite to each other. (Though their immediate origin cannot be seen in the plate, it can be readily discovered that they arise in this manner,) That which arises from the anterior portion of the auricle, forms the anterior cava ; while the other from the posterior part, forms the posterior cava. The anterior chiefly furnishes the chest, fore legs, and head. The posterior is prin- cipally distributed to the belly, and hinder extremities. The anterior cava arises from the anterior and superior por- tion of the right auricle: as it passes forward, it inclines a little superiorly, penetrating the pericardium. Opposite to the first rib it divides into four principal trunks, two of which (the axil- lary) go off at right angles, and two at half right lines with itself, which are the jugulars. The axillaries, the first division of the aorta, are two principal trunks passing over the first rib. But before these general distributions of the anterior cava, it gives some smaller trunks w^hich receive blood from parts corres- ponding with the branches given off by the aorta in its passage. The principal of these is the vena azygos, which passes on the right side of the dorsal vertebras, and receives the blood from all the posterior intercostals on each side. The vertebrals are given off opposite to the second rib, and pass at the base of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebras, giving branches between these bones in the same manner as the arte- ries whose blood they receive, and anastomosing with the jugular. The rest of the branches are the superior intercostal, the dor- sal, mediastinal, superior diaphragmatic, and internal pectoral, whose mode of origin frequently varies. This branch of the cava then divides, as we have mentioned, into the two axilla- ries and the two jugulars. The axillaries. — The first general division of the anterior cava, is by two principal trunks which pass over the first rib. In the human they are called subclavian, because they pass under the clavicle ; and Vitet has very erroneously named them sous claviere in the horse also, which has no clavicle : nor have these veins the same unequal length as the human subclavians, as the situation of the cava at their division is not so far to the right; yet still the left is rather the longest. Passing before the axillary artery each gains the humerus, giving in its passage the external pectoral, and some other branches corresponding with, and receiving the blood of the branches of the axillary vein. Having gained the articulation of the shoulder with the humerus, the axillary takes the name of humeral. The humeral pours its blood into the axillary, sometimes in M 168 ANGIOLOGY, one, at others in several trunks : when it arises from the axil - lary in one, it soon after divides into several branches, which are distributed to different parts of the upper portion of the ex- tremity. The principal branch descends towards the posterior part of the radius, where it takes the name of radial, in com- pany with the artery; first giving a branch to the posterior part of the fore arm called ulnar y and sometimes a deep seated one in front also ; then passing down in company with the artery, it anastomoses freely in its course with the cephalic, or exter- nal vein, and is contiuued downwards together with the meta- carpal artery ; when it receives the name oi internal metacarpal, as the united trunks of the other branch and cephalic do that of external metacarpal. The external and internal metacarpal veins usually unite to form the external and internal plantar ov pastern. Besides these divisions of the deeper seated vessels, there i^ a superficial order situated on the surface of the extremity. The superficial set arises from the jugular, usually in one trunk, soon after its origin : passing under the axillary gland, it tra- vels from the chest downwards, towards the point of the shoul- der, where it crosses the muscles of the arm ; or rather it runs down the biceps muscle, where it usually gives a branch to run superficially, directly in front of the arm ; the principal branch is then continued inwardly towards the inside of the arm, form- ing what is termed the cephalic, or plate vein. (Vide n, Fig. 2, Plate VII). It is this vein farriers usually open in drawing blood from the shoulder or arm. It here receives a branch from the humeral, soon after which, it in some instances divides into two rami ; in others, it is continued down in one united trunk on the inner side of the radius, but superficially. Near the knee, it frequently, likewise, divides into two, which surround the inner side of the joint, but unite again below it, and pass down on the outer side of the ligament, receiving branches from the integuments, and anastomosing with the deeper seated trunk : when arrived at the bottom of the canon, it unites with the in- ternal metacarpal, when the united trunks bifurcate to form the external and internal plantar, or pastern, as has been before described. The subsequent course of the veins from the pas- tern downwards, is similar to that of the arteries, except that their branches are much more numerous ; by which and by the absence of valves in the veins of the feet, the evils of pressure, to which they are here peculiarly liable, are avoided. The ju- gulars being part of the principal divisions of the anterior aorta, as we have said, run up one on each side the trachea : In their passage they give a considerable branch soon after their bifur- cation, which is the cephalic, or plate vein, just described. Having given these branches, and furnished the parts in their passage with small rami, of which the principal is the thyroid; toW'>rds the head they penetrate deeper, and approach the ca- THE VEINS. 169 rotids : when arrived opposite the angle and tuberosity of the lower jaw, about three or four inches from it, they bifurcate into two grand divisions, within which bifurcation lies one por- tion of the parotid glands (See Plate IV). The lower branch may be called the inferior division of the jugular, and the upper branch the superior division. It must be remembered, that the distribution of blood to the head of the horse and man is dif- ferent ; in the former there is no internal jugular properly so called; but the vein performing the office of the internal jugular is a branch of the superior division. This vessel dilates under the masseter, and in other parts of its passage about the jaws, into sacs not unlike aneurismal enlargements of the arteries, purposely to avoid the effects of pressure arising from the al- most incessant motion of the jaws. — The inferior division of the jugular (see Plate IV) corresponds with the anterior external jugular of the human, and is called the internal maxillary; pass- ing inwards, it gives some small branches to the larynx and tongue, and then passes over the jaw to its outer side : running up the anterior edge of the masseter muscle (see Plate) y it gives a branch to the lips, w^hile another enters a foramen in the lower jaw that extends to the chin, into which this branch enters, with a branch of the fifth pair of nerves, and an artery, to furnish in their passage the teeth of this jaw. Passing up, it makes usually three principal divisions, at other times more, and sometimes less. — The^rsf branch penetrates the attachment of the masseter to the spine of the maxillary bone, and running under this spine, gives a ramus that forms the palatine vein ; it then penetrates the orbit under the zygomatic process, dividing into several ramifications. The second division, which is the posterior of the upper bifurcation (see Plate IV), passes in- wards under the spine, to meet the temporal vein with which it ramifies, and then gives a branch to form the angular vein, and sometimes likewise another that enters the skull. The other and most anterior of this superior bifurcation gives its ramifi- cations to the nose. 4^s this branch of the jugular comes under the jaw towards its outer side, it changes its name, and is pro- perly the external maxillary, as it accompanies the maxillary artery. The superior division of the jugular passes up between the lobuli of the parotid gland, and through it, furnishing it with ramifications ; and in this course it forms divisions, which are not always alike ; there, however, usually appear three greater trunks, and one or two less. (See Plate IV, where the larger divisions appear.) The first of these greater divisions is considerable, and cor- responds in office with the internal jugular of the human. It penetrates under the maxillary bone, and is the branch seen in the inner view of the head {Fig. 2, k), entering by a foramen, at the base of the skull ; sometimes it gives the temporal vein. The next branch furnishes the masseter muscle, in company M 2 170 ANGIOLOGY. with an artery, called the external maxillary. The third large division gives, at times, the temporal vein, which is that seen in Plate IV (fj ; it passes under the spine of the maxilla, and anastomoses principally with the external branch of the inter- nal maxillary. The other branches of this third division pro- ceed towards the occipital bone, &c., and give rami to the inner part of the skull at the cerebellum. The Posterior Cava. The blood is returned from the lower extremities, from the abdomen, and from the thorax below the heart, by the vena cava and vena porta. The vena portarum returns the blood of the chylopoietic and assistant chylopoietic viscera, which are those particularly concerned in the formation of the chyle; while the cava returns that from all the other parts. The vena cava posterior is sent out from the posterior and lower portion of the right auricle, having but a very small part of it contained in the pericardium. It gives first the coronaries, which return part of the blood of the coronary arteries ; and as it proceeds it is continued on the right side of the spine, inclining rather towards the aorta. Passing through the tendinous portion of the diaphragm, rather to the right side, it gives two or three branches to this muscle ; from whence it proceeds through the great sinus of the liver, where it receives the hepatic veins, which are indefinite in their number, but are always numerous and considerable. From the liver, the cava is continued to the loins, approaching the aorta, where it receives the mesenteries'^ y emulgentSy and the right spermatic ; the left usually enters the left emulgent, to avoid the disadvantageous course it must otherwise pursue. In the mare the spermatics are given to the ovaria, but, in the horse, they accompany the artery out of the abdomen with the spermatic cord. The emulgents usually give the renal veins, which receive the blood from those glands; and the lumbar veins next accept the blood given by the arte- ries of that name. The cava having arrived at the termination of the lumbar vertebras, bifurcates ; from which results the external and internal iliacs. The internal furnish the pudicae internae, and sometimes the veins of the penis, which receive the blood dis- tributed by the corresponding arteries. They likewise usually furnish the sacral veins. The external iliacs gi^e numerous branches answering to those from the arteries of the same name: the uterine arise from them. In the male, a branch is usually ramified on the tunica vaginalis of the testicle. Other branches are the glutei, the ohturatrix, and pudicce externa ; and a parti- cular branch to the muscles of the abdomen, as well as the mammary in the mare. Passing out of the abdomen with the * Haller found valves in these vessels, as well as in those he has called hae- morrhoidal. THE VEINS. 171 psoas muscle, under the Fallopian ligament, the external iliac takes the name of crural in company with the artery,— The crural vein accompanies the artery out of the abdomen, when, passing between the pectineus and sartorius muscles, it first gives a branch that principally forms the superficial set of the posterior extremities, called saphena major, and a smaller one on the outer side, not always present, called saphena minor.— The saphena appears along the internal part of the thigh, just under the skin, giving branches to the integuments, one of w^hich is considerable; likewise a branch communicating with the posterior tibial, when passing down the inner side of the leg, it usually receives a considerable ramus from the anterior ti- bial; and is then carried obliquely towards the inside of the hock, over the inner condyle of the tibia ; at which part, pass- ing over the bursa mucosa, it is liable, on the diseased enlarge- ment of that capsule, to become varicosed, forming what is called blood-spavin. From this it gains the canon posteriorly in a similar manner with the artery, on the outer side ; where piercing between the large and small metacarpals, it unites with the posterior tibial, giving branches to all the surrounding parts, and to the canon, pastern, and foot. — The little saphena, when present, receives the blood from the external side of the hock and tibia, which it pours into the saphena major. The crural or femoral vein, having gained the posterior and lower part of the femur, in the same manner with the artery, receives the name of popliteal. — The popliteal divides into two trunks, which sometimes form each of them into two or more branches, distinguished by the names of anterior and posterior tibial. The^ posterior tibial accompanies the artery, receiving branches from the surrounding parts, and passing in a groove of the cal- caneum with the tendon of the perforatus muscle (see Fig. 1, PL VIII) where the nerve is seen that accompanies it, though the vein is not, but which shews its course. From its passage at the posterior part of the hock, it gives branches to the sur- rounding parts, and receives the name oi internal metacarpal. It is then continued down the posterior part of the canon, to- w^ards the inferior part of which, it receives the saphena, and then dividing with the artery, it forms the pastern veins, in the same manner as in the fore extremiRes. The anterior fiftia/fgrn accompanying the artery, passes w^ith it under the edge of the extensor longus pedis. In this course it gives a branch to the saphena, and then furnishing the ante- rior part of the hock, it passes down under the ligaments to its posterior part on the outer side, from whence it is called exter- nal metacarpal. It gives in this course branches to the sur- rounding parts, and is continued to the pastern and foot, but principally to the canon and pastern. From the pasterns the veins proceed into the feet, and are most plentifully ramified throughout them, by which the pressure those vessels must ex- 172 A!vithout by a set of vessels destined particularly to that oflice, is compara- tively of late discovery; for though a vascular system distinct from the blood vessels was long known*, yet its uses were not even conjectured at; until a milky fluid was discovered soon after eating in such of these transparent tubes as originated from the intestines. These received the name oUacteals; some time after others of these, which had been ti'aced to arise from the body generally, and were constantly found filled with a thin limpid fluid, were named the hjmphatics. Subsequent discoveries have, how ever, given reason to suppose that neither in structure or functions is there any real difference between these two sets of absorbing vessels; but that both are destined. by a common mode of action, to receive fluids from the part * As early as the time ut' Galen, Ivinphatie vesseb were seen in a sroat by Erasistratus, who toll^itlered tlieiu as a peeiiliar species of arteries. Eiista- chius discovered the thoracic duct in a horse, which he crusidcrcd as an ex- traordinary vein (vena sive pari ) : Riquet traced the chyle from the intestines into this duct, and thu» became acquainted wiih its u&es. X74 ANGIOLOGY. their ramifications are spread upon, and to carry such fluids by one common destination into the blood. By what means this is effected we know not. It was for some time attributed to ca- pillary attraction; but this is now disbelieved, and absorption is considered to be a power sui generis, operated by the action of the vessels themselves. To effect this their tunics or coats* are necessarily very strong, and their powers are further assisted by valves, which are numerous and placed at convenient dis- tancesf. To compass their extensive office, they divide them- selves into a superficial and a deep seated set, both of which anastomose freely with each other: the former set usually ac- companies the principal external veins, while the latter is found near the principal arteries. Their living powers are great, from their plentiful supply of blood vessels and nerves| ; of which the phenomena of their great energy in health, and their readi- ness to inflame and consequent sensibility under disease, are sufficient proofs. The lacteal absorbents are that part of this system which arises from the inner surface of the intestines, particularly from the small ones, by means of the villi, which appear to be prin- cipally composed of numerous lacteal orifices, from whence they pass in minute capillary tubes obliquely through the intestinal coats to gain the mesentery, uniting as they proceed into larger trunks, which are continued through conglobate glands situated in it, and thence called mesenteric. During this course they are called primary, or original lacteals; and as they again pass out of these glands towards the thoracic duct, they are called secondary lacteals. Those of the small intestines proceed to the roots of the mesentery, where, uniting into an indefinite number of considerable trunks, they accompany the mesenteric artery, (see Plate IV) from which they proceed by the side of the aorta, and terminate in the receptaculum chyli. Those of the large intestines, and which are very numerous in the horse, • Mr. Criiicksbanks conceives that the absorbents have two coats; others attribute to them an external elastic, a middle muscular, and an internal imooth and membranous: by the former they can recover their dimensions after distention, and by the latter their contents are propelled forwards. Their muscularity is proved by their contractile power when externally irritated. f The valves are disposed in pairs, but not equidistant ; some parts have few, and in some they are numerous. A valve does not appear to take on disease so readily as the vessel itself; from which it has been conjectured to be of a different structure to the internal surface of the tube itself. Farcied buds are said to be the ulceration of the obstructed lymphatic, intercepted by the valve : but now and then I have seen the valve itself form the bud, and more often a small lymphatic gland has received the infection and become enlarged. Valves tend to intercept the weight of the column, and thus assist their power gene- rally; they also effectually prevent any retrograding of the lymphatic contents. J Although nerves may be distinctly traced to ramify on their larger branches, yet some experiments go to prove that these vessels can act without the influence of the nerves. LYMPHATICS OF THE HEAD, &C. 175 arise by trunks which pass up the vertebras with the aorta, and empty themselves into the same receptacle with the lymphatics. The lymphatic absorbents are more universally though not equally distributed, some parts being more plentifully supplied than others : and although they have never been demonstrated in the brain, there is no reason to doubt of their existence in that, as in all the organs of the body, the cuticle, hair, and hoofs excepted. The lymphatic absorbents arise from the cells of the universal investing membrane of the body ; they also originate from all the great cavities of the machine, and take up the fluids deposited there by the arteries. Some of them take their rise from the surface of the skin also : thus various substances rubbed on the skin produce effects exactly similar to those arising from the reception of the same substances into the stomach. The lymphatics of the head, neck, and fore extremities, all of them present a superficial and a deeper seated set. In the head they arise from all its parts, and, passing down the neck, some accompany the carotid artery, while others are situated more superfi-cially. Those of the fore extremities arise from the sensible parts within the hoof, and pass up on each side of the limb ; the deeper seated in company with the metacarpal and radial artery. The superficial is principally situated on the inner side (vide Plate VII) which it traverses to reach the ax- illary lymphatic glands within the neck (near the origin of the saphena vein), which it penetrates in company with the deep seated branch to again emerge and join the chylous receptacle. The lymphatics of the hinder extremities arise like those of the fore, and pass on each side of the pastern and canon on the outer side of the ligaments : when arrived at the hock, their principal trunks, which are numerous, proceed up the inside of the thigh till they reach the inguinal glands, which are situated in the groin near the scrotum in the horse, and the bag in the mare. The lymphatics of the penis and muscles of the ab- domen are poured into them here, from whence the whole again pass out and enter the abdomen with the crural vessels. The gUmds of the groin vary in number and size ; and it is wor- thy of remark, that there are but few lymphatic glands of mo- ment between these and the feet. Deeper seated lymphatics also follow the course of the deep seated vessels, and unite with the others in the inguinal glands. Arrived within the pel- vis, they receive ramifications from all the surrounding parts : proceeding in company with the aorta in several considerable trunks, they enter the receptaculum chyli. The absorbent glands are vascular oval bodies, so intimately connected with the absorbent system, as well lacteal as lym- phatic, as to be generally considered as an integral part of the system itself. Their size difiers considerably : some are minute, others are much larger, as we know by what wc call the kernels 176 ANGIOLOGY. in meat; their structure is cellular, and each has an investing capsule. When an absorbent enters a lymphatic gland, it first divides itself into several branches, all ot which then ra- naify throughout the inner surface of its cell : other ramifica- tions again take their origin from the opposite sides of the same cell, to be continued forward ; but what purposes are intended to be accomplished thereby we do not at present know. The absorbent glands of the lacteals are called mesenteric*, and those of the lymphatics receive the name oflymphaticf glands. The chylous receptacle, which we have described as receiving the joint product of this system, contracts itself into a tubular form, and is continued under the name of thoracic duct. In some cases it has more than one trunk, but which always unite in their passage along the spine, entering the chest between the crura of the diaphragm, and continuing in company with the vena azygos, between the aorta and vena cava, to termi^ nate obliquely into the left jugular vein near its junction with the axillary, and sometimes into the junction itself. The physiology of the absorbing system is very important, not only as it explains many heretofore inexplicable pheno- mena in the economy, but as it very greatly increases the range of power in the healing art. Mr. Hunter was at great pains to elucidate the process of absorption, as exclusively operated bv the lymphatic system, which process had been heretofore attri- buted to the veins ; and for a long time his authority, with that of others, served to give this theory very general credence. Of late, however, some of the most eminent physiologists have again been disposed to attribute some of this power to the veins, yet in a more partial degree than before ; and the facts brought forward appear to support such a supposition! : but * The mesenteric glands are by no means similarly disposed alike in all quadrupeds ; in some, as the dog, instead of being dispersed as in the horse, they are collected into one mass, called, after its discoverer, the pancreas Assellii. t The lymphatic glands appear, contrary to the quality of the valves, to be more disposed to disease than the lymphatic tubes; as we see by the absorp- tion of cantharides in blister: some morbid poisons likewise, as the venereal in the human, and the malignant epidemic in cattle, occasion abscesses in the glands without affecting the vessels by which they passed. In the human subject the mesenteric glands are more prone to disease than the Ivmphatic, but in the horse the contrary is the case. X Haller favoured the opinion that the lymphatics were only a peculiar continuation of the arteries or veins, and others have since adopted the same supposition; among whom Dr. Majendie stands foremost in experiment and argument. He considers that there is a trne distinction between the lacteals and lymphatics : the former he considers as real absorbents, but that they in- variably confine themselves to the absorption of the chyle. Thus he sup- poses the villous surface of the small intestines to be formed, partly from these, and partly from venous orifices; by which latter the remaining fluids are taken up. He also argues that the general absorption of fluids from cavities and surfaces cannot be proved, but, on the contrary, he thinks may be effec- tually disproved^ and which he elucidates by many curious experiments ; for which we would refer the student to the 2d vol. of Precis Elementahe de Phy- sioloaic. THB ABSORBENTS, 177 although the work of absorption may occasionally be perform- ed by veins, it is certainly principally operated by the lympha- tics ; and until they were known, not only were we unable to account for many appearances that we now know the cause of; but we were unable to bring about many effects in the constitu- tion, now perfectly under our command. It is by these that the most surprising changes are also naturally effected in the con- stitution. From numerous facts, we are certain that the various organs of the body are continually changing, wholly or partially, their component parts, either for renovation or alteration. It appears that the office of the arteries is to build up new parts, and to repair the waste of others ; but the old ones must be first of all pulled down and removed by absorption"^. By this wonderful power the alveoli are removed, when their sharp edges would injure the gums ; the roots of the temporaneous teeth are absorbed, that their crowns may more easily give way : by this the gubernaculum testis, having fulfilled its office, is ab- sorbed, and the thymus gland becomes removed. The vascular cartilages are taken up by the absorbents, to make room for a bony deposit when the animal approaches maturity. By these likewise the fluids as well as solids continually change, being taken up, and carried back into the mass of blood, and from whence they are afterwards redeposited by the work of the arte- ries. It is by these that the dead are separated from the living parts in sloughing and ulceration, and by them coagulable lymph and extravasated blood are removed. By the super- ficial absorbents, matters are received from without the body also : in insects oxygen is thus received, for smearing their surfaces with oil, by stopping their absorbent pores, suffocates them. Various gases are also thus taken in ; and perhaps in this way disease is sometimes produced. Atmospheric mois- ture is one of the externals readily taken in by the superficial absorbents, and hence grazing horses require little or no water; and especially if not exposed to the heat of the sun, whereby evaporation or exhalation is promoted. It is by this absorbing power that some animals, as rabbits, Slc, do not drink at all; taking all their aqueous nutriment by their skin and from the matters they eat. Hence likewise unfortunate mariners, de- prived of fresh water at sea, wrap garments wetted with salt water around them; when the absorbents refrse in a great mea- sure the salt, but suck up the aqueous particles, and thereby lessen the thirst. The office of the absorbents is most impor- ♦ The ratio of action between the depositing arteries and the absorbing ' vessels, varies accordnig to circumstances, and according lo periods of life : in the young the balance is with the arteries, whose deposit during the growth of the animal is greater than the absorption: in middle life their actions are naturally equal, except when influenced by accidental circumstances; while in old age the absorbents preponderate in activity, and remove the parts fa&ter than they are regenerated by the arteries. 178 ANGIOLOGY. tant also in the preservation of life, by their capability of dis- placing the animal oil or marrow from the bones, and the adeps or fat from the body generally, when an animal becomes accidentally deprived of food. In this way fasting can be borne for even weeks ; the constitution being supplied from within through the medium of the absorbents. The hybernating animals live during their torpidity by a slow absorption of ani- mal oil ; and it is found, as in the instance of the torpid bear, that however fat they may enter their seclusion, they return lean and emaciated. We have hitherto spoken only of the healthy and ordinate action of these vessels : but there appear circumstances under which they have an unhealthy and inordinate action; and w hich alone renders it plain that absorption is not to be consi- dered as an act of capillary attraction : if it were, their absorb- ing capacities would ever remain the same; but we on the con- trary find, that sometimes they scarcely act at all, while at others they are empowered with even too much energy ; and, as a farther proof of it, we are enabled, by various means, to sti- mulate or rouse them to increased action. An inordinate ac- tion of the absorbents has been supposed to occasion both dropsy and diabetes ; and although both of these diseases are now differently accounted for, yet we have reason to believe that the capacity of the lymphatics to receive aqueous fluids from without is not the same at all times. We have also equal reason to know that their action can be rendered to a great degree inert, and that morbid accumulations are a conse- quence of such want of energy : thus, in some horses, a watery deposit in the legs and heels is very common ; and although it may be attributed to an increased action of the arteries, yet the action of the absorbents is evidently defective in these in- stances, as we know by the effects which arise in such cases when they are artificially stimulated by exercise or friction. The absorbents appear to own a power also of selection with regard to the matters they take up. The lacteals seem parti- cularly and exclusively to employ themselves in the absorption of chyle, and the lymphatics also receive some matters and re- ject others. To a knowledge of the properties of this system, the practice of medicine is indebted for some of its most valuable acquisi- tions ; and although we have less knowledge of any mode of lessening an undue absorption, we have many means of in- creasing it. Mechanical friction is one of them : hence it is that rubbing the legs proves so beneficial in removing oedema- tous swellings : for the same reason, some farriers beat a splent before they put on a blister. We can likewise stimulate these vessels by mercury ; thus it has been common to apply various preparations of this metal to splents, spavins, &c., whereby the bony deposit has been sometimes removed. Pressure also sti- NEUROLOGY, 179 mulates them; from which it is that we girth horses tight to pro- mote absorption of the adeps and interstitial fluid. Exercise swells the muscles and increases pressure, and thus exercise removes swelled legs in a very little time, and our older farriers used to bind lead on their splents and spavins, that the pres- sure might promote their absorption. Cantharides has also an effect upon them : thus we blister swellings, exostoses, &c. A still stronger stimulant is the actual cautery ; from whence arises the very common and free use of fire in veterinary prac- tice, to all obstinate and diseased enlargements; and which from experience we are aware is the most powerful means of promoting absorption that we are acquainted with. There is likewise a strong sympathy between the stomach and the ab- sorbent system at large, whereby nauseating medicines increase their action powerfully. But of this we are not enabled to avail ourselves in the horse so readily as we can in the human : nevertheless, a nauseating effect is not wholly denied to some medicaments, as we know by the effects producted. Purga- tives and diuretics promote internal absorption ; for by remov- ing the contents and increasing the serous deposit, a call is made, which the absorbents obey, to repair the waste. ^Ut XIII. NEUROLOGY. The Brain and its Meninges, AT the head of the nervous system stands the brain, which is that soft white mass contained within the cavity of the skull, and invested by membranous meninges or matres, which we shall describe first. The dura mater is the most external of these, and by lining much of the cavity of the skull, it performs the double office of a support to the brain, and a periosteum to the cranial bones, to which it adheres very strongly by its tendinous filaments, which are most numerous at the sutures. It forms several folds or prolongations : such is the falx which divides the cerebral lobes. Other expansions form sinuses to receive the blood returned from the interior of the brain ; while some of its elongations even leave the skull to line the orbits, the eustachian tubes, and to cover the spinal marrow. The membrana aracktioidea appears a very fine external lamen of the pia mater ; so thin as to be compared to a spider's web^ from whence it takes its name. It is spread uniformly over the surface of the brain, without entering into any of its convolu- tions, and is connected to the pia mater by a cellular substance. The pia mater is a fine vascular web, externally smooth and internally villous ; it immediately invests the brain and enters its convolutions, as well as those of the cerebellum and me- ISO NEUROLOGY. dulla oblongata. It adheres to the dura mater by the veins passing from it into the sinuses ; and its numerous fine blood vessels pierce the brain in abundance : its real use appears to be a medium for the transit of blood vessels. The cranial brainy by a natural division formed from its ap- pearances, its situation, and its physiological phenomena, di- vides itself into two parts. The cerebrum is the first and largest portion, bounded anteriorly by the frontal bones, and inferiorly resting on the ethmoidal and frontal cavities {vide a, e,/, PL III, ^fig. 1). It is anteriorly convex and posteriorly nearly flat; and does not conceal the cerebellum, as in the human*. It it divid- ed longitudinally through its whole extent, into two hemisphe- rical portions, between which the falciform process of the dura mater extends. Its peripheral or cortical part is greyish, and is exteriorly indented by furrows or convolutions, which in the horse are singularly deep. The interior and larger portion call- ed the medullary, is whiter and more tenacious than the outer ; and which tenacity is even more conspicuous than in the hu- man brain. On separating the hemispheres, the corpus callo- sum appears, terminating in a species of medullary arch, and presenting as it were a nucleus to the cerebrum, and thence called centrum ovale. The tentorium cerebelli is a transverse septum which divides the cerebrum from the cerebellum. By this septum, the cranium is separated into two portions, a larger anterior and inferior, containing the two lobes of the cerebrum; and a smaller, which is superior and posterior in the usual 4)0- sition of the head. The dura mater laminates at the falciform process, to form a cavity destined to receive the blood which has circulated through the brain. This long triangular venous hollow is called the longitudinal sinus, and extends to the transverse septum, where it bifurcates, and is continued double under the name of the lateral sinuses, which passing out of the skull, are then called the jugular veins. On making a longitu- dinal section of the two cerebral hemispheres, on a level with the corpus callosum, two oblong cavities are brought into view, called the anterior or lateral ventricles, one being appropriate to each lobe of the cerebrum, extending throughout its length. These ventiicles naturally contain a very small quantity of in- terstitial limpid fluid ; but under any active excitement of the brain, as mad staggers, &c., this quantity is increased to two or three ounces, and is then often sanguineous. In stomach stag- gers, I have also found the quantity increased, but not to so great a degree. These cavities communicate with each other by a canal situated behind a medullary arch termed /orwix; on * The pendant position of the head of the horse necessarily makes some difference between the relative sitnations of the human and brute brain ; but the relative situation of each as regards the bones is the same. The veteri- nary student, in studying the description of the comparative anatomy of both, should keep this in mind, to prevent error. THE BRAIN AND ITS MENINGES. Igl removing which and laying open the ventricles, a vascular web or plexus choroides is seen, apparently destined to furnish the internal parts of the brain with blood, as the pia mater performs that office for the outer. As may be supposed, in all vascular excitements, local or general, this plexus is liable to be preter- naturally suffused with blood ; and in phrenitis it is often dis- tended to turgescence. The lateral ventricles branch out into other cavities, called also ventricles, two remarkable ones of which are found in the tubular origins of the olfactory nerves. The pituitary gland is a spongy body of considerable magni- tude in the horse, lodged between the sphenoidal folds of the dura mater in the centre of the cavernous sinus. The pineal gland^, the tubercula quadrigemini of the cerebrum; and the emi- nences, processus, processes and other minor peculiarities of the cerebellum, may be gained by a reference to the description of the human brain ; with which they correspond very intimately. In reference to which it may be remarked, that except the specia- lities already noticed, there is no organ of the horse's body wherein the anatomical similarity is so great to the human, as in the brain. The cerebellum (b,fig. 1, PL III), or little brain, IS contamed within the occipital bone, and rests upon the ten- torium or transverse septum of the dura mater; and is, in the horse, placed superiorly and a little posteriorly to the cere- brum, with which it unites by its inferior part. It is not, how- ever, so large, being as 1 to 7, and is divided into four lobes ; which are an inferior, two lateral, and a superior. It is com- posed like the cerebrum of two substances, but which are some- what differently disposed, giving to a longitudinal section of it the appearance of a tree, the medullary white part branching out from a body; whence it is called arbor vitce. Externally the cerebellum is formed into numerous sulci, but it has no cir- cumvolutions. The fourth ventricle, which in the horse is very considerable, is situated within this body, having its posterior surface upon the medulla oblongata, and its anterior being formed of the cerebellum. The medulla oblojigata (a, b, c,fig. 1, PL III) is formed by the reciprocal continuation of the medullary substances of the cerebrum and cerebellum, by two portions from each called its crura. Thus formed, it proceeds upward and backward to the edge of the foramen magnum in the occipital bone, to be conti- nued under another name. The immediate composition of the brain is little understood ; * This ftir-famed substance was lon^ supposed to be the seat of the soul ; Dut It was rather sino;ular that this immaterial essence should have chosen the most mundane and degraded of the parts of the brain for a residence : for, irom the adult period of the human subject, it almost alwavs envelopes a quantity ot earth ; and which, it is curious, is almost confined to the human S*"^ 'n y"^',7?"'y/" ^ ^^"^ '"^''^ instances been met with in the -oat and ??fiK ~1rf 'T, * '''''' P'^^P"" '^^^ *"**^^'« Glandulam Pinealem satis ; Mogunt. i loo.^Jincefalotomia d'alcum Qmdrupedi, p. 31. 182 NEUROLOGY. but it is generally considered as fibrous, such a structure being apparent in some of its parts. It is not in itself an organ of great sensibility ; on the contrary, some portions of it, as the cerebrum, are nearly insensible. Its diseases in the horse are principally confined to inflammation, which is either idiopathic, as in mad staggers ; or symptomatic, as in the staggers of dis- tended stomach : and to a morbid irritation of it, producing convulsion, as in tetanus. The chronic hydrocephalus, or slow collection of aqueous fluid within the cavities of the brain, and between its membranes, is not common in the horse. Sheep are frequently afiected with hydatids on its exterior, and within the cerebral ventricles ; particularly in the lateral ones. The medulla spinalis, or spinal marrow, is a continuation of the medulla oblongata, which leaving the skull, enters the spinal canal invested by the membranes which covered the brain, which serve to sustain it ; and as a farther support, a portion of the dura mater is given ofi' to attach itself firmly to the edge of the foramen magnum. The spinal brain appears in every respect a true continuation of the substance of the cerebral brain; like that, it is fibrous, and presents two distinct columns and cortical and medullary portions. Its consistence is how- ever firmer, which its division rendered necessary. Continued within the bodies of all the vertebras, it is still further protected from injury. It has been ascertained to be hollow in the horse, ox, sheep, hog, and dog*. In its passage it gives between each vertebra a branch on either side, called the spinal nerve. The blood vessels of the brain and medulla spinalis we have before described in the Angiology, where it will be found that both are supplied by the carotids partially, and by the vertebrals princi- pally, by which a large proportion of blood is carried to the head. The arteries enter the skull in a very convoluted man- ner ; when anastomosing very freely, and giving some branches to the dura mater, they are continued on the pia mater ; from whence their capillary branches enter the substance of the brain. The medulla spinalis is furnished by two branches call- ed arteriae spinales, given from the vertebrals, and some rami from the carotids. The blood is returned by the veins of the pia mater, which accompany all the circumvolutions of the brain, and, at length, pour the blood into the sinuses. Upon an inspection of the blood vessels of an injected brain, we shall easily observe that nature has taken a wonderful degree of care to prevent the effects of too rapid a circulation of the great quantity of blood sent to it ; by which, as well as by the great length of the carotids, an apoplectic tendency is completely * Mr. Sewell, of the Veterinary College, first gave publicity to this inte- resting fact.— P/a7. Trans. 1800, p. 146. This medullary hollow originates in a sulcus of the brain called calamus scriptorius, and extends through the whole length of the spinal marroNV to the cauda equina. It is present also in the hu- man foetus ; and is in both furnished with a colourless fluid. \ I THB BRAIN, &C. 183 counteracted. It is likewise worthy of remark, that the whole of this important organ is guarded by a bony case, and as the vessels enter this case, they become also equally guarded ; and that there might be no danger of the blood being obstructed be- fore it arrives here, it is supplied by two sets of arteries ; the principal of which pass up in such a manner as to be freed from even the chance of pressure ; being encased as it w^ere by the cervical vertebrae, and hence called vertebrals. In the veins there is a contrary speciality, because in them it was es- sentially necessary that they should be able to carry off the blood freely and regularly, seeing so great a quantity is sent to the head, and that the effects either of obstruction or rupture w^ould be so serious : hence these veins have no valves, nor do they accompany the arteries ; but are distinct and triangular, being formed of the strong firm coat of the dura mater, and having their sides still farther strengthened by transverse cords : these veins likewise have frequent inosculation, and like the arteries have two returning trunks to each side, one of which, the vertebral, is effectually guarded from pressure by its situa- tion ; and in the larger receiving trunks of the jugular, enlarge- ments or sacs are formed in particular parts, particularly about the jaws, (see Anatomy of the Head) purposely to obviate the effects of accidental interruption. The nerves are white fibrous cords, sent off either from the cranial or spinal brain, whose ramifications are distributed to all parts of the body. They appear, like their origins, to be composed of medullary filaments, enveloped in a firm mem- branous structure called neurilima, giving them a density and strength of consistence which their internal structure would not afford. Ten pairs of cerebral nerves pass out of the skull by appropriate openings in the cranial bones; and thirty-six spinal pairs are given off from the spinal marrow by appropriate ver- tebral foraminae. (See Osteology.) Cerebral nerves. — The first pair or oZ/ac^or?/ nerves are very large and hollow, communicating by their cavities with the lateral ventricles of the brain*, in which they exhibit a great speciality from the human olfactory nerves. They appear to be formed of both the cortical and medullary portions of the brain, and take their origin from the anterior and inferior parts of the viscus, to be passed out of the cranium by the foraminae in the cribriform portion of the ethmoid bone ; after which they divide into numerous filamentary twigs, which, traversing the ethmoidal holes, are finally ramified in a reticular manner over * In former days, when anatomy was principally studied from the bodies of brutes, this speciality led to a supposition that the hollow olfactory nerves were emunctories of the brain, by which the superfluous moisture passed oflf through the ethmoidal holes into the nose ; and this gave rise to sternutatories or sneez- ing powders to cle«r the brain, which are now known te^ be useless. N 1^4 NEUROLOGY. the surface of the pituitary membrane, by which its exquisite sensibility of smell is furnished. The second pair, or optic, arise in firm cords behind the for- mer, from two eminences proper to them, called thalami ner- vorum opticorum. In their progress forwards they unite near the pituitary gland, where again separating, they leave the skull by their proper holes in the sphenoid bone, in company with the ocular artery, to enter the orbit, when penetrating the globe of the eye, they are expanded into the fine lamen called retina. (See A7iat. of the Eye.) The third pair, or motores oculi, are small branches which arise from the medulla oblongata near the sella turcica : they accompany a branch of the fifth pair out of the skull, and are distributed to the muscles of the eye. The pathetici, or fourth pair, are likewise small nerves whidi take their origin from the cerebellum, near its junction with the cerebrum : they also accompany a branch of the fifth pair, and are principally spent in the oblique muscles of the eye. The trigemini, or fifth pair, are very important nerves, and have \ery extensive communications. They rise from the an- nular processes of the cerebellum, and from the crus cere- belli*, and immediately form two principal divisions called maxillary, the anterior of v/hich is afterwards subdivided, and which divisions correspond in some degree, but not wholly, to the supra orbital, superior maxillary, and inferior maxillary branches of the human fifth pair. The ophthalmic is the first division, and enters the orbit connected with the sixth pair to be divided into several rami ; one of which furnishes the muscles of the forehead ; another is given to the lachrymal gland, and two or three others to the parts within the orbit. The anterior maxillary branch of the fifth, first gives a ramus that, penetrating the palatine foramen, is distributed to the pa- late, furnishing also some nasal ramifications. The main trunk then entering the anterior maxillary canal, giving the molar teeth some ramifications in its passage, again comes out at the anterior maxillary foramen, and is finally distributed to the labial muscles. The posterior maxillary branch emerges from the skull at the base of the petrous portion of the temporal bone; having given off a twig to unite with the intercostal, it divides into several ramifications, the first of which forms the gustatory, to be dis- tributed to the surface and tip of the tongue, and may be con- sidered as its medium of taste. The second branch passes by * The fifth pair presents a gan^lioD immediately on its origin ; and which it maybe observed is a speciality; for no other cerebrine nerve does the same. It also forms, by a union of its anterior and posterior branches, a distinct plexus, evidently intended to unite in one common sympathy all the parts of the head. THE NERVES, &C. 185 the sigmoid groove of the posterior jaw ; a third is ramified into the substance of the spheno maxillary, and digastric muscles. The fourth principal division furnishes the glosso pharyngeal to the tongue, the parts about the fauces, salivary glands, and molar muscles. The fifth division traverses along the internal surface of the posterior jaw, and enters the posterior maxillary canal, furnishing branches to the teeth : the remainder passes out at the foramen, at the symphysis of the skin, to be distri- buted to the muscles of the lower lips, and parts adjacent. The sixtJi, or abducent pair, arises from the base of the an- nular processes, passes with the fifth pair, and enters the orbits to be given to the abductor muscles of the eye. The seventh pair, or auditory nerves, arise from the lateral superior part of the medulla oblongata, each dividing into two portions : that called the portio mollis, enters the auditory fora- men in a soft pulpy form, and is distributed to the internal ear. l!he portio dura^ has been called by Bell the respiratory nerve of the face. It com^ out at the base of the petrous portion of the temporal bone in a firm cord, part of which is given to the parotid glands, and subjacent parts; but the most considerable ramus unites with a branch of the posterior maxillary nerve, giving a twig, which thus united forms the cord a tympani, but which is usually considered to arise from the portio mollis. The main trunk then having first furnished the parotid gland, into vhich it dips, passes over the posterior jaw and divides, its branches diverging like the sticks of a fan, some of which are given to the muscles of the anterior jaw, but the principal to the posterior jaw. The par vagum, or eighth pair, arises from near the base of the corpora olivaria, at the extremity of the medulla oblongata, in disgregated fibres, and, as its trunks emerge from the skull, they meet and receive each a nerve, formed from the spinal * This nerve has lately gained much importance from the accurate dissec- tions of Mr. Bell, who regards it more as an important agent in respiration than in fascial expression or locomotion. It has been heretofore considered, that the phrenic was the only respiratory nerve sent to the muscles : but late experiments have proved that in all the higher orders of quadrupeds who per- form part of the act of respiration by muscles which run from the head to the chest, this nerve is invariably present ; but that in those who do not respire by these agencies, as birds, &c., it does not exist. Mr, Bell has also disco- vered that it enjoys this property in common, not only with the phrenic, but with the spinal accessory, and also with a branch which runs from nearly the same roots as the phrenic, all which he calls respiratory nerves. In coniirma- tion of this opinion, numerous experiments on horses and asses have shewn that a division of the portio dura of the seventh, or of the spinal accessory, or of the branch he names the external respiratory, paralyzes the muscles to which it goes as muscles of respiration, although it leaves the same muscles the power of acting on the head, through the agency of other nerves distri- buted to them for locomotion. (See Bell on the Nerves, pub. 1816). These facts are also detailed in the Phil. Transactions. The comparative anatomy of the portio dura in the elephant, the horse, and other animals, by Mr. Shaw, may be also seen in the Jomsial of Science for 1822. N 2 186 NBUROLOGY. marrow, termed nervus accessorius; and also branches from the fifth, from the lingual, the gustatory, and other nerves in its vi- cinity. Each par vagum, thus jointly formed, as it leaves the skull, either again parts from the nervus accessorius, or a branch is given off from the united trunks of the two nerves, which uniting with the intercostal, is distributed to the muscles and parts about the pharynx, larynx, and upper portions of the neck. The eighth pair then descend along the external side of the carotid arteries, and as they enter the chest they give off another branch, called the recuri^ent, from its peculiarity of re- turning and passing up the neck, by the side of the carotid ar- tery, to be ramified into the larynx. From the circumstance that a division of the two completely paralyses the voice, the recurrents may be considered as the principal vocal media for the distribution of nervous infiuence to the laryngeal organs from whence souDd is emitted. Both these nerves and the eighth have communications throughout their whole course with the intercostal, or great sympathetics, and these unions form dif- ferent i)lexi, v/hich will be described with the sympathetic nerve. After the recurrents have been given off, the par vagum are continued with the oesophagus, uniting with the sympathe- tic, to furnish the heart and lungs by means of the cardiac and pulmonic plexi. They furnish also rami to the oesophagus, but the great oesophageal plexus is not conspicuous in the horse as in the ruminants*. Having gained the stomach, they unite with branches from the sympathetics and spinals, to fur- nish that organ most plentifully by means of the corda ventri- culi and other plexi. Branches are afterwards continued to form, in conjunction with the sympathetic, plexi to the remain- ing abdominal visceraf. • As the oesophageal plexus is so conspicuous in man and the ruminants, it is reasonable to suppose that it is placed there to combine, in a peculiar manner, the action of the pharynx and stomach. And on the other hand, may not its absence in the horse and ass, in some measure, influence his inaptitude to vomit ? See Dissection of a CameJ^ Journal of Science, 1822. t The par vagum are so important to the economy of the horse, that a divi- sion of them instantly kills, while the division of one occasions Uttle inconve- nience. Their division in many other animals, as the dog, &c., is however not followed by immediate death. The par vagum have been supposed to be the principal agents in the secreting powers of the stomach; but as many ani- mals in wliom the digestive process is strong are denied them, this seems er- roneous. It will be seen that they are very intimately connected with most of the cerebrine nerves, and also with the more important of the spinal ones also; by which extensive communication, some of the most curious pheno- mena which occur both in health and disease are readily understood. By these means, the larynx, pharynx, lungs, heart, and stomach, are united in one common sympathy and consentaneous action. In our experiments on ani- mals, when life appears to have departed, by hanging or drowning ; by irri- tating the heart by pricking, an attempt to respire is produced by this exten- sive sympathy : this also explains why, under such circumstances, inflating the lungs with pure air will again revive the suspended action of the heart. Disorders of the stomach, &c. derange the secretions of the larynx and pharynx. THB NERVES. 187 The ni?ith, or lingual pair, takes its origin from the corpus pyramidali, and both pass through the condoloid foramen di- rect to the muscles of the tongue, and seem to be peculiarly ap- propriate to its locomotion, as the gustatory are to its func- tional property of taste. The te7ith, or suboccipitals , are a small pair, sometimes con- sidered as a pair of the spinal nerves, at others reckoned as the tenth pair of the cerebrine. They arise from the extremity of the medulla oblongata, or beginning of the spinal marrow, and passing out by the occipital holes, are distributed to the muscles of the head and neck. The intercostals, or great sympathetics, form a nervous pair of a peculiar kind, called intercostal, from situation; and sym- pathetic, from connexion and effects : for it is by means of this pair, that such extensive sympathetic effects are carried on be- tween different parts of the body; but which are, however, more observable in the human than in the brute, though the anatomi- cal distribution of both seems the same. Each intercostal nerve appears to be wholly compounded of other nerves commencing from those wdthin the skull, as the fifth, sixth, and eighth, par- ticularly. It passes out of the cranium by the foramen caroti- cum, and assists to form several important ganglia, in conjunc- tion with the spinal nerves, with which it intimately connects itself; one of the first of which receives filaments from the ninth pair, and furnishes with rami the muscles of the larynx, pharynx, and neck. It is then continued into the muscles of the spine and the chest, forming, as it proceeds, extensive com- munications with the cervical and vertebral nerves : as it enters the chest it forms the cardial plexus, by which branches are sent to the heart, uniting with rami given off from the eighth pair. It likewise forms, conjointly with the eighth pair, and with some filaments from the dorsal nerves, first the anterior and then the posterior cervical ganglions, from which branches and thus lampas follows a vitiated state of digestion ; and thus nauseating- re- medies loosen the viscid secretions of the bronchia. It is in tins manner that the apparent anomaly of coughing, as a symptom of worms, is readily explained ; a disturbance of the alimentary canal operates in the aerial passages by means of the extensive communications of the pulmonic plexus. Through this plexus the actions of the heart and lungs are so much in unison, that to stimulate the one is to increase the action of the other ; as heaving at the flanks alway ac- companies increased circulation. Thus also nauseating the stomach lessens the action of the heart and arteries. Through the connections of the par va- gum with the spinal nerves, by which latter the skin is furnished, this sympa- thy is extended to the skin also ; and this solves the difficulty why so much common action is kept up between the stomach and exterior covering. Vete- rinary practitioners, by this consideration, will readily learn why hide-bound accompanies worms and indigestion, as well as chronic affections of the ali- mentary canal in general; and also why lampas, which is only a tumefaction of the cuticular lining of the mouth, should be more a symptom of deranged stomach than an original local affection. Under this view also, it is not diflS- cult to understand why broken-winded horses feel the morbid sympathy of wishing to fill their stomachs with water. 1B8 NEUROLOGY. are distributed to the thoracic viscera. After this, passing through the left foramen of the diaphragm, it forms, in comi- pany with the fifth pair, the coronary plexus, which as we have mentioned is distributed on the stomach, from whence it is con- finued through the abdomen, furnishing it, by its union with the dorsal and lumbar nerves, numerous ganglia and plexi, which are named according to the parts to which they are sent, as the hepatic, the splenic, the great mesenteric, the renal, and poste- rior mesenteric, and spermatic ; by which it will be seen how extensive is the communication of this nerve, and from which ex- tensive connexion we cease to be surprised at the common con- sent the parts thus furnished act with. The Spinal Nerves. The spinal marrow, medulla spinalis, or spinal brain, gives oif the spinal nerves as it passes through the bodies of the ver- tebrae by an appropriate opening in each side of each of these bones {see Skel.); consequently the number of these pairs of spinal nerves corresponds with the vertebrae themselves, and their names are likewise similar. Hence there are seven cervi- cal, eighteen dorsal, six lumbar, and^ve sacral nerves, whose principal use appears to serve for locomotion. The seven pairs of cervical nerves communicate with each other in their whole course, arising each by little fillets from the distinct portions of the spinal marrow, which uniting, form a strong- cord. These cords furnish the external and internal parts of the neck and withers; and from some of the first of them are given off rami, which, in conjunction with branches from the fifth and ninth, form the phrenic nerve, which entering the chest posteriorly is continued along the pericardium to be dis- tributed to the diaphragm. From the second, third, or fourth of these, as it may happen, a branch is given off which unites with the portio dura of the face, and is then, as in the human, called nervus communicans. The more posterior of the cervical nerves in conjunction with two or three of the first dorsal, and with a branch from the intercostal, form a large ganglion, which gives eight or nine cords, forming the external and in- ternal humeral, the axillary plexus, and the ulnar. The re- maining cords are distributed to the muscles about the withers and shoulders, and plentifully to the panniculus carnosus and skin. The external humeral passes down the inner part of the hu- merus till it is near the bottom of that bone, when it turns to- wards the outside of the arm, extending down the anterior and outer parts of the cubitus, to be ramified into the muscles of the leg and foot. The internal humeral {vid.jig. 2, Plate VII) proceeds with the blood vessels, over the inner condyle of the humerus, when it takes the name of radial, and passes in com- pany with the vessels behind the knee, and under the flexor . THE NERVES. 189 tendons of the foot, upon the suspensory bifurcating ligaments, still continuing with the artery and veins, giving branches in its passage to the surrounding parts, and in this course receiv- ing the name of metacarpal: it at length divides with the ar- tery and vein into the pastern, or lateral nerves, in the same manner with those vessels, and is finally ramified into the foot. The ulnar passes over the olecranon on the inner side, to be distributed to the flexors of the canon and foot, running down with a branch of a vein distributed in the same manner. The eighteen dorsal pairs are given ofi" by the notches at the extremity of each dorsal vertebra. They pass between the ribs, and communicate freely with each other in their passage, whereby respiration is promoted. By the first and second trunks, branches are given off to assist in forming the nerves of the fore extremities ; throughout they have an extensive com- munication with the intercostal. In their passage they detach filaments that furnish the panniculus carnosus, and muscles of the back; and likewise send some inwardly to be spread on the inferior layer of intercostal muscles : they finally lose them- selves in the surrounding parts, those most posteriorly furnish- ing the abdominal muscles. The lumbar nerves are given off in the same manner as the former, which all communicate with each other, and with the intercostal ; by which they assist in furnishing the viscera of these parts and of the pelvis. The first of these, communicat- ing with the last dorsal, sends branches to the muscles of the back, and internally to the abdominal, to the psoas, and to the iliac muscles. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, unite to form, in common with a branch of the intercostal, the crural nerve, which escapes out of the abdomen with the vessels, below the crural arch. There is likewise a branch formed, which may be called the posterior crural, or obturator, passing out of the ob- turator hole, and furnishing the obturator, and other muscles near the great trochanter. The crural nerve gives branches in its passage to the inguinal glands, the adductors of the femur, and continuing down is prin- cipally distributed to the muscles, and parts in front of the thigh : a twig is, however, sent down superficially on the inner side of the leg. The sciatic nerve which is formed from the last lumbar, and the first three or four sacral pairs, is a very considerable trunk ; it is found passing along the internal part of the ilium, and be- tween the two layers of the sacro-sciatic ligament. Within the pelvis it gives some branches; and as it passes out, it furnishes likewise the muscles of the thigh and scrotum : after gaining the posterior part of the thigh, it sends off" two considerable rami, one of which is divided into the massy muscles of the buttock; the other carries itself forward to the front of the tibia. 190 NEUROLOGY. The popliteal, is the continuation of the sciatic, and runs be- tween the two heads of the gemini, accompanying the posterior tibial artery and vein, and is seen in this course {vide 4, Fig, 1, Plate of the Extremities) , passing with the same artery and vein in the groove of the calcaneum, accompanying the metacarpal vessels receiving the same name with these vessels, and also bifurcating in the same manner with them into the two pastern nerves, which ramify in a similar way with those of the fore ex- tremities. The sacral nerves are in pairs, correspondent to the number of the pieces of the false vertebrae of which the sacrum is com- posed, and are given out by the holes in its sides. They com- municate likewise with the intercostal ; and the first three or four pair assist to form the sciatic nerve on each side. The remainder, as well as some filaments of the former, are distri- buted to the rectum, anus, bladder, and parts of generation in either sex. The penis is furnished by a considerable branch from them in common with one arising from the hypogastric plexus. The remainder of the spinal marrow is given out at the extremity of the sacrum, and runs down the tail in two or three small branches. The structure of the nerves, like their origins, is fibrous ; and when divested of their membranous investure, is but slightly elastic. Nerves are furnished with blood vessels which ramify on their surface, but which do not appear to suffer the red parts of the blood to enter. Like the important blood vessels, their principal trunks pass to their destinations deeply seated, and often in company with them, particularly in the extremi- ties. In their passage they branch off at acute angles, and finally ramify by sentient extremities of such minuteness, as to be invisible to the eye. The nervous divisions frequently unite again, and produce a small medullary enlargement called a ganglion; and which ganglia, as being more general among the nerves, distributed to parts possessed of involuntary motion, are now very generally regarded as auxiliaries to the brain, and as peculiarly connected with cerebral capacity*. Both the transit and the distribution of the nerves differ under dif- ferent circumstances ; sometimes they proceed to their destina- tion in direct lines and in single trunks, as the optic and olfac- tory: more frequently however they communicate and interlace with each other, and, where such junctions are particularly close and numerous, they form a plexus. In their distribution^ * Lancissi, an autient Italian author, by accurately examining the ganglia in the horse, and comparing their phenomena, was led to suppose them to be little brains or substitutes for that organ, and this presumption gains strength by our further acquaintance with comparative anatomy. In the lower orders of animals deprived of brain, their nervous structure appears to derive its energy from the ganglia alone, which in them are numerous and very regu- larly and plenli^illy distributed. THE NBRVES. 191 some parts are found to be much more plentifully supplied than others. The organs of sense, the muscles, and the skin, are peculiarly so. Some interesting but inexplicable phenomena in the animal body have occasioned it to be supposed that, in their cerebral origin, the nerves decussate; or that those of one side of the body arise from the opposed side of the brain. The living powers of the nerves to support themselves must be con- siderable, from the now fully established fact that they are ca- pable of reproduction*. The simple division of a nerve de stroys for a time only the nervous powers of the ramifying branches beyond its division. It is found that the divided ex- tremities first become enlarged, and more vascular and coagu- lable lymph, which soon becomes organizedjis interposed between them. The subsequent cicatrization draws the divided ends nearer together, and the nervous, as well as the living prin- ciple, is continued through the interposed substance; which assimilates nearly, but not entirely, to the structure of the ori- ginal trunk. This is proved to be invariably the case in the nerves formed for sensation : but at present we are not aware that similar phenomena can be made to follow the division of the nerves of voluntary motion. (See Neurotomy,) The diseases of the nerves are few, and those principally de- pendant on a morbid excitement of the irritability natural and proper to them, producing convulsions and spasm. Tetanus is the most prominent instance we have of this, and thus pressure on the brain has been found for a short time to relieve it. An inflamed surface is exquisitely tender, from some alteration in the irritability of the nerves ; and probably stringhalt depends on local nervous irritation. Gutta serena is an instance of pa- ralysis in the optic nerve : general paralysis, as an idiopathic affection, is little known in the horse. The physiology of the brain and nerves, important as it is, is yet involved in an impenetrable mystery. We however know enough to be assured that the brain is the organ of conscious- ness ; and that in proportion to cerebral developement, are the number and kind of intellectual phenomena in different ani- mals f. The nerves are less active, and appear to be the media * It is but due to departed genius, to promulgate that this important fact, if it did not immediately originate with the late ingenious Dr. Haighton, yet was first established by him in 1792, at which time 1 assisted him in numerous experiments on this subject; the results of which, with drawings made by me explanatory of the appearances of the re-united parts, were presented to the Royal Society the following year. t As a general conclusion, we may assume that where the rational principle is strong, and the organs of sense comparatively weak, as in man, that the vo- lume of brain does greatly preponderate to the general mass of nervous mat- ter. On the contrary, in brutes, where the organs of sense are more depended on than the rational principles, the nerves are in the greater proportion. It had not escaped the observation of Pliny and Aristotle, that the brain of Man is proportionally larger than that of any auimal, the elephant excepted. 192 NEUROLOGY. or messengers by which nervous influence in the phenomena of sensation and volition are transmitted to all parts of the body, and by them excitements to motions are propagated. The nerves also convey impressions back again to the brain; thus the horse smells with his nose, and feels with his lips; and through the medium of the nerves of both, his intellectual powers resi- dent in the brain take cognizance of the matters examined. To the organs of voluntary motion, the excitement along the nerves is dependent on the will ; to the involuntary it is de- pendent on necessity or sympathy, connected with the wants of the animal. If the brain be injured, locomotion is destroyed wholly or partially, in proportion to the degree of cerebral de- rangement. From some wise provisions, perhaps from a power resident within the ganglions per se, the functions of the invo- luntary motions go on when the voluntary are stopped ; as we see in animals partially stunned, and in apoplexy where breath- ing and even digestion are carried on while the limbs are mo- tionless. Pressure on the brain produces the same phenomena as laceration of certain parts of it. The taenia of the sheep gradually destroy life by this means ; and concussion, by lace- lating the medullary fibres, produces similar symptoms, but more immediately. When the brain is diseased or compressed, the whole body sufiers, and becomes convulsed or paralysed : but if the spinal marrow be thus circumstanced, then only those parts whose nerves are given off posteriorly to the seat of injury become affected. When the brain is compressed or injured on one side only, leaving the other wholly unaffected, it has usually been found that the morbid consequences ap- peared on the opposite side. On the contrary, when one co- lumn only of the spinal marrow is divided, the paralytic affec- tion has appeared on the same side, which is still equally ac- counted for by a decussation of the cerebral fibres, as noticed in the anatomy of the brain. Each nerve is the messenger of the pov/er delegated to it by the brain ; thus the division of a nervous trunk paralyzes an organ of voluntary motion, but leaves the surrounding parts unaffected. The nerves are acted This led to the formation of a scale of weight of the brain compared with the general mass ; and the ratio of intellect in several tribes were deduced there- from: but a more extended experience proved this to be fallacious; for, ac- cording to this theorem, the dolphin, the seal, some quadrumana, &c., would excel man in his greatest attributes. Subsequent writers, among whom Soem- mering stands conspicuous, draw another comparison; that of the ratio which the volume of brain bears to the bulk of the nerves arising from it ; and in this mode it will be found iuvaiiable, as far as inquiries have been hitherto prose- cuted, that in proportion as the cerebral or more noble part preponderates, the powers of mind will be seen more extended and diversified; and by this mode of comparison, man is without any competitoi. The simia, elephant, dog, and other animals, follow, and bear an exact proportion in the order of their intelligence, which confirms the justness of the principle. THE NBRVBS. i93 on by what we call stimuli, which seem general, appropriate, and unnatural or diseased. Mental excitements, full health, generous food, &c. excite the brain, which gives its excitement to the nerves, and various phenomena are produced^. Some nerves are insensible but to an appropriate stimulus, as light stimulates the retina, but the finest sounds fail to move it ; and thus hearing is operated by the nerves of the ears only. Sti- muli, unnatural or diseased, are extremely numerous, and pro- duce phenomena as varied as their numbers. A modification of ordinary stimuli is found in what we un- derstand by sympathy ; in which also various phenomena pre- sent themselves, usually dependent on the free communication of very dificrent nerves with each other: and this order of com- munication is not arbitrary, but varies in almost every subject; and thus the sympathies thereby excited appear hardly alike in any two subjects. In man this is peculiarly observable ; the stomach will sympathize with the eyes, and a disagreeable sight will occasion vomiting ; cold applied over some parts of the body stimulates the bladder to empty itself. Habit excites sympathies ; thus whistling tempts the horse to stale when he has been accustomed to the solicitation. Some very important and ingenious experiments, lately made by Mr. Brodie, would seem to extend this sympathetic communication from the nervous to the sanguiferous system, in the production of animal heat; thus tending to subvert the former opinion, that animal heat depends on tho chemical change which the blood undergoes in the round of circulation, and is received by means of nervous influence ; for we learn by his experiments, that he invariably found, by destroying the communication between the brain and lungs, the heat of the body disappeared, although respira- tion was kept up by artificial means, and the other ordinary changes of the blood appeared the same. {See Respiration,) It remains only to add, that, if I have extended this subject be- yond the limits of the former editions, it has been from a convic- tion of its importance to the medical student, both in a theore- tic and practical point of view. To a more accurate knowledge of the structure, anatomical arrangement, and functions of the nerves, we are indebted for some of the greatest improvements the healing art in general has lately received ; and in which the veterinary department acknowledges at least an equal share, of which Neurotomy forms a prominent instance. * Extraordinary excitement will produce extraordinary phenomena, and we thus know how to account for the wonderful power exerted by the muscles when under the action of morbid nervous excitement in convulsions, and like- wise Avhen mentally stimulated by fear, passion, &c. 194 ADBNOLOGY. ^ttiion XIV. ADENOLOGY. GLANDS are vascular secretory bodies distributed over every part of the animal frame. They are of various sizes, some being very large, as the liver, and others small, as the cryptae. Their figure is as varied, and their situation undeter- mined; some being deep-seated, or within cavities, while others are altogether superficial. The office of secretion does not ap- pear proper to all such parts as we consider as glandular, as is instanced in the thyroid, which, as far as we know, does not secrete; other parts again secrete, that appear to have no glan- dular structure, as the capsular ligaments. Glands may be di- vided into folliculose, globate, glomerate, and conglomerate / they also likewise receive individual names, according to their office, as lachrymal, salivary, &c. The follicular are small glandular bodies variously disposed, and appear either seba- ceous or muciparous. The sebaceous are mostly situated on or near the surface of the body, and appear composed of small arterial convolutions, by which a substance is formed, having some degree of solidity, and resembling suet, hence called se- baceous. Muciparous glands are described as small follicular bodies, usually situated in cavities and canals; secreting a mu- cus ; as that of the nostrils, fauces, and urethra : but in many instances they are not very evident, and in some mucous mem- branes their existence even is doubtful. Globate glands Rre oval vascular bodies, receiving lymphatic vessels at one side, and permitting their exit at the other, but are destitute of any other excretory trunk ; hence they are deemed peculiar to the lymphatic system. A glomerate gland appears one connected body, of an indefinite shape, with an excretory duct ; as the kidney, liver, &c. A conglomerate gland is a body composed of several glomerate glands, or lobuli, each of which has its proper excretory duct, which unite to form one trunk common to the whole, whereby the gland is connected, as well as by the cellular membrane ; such are the salivary and pancreas. There does not seem to be any essential diff'erence in the eco- nomy or functions of the glomerate or conglomerate glands ; the convenience of situation appears to be studied more than any varieties in their office ; hence, early in life, some are con- glomerate which in the adult become glomerate. The glands of young subjects are said to be larger than those of older; and from the alteration which takes place in the kidney and thymus gland, we see that some change really takes place both in their size and figure during life. The nerves of glands are small, but enter with the blood vessels; thus their sensibility is not considerable. Their arteries are however large, and numerous. THB GLANDS. 195 and particularly so when the office of secretion is considerable, as in the kidneys, where they are very large. The blood is re- turned by venous trunks. In its passage through glandular bo- dies, the blood is found to be retarded in its course through glands by means of the structure and situation of their vessels : their arteries are usually convoluted, and have a greater pro- portion of muscular than elastic coat, and their veins are with- out valves ; by which formation, the blood remains a longer time within the gland, and can be more completely acted upon. All the secreting glands perform their secretion from arterial blood, but the liver, which separates its fluid from venous blood. Glands are also furnished with absorbents: in the liver and spleen they are observed to be particularly numerous. Among the phenomena that these bodies present, a sympathe- tic property is a marked one. The sight of food stimulates the salivary glands, and which is particularly observable in the carnivora ; thus a dog will slaver abundantly while his meat is cutting for him. The sympathy of the kidneys with the skin is very considerable, and, when either becomes greatly excited, the secretion of the other diminishes. In summer, when the skin is in full action, and the blood pours out its aqueous par- ticles in sweat in great plenty, little urine is made ; but in win- ter the reverse takes place. As the circulation through a gland is increased, so is the secretion enlarged likewise ; hence under the first stages of inflammation, glands secrete more, because the circulation is quickened ; but in the latter stages of inflam- mation, or when it exists in a great degree, the secretion is les- sened, or totally stopped : for then the gland probably becomes, in a measure, disorganized, and unfitted for its functions. The individual glands will be described with the parts to which they more immediately belong. The physiology of secretion is but little known. That from one liquid (the blood) fluids so different as the urine, semen, bile, &c. should be formed, cannot fail to excite our wonder and stimulate our inquiries. Glandular secretion has been sup- posed to depend on the previous existence of the secreted mat- ter within the blood, and that the glands only strained, or other- wise separated these component particles. But the blood, it has been answered, possesses the same chemical properties throughout the body ; and that, drawn from whatever secreting organ it may, it is still the same. Nevertheless the elementary principles of all these may exist in the blood in a latent state ; and it does appear to be a living act of the glands themselves, to separate and compound each proper secretion from it : we can therefore arbitrarily alter many of the secretions both in quality and quantity, by local excitements. This opinion is farther proved by some of the phenomena of vegetation. The sap of trees owns the same chemical properties, yet forms, by 196 ADENOLOGY. the medium through which it passes, either wood, bark, leaves, blossoms, or fruits. The diseases of the glands in the horse are fewer than those of the human glandular parts. Scrofulous and cancerous affec- tions are nearly unknown in veterinary pathology. Their se- cretion can however become morbidly excited, not only as to quantity, but as to quality also ; as we witness in diabetes. Urinary calculi arise from a deranged secretion also, or from morbid separation of earthy matter from the blood. The liver, the spleen, and the pancreas of the horse, have all of them been occasionally found diseased and much altered in structure. ^ttU XV. SPLANCHMOLOGY. HA.VING treated of the structure and composition of the parts of the body generally, we come now to describe the organs themselves individually : which we shall do by considering the horse as composed of head, neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis, and extremities. All these parts are invested by some general co- verings, which must be first noticed. The Common Coverings and Integuments, Under the name of skin, are exterior parts kindly bestowed on animals to regulate their form, to protect them from injury, and to modify the action of the surrounding elements. These com- ponents are the cuticle, or insensible skin, the rete mucosum, and the cutis corium, or sensible skin : connected with these, are the adipose and cellular membranes, and the panniculus carnosus. The hairs and hoofs are considered as appendages to the skin ; the former of which, as being most exterior and almost universal, we shall first notice ; the latter will be de- scribed with the extremities. The hair, — Each hair is a little tube, whose bulbous end arises within the cellular web, immediately attached to the cutis, or true skin *, penetrating that, the mucus web, and the cuticle, and appearing exteriorly of indeterminate lengths, figuresf, and sizes. Thus those of the mane and tail are large and long ; those above the eyes and around the muzzle are * In some animals the hairs appear to be merely filamentous elongations of the cuticle, and are subjected to its various changes, as is seen in caterpillars, whose hairs are cast with their cuticle or outer skin. t Some hairs are thickest in the middle, and in some animals they are seen flat; in the whiskers of the seal their margins are waved. In the porcupine and hedge-hog they become spines ; in swine, bristles ; and when crisped, they form wool: but in all, hair forms one of the most permanent animal substances with which we are acquainted, resisting putrefaction veiy long. THE HAIR. 197 strong, but of diminished length ; while those which extend over the body generally are comparatively very short and fine. Each hairy tube is formed of an external horny covering, and a central vascular part, termed its medulla or pith. The horny portion is filamentous, and so disposed as to form each hair into an elongated cone with protruded processes, giving the hair the property of receding in the direction of its roots when subjected to pressure, and on which the process oi felt- ing depends. The colour of the hair varies much in different subjects, and in different parts of the same subject, and which variations appear in a considerable degree to depend on the colour of the mucus web, which is exemplified by spotted or pie-bald horses, in which the colour of the skin varies with that of the hair. Its colour is also influenced by climate, but less in horses than most other animals ; for as the horse is naturally a native of climes not frigid, so there was less necessity that he should vary to the tropical hues. As certain colours of hair are supposed to arise from certain general structural arrange- ments, so colour has been considered as the criteria of mental and personal qualities {see Exterior Conformation) : and there appears to be reason for this supposition; for many facts prove to us that a dark tint usually accompanies strength and dura- bility *, as the contrary accompanies weakness and irritability. Age, which produces debility, is accompanied by a change in the colour of the hair, from a darker to a lighter tint ; and the hair which arises after a wound is usually white, and this v is slip,iillv di.Nteiulcd to (;'ivc an acciiratr idea of its toriii, hut not (o its lull mtoiit, llial llio iirifflilxmiiii?; pails ini^lit ii(»t he hi<{. As the parts ile- sn ihfilaio o\(tMisi\r, and iUc ivfvrviucs ntinirrous, so it is niMossarv to pro- mise, that they will he relerred to in the lolhjwinj; order, and to whieh tin* letters will eorrespond : I'arls of the head, neck, and ehest — Contents of the ahdonien — ( hg;nns of general it)n. Part,s of the Head, Neck, and Cheftt. //, the niasseter nmsele, upon the npper part of which is seen spread a hrnneh of the fifth pair of nerves; ahove, its attaeJnnent to the spine (»f the molar and maxillary bones has been raised to hrinj; b, the temporal artery and vein, into view, which are seen ahove the nerve, and are distributed wholly to the massetcr, but contribute nothini;- to the support of the eye; c, the anterior cartilane of the car; d, the maxillary artery, the maxillary vein, and the duct of the parotid {;land. 'I'hc most anterior, or vessel nearest the mouth, is the external maxillary artery, which is that branch of the eanitid seen passin*; over the jaw at o, I'ij;. 2. Plate III, and which forms the most convenient part for fcelins:^ the pulse of the horse. 'I'he middle vessel is the |)arotid duct, piercinu; the molar nmscles, and cnlcriiij;; the mouth above tlu^ second molar tooth, or seeoml np|)cr p;rin(lcr. The innermost of these vessels crossini;- the last, is the external maxillary vein, which receives by one branch the blooti of another artery of the massetcr ; by a second, the blood cM' the tem- |)oral artery ; and by a thirti, that of the nasal arteries; c, c, the upper and lower porlituis of the paroliil p,land : its duct is pointed to by the letter, and always proceeds in front of the inland over the inferior part of the lower Jaw, to terminate in the mouth; f, the superior division of the jugular ; //, the infe- rior division of it, which forms the external maxillary vein. The junction of these two principal branches o^ this vein forms the trunk of the right jugular, which unites with the left, to enter the anterior cava; //, the anterior vena cava formed of these, with the axillarics; h, the aorta with its division into anterior and posterior; the anterior goes upwards and forwards, and the pos- terior becomes lost in the view, behind the heart; /, /, the axillary arteries ; w/, the Huited trunk of the carotids arising from the right axillary artery, and dividing into the right and left carotids; n^ the entrance of the thoracic duct into the left jugular; o, o, o, the lobes of the lungs: on the right side is seen a small lobe with a larger ime; the lesser lobules do liot appear; ;>, the right or anterior ventricle; q, the left or pc^slerior ventricle, the portion between is the fat bisecting it; r, the right auricle, from Avhich the two vena eavas arise; /, the left auricle ; t, the pulmonary artery, dividing into a right and left ; the left is seen to pass under the posterior division of the aorta; at this part is si- tuated the membranous canal or communication between these vessels, called eanalis arteriosus, which is open in the foetus, but shut in the adult ; «, the posterior cava; r, the posterior aorta; between these arc seen, to the right, the vena azygos, and, to the left, the thoracic duct. Viscera of the Ahdoineji. n, a, the dia|)hragm. The middle and lighter portion, to which the liga- ment of the liver is attached, is the tendinous part; and the light portions round the circumference are likewise tendinous intersections; h, l>, the lobes of the liver; c, the biliary duet arising at once from the liver, without any gall bladder as in other animals; rf, the stomach with the omentum attached, and the vessels ramifying on it; t\ its pyloric orifice ending in the duodenum, into which are seen tlie biliary and pancreatic ducts entering; /; the pancreas, the remaining portion lies under the omentum,//. From this view it will be seen that the omentum in the horse is ^mall to what it is in the dog and many other animals; it is attached to the stomach along its inferior and posterior curva- ture, and a portion is kept up by a pin stuck into the spleen to shew that viscus; //, the spleen with its granulated appearance; i, the posterior cava forming the « mulgcnt veins; /c, the posterior aorta giving utllhc anterior me« DHSCaiPTION OF ILATK IV. 241 sciilciic Iriink, to which the united trunk of the lacteal^ is attached to i^ain the leteptaeuluni ehyH ; hut neither shew its t(;rmlnation within the urethra alongside of the vasa deferentia; but in such a rrjanner do the ducts of thfise two parts rtin alongside, and terminate parallel to eaeh othei, that there is no communication between the testicles and th(;m; nor can they ever be intended as a reservoir to the semen, as has been asscrt<;d ; e, marks the termination of the vasa deferentia, and the vesiculir; seminales opening into the same [jftrt of the urethra by tufj little orifices. Immediately b( hind these, lying along the neck of the bladd(;r, about the size of a goose quill, and about two or three inches long, is what the French call a middle vesifde. It terminates usually by one of the openings common to one or the other lateral vesicle; yi/i two glandular bodies that correspond in situation, but not in structure, to the human prostates; f/, f/, the two atitiprostat^e or Cowper's glands covered with the accelerator muscles : the right is cut (;pen to shew its cavity. The little ducts of these glands, called lacuna-, are seen within the urethra; A, A, the left testicle, with its rope coming through the ring of the oblique muscle, and covered with its vaginal coat ami the creinaster muscle^ which descends along its inner side, anart of the testicle c.dled its appendix or epidul^mis, cfjmmujiicating with the main body by the lubnli semeniferi, and passing up to form the vas deferens; /, the convoluti(;ns (jf the spermatic vessels before they enter the testicles ; m, m, the corj)ora cavernosa of the penis, with its muscular fibres intermixed: between the two, lies the urethra, the muscular fibres of whi«f;h are seen run- ning in the direction of that canal; o, the body of the penis divested of its outer coverings ; p, the glans : the dark part shews a portion of the sheath im- mediately investiiig it, and thrown into folds to admit of the increase of the dimensions of the penis; r/, the termination of the urethra bj' a loose floating extremity, which is fixed in a cavity peciiliar to the horse; the outer part of Hk; glans is laid open to sIk^vv this more distinct, as well as the internal struc- ture of the glans itself. 242 VISCKKA OK THli CHBST. Viscera of the Chest. The pleiircB and mediastimmi — When the chest is opened, a smooth polished raembrane is seen, covering its whole surface, and likewise investing its contents. Each side of the chest has its particular p/e?/?*a, which is distinct from that of the other by the intervention of cellular membrane. So conjoined, they form the mediastinum; the two lamen of which are strongly attached to the sternum, and compose what is called the infe- rior mediastinum; from whence separating, they receive be- tween their lamiuie the heart and its vessels, and are afterwards reflected over the lungs ; which having completely invested, they again unite, and form the superior mediastinum, as it has been called. Near the vertebrae they again separate, one por- tion passing over the hall" of the spine on one side, while the other passes over the remaining half of the spine on the other side, to line the whole cavity of the chest. By this division a tubular opening is formed, in which are situated the thymus gland, aorta, vena cava, vena azygos, ductus thoracicus, and oesophagus. There are therefore two reflections of the pleura on each side; one connected to the surface of the chest, the other to the surface of the lungs, forming by this means a distinct cavity for each lung, in which is contained a small quantity of fluid, termed liquor pleurce. It is the diseased increase of this fluid, that forms hydrothorax, or dropsy of the chest, which is so common a termination of inflammation of the lungs. The pleural surface, which comes into view^ on opening the chest, whether of the lungs or of the chest itself, is smooth, that it may facilitate the sliding of these parts over each other, which the healthy serous secretion from the surfaces further facili- tates ; but the attached pleural surface is rough and fibrous, to bold the parts together : it is also so dense, that if by accident the pleural bag in which a lung is contained be cut into, the lobes on that side usually collapse, and are rendered useless by the entrance of the external air ; this appears, however, not to be the constant eflect. The mediastinum is therefore nothing more than the duplica- ture of the two pleurae, which divide the chest into two nearly equal portions : the right being rather the largest, in conse- quence of the situation of the heart, but the difference in capa- city is not so great in the horSe as in the human. This com- plete division of cavities is of the utmost importance to the animal, for by accidents in which the chest becomes pene- trated, if the total collapse of the lungs were to take place, death must ensue; but life can be carried on by one lung, when an injury to the other has rendered it useless. By this wise provision, ulceration also sometimes confines its effects to one side of the chest only, and the animal becomes supported SPLANCHNOLOGY. 243 finally by the other. That portion of the pleura which lines the bony cavity of the chest, is termed the costal pleura, while the reflected portion receives the name of pulmonary pleura; and which distinctions are necessary to be kept in mind, both in the surgery and pathology connected with these parts. These membranous investments are supplied with blood by the intercostal arteries, and they return it by intercostal veins. The nerves are also branches from the intercostal ner- vous trunks ; but they are small, and therefore, except under inflammation, the sensibility of the pleura is not great. The disposition in the pleura to take on inflammation, independent of the lungs, is not very clear in the horse. Indeed, the dis- tinction between pleuritis and pneumonia is equally contended in the human subject. The lymphatics of the pleura must be considerable, from the effects we observe in the restoration of health, after the congestion of inflammation. The thymus is a spongy and apparently glandular body, placed anteriorly between the duplicatures of the mediastinum, contiguous to the sternum and to the aorta, and vena cava, at their division. Its shape is irregular and various, sometimes appearing to be formed of two lobes, at others seeming one mass : its substance in the young subject is cellular, and its size considerable, and at this time it is said to contain a small portion of whitish fluid. As the animal advances in age, its colour changes, it becomes less, and at last it is scarcely dis- cernible. No excretory duct has ever been discovered, and neither in the horse nor the human is its use known*. It is this substance that forms the sweetbread of veal. La Fosse says, it is sometimes diseased in calves, and that it occasions a tumour which proves fatal to them. It has a small artery, and vein and nerve, given ofi" usually from the internal pectoral ; the nerve from the intercostal. The diaphragm or midriff , is a most important muscle f, and, like the heart, is in constant action during life. It is a broad, thin, tendinous, and fleshy expansion, and is so situated as to form a complete septum or division between the thorax and abdomen, not completely elliptical, for its upper part, op- posed to the back, extends considerably farther towards the lumbar vertebrse, while the anterior part is attached to the sternum, consequently its situation is rather oblique. In a state of rest, it is anteriorly convex, and posteriorly concave ; that surface opposed to the thorax being covered by the pleura, and that towards the abdomen by the peritoneum. From some peculiarities in the disposition of its fibres, it is sometimes described as two muscles; the great and little dia- * As the thymus gland in dogs is large, and the thyroid small ; and as it usually happens, that when one is considerable, the other is the reverse ; so we may reasonably suppose that their use is the same. t Nobilissiraus post cor musculus. — Holler. ^44 SPLANCHNOLOGY. phragm. The anterior or larger portion arises by distinct tendinous fleshy fibres from the ensiform cartilage, from the posterior extremity of the sternum, from the internal surface of the cartilages of the true ribs, by portions which admit of small tendinous digitations between them (see Plate IV.): passing upwards, and posteriorly attaching itself to the false ribs, its fleshy portions terminate near the spine. From all these ori- gins, the fibres are directed like radii from the circumference of a circle to a tendinous centre. This tendinous middle por- tion is perforated by a triangular hole towards the right side, a little inferiorly to the spine, for the passage of the vena cava. The superior, posterior, and lesser portion of the diaphragm, fills up the space left by the larger; arising by different por- tions from the first, second, and third lumbar vertebrae, of which the two central ones are called its crura or pillars; be- tween which an interval is left for the passage of the aorta,, called its hiatus, and for the vena azygos, and thoracic duct. A little to the left is situated the third opening of the diaphragm, formed from the decussation of its fibres, and giving a passage to the oesophagus and par vagum nerve. Vessels and nerves of the diaphragm.— The aorta, in its pas- sage between the crura, usually gives a branch or two to this muscle ; besides which, it receives other rami from the arteries of the chest. (See Arteries,) Its veins are infinitely larger than its arteries, that the blood might not feel the effects of pressure in its motions ; they finally pour their contents into the vena cava. The phrenic nerves arise from filaments given from the fourth, fifth, and sixth cervicals ; there are, besides, other small branches given from the surrounding ganglia and from the great sympathetic, the office of which latter seems to be rather to preserve the general sympathy between the whole organs, which exists in so wonderful a degree by means of these nervous connections, than for the motive powers of the diaphragm itself. This muscle is the principal agent in respi- ration, which we shall more fully shew when treating of the lungs : the act of sighing is also principally brought about by its means ; and in those animals who vomit, it appears an im- portant agent. It is more subject to sympathetic or contiguous inflammation in the horse, than in the human ; for when any of the abdominal viscera are inflamed, this usually partakes of it considerably. The Heart. The pericardium first pi^sents itself to view when we wish to examine the heart, and which we shall find to be a membranous sac surrounding the heart, similar in structure to the pleura. Its outer surface is attached to the mediastinum, between the duplicatures of which it is situated ; and its inner surface is contiguous but not continuous to the heart, for there is a fine THE HEART. 245 fluid interposed. It appears composed of two laminae, and is attached above to the vessels, over which it is reflected, giving them an attached covering ; and below to the sternum ; but is not, as in the human, attached to the diaphragm : for the horizontal position of the animal alters in some measure the position of the heart. Its inner surface secretes a very fine fluid, called liquor pencardii, which thus preserves a freedom of motion be- tween the heart and sac : in health this is about an ounce in quantity; but wVen it becomes much increased beyond this, it constitutes dropsy of the pericardium ; which is, however, not a frequent disease in the horse. The heart.— This important organ appears a composition of muscular fibres combined with membranous matter, to form a conoidal body with four principal cavities, and several open- ings, common and proper. It is situated as above described within its sac, between the lamen of the mediastinum ; with its base in a line with the dorsal vertebrae, and its apex, which is slightly curved, directed to the left of the sternum between the eighth and ninth ribs ; so that it is situated rather more to the left than to the right of the chest. Its sides, which are rather flattened, are right and left, and its edges by this means form an anterior and a posterior. Two of its cavities are situated immediately within its muscular mass, and are its ventricles ; the two others are rather external appendages, and form its auricles. It has a smooth exterior general covering, which arises from the pleural portion reflected over the pericardium ; and its lower part is surrounded by a variable quantity of fat. Around its base, and between its ventricles, are seen the coro- nary vessels running in their various courses; and from the same part issue its grand trunks also, by means of which it is principally retained in its situation. The ventricles.— ^Sich ventricle opens by two orifices, one of which communicates with the auricles, the other forms the mouth of a large artery. The right venti'icle opens into the right auricle and into the pulmonary artery, the left into the auricle and into the aorta ; at the edges of which orifices there are valves. These two ventricles are separated by a septum, which lies neither directly across the chest, nor is its direction truly anterior and posterior, but is oblique ; so as to form the cavities as properly into an anterior and posterior ventricle, as into a right and left. The right or anterior ventricle is larger than the left in the adult horse ; in the new-born colt it appears to be smaller ; but many impediments to the circulation tend to stretch and increase it through life : it likewise does not ex- tend quite so far to the apex as the other. The right ventricle is strengthened by fleshy pillars, called carnea columni, and also by tendinous cords attached to the valves of the auricle and ventricle, and by which the mechanism of these parts is much strengthened. The left or posterior ventricle is much 246 SPLANCHNOLOGY. thicker and stronger than the right, and its capacity is less : it is however something longer than the right, occupying the apex ; whereas the right ventricle ends before it arrives there. The inner surface of both ventricles is very uneven ; and pre- sents stringy productions from the fleshy and tendinous part, and also cavities which dip in between these : but these produc- tions and inequalities are not so varied nor so considerable in the horse as in the human, though even here they are suffi- ciently diversified to afford an admirable proof of the impor- tance of this organ, and the great pains Nature has bestowed to give it mechanical strength. The valves. — W e have already noticed, that each ventricle has two orifices, an arterial and an auricular ; and that their openings are furnished with strong membranous appendages, whereby the blood is prevented from passing but one way; and which are called their valves. Those of the arterial openings are called semilunar; and those of the auricular, tricuspid. The auricular valve of the left ventricle is likewise called mitral. The structure of the valves appears to arise from a duplicature of the inner coat of the part, forming a kind of fold, or of several folds, with fleshy fibres, which are differently disposed, according as they permit the entry of the blood or its exit. The membranes which form these valves in each ca- vity, are attached so as to project forward, and both of them are connected by the tendinous strings from the sides of the ventricles. As either ventricle contracts, the blood is driven into the artery, which communicates with that ventricle ; and the tendinous cords being relaxed, th€^ sides of the cavity are brought nearer to each other, the valves close the opening into the auricle, and the only passage that is left, which is the ar- tery, receives the blood. The heart after this contraction be- comes again relaxed, by which means these tendinous cords are again stretched out; and the valves of the auricle being drawn downwards, the blood is poured by the veins inl;o its re- cipient cavities. Vessels of the ventricles. — The left or posterior ventricle sends out a large artery, which is termed the aorta; it pro- ceeds but a little way when it divides into two trunks, which in the horse are very justly termed anterior and posterior. The first is distributed to the head and anterior extremities; the other furnishes the trunk and posterior extremities. The right or anterior ventricle gives out the pulmonary artery, which runs upwards and forwards by the side of the aorta, and then, dividing into two trunks, is distributed to the lungs. (See Jr- teries.) Auricles. — The auricles are muscular and membranous ap- pendages situated at the base of the heart, corresponding to the two ventricles, and having a septum between, so that there is here also a right and a left. The left or pulmonary auricle is CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. 247 placed above, and opens into the left or posterior ventricle ; and the right in the same manner communicates and is situated upon the right or anterior ventricle : externally, they appear but one cavity, and are unequally divided ; by which the right is much larger than the left, and are so placed, that there is little seen on the left side. They are within very uneven, but smooth externally, with indented edges like a cock's comb, and pendulous. The right and larger auricle is irregularly round- ed, and has two openings ; an anterior and posterior, which receive the anterior and posterior vena cava. The left auricle is considerably more muscular than the right, though its size is less: it is irregularly square, and has a small appendix similar to the right. Into its angle the pulmonary veins pass ; and it has a common opening with the ventricle, as has been de- scribed. The substance of the auricles is both membranous and muscular, and they are also furnished with a few tendinous and fleshy cords to strengthen them. The heart, in common with other organs, is furnished with blood vessels that supply its substance with blood ; these are termed coronary. The coronary arteries are two branches which are given off from the aorta, immediately after its origin, and are distributed around the base of the heart, and between the line of separation of its ventricles, in principal trunks and lesser divisions to every part of it. The blood is returned in part by the coronary veins, and part appears to penetrate the substance of the heart, and to be poured into its cavities. The cardiac plexus, which is formed from the par vagum and inter- costal nervous trunks, in conjunction with rami from other ganglia, furnishes this organ with its nervous influence. It is an involuntary organ ; but by its nervous connections, it is sub- jected to a very intimate and extensive sympathy with all the important viscera, as well of the belly as of the chest. Car- ditis, or inflammation of the heart, as an idiopathic affection, is not a common disease ; it has however occurred. Ossifica- tion of its valves has also been observed, but very rarely ; and dropsy of the pericardium, except as an adjunct to serous effu- sion within the chest, still less frequently seen. Circulation of the Blood. The heart is the fountain by which the blood is forced through all parts of the body, and which passage of the vital fluid to and from such parts is called the circulation. Al- though the antients appear to have formed correct notions of the use of the blood, and to have been well acquainted with the organs concerned in its passage, yet they had a very imper- fect knowledge of its transit through the body : and it remain- ed for the immortal Harvey to demonstrate the curious and im- portant round of circulation, in a clear and satisfactory man- ner. The course which the blood takes in the foetal colt dif- R 248 SPLANCHNOLOGY. fers widely from that of the adult horse. The former will be described with the parts of generation ; the latter is the subject of our present inquiry, and which we shall prosecute by the ordinary method of dividing it into the pulmonary* and the ge- neral, or the lesser and the greater circulations. The lesser, or pulmonary circulation. —The blood of the two cavas, being poured into the right or pulmonic auricle, irritates that sac to contract, by which the valves of the right or pul- monic ventricle are forced close to its sides, and the blood rushes into the cavity. The moment the blood is thus received, the sensible surface of the ventricle is stimulated to contract on it, which shuts up the tricuspid valves that permitted its entry, and vv^hich cannot now be forced open, being held firm by the tendinous cords from its sides. The contained blood, therefore, now seeks another course ; and the very action of the valves proceeding from the sides to the axis of the heart toi shut the ventricle, opens the pulmonary artery, by pressing the loose sail-like edges of its valves towards its sides, and leaving its cavity extended, into which the blood, by the contraction of the ventricle, is now forced. The blood then received into the pulmonary artery proceeds to be circulated through the lungs, around the air cells, and is taken up and returned by the pulmonary veins ; nor can the blood once received by the pulmonary artery return again to the heart, until it has taken this course ; for the semilunar valves, as soon as the ventricle becomes relaxed, are drawn down and prevent it. The pul- monary veins, therefore, receiving the blood from the right, or anterior side of the heart, by means of the ramifications of the pulmonary artery, empty themselves into the left or posterior auricle; which, having received it, becomes likewise stimu- lated to contract : in its turn also, and by which means, it is forced into the left ventricle ; and thus much of the motion of the blood is termed the pulmonary, or minor circulation, and which appears to have been known to many of the antients. The greater, or general circulation. — We have traced the blood into the left ventricle, from which it is prevented return- ing again into the left auricle, by the closing of the mitral valves. The reciprocal contraction of the left ventricle drives the contained blood in the direction of its axis against the valves of the aorta, which being thus pressed on, allow the passage of the fluid into this vessel, from whence it is distri- buted, by its branchial divisions and ramifications, to every part of the body, to furnish it with nutritious principles. After this being again put into a course of circulation through the minute venal branches, it is finally again poured, by means of the anterior and posterior cavas, into the right auricle, and * There seems great propriety in denominating tbe vessels which contain the blood previous to its aeration, pulmonic, according to Dr. Barclay.- Ayia- towical Nomenclature y p. 176, CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. 249 thus is formed a complete round of sanguineous circulation. It appears that the contraction of the two ventricles is syn- chronous, and that at the same time that the blood is driven from the left ventricle into the aorta, the right ventricle impels it into the pulmonary artery ; consequently the relaxations seem to be alike in point of time also ; the period of the left auricle's receiving the pulmonary blood, being that in which the right auricle receives the blood of the cavas : from which it will be equally evident, that the relaxation of the ventricles and the distention of the auricles are synchronical also. These alter- nate contractions and dilatations of the heart are called its systole and diastole. The contraction, or its systole, presses the blood into the arteries ; which receiving it, become distend- ed, when, uniting to the force of the heart a contractile power of their own, the blood is propelled through the body. It fol- lows therefore that when the heart is in a state of contraction, or systole, the arteries are in a state of distention, or diastole : and it is in this state we feel that motion in them which we term their pulsation ; for the elasticity of the external coat, having dilated the artery after the action of the muscular coat has ceased to contract, it produces a bound, or pulsatory stroke, under the fingers. It is to be remarked that the sensa- tion which we understand by the term pulse, is conveyed by the heart also by the systole of its ventricles, which forcibly raises its apex against the ribs. (See Pulse, p. 153.) The heart is stimulated into different degrees of action; or its con- tractions and dilatations are more frequent in some animals than in others. The larger the volume of animal bulk, the less nu- merous in general are the contractions of the heart, and the less frequent is the standard pulse. In smaller animals the irrita- bility is greater, but the ratio of muscular fibre is smaller; con- sequently what is lost in strength of action, is necessarily made up in frequency : on which principle also, we are aware why the contractions are more frequent in young than in old ani- mals*. From all that has been said, it will be evident that the two circulations, as they are called, form in an extended point but one general circulatory course of the blood through the body of the horse ; and which course is universally kept up, except in a few instances, where the economy requires some speciality or deviation ; as in its passage through the liver, in the cor- pora cavernosa of the penis, and in the cavernous sinuses of the dura mater. The physiology of the heart, as the exciting cause of circula- * The action of the heart is liable to be influenced likewise by accidental circumstances. Disease will materially increase or diminish it often; and which alterations may, in some instances, be the result of an alteration in the animal fibre, perse; and in others, in the stimulating qualities of the blood itself. R2 V 260 SPLANCHNOLOGY. tion, or the means by which it is influenced to contract in ordi- nary cases, with a remarkable regularity on its contents through life, has been a subject of unceasing inquiry with physiolo- gists ; and whether this organ have an inherent power of con- traction, or whether it gain it by a stimulating quality in the blood, has been an almost endless subject of dispute. By some its actions have been attributed to nervous influence, but it has few nerves : nor will the stimulus of distention maintain more ground, seeing that the heart of a frog when empty, and sepa- rated from the body, will continue to contract. Neither is the matter further elucidated by the often observed fact of the right side of tliis viscus remaining distended with blood after death, while the left is usually comparatively empty ; for although the connexion between the heart and lungs is great, and the phe- nomena of circulation and respiration intimate, yet this conges- tion may be transferred from the one side of the heart to the other, by varying the mode of extinguishing life; w^hich conse- quently shews that respiration is not the sole cause of this phe- nomena, on which so many physiologists have hinged their in- quiries. It would appear from all that is already known, that an inherent contractile disposition of the heart, sui generis, is assisted by a stimulating quality in the fluid received, and that both are necessary to keep up permanent contractions: but that, individually, each are capable of operating for a time the ordinary phenomena. The diseases of the heart are not numerous in the horse. Carditis, or idiopathic inflammation of its substance, is by no means frequent, although well marked cases have now and then occurred. Its covering, or pericardium, however, often participates secondarily with the inflammatory states of the lungs in pneumonia. A primary inflammation of the pericar- dium usually ends in hydrops pericardium; and very large col- lections of fluid have been found in horses who have died under such disease. Occasionally the valves of the heart, and its substance also*, have been found ossified, and which probably gave rise to the account among the ignorant, that there existed naturally a bone in the heart. The Lungs. If we suppose a horse to be placed on his back for dissec- tion, as soon as the sternum is detached from the ribs and the mediastinal fold, the viscera of the chest are brought into view as in Plate IV. It will be there seen, that each side of the ca- vity of the chest is occupied by soft, spongy, and slightly elas- tic masses, called lungs, having the heart appended between * Mr. Henderson, a veterinary surgeon of London, possesses a remark- able specimen of ossification of the substance of the heart, in wiiich the rig^ht auricle appears ccmplotely bony. After a state of long emaciation, this wretched subject dropped lifeless ^^Ijile dragging a dust cari.— Percivnl's THB LUNGS. 251 them. The absence of the air alters somewhat their situation, and greatly decreases their bulk in the dead subject*; but if they be again inflated by means of a canula passed down the trachea, they will then be found to reassume their original form and bulk, and to completely fill the parietes of the thorax, to which their figure is adapted, being convex towards the ribs, concave towards the heart, and fiat where contiguous to the diaphragm. The lungs have a distinct division into a right and left mass, each of which presents deep fissures, partially di- viding its substance into what are called its lobes. These di- visions are not always the same in every subject, but in the majority of instances the right lung, which is the largest, pre- sents three lobuli, and the left two only. As has been already described, the pleura first lines the cavity of the chest, and then is reflected over the lungs, aftording them a dense covering. Being again reflected from each lung by a union of its laminae, it forms a septum, or complete division of the chest, into two distinct cavities, and thus eftectually shuts out all communica- tion between one lung and the other, except by their vessels. The colour of the lungs varies considerably. In the colt they present a lively pinky hue : in the adult horse they are darker, and in very old subjects they become of a blueish cast and patchy, with a somewhat granulated appearance. Within they are darker than without, from their extreme vascularity. Their substance is formed from the ramifications of the bronchia, or air vessels, and the blood vessels w hich accompany them, held together by an intervening cellular substance called the paren- chyma. The bronchicB. — Some notice has been already taken of the trachea, or grand air tube of the lungs, which was described as a continuation of the larynx, taking its course {vide PL IV) along the anterior and inferior part of the neck, penetrating the chest between the two first ribs, and immediately under the curvature of the aorta bifurcating into the two bronchiae. The right bronchial branch corresponds to the right lung, in being the largest : it soon divides into three trunks. The left, which • A collapsed state of the lungs is common to the animal before birth, and after death, but in different degrees. In the festal colt air has never entered, and consequentlj' the collapse is so complete, that the lungs are, like the other organs of the bod}', specifically heavier than water: and which fact is resorted to in human medical jurisprudence, to determine whether a child were born alive, i. e. had expanded its lungs with vital air, and which appears the first animal act, as expelling the air from the lungs is the last effort of life. But after once having been distended with atmospheric air, they are never, except under extreme disease, so perfectly collapsed as in a foetal state: a partial collapse, which greatly diminishes their bulk, takes place when the chest is opened into by the pressure of the external air, and this whether the animal be living or dead, which forms an important fact in singery; and such accident would be instantly and invariably fatal, were it not for the wise provision made by the complete cavity each iung owns, which is totally dis- tinct from that of the other. 252 SPLANCHNOLOGY. is the longer, from the necessity it has to stretch itself under the posterior aorta, usually subdivides into only two principal trunks. The cartilages of the larger bronchial tubes are not, like the cartilaginous portions of the trachea, completely annu- lar*, but, on the contrary, they are true segmental portions con- nected together by an elastic membrane. As minuter subdivi- sions of the bronchise are formed, the cartilaginous structure becomes less distinct, and in the extreme ramifications is alto- gether lost. The bronchial tubes are lined throughout by the vascular mucous membrane, Ivhich lines the larynx and trachea, and from which a mucus is continually secreted to coat the sur- face, as well as to furnish a liberal supply of serous fluid, from which secretion the air that is returned from the lungs is al- ways loaded with moisture. The extreme ramifications of the bronchia end in minute cavities or cellsf, over the surfaces of which are spread, in capillary tubes of exquisite minuteness, the ultimate ramifications of the pulmonary arteries, whose trunks accompany the bronchial branches, side by side % . The venal ramifications receive the blood from the surface of the cells which the arterial capillaries had deposited, from whence it is collected and returned to the heart by the four pulmonary trunks described in the Angiology. The lungs are furnished with appropriate blood, by means of the bronchial arteries, which arise by one trunk from the pos- terior aorta, and after having nourished the parenchyma, bron- chiae, &c , return the blood by bronchial veins into the vena azygos. The nerves are furnished from the anterior and poste- rior cervical ganglions ; but except under inflammation, these organs are not endowed with much sensibility. Their lympha- tics are very plentifully distributed throughout their exterior surface and their interior substance, and have been success- fully injected in the horse. The diseases of the lungs are acute and chronic. One should, * The trachea of the horse is more cylindrical than that of the human, in whom the tracheal cartilages are mere segmental portions, leaving a flattened space behind, corresponding with the prominences of the parts posterior to it; but which speciality was unnecessary in the horse, whose neck is so much wider. In him the tracheal cartilages are more annular, being very thick in front, but gradually tapering into semicartilaginous slips, which are not at- tached end to end, but lie loose within the membranous posterior folds ; by which formation they are enabled to slide over and within each other. Al this part, likewise, a muscular fold stretches across, apparently to act on the diameter of the tube. t These cells are readily demonstrable to the naked eye in the amphibia, and appear disposed to dilate and yield to the stimulus of pressure, since they are said to be considerably enlarged in the pearl divers. It is also very possible that on their varied dimensions, in a great measure, depends the su- periority oiivind in some horses over others. X Mr. White denies the existence of these cells, and affirms that injection will shew that the bronchial ramifications are continued to the very surface of the pleura, where they end. But it may be suspected that the very mode of proof, by injectiou, will destroy all traces of primary organization. THE LUNGS. '253 d, priori, be disposed to attribute to the lungs of every animal a great tendency to disease, from observing their extreme vas- cularity. How much more reason, therefore, is there to expect it in the bulky form of the horse, removed as he is from a na- tural to an artificial state, and daily employed in exercises which must hurry the blood through his chest in an inordinate degree ? To these causes it is owing that we find him so pecu- liarly subject to acute inflammation of the lungs and their en- velopements, and to the chronic affections of broken wind, thick wind, as well as the symptomatic phthisis pulmonalis, the consequence of glanders. Respiration. The physiology of respiration is a most important subject for the attention of the veterinarian, whether as regards its forming one of the keystones to the animal functions, or its va- riations proving a prominent feature in most of the important diseases of the^horse. The foetal colt subsists by the direct communication of its organs with those of the mare, through the medium of the placenta; by which it receives both vital heat and nutritious increase. As soon as it is born, it continues to receive its alimentary nutriment by an indirect communica- tion with the mother, but for vital heat it has to depend wholly on its own organs. The lungs, which hitherto had remained passive from the medium in which they were placed, are now roused into action; the muscles of the chest enlarge the cavity, and the air rushes in, from its elastic properties and tendency to occupy every vacuum. The air having once entered the lungs, they are never completely emptied from it again. The lungs themselves are nearly, or wholly, passive organs, and have little or no power to act ; but their distention is princi- pally brought about by the enlargement of the capacity of the chest; by which, they being cellular and cavernous, and com- municating with the open cavities of the mouth and nose, be- come filled with the external air. The chest becomes enlarged in its circumference by the elevations of the ribs, and it is en- larged in length by the contraction of the diaphragm. The first rib being fixed, becomes a fulcrum to the rest, which enjoy some motion by means of their articulations with the spine, as well as by the flexibility of their cartilages ; and which motion takes place in a much greater degree in the posterior ribs, from the increase of their circular form, and the peculiar attachment of their cartilaginous appendages, which elevates the parietes of the chest, and turns the cartilaginous angles slightly out- wards*. It is, however, to an enlargement of the capacity of * This circular external enlargement of the chest in horses has been doubt- ed, except on extraordinary occasions ; but whoever will be at the trouble of examining the matter experimentally, will find that by means of the intercos- tal and other proper respiratory, as well as assistant muscles (sec Myology), 254 SPLANCHNOLOGY. the chest through the agency of the diaphragm that we are principally indebted for the general inflation of the lungs. This muscle in a state of rest is convex towards the breast, and con- cave towards the abdomen; but when its muscular fibres con- tract, it becomes plane -like, which forces backwards the abdo- minal viscera, at the same time enlarging the thoracic cavity, and also, by forcing backwards the abdominal contents, swel- ling the posterior parts of the belly, as we observe at every in- spiration, and whence arises the terra of " heaving at the flanks :" thus it is that this action and re-action of the dia- phragm and a])dominal muscles, in the displacement of the ab- dominal contents, afford so just a criterion of the state of the respiration to the experienced eye, as to whether it be ordinate or inordinate. The air thus received into the lungs expands their cells throughout, by which means the blood in the right side of the heart finds a ready passage through them by means of the pulmonary artery, and hence the opening between the two sides of the heart in the foetus becomes useless, and closes up. As soon as the lungs are nearly filled, an uneasy sensa- tion is felt, which obliges the thorax to contract; the diaphragm relaxes, and the abdominal muscles shorten, by which the con- tents of the abdomen are forced against the now passive dia- phragm ; the intercostals cease their action, and the capacity of the chest is diminished; by which the air is expired, or forced out of it. After a momentary pause, the blood becomes collected in the right side of the heart, owing to the resistance it met with in the pulmonary artery, from the collapsed state of the lungs, and which causes a plethora in every other part of the body; from which we can account for the fulness of the vessels of the head, the starting of the eyes and flushing of the face in persons who meet with any temporary stoppage to re- spiration : should the obstruction remain permanent, some of these vessels frequently rupture. From this accumulation it becomes necessary for fresh air to be drawn into the lungs, forming a new inspiration : and in this manner the routine of respiration is carried on. There is a certain consent, or proportion, between the ac- tion of the heart and that of respiration, in the ordinary state of the animal; but this proportion is not always the same. If more blood be sent to the heart by the pressure of exercise, the respiration will be likewise accelerated : thus, in quick motion, or great exertion, there is panting or quick breathing; the air being suddenly expelled, and as quickly inspired, that no ob- stacle may be offered to the passage of the blood. This be- comes also necessary on another account, for, as the force of some dilatation continually takes place. That a very considerable enlarge- ment occasionally occurs, we know from the extraordinary distention of the costal arches, which many horses bring: about to resist the action of tiffht fi^irtbin^. NATURE, &C. OF THB BLOOD. 255 the respiratory muscles, particularly the auxiliary ones, must be diminished when other muscles are in strong action, there- fore what is wanting in strength is made up in celerity ; the auxiliary muscles in these cases being able to act but little, as their fixed points must be the chest, and their moveable ones the extremities. For it must not be lost sight of, that respira- tion can be aided by many other muscles besides those imme- diately described as respiratory. The large masses between the scapulae and ribs, the sternal, brachial, and others passing between the chest and neck, are of this kind, and expand the chest as occasion requires. It is thus that when accelerated motion has, as it is termed, " blown" a horse, he is observed anxious to fix his fore legs wide apart and inclining forward, and to depress his head, that he may make all these parts act as fulcri to expand his chest ; and how grateful an assistant it is at this moment to loosen his girths, every humane fox-hunter is fully aware. The Nature and Properties of the Blood. The nature and properties of this fluid belong to the section on hygrology ; but as it is so intimately connected with the parts just described, we shall consider it in this place. The blood was in the earliest ages accounted as of the greatest con sequence to the animal machine : perhaps, the great stress laid upon it in the Bible has not a little contributed to continue an opinion of its importance, seeing that there men were strictly commanded to refrain from blood, because *^ it ivas the life J* But it is remarkable, that though the very great importance of this fluid was known to the antients, and to an alteration of its properties was attributed most of tlieir maladies, yet they had no just conception of its circulation through the body. That it had motion they were aware; but they in general conceived its movements to be like the ebbing and flowing of the sea, and that during sleep these were reversed. A century before Har- vey lived, the valves of the heart were accurately described. Favetus, likewise, who lived eighty years prior to him, noticed the disproportion of the pulmonary artery in the foetus. Ano ther antieut author, who was a great theologist, and wrote on the Trinity, for which he was burnt, speaks, in his work, of the use of the pulmonary artery to the lungs, and of these masses absorbing a subtle fluid from the air. Dr. AVilliam Harvey, an Englishman, published, at Frank- fort, his grand discovery of the blood returning to the heart by the veins, which before was supposed to flow immediately from the heart by them. Having once commenced his researches, he did not leave them till he gave us the true route and course of this fluid through the body ; and he also was impressed with a 250 SPLANCHNOLOGY notion that it owned a life, sui generis*. An acquaintance with the various secretions of the body continued to increase our knowledge of the importance of this fluid ; but its real nature and properties have been much further illustrated by that great anatomist and physiologist, Mr. John Hunter. He revived the ide of the life of the blood, and by the ardour with which he pursued the subject, he in fact made it his own ; and although there is now reason to believe he carried his ideas too far, and attributed too much power to this fluid, and too little to the solids ; it is yet to be remembered, that few pursue a subject without following it to its utmost limits of probability, and that a favourite child is seldom viewed but on the bright side : to which it must be added, that he constantly applied the whole of his theory to practice, and that he founded most of his ideas on actual experiment. The blood forms a principal part of most animal bodies, and is of various coloursf; but in quadrupeds, and all the verte- brosa, it is always red ; circulating through every part of the body, by means of the heart, arteries, and veins. It does not appear to differ essentially in the various brute tribes, having in all the same properties of preserving life generally ; that is, the blood of one quadruped will support, under all its func- tions, another quadruped, as we learn by transfusion. In the horse there appears but little difference between his blood and that of other brutes, nor between it and that of man. Horse blood is however less intensely red than that of the human ; it also generally, but not invariably, presents a smaller propor- tion of serum, from which it separates more slowly ; and in common with blood of the herbivora, it does not putrefy so soon. The quantity that an animal contains, in proportion to his bulk, has been endeavoured to be ascertained : but the results have been various ; nor can the truth be easily gained : in some instances the quantity appeared equal to one tenth of the whole ; and in others, again, it has been computed as a twentieth. Ani- mals with much fat on them, appear to have proportionally less than lean ones; and in those in a state of close confinement, the quantity is found to be smaller! than in the wild. A me- dium sized horse has lost forty-four pounds without apparent injury, and most will lose one-fifteenth of their total weight be- fore life becomes extinct : but as, under these circumstances, * Hunc quoque apparet sanguinis principalitas, quod pulsus ex eo ortum ducat. Nee sanguis solum pars primigenia et principalis decendus est quod abeo motus pulsus que principiuni orietur; sed etiara quia ineo primum calor animalis innascitur spii-itiLs vitalis ingeneratur, ct anima ipsa consistit. — Harv, Exer. 51. f It is limpid in various tribes ; white in some of the Crustacea, as the lob- ster and shrimp ; and green among insects, as the grasshopper and white ca- terpillar. % Phil. Trans. NATURE, &C. OF THE BLOOD, 257 much must still remain in the heart and vessels, we cannot com- pute it in the horse at less than one-twelfth of the whole w^eight. The blood is, however, with regard to each individual, a va- riable fluid, appearing in different proportions at difierent times, and which proportions likewise vary in difierent parts of the body. It putrefies by a gentle heat, and, under some circum- stances, effervesces. Blood is separable into a nearly colour- less, and a coaguium, or red part, which separation is sponta- neous out of the body*. The coaguium f cruor, or crassameritum, is found to be com- posed of two parts : that to which it owes its colour is called its red globules, although the form of the particles has been a subject of infinite dispute : the other component gives to these consistence and adherence, and is known by the names of coa- gulable lymph, fibrin, and gluten. As some animals have no red particles in their blood, and as many others are only partially supplied with them, as fishes ; and as in all there are organs wherein they are not found, as in the transparent part of the eye, it has been supposed that they were the least important portions of the blood. Mr. Hunter, however, considers them as greatly connected with the stren^^th of the organs, as he ob- served those parts subjected to great exertion, as the muscles were full of them ; and in proportion as the muscles are more or less highly coloured by them, so, he observes, are they stronger or weaker f. Butchers bleed their calves repeat- edly to make their veal white, from whence one would infer that the red globules are longer in forming than the other parts. The coagulable lymph, ox fibrin, which forms the other por- tion of the clot, appears to be the most important part of the vital fluid, and is present in every animal. It appears to have undergone the most complete animalization of all the other parts, and is mechanically, but intimately, mixed with them. After the perfect abstraction of the serum and red particles by maceration, it will be left nearly limpid, firm, tough, and fibrous. It appears to be that part of which all the solids of the body are immediately framed, by the action of the ves- sels. It forms the callus of bones, and can become organized whenever extravasated, either by its own specific action, or by the action of the solids upon it. It readily coagulates, is so- luble in alkalies, but insoluble in water, oils, or ardent spirits, and yields salts by incineration. The coagulation of the fibrin appears in direct proportion to the weak action of the vessels ; that is, whenever they act strongly, whatever may be the gene- * Blood from a horse requires double the time to coagulate than that from the human. t But that red blood is essentially necessary to powerful muscular rontrac- tion, we know to be erroneous ; for the muscles of many fishes, and which are all endowed with surpiising strength, are most of them colourless. Tbe pec- toral muscles of many fowls are equally so, whose exertions are necessarily very great. In the grouse, one layer is colourless and the other dark, but both are equally strong. ^58 SPLANCHNOLOGY. ra! state of the system, this coagulable part consolidates more slowly, by which means the red particles, which at other times it holds suspended, fall to the bottom ; but the lymph beinij: now separated from them, forms on the top of tlie crassamen- tum, and is that which is termed the buff or size. , This buffy appearance being hence considered as indicative of an inflam- matory state of the vessels, is among practitioners carefully sought after ; and it therefore becomes of considerable impor- tance to inquire what accidental circumstances tend to hasten or retard this coagulation, that we may not be led to form a wrong prognosis from its appearance. Its being detacbed from the body quickly by a large orifice into a deep vessel with a narrow bottom, tends to retards its coagulation, and conse- quently assists the separation of the red particles, and the con- sequent appearance of the buff: in all acute inflammatory dis- eases, it is therefore recommended to draw the blood in this manner*. On the contrary, when the blood is drawn slowly away, and talis into a wide vessel, it coagulates more quickly, and the separation between the two parts is not in these in- stances found to be so complete t« The serum is the fluid basis of the blood, which it serves to dilute, and forms about four-sevenths of the whole; the propor- tions being somewhat smaller in the horse than in the human J. It is slightly saline, and less putrefactive than the coagulum. It remains fluid in every degree of heat, between 30 and 160 * Where the convenience of tbe practitioner will not allow his stay to watch Ihe perfect separation of tbe red from the fibrous part, a pretty certain iudica- fiou of the biilfy state of the blood may be drawn, by applying the fingers to it a few seconds after bleeding, when if the red particles do not adhere to them, but the yellow serum only, such blood will be commonly buffy. (PercivaVs Lectures.) t It is, however, necessary to remind the junior practitioner, that what lias been just recommended with regard to bleeding from a large orifice, in this instance, merely relates to the effect it has on the blood after it has parted from the body, and w hich indications, if he be expert in his profession, he will not materially need ; but there are other reasons why this practice is advise- able, from the sudden check it gives to the circulation, which often greatly im- pedes inflammation, and allows the vessels to contract on their over-distended sides. It may likewise be not altogether irrelevant here to hint that in the horse, as well as in the human, w^hat is termed a bufty state, is not so inva- riably a proof of diseased increase in the circulation as has been heretofore supposed ; but that it may and does exist in a healthy state often ; and that in some cases of disease, if blood be drawn, as long as this appearance pre- sents itself, the last drop may be abstracted- The cupped appearance which the coagulum puts on, and which is so much depended on in the human, as a proof of an inflammatory state of vascular action, although its existence be denied in the horse, yet most certainly it does exist; and that both in health and disease, as I have witnessed in many instances, and which Mr. Percival also notices. Neither have T observed that this presents a more unerring cri- terion of inflammatory action than the buJtf itself. Prudent practitioners will therefore do well to draw their inferences from an union of symptoms and ap- pearances, and not from these alone. X Mons. Gerard estimates it at one half, but which docs not agree with my observations on it. Mr. Percival very justly observes, that the disproportions between the serum of the horse and man arc in bome nibtanccs scarcely ob- ;servablc, but in others thcv arc. NATURE, &.C. OF THE BLOOD. 259 degrees Fahren. ther. ; with a less heat it freezes, in a greater it coagulates. It appears chemically composed of albumen, gelatin, saline matter, and a considerable quantity of water. Serum appears not only the fluid base of the blood, but it also dilutes all the secretions as well ; and it appears to be a sepa- ration of serum from the blood which forms dropsy. The bloodf therefore, is a compounded fluid made up of these se- veral parts ; and which, considered as an aggregate, is a most essential component of the animal. All parts of the body are formed of it ; and all parts of the body can be resolved agaift into it, by means of the absorbents ; hence we must conclude that there is a very intimate connexion between the solids and the fluids, and this has occasioned modern physiologists to con- sider both as governed by the same laws, among whom Mr. Hun- ter stands foremost. The reasons which induced him to form this opinion, and the facts whereon it was founded, are detailed at large in his work on the blood: and as his writings have greatly tended to bring about a very important change in our ideas of both the healthy and diseased relations subsisting between the solids and fluids, so it is essentially necessary that the veteri- nary student should fully acquaint himself with the several opi- nions and facts which have so greatly assisted to bring the long reigning humoral pathology into disrepute. For many centu- ries a morbid condition of the fluids, but particularly a vitiated state of the blood, was considered as the principal cause of disease. This peccant quality in the humours of the body was called the humoral pathology, the overthrow of which, begun by Boerhaave, continued by CuUen, and completed by Hunter,. has occasioned the difierent diseased affections to be ascribed to a vitiated action or derangement of the solids more than the fluids ; contending that w ere the blood specifically affected in some diseases, as heretofore imagined, that, under such circum- stances, the blood which circulates over the whole body would necessarily affect the system generally, and not locally. The blood, therefore, it is alleged, cannot contain in itself the mor- bific matter, for if it did, it is argued, inoculation by it ought to produce, in contagious diseases particularly, the same conta- gion which the introduction of the morbid matter itself would do. Great as have been the obligations which physiology, pa- thology, and surgery, owe to the researches of this distinguish- ed character, yet it is now very generally acknowledged that the doctrines he inculcated have been carried too far, and that numerous facts, incontrovertibly proved, convince us, that the fluids of the body and the blood itself are not exempted from disease; but are in many instances specifically affected with morbid matter, which is capable, by inoculation or transfusion, of producing its like .* * At the Veterinary College, the blood of a glandered horse was transfused into a healthy ass, who in a few days becnme aflected M'ith the same disease, 260 SPLANCHNOLOGY. Tlie Action of the Air on the Blood, We have every reason to suppose, that the blood is con- stantly deterioratinsf ; for it expends itself for the support and growth of parts : it therefore becomes necessary that it should have sources by which it may be meliorated and restored, and which sources appear to be derived from the lungs and the chy- lopoetic viscera. By the first it is altered and improved, and by the latter it is renovated in point of quantity. The blood ap- pears to acquire from the air a certain part, or possesses itself of certain properties, whereby its qualities are brought back from a venal to an arterial state ; which is the only state which seems fit for the purposes of support to the machine. When venal blood is exposed to the action of the air, it soon loses its dark hue, and becomes florid and bright in that part which is exposed to the atmosphere ; and, as the other portions become successively exposed, thej become in the same manner bril- liant. Even if venal blodd be placed under the cover of some transparent medium, as bladder, gold beater's skin, &c., it be- comes also florid, although not in immediate contact with the air ; and which is here a very important fact to note, for it is exactly thus that it must be changed in the lungs, where the air can act on the blood only through the transparent membrane enveloping the air cells. Consistent with these facts, if the blood within the pulmonary artery be examined, w^hich, as be- fore observed, performs the ofiice of a vein, it will be found dark and venous, while that in the pulmonary vein will be found florid and arterial, and which changes exactly correspond, as far as regards colour, with what occurs in ordinary respiration, which exposes the blood in its passage through the lungs to the action of the air received into the bronchial cells. That this change of colour arises from the air, we know ; for if we hang or strangle any animal, and then open each side of the heart, we shall find the blood in both equally black and venous. A change in the colour of the blood is not, however, the only al- teration it receives, otherwise it would operate on the red glo- bules alone : but as this change is found as necessary in ani- mals vvhose blood is not red, as in those in which it is, so we have every reason to suppose that an alteration of a more im- portant kind is efiected, which consists in the absorption of a and cominnnicated it to another, by inoculation. Transfusion of the blood of a mangy dog has also produced mange in another. Many similar proofs might also be brought forward to establish the fact, that the fluids, as well as the solids, maybe primarily and specifically affected. Neither does the argu- ment, that the universal presence of the blood in every part, were it in itself affected, onght to produce general and not local disease, stand its advocates in better stead : for, by laws framed by the Great Architect of the machine, every disease has its particular seat, and almost every poison its preference : the mange affects the skin ; grease the heels ; glanders the mucous mem- branes of the nose ; and farcy the superficial absorbents. ACTION OS THE AIR ON THE BLOOD. 261 vital principle, from whence springs the fountain or source of animal heat*. The production of animal heat. — Few subjects can be consi- dered more interesting to the veterinarian than to ascertain the source of animal heat. To be able to regulate it to the preser- vation of health, or to learn how to diminish it in acute or in- flammatory affections, or to increase it in chronic or indolent ones, are objects worthy his utmost attention. Any thing be- yond the slightest summary of the doctrines, on which the theory of vital heat is formed, would exceed our confined li- mits : but as, in a practical point of view, the subject is most important to the veterinarian, I would recommend it to his ful- lest attentionf. A consideration of it may be properly com- menced by examining the atmospheric air which is breathed, and which, in the present advanced state of knowledge, we need not inform, even the tyro, that it is a compounded element, remarkable for two properties, the supporting of respiration and combustion. Although air may exist, yet, when it will not support etther of these phenomena, it is invariably found unfit- ted for the other, which affords ample proof that it has parted with some property or portion. From innumerable chemical proofs, this portion is known to be oxygen, of which twenty- seven parts in one himdred exist in good air. In impure air, it enters in various proportions, till it becomes first hurtful, and next fatal, as it possesses more or less of this principle. Oxy- gen holds within it caloric, or the matter of heat; but it holds it in a latent form J, and this caloric, or heat, it parts from by * Innumerable facts may be brouc^ht forward to prove, that some important alteration is effected in the blood in its passage through the lungs. The known difference between arterial and venous, that is between that which has imme- diately passed through the langs, and that which has traversed the bodj% but which blood we know to be all derived from the same source, is a most strong and convincing proof. If a large artery be taken up, the blood in it, which was before florid, soon becomes dark: the veins likewise have the dark blood in them rendered still darker, if its course be retarded or stopped ; thus on tying up the neck to bleed, the fluid that first issues, particularly if the ligature have been tight or remained long, is very black ; and which occasions farriers to say, " that such blood is very bad ;" but after it has continued to flow, it becomes more bright, as having been less under this suspension, which is then said to arise from the horse " having parted with his bad blood." It is likewise usual, when blood trickles down, to see a florid and dark stream ; the florid part arisiug from some of the capillary branches which have not yet been de- prived of their oxygen. t The theory of animal heat may be satisfactorily studied from the chemis- try of Dr. Black, or from Crawfurd's celebrated treatise on the subject. From the very able work on suspended animation, by the ingenious Professor of the Veterinary College; as well as from the treatises on Physiology, by Ri- cherand and Magendie. t That caloric, or the matter of heat, exists in most bodies, as Avell in those which feel cold to the touch as in those which do not, we know from the cir- cumstance of friction which produces heat between the coldest substances. In such case, before the friction, the heat equally existed, but it was then in a latent form. The action of friction has evolved or let loose the caloric, but in a sensible state- 262 SPLANCHNOLOGY. means of some chemical combinations it forms in the lungs, and imparts it to the blood ; but not now in its latent, but in the form of sensible heat, and which heat is subsequently distri- buted, by the circulation of the blood, to all parts of the body. The air which is afterwards expired, ought, from these prin- ciples, to be altered and unfitted for either respiration or com- bustion ; and that such is the case we are fully aware, from in- numerable proofs*. Such at present are the received opinions relative to the chemical changes which the blood undergoes, and to the source from whence animal heat is derived. They have long maintained their ground ; and being formed on expe- riment, and confirmed by numerous collateral facts, it is pro- bable that they will not be easily overturned. It is, however, necessary to remark, that there are yet considerable difficulties in reconciling this doctrine with the numerous phenomena ob- served, and which has led to attempts at accounting for the evolution of animal caloric on other principles. Among the sceptics to this theory, Mr. Brodie stands conspicuous. His experiments have been very numerous, and from them he infers, that animal heat does not depend on the chemical changes which the blood undergoes in the round of circulation, hut that the ner- vous system seems more particidarly concerned in its production; for he alleges, and others have noted the same, that, by im- pairing the nerves of any part, the formation of animal heat in that part is impaired in proportion to the injury done to the nerves, although the circulation be continued perfect. The experiments of Mr. Dulong likewise go to prove that the quantity of the matter of heat disengaged by the conversion of the oxygen into carbonic acid, is greater than can be accounted for by the fix- ing of such oxygen during respiration ; and therefore that some other source of calorification must exist in the blood. ANATOMY OF THE ABDOMEN. Of the Abdomen generally. The external parts of the abdomen, or belly, are the common integuments; the abdominal muscles; the parts of generation in the horse, and the mammae in the mare. The internal parts are the visceral investures, and the viscera themselves, which may be divided into the chylopoietic, the urinary, and the sper- * Under this \iewof the effects of air iu respiration, how many important facts present themselves, and how necessary it is to the health of osir horses that we allow them only pure air to breathe. That which has been breathed and re-breathed in crowded and unventilated stables, must necessarily be de- prived of a portion of its oxygen, from whence only animal heat and muscular vigour can be derived. Such air, in addition to the carbonic acid gas, evolved by the process of breathing, is still further deteriorated by ammoniacal gasses let, loose from the surrounding matters. When, therefore, thus confined in the narrow limits of close unventilated stables, are the properties of durability, vigour, and capability of resisting disease, to be expected from horses so treated? {^ee Stable Mauaf/ement. i>. 1^.) THE ABDOMEN. 263 matic, with their several appendages. The first class of inter- nal parts is by far the most extensive and numerous, compre- hending the stomach, intestines, mesentery, liver, pancreas, spleen, thoracic duct, and omentum. The second takes in the kidneys, renal capsules, ureters, bladder, and urethra. The third comprises, in the male, the vasa deferentia, vesiculs se- rainales, testicles, spermatic cords, and part of the penis. In the female, the urethra, vagina, uterus, and ovaria. The abdo- minal cavity is much the largest of the three great hollows of the body ; forming, when its contents are removed, an extensive oval vault, which is bounded anteriorly by the diaphragm, pos- teriorly by the bones of the pelvis, superiorly by the vertebrae, laterally by the ribs, and interiorly by the abdominal muscles. The superior part is called the back, the lateral parts are the sides and flanks, the posterior the loins, and the inferior por- tions throughout are called the belly. These divisions being indeterminate and more appropriate to the exterior than to the interior parts ; others have been formed by imaginary lines, in w^hich the cavity is artificially divided into what are teimed regions, which having become arbitrary, and very generally re- ceived, as greatly aiding the description, are therefore essentially necessary for the veterinary surgeon to make himself familiar with, as well as what viscus or viscera are contained in each ; as, in the event of a wound in the abdomen, this knowledge will enable him at once to determine w^hat part is likely to be in- jured, which vtill assist him, not only to form a more certain prognostic, but also more efi'ectually to combat the dangers that may arise therefrom. These compartments, or regions, begin at the anterior part of the belly, which forms the epigastric region, extending from the ensiform cartilage to the boundaries of a perpendicular line drawn immediately behind the point of the last false rib, and which line reaches to within four or five inches of the umbilicus, or navel. The epigastric region admits of minor divisions, forming the lower portion, included between the ribs into the scrohiculus cordis, and the parieties of the division into the right and left hypochondria. The central portion of the belly forms the umbilical region, which commences four or five inches anteriorly, to the navel; reaches also so much posteriorly to it; taking in the portion that two trans- verse lines in this direction would form ; that is, from one ante- rior spinous process of the ilium to the other : the lateral and superior parts of this are termed the lumbar regions. The hy- pogastric region extends from the posterior limit of the umbili- cal region, over the rest of the abdomen, and forms laterally the iliac regions, or flanks : the middle part is called regio pubis. The relative situation of the viscera within the regions, it has been just stated, is of much practical importance, particularly as aiding the description of parts ; and as such we shall take a S 264: SPLANCHNOLOGY. cursory view of it. The large intestines occupy the whole in- ferior portion of the cavity of the abdomen, and consequently occupy all the lower regions of the belly, as well as a consider- able portion of the laterals. The apex, or cul de sac of the caecum, protrudes its large blind end along the right side of the abdomen to the diaphragm, encircled almost by the circumvo- lutions of the colon. It is thus that a cow's horn, a hedge stake, or any other wound which penetrates any part of the lower marginal half of the abdomen, is sure to protrude some portion of the large intestines. In the horned ruminants, such a wound any where not greatly below the median line, particu- larly on the left side, would more probably penetrate the paunch or first stomach. When the large intestines are re- moved from the abdomen, the small intestines, which in a na- tural state lie over them, come into view, whose situation, as regards the regions, is not determinate, but depends on their state of distention and the peristaltic motion. The stomach w^ill be found to occupy the left hypochondriac region when empty, and, when distended, to stretch itself into the epigas- trium. (See Plate IV.) The liver is attached to the dia- phragm in the epigastric region, from whence it extends into the right and left hypochondriac regions, its larger lobes occu- pying the right of them. (Vide Plate IV.) The spleen occu- pies a space in the left hypochondrium, between the great ex- tremity of the stomach and the left kidney. The pancreas will be found principally in the left epigastrium, while the renal capsules and kidneys occupy the lumbar regions : and the bladder, with the parts of generation, occupy the pubic region in the horse, and both pubic and hypogastric in the mare. The peritoneum is a dense membrane which forms the inner lining of the cavity of the abdomen, as the pleura does that of the thorax : it is then reflected over each of the abdominal vis- cera, as the other is over the thoracic. It may be resembled to a large membranous bag or bladder shut up ; the different vis- cera being indented into its outer surface, and encircled by it, but by which means they never enter its cavity. Correctly speak- ing, however, no cavity at all is now left, the protruded viscera exactly filling up all the space, except what is required for in- terstitial fluid, which aids the free motions of the viscera. This inner surface, as may be supposed, is every where smooth and polished, while the outer, which is adapted to the circum- ference of the general cavity, and to the viscera, is cellular, and adheres by minute fibres to the parts it covers. It cannot be strictly said to be an universal membrane to either the cavity or to its contents; for it ends towards the middle of the pelvis, leaving the posterior part without at all investing it ; by which means also it only includes the anterior and superior portions of the bladder within its folds. With these exceptions, having JHvested all the abdominal surfaces, it extends itself into cer- THE OMENTUM. 265 tain prolongations, some of which remain within the cavity, and others protrude themselves without it. Of the former kind are the mesocolon, mesorectum, omentum, and mesentery, with those which originally covered the foetal parts, as the round li- gament, but which was originally hollow, and contained the umbilical vein ; as were also the two posterior ligaments, so called, which foetally invested the umbilical arteries and the urachus. Of the outer prolongations of the peritoneum, the principal pass through the abdominal rings, giving a vaginal coat to each testicle. The peritoneum derives its vessels and nerves from the surrounding parts, and is, like them, very vas- cular, and therefore equally subject to disease. In any acute inflammation of the abdominal viscera, it is generally found in- flamed ; but pure peritonitis, or distinct spontaneous inflamma- tion of it, is rare. It, however, often becomes so from wounds into the cavity of the abdomen, and sometimes from castration also. Mr. Percivall relates a case of chronic peritonitis, the progress of which, as related, is interesting and curious =^. I have frequently seen thickenings and adhesions formed on it after death, in subjects who have been slaughtered, w^hich I at- tributed to attacks of enteritis. It is to a diseased increase of its interstitial fluid, that we attribute ventral dropsy ; but which is rare in the horse. The uses of the peritoneum are not only to protect the abdo- minal contents, but also to keep them relatively situated to- wards each other ; at the same time by the smoothness of its surface, and by the fluid it secretes, to allow free motion be- tween them. It is wisely formed very elastic, which is evinced by the effects of pregnancy, of increased fat, and from dropsy : in all which cases it accommodates itself to the distention, and, on the removal of the distending cause, soon regains its original size. The Omentum. The omentum^ or cawl, is a double membrane, formed from folds of the peritoneum, two of which are derived immediately from the stomach, and two are formed from the mesenteric lamen reflected from the intestines. Within these duplica- tures, adipose nodules are dispersed, but in small proportion in the horse to many other animals. In the hog, for instance, as soon as the abdomen is opened, the omentum presents itself, spread over the whole contents of the belly. In the ox and sheep also, the principal fold alone incloses the four stomachs and duodenum : but in the horse it is small ; and from its at- tachments to the great curvature of the stomach, it extends so as to do little more than cover that part of the pancreas, and a small portion of the colon to which it is also attached. (Vide d, g, Plate IV.) Thus the horse is not subject to the species ^ Lectures, vol. IT, p, 40!^. S 2 '^^(^ SPLANCHNOLOGY. of hernia, or rupture, termed epiplocele, to which some other quadrupeds are liable*. The uses of this fatty membrane are not yet certainly known ; it has been supposed to be for the purpose of lubricating the intestines, and to serve as a medium to prevent the effects of motion ; and this opinion is much fa- voured by its appearance in many animals : but when viewed in the horse, and some other of the brute creation, whose quick movements would seem to require such an oily medium, it must be allowed that this cannot be its principal use ; for were it so, it would probably be as large in the horse as in the dog, who is equally an animal of speed. Neither can it be altoge- ther as a depot for animal oil, otherwise in every quadruped of quick digestion it would be found equally large. The Stomach. The stomach is so important an organ, that by the antients it was regarded as the seat of the soul, and its presence was con- sidered by that great physiologist, Mr. Hunter, as the grand distinctive mark between animal and vegetable life ; though we now know, that the existence of a stomach is not an invariable mark of the animal, nor does its absence incoutrovertibly prove a vegetable origin. In the horse there is but one stomach, which is so small, compared v^ith his general bulk, as perhaps to afford no parallel among quadrupeds. It is, however, not- withstanding, capable of very great extension (morbid disten- tion), having been found with upwards of forty pounds of undi- gested hay within it. In structure it is partly membranous, partly muscular, and partly cuticular; with a figure, that, when distended, has some resemblance to a bag pipe. (Vide d, Plate IV.) It is situated immediately behind the diaphragm, in the left hypochondrium, and in part of the epigastrium, with its ex- pellent orifice stretching across the spine to the right side. It has two surfaces, which may be called its sides, though one is posterior, and the other anterior. It has also two extremities, the larger of which is directed towards the left false ribs, and forms its fundus, and a smaller, which, after a slight curvature which carries it posterior to the larger extremity, forms the py- lorus. Its curvatures are a large one, to which the spleen is at- tached, and a smaller formed between its openings. It exhi- bits a cardiac or recipient orifice, near the centre of the lesser curvature, and a pyloric or expellent outlet, forming the right or small extremity. In Plate IV, the pyloric orifice is dis- tinctly seen; the cardiac is hidden by the stomach, but is nearly opposed to the letter d. Thus when the stomach is moderately distended, it lies in an obliquely transverse direction, with its greater extremity projected a little forward, and its two orifices * Dog* not unfreqnently have epiplocele, to which their tendency to obesity renders them stilJ more liable. In the hog, whose abdominal rings are equally unclosed and his fat efjual, it is, however, very rare, for his exertions are less. THfi STOMACH. 267 superiorly inclined, but the cardiac the most so ; having the lesser extremity rather posterior to the other, and the great cur- vature inferior, and perhaps a little posterior. It is evident, however, that its situation must vary much according to the degree of its distention : the foregoing description will there- fore apply to it only when moderately filled ; for when greatly distended, the left extremity will press upon the diaphragm, and the right will be carried posteriorly, so as to displace some of the other viscera. From a very distended stomach pressing upon the diaphragm, we are at no loss to understand why breathing is impeded after an inordinate meal ; or why a horse, in such cases, appears to breathe with quickness and great ef- fort, if moved quickly ; for he is forced to make use of his in- tercostal muscles, the muscles of the shoulder, and those of the fore extremities, to open the chest; its distention backward being prevented by the pressure of the stomach upon the dia- phragm : hence likewise we see the great impropriety of gal- loping horses, after watering to their fill, " to warm it in their bellies," as it is foolishly termed ; and also that it is unwise to ride very hard after the stomach is over distended with food. Moderate distention the horse bears better than most animals, as will be seen. The stomach has externally a covering from the peritoneum, which adheres closely to it, by means of its cellular portion; and which appears to dip in between the muscular fibres. Its next portion is muscular, and which in the horse is so considerable to give him some gastric specia- lity, as we shall further notice. The direction of the muscular fibres is various ; but they may principally be referred to a lon- gitudinal and a transverse order, though neither of them are regularly so, but are intermixed with others, whose direction is more oblique. The longitudinal plan is the most external {vide c c, Plate V), and appears a continuation of the outer one of the oesophagus, with some original fibres, which, spreading over the lesser curvature, carry themselves obliquely around, and likewise over the great extremity, or fundus, where they conspicuously form themselves into a kind of vortex, whose centre is in the middle of that extremity. The inner, and by much the largest plan, is not quite circular, but is slightly oblique, crossing the obliquity of the longitudinal plan. The circular layer is very thick and strong around the cardiac or recipient orifice {see Plate); and if it do not form a true sphinc- ter, it must certainly, by its contractions, tend greatly to pre- vent regurgitation, and there is little doubt that to this forma- tion, in a great measure, may be ascribed the inaptitude and almost incapability of the horse to vomit. This difficulty is also further increased by the rugose folds of the cuticular lining of the oesophagus, which is here thrown into pliCL^, which, although it cannot be said to form a complete valvular appa- 268 SPLANCHNOLOGY. ratus, yet must prove a resistance to regurgitation*. It is evident, on a due consideration of this matter, that should the circular and longitudinal fibres act from the pylorus to the cardia by any irritation which might produce an efibrtto vomit, the circular and longitudinal fibres of the cardia being infinitely stronger and more numerous, would shut this orifice : for as muscular fibres exist throughout the organ, by which its mo- tions are efl'ccted ; so it cannot arise simply from the existence of the cuticular covering to the first portion of his stomach, that he cannot vomit, as it is but reasonable to suppose the fibres act throughout the whole by the common consent of parts; nor do they of actual necessity want an immediate sti- mulus to their muscular surfaces : for were such the case, the fibres of the oesophagus would not, by the presence of the mas- ticated bolus, be stimulated to contract through the cuticular coat, which equally here lies over the fibres : nevertheless, the cuticular coat of the stomach is probably an assistant in this difiiculty to regurgitate, by lessening the liability to nausea; and as vomiting is only an efibrt to remove the cause of nausea, so the disease being here unnatural, Nature has not provided the means for its removal: for though, as we have often before hinted, she will be always found naturally equal to her wants, yet she will never be found to be superfluous, or to extend them. Vo- miting appears to arise from an inversion of the peristaltic mo- tion of the stomach, which motion, in its natural state, begins at the cardia, and ends at the pylorus ; but in a reversed state, it commences at the expellent, and ends at the recipient ori- fice, thus regurgitating its contents. But there is reason to believe that the horse and other herbivorous monogastrics, as they are called, experience but little antiperistaltic motion from the peculiar form of the stomach, and particularly from the manner of the implanting of the oesophagus in the stomach, which in these tribes is found to be in the centre of the lesser curvature, and not far distant from the pylorus, thus leaving a large gastric pouch, called the fundus *. If such peculiar form of stomach throw an impediment in the way of vomition, it is an additional proof that the structure generally has that tendency, from the common uniformity which is observed in all structural parts designed to one great end : but without this peculiarity, the cuticular covering of the sto- mach of the horse may tend to lessen the efiects of an inverted peristaltic motion in its upper and recipient portion. Vomit- * A valvular apparatus to the cardia of the horse's stomach has been alto- gether denied by some comparative anatomists and veterinarians; but that an impediment of the valvular kind docs exist, a close examination of the parts will shew. M. Girard, who has paid particular attention to this subject, no- tices the same in his " Anatnmie Veterina'ue.'' * Memoire sur le Vomissement contre Nature dans les Herbivores Domes- fiques, par J. Girard. THE STOMACH. 269 ing is, therefore, altogether unnatural to the horse, and the for- mation of his organs evinces the intention of Nature to be such, but no impossibility exists to the act itself, neither to the state of nausea which is the usual precursor to it; for both have oc- curred sufficiently often to make their capability notorious*; but in every instance they are forced. The inner covering of the stomach is composed of two por- tions, a cuticular and a villous. This species of cuticular co- vering to nearly one half of the stomach is peculiar to grani- vorous, or such animals as appear destined to live on grain, as horses, asses, rats, and mice ; and which forms it into a third species of stomach, between the true membranous one of gra- minivorous animals, and the muscular of the carnivora, and uniting in a certain degree the solvent power of the membranous stomachs of the ruminants, with the triturating gizzard of those animals, as fowls (which it also imitates by taking in seeds), which require some speciality to make up for the want of teeth. For the horse has not the means of remastication, as in oxen or sheep, nor does he in many instances perhaps masticate his food at first sufficiently to comminute it : the wants of the con- stitution requiring in him a quick renovation, he is apt, in many cases, to devour his food greedily and hastily : il, there- fore, he had not some other structure than the one common to stomachs in general, his food would not be sufficiently digest- * A horse in Sussex was seen to regurgitate a large quantity of grains, both by the nose and mouth. Mr. Percivail, in his Lectures, p. 424, vol. II, relates a case of a mare labouring under gastric tympanites, or hovcn, which twice vomited the medicines given to lier, which returned both by the mouth and nose. That it should appear by the mouth as well as by the nostrils, is easily accounted for : notwithstanding the natural impediment formed in the pharynx by the extent of the velum palati (p. 226). By the consent of parts, and by a morbid sympathy, all the phenomena are frequently reversed, and even physi- cal impediments are, in such cases, removed : thus a forcible displacement may take place by a convulsive eflort, which, if voluntarily effected, or under ordinary circumstances, would be impossible ; or if effected, fatal. In the Ve- terinary College of Copenhagen, it is said, that vomiting was produced in a horse by placing the root of white hellebore (veratrum album) under the skin. That horses are frequently nauseated, and even make efforts to vomit, is suf- ficiently familiar to every veterinary practitioner ; and various substances are capable of producing this effect : most of the mineral acids do it; drastic pur- gatives likewise do the same; and even small doses of aloes nauseate some horses remarkably, as is indicated by their disinchnation to food and water, restlessness, with shifting of the head ; and when it is excessive, the mouth becomes moist, and ropy mucus hangs around it. To nauseate a horse is now so well understood, that it is the practice with many veterinarians purposely to excite it, persuaded that it has the same effect in the lessening inflamma- tion in the horse as in the human, by reducing the force of the circulation, and by promoting a relaxed state of the vessels of the skin. This part of the sub- ject will be resumed when we treat on inflammation. Many vegetable sub- stances, as henbane (hyoscyamus), nightshade (belladonna), wolfsbane (aco- nitum), tobacco (nicotiana), with many others, I have witnessed to have thu effect in various degrees ; but which effects are not always commensurate with the expectations one might be led to form from their nauseating properties on other animals, or the general phenomena they produce. 270 SPLANCHNOLOGY. ed ; particularly as much of his nutriment is dry and hard, and the stomach small ; against the effects of which this cuticular coat, it would appear, is formed, as its insensibility allows it to press in a small degree upon the food, and perform a slight tri- turation on it. This cuticular coat commences with the mouth, and extends down the oesophagus, and is continued over nearly the first half of the stomach, covering its fundus, or pouched left extremity, and ending abruptly by a sort of fringed termi- nation, in a serpentine line, very distinct from the next coat, over which its irregular edges are seen to lap by a slight rugose fold. (See Plate V.) This insensible tunic is thrown into plicae as it proceeds through the oesophagus, to admit of the distention of the alimentary tube. These folds are continued into the cardia, and in a less regular manner also over the re- mainder of the cuticular surface, making it slightly rugose. {Vide Plate V.) It is whitish in colour, and perforated with secretory mucous openings, from whence a gastric secretion, imdoubtedly necessary to digestion, probably as a diluent, is poured out. It is to this coat of the stomach that bots are so frequently found adhering. The villous, or sensible portion, though it occupy more of the length of the stomach, yet, perhaps, in real extent, it extends over little more than half of its surface ; appearing to com- mence from the line of termination of the cuticular part. It is very vascular and with much firmness, is yet exceedingly fine in its texture, and, when attentively examined, presents villous processes, from whence its name of tunica villosa, or velvet pile. Its fine villi are probably made up of the minute ramifi- cations of blood vessels, from whence the gastric juice is pro- bably secreted. This coat being more extensive than the mus- cular, is, when the stomach is not distended, thrown into waving folds, by which it suffers no injurious pressure when the stomach is filled, but can easily accommodate itself to the elasticity of the other investures. {Vide d, Plate V.) The vil- lous rugae are largest towards the great extremity, but towards the duodenum they lessen, and at the pylorus their folds form a valvular apparatus, to prevent the return of the food, as well as its too early exit. These prolongations of the sensible and secreting portion of the stomach not only hinder the too speedy passage of the food, and by which means the gastric juice, or mucus, is more certainly applied to all the parts ; but the princi- pal end appears to be to increase the secreting surface, which is here essentially necessary*, seeing the horse's stomach is but * The gastric solvent juice is, however, not derived from the same part of the stomach in ail animals. In some, it appears formed from minute simple glands, variously situated ; in others from botryoidal, or lobular ones, and which are placed in some at tire base of the gullet, in others within the car- dia ; and again they are found iii a third species confined to the pyloric por- tion ; while in the horse they are divided over the extent of the villous surface: nor is it altogether improbable but that the orifices of the cuticular part assist THE STOMACH. 271 the one half of it a secreting organ ; and hence these folds are in him more extensive than those of the human. We here like- wise see the utility of the saliva ; for were the food to pass into the stomach dry, or nearly so, the gastric juice, being but a mucus, would not pervade all its parts, but would be lost upon some of them. The stomach, as a secreting organ, is very plentifully sup- plied with blood from three considerable arterial trunks, called the gastrics. One, and sometimes two of these, are derived from the aorta, to furnish the lesser curvature. The right and left gastrics are sometimes furnished by the hepatic and splenic, and sometimes by the pancreatic artery. The vasa brevia are also minute branches given off from the splenics. The blood vessels proceed in a tortuous direction, to avoid the effects of distention; and in accordance with the same end, is returned by gastric veins which possess no valves to impede its return towards the vena portae. The nerves are supplied by means of an appropriate and important pair called the par vagum, or eighth ; which, by means of ganglia formed from the intercos- tals and sympathetic, unite the stomach in one sympathetic union with all the principal viscera of the body, and from whence result some of the most important phenomena observed in the animal machine, both in health and under disease. The diseases of the stomach of the horse have been thought not numerous or important, from the circumstance of there being so large a portion of insensible surface to it. But such an opinion, grounded on a consideration of the stomach being more a triturating than a solvent organ, has proved erroneous : for although it presents some likeness to the triturating proper- ties of the one, it is infinitely more allied in secreting and solv- ing properties to the other ; and as it owns all the vascularity and complexity of the latter, so it is heir also to all its dis- eases. In fact, a more extended acquaintance with the veteri- nary art, informs us that the stomach of the horse is more often fuctionally deranged than that of most other quadrupeds ; at which times its extensive sympathetic connexion with the liver, the kidneys, the intestines, and whole alimentary canal, vary the diseases, of v/hich its immediate derangement are the con- sequence, into a vast list. The skin also participates in this sympathetic affection to the full as much as the internal organs, and which also helps to vary the diseased appearances to in- finity almost. Neither is this to be wondered at, seeing the life of art, to which we subject the animal, is, in general cases, so diametrically opposite to Nature's intentions. A mistaken opinion relative to the capability of the horse's stomach to re- sist the action of potent articles, has also led to great abuses in the practice of farriery; and even at this time, medicaments in tlie formation of a solvent, for the particular quality of food ii&ually found there. 272 Si'LAKCHNOLOGY. of too potent ci nature are oic^eicd by practitioners, who have surely scarcely reflected on the derangement which a few drams of aloes will produce, because they see that two ounces of tar tarised antimony, or the same quantity of acetate of lead, have failed to produce any serious disturbance in the system. This error has crept into the practice of the world at large, with re- gard to the horse, and nothing is thought too strong for him, because few animals are so strong as a horse ; but he is equally weak and delicate with the lady who rides him, in his liability to disease, and the functions of his stomach are to the full as easily deranged. The diseases of the stomach may be divided into the acute and chronic. The acute are gastritis, or idiopathic inflammation, which is a rare occurrence : it has, however, taken place ; but the gastritis brought on by poison is more common. (See Poisons), The stomach is also the sub- ject of two specific acute inflammatory diseases ; the one aris- ing from rabid virus ; the other caused by, or accompanied with distention, called hoven. Consequent to this, what Mr. Clarke calls " chordapsus," or ruptured stomach, sometimes occurs. The chronic diseases of the stomach are frequent and varied ; and are apparently sometimes caused by other afiec- tions, as those of the skin, kidneys, head, &c., acting seconda- rily on the stomach, and primarily when derangement of the sto- mach produces derangement in other parts. (See Condition.) The Physiology of Digestion. If a physiological inquiry into the aerating organs and their various phenomena be as interesting and important as we have endeavoured to prove it to be, surely a similar attention to the digestive organs and their functions can be no less so. Diges- tion may be characterized as that wonderful power whereby substances received into the body lose their own properties, and become endowed with those i3elonging to the constitution in which the assimilation is carried on. That this animal con- version takes place within the stomach has been always allow- ed, but in what manner it was brought about was formerly a matter of much debate. Heat, putrefaction, friction, and fer- mentation, have successively been considered as the principal agents in digestion. But the experiments and inquiries of Spallanzani, Reaumur, and Hunter, have given a much more satisfactory elucidation of the matter; and digestion is now very generally considered to be a process of solution by tlie agency of a fluid secreted within the stomach, and thence call- ed the gastxic juice or fluid. The various actions of an animal body produce a waste of the fluids, and even of the solids, and something like a want of tone in the moving powers : these are indicated by the sensations of fatigue and hunger. To restore the tone of parts, rest is required; and to repair the waste, food becomes necessary. As an excitement to the taking in food at THE PHYSIOLOGY OF DIGESTION. 273 proper intervals, the horse is subjected to a sensation well known, but philosophically undefined, called hunger. Hunger and thirst certainly in part originate from the stomach becoming empty, as well as the chyle exhausted ; and that a certain de- gree of distention is necessary to the >vell being of the stomach, we learn from the fact, that the distention of d draught of water wiH for a time allay the sensation *. Mechanical disten- tion, however, produces only a temporary relief, but will not repair the waste of chyle, and therefore, when repeated, it ends in general prostration of strength. Neither can hunger arise from the attrition of the rugae of the stomach against each other ; for if it did, it would necessarily be constant when the stomach is empty, which we know not to be the case ; but, on the contrary, long fasting produces paroxysms of hunger, w^hich alternate with comparative ease ; and in sickness, although an uneasy sensation may be present, yet hunger sometimes does not visit the patient for^many days. It cannot arise from any im- mediate action of the gastric fluid upon its substance ; for in- dependent of the reasons which we have for considering that this is formed but in very inconsiderable quantities, when the presence of food does not exist, we know that it acts only on dead matter. Thirst differs principally from hunger, by its excitement to receive liquid instead of solid ingesta. It, how- ever, is more apt to be morbidly excited than hunger, as we witness by the effects of fever and salt provision. It appears a sympathetic want of the stomach to dilute the food individually, and the secretions generally f- Hunger and thirst, therefore, can be only satisfactorily explained by considering them as properties in the stomach by which it sympathizes with the wants of the constitution J: and hence it is, that food taken in invigorates, even before it can be digested ; and hence likewise will appear the propriety of giving but little food to our horses, and that frequently, when we travel quick and to long dis- * Wolves are said to eat mud when very hungry, to stay their appetite, b} the mechanical distention of the stomach ; and it is probable it is more for tiii^i purpose than absolute nutriment, that the Indians take in steatite mica, clay, ajid other inorganic substances. t Many circumstances tend both to increase and to diminish hunger, but which may be all referred either to the state of the stomach individually, or to its tendency to sympathize with the body generally. Cold air applied to the skin, stimulants as spicy cordials, and moderate doses of mineral and vegetable astringents; the sight of food, or the sound of the preparation of feeding otJier horses, act on the stomach immediately ; while \\ arm clothing, heated stables, diverted attention, and great quantities of water, lessen the scn- :sation ; from which facts many practical hints may be drawn, which our litnil.s will not allow us to detail. t It would appear that solid ingesta are necessary to the condition of the stomach and its healthy action, since the experiments made to support ani- mals on liquid aliments alone have not succeeded ; at lea>,t, not sulficientJy so as to establi^ih the fact that they can be readily so supported. 274 SPLANCHNOLOGY. tances, that we may not overrate the power of the stomach; and which caution is more particularly requisite in weak con- stitutioned horses. That this sympathy between the stomach and the body generally is great, we know, by the prostration of strength that is felt on an empty stomach ; and which cannot arise from inanition only, but from sympathy also ; for let a tired horse hear the hounds, and he will go on through a long chace with alacrity ; but when the melody of the dogs is over, the attention is no longer engaged, and the sympathy returns. Stimulated, therefore, by this sensation, animals are induced to take in such particular food as their organs are fitted to the assimilation of; and to which they are directed both by instinct and by taste. The carnivorous tribes are prone to take in flesh, by their love of it, and they have organs capable of the assi- milation of it. The horse has a disposition to take in grain, for he has a mechanism calculated thereto : the ass, the rat, and the mouse likewise. But we must not be misled by a false but favourite theory which had crept into physiology; that the powers of the stomach were necessarily confined to assimila- tion of nutriment from matters which appear, d priori, calcu- lated for that purpose. It is true, that the distinctions between carnivorous, granivorous, and omnivorous, are justified by an examination and comparison of their organs of chylification, commencing with those whereby they obtain their food, those by which they perform the manducation of it, and the pecu- liarities of the alimentary track it passes through, during its conversion into chyle. These all evince the intention of Na- ture to sustain life more readily, by the adherence to such ali- ments as their organs are evidently designed for. But life, happily for all these, can be supported by food not naturally intended for them : and it is found that the stomachs of the car- nivorous tribes can, when pressed by necessity, perform the office of animalization of vegetable food ; as those of the her- bivorous can support life by animal matter*. The stomach, therefore, is by Nature kindly made an organ of adaptation, and can, when absolutely necessary, convert into nutriment most of the matters around themf. This great work of con- * The Arabs are fond of feediug some of their favourite horses on milk. Many of the Indian tribes give their horses flesh ; while those on the sea-shore occasionally feed theirs entirely on dried fish. At the Veterinary College, a horse was supported some time on animal matter alone. Granivorous birds, as pigeons, &:c. have been brought to live on flesh, and to prefer it to any other food ; and the piscivorous ottfer, in a state of domestication, will live and thrive on potatoes. Eagles, falcons, and owls, have been experimented on by Spallanzani and others, and were found to subsist on pure vegetable matter, without much alteration of condition or strength. t The inhabitants of Great Britain are, few of them, aware of the sub- stances necessarily used by their less fortunate fellow-creatures who inhabit rigid climates. Even in German}', numerous publications have appeared to direct the process of making bread from the ligneous fibres of the beech, THK PHYSIOLOGY OF DIGESTION. 275 verting the organic vegetable matters around the horse, after he has received them into his stomach [the process by which it is carried there, has already been described, p. 233], into nu- triment, appears to be operated, in the first instance, princi- pally by a solvent power, in a iiuid secreted by itself. This gastric juice effects this by a specific agency, for it appears to own no chemical properties of a solvent nature * : no acid or alkali has yet been discovered in it {per se) : it acts solely by a living power ; and so far from its fermenting substances, it is prov- ed by the experiments of Spallanzani, Hunter, and others, to arrest fermentation where already begun. By the decisive ex- periments of the same physiologists, it is also proved to have a preservative quality, instead of a putrefactive onef. Its powers, therefore, are independent of all these and other agen- cies formerly attributed to it, and are derived from a living principle within itself, which enables it to act on organic mat- ter, but which, it is necessary, should be first cut off from life, for life has a particular power to resist its action ; hence bots, and other worms, are not, while living within the stomach, di- gested, but, when dead, they become dissolved like other mat- ter : and it is in this way, that this juice has been found to ope- rate upon even the stomach itself after death. The food, there- fore, acted upon by the gastric juice, is reduced to a pulta- ceous mass, called chyme, and which is found streaked with a white fluid, which is the true chyle. In this state it passes into the intestines, but more quickly and probably less perfectly di- gested than in most other animals, that it may be hereafter fur- ther acted upon. For the digestive economy of the horse dif- birch, lime, poplar, elm, and fir, which are ground fine and kneaded v\ith wa- ter into bread. Many savages subsist on the larvae of insects, and others, we are informed by Humboldt (" Tab. Phys. des Regions Equatoriales"), feed on a fat unctuous earth. * An acid is certainly produced, but it exists not in the gastric fluid, until it have operated some chemical changes on the matters around. It coagulates milk, as we know by the rennet in the digesting stomach of the calf; but this is a peculiar property so inherent, that even maceration and drying will not destroy it. It is rather the depriving the milk of its life, for, after having coa- gulated it, it again dissolves it, and converts it into nutriment. A morbid acid is often formed, but this stops the process of digestion ; and the healthy action also tends to form an acidifying principle ; but whether carbonic, acetic, or phosphoric, is undetermined. It is, however, of a volatile nature, as its effects on litmus paper are temporary. + The existence of an antiseptic power has, however, been questioned by M. Montigre, whose experiments went to prove that the gastric juice was in properties and qualities similar to saliva, and putrefied as readily. But the mode of conducting his experiments was not such as to tend to shake the established opinions. Happy also is it for animal life, that the stomach has a capability of resisting putrefaction, otherwise aliments in this state would infallibly destroys the smallest i)ossible portion of morbid matter introduced into the blood, produces fatal symptoms of putridity (another proof that the blood itself can become diseased): but hecatombs of morbid matter are eaten by the carnivora with irapunit}^ and the edibles of the herbivorous are riot un- frequently in a state approaching io it. 276 SPLANCHNOLOGY. fers from that of other herbivorous animals, and, tt priori, we might be led to expect it*. He is a very bulky animal, yet he is one endowed, as has been happily expressed, with a specific • The diversity of means in accordance with the speciality of the organs, by which the same great end is produced, is admirably exemplified in the diges- tire process. In some of the lower orders, as the polypus, the animal appears one gastric cavity. The organs become more complex as we ascend in the scale. In carnivorous birds, the oesophagus terminates in an ingluvies or crop, but w hich is smaller and less muscular than in those which live on grain : in some of them it is said to be wholly wanting, and in others it is little more tlran an enlargement of the alimentary canal, the whole tract of which is alto- gether shorter than in the herbivorous fowls, and they have no intestina caeca. In granivorous birds the crop is large, very muscular, and internally lined by a powerful cuticularcoat; for as these animals have no teeth, the action of com- minuting the hard food taken is performed by the stomach, which in this kind acts mechanically, and so powerfully, as to grind even glass to powder, and to reduce balls stuck full of iron speculi to plane surfaces. In carnivorous qua- drupeds the stomach is also small and muscular, and the alimentary track short; but in the herbivorous, on the contrary, the gastric capacity is much larger, and the intestinal track long. In the graminivorous and ruminants, the gastric cavity is multiplied into as many as four stomachs, as we find in the camel, ox, sheep, and goat. The first of these stomachs is the true rumi- nating organ called the paunch, and is a mere membranous receptacle of im- mense capacity, reaching, when distended, as far as the ilium towards the left side. Into this the food is passed as soon as gathered, without mastication. The second stomach, known as the reticulum or bonnet, appears little more than an appendage to the former, but is more cellular. Into the junction be- tween these stomachs the oesophagus enters, and is continued in the form of a muscular ridge or tubular portion, into the third stomach or many-plies. This muscular tube forms a leading feature or character in the ruminant economy. It is highly sensitive, and, like the tongue, is capable of diversified motions, and is wholly subjected to the will of the animal, and w^hich is the more re- markable, as hitherto no speciality of nervous communication has been found to exist in it. Segmental as it appears, by the approximation of its sides, it can become a perfect tube, and the animal can thereby direct the grass it col- lects into the paunch; but the water it drinks is at once passed into the second cavity. When a sufficient quantity of grass is collected to distend the paunch to a certain degree, the animal lies down usually, and rumination begins by means of the same tube, which embraces a portion of the contents of the ru- men or paunch ; and by a regurgitation, it is passed up again into the oesopha- gus and the mouth, when it undergoes a complete mastication, and, being mixed with the saliva in sufficient quantities, it is again returned along the oesophagus towards this gastric tube, which has the power of carrying it be- yond the two first stomachs into the third, called, from its foliations, the man3'-plies, of which membranous septa there are between eighty and ninety, by which the secreting surface is nmch increased in extent. The faliseus or red bag forms the fourth stomach ; and although there is no doubt but the process of digestion is begun in the third, yet it is in this that the pultaceous mass undergoes its perfect animalization, by mixing wdth the true gastric juice, which is secreted here only, and thus, it is this stomach alone which pro- duces rennet. In the hornless ruminants, the second stomach is exclusively designed as a reservoir for water, and is capable of holding in some of them, as the camel and dromedary, a vast quantity, and which is passed up as want- ed, to be mixed w ith the dry matters chewed during rumination, or durmg the deprivation arising from their arid climes. This aqueous reservoir is the means of saving human lives occasionally in Arabia; for travellers, when fa- mishing with thirst, are sometimes obliged to destroy their camels, to furnish themselves with the water from their stomachs. THE PHYSIOLOGY OV DIGESTION. 277 energy : he is capable of vast and of continued exertions, and his celerity of motion is so little accordant with his bulk, that he is one of the swiftest animals known. To him, therefore, the bulky gastric cavities of the ox v^ould have been most inconvenient and hurtful ; and yet being intended for greater exertions and increased celerity, it is equally necessary that his consumption of food and absorption of nutriment should b e great ; and these ends, we find, are admirably brought about by a speciality of structure in unison with all these intentions. Great as is his consumption of food, his stomach is confined to one, and that one is smaller than that of almost any other ani- mal. A horse is capable of eating two pecks of corn, and even more, at a meal, but his stomach cannot, unless morbidly dis- tended, and endangered, hold the half of this; and he will fre- quently drink two, or even three pails of water, although the stomach cannot contain one. The aliments must, of necessity, therefore, in the horse, be very speedily pressed forward from the stomach into the intestines, very soon after they are receiv- ed ; by which means great pressure on the diaphragm is pre- vented, and, even under the repletion of full eating, his respira- tion is not so materially affected as in other animals ; nor in him is the disposition to sleep and inactivity after meals apparent, as in them*. This is so marked a feature in the economy and * In most animals the disposition to sleep after a full meal is considerable : in ourselves it is also common, arising in part from the necessity which the stomach finds of detractincf blood from tlie other organs of the body, to perform its secreting offices therefrom (^ from whence results also the chilliness felt after «ating, and the lassitude); but principally from the mechanical distention of the stomach, which now presses on the diaphragm and impedes respiration ; pro- ducing thereby congestion in the right side of the heart, and which, in its turn, prevents the free return of blood from the head : the brain, therefore, becomes pressed on, and sleep is the natural consequence. A disposition to sleep after a full meal is therefore a natural, and not a morbid sensation: as it allows more blood to be employed for the purposes of secretion, it may be considered as a salutary one also. But analogy must not deceive us, as it has others; for reasoning thus, on the effects it has on ourselves and some other animals, it lias been customary to shut up race horses without light, to encourage them to slt^p after their meals. This, however, is extremely erroneous, for in ani- mals destined for much speed and locomotion, as the horse, the stomach is not found so capacious ; neither do they suffer so much from distention, and con- sequently we find that they do not feel the same inclination to sleep after eat- ing which the ruminants do. In them the food is quickly passed into the in- testines, where digestion is completed ; and with them, therefore, energy and motion are requisite to promote the quick passage of the aliments through the stomach, by making the abdominal muscles to press on the parieties of the belly. In horses, therefore, sleep is neither natural nor necessary after full feeding ; but, on the contrary, moderate n\otion perhaps (but moderate only) rather tends to assist, as much as violent exertion counteracts and injures it. It has been observed by the ingenious Professor of the Veterinary College, that the horse is the only animal who is not injured by exertion, immediately following a full meal. There are, however, other animals who are equally alert. Sleeping after full feeding is certainly favourable to the accumulation of fat in many animals, but perhaps it does not increase the muscular fibre in any. Thus pigs fatten surprisingly when close shut up ; stalled oxen do the 278 SPLANCHNOLOGY. habits of the horse, as not to have escaped the notice of natu- ralists. Still further to enable the horse to keep up his specific vigour, not only the quantity, but the quality of his food, has been studied by Nature ; and we find that, by a speciality in his organs, he is not only enabled to extract more perfectly the nu- tritious particles from farinaceous food, than simply gramini- vorous animals ; but that also he is enabled to retain it within his stomach a longer time than the less nutritive matters he also takes in. Long experience has fully proved that the full ener- gies of the horse are best kept up by a subsistence on the fari- naceous seeds of the various grasses called corn, in which sub- stance organic moleculae (i. e. nutriment) are found to exist in greater abundance than in their more succulent parts, and the speciality by which he does this, is both functional and structural. The functional is derived from the great energies of the stomach generally, the nature of the gastric juice, and the time it remains to be operated on. The structural part of the speciality consists in the form of the sequine stomach, and of a particular covering to the part which constitutes its spe- ciality. It was long ago observed by Spallanzani and others, that the fundus or pouch of the horse's stomach gave it a near resemblance to the rumen or paunch of the ox, &c., and that probably it was destined to the retaining of particular parts of the food. By observation and experiment, it has been disco- vered that the food is really distributed in the stomach, in many animals, according to its qualities ; and this knowledge has led to the supposition, which subsequent actual experiment has jus- tified *, that the large pouch-like left extremity of the horse's stomach is intended particularly to receive, and by its peculiar situation (being without the line of regular passage from one orifice to the other) there to retain it, to be acted on longer and more completely than the less farinaceous food. This portion of the stomach is also particularly circumstanced with regard to its structure, it being furnished with an apparatus purposely destined to act on grain alone, and giving it some resemblance to the triturating gizzard of birds. This arises from its cuticu- lar lining, and which, it must be evident, forms a very remark- able feature in the digestion of the horse, ass, and his granivo- same ; and hence stable keepers and horse dealei-s closely confine their lean horses; but it is not attended with any accession of either strength or muscle, but of animal oil or fat only. * SpaUanzani's experiments go directly to prove, that when the stomach of various animals contain more than one kind of food, that most easily digested is soonest evacuated. M. Lallemand also observes, that, from his experi- ments, he lias found that aliments did not escape from the stomach in the or- der in which they were introduced. In ourselves the same fact often presents itself; when edibles are returned from the stomach by vomiting, nearly unal- tered, some days after they w ere eaten, and when the accompanying ingesta has proceeded in its natural course. Mr. Percivall relates two very satisfactory experiments made by himself, relative to this power of separation in the sto- mach of the horse. (Lectures, vol. ii, p. 521.) THE PHYSIOLOGY OF DIGESTION. 279 reus congeners, the rat, mouse, and a few others. It therefore follows in due order, that we endeavour to ascertain in what way this cuticular insensible tunic furthers all these ends*. It cannot be intended as a mere medium for maceration, although there is little reason to doubt but that some maceration takes place here : neither can it be to furnish a secreting surface, al- though a mucus is here formed, which assists in the process of digestion, probably ; for a cuticular structure is certainly not the most convenient for either of these ofl&ces. From these and other corresponding considerations, we are warranted in consi- dering, that, by a gentle motion elQfected by the vortex of mus- cular fibre around the fundus, the farinaceous grains are rather triturated against themselves, than ground by the stomach itself, as in true gizzards. By these means the maceration is rendered uniform, and the fluids received are pressed into and through- out the substance of the grain, to reduce it into a perfect pulp, and fit it to be at once acted on, and without further delay, when it reaches the villous portion of the stomachf. I am fully aware that this view of the cuticular lining of the stomach of the horse, as a means of gentle trituration, is not in unison with that of other respectable authorities ; but, notwithstanding the respect I would pay to such opinions, I think that the ana- logy and the phenomena connected with the horse's digestive process, bear me out in my view of this matter J. * It cannot be intended, as Mr. Percivall suggests, as a defence to the bard matters taken in ; for very pointed ingesta are never received. If a horse be ever so pressed with hunger, so as to eat furze or whins, he first deliberately chews it; and to enable him to do this without pain to his mouth, he stamps on it. Woody tops he also carefully masticates; and that such substances are rendered incapable of wounding even the sensibility of the villous surface, also by especial powers in the stomach, we know from M'hat we take in our- selves. Ground glass, as is often proved by wagers, may be eaten with im- punity : dogs are uninjured by bones, and other proofs multiply around us. t It forms no just objection to this view of the digestive process in the horse, that grain is occasionally passed whole: it is not pretended that perfect tritu- ration is here performed ; it is only so performed as to produce a moderate pressure on the contained grain in a measure distinct from, and independent of the peristaltic motion; but which pressure is not sufficient to destroy the ac- tual form of the seed, or to grind its envelopement, but is yet fully sufficient to destroy the organization of the contained farina, and reduce it into a pulp. Neither does it militate against this argument, that grains do pass which are so wholly unacted on as to afterwards germinate, seeing a rapid and incomplete digestion is common to all animals, under some particular circumstances ; and here, particularly, a few grains may easily escape the mass, without at all de- stroying this view of the general action. Trees, shrubs, and vegetables, are every day planted by the imperfectly digested seeds dropped by the dung of birds, who have a real mill to grind their corn. t Mr. Peal, in his excellent work on the diseasies of horses, says, "if the insensible portion of a horse's stomach performs the office of a gizzard at all (a fact which I very much doubtj, it must be inconceivably small," p. 306. Mr. Percivall is at the pains to combat this opinion at length; but although I allow the ingenuity of his reasoning, I cannot think he meets the matter quite fairly. In his examination, he rather forces an inference that Spallanzani's opinion was, that " the stomach of the horse possesses no triturating power," T 2S0 SPLANCHNOLOGY. From what has been stated, it is evident that the process of digestion is, in the horse, a peculiar one ; and whereas in most other animals it is principally carried on in the stomach, in the horse it is equally conducted by the agency of the intes- tines, having previously absorbed into the pultaceous mass the gastric juice, which is, however, equally here, as in other ani- mals, probably the most active solvent. A gentle contraction of the stomach generally, and a slight peristaltic motion, but almost confined to the secreting portion, gently forces the food towards the pylorus, mixed with the chyle in a subtracted mass called chyme, and which appears, during digestion, to be con- stantly passing the valvular folds of the pylorus, but which folds are shut to the remaining undigested matters. The sto- mach, it has been already remarked, by the ganglionic con- nexion of its nerves with most of the spinal pairs, is an organ of great sympathy, with the body generally, but less so than the human stomach ; for the mind in the horse has little power over it. It is to this cause, probably, that the appetite of sick horses is not so much afiected during illness, unless the de- rangement be extreme. In some instances a morbid hunger exists, and it is not uncommon for sick horses to die eating. Tonic medicines probably act by a sympathetic effect more than by any action on the muscular fibre or secreting surface. Direct cordials unquestionably act in this way. If this sub- ject have occupied more of our present pages than of the last edition, it must be attributed to a conviction of its importance and great interest. which he grounds solely on the assertion of this experimentalist, " that the horse does not chew the cud, but resembles the ox in the membranous struc- ture of his stomach, and the food upon which he lives." Spallanzani's expe- riments, also laid much stress on by Mr. P., by no means go the length to dis- prove a small degree of trituration, or rather of a gentle pressure, indepen- dent of the peristaltic motion, which is all I contend for. Had they been in- tended even to go to prove all absence of attrition brought on between the grains themselves, through the agency of the muscular and cuticular coats, then Spallanzani would not have enclosed food in tubes as he did into fowls. At such times he was experimenting on the gastric solvent, and not on sto- machic attrition. Mr. P., in proof of his opinion that the stomach has no tritu- rating power, alleges the muscular structure is not only white and generally weak, but also that it is even strongest at the pylorus than at the cardia. That a want of colour in the muscle is no proof of any want of power, we have innumerable fiicts to prove. The muscles of fishes and the pectorals of many fowls are both notoriously strong, yet white ; and that it is not furnished with very powerful muscular strata I tihink an inspection of it will disprove, as well as it will tend to prove, that the balance of power rests eminently with the recipient orifice and insensible portion. Having, however, already trespassed on the limits of my pages, 1 cannot follow Mr. Percivall's arg^uments against any triturating power in the stomach further, although the subject is well worthy of attention, and his manner of treating it ingenious and forcible. Many well conducted experiments and well authenticated facts must, how- ever, be yet brought forward, before the matter can be fully decided. THE INTBSTJNES. 281 l3£j5cr{ption of pate V. This plate represeDts the stomach and intestines taken out of the body, and placed without any particular order. The stomach is cut open to shew its inner surface, and the cuticular coat. <7, the cardia, or recipient orifice, with the oesophagus cut off; b b, the cir- cular plan of fibres, which at this part are very much increased, to give great force to the cardia, and prevent the possibility of vomiting. This plan is seen lessening in force as it approaches the large extremity of the stomach; there- fore, it must have a peculiar ofiice at this part; which, as it cannot be to pre- vent any thing entering, so it must be to prevent any thing escaping; c c, the longitudinal plan; d, the inner part of the great extremity of the stomach, covered internally with the cuticle; hence this is called its insensible part: its rugae, or folds, which are small, are shewn on this surface; e, the mem- branous portion of the stomach, which is its vascular and sensible part : its folds are seen larger than those of the other portion; /, the external part of the great extremity ; ff, the pylorus, or pyloric extremity of the stomach, with a species of duplication of its membrane, forming a kind of valve to prevent the too hasty passage of food through it ; h, the duodenum, or first small gut continued from the stomach, with the biliary and pancreatic ducts entering it; i, the mesentery ; k, the small intestines ending in the coecum ; Z, the coecum, with its blind end shewn ; m, the commencement of the colon by a contracted portion ; n n, the continuation of the colon, with its membranous bands, and its sides thrown into cells ; o, the termination of the colon into the rectum. The Intestines. The remainder of the alimentary canal is continued from the expellent orifice of the stomach, to the anus, or end of the pas- sage ; forming a long canal, which being of different dimen- sions, has occasioned it to be divided into the large and small intestines. In man, and in some quadrupeds, they hardly me- rit this distinction, there being but little difference in point of size ; but in the horse, the disproportion is very considerable, the small intestines being not much larger than the human, but the large of an immense bulk. The length of the track also greatly exceeds the proportionate length of the human canal, it ranging between twenty-four and thirty yards in the horse, and between eleven and twelve in man. Of these propor- tions, the small intestines take up from twenty to twenty-two, and the large from seven to eight yards. Our knowledge of the habits of an animal maybe in a great measure gained from an inspection of his intestines only : for, as a general principle, it is found that the length and capacity of the alimentary canal are in proportion to the difficulty of assimilating alimentary principles from the various matters used as edibles. The track is, therefore, larger and longer in the herbivorous tribes, less in the omnivorous, and least of all in the carnivorous. It is not easy to give a determinate place to the intestines, either individually or generally; the large, however, may be said to oc- cupy all the inferior portion of the abdomen throughout ; and the T 2 282 SPLANCHNOLOGY. small to range between and upon them, both occasionally shift- ing their position by the peristaltic motion. They are, however, prevented from an unnatural displacement, by membranous productions of the peritoneum, under the name of mesentery, mesocolon, and mesorectum. The first in vesture or coat also of the intestines is derived from the peritoneum, which sepa- rates to receive the tube between its lamen. By this means it not only protects the intestines by its coverings, but it serves as a medium for the transmission of its vessels, and as a secreting surface for a lubricating medium. Their next coat is muscu- lar, and is formed of two plans of fibres, a longitudinal and a circular; by the contraction of which, the vermicular motion, called peristaltic, is performed, the longitudinal slightly shor- tening them, and the circular diminishing their diameter. With- in this muscular tunic there is a quantity of dense cellular tissue, which was formerly considered as the nervous coat, but which is known now to be only a layer of cellular membrane. The inner tunic of the intestinal track is the villous, or mucous, and is very vascular and sensible, presenting by its villous prominences an increased surface for the mucous secretion, as well as more numerous cliyliferous orifices with which it is thickly studded. It is, however, furnished with no actual valvulae conniventes, as in the human ; they being in the horse rendered unnecessary by the great length of these organs, and the consequent slow passage of the aliments through them, as well by their position as their extent. The division of the in- testines into large and small in the horse is self-evident ; and each of these gains other separations, but which are not so well marked. The small are divided into duodenum, jejunum, and ilium; the large into coecum, colon, and rectum. {Vide PL V.) The duodenum is the first portion of the intestines, receiving the pyloric orifice of the stomach ; its course in the horse is somewhat different from the track of the human pylorus ; by which it gains rather a more complete covering from the peritoneum. It hangs loose and pendulous, being attached to the concave surface of the liver, from which making a turn, it becomes fixed to the vertebiee, and then takes the name of jejunum ; but as in this course its length is nearer twenty inches than twelve, it is evident that duodenum is an improper term for it, in the horse. It appears rather larger in circumference than the other small intestines, and more vascular, but it is peculiarly remarkable for having the pancreatic and biliary ducts obliquely penetrat- ing it, which they sometimes do by one common orifice, and as often by distinct ones, about five inches from its commence- ment. ( Vide //, Plate y.) The jejunum gains its name from being commonly found empty, and is attached to the mesentery, which follows its cir- cumvolutions ; the line of division between it and the ilium is only imaginary : it is usual to consider rather more than a third THE INTESTINES, 283 of the joint length to belong to this intestine, and something less than two-thirds to the next. The ilium occupies the portion we have described within the iliac region, from whence it derives its name; its presents no peculiarities of structure ; but, equally with the former, its cir- cumvolutions are all connected by the windings of the folds of the mesentery. The extremity which penetrates the coecum by a protrusion of its inner surface forms an incomplete valve, which in some measure prevents the return of the faeces into the smaller intestines. The large intestines of the horse bear but little resemblance to those of the human, and may, on account of their vast pro- portions, be strictly called large. Altogether they differ widely from the small intestines in structure and appearance, being contracted in their surface into distinct compartments, destined to lodge the alimentary contents and to prevent its too hasty egress. The first of these is the ccecum or blind gut, and which might with propriety be considered an appendage to the colon, from whence it has been termed caput coecum coli, or blind end of the colon. Into this the ilium terminates by protruding itself some way within the cavity, so as to form an impediment to the return of its contents. From this the anterior part of the coecum projects forward two or three feet, in a pocket-like form, of the size of the colon {vide I, Plate V) : the posterior por- tion beyond the insertion of the coecum, forms a smaller blind end (see Plate) ; therefore the ilium may be regarded as enter- ing the coecum only. This gut usually occupies the right side of the abdomen, and appears immediately on opening the pe- ritoneum ; commencing from the colon and ilium in the right iliac region, it extends forwards to the right side, with its pocket-like part applied towards the diaphragm and liver near the xiphoid cartilage. In the human, and some quadrupeds, to the coecum is attached another tubular appendage, closed at its free extremity, called the appendix vermiformis, whose use is wholly unknown : this is entirely absent in the horse. Through the peritoneal covering, we observe three or four muscular lon- gitudinal bands, extending from its extremity along the mus- cular tunic, so as to divide the gut into three portions. One or two of these are usually covered with fat, and are not so regularly longitudinal as the others (see Plate). The internal membrane is plaited up, as it were, between these fraena, and by these intersections are formed numerous elliptical cavities called the cells. From this gut being frequently found with a considerable quantity of water in it, it has been conjectured to be a receptacle for fluid, and fluid only ; but it is not always fur- nished with water, and I have also found the solid ingesta as well as the fluid within it. The colon is small at its origin, as may be seen by a re- ference to Plate V, vide m ; but it soon enlarges into an im- 284 SPLANCHNOLOGY. mense volume. Originating as it does from the base of the coecum, rather beyond the entrance of the ilium, it can hardly be said, as in some other subjects, jointly to enter both coecum and colon. It is therefore stretching analogy too far to consi- der as the valve of the colon the contracted space which im- mediately presents itself, although it may offer some resistance to the intestinal contents. Enlarging into a very capacious and long canal, it makes nearly the circumference of the abdomen, and again forms a second but slighter contraction : after which it once more enlarges, and again passes around the abdomen ; when lessening a third time, it ends in the rectum. Upon these circumvolutions (vide n, n, Plate Y ) as well as upon the ccecum, the small intestines lie. It is, like the colon, furnished with three ligamentous bands in its large portion, but which are reduced to two only in the smaller parts ; these form longi- tudinal frsena, which being intersected again by internal plaits, produce similar cells in this gut to what are seen in the coecum. It is connected and sustained in its situation by that portion of the mesentery termed mesocolon. The colon and coecum are the principal sufferers in those inflammations that arise from violent purging medicines. The rectum is the continuation of the colon (vide o, Plate V), and passes backwards from the lumbar vertebrae to the anus. Its substance is thicker than that of the other intestines ; and though it is not longitudinally intersected by muscular bands, still it presents a plicated appearance, and is puckered into small cell- like depressions; were it not for which interruption, the intestines might be too frequently stimulated to expel their contents. The rectum is attached to the spine and sacrum by a detachment of the peritoneum, which is here, therefore, called mesorectum: but the true lamen of peritonum does not invest its whole portion, but leaves it as it approaches the gut, which is at this part only covered with the cellular portion of it. The ligamentary bands of this intestine are very strong, and end at the anus in an expansion attached to the coccygis. The anus is the termination of the intestinal canal, and is opened by the force of the peristaltic motion and the consent of parts, and is shut by a muscular band around the extremity of the gut, called the sphincter. It is likewise elevated and retracted by two pair of muscles. The mesentery (vide Plate V) . — This great folded membrane is a prolongation of the peritoneum, which the intestines are, as it were, pressed into and surrounded by. Being thus invested, the lamen unite at the superior part, and form a single membrane, called the mesentery, and which is of different lengths, as the intestines are protruded farther or less within the great bag. These peritoneal prolongations are very useful, for they not only invest the intestines, and give them their outer covering, but they attach them likewise within their situations; THE INTESTINES. 285 and they are, further, the medium through which they receive their blood vessels and nerves : and, moreover, they are the vehicle for the conveyance of the chyle by means of the lacteals, which are situated and sustained within these membranous folds. The origin of the mesentery from the spine is of small extent, but it is so framed, that as it proceeds it is enabled to follow the whole of the intestines through their course, branch- ing out like a fan, from its beginning at the duodenum to its termination at the rectum. All that portion of it which sustains the small intestines, is called the mesentery ; that which is attached to the colon, and whose extent is longer, has the name of mesocolon; and inesorectum is the term given to that more inconsiderable portion which attaches the rectum . Within its laminae is contained in some instances a considerable quan- tity of ddeps, which is greater ©r less, according as the animal is more or less fat in general. The anterior mesenteric artery arises from the aorta near the emulgents, in a considerable trunk, and soon divides into a number of branches, which pass between these laminse of the mesentery, forming commu- nications with each other, and then are distributed in a beauti- ful network around the small intestines principally. The pos- terior mesenteric artery arises behind, in a very considerable trunk, and is principally distributed to the great intestines, which however receive some large branches from the anterior. There is likewise a small branch by which the duodenum is supplied before it becomes attached by the mesentery, which is called duodenalis. The nerves of the intestines are princi» pally from the anterior mesenteric plexus which furnishes the small bowels; and the posterior mesenteric plexus gives branches to the large; with some filaments furnished to the duodenum from the stomachic plexus, and to the rectum from a plexus within the pelvis. Mesenteric glands: — These are the conglobate bodies we have described in treating of the lym- phatic system ; situated between the lamen of the mesentery, and with whose structure we are not much acquainted, but whose use we knov/ is connected with the lacteals ; for we always find those vessels run through them ; and when they are schirrous, the same vessels become obstructed. These glands now and then, though but seldom, become afi^ected in the horse. I have found them frequently so in virulent glanders. In monkies, diseased mesenteries are a very common cause of death; and infants of the human species are very obnoxious to the same complaint. The lacteals are the vessels we have already treated of in the lymphatic system, difiering from the lymphatics only by the fluid they carry, and arising from the villi of the inner coat of the intestines throughout their whole extent, in the horse, as w^ell from the large as the small intestines ; and from whence they take up the chyle from their surfaces, and carry it in small 286 SPLANCHNOLOGY. trunks towards the conglobate mesenteric glands: these vessels, in this first space, are called vence lactece primi generis ; and from which glands they come out on the opposite side, in larger and fewer trunks, when they are called vertcB lacte(B secundi generis, proceeding to penetrate other glands in the same way, till they at last reach the receptacuium chyli, and deposit their chyle, as has been described. (See Lymphatics.) The diseases of the intestines are very serious, as might be expected from their great vascularity. The acute peritoneal inflammation called enteritis, is a rapid and fatal affection to them. They are also subject to inflammation of their inner or villous surface, either idiopathic, or from the irritation of drastic purgatives, or mineral poisons. Their muscular struc- ture is also very frequently affected by spasm or colic ; and occasionally they suffer from calcular concretions, which accu- mulate to an extraordinary size : diarrhoea and dysentery are also to be added to the list. Uses of the Intestines, The long tract of canal we have described, appears to be intended to receive the pulpy mass of the chyme, after it has undergone some alteration, and some solution of its nutritious part. As the chyme enters the duodenum, it becomes mixed with two fluids, the pancreatic and the biliary, by which fresh changes probably take place in it* ; and here the chyle appears to be rendered more perfectly animalized, but it is yet doubtful whether some further change be not effected in it by the remain- ing intestinal track. Becoming thus mixed, it is propelled for- ward by the creeping muscular contractions of the intestinal track, called their peristaltic motion, and which appears to be operated by their two orders of muscular fibres; the longitudinal straightening the convolutions, and steadying them; while the circular order, in its progressive contractions, presses the con- tents onwards, not by continued but by gentle efforts, renewed after the lapse of a short time. This motion is not altogether * What these changes are, have long been a subject of dispute among phy- siologists. The pancreatic secretion, in chemical characters, is not unlike saliva. It has, however, had a solvent power ascribed to it similar to the gastric fluid ; but that it is not absolutely essential to life we know from the circumstance of dogs having survived the loss of communication between it and the duodenum. The biliary secretion seems to be more essential to the process of digestion, although even when that has been obstructed by biliary calculi, chylification has proceeded. This opinion is, however, at variance with the experiments of Mr. Brodic, who on applying a ligature so as to obstruct the ductus cholidochus of cats, found that, although the production of chyme in the stomach proceeded as usual, yet the couversion of chyme into chyle was invariably and completely interrupted. The bile, as an assistant to chylification, has been supposed to separate itself iuto two parts, a serous and a resinous one ; and that the former was essential to the produc- tion of chyle, while the latter united with the faeces, and is ejected by them as excrementitious. USES OF THE INTESTINES. 287 uniform in direction, as well as time ; for we may observe the intestiual track sometimes reverse its movements, and some- times it is agitated in a varied course. That this propelling force may not hurry the intestinal contents too fast, ample care appears to have been taken, and a structural arrangement is evidently made to delay the chyme within the intestines, till the whole of its nutritive parts are taken up. Hence, in ani- mals who feed upon vegetable matter, nature has given an im- mensely long alimentary track ; because, as in this kind of food there exists but a small quantity of nutritious principle in a large bulk, so it becomes necessary that much should be taken in, and also that it should be retained for a long time to be fully acted upon. Thus in the ox, though his colon is not so ca- pacious as that of the horse, yet his coecum is much larger; therefore, the detention is equally brought about, and this de- monstrates the principal use of this gut, about which anato- mists have differed so much* : add to which, that the intestines generally, in the ox, are much more capacious than in the horse ; for, common herbage containing less nutritious mole- culae than grain, it was requisite he should have organs fitted for a more minute comminution of it, and which is effected by the agency of four stomachs. In him, therefore, the faeces are expelled in a more perfect state of solution than in the horse, and from which arises the known inferiority of ox and cow dung for agricultural purposes. In the horse, as grain affords more nutriment than grass, yet much fewer elementary particles (or perhaps possess it may be said the aptitude to be acted upon in a less degree) than flesh ; so he is furnished with a longer and larger alimentary track than carnivorous animals, that the quantity taken in might be considerable, but more particu- larly, that the chyme might be long retained within it. Thus, therefore, the chymous mass mixed with the pancreatic juice and the bile, and having undergone a perfect conversion into chyle in its passage, is gently propelled along the intestines, whose villous surface or open mouths of the lacteals, are ready to separate the chyle from the faecal part, and by an absorbing process to proceed with it through the mesentery and into the chylous receptacle, to be passed, through the means of the thoracic duct, into either the jugular or axillary vein ; whereby it becomes mixed with, and converted into blood, producing that increase to the quantity we have mentioned ; as the altera- tion from the air received by the lungs is that melioration of its quality, which we, at the same time, shewed was necessary. When therefore we consider the length of the intestinal track, its peculiar structure, together with the horizontal position of * Does not this volume in the coecal capacity in the ox militate against the opinion of Mr. Percivall, that the coecum is merely a recipient for water? The ox does not drink so much as the horse, and has also a specific receptacle for water in his second stomach. 288 SPLANCHNOLOGY. the animal, we are at no loss to account for the difficulty with which we produce purging in the horse. It is not only difficult to produce it in point of time, but even in effect also ; and hence it is a process of great exertion to the animal, and as such, occasions great exhaustion ; and as these parts are very vascular and irritable, so improper doses of physic very fre- quently prove fatal. Nor is the irritability of the intestines the same at all times, which is the reason that the same medicine that will purge at one time, at another proves inert. It appears likewise, that the irritability of the horse's intestines differs from that of the human ; at least, substances that stimulate the one have no effect on the other : thus a pound ^of jalap will not purge a horse, though twenty grains are a brisk cathartic to a man or a dog. Purging, it may also be learned, is nothing more than an increase of that natural action of the intestines, by which they expel their contents, called the peristaltic mo- tion ; and which appears brought on, and kept up, by the irri- tability of the organs ; this irritability is such, as to remain in them for some time after they are taken out of the body. The intestines have various stimuli; air proves a strong one to them, as we know by its effects: the food is a stimulus to them, but not a sufficient one probably ; hence Nature has given another, which she pours out when wanted, which is the bile : when this natural purge is wanting, obstinate costiveness en- sues ; and, also, when it becomes increased in quantity, or vitiated in quality, diarrhoea takes place. The internal sur- face of these organs may be stimulated, as we have mentioned, to an inordinate degree of contraction by purges, in which case they expel their contents without absorbing the more liquid parts: thus, horses who easily purge, seldom fatten; and hence we see the propriety of permitting the intestines to empty themselves by mashes before we give physic ; for, otherwise, the smaller ones may be stimulated to contract too speedily for those behind to remove the mass, and hence distention and in- flammation may arise ; and this the more easily in the horse, from his prone situation. Pressure is also an intestinal stimu- lus, as we find by the action of the abdominal and other muscles, in exercise, which causes a speedy evacuation of their contents; and, for the same reason, horses with small carcases are easily purged on exercise. We learn also from these considerations, that it is proper to let digestion proceed some length when baiting on a journey before we move the horse, or his chyme will be propelled before the chyle can be taken up; and thus he will reap only the benefit of a cordial, which, as it acts by sympathy, is merely temporary ; but the permanent benefit resulting from an increase of blood, will be wanting ; and hence it is, that horses flag under injudicious management, who, under a different treatment, would continue strong and equal to what is required of them. THE LIVER. 289 The Liver, The liver is so large and ponderous a mass, that there seems great wisdom in placing it in the centre of the body. Anato- mically it is situated in the left hypochondrium, and a smaller portion in the right* (vide h h, Plate IV) part of it also extends into the epigastrium. Its convex surface is adapted to the con- vexity of the diaphragm, and its concave is applied to other abdominal viscera. It is of a dark red colour, and two feet, or two feet and a half in circumference, being thick towards the middle, but thin at the edges. In the horse it is divided into several portions, seldom less than seven or eight, forming two large lobes, and several smaller ones ; and which divisions are usually observed in all animals destined for quick motion. Its principal or right lobe is situated wholly within the right hypochondriac region ; the left presents an oval figure. These lobes are still further divided by marginal indentations or notches, some of which are deeper than others, and are called its scissures. It also presents several considerable depressions on the concave side ; one of which is formed by the right kid- ney, the anterior part of which is received into a depression of a small division or lobule of the great right lobe: another considerable indentation, called its great scissure, divides the two large lobes from each other ; and a third appears near the termination of this greater one, in the middle of the concave surface, and is called the porta of the liver, into which the sinus of the vena portae enters. The remains of the umbilical vein likewise forms a considerable cavity within the great scissure; the vena cava and oesophagus also form depressions in their passage at its superior part. The liver is attached at its convex surface to the diaphragm by productions of the peritoneum (see Plate IV), and likewise by means of cellular membrane ; the vena cava serves also to attach it : by all of which it is sufficiently retained in its situation, and its support is farther assisted by the pressure of the viscera. It is exte- riorly covered by the peritoneum, and internally within this there is a considerable layer of cellular tissue that penetrates its substance, and which is furnished with numerous lymphatic vessels accompanying its several portions. The substance of this organ is composed of an immense number of granulated corpuscles, apparently formed from the several vessels entering it, and which granules appear glandular, and are in some way connected with the secretion of the bile. The vascular rami entering the portae of the liver, have a cellular investment dis- covered by Glisson, and hence are called Glisson's capsule : it enters with the trunks, and serves as a connecting substance to the internal structure. The blood vessels are the ven^ port^, vena hepatica, and the arteria hepatica. * By ail error of the press, left and right were transposed in the last edition. 290 SPLANCHNOLOGY. Vena portcB hepaticce, — The circulation of the venous blood in the liver of the horse presents a remarkable speciality. We have before described the veins of the abdominal viscera, as returning their blood into the sinus of the vena portae, which may be regarded as the termination of that portion, called vena portce veiitralis, and the beginning of that termed vena portce hepaticcE ; from whence it is branched off in every direction to be ramified throughout the substance of the liver: therefore, at this origin in the sinus, the vena portae hepaticse takes up the office of an artery. Hepatic veins : When the blood carried into the substance of this viscus, and dispersed through- out these corpuscles, has been acted upon, and the bile formed from it, it is collected from the ramifications of the hepatic veins, which are the true venal trunks of the liver: these unite into several rami, and pour their blood into the cava by very numerous branches. The hepatic artery is a branch arising" from the aorta, which, though it furnishes so great a viscus, is yet much smaller than either of the emulgents : it is, therefore, evident^ that it can take no part in the secretory oflice of this gland, but is simply intended for the support of the organ, and is wholly unconnected with its specific action. Fori biliarii, and hepatic duct. — In the glandular corpuscles some great change goes on, by which a fluid substance is se- parated from the venal blood. These biliary pores appear to end in small tubes, which gradually form others, following the course and the divisions of the vena portse, till they all unite to form one duct, remarkable for its whiteness, and called ductus hepaticus. It may be readily found on turning up the margin of the right hepatic lobe (vid. c, Plate IV), and originates from about the centre of the concave surface of the viscus, a little anteriorly. Before it entirely parts from the substance of the liver, it receives several minute biliary branches from the sur- rounding substance. It then accompanies the hepatic artery, and passing below the vena portarum, it terminates, as has been already described, in the duodenum, about five inches from the pylorus*, either by one orifice common to it and the pancreatic duct, or otherwise by a distinct one: but in every instance by a distinct internal orifice, by the which the peculiar secretion is observed to flow, and each presents its separate valvular ap- paratus to prevent the entrance of foreign matter. From this description, it will appear that no gall bladder exists in the horse, which peculiarity he owns in common with all the tardigrade, and many of the saltigrade animal^. Neither does any gall bladder exist in the rat and mouse : but it may be observed, their granivorous habits cannot be connected * The eiitrauce of the bile into Ibe pylorus was formerly thought to deter- mine the digestive powers of the animal, it being supposed that it opened nearest the pylorus in the most carnivorous ; but this circumstance is now known to be no ways connected with the quality of the food, THE LIVER. - 291 with this structure, because it is also absent in the elephant, rhinoceros, camel, and dromedary; while in man, the ox, sheep, hog, and dog, a gall bladder is always found. In some of the former, however, a dilatation of the duct is observable, (and is often seen in the horse also) which may, in some mea- sure, answer similar purposes. The nerves of the liver ori- ginate from a plexus formed of some filaments of the par vagum and the sympathetic ; and as the nerves are but few^ in proportion to its bulk, so it is a viscus of little sensibility, and even under inflammation the pain experienced is rather dull than acute. The lymphatics are, however, sufficiently plenti- ful, and may be easily injected over its surface. Hepatic disease is not a very common occurrence in the horse, which may arise both from the simplicity of its structure, and also from the absence of many of those predisposing causes which tend to injure it in the human subject; as spiritu- ous liquors, &c.: but even under this latter view, it is not wholly exempt ; for although we do not give our horses the sti- mulus of alcohol, yet we give them the stimulus of over-feed- ing, and that with food containing more nutriment than their exertions require, frequently. We also give them the stimuli of warm clothing, and heated stables ; and from these we do really find that the liver is liable to become afiected through the medium of the stomach; and it is no uncommon thing to observe in such horses the faeces hard, dry, and without their natural colour, which are accompanied also with costiveness and a yellow skin. Hepatitis, or acute inflammation of the liver, now and then attacks this organ, and consequent to this, and sometimes as a chronic affection, tubercles have been found in it : these are, however, much more rare in the horse than in the ruminants. The liver in many animals is found to be the peculiar seat of worms : out of eighteen rats that were examined, sixteen were found with taenia within its substance. The disease termed the rot in sheep appears to arise from a species of worm within the gall duct, and Monsieur Chalette has often found them in horses also. The physiology of the liver is so intimately connected with digestion, that little remains to be noted here distinct from that process. It is evident that the bile of the horse having no reservoir for its retention, must be almost uniformly flowing*, except at the slight intervals when the peristaltic motion presses the sides of the duct. To the horse this regularity and con- stant distribution are perhaps essential, seeing his habits of taking in food are almost equally constant, and as such must be as frequently and uniformly digested and expelled ; as we really find to be the case, from his numerous dejections in the * The biliary secretion is, perhaps, less when at rest than during exertion, and thus horses closely confined are liable to have biliary affections and costiveness. 292 SPLANCHNOLOGY. course of a day. To him, therefore, the aid of the bile is constantly wanting in the work of digestion, and its stimu- lating qualities as a purge to the intestines is equally so*. The Pancreas. The pancreas, known by the common name of sweetbread, is a glandular body of the conglomerate kind, presenting a very irregular figure, lengthened out into three processes, which extend it across the spine in the epigastrium between the sto- mach and left kidney (videf, Plate IV). Its superior surface is applied to the abdomen, and is inferior to the great curva- ture of the stomach ; it is also connected to the omentum, liver, duodenum, and spleen, and to the vena cava : its small ap- pendicular portion, which is connected to the duodenum, is often called the little pancreas, and which sometimes fur- nishes a small separate duct. Its substance is formed of small glandular bodies, within which, the ducts collect into several lesser branches, and these into two others, from whence is formed the principal pancreatic duct, that penetrates the duo- denum frequently with the biliary duct by one common exter- nal opening; but which if cut into a little way presents two distinct orifices, one proper to each duct: frequently the ex- ternal entrances are distinct. The hepatic artery furnishes the pancreatic branch, assisted by the splenic ; and the vena por- tarum receives the blood returned. Its nerves are derived from the coeliac plexus. The use of the pancreas is not precisely known : it certainly secretes a fluid very similar in chemical properties to the saliva, and its structure greatly resembles the salivary glands, particularly the parotid. It has thence been supposed to serve to attenuate the chyme, and which view is strenghtened by our knowledge, that its secretion may be cut ofi" without occasion- ing any disturbance to the digesting functions. The experi- ments of Sir A. Cooper would serve to shew that it co-ope- rates with the bile in decomposing the chylous from the faeculent parts of the chyme or digested mass. Till its duct was dis- covered in 1642, by Vertsungi, it was said to act as a bolster for the stomach to rest upon. It is not very liable to disease in the horse, though now and then calculi have been found in it. This part in calves is similar both in structure, appear ance, and taste, to the thymus gland, and is used as such by the butchers. The Spleen. The spleen, or milt, is a \iscus of a soft and apparently glan- dular structure, but without an excretory duct, of a rusty brown colour inclining to blue, but which varies according to age and * As fashion alters opinions as well as dress, so it appears becoming fashionable to deny a purgative quality to the bile : Dr. Copland says, we have no more proof that it is a purge than an astringent. USES OF THE SPLEEN. 293 circumstances : it is situated in the left hypochondrium, between the great extremity of the stomach and the left kidney (vide p, Plate IV). Its figure has been resembled to a scythe, but nei- ther this, nor its size, are by any means always alike : it is fre- quently more of a pyramidal or triangular form. By its upper convex surface it is attached to the ribs, and to the left extre- mity of the stomach, and which gastric attachment is common to almost all animals. Inferiorly it rests on the abdominal viscera. The inner or concave part presents a kind of groove which divides it into two portions, an anterior and a posterior; within which groove are the openings admitting the splenic vessels. It is connected by cellular substance to the left kid- ney ; by the vasa brevia to the stomach, and to the pancreas by other vessels, as well as by membranous productions to other parts, and is externally covered by the peritoneum. The blood vessels of the spleen form a very considerable feature in its anatomy, for in all animals they are found large. The splenic artery is not, as in the human, furnished from the cceliac, but originates at once from the aorta. The splenic veins are still larger than the artery, and arise from minute cells, into which the arterial branches had deposited their blood; by which arrangement not only can a vast quantity of blood be retained, but the circulation is also necessarily impeded. The splenic veins unite with those of the stomach, and contribute largely to the formation of the vena portarum. Its nerves are furnished from the coeliac plexus, and lymphatics are very plentifully distributed over its surface *. Uses of the Spleen. From the cellular texture of the spleen, its large blood-fur- nishing trunks, and the systematic detention of the blood with- in it, it is evident, it must have some particular office in the economy to perform ; but what this is, has been a subject of much conjecture. From some accidents, and from experi- ments made, it appears not essential to life. It has been often removed in dogs without any apparent ill effects : but though its removal may not occasion fatal consequences, yet it does not follow, that it has not some great use in the system. It has been considered as an assistant in the formation of bile, by detaining the blood to render it easily acted upon. Dr. Haigh- ton's experiments tend to shew that it is a grand auxiliary in digestion, by sending the blood it receives when the stomach is inactive, to that organ, when it becomes distended and in full secreting action. But the origin of the splenic artery not being the same in the horse as in the human, in some measure * Lymphatics have been denied to the spleen, but in the horse I have in- jected them. Mr. Home observes that the spleen in most animals is more ex- tensively furnished with them than almost any other organ.— Com/?<Thich forms a distinct capsule for each tes- 302 ANATOMY OF THE ABDOMEN. tide, and by means of a septum ; leaving no communication between the two, whereby disease is prevented from communi- cating so readily from one testicle to the other. The Testicles. Within these sacs are situated the testicles. Nature appears to have given two, that, if one should become injured or dis- eased, another may yet remain; for the propagation of the spe- cies is Nature's grandest work, and the resources she gives to animals for this purpose are very great. The testes are two glandular bodies, which in most animals are first formed with- in the abdomen ; and in some quadrupeds, and all birds, al- ways remain there*. In the foetal colt they are lodged within the belly, immediately behind the kidneys, and are retained there till some time after birth, when they begin gradually to appear within the scrotum. What influenced this peculiar passage of the testicles into the scrotum, was long a matter of dispute : in man it was supposed to be occasioned by their gra- vity; but this could not be the case in the prone brute; nor can it be effected by respiration, as we find them already in the scrotum of some animals before they have breathed ; and in others, as the hedgehog, they remain within the belly, though respiration is alwaj^s carried on. Mr. Hunter's interesting dis- coveries on this subject cleared up the difficulty ; he found that the testes, when situated w ithin the cavity of the abdomen, were enveloped by a prolongation of the peritoneum, in the same manner with the other viscera ; and w ere each of them likewise attached to a ligamentous substance of a pyramidal shape, whose base, or broad part, adhered to the testicle, and its other portion continued through the abdominal ring formed by the separation of the fibres of the external oblique muscle ; and that it became attached finally to the bottom of the scro- tum : this ligament he termed guherimculum testis. It attains its full growth before birth ; after which period, it begins to contract and shorten itself; by which means, as it cannot draw the scrotum within the ring, nor free itself from the testicle ; it therefore draws the testis itself from its situation under the psoas muscles, and which carries with it the covering of peri- toneum it had around it, and in this manner the tunica albu- ginea of the testicle is formed. ( Vide i, Plate IV.) This progress is carried on gradually; and when the testicles by this contraction have been drawn to the abdominal ring, it is evident they must there meet with some obstruction ; for the peritoneum surrounding the whole abdominal cavity, as we have described, only permits the passage of this ligament by a * The elepliant is an instaRcc of the testicondi; the testicles in hini remain within the abdominal eavily through life, so that he presents the singularity of having no serotun). To an animal uhich has to make his uay through woods And briars, a scrotal bair would have been intunvcnicnt. MALE ORGANS OV GENERATION. 303 minute opening ; consequently in yielding to the pressure, it must either open farther, or the peritoneum itself must be forced down : it appears that it does the latter ; and that the testicles, before invested by the peritoneal covering they had in the abdomen, from their tunica albuginea, now force along with them this fold that was opposed to the ring, and which they carry with them, but which does not become united to them, but remains loose, and forms the tunica vaginalis to each (vide h, Plate IV); and is finally carried into the scrotum with the testicles by the complete contraction of the guberna- oulum testis, v/hich now being no longer wanted, becomes wholly absorbed. In the human, after the testes have passed the abdominal rings, a complete union takes place between the vaginal coat, or outer reflection of the peritoneum, and the sur- rounded rope ; by which means all communication with the scrotum and abdomen is shut out. To man this is a wise and kind provision ; for, from his erect position, were it otherwise, there would be a continual descent of some of the intestines ; and, probably, a continual collection of the interstitial fluid of the abdomen : and in the few instances that do occur where this is left open, these effects ensue ; that is, some of the contents of the abdomen make their way into the scrotum ; which forms what Haller has called hernia congenita. But quadrupeds, from their horizontal position, not being subject- ed to this descent, have not this opening closed : therefore, in the horse, a communication between the scrotum and abdo- men remains, this prone situation rendering quadrupeds in ge- neral but little subject to scrotal hernia*. The coats of the testicles are usually described as three : the expansion of the cremaster, the tunica vaginalis, and the tu- nica albuginea. The cremaster arises from joint fibres of the obliquus abdominis, transversalis abdominis, and fascia lata muscles, forming a slight muscular expansion, which is conti- nued with the spermatic cord till it reach the testicles, when it becomes merely aponeurotic, and inserts itself into the tunica vaginalis {vide h, Plate IV). This, therefore, cannot properly be considered as a true tunic of the testicle. The tunica albugi- nea is properly the first testicular coat, and immediately invests the body of each, being the portion of the peritoneum that sur- rounded the testicle in its first situation within the abdomen. Tliis coat is white, externally smooth, very firm, and is united very intimately by its internal surface to the substance of the testicle : on its outer surface are seen vessels alternately in a direct and wavy course. {See the right Testicle, Plate IV.) The tunica vaginalis is the second portion of peritoneum we have described as descending by the pressure of the testicles, * Dogs are sometimes found wilh epiplocele, or tbe obtrusion of omentum within the scrotum : but it never occurs until a diseased collection of fat has made an unnatural pressure on the abdominal contents. 304 ANATOMY OF THK ABDoMeN. but which only loosely surrounds them, forming a firm sheath. In Plate IV, this is seen opened from the right testicle. Having these coverings and appendages, each testis may be con- sidered as a glandular body approaching to the figure of a kidney, having the great curvature and great extremity directed before, and the lesser curvature and smaller extremity directed backwards and towards the abdomen: to the posterior portion is attached the appendix, or epididymis. The internal structure of the testicles is formed of an infinite number of very minute tubes, which appear the secreting ramifications of the spermatic artery, so minutely divided, that Dr. Monro has calculated that their length, when united in a human testicle, would not be less than 30,000 feet. After this numerous and minute division, these tubes unite to form several ductiform bodies, which in- osculate together, and terminate in the vasa efFerentia. The epididymis is formed from the united mass of these vasa ef- ferentia, and is situated at the posterior external surface of the testicle, having a bulbous head, within w^hich these tubes take a very convoluted direction, as may be evidently seen on the outside {vide k, Plate IV, right Testicle) : proceeding upwards, they finally form one canal, termed the vas deferens. The spermatic arteries furnish these bodies with blood, one to each testis, which arises from the inferior part of the aorta (vide Plate IV), a little behind the emulgent; but soon uniting with the spermatic vein of that side, both spermatic arteries proceed backwards enveloped with cellular membrane, and pass obliquely over the psoas muscles, diverging gradually from each other as they cross the ureters, when they are con- tinued downwards and outwards to gain the abdominal ring. In their passage, they usually give oft' a branch to the cellular membrane of the kidneys, peritoneum, and other parts, without being apparently diminished in size ; and when arrived at the abdominal ring, they are continued with the vas deferens, in- vested in the same sheath, to be ramified throughout the body of the testicle in the manner described. The spermatic veins receive within the testicles the blood that is not taken up by the secretory powxr of the organs ; when passing out of the tes- ticles, they form several trunks, whose convolutions are nu- merous, and their communications very free with each other, so as to make a varied plexus of venal branches, which passes upwards, and terminates, the left usually in the left emulgent, and the right in the vena cava. (See Plate IV). The nerves of the testicles are received from an abdominal plexus ; and their lymphatics may be seen spread over the surface of each. Each spermatic cord is, therefore, composed of the spermatic vessels, the nerves, the vas deferens, with the lymphatics, and the cremastcr muscle, united into one rope, by cellular sub- stance; which thus passes from the scrotum through the ab- XI A LB ORGANS 0¥ GENERATION. 30i» dominal ring, not, as in the human, in an oblique direction, but in a right line. The vasa deferentia are the united trunks of the secretory vessels of the testicle, continued one from the upper extremity of each epididymis. The internal cavity of each vas deferens is small, but its substance is strong and white, running up with the spermatic artery and vein, and entering the ring within the general sheath of the rope, when it separates from the blood vessels, and proceeds upwards and backwards to the superior and anterior part of the urachus, crossing the ureter in a par- ticular manner (see Plate IV) : each is then continued over the lateral and superior part of the bladder, to gain the posterior portion ; when it enlarges into a long oval cavity, which is cellular in its structure. This cavity is about the same size with the vesiculae seminales, and each lies immediately before, and alongside the seminal vesicle, and terminates alongside of, though distinct from, it ; one on each side of the urethra ; in such a manner, that though these two canals are contiguous, and their openings continuous, yet it is impossible that the semen should enter the vesiculae seminales. Their orifices are within the urethra, at that portion which is surrounded by the prostate ; the vesicula, and the vas deferens of the right side, opening into the right side of the urethra, and those of the other on the left. (See these parts in Plate IV). The vesiculce seminales, as they are improperly termed, are two oblong membranous bladders, situated one on each side of the neck of the urinary bladder, behind the dilatation of the vasa deferentia. They are not, as in the human, of an exter- nally knotted appearance, and internally formed into a number of convoluted cells ; but are externally equal, and internally each forms a single cavity covered by the general cellular sub- stance, and by it connected to the bladder. In form, appear- ance, and size, they are very similar to the enlargements of -the vasa deferentia, and are shut at one extremity by a round end ; and, at the other, are each diminished into a small canal, which lies contiguous to the canal of the vas deferens, and ends by a large excretory canal which opens into the urethra by one common orifice, with that sometimes, and at others by a dis- tinct one ; the form and appearance of which may be seen, by referring to Plate IV. They contain a fluid very similar to that of the vesiculae seminales, and w^hich is undoubtedly in- tended to mix with it : but they cannot be the receivers of the semen; for the openings, although continuous, are kept dis- tinct, and water, passed by the vasa deferentia, never enters the vesicles. In the human, the mechanism is in some mea- sure different, and water, passed in thus, will in some instances enter them. Mr. Hunter was first induced, from his observance of brutes, to conclude, that, even in the human, these bodies secreted a fluid, sui qerieris^ intended to mix with and dilute the ^OQ ANATOMY OF THE ABDOMEN, seraen : and he proved that they could not be seminal recep- tacles ; for they continue to appear as full in the castrated as in the entire horse. There is, also, a small canal, at the su- perior part of the neck of the bladder, which opens sometimes into one, and sometimes into the other of the canals of these seminal adjuncts. Bourgelat says, it bifurcates, and has a dis- tinct opening on each side : but this I have not observed in the subjects I have examined. It appears only an appendage to the vesiculas, and probably answers the same purposes. Cloven-footed animals altogether want the vesicula; semi- nales. The prostate glands, — These are glandular bodies, whose appearance is by no means similar to the human prostate ; for instead of one, there are in the horse evidently two irregular bodies, placed one on each side of the membranous part of the urethra, near to the neck of the bladder, surrounding the pos- terior part of the vasa deferentia, and vesiculae seminales, and being situated superior to them, over the urethra, so that they lie immediately under the rectum, where they may be readily felt, by introducing the hand within that gut. Their internal substance is spongy and cellular, and each has several little ducts which open on one side of a rising line in the urethra, termed verumontanum ; by which ducts a thick cream-like fluid passes into the urethra. Cowper's glands, or the lesser pros- tates, form two smaller glandular bodies, which, in the human, are frequently wanting; but in the horse are always distinct, and of the shape and size of a chesnut, situated just beyond the prostates, one to each side. {Vide g g, Plate IV.) Some com- parative anatomists deny the horse having any Cowper*s glands, but give him four prostates. The adherence to the human nomenclature facilitates comparison, it is therefore eligible to retain the present appellation. The structure of these differs from that of the large prostates, inasmuch as their cavity is more regular and definite, and their substance less spongy : they are covered by the transversalis perenei muscles, so as to give them a regular muscular strata, that probably im- pels their contained fluid, w^hich is not unlike that of the pros- tates, and is poured out near them by similar openings, rather below and beyond. The Penis, or Yard. The penis, or yard (vide Plate IV), is a long firm body, nearly two feet in length, with one part almost prismatic, but towards the anterior extremity cylindrical: in its natural si- tuation, it is covered externally by the sheath, which is a con- tinuation of the general integuments of the belly, continued from the scrotum, by which means it is not pendulous, but closely attached to the belly, as is observed in all the her- bivorous mammalia. The sheath of the horse bears but little MALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 307 similarity to the integuments of the human penis : in him it is a true extension or overlapping of the integuments of the ab- domen, but is rendered peculiarly appropriate by having two adductor muscles which spring from the aponeurotic and muscu- lar parts of the abdominal muscles, and which, being inserted into its anterior part, serve to draw it forward and over the penis. Two other muscular plans retract and open the sheath. In the usual state, the penis is entirely hid within the sheath, from its extent of surface, it being continued from the scrotum to near the navel, where, although it appears to terminate, it is merely reflected : at this part it is much thicker, owing to a firm liga- mentous substance within, which forms a kind of ring, and is useful in keeping the orifice open and firm : from this the reflect- ed integuments become thinner and more vascular, and, running within, they extend backwards again, and are reflected so as to encircle the glans, but not exactly in the same manner as in the human. Such is the situation of the parts when the penis is retracted ; but when erect, it appears a large long body distended out beyond its covering; and it will then be found that the ring, forming the termination of the external part of the sheath, now forms an enlargement around the distended penis, and that the integuments are stretched from it in a true continuation over the whole extent of that part which appears without its vulva, being firmly attached to the extremity, or head, but loosely only to the rest of the parts=^ : when the penis again contracts, it enters the sheath, and draws this portion with it, which is called the prepuce ; within which is seen a moist secretion that keeps these parts from adhering. The body of the yard is composed of two cavernous flatted portions closely connected, and a spongy canal admitted within an in- ferior groove. The urethra is this spongy membranous canal continued through the body of the penis from the neck of the bladder, of which it appears the continuation. Its first portion is simply membranous, and lies within the depressions formed by the two prostates ; the next is made up of that which lies between the two glands of Cowper, and thus far it is within the pelvis ; but as it passes around the pubis, extending from behind forward in the great angle formed by the posterior junction of these bones, * In the plate, the prepuce is distinctly seen lying in folds, as it does when the yard is not distended; the ring around is the enlarged part of the sheath where it turns in, to form all the inner portion, which is distinguished by the name of prepuce : the portion beyond this^ is the ligamentary coat. Within this prepuce are found papillary risings, which Daubenton and Hunter con- sider as the rudiments of the mammae, or teats, which, in the muciparous, are situated along the male belly. The prostates, the vesiculae seminales, and what are denominated Cowper's glands, admit of so many combinations in the various mammalia, as to render it extremely difficult to class either their struc- ture, uses, or even their correct nomenclature. Cuvier has discovered in some inammalia, of which the mole and hedge-hog are instances, certain accessory vessels, which he has therefore termed vesiculcc aecessoriit. 308 ANATOMY OF THE ABDOMRK. it loses its membranous structure, and becomes at once con- siderably enlarged, by gaining an acquisition of muscular fibre. It therefore is evident that the urethra must, in this course, make an acute angle ; for while within the pelvis, and^ proceeding from the bladder, it is continued backw^ards, lying upon the uterus in the mare, and upon the pubis in the horse ; but after proceeding in this direction, it passes at once around the pos- terior junction of the bones of the pubis out of the pelvis, and then proceeds on the outer side of this bone, directly forward. In the human subject, although the urethra makes an equally sharp turn around the inferior part of the pubis, yet as in him the penis is unconfined, so a sound, or catheter, can be intro- duced into the bladder : but, in the horse, the angle being ren- dered very acute by the attachment of the penis to the belly, we can only introduce any instrument as far as the perinaeum ; and if we wish to introduce it farther, we must make an external opening in that part on the introduced instrument, and repass the same instrument, or another, within the canal of the urethra, just as it describes this angle, it being here surrounded neither with spongy substance, nor with the prostates. This part, therefore, being thus circumstanced, forms the proper point at which to open it ; and fortunately for such an operation, this described point is exactly the portion that presents itself in the perineum on passing a sound. As the penis turns the angle of the pubis, it receives a species of ligamentary expansion ifrom these bones ; and after it has completed 'his turn, and gained the under side, it receives the cellular envelopements described, and which ^ are continued around it through its whole length, to the extremity of the penis. This sponge-like portion of the urethra communicates with the cavernous substance, and is retained between two membranous portions ; one of which is the inner mucous membrane of the urethra, and the other a true membranous covering to the spongy part. This internal mucous coat of the urethra is very vascular and sensible, and is pierced by the several openings of the vasa deferentia, the vesiculae seminales, the prostates, and Cowper's glands; besides which it presents, through its whole length, the orifices of small mucous ducts, termed lacunae. The canal at length terminates in a fossa in the middle of the head, or extremity of the glans penis, by a projection of its inner membrane, ( Vide g, Penis, Plate IV.) The corpora cavernosa are two cavernous bodies separately attached to the bones of the ischium and posterior part of the pubis : they however soon approach each other, and unite just before the symphysis ; not in the manner of the human, like two tubes applied to each other, but like two flattened half tubes, and which unite so intimately as to appear but one body, which is not circular, but prismatic. They are externally covered bv a very strong membrane ; internally, they are ca- MALE ORGANS OF GRNERATION, 309 vernous, with strong transverse muscular fibres which intersect each other, and are mixed with a compact cellular substance (see Plate IV). These cells are always filled, more or less, with blood, but when the penis is erect they are fully distended : those of the cavernous communicate with the cells of the spongy portion. The cavernous bodies terminate some inches before the extremity of the penis in a rounded end, which is received into a corresponding depression in the glans ; and throughout the whole extent are grooved underneath, receiving the greater portion of the urethra. The glans penis of the horse appears a distinct part, and is not formed, as in the human, of an expansion of the spongy por- tion of the urethra ; it is also unlike that of man, in being cy- lindrical, and in extending some inches up the yard. It is con- nected to the corpora cavernosa, and spongiosa, by a strong cellular connexion, and by a continuation of the ligamentary integuments of the yard, receiving the rounded end of the ca- vernous parts into an appropriate depression. It is larger than the body of the penis, is cylindrical, and covered with the ge- neral ligamentary expansion, and with the prepuce. Its inter- nal substance is very spongy and cellular, so as to admit of equal expansion with the other parts of this body, and ends in a kind of ring around its verge, which is larger and more pro- minent above than below. This anterior surface of the glans presents a considerable depression, or fossa, with a central eminence, formed from the termination of the inner membrane of the urethra, which divides the fossa into an anterior and pos- terior division, within which there is usually a quantity of seba- ceous matter. The whole surface of the prepuce is furnished with giandulse odoriferas, secreting a sebaceous matter, which sometimes becomes so acrimonious as to irritate and inflame the yard, and produce a discharge from the surface, or go- norrhoea. The muscles of the penis are three pairs ; the erectors, the accelerators, and triangulars. The erectors arise from the tuberosity of the ischium, embrace the two roots of the caver- nous body, and are inserted into its lateral parts ; by their con- traction they apply the penis to the belly, and consequently are of great use in copulation or covering : their power must also be very considerable to counteract the weight of the yard. The acce- lerators are two fleshy expansions extending over the bulb, and over nearly the whole length of the urethra, by whose means the urine and semen are ejected from the urethra, and the canal kept closed when it is not passing one or other of these fluids. The triangulars are similar expansions, but spread farther back, assisting the accelerators, and also influencing the prostate and Cowper's glands. (See Myology,) These described portions of the penis are immediately invested by a very dense, firm, but elastic ligamentary lamen, and which has been improperly termed its nervous coat. It covers the corpora cavernosa and 310 ANATOMY OF THE ABDOMEN. spongiosa, and inserts itself into the symphysis pubis. Over this is expanded another membranous investment which forms the sheath and prepuce. The arteries of the penis are furnished from the pudendals; but the veins are larger beyond all compa- rison : the ramifications diffuse the blood through the cavern- ous cells, and from these it distends the spongy portion. This takes place in a greater degree ; that is, the artery injects more blood than usual, when the influence of the mind extends to the yard, impelled by lust. The veins of the penis are likewise branches of the pudendals : in the human there are three or four only on the dorsum penis ; but in the horse they are very large and numerous, and form a complete network over the back of it ; and which are easily raised altogether in taking off the cel- lular tissue. By this formation the blood can, in usual cases, be readily circulated, for the artery is bnt small, and the veins infinitely numerous ; but when the artery acts more than usual, then the blood cannot pass off, and distention must be the con- sequence. The nerves originate from the lumbar and sacral. Uses of these Organs, Evacuation of urine. — From what has been said it will ap- pear, that the organs we have described are subservient to two important purposes ; some of which are concerned in both ; others of them only in one of these purposes, which are the evacuation of the urine, and the formation and ejection of the semen. The penis divides its use between these processes; and this forms an instance of one part performing two distinct functions. We have already traced the urine into the bladder, and we have described the means by which it is passed from thence ; we have only, therefore, to remark, that when the blad- der contracts, the sphincter is forced open, and the fibres sur- rounding the urethra dilate, or become passive ; the urine then flows out, by the force of the contraction of the bladder, in a considerable stream ; and, when finishing, the last drops are expelled by means of the accelerator muscles. Generating use of these organs. — Within the testicles is ge- nerated, or secreted, a fluid, which, when it is formed by an adult and healthy horse, and placed in a proper receptacle, such as the healthy uterus, or womb of the mare, it bestows the power upon the female organs to frame, fashion, and bring to maturity, a foetus, whose parts, habits, and manners, corres- pond with those of its parents. Animals being formed by na- ture solicitous for the propagation of their species, the appe- tites conducive to this end are very strong; and any obstruc- tion offered them, when under the influence of lust, makes them ferocious : to quell this, and render them open only to the sti- mulus of preservation, horses are very generally in this coun- try, and many parts of Europe, castrated. Nature has also wisely ordered that the perfection of the generative organs MALE ORGANS OK GENERATION. 311 shall not become complete till the animal is evolved, and ar- rived at maturity : had it taken place sooner, not only the off- spring would have suffered, but the parent likewise ; for it is a secretion in which much general power is wasted ; and hence, when it begins to form in large quantities, the body ceases to grow : therefore it is that, when we do castrate animals, we do it also early, to make them large; for then the portion of living power that would be expended on the seminal secretion, is employed in the other general secretions of the body; hence more Wood, more bone, and more muscle are generated. It is not only the mere quantity secreted which occasions this waste of power; for there is more saliva formed in one day than the testicles secrete semen in a week or month ; but this secre- tion has a greater connexion with the mind, and the exertion of the mental powers weakens more than those of the body; hence the male of all animals becomes weak in the season when the female has her cestrum on her, or is at heat ; and even without copulation the horse will not thrive, provided he is suffered to be under the influence of lust, by being near to mares. That this secretion has some remarkable sympathy with the body in general, as well as with the mind, is evident from what takes place in cut horses, and what is observed in those uncut. When a horse is early castrated, he partakes of the mixed nature of the horse and mare; his crest is neither so round nor so large, nor is his voice so deep ; his general form also becomes lightened, though his size is increased. In an entire horse, on the contrary, at the time when the semen first begins to form, his person alters, his tones deepen, his neck thickens, and his crest rises ; the mane and tail lengthen, and his whole figure becomes round and graceful ; at the same time he exhibits repletion and a strong smell. In the act of copulation, therefore, it appears that the ner- vous influence acts upon the vascular system of the penis, whereby the arteries carry more blood, while the veins are ren- dered unable from some cause to effect its removal, by which means the cavernous cells become fixed, and the penis, by this distention, is erected ; when, from the friction produced by the vagina, the penis becomes stimulated into a more exquisite sen- sation, with which, by a common consent of parts, the en- largements of the vasa deferentia and the vesiculae seminales participate ; when, by the assistance of the accelerator mus- cles, the semen and diluting fluids are pressed out, and by a convulsive effort, injected into the vagina : the stimulus of the semen being lost, the appetite becomes satisfied, the nervous influence is removed from the vessels, and the penis returns to its ordinary size. 312 ANATOMY OF THE ABDOMEN. THE FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. Though the division of these organs into external and inter- nal is sufficiently common, it is in this instance, at least, use- less ; the only parts that can be considered as external, are the bag, and mammas or teats, with the vulva, or sheath. The bag of the mare is formed of two distinct collections of glands, which, from their proximity, are considered as one. In the multiparous animals, as the dog, the hog, the rabbit, &c., these bags are numerous and distinct, because, from the num- ber of young, it would be inconvenient were the teats not as numerous as the offspring: but in the uniparous, as the mare, cow, sheep, &c., as the progeny at one bringing forth is con- fined to one, or at most, in ordinary instances, to two ; so this part is double, and situated between the hind legs. In the mare, each of the bags has a nipple or teat, and the bodies of the glands themselves are made up of an infinity of arterial ra- mifications ; from which a fluid is secreted, called milk, which is destined to the support of the young colt, till the evolution of his organs has enabled him to pursue his own means of sup- port. The teat or nipple (of which there are two) receives the secreted milk by several tubes, which have separate expellent orifices on its lower extremity, with valves placed superiorly over each opening, by which the fluid, in ordinary cases, is prevented from flowing out; but when the nipple is pressed up, the valve opens and permits the free entry of it ; thus the colt is seen to push up the teat with its nose; pigs and puppies with their feet; and a similar action is common in milking of cows. The milk in diflferent animals has different compo- nent parts, and diffbrent tastes ; but in each, it has those best adapted to the animal it is intended to nourish.— See Hygro- logy. The vulva, or sheath, is a long oval opening immediately below the anus, with a very small space between, called the perinaeum. The vulva of the mare is not, as in the human fe- male, a mere entrance to the vagina, but forms a distinct ca- nal of some length, which leads to the true vagina. It is formed of two labia or lips, exactly applied to each other, whose junction above and below is called its commissures. The skin which covers the labia externally is usually black, and deprived of hair, presenting a line of division with indented edges ; after which the same integuments form the inner sur- face, but become more vascular, and at last degenerate into, or become blended with the tunics of the vagina. The sub- stance of the lips is, besides, made up of some cellular mem- brane, with a strata of muscular fibres, uniting at the superior commissure to the sphincter ani, and inferiorly to the clitoris ; in copulation these embrace the yard, and at other times they support and close the labia. The internal surface of the vulva FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 313 is kept moist by a mucous secretion from its vascular mem- brane. The clitoris.— When the inferior commissure, which is thicker and rounder than the superior, is separated, it is found to lodge a body that appears like an imperforate glans penis, and which is intended to answer the same purpose in the female, being, by its cavernous structure, filled during copulation, by which its sensi- bility is increased. The clitoris, like the male penis, has two cavernous bodies attached to the ischium, whose internal struc- ture is cellular, and their external strong and very elastic; they may be inflated also like the penis, either by air or injections : it corresponds with the glans, in having a species of prepuce formed from a fold of the inner sides of the labia, within which likewise are openings pouring out a matter similar to the glan- dulae odoriferae in the male ; and it has likewise an expansion of muscular fibres, termed the erectors, performing the same office with those muscles in the male. — The female urethra : When the labia are separated, the internal cavity is called the navicular or scaphoid fossa, at the inferior part of which is placed the clitoris, as we have shewn ; above this, and rather more internally, is situated the urethra, which in the mare is a short large canal without any curvature, and simply mem- branous, with an internal vascular surface furnished with la- cunae similar to the male. Its orifice may be distinguished from a doubling of substance like a fold around it ; and when the urine is ejected, the clitoris is brought forwards, and elevated by means of the muscles, so that the urine may be completely ex- pelled, and none remain to irritate the internal surface. The vagina is a long membranous canal above and beyond the clitoris, capable of great extension, but in the natural state about eight or ten inches long, and two in diameter. Its di- rection is nearly horizontal, and situated between the bladder and rectum ; by its external orifice uniting with the vulva, and by its internal terminating in the neck of the uterus. It is composed of a spongy cellular substance interwoven with nu- merous blood vessels ; it has likewise a considerable muscular fabric, and internally is lined by a fine vascular secreting membrane, which is thrown into numerous folds, whereby its capacity for distention is much increased. The vagina, uterus, and bladder, are only in part covered with peritoneum, and the extent of this covering is easily seen in the dead subject ; for it takes in as much of these parts as can be observed vi^ithin the cavity of the abdomen. The female bladder, therefore, though it might be punctured like that of the male without penetrating the abdominal cavity, yet it must be through the vagina, and therefore is still less eligibly performed in the mare than in the horse. The superior part of the vagina is bordered by a mem- branous valvular fold, which Mr. Hunter appears to have mis* taken, and has thence been led to assert, that women, mares, X2 ^l"^ ANATOMY OF THE ABDOMEN. and elephants, were the only beings who had a hymen. But this structure, in mares, appears simply a membrane to guide the urine, and to prevent its entering and irritating the vagina; and is situated at the inner extremity of this canal, and there- fore difi'ers from the human female hymen, which is placed at the mouth of the vagina. It likewise is not destroyed in those mares who have had foals, and therefore is still less like this part in women. The uterus of the mare is very dissimilar to the human womb, which is only an uniform bag, but in this animal it has a body and two branching portions, called its horns. This organ is implanted into the vagina by a narrow portion, called its neck, from which is continued the body, which is six or eight inches long, and about the size of a small intestine ; with the fundus or bottom extending rather beyond the bladder, and bifurcating into two large cornua which also measure six or seven inches, and float within the cavity of the abdomen, one to the right and the other to the left, under the anterior part of the ilium, rather without the pelvis, resting directly upon the large intes- tines, and behind the convolutions of the small ones. In the multiparous animals, or those which have numerous young at a birth, these cornua are very considerable, and the foetuses are lodged within them ; but in the mare, which may be consi- dered as uniparous, the secundines only are lodged within*. To prevent any prejudicial removal of these parts from their situation, the peritoneum, after it has covered part of the uterus, is reflected over the horns, and envelopes the Fallopian tubes. Though the mare has a womb similar to that of a mul- tiparous animal, she seldom has but one foal ; and when there are two, they seldom both survive. Fallopian tubes. — The extremity of each cornua, or horn, has a small conical tube attached by its apex, while its broad extremity called the fimbria, like the large part of a trumpet with a fringed edge, floats in the cavity of the abdomen, being only slightly attached by one part to the ovaria. These tubes are very tortuous in their direction, and the extremity of each, which is attached to the cornua, is extremely small, hardly ad- mitting a hair ; but the other is more considerable, and is turned towards the ovaria. They have rather a firm membranous struc- * In few internal organs is greater diversity of character observable than in the uterus, and it is remarkable that the most simple kind belongs to the human. From man the complexity increases in various degrees, but still not in a ratio with the importance of the animal, or his general complexity of structure. In the dog, hedge-hog, and the larger herbivora, the uterus bi- cornis is found ; in a third kind we find a double uterus, where the cornua, instead of opening into a common cavity, enlarge into two distinct uteri: such is the case with hares and rabbits. In some of the opossum tribe the womb is also double, but with a great speciality in the oviducts. The uterus of the kangaroo forms a grade between the single and double, for in her it is found with a clear central line of division, but a common cavity. (ESTRUM, he. OF THE FCETUS. 315 ture, and at the largest part are the size of a large quill, and about two or two and a half inches long. The ovaria are two oval oblong bodies of the size of an egg, situated at the extremity of the uterine horns, enveloped within a fold of the peritoneum, but floating in the abdominal cavity : they are composed of a compact spongy substance, containing a number of little transparent vesiculae, called ova, whose num- ber is uncertain : each ovum appears surrounded by cellular substance, and is described as having two coats, the outer of which is represented as belonging to the ovaria ; for when the vesicle escapes, this remains and produces an indentation, and leaves a green spot, which remaining spot is caXled corpus lutea. The vessels and nerves of the uterus have been described in the sections on Angiology and Neurology. ^tct XVI. OF CESTRUM, CONCEPTION, PREGNANCY, AND EVOLUTION OF THE FCETUS, Nothing in tlie animal economy is a greater subject of ad- miration than that wonderful reproductive process, whereby a new being arises from the efforts of the old. In the lower or- ders of animals, conception and the production of their young appear most simple ; but in the higher orders, the process be- comes more intricate and obscure. Some of the former pro- duce their young without sexual distinctions, each being fruit- ful, aiid capable of begetting its kind : in some, the offspring are produced within the body; in others, by a limb or part of the parent trunk. But in quadrupeds there is a true sexual dis- tinction and division of generating organs; the work of propa- gation is mutual, and it becomes necessary for the male semen to render the female ova prolific, either by direct contact or by a sympathy we cannot explain. The animals called cold- blooded, some of them do it without the immediate contact of the sexual organs ; but the greater number have a penis intrans, and inject the male semen into the female generating organs. Of oestrum, or heat. — That the great work of propagation might not be left to chance, all animals are irresistibly impelled to it by the sensation of lust, called in quadrupeds heat. This sensation happily does not arise in any great degree till the organs, by their complete evolution, are fitted to the purposes they are destined to fulfil : otherwise we should have parents imperfectly developed, and progeny without stamina. In the human. Providence has kindly limited this sensation so as to be under the dominion of reason and modesty ; and to this end in ourselves, though it is not violent, it is constant ; that it might not, by returning only at stated periods, be of necessity 316 OK CESTRUM, CONCEPTION, PREGNANCY, strong and irresistible, and because the human foetus can be at all seasons nourished. But in brutes it is connected with cer- tain states of the body, whereby the young are produced at proper seasons of the year, and the process, which is one of expenditure to the system, does not by this means always go on, but they have leisure for recruit and for the gratification of their other appetites. Brute animals, therefore, have their organs sometimes in a state of inaptitude to fecundate ; and when they are thus circumstanced, the disposition to copulation does not exist ; but when the aptitude returns, then the disposition re- turns likewise, and this state is called oestrum. The oestrum of the mare is vulgarly termed horsing, and in other animals it has likewise popular terms. At these times considerable changes take place in the generative organs; they become highly vas- cular and sensible, and there are marks usually of general ex- citement throughout the system. The organs themselves swell, and a considerable quantity of whitish matter is secreted in the vagina, and ejected occasionally, termed the heats. Not only do the vulva and vagina appear to suflfer this increase of vas- cularity*; but even the uterus, the cornua, the Fallopian tubes, and the ovaria, likewise participate. The Fallopian tubes at this time likewise shew a disposition to unite with the ovaria f. When, therefore, all these parts have become thus vascular, and the vesicles of the ovaria prove turgid, the ani- mal is fit for fecundation ; and if at this time copulation takes * As cestrunij or horsing, appears in great measure brought on by an increased Tascularity of these parts; so sometimes the inflaming or stimulating the va- gina by artificial means, as by an infusion of cantharides, &c. has been prac- tised, where it has been feared horsing would not occur, or that it would ap- pear too late, and interfere with the foaling time of the next year. In some instances this practice is found to answer the end ; but as it is unnatural, it must be very likely to fail ; and when it does succeed, it will probably have an injurious effect on the mother or progeny, from a want of mutual consent of parts. Mr. Coleman, 1 believe, relates to his pupils two cases wherein this practice proved fatal. t This periodical return of oestrum is a settled plan in Nature's economy, that the offspring might be brought forth under the most favourable circum- stances to their well being. In the grazing tribes it occurs so that their pro- geny appear in the spring, when herbage is plenty, when the temperature is genial, and when time may be allowed to gain strength to bear up against the rigours of approaching winter. In the larger orders of herbivorous animals, the production of young is to this end limited to once a year, and in a state of domestication they remain subjected to the law, because man has not the power of altering or of forcing vegetation sufficient to produce. abundant nu- triment for them. But in the carnivora, and the lesser orders of even the herbivora, the powerful agencies of cultivation and artificial habits have materially altered many of the phenomena attending their reproductive pro- cess : and as shelter and nurture are found for them at all times of the year, so the periods of their oestrum or heat return at uncertain intervals, as con- finement or highly stimulating food may hasten the sexual excitement. The domesticated dog will breed three or even four times in two years, while the wild dog and his congeners, in a state of nature, produce generally but once a year. The cultivated hog farrows in a few months from her former litter- i.Hg, while the wild hog brings forth progeny but once in twelve months. AND EVOLUTION OF THE FCETUS. 317 place with a healthy subject, i. e. if the mare be covered with a healthy stallion, impregnation takes place through the means of the semen acting on the ovum or germ. That it so acts we have abundant proof; but whether it do so by actual contract, or by a sympathetic power, is yet undecided: although the balance of evidence is in favour of the actual transmission of the impregnating fluid through the uterus and oviducts to the ovarium ; and which is rendered more probable by the circum- stance that the ova of the multiparous animals never reach the uterus, but are retained in the cornua *. In a prolific copula- tion at this time, in multiparous animals several, and in unipa- rous one, of the ovarial vesicles bursts its outer coat, and escapes, leaving a greenish spot called corpus hitea. The ve- sicle that has burst its confinement is taken within the Fallo- pian tube, and conveyed into the uterus by a vermicula.r mo- tion, which in some of the lesser animals, as in rabbits, it takes three days to effect, and perhaps it is not widely different in all. If a vesicle should burst, under the influence of the semen, and, escaping the fimbriated extremity of the tube, fall into the cavity of the abdomen, and- the ovum should be nourished there, it is called an extra-uterine foetus; and it is evident that the cavity of the abdomen must be opened to deliver it. There have been instances likewise of an impregnated ovum remaining in the ovaria and tubes, and yet coming to maturity. When the ovum has been brought into the uterus by means of the Fallopian tubes, it continues to float loose some time within it; but at last some changes appear to take place, and it becomes attached, not to any certain portion of the cavity, but wherever chance directs : but during this time there is no danger of its escape, for while the Fallopian tubes are bring- ing it, the womb is sympathizing in its action, and preparing for its reception, by effusing a quantity of coagulable lymph within it, vvhich completely glues up the opening of the cavity into the vagina. This effusion likewise becomes general, and a thick lamen is formed, which Dr. Hunter first accurately de- scribed, and gave to it the name of tunica decidua. Membrana caduca, false or spongy chorion, — This membrane Dr. Hunter found to consist of two lamellae ; that which lines the uterus, he named tunica decidua uteri: the other beino- re- flected from the uterus over the ovum, he called tunica decidua * In proof that the semen is uot arrested within the vagina, but is carried into the uterus and ovary, Haller informs us he saw semen in the uterus of a sheep ; Verheyneus, in a cow ; and Ruysch asserts he observed it in the bo- dies of two women, who were killed immediately after copulation ; the one by her husband, for infidelity ; the other was a common prostitute,' and was killed by a soldier, her paramour; in both which he states, that he found se- men not only in the uterus, but in the Fallopian tubes. Mr. Hunter found it likewise in the uterus of a bitch who was killed in the act of copulation or immediately after, by puncturing the .spinal marrow. See also some interest- ing experiments in reference to this subject, by Dr. Haighton, P/'il Trans 1797, p. 159; and by Mr. Cruickshanks, ib. p. 197. " . '^' 318 OF CESTRUM, CONCEPTION, PREGNANCY, reflexi. The tunica reflexi in the latter months of pregnancy adheres so firmly to the tunica uteri as to be no lonijer distin- guishable into two. The ovum, it will be found, has two dis- tinct tunics of its own ; the external is more firm, less trans- parent, and vascular than the other, and is called the true chorion : the inner is a very thin fine membrane, termed amnios. These two coats belong to the foetus strictly; for if the umbi- lical vessels be injected, these become injected likewise, but none of the injecting matter passes to the false chorion ; and if the vessels of the mother be injected, the false chorion alone becomes filled, but the true chorion and amnios remain as they were. As this effect is constant, we are led to conclude, that the tunica decidua belongs to the mother, and the true chorion and amnios to the foetus; and that, although there is a conti- nuity of parts, there is no inosculation of vessels. To these involucra must be added another, which appears after the em- bryo is formed, and is called the allantois, as will be described hereafter. The embryo, or foetal foal, may therefore be regarded as be- ing enveloped in the early months by four membranes ; the tunica decidua, tunica reflexa, the chorion, and the amnios ; and in the later months, from the disappearance of the reflexa by absorption, and the addition of the allantois, the number still remains the same. In the human impregnated uterus, if ex- amined within the first month of gestation, there appears a prominent spot upon some part of the surface, and a similar projection on some part of the true chorion of the ovum: these two minute elevations in their respective surfaces inoscu- late with each other, and become iSnally a thick round cake called the placenta; and this forms the only communication between the human mother and foetus. But in quadrupeds it is widely different : the ovum of the mare, after remaining some time within the cavity of the uterus, has the whole ex- ternal portion of the chorion thickened and rendered vascular, by which it unites with all the surface of the merabrana decidua; and this union takes place not only throughout the circumference of the uterus, but even throughout the cor- nua : and it may be remarked, that mares are the only animals at present known, except asses, whose placenta occupies the whole of the uterus. The aequine impregnated uterus, there- fore, instead of presenting a solitary spot of attachment, fur- nishes a general covering of the ovum, propagating its con- nexion throughout the whole uterine surface and comua. Before this inosculation takes place, the little contained ani- mal, or rather the rudiments of the future animal, are nourished by the contents of the ovum ; but now they derive their nutri- ment from other sources. The tunica decidua we have described as being strictly a maternal portion of the uterus; that is, that though it is conti-, nuous, yet it has no inosculation of vessels with the foetal AND EVOLUTION OK THE FCETUS. 319 portion; but that the vital principle is absorbed from the mother in the same manner as, in the adult state, it is effected by the ramifications of the pulmonary vessels in the lungs. This lamen is vascular and spongy, and is thence called the false chorion. The true chorion fojms the next membrane of the uterine mass, but it forms in fact the first proper membrane of the foetus. It is furnished, in the ruminant tribes, with fleshy prominences which correspond with cavities in the tunica de- cidua, and are called cotyledons, or placenlula : appearing in themselves very vascular, but having no anastomosis of ves- sels, though the connexion is otherwise intimate and close. The allantois'^ is a peculiar membrane whose existence in the human has never been proved ; and in animals it differs much in regard to extent. In hogs and rabbits, it is little more than a tube; in ruminant animals it is more considerable, and forms a considerable sac between the amnios and chorion : but in mares, bitches, cats, and some other quadrupeds, it forms a general involucrum. It appears to be an expansion of a canal that arises in the foetus from the bladder, continued to the umbilicus or navel, when it is reflected over the cord, and over the inner surface of the chorion, and outer of the amnios ; so as to form an extensive cavity, destined, as is supposed, to contain the urine of the foetus, for the fluid found within pre sents all the characters of urine. This canal, thus lep.ding from the bladder to the umbilicus, is called urachus ; and it is within this sac, and floating in this fluid, that the substances called hippomanesf are found ; which appear not unlike por- tions of coagulable lymph, being from ten to fourteen or more in number, usually unattached, whose structure and use are neither of them understood. The amnios is a very fine but firm membrane immediately involving the foetus, with the um- bilical vessels ramifying upon its inner surface, and from which are secreted a fluid within the cavity, in which the foetus swims till birth : this is called liquor amnii. It varies in qualities and appearance in different animals; and w^as originally sup- posed to be swallowed by the fcetus, or absorbed by his skin for nutriment; but it has been lately more generally supposed to regard the preservation of the foetus from pressure, and for lubrifying the parts of the mother: in the early months of gcs- * The allantois presents in most animals singularities. In the ruminants it is partial, in others it does not exist at all; while in the canine and some of the feline genera its place is supplied by an expansion unconnected with the urachus, termed tunica erythroides. t The hippomanes are not confined to the horse, but exist in the sow also : the old term therefore, of horse venom, is as inapplicable as the ideas formed by the antients relative to their adherence to the forehead of the foal, and that, as they w ere attached more or less firmly, they w ere omens of good or . evil. The term hippomanes as used by Aristotle, Hist. An. 8, 24, refers to the mucus on the skin of a foal at birth, which the mother removes by lick- ing; or, as in 6, 18, to the " humor ex equanim enuientiwn nattiyalibus clis- tillansr 320 OF CESTRUM, CONCEPTION, PREGNANCY. tation its proportional quantity is much greater than in the latter months. The umbilical cord.— The foetus is connected with the organs which surround it, not only by means of the fluid in which it floats, but by means of vessels which pass from it to the expan- sion of the placenta. These vessels, together with the canal we have described, called urachus, are invested with coverings from the membranes, and some inner spongy gelatinous sub- stances, and which united form a long rope of two or three feet in length, and an inch in diameter, which is called the umbilical cord, originating from the navel of the foetus, and inserted into some part of the placenta. The vessels within this cord are two arteries and a vein, which are called umbili- cal; and it is by these that the communication is kept up be- tween the foal and mother ; for as these ramify throughout the placenta, and as the placenta unites intimately with the uterus,, so it is evident a close union is kept up*. Such are the parts which are particularly concerned in bring- ing the embryo into maturity, all which undergo great changes during pregnancy, both with regard to the foetus, and with regard to each other. In the early periods of gestation, the coats or bags of the ovum form much its largest proportion; as gestation advances, the proportions become more equal ; while, in the latter months, the foetus is infinitely greater than its mem- branes. We have shewn how small a part the uterus formed when unimpregnated ; it is surprising, therefore, how great must be its increase to contain such a quantity as it does in the latter months of gestation; but anatomy teaches us that it is not by a distention of its parts that it becomes increased, but by an actual growth and addition of them, gained from its ad ditional vascularity ; so that as it enlarges in size, it increases in thickness also. The fundus experiences this enlargement in the greatest degree, so as to stretch far beyond the cornua ; extending up to near the epigastrium, pushing the large intes- tines on each side, so that the pregnant uterus lies upon the ab- dominal muscles. In this state it continues to increase, till, at last, the distention becoming greater than the capacity, its muscular fibres, powerfully assisted by the diaphragm and ab- dominal muscles, contract; by the joint action of which, the foal and its membranes become expelled. Parturition is not so difficult in quadrupeds as in the human ; the human pelvis, from its situation, is necessarily much smaller, and the human foetus has to make a considerable curvature in its exit: but, in brutes, the passage is direct, and the pelvis large ; therefore there is less pain, and less occasion for a very muscular uterus. *In the marsupial geuera, although furnished with a complicated structure, there is no trace of an umbilical cord, but the fluid interposed between the parent and offspring is usually gelatinous: whether this supplies the place of a more solid connection, remains at present unknown. THB PHYSIOLOGY OF GESTATION, &C. 321 Nevertheless, difficult parturition, as well as false presenta- tioD, occur now and then in mares, cows, and ewes. In bitches, particularly those much confined, these evils are very common. The Physiology of Gestation, and the subject of the Breeding of Horses considered. From what has preceded it may be gathered, that the semen of the parent (or its influence) by some means makes its way through the oviducts, where it vivifies the germ which now seeks a more proper receptacle, and passes into the uterus, to the parietes of which it adheres by placentation, while a glairy fluid shuts up the os tincce of the womb from external commu- nication, and, thus entombed, it rather vegetates than lives for eleven months. Thus produced by the mutual eff'orts of both parents, it has occasioned much enquiry among the curious, what proportion each took in the reproductive process, as re- gards the form and qualities of the progeny. Some have sup- posed that the male parent is principally concerned in giving the characteristic external form, while the internal organiza- tion was derived from the mother. With others the male influ- ence is supposed to predominate throughout, and they con- clude the mother to be a mere hotbed, wherein the seed is placed with its full stamp, to be simply reared. But an atten- tive examination of the subject, and a careful collation of facts, will prove that neither of these opinions are correct as fundamental principles. The general characteristic form of the animal is arbitrarily settled by Nature, but the individualities of character in the separate organs is divided between the parents in nearly equal proportions*. This is exemplified in the breed which arises from the intermixture of the blood with the cart breed, where the extreme difference in form and cha- racter is nicely blended, yet the peculiarities of each remain distinguishablef. This proves the great error committed by the generality of farmers and small breeders, who, careless about the dam, breed from any mare they happen to possess or can procure, though it may even be unfitted for work by dis- ease or age ; and expect, provided they gain a leap from a tolerable stallion, to procure a valuable progeny. But it is in • It is by no ineaus intended here to deny that the external characters of some breeds are not principally derived from the male, and at others from the female ; but these anomalies, for which we cannot account, do not tend to alter the general similitude observed towards both parents. In the mucipa- rous animals it is often observed that the influence of one parent preponde- rates in a part of the progeny, and of the other to another part of it Thus it happens that, when a pointer and setter breed together, it is not unusual to find part of the whelps almost perfect pointers, and the remainder as nearly true setters. t The hybrid mule divides in equal proportions the jequine and assiuinc characters; at the same time it must be allowed that the hinuy, or produce of the stallion and ass, is more allied to the horse than the mule, or progeny from the male ass and mare. 322 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF GKSTATION, vain to hope for good form and useful qualities under such cir- cumstances ; for it will be generally found that the properties of each parent are equally proportioned in the progeny, and this fact is so well known to judicious breeders, that they select both sire and dam with equal care. 'J'his dependance on the law by which the distribution of form and qualities is equally dependent on both parents, leads to the correction of defects in particular breeds, by selecting one parent eminent for a form or quality for which the other is as notoriously defective. Should a mare, oiherwise valuable, present a low heavy fore- hand beyond even that which is her sexual characteristic, by choosing her a male more than usually thin and elevated in his crest, the defect will be remedied ; whereas if this be not at- tended to, whatever other properties each may possess, a serious defect is propagated and increased, and the produce can be of little value. It is also by a judicious attention to these circumstances that particular breeds are preserved with their original integrity, or new varieties introduced. Domestication has laid the foundation for these. The universal or inherent aptitude to retain the original stamp of nature becomes weaken- ed as we subject animals to confinement and a life of art. Numerous deviations in size, form, and qualities, seem the necessary consequences of the physical and moral agencies which they become exposed to under these circumstances, and the extent of these deviations appears proportioned to the de- gree of confinement and restraint we impose upon them. The tendency to degenerate in our domestic animals, is counter- acted by what is called cultivation, which, in fact, is opposing art to art; for as the subjecting them to an artificial lite occa- sions the tendency to deterioration, so care in the selection of food, in the restraints imposed, and the opposing of disease, have so eff'ectually combated the tendency, that our native and cultivated breeds now infinitely excel the originals. But all other arts would have failed, had not man taken on himself to regulate the sexual intercourse. It is by a judicious selection of individuals as parents, that the permanency of a breed must depend. It is by the choice of such as have the specified and definite form in *^the greatest perfection that we are enabled in the progeny to perpetuate the same, and by future selections to improve it. The merits and defects of each parent should be previously subjected to careful examination, and it is only by a judicious balancing of the one against the other that perfect success is to be expected. It is thus that our racers have out- stript all competitors; it is thus that a Russell, a Coke, a Bakewel], or a Ellman, have raised our ruminants to their present state ; and it is by the same art that a Meynell, a Rivers, or a Topham, have produced unrivalled dogs*. It should not * Our powers over the animal form and qualities, by the selection of pa- rcnts and subjecfing their progeijy to particular nurture, careful domcsfica- AND THE SUBJECT OF BREEDING CONSIDERED. S2S be lost sight of, that qualities as well mental as personal are also to be cultivated and handed down in the breed; many qualities may be considered as dependent on the organization, such are hardihood, particular excellence in one pace, &c. These it may be expected, cl priori, might be perpetuated ; and we are not surprised at a son of Eclipse or Match'em having speed in his gallop, or the produce of a Norfolk trotter excell- ing in that pace ; but it is not equally taken into the account that temper, courage, docility, and patience under restraint, are equally handed down in. hereditary descent as the peculiarities* of form. A very long continued and rigorous confinement of the sexual intercourse, or, as it may be familiarly expressed, of breeding from particular races or families, only begets w hat is popularly known by the term purity of blood. When this is still more strictly confined to close consanguinity, it is called breeding in and in. Very great importance is attached to this purity of Mood or lineal descent among the breeders of almost every kind of domestic animals, but among none do we see it carried to such an extent as in the horse. The pedigree of many of our pre- sent racers can be satisfactorily traced back for 150 years, and many so recorded have never received one impure admix- turef. Whether this lineal confinement is so very important as is insisted on by turf-breeders, admits of doubt, but many tion, restraint and discipline, is truly surprising. The shepherd's dog is in some breeds born with a short tail ; "thus the very base of the machine, that which of all the parts is the least subjecled to alteration by any physical or moral agency, the bones, even hecomes subjected to our caprice. The Here- fordshire ox can be bred to a white face, or a half a hile face, and the length of the horns of others can be ensured to an inch. The Spits ifjelds weavers assert, that they can ensure almost to a certainty in the Marlborough breed of spaniels, which flourishes among them, any given quantity of colour, length of coat, texture of it, and regulate its disposition to curl or remain straight. The colour of the game cock is arbitrarily imposed by the handler and feeder; and the experienced pigeon- fancier can breed to a feather. * Standing or pointing in dogs (as practised after game) is wholly a culti- vated quality ; and yet many breeds of pointers take it without breaking, not only pointing game of their own finding at a few months old, but backmg others which have also found game. Here quality is clearly descended, r ^Q^A^'"^^ ^'^^^^ stallions have been sold for 1,000 guineas to breed from, bulls for 300, and rams the same. Fifty guineas have been given for a leap from some horses : bulls and rams have been let at enormous prices for the same purpose; and the celebrated Yorkshire grejhound Snowball lined bitches at three guineas each : in such estimation are particular breeds held. In Arabia, however, so much importance is attached to purity of blood, and regularity of descent, as to leave our attention lo these particulars far behind. None but stallions whose descent can be traced for generations, are allowed access to their mares, and of these, those of the finest form are selected. To attest the genealogy, the intercourse always takes place in the presence of a pro- tessional witness or public officer, who certifies the fact, records the names, and signs the pedigree of each. The Circassians distinguish the various races ot their horses by marks on their buttocks ; and when a noble mark is put on an ignoble breed, the forgery is punished with dtuth.— Pallas' s Travels in the Southern Provinces of the lius.^ian Empire. 324 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF GESTATION, eminent characters maintain that they can detect even the slightest cross, in form and qualities, to the sixteenth genera- tion. Breeding in and in, as already noticed, is a still more close attention to lineal descent, and confines the intercourse to the closest affinities. From an opinion that Nature had placed both physical and moral bars in the way of such inter- course, the eligibility of the practice has occasioned much dispute. In the last edition of the Canine Pathology, I have endeavoured to examine this subject fully and clearly ; in this place my limits will only allow of a more brief notice of it*. • In favour of breeding consanguinity, it may be alledged that the early human as well as brute races were forced into the nearest affinities ; and it is unreasonable to suppose that Nature would have made her very first essay by a principle tending to the immediate deterioration of her works. This has been called a mere argument of necessity, and is said to apply only to that precise period when no other connexion was possible. But we have it not in proof that Nature departed from any of her known laws in this instance; on the contrary, we have every reason to believe that they were immutably fixed on unerring and undeviating principles, ah initio. Neither does the argument refer alone to these early times, for we know that for ages after- wards consanguineous marriages were corasummated among nations of some refinement and great personal endowment and prowess. The Egyptians allowed of the marriages of brothers to sisters : the Athenians admitted the betrothing of brothers and of the half blood, if related by the father's side. The marriage of Abraham with his sister, assures us that it was practised among the Chaldeans ; and if history be correct, when this island was con- quered by Caesar, a consanguineous and peculiar cohabitation prevailed.— " Uxores habent deni duo denique inter se communes, et maxime fratres cum fratrjbus, parentesque cum liberis; sed si qui sunt ex his nati, eorum habentur liberi, quo primum virgo quaeque deducta est," Paley's Nat. Phil. — Did there exist in nature any moral or physical reasons that near consan- guineous intercourse tended to deteriorate the organization, would she not Iiave implanted an instinctive aversion in animals to such union, as she has done with regard to the diflerent genera, purposely to keep her works free from deterioration, and that the perfection of her forms might not be lost in promiscuous hybrideous productions? J am aware that it may be argued as far as regards man, who is at the head of Nature's tree, that such aversion is manifested in the political restrictions which have prevailed among all en- lightened nations of the present day, relative to consanguineous marriages. But it does not appear that these laws were framed with any view to the phy- sical necessities of the case, but merely as regarded the political and moral bearings of it ; which were sufficiently powerful to make such restrictions prudent and necessary. By extending the social compact to marriages with- out the family pale, communities were enlarged, knowledge and the arts were extended, improved, and became a common property; wealth was diffused, and social interests joined those who before w^ere in opposition to each other. It may also be added, that the demoralizing and depopulating etfects of an early departure from chastity, which unreserved family commu- nication led to, was prevented. It is, however, clear from the closest philo- sophical enquiry, that such aversion in neither instinctive nor physically necessary ; but that as regards the human it is an acquired regulation of passion, very properly implanted by education, and made general by refine- ment. This fancied aversion, which has been a theme for poets and historians, has carried some of its votaries so far as to aver that it has been observed iu the brute creation also. Varro says, " Equuo matreni ut saliret adduci non posset," De Re Rnstica, lib. iii, c. 5. An ingenious commentator has, however, justly observed, that subsequent experience has not justified the assertion, and we know it to be false. AND THE SUBJECT OF BREEDING CONSIDERED, 325 I have there stated, that though I am by no means wedded to an opinion that no evils result from these very close con- nexions, when confined to families for many breeds, yet that I am inclined to think there are none, because not only do the testimonies preponderate that way, and reason and analogy justify it, but also because, with the utmost attention I could pay to the subject, I have never discovered any deterioration of form or quality in animals thus bred. As we proceed through the whole scale of animal creation, we shall, I think, find a con- sanguineous intercourse even among the nearest affinities as little hurtful to the form and properties : we are assured that the Arab horses of the best blood are bred in and in, and as these horses have the greatest possible attention paid to them, the deteriorating effect of such a practice could not have es- caped observation, had it existed. Mr. Bakewell reared his valuable stock wholly from family alliances, and in fact his improvements were founded on confining the intercourse to relationship ; Mr. Meynell bred most of his celebrated fox- hounds from the nearest affinities. I could quote innumerable other authorities in favour of in and in breeding, but candour obliges me also to own, that there exists a large number of able antagonists to it also. My limits only allow me to add, that many practical breeders, who are averse to breeding in succes- sion from near relationship by blood, are favourable to it in a remote degree, which is particularly the case with some rearers of game fowls, who seek the intercourse of a third remove, which they call a " nick." From these conflicting testimonies the matter will, with many, be considered as problematical : with me the only arguments against it, which it appears cannot be satisfactorily answered, are that as hereditary diseases in some breeds are considerable, by this mode of breeding, they would be perpetuated and probably increased ; and likewise, that when breeding by relationship is a settled practice, acci- dental defects are too apt to be passed over unobserved. From all that has been detailed, it may be gained that the great work of reproduction is mutually divided between the parents, but that the exact line of division between their sepa- rate parts is not easily ascertained. Even the imprinting the sexual stamp on the ovum has, by some, been attributed to male influence*, and by others, to female preponderance. On this subject, I think it probable that the ova are originally formed with their true sexual character imprinted on them, and that some females have ovaria with the sexes equally divided among the ova, while others, from causes unknown to us, have them very unequally so ; but even this point may be fairly dis- puted from facts t which occasionally occur. * Dr. Garthshore on " A Remarkable Case of Numerous Births, with ob- servations."— P/«7, Trans. 1787. t Some physiologists (and among them Sir E. Home) have supposed that the •320 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF GESTATION, Breeding &acA:.— While on this subject, it falls in order to glance at a very curious phenomena in the reproductive sys- tem, popularly known by the term of breeding back, by which it would appear as though the ova or germs of the future race were originally formed after one common mould, and which, if it were not for accidental circumstances and foreign commix- tures, would always bear the same stamp. It is thus observed that the progeny of the horse, of man, and most domestic ani- mals, shall bear a more striking resemblance to the grand dam, or grandfather, than to their immediate parents. It is evident that this is more likely where a common character has been preserved during successive generations, or, in turf language, where the blood has been preserved pure. A practical hint naturally presents itself on the extreme importance, therefore, of admitting no accidental admixture of blood, where it is pe- culiarly requisite that it should flow in true lineal descent ; seeing that its debasing consequences are carried through whole generations, and unexpectedly appearing in a third or fourth. In the anatomical detail of the impregnated uterus, it ovum or germ, previous to impregnation, is of no sex, but is so formed as to be equally fitted to become a male or female foetus, and that it is the process of impregnation which marics the sex, and forms either male or female genera- tive organs*. This gentleman, in his most interesting memoir on this subject, detailed in the Phil. Trans vol. Ixxxix, p. 175, draws a picture of these or- gans until the fourth month, in which it would appear that hardly till that pe- riod is the sex confirmed, but that the parts previous to that are so blended, that it is not difficult to form either the one or the other therefrom, as a ten- dency towards the form of the father or mother may preponderate. In this way it would not be diflicult to account for the disposition which some stal- lions, some bulls, and some dogs, have'to beget a greater number of males than females, and vice versa. The same is observed in the human. In the Phil. Trans. 1787, p. 344, menti(m is made of a gentleman who was the youngest of forty sons, all produced in succession from three different wives, by one father, in Ireland. In the church of Kings Langley, Herts, are the effigies of seven successive daughters born to a man by his first wife, and of seven sons the produce of his second wife, in succession. Mr. Knight, a most intelligent naturalist and attentive observer, is favourable to an equal apti- tude in the female in determining the sex. He says, " In several species of domesticated animals (I believe in all), particular females are found to produce a majority of offspring of the same sex; and I have proved repeat- edly, that, by dividing a herd of thirty cows into three equal parts, I could calculate on a large majoiity of females from one part, of males from another, and upon nearly an equal number of males and females from the remainder. I frequently endeavoured to change the habits by changing the male, but without success."— PAiZ. Trans. 1809, p. 397. * UnJer this view, some ph3'siologi'-ts have considered several extraordinary phenomena of ge-^iation readily explained; for whenever the impregnation falls short in stampitig its full character on the ovum, not only the secondary parts, as the labia prepulium, clitoris, pe- nis and mammas, which appear so connived as to be equally adapted to the organs of the male or female, and, iherel.ue, by some curious luiomalj', may readily be blended, but also the testicles mai* be sub>iituted for ihi- rivana, or neither an ovarium or t sticle, but an organ beariny; a resemblance to both, may be formed, and may either remain in the natural situation of the ovaria, or pass into the situation proper for the testicles, or the labia pa- dendi of the female. In this waj- hermaphrodites are formed, of which an instance in the horse is given in Mr. Sewell's Reports ; and this, it is supposed, will account for the free martin among cattle, and also why twins are usually of the same sex, and that, when other- wise, the female has usually less of the female character, and frequently doe.'; not propa gate. AND THE SUBJECT OF BREEDING COKSIDBRBD. 327 is seen how very small is the organic connexion between the mother and foetus : the compact between them is mysterious, yet influential and intimate, as numerous phenomena in gesta- tion shew us*. That her organization, her qualities, and even her diseases, are imprinted on her ofi*spring, is hardly to be wondered at ; but how are we to account for the effects which even her imagination has over the young within? and that such is the case we have innumerable proofs. As early as the patriarchal time the fact was known, and acted on. These anomalies in the gestation of the horse are less frequent than in the more closely domesticated animals, as dogs ; yet there are not wanting instances of these mental impressions sinking deeply into the mind of the mare also, and being called into recollection and action in every future pregnancy f. To some particular morbid action of the maternal mind, in some instances, and in others to the presence of a second ovum, which becomes connected with or pressed into the other, we are to attribute monstrosity, but which is not often observed in the horse. In the multiparous animals, impregnation does not always take place at the first intercourse. It often requires several copulations to effect it, and there is reason to suppose that the prolific ova are neither all impregnated at the same time. Thus in dogs some days, and even a week, has elapsed between the birth of the first and the last pup, and superfoeta- tion, which is not uncommon in dogs, is a decisive proof of it. In the mare it is otherwise : she usually is impregnated by the first intercourse, provided her oestrum be complete, i. e., if she be in full season ; and in her superfoetation has not, I believe, been found to occur. In aequine gestation it is not observed that the stomach sympathizes with the early stages of pregnancy, as in the human and some animals, particularly in dogs, which frequently are considerably affected by it. As pregnancy advances, the form of the foetus becomes developed. The more material parts first appear, as the head, with the brain, and the organs of sense ; then follow the heart, lungs, and abdominal viscera. During this state, although it has a * Can this influence be received by sympathy, or is it by organical mole- €ulae received by the foetus ? From the circumstance that the milk of a fos- tering mother is known to have an effect on the organization and qualities of the adopted, there is reason to consider it as probable. t Lord Morton bred from a male quagga and a chesnut mare. The mare was afterwards bred from by a black Arabian horse ; but still the progeny ex- hibited, in colour and mane, a striking resemblance to the quagga. D. Giles, Esq. had a sow of the black and white kind, which was bred from by a boar of the wild breed, of a deep chesnut colour : the pigs produced by this inter- course were duly mixed ; the colour of the boar being in some very predomi- nant. The sow was afterwards bred from by two of Mr. Western's boars, and in both instances chesnut marks were prevalent in the latter, which in other instances had never presented any appearance of the kind. — Phil. Trans, 1821. See many other instances detailed in the Canine Pathology, 3d edition, p. 94, Y S2S TIIH PHYSIOLOtiY OF GESTATION. life of its own, yet this life is very simple; for it may want brain, heart, and many of the other organs absolutely essential to the adult state. At this period, therefore, its existence is nearly vegetative ; it draws its supplies from the parent by means of its circulation, but its organs are passive. The ges- tating period of the mare is usually considered as eleven calen- dar months. According to the observations of M. Tessier, of 102 mares, three foaled on the 31lth day ; one on the 314th ; one on the 325th ; one on the 326th ; two on the 330th ; forty- seven from the 340th to the 350th ; twenty-five from the 350th to the 360th; two from the 360th to the 377th; and one on the 394th ; which gives a latitude of 83 days : but 21 days is the latitude which these periods usually range between. The cow takes about nine months as her gestatory period ; the sheep, five months ; swine usually farrow between the 120th and 140th day, but they exhibit variations in this particular, according to size and breed. Bitches pup near the 63d day. The Foetal Colt. The gestatory period being fulfilled, the foetus escapes from its uterine imprisonment, and seeks a new life ; into which it bursts with its organs of immediate necessity fully developed. Unlike the human young, and those of many other animals, it is far from indigent; but at once possesses the full powers of locomotion, and performs many of the common phenomena of life with dexterity and ease ; to enable it to do w^hich, its or- ganization exhibits some speciality, which we shall notice*. * When we consider the economy of quadrupeds, and their particular struc- ture, so wisely adapted to their intended habits, we ought not to regard them in the narrow and confined view to which we have subjected them by domes- tication, which is wholly a life of art, and, as such, unnatural ; for, though Providence has given us this power over them, and undoubtedly designed them to be subseiTient to our use and comfort; yet it was not probably in- tended that such an utter perversion of Nature's dictates should have taken place, as has been introduced by luxury and refinement. Considering the habits of the animal in question, philosophically, we must regard him as living uncontrolled and in common with other animals, many of whom wage eternal war with him, and from many of whom he is to escape by flight. He is like- wise to be regarded as being destined to rove in search of food, perhaps to considerable distances : for in a slate of nature where these animals congre- gate, that is, where they associate in herds; the scanty provision raised on one spot, without the assistance of agriculture, would not long suffice the wants of a numerous assembly of wild horses ; and our physiological examina- tion of his organs should be directed towards a capability for this kindof hfe; and we should not draw our inferences from the nurture of the stable, or the education of the riding house. Regarding him therefore aright, we shall find the structure of this noble animal admirably adapted to his economy : the young colt, as soon as foaled, appears capable of making considerable exertions, and is possessed of great speed; by which he can accompany his mother and the associated herd, either in flying from their enemies, or in search of food ; and if we examine him attentively, we shall find his exterior form as well as his internal economy admirably adapted to this : his body is very slender, and consequentlv very h'ght, and his legs long, by which he can reach hia food, F(ETAL CIRCULATION. 329 Fcetal circulation. -To describe the mode in which the blood proceeds, and in which it gives out nutrition in its course to the foetal system, we must again recognise the placenta. From what has been said, it may be remembered, that this mass is formed of the true chorion and tunica decidua united together ; and that, though both of these are intimately united in one body, yet that it is only by a contact of parts, without an in- osculation of their mutual vessels : consequently, that they were to be still regarded as two separate portions, because two distinct circulations went on within them ; thus the part imine-^ diately connected with the uterus, and formed from the tunica decidua, is called the maternal portion of the placenta; while the other half attached to it, and formed from the outer sur- face of the chorion, is called the fcetal portion of the same pla- centa. Into this part the umbilical arteries terminate ; and it must be remarked, that the blood within them is dark and venous. These arteries do not ramify, in the usual arterial manner, by an exhaling outlet, and a returning vein ; but the branches first unite very freely with each other, and then ter- minate wholly in returning veins ; for if we pass injection by any one branch, it fills the arteries around, and likewise the veins throughout the system ; but the maternal portion of the placenta is left uninjected. In the maternal portion, on the the milk; and by which he is also enabled to exert very considerable speed without making any greater exertions than his juvenile state will admit oL On the contrary, in animals who seek the safety of their young by hiding them in holes and caverns, where it is necessary for their preservation that they should remain quiet, Nature has wisely given them a correspandent form; their bodies are fat and unwieldy, that thus they may have a constant disposi- tion to rest and sleep; and whicli is finther brought about by their being blind. Their legs also are short, so that every impediment is placed as a bar to their roving till they possess something like the parent strength, and the parent in- telligence : but the internal economy of the foal is such, that he has no need of much sleep to quicken digestion ; for, in him, the process of solution is not carried on in the stomach wholly, but in the intestines likewise : therefore he can be always alert and on the look out to avoid surprise. In the stately herds of homed cattle likewise, though the calf can make considerable exer- tions at birth, yet there is not that studied attention to his speed, and the sa,fety of the offspring consists in the means of defence given to the parent by its formidable horns; and, therefore, to them Nature has given a greater de- gree of ferocity when they have young, that they may make use of these means; but, in the mare, who has them not, sbe is stimulated to trust more to flight than resistance. Therefore, that the evolution of the parts of the colt at birth might be such as to admit of these necessary exertions, we find a con- siderable peculiarity in the gestation of his mother; for, by the very extensive attachment of the placenta to the whole surface of the uterus and to the horns, the blood must be much more oxygenated; there must be likewise a much greater quantity of chylous nutriment, and hence the organs of necessity are more completely evolved at birth, and fitted to greater exertions. By this means it is that his pelvis is completely ossified when foaled, and many of the epi- physes of the bones likewise, which, in the human infant, remain cartilagi- nous for many months afterwards ; and it is for this purpose, it is more than probable, that the very extensive attachment we have pointed out, is permit^ ted in the uterus of the mare. Y 2 ^^" THE FCETAL COLT. contrary, the arteries penetrate it from the uterus, and termi- nate in an exhalent orifice, and a returning vein. This exha- lent orifice deposits a fluid of a chylous quality, and which be- comes introduced into the blood of the foetus; but whether this be eltected by the medium of absorbents, or whether it be poured directly into the returning veins, does not appear alto- gether certain : but it is probable, that it is effected by absor- bents, which, though they are not very evident, yet may exist, and, m some late injections, are actually said to have been dis- covered. This is rendered still farther probable, from the cir- cumstance that madder given to a mare has been known to tinge the foal. By these means, therefore, the blood which has circulated through the foetus, and is now returned by the um- bilical arteries, and which blood is necessarily impure and ve- nous, becomes changed, by absorbing oxygen from the cells of the maternal portion ; though it is not oxygenated in an equal degTee to that which takes place in the lungs in the adult state. It likewise gains an addition to its quantity from the chylous fluid it absorbs ; and from these joint changes it becomes vivi- fied and fitted for the support and evolution of the foetus. Thus, therefore, the placenta forms the true foetal lungs; in tact, it forms also the true foetal stomach ; and it may be said to be the organ that possesses the specific power of all the aerating and chyliferous organs combined, while the organs themselves only enjoy the life fitted to their evolution, but not adapted to their specific action. As the blood of the foetus draws its oxygen from the placenta, so it must be evident, ac- cording to the modern doctrines, that the vital heat of the foetus IS derived from this source. But as we have stated the oxyge- nation of the foetal blood to be not so complete as that of the adult, so the heat evolved is probably less ; less however is necessary to the foetus, for it is surrounded by a high and uni- form temperature. The foetal blood so changed is gathered up by the minute divisions of the veins of the foetal portion of the placenta, which gradually unite to form one trunk. The umbilical vein is this trunk, which passes in a spiral manner with the cord through the umbilicus, or navel, where it leaves the urachus and ihe umbilical arteries, and proceeds to gain the sinus of the vena poitae, into which it pours its whole contents, to be by that means circulated with the blood of the abdominal viscera. It is at once evident that here a great speciality presents itself; for in the human, and in all other animals that have been examined, except the ass, there is a considerable branch of the umbilical vein, which, by communi- cating with one of the hepatic venal trunks, appears to intend, that part of the blood shall purposely avoid this circuitous route; and which peculiar communication is called canalis venosus. In the horse, however, and his counterpart, the ass, the whole of the foetal blood circulates through the liver, and THE FCETAL COLT. 331 which it is remarkable that the early French veterinary anato- mists were unacquainted with ; for Bourgelat, La Fosse, and Vitet, all describe a canalis venosus in the foetal horse. The cause of this peculiarity, therefore, becomes a very natural subject of inquiry, and which an attentive consideration of the foregoing remarks will, probably, bring to light. We have shewn that in the foetus, or unborn colt, the glands and other organs have only growth to perform ; but they have no specific action, and as such they must be merely in a state of capacity : thus, therefore, they have need only of blood of such purity as is necessary and sufficient to the growth of parts, but not fitted to their specific action : for were such specific action to take place, that is, were the liver to secrete bile, and the kidneys urine, and so with the other glands, the destruction of the foetus must be inevitable ; we, therefore, find that Nature has introduced a contrivance purposely to render the blood less pure, that the specific action of parts might be prevented. As the maternal placenta only vivifies the foetal blood in a secondary manner, that is, after it must have given out some of its oxygen ; so, it is evident, the blood of the umbilical veins, when first received, is only in a comparative state of purity ; and as it passes towards the heart in most mammalia, except the horse, it mixes part of its blood with that circulating through the liver, by which it must be rendered still more im- pure : and here we can but admire the peculiar wisdom dis- played; for as the liver is the only gland that secretes from venous blood, that its specific action might not be employed at this time, it is so arranged that it shall receive purer blood than any other organ. Neither is it to be wondered at, that there should be some curious speciality in this instance, seeing that, as the placenta in the mare is connected with the whole surface of the uterus, there must consequently be a very great absorption of oxygen from this extensive attachment. Nor does this at all tend to destroy our former argument, that this large surface was for the purpose of taking up a greater quan- tity of nutritious principles; for it has been already stated, that these are of two kinds, the aerating and chyliferous ; the for- mer of which only is here less necessary, the latter is purposely intended for the evolution of the parts, and is consequently in full action. From the liver the blood is passed into the vena cava, and from thence to the right auricle ; but it does not from this pass into the right ventricle, as in the adult horse ; but a part of it escapes through an opening in the septum of the heart, between the right and left auricles, and at once enters the left auricle, from whence it is prevented from returning by the eustachian valve. This opening, called the foramen ovale, closes up as soon as respiration takes place. The remaining blood passes, as in the adult, into the right ventricle, and from 332 THH FCKTAL COLT. thence into the pulmonary artery. Here, again, another great contrivance is placed to prevent the foetal blood from going through the lungs, and which would be unnecessary, as these organs likewise have only growth to perform, but no change on the blood to effect: hence, therefore, there is in the circu- lation, at this early period, a communication between the pul- monary artery and the aorta, by means of an additional lateral trunk, called the ductus arteriosus; through which the greater part of the blood escapes at once from the right to the left side, without taking the circuitous round of the lungs. As the foetal blood is not so perfectly oxygenated as it is in the adult state, by the intervention of its own organs; therefore the round of circulation is advantageously shortened, and it is more quickly returned. Yet still some blood circulates through the lungs, and, besides which, the bronchial artery is considerable; so that the same ends are apparently kept in view here as in the liver ; both are organs whose use is immediate and necessary at birth, therefore both must be completely evolved, and both must consequently receive an additional quantity of blood, but not for especial purposes. That which circulates through the lungs is returned in the usual way into the left auricle, where it meets with what had escaped from the right side of tho heart, through the foramen ovale, from whence it passes into the left ventricle, and from thence into the aorta, to join with that received by the ductus arteriosus, and is distributed over the body in the usual manner ; but, at the bifurcation of the aorta, there are given off two considerable arteries. The umbilical arteries.— At the bifurcation of the aorta are given off two considerable arterial trunks, called umbilical, which in the human, and, I believe, in most animals who are born indigent, originate from the internal iliacs : but, in the horse, and a few other large mammalia, they arise as above. The reason of this speciality appears to be, that the lower ex- tremities might have a more considerable proportion of blood than usual, by which means they become more fully evolved at birth, and enable the animal to bear the superincumbent weight without injury, and to make considerable exertions im- mediately, as we observe the colt is able to do. The umbilical arteries then pass down towards the bladder, one on each side, where they join the urachus, with which they are continued out of the abdomen by the navel and along the umbilical cord, to be ramified in the way we have already described. The colt, ushered into the world, finds an immediate necessity for the or- gans of aeration and chylification. The organs for the first process are fitted to be brought into immediate action at birth, and the colt respires as perfectly the first hour as at any future period ; but the addition to the quantity of the blood is to be brought about by parts which have not yet gained sufficient TH li FCEIAL CULT, 333 strength to enter into immediate and full action^ ; they, there- fore, have a food prepared for them, which contains nutriment in a concentrated form, already masticated, and partly digested and animalized ; this food is the milk of the mare, and the same consent of parts that first made her feel oestrum, and propagate from the embraces of the male, produces this secretion ; and this sympathy still remains, for she continues to secrete, and to regard her offspring as a part of herself; and thus she nur- tures, rears, and protects it, till, from the complete evolution of the organs of the offspring, it is fitted to perform all the pa- rent acts, when, being able to counteract its ov^^n wants, it sympathizes only with itself; while the parent-mother's care being also no longer necessary, her secretion ceases, and she likewise sympathizes only with herself: her generative organs prepare anew for the same great work ; for the mutual depen- dence being lost, she again feels oestrum ; while her foal grazes, digests, and shifts for itself. The management of mares during pregnancy, and that of the foal afterwards, is in general confined to the care of the agri- culturalist ; but some leading principles will be borne in mind by the veterinarian. A pregnant mare should be allowed a sufficient quantity of nutritious food. If she be stinted in this particular, her secretions will be lessened, and the offspring will suffer. It is common to work most pregnant mares, ex- cept those of full blood, and the custom, when not carried too far, is not attended with any apparent ill effects: but when mares in foal are too long or too hard worked, the same or worse consequences follow than arise from bad feeding. They also are apt to get strained or over-heated, and then abortion is often brought on. ^Equine pregnancy is subject to few dis- eases; accidents, however, particularly kicks from other horses, are apt to frustrate the hopes of the owner. Standings with bails, and close confined pasturage with other horses, should therefore be avoided. When the foal is at the foot, as it is termed, that is while young and sucking, the same cautions with regard to associa- tion are to be taken. With the more ordinary breeds, it is by no means a bad custom to work the mother with the foal as her companion, provided it be done so moderately as neither to endanger over-heating the mother, nor tiring the foal. By these means the youthful horse is rendered hardy, tractable, and familiarized with the objects he is in future to associate with. Weaning usually takes place at six or seven months after foaling, at which time the foal should be removed from the sight or hearing of the mother, or injurious consequences * The wisdom of thus making the oflfspring still dependent on the parent, is at once evident. If it could masticate and digest as an adult, it might be tempted to stray, when its weakness and want of experience would make it a ready prey to other animals. 334 DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VI. may arise to ,both. The colt or filly should at such times be nutritiously fed, and housed from rain and cold, by which means it will become better nourished, and consequently the form will be improved. At twelvemonths it is the custom to castrate colts, but the period when this is proper should be de- termined by the growth and form of the animal. (See Castra- tion,) In some cases, when the mare is wanted for immediate and severe exercise soon after foaling, a foster mother is pro- cured ; or the foal is reared by cow's milk. But the practice is not a good one, for, by some sympathetic connexion kept up between the organs which secrete the milk and those which are to receive it, a similarity is diffused between the giver and receiver, without actual participation of relationship ; and the progeny is apt to partake of the qualities of the foster mother, which, as being in general an inferior one, produces injurious consequences. Section XVll. THE STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONS, AND ECONOMY OF THE EXTREMITIES. In human anatomy, it is usual to blend the description of the extremities with the other parts of the body; and in most other cases we have accommodated ourselves to the methods used in such teaching : but as progression forms the most ma- terial of the functions of the horse, as regards his utility to mankind, so the most marked attention must be paid to the parts, whereby this progression is effected ; and the more as they are found, from the life of art we subject the animal to, particularly prone to disease; therefore the structure, func- tions, and economy of the extremities, become matters of pe- culiar import ; and, as such, we shall treat of them separately. Wmxiption of Pate VI. This plate is merely intended to give an outline of the muscles of the superior parts of the fore and hinder extremities, as those of the thigh and shoulder. J^ig' I — Represents the muscles of the shoulder; a, trapezius; by the com- mon muscle ; c, abductor longus humeri ; d, abductor brevis humeri ; e, postea spinatus ; /, antea spinatus ; ^, postea spinatus minor; A, pectoralis minus; I, pectoralis magnus; k, serratus major; I, part of the fascialis cubiti ; 7w, triangularis ; n, biceps extensor ciibiti ; o, part of the biceps flexor cubiti ; /?, part of the common muscle, and which is the only one that is described by some authors ; i'5 !>n immense niu?- THE ANTBRIOR EXTREMITIES- 3B7 tie ; but though the division of it appears sufficiently definite, yet, by some mistake, he has blended it with part of the common muscle, or levator humeri, and with the cutaneous also. It arises posteriorly from several of the spinous processes of the dorsal vertebrae, and blends with the panniculus carnosus, and latissimus dorsi : anteriorly it arises from the ligamentura colli, or cervical ligament, and then runs down in an angular form to be inserted tendinous into the prominent part of the spine of the scapula {vid.pl. 6, fig. 1, a). I'his mus- cle is very useful in drawing the scapula upwards and backwards ; and, there- fore, must be a powerful assistant in progression : it appears to form the trian- gular of La Fosse, and the cutaneous of Bourgelat. In the horse, there exists only what is called in man its ascending portion ; and it is from a too close straining of the analogy, and a want of sufficient independency in the Hippopotamist, that so much confusion has arisen in the description of this and other muscles. Rhomhoideus major. — This muscle arises, and continues fleshy, from the 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th spinous processes of the dorsal vertebrae, and is inserted into the internal surface of the cartilage, at the base of the scapula, through its whole extent. {Vid. l^fiy. '2, pi. 6.) It evidently draws the shoulder upwards, and attaches it to the chest. It is the releveur propre of Bourgelat. Rhomboideus minor. — ^The little rhomboid arises under the cervical liga- Eient, to which it is attached nearly its whole length, and is inserted into the anterior edge of the cartilage at the base of the scapula, rather internally. It is so blended with the former, as to make its insertion with difficulty sepa- rable ; which has occasioned it to be described as a biceps muscle. (Vid. q, fig- 1, and o, fig. 2, pi. 6.) It has been also called the levator scapuli ; as when the neck is fixed, it must tend to elevate and dravv the superior part of the scapulary base forward. — Pectoralis minor, vel depressor scapuli, is a long fleshy muscle immediately in front of the scapula, arising from the lateral part of the sternum, under the origin of the sterno brachialis, and inserted into the anterior superior part of the scapula. (Vid. h, fig. 1, p, fig. 2, pi. 6). Its use is to depress this bone. Triangularis. — .This muscle Bourgelat considers as part of the serratus major; and it is so connected with it, as to be perhaps as properly so con- sidered, as a distinct muscle : nevertheless, as there is something like a line of division between them, I have chosen this mode. It arises fiora the trans- verse processes of the third, fourth, and fifth cervical vertebrae, and inserts itself above the little pectoral, at the superior and anterior edge of the blade bone. (Vid. m, fig. 1, pi. 6). It draws this bone forwards. Serratus major anticus, or grand dentata, is a very extensive and important muscle, and arises by fleshy digitations from all the true ribs, covering all that part of the thorax comprehended in this space, and interlacing with the digitated portions of the obliquus abdominis. It unites very intimately with the intercostals likewise, and is continued forward on the neck as far as the transverse process of the fifth cervical vertebra, uniting with the triangular. AH this extensive expansion is determined towards the under surface of the scapula like radii to a centre, or like the sticks of a fan, and is inserted into the whole of tlie upper and internal surface of that bone, below the great rhomboid ; one small slip being particularly inserted into the posterior edge ■of the cartilage. Intermixed with its muscular fibres are some strong tendi- nous portions towards its insertion, and which Bourgelat mistook for liga- ments peculiar to the articulation of the scapula with the chest. It is, how- ever, principally by means of this muscle, that the shoulder is attached to (he chest; and while other bones are kept in their situation, by opposition of -bone to bone with appropriate ligaments, the scapula has only muscular at- tachment ; hence the extensive origin and insertion of this muscle. V\ hen the whole of the serratus is in action, it nuist tend strongly to draw the shoulder blade to the chest, and in some measure lo pull it downward, and hence to elevate the body upon the leg as upon a pillar; therefore, it is the great sustaining muscle of the fore-part of the machine, supporting that weight before which the pelvis does behind. It h likewise a very powerful 338 DESCRIPTION OF assislanl muscle in inspiration, by cnlaro^ing the chest when the extremities are the fixed point; and which appears to be the reason why, in inflammation of the hmo^s, a horse seldom lies down ; because the fore extremities being fixed, the chest can be more enlarged by this muscle : and hence likewise in exercise, when this muscle is wanted for progression, with other assistant muscles, a difficulty of breathing is experienced, and it is done quickly, to make up by frequency what is wanted in strength. (Vid.kk, Jig. 1 anc/ 2, pU 6.) Muscles of the Humerus^ or Arm, The antea spinatus liere, is the supra spinatus of the human, and occupies the whole antea spinatus fossa of the scapula ; as it proceeds it becomes thicker, and towards its insertion it bifurcates into two portions, admitting the tendon of the flexor cnbiti between them. These two tendons are in- serted into the two anterior tuberosities of the humerus. From this division, La Fosse has been induced to describe it as two distinct muscles (vid.fj Jig. 1, pi, 6): it powerfully extends the arm, and carries it forward. — Postea spinatus major, which is the infra spinatus of the Imman, has been described as a biceps muscle. It fills uj) nearly the whole of the postea spinatus fossa ; arising thin, but becoming thicker, it is inserted into the lateral external and superior head of the humerus, by which it can draw the arm bone outward and upward. (Vid. e. Jig. 1, pi. 6.) — Postea spinatus minor is a small muscle immediately under and behind the former, arising from the posterior part of the scapula, near Avhere the spine ends, and is inserted into the upper small tuberosity of the humerus. In its action it assists the former. (Vid. g,fig. 1, pi. 6.) — Extensor ligamenti vel capsularis is a small muscle, apparently dis- tinct from the former, arising from the coracoid process, and inserted over the capsular ligament ; by its action preventing it from being pinched. Latissimvs dorsi is a large thin muscle arising by aponeurosis, from all the dorsal muscles almost to the ilium, and from the spinous processes of the dorsal and lumbar vertebras : becoming muscular, it is continued over the ribs, intimately connected with the panniculus carnosus, as well as with the trapezius. It then contracts, and being continued downwards under the sca- pula, it is inserted into the internal superior tuberosity of the humerus, cither connected w ith, or giving a tendinous expansion to unite with the fascia of the muscles of the radius. It draws the humerus obliquely backwards, and assists the trapezius in elevating the scapula. (Vid. g, Jig. % pi. 6.) The common muscle, or levator humeri, is one common to the head, neck, and arm, and is variously described in almost every author : by some being confounded with the cutaneous muscle of the neck, and by others with other muscles. Mr. Stubbs calls it latissimus colli ; Bourgelat and La Fosse con- found it with the expansion proper to this part, with which it is in fact so in- termixed, that it is not easy to describe the separate divisions and characters. It is a muscle peculiar to quadrupeds. One origin is from the mastoid pro- cess of the occipital bone, and partly also from the temporal bone, which proceeds towards the inferior and anterior part of the scapula ; another head arises from the cervical ligament, and some of the posterior transverse cervi- cal processes : these heads passing down under the cutaneous muscle, the first attached to the anterior cervical process, and the second to the latter of them, unite, and are then inserted into the middle and anterior part of the os humeri. CVid. p. Jig. 1, pi. 6.) In the plate, the cutaneous muscle is seen to adhere with the common ; and, in fact, authors are so much divided about these two muscles, that none have yet agreed on the portions belonging to each. It appears that the muscle which is described by them as the cuta- neous, is but a portion only of this common muscle which arises from the cervical ligament, and, in fact, I have made the same division ; for my cuta- neous muscle, described in the Myology of the neck, appears but a portion of this; but as this thin expansion can influence and corrugate the skin of the neck, perhaps it might be not altogether improper to consider that part of it as culancous, which, arising from the cervical ligament, lie;: over the whole THE ANTERIOR EXTREMITIES. 339 muscles of the neck, meets its fellow before the trachea, and is connected by aponeurosis to the spine of the scapula, extending down to unite in the in- sertion pointed out. From the sterno brachialis being united to a portion of this muscle, Bourgelat has been led to consider the former as a part only of the latter. (Vid. j), b, Jig. 1, pi. 6.) Its use is to elevate the arm, and, when the extremity is fixed, it becomes a muscle of the head and neck, and bends them laterally. Subscapular is. —It fills up all the subscapulary hollow not occupied by the serratus and rhomboid muscles, but it does not extend quite to the anterior portion of the shoulder blade, which part is occupied by the antea spinatus (vid. h, Jig. 2, pi. 6). It is inserted into the inner head of the os humeri, de- pressing the scapula, slightly adducting and rotating the humerus ; it also strengthens the articulation, and prevents the capsular ligament from being pinched. (Vid. a. Jig. 2, pL 6) — Adductor humeri ^ is a muscle arising from the posterior and superior edge of the scapula, attached to the former, but sufficiently distinct to merit a particular name : it is the teres major of the human, and is inserted internally into the humerus some way below its head. (Vid. n. Jig. 2, pi. 6.) It depresses the shoulder, rotates the humerus, and draws it backwards. — Flexor brachialis anticus arises from the lower part of the scapula near the articulation, and is inserted into the humerus at its upper and outer part, so as to flex and rotate it in action. — Pectoralis mag- mis arises from the posterior half of the sternum, and from the cartilages of the six last true ribs ; is connected with the panniculus carnosus, and the aponeurosis of the obiiquus ; and is inserted into the head of the humerus in- ternally, and slightly into the outer and anterior part of the apex of the sca- pula. It draws the humerus downwards and backwards. It appears as cut off in the plate, but its insertion is marked by the letter g, pi. 6. Sterno brachialis, I have so named, on account of its situation. Bourgelat considers it, improperly, as part of the common muscle. It is divided into two portions, which arise from the anterior part of the sternum, and are con- tinued over the humerus; one, to be inserted into the lower and inner part of that bone, and the other, by an expansion over the muscles of the radius: both must powerfully adduct the arm. It is removed in Jig. 2, pi. 6, but its insertion is likewise marked (vid. r). — Coraco brachialis is the omo brachia- lis of Bourgelat ; arising from the coracoid process of the scapula, and is in- serted, not into the middle of the humerus, as he describes, but towards the lower head anteriorly. (Vid. n, Jig. 2, pi. 6.) It draws the humerus upwards and inwards, and must prove an adductor. — Abductor longus humeri forms the human teres minor, arising near the teres major, towards the superior part of the posterior costa of the scapula : passing along the hinder edge of the next muscle, it is inserted into the external tuberosity, at the upper part of the humerus. (I'^id. c. Jig. 1, pi. 6.) It rolls that bone outwards, draws it from the chest, and elevates \{.-^Abductor brevis humeri. This muscle arises from the posterior edge of the scapula below the preceding, and is inserted between that and the subscapularis muscle : it assists the former in its abduc- tion of the arm. Muscles of the Fore- arm. Flexor radialis anticus arises tendinous from the coracoid process of the sca- pula, and runs between the divided portions of the antea spinatus muscle : as it passes over the articulation of the scapula with the arm, it widens and hardens into a substance that represents a patella, and becomes of the same use to this joint that the patella is of to the stifle ; this enlarged part is also invested with a particular ligament, and contains synovia : the tendon is then continued between the two anterior eminences of the humerus, from whence it becomes fleshy, having a central line of division, and a strong tendinous or fascial covering, and is finally inserted into the anterior and superior part of the head of the radius, towards the inner side, with the brachialis obiiquus. (Vid. b.Jig. 2, pi. 6.) This forms the principal flexor of the fore-arm ; and it appears probable, that a dislocation of this tendon, from a violent blow of the 340 DKSCRIPTION OF shoulder, or arm at its point, forms what is termed a dislocated shoulder, or shoulder slip ; for a j eal dislocatiou of the humerus from the scapula seldom if ever happens. Brachialis obliqmis, by Bourgelat, is called the short flexor, as the fore- going muscle is by him termed the long flexor ; but as, when deprived of its obliquity, it would be the longest of the two, it is evident this term is a very improper one. It arises from around the humerus immediately below its head ; passes obliquely over the body of the bone, through the extensor in- termedii, or rather through an interval left by its attachment, and is inserted into the superior part of the radius rather internally with the preceding. It is a flexor muscle, and can produce a small degree of lateral motion. {Vid. o, o^jig. 2, j)l. 6.) — Fascialis cubitiis the muscle which Bourgelat calls the long extensor. It rises very thin by an aponeurotic expansion from the posterior costa of the scapula, attached to the biceps : passing down by a small fleshy belly till it arrives at the inner part of the olecranon, its fibres expand into some breadth, when the fleshy part inserts itself on the inner side of the ole- cranon, but the aponeurosis is continued over the fascia of the inside of the fore-arm : its principal use appears to be to keep this fascia tense, not only that it might prevent it from being pinched, but that it might strengthen the muscles in their action. (Vid. I, Jig. 1, and/, fig. 2, pi. 6.) Biceps extensor cubiti is a very powerful muscle, and forms the large ex- tensor of Bourgelat, arising by two portions from the posterior edge of the scapula, forming a large fleshy mass, which fills up the angle between the bladebone and olecranon, and inserting itself into the outer and upper part of the latter of these bones. (Vid. n.fig. 1, and e.,fig. 2, pL 6.) It is a very powerful extensor of the fore-arm. — Extensor cubiti intermedii. What I have so named, Bourgelat has called the short extensor, and which arises from the outer head, neck, and some part of the body of the humerus, proceeds down the outer edge, leaving an interval where the brachialis obliquus passes over the bone ; it then continues attached to the bone, and inserts itself into the lateral and outer part of the olecranon : that portion of it which occupies the inferior and posterior part of the humerus, and the cavity for the reception of the olecranon, has been described as the little extensor of Bourgelat, but it appears not to deserve any particular division. — Brachialis internus forms the moyen extenseur of Bourgelat, and arises from below the head of the hu- merus internally : in the human it arises from the external condyle of this bone, and is inserted into the internal surface of the olecranon. It strengthens the elbow, extends the fore-arm, and is an antagonist to the oblique brachial; (Vid. d, fig. 2, pi 6.) Muscles of the Canon. Extensor metacarpi magnum forms the right anterior extensor of Bourgelat, and arises fleshy from the tuberosity and external head of the humerus, and from the body of the bone for half its length; its fibres are directed into an anterior tendon which takes them in, in a half pennated form : this tendon being formed towards the lower part of the radius, it here passes through a groove under the tendon of the next muscle to be inserted into the anterior and superior part of the head of the canon or large metacarpal bone. (Vid. a, fig. 1, pi. 7.) This muscle straightens the knee and extends the canon. Extensor raetacarpi radialis is the oblique extensor of Bourgelat, arising from the lateral part of the radius externally ; its fibres pass over the bone an- teriorly, and contract into a tendon which proceeds over that of the former muscle, and inserts itself into the inner head of the canon, and into the head of the small internal metacarpal bone. (Vid. e, fig. I, pi 6.) This muscle assists in the extension of the metacarpus; but its principal use is exerted upon the ligaments of the knee, which it keeps firm, and from being pinched. Flexor metacarpi externus. — The flexor muscles of the extremities of the horse, it may be remarked, are more complex than the extensors. The mus- cle in question arises from the posterior part of the external condyle of the humerus, and is inserted in part into the pisiform bone, from whence it has IHB ANTERIOR EXTREMITIES. 341 been named pisiformis externus. The remainder is continued onwards to be inserted into the external small metacarpal bone, and into the ligaments sur- rounding these parts; and it must be remarked, that these ligaments are so very complex and numerous, and the metacarpal muscles, as well flexors as extensors, are so blended with them, that it is hardly possible to give any of them a determinate insertion. This muscle can act very strongly as a flexor by its advantageous attachment to the pisiform bone, being thereby removed far from the centre of motion. Also, by a very peculiar connexion it has with the extending anterior ligaments of the pastern, it appears to be so continued into these as apparently to become both a flexor and an extensor {vid.s, fig. 1, ph 7) ; but it will be fonnd, on examination, that by the tightness with which it is bound down to its insertions, it cannot act very strongly on these liga- ments, and the action it has, is really favourable to flexion ; for it pulls the tendons influencing these ligaments out of the line of their insertion, and consequently must weaken their' action, by which it proves an antagonist to them. (Vid. (/, h,fig. 1, p^. 7.) This muscle has been described by the name of extensor parvus, 1 suppose from this peculiar attachment to the extending ligaments ; but from the reasons before given, I think it ought to be consi- dered as a flexor. By Bourgelat, it is the external extensor. Flexor metacarpi interniis arises from the posterior part of the internal con- dyle of the humerus, and is a long thin fleshy muscle, which passes down un- der an annular ligament peculiar to it, and is inserted into the posterior por- tion of the inner head of the canon. It is a flexor to the metacarpus (vid. a, Jig. 2, pi 7), and forms the internal flexor of Bourgelat. — Flexor carpi. I at first proposed calling this Flexor metacarpi medii ; but as I could not trace it in any instance farther than the carpus, I considered the former as the most proper : by Bourgelat it is called the oblique flexor. It arises near the former, and, passing obliquely across the muscles at the posterior part of the radius, it inserts itself into the pisiform bone, and hence must prove a forcible flexor to the knee. (Vid. b, c, Jig. 2, pi. 7.) The interossii muscles are not always present, but, when they are, they usually arise by two small fleshy bodies in the groove formed by the canon and the two small metacarpal bones, or a little below the suspensory bifur- cating ligament, and run down two or three inches, to be inserted by a joint tendon into the internal side of the flexor muscles of the foot. In one sub- ject that I examined, they existed before and not behind ; in others, I some- times found them both before and behind ; and in some not at all. Muscles of the Pastern and Foot. Extensor longus pedis anticus. — This forms the anterior extensor of Bour- gelat, and the extensor digitorum communis of 8tubbs, from its resemblance to that muscle in man; and arises fleshy, in part from the external and lower head of the humerus, and in part from the external and superior portion of the radius, passing over the extensor metacarpi radialis, and being semipen- nated like the extensor metacarpi magnum. Towards the lower part of the fore-arm it becomes wholly tendinous, proceeding down in front in a firm cord to the knee, where it is received under an annular ligament, which firmly binds it between two prominences in the carpus. As it passes over this joint its tendon flattens and expands (see fig. 1, pi. 7), and becomes very smooth, by which wise contrivance the effects of friction are prevented. As it runs under the arniular ligament of the knee, it detaches in a very peculiar man- ner a small tendon which unites with the outer slip of the anterior ligaments by an expansion of cellular substance. At the pastern joint, the same en • largement of its surface takes place ; at the inferior part of which it receives the lateral expansions of the suspensory ligaments (vid. fig. 1), connecting itself very firmly with the lower head of the great pastern, and the upper head of the small ; it is finally inserted into the anterior eminence of the coflin bone, to the joint of which, and to that of the pastern, it anteriorly performs the office of a capsular ligament ; for on raising it from these parts, the cavity of the joint is always exposed. (Vid. c, d,fig. 1, pl.T.) This 342 DESCRIPTION OK muscle is an antagonist to the flexors, and acts on the knee, canon, pastern, and foot; straightening all these parts, when the flexors have elevated the limb. Extensor lateralis pedis is both a muscle of the pastern and foot ; but ap- pears rather more appropriate to the pastern, and arises from the outer head of the radius : it soon becomes tendinous, and passes down through an an- nular ligament on the anterior and rather external part of the knee ; from whence it passes obliquely backward to unite itself with the lateral slip of the anterior ligaments, with wliich it is continued, and with them is inserted into the pastern, sending an expansion which passes on to the ligaments of the foot. (Vid. r,f, t, fig. 1.) This small peculiar muscle is an assistant extensor. Flexor pedis perforatus anticus. — ^The perforatus and perforans hare been considered and described as one muscle with several heads ; but though some few of their fibres intermix, yet they are evidently distinct muscles. The perforatus arises from the posterior and loAver part of the internal condyle of the humerus, betw een the heads of the next muscle, and descends along with these heads, with some of which it blends its muscular fibres, and be- coming tendinous at the same part with them, it enters the ligamentous arch formed between the pisifonn bone and neighbouring parts. It here first spreads to encase the united tendons of the perforans ; but at this part the encased and encasing tendons are not united by cellular substance, but are very smooth ; and though one lies within the other, lubricating mucus is always interposed between. Within this arch, these tendons are firmly bound down between the heads of the small metacarpal bones, by ligament- ous fibres; and between them and the surface they pass over in this arch, a true cavity exists, which contains synovia ; so that cutting the tendon through here would have all the effect of opening a joint. By its being so firmly and closely connected to the bones, its strong contractions are prevented from rupturing or lacerating the surrounding parts. As this tendon passes below the knee encasing the perforans tendon, it receives a peculiar ligamentous substance which arises near the origin of the elastic bifurcating ligament, and which substance divides, one portion inserting itself into one side of this tendon, and the other portion into the other ; by which means both tendons are more firmly connected to the bones, and kept in their proper line of action: they are likewise considerably supported by this means. (Vid,s, fig. 2.) The perforatus tendon now passing down, encasing the other at its posterior part, and united to it by a cellular substance, near the fetlock, first enlarges, and, when opposite the sessamoids, it becomes a complete ring. (Vid. t,fig. 2, pi. 7.) This exhibits a most wise provision; for as this is a most prominent part, purposely made so by Nature, to throw the tendons farther from the centre of motion, which are here peculiarly exposed to accident ; so without this admirable contrivance these tendons might become dislocated from each other. The joint tendons are held in this situation by an expansion of the suspensory Hgaments (vid. 10, fig. 1, 9, fig. 2, pi. 7) and by ligamentous fibres from the integuments, which over this part are very thick: inferiorly they are secured by an expansion of the ligaments of the pastern (vid. 9, fig. 1 and 7, fig. 2, j)l. 7) : so at this part the perforans is in- closed with a double theca. The perforatus tendon now passing towards the heels, bifurcates into two portions (vid. p, fig. 1, w, fig. 2, pi. 7), which are inserted into the large and small pastern bones, and blend with the ligaments from these parts. Flexor pedis peforans anticus. — Though some of the fibres of this blend with the last described, yet it is evidently of itself a muscle; and arises by two heads distinct, and tw^o heads less distinct; one of which originates from the posterior part of the ulna (vid. g,fig» Q^, pi. 7); two others, in some mea- sure blended together (vid. e, f, fig. 2), arise from the internal and posterior inferior portion of the humerus; and a fourth still more indistinct, appearing like a collection of fibres belonging to one of the former, arises under these, rather posteriorly. These portions pass down fleshy to near the knee, where the most central receives a peculiar ligament from the inner edge of the tibia THE ANTERIOR EXTREMITIES. 343 (vid. r, jig. 2), the use of which must be to bind it more closely down in its action. As these heads enter the arch formed by the ligaments extending from the pisiform bone, they unite to form one strong tendon, which is re- ceived into the perforatus tendon ; but which does not wholly surround it, but embraces all its posterior part (vid. I, jig. 1, v, jig. 2): in the human the per- foratus forms a division merely to let the perforans tendons through. As the perforans tendon passes the ligamentary arch behii?d the knee, it is firmly bound down to the bones as we have shewn, by which it not only operates in the flexion of this part, but its strong action is also prevented from lacerating any of the surrounding substances : at this part synovia is found interposed between the perforatus tendon and its own, and likewise between this and the pisiform bone, by which means motion is assisted, and the effects of friction prevented ; but between the other parts of this and the perforatus tendon, except at the ring of the fetlock, there is merely connecting cel- lular membrane. Proceeding from under the arch of the knee, and down the canon, invested at its posterior part in the way we have mentioned, it passes between the divided portions of the ligament described with the last muscle, and, continuing down the remainder of the canon, at the fetlock it is found entirely surrounded by the perforatus, which at this part becomes perfectly annular, as before noticed, to prevent the possibility of a dislocation between the two tendons at this exposed part. (Vid. 10, jig. 1, t^g.jig. 2.) At the heels the perforatus leaves the perforans, and is now continued alone, to be inserted in an expanded portion in the posterior part of the vaulted arch of the coffin bone. ( Vid. jig. 2, pL 7, and/,/, jig. 1, pi. 9.) These muscles, it is evident, are most important, and operate the flexions of the knee, pasterns, and foot. Ligaments of the Anterior Extremities. The bones of these parts have been before particularly described in the Osteology; and the ligaments immediately connecting them, have been treated of likewise ; but there are others connected with the muscles and integu- ments of these parts we have yet to describe. The muscles of the arm and fore-arm are covered by a tendinous theca, which forms a sheath to each of them individually, and is likewise reflected over the whole of them generally; so that on removing the integuments one plain surface is seen, and the risings and depressions of the muscles are by this means hardly visible. Nature has also wisely formed the integuments, or skin of the extremities, very strong and dense, particularly over the joints, forming a guard to them : this skin is thicker at the posterior part of the leg than at the anterior, and is much more firmly attached to some parts than to others. It adheres not only by the general cellular membrane, but is strengthened by ligamentous fibres which pass between it and the parts it covers : but these do not exist gene- rally over the whole surface, but in particular parts only, as the fetlocks, and the lower and posterior portions of the limb. Over all the extremity also, but particularly over the knee, canon, and fet- locks, is spread a very firm dense cellular membrane, which may be raised in layers. It forms a strong investing covering to the whole ; some portions of •v^hich are found to be loose, and others are attached to the ligaments below ; so that it is extremely difficult, in raising it, to ascertain justly what is invest- ing cellular substance, what is fascia, or aponeurotic expansion, and what is appropriate ligament. When the outer and more loose layers of this general membrane have been removed, there appears over the muscles of the arm and fore-arm, a general fascia formed from extensions of the muscles of these parts, which seems either to end in, or unite with, a general ligament- ous expansion that covers the whole of the knee, and inferior part of the radius, as well as the superior part of the canon: and is firmly bound down to the outer edge of the radius. ( Vid, z,jig. 1, ;)Z. T.) It then appears con- tinued around over the back of the knee, and over the pisiform bone, to form the ligamentous arch, existing there for the purpose of binding down the tendons in their action. It is these densely united expansions likewise which Z 344 DESCRIPTION OF form the general annular ligament (vid. 3, /, fg, 1) : other reflections of it, and of the immediate portions from one bone to the other, form also the par- ticular annular ligaments, of which almost every tendon has one or more ap- propriate to it. From the posterior part of the knee, where this general annular ligament is the thickest, it is continued down thus dense and firm rather more than a third of its length (vid. 4, Jig. 1, and 1, fg 2), by which it firmly fastens the flexor tendons. It is then carried round the fore part of the canon, closely attached from one small metacarpal to the other, in its passage becoming connected with the anterior ligaments, and thence carried in front down as low as the pastern, though behind it is continued no farther than where we described it; or at least the more tensely stretched portion, for there is a looser part still carried down behind as well as before. In Jig. 1, at 5, this anterior portion is seen, cut from the inner edge of the extensor longus, where it passed over, to be reflected on the inner metacarpal bone as described, and as may be seen in Jig, 2, between x and z. This ligamentous expansion is wisely not continued lower posteriorly, or it would have impeded the motions of the tendons, by increasing the friction ; but anteriorly, it cannot have this effect ; on the contrary, thus far it strongly assists the parts. That, if continued lower posteriorly, it would impede the motions, is very evident ; for even as it is, when it is bound too closely to the bones, as is sometimes the case, from a want of prominence in the pisi- form bone, these tendons then act disadvantageously ; and such a horse is po- pularly said to be tied in under the knee. Horses so formed are always found to be easily strained ; for they have not only greater resistance from the friction of the part to overcome ; but the tendons, by not being so far removed from the centre of motion, require a much greater force to overcome even the common opposition to the flexion of the parts. Besides this general ligament reflected over the knee and metacarpus, there are two anterior liga- ments oj the canon, which appear composed of a layer of the general annular ligament, of a particular one sent off from the pisiform bone, and of two tendinous laminae, one belonging to the lateral extensor, and the other given off from the long extensor. {Vid, s,u, Jig. 1, pi. 7.) These ligaments are an outer and an inner, but run down nearly together, obliquely from the outer side of the knee, to the anterior part of the canon, and insert themselves into the pastern, having an expansion continued on to the lesser pastern and foot. {Vid. t, V, Jig. 1.) The tendons assisting to form these do not so closely unite with the ligaments, but that the distinct portions may be traced down all the way ; nor do these ligaments unite with each other, but are continued sepa- rate with an intermediate portion of the general investing cellular substance between them. At the posterior part of the canon, are two very peculiar ligamentous por- tions, which have usually been called the lateral; but they would be more properly termed elastic bijurcating ligaments or suspensory. They are placed in the hollow formed at the posterior part of the large metacarpal bone, or canon, by means of the two small metacarpals {vid. 7, fig. 1, x, fig. 2), and originate near the head of this groove ; that is, near the superior head of the canon, to which they are firmly attached, as well as to the small metacarpal bones. From this, they are then continued within the groove, but unattached to the bones, down the canon, where they appear, on close examination, to be divided into two portions, by a hollow on their inner part, which bisects them, and in which hollow sometimes a blood vessel runs down to the pastern. These ligaments have the peculiarity of being elastic, and, except the cervi- cal, t&ere are but few instances of ligamentary elasticity in the body. As they approach the pastern, they bifurcate into two portions {vid. x, fig. 2) : these branches are inserted into the sessamoids, and give each a continuation of their substance, expanded and passing obliquely over the body of the pastern, to unite with the tendon of the extensor longus in a more connected form. ( Vid. 8, fig. 1, y, fig. 2, pi. 7.) They likewise give off a posterior expansion which surrounds the perforatus tendon, and fixes it in its sifuationv {vid. 10, fig. 1, 9, fig. 2, ;)/. 7.) THE ANTERIOR EXTREMITIES. 345 The elastic suspensory ligaments are of the greatest consequence to the ex- tremities ; they support the sessamoids in their situation, and by their con- tinuation in front to join the long extensor, bind down this tendon in its action, and support the pastern in its extensive flexions ; acting, in conjunc- tion with the sessamoid bones, both as a pulley and a lever. This ligament must evidently be liable to compression from splents, and from the ossifica- tion of the junction of the small metacarpals with the large ; and though it is not very vascular or sensible, yet the cellular membrane surrounding it is so. It will, therefore, appear evident, why splents placed posteriorly, should be more liable to lame a horse than when placed more to the side of the leg. By observing z, fig. 2, pL 7, which is not far from the usual situation of «plent, it will be seen that, when it takes place behind this, it must interfere with the elastic suspensory ligament, and by its rough surface must wound the vascular membrane of the ligament, as w^ell as the ligament itself, which has some sensibility, particularly under inflammation ; and, by this means, pain and lameness are very likely to be the consequences. Besides these, there are two other peculiar ligamentous substances, which are inserted into the flexor tendons, and appear designed to confine them down in their action, and to support them under violent exertion. The su perior of these {vid. r, fig. 2) arises from the inner edge of the tibia, and is fixed into one of the heads of the perforans muscle, just before its junction with the rest, by which means it acts upon the whole. The other arises inferior to this, from the posterior part of the canon, near the origin of the suspensory ligament, and then branches into two portions to insert itself into the two sides of the perforatus tendon. {Vid. s,fig, 2.) By these, the flexors of the foot are not only suspended, and their action increased, but the latter is eminently useful in preventing the perforans tendon slipping from the perforatus above, as the ring of the perforatus does the same below. The various tendons of the canon and foot have each a sheath, or theca; between which and the tendon exists a mucus to prevent the effects o friction ; and to secrete which, the inner surface of this theca is very vascular. It often happens that this secreting surface becomes inflamed from friction or injury done to the parts, when, instead of mucus, coagulable lymph is thrown out between the sheath and the tendon ; hence motion is rendered painful and imperfect, and swelling remains : this is usually termed a clap, or strain 171 the back sinews ; but sinews or tendons are perfectly inelastic, and it is in some measure doubtful whether a sufficient extension of their substance ever takes place actually to strain ; but probably a small distention may rupture their fine vessels, and they may be themselves ruptured, though this is seldom the case ; but what is termed a strain in the back sinews, is either the effect of inflammation between the sheath and the tendons from a rupture of their vessels ; or, in more violent cases, there is often a laceration of the cellular substance interposed between the one and the other. Sometimes the sheaths themselves are ruptured, in which instances the lameness is excessive, and the limb incapable of sustaining much weight ; but yet it is not brought to the ground, although this receives the name of breaking down. It is, however, evident, that the term of breaking down ought only to be applied to a rupture of one or both of the tendons themselves, which very seldom occurs ; and when it does happen, may be known by the fetlock being actually brought into contact with the ground. The vessels and nerves of the extremities have been fully described in the Angiology and Neurology. THE POSTERIOR EXTREMITIES, OR HIND LEGS. iStScriptiou of plate VIII, The Reader is requested to observe, that the muscles of the buttock and su- perior part of the extremity are to be seen in Plate VI. Z 2 346 DESCRIPTION OF Plate VIII, represents a right and left hinder extremity. In the right ex- tremity, the femur or thigh bone is seen whole, with some of the external muscles removed, and part of the canon taken off. In the left extremity the greater portion of the femur is removed, but the whole of the tarsus and meta- tarsus is shewn. Figure the First. a, rectus cruris muscle inserting itself into the head of the patella; the line between it and 2 is the division of the cruris from the cruralis : all the rough marks along the femur up to its neck are remains of the vastus internus cut off from its origin at the cervix of the femur ; 6, the insertion of part of the triceps muscle ; c, a ligament of the patella continued into the outer part of the tuberosity of the tibia; c?, a hgament from the inferior part of the patella, united with a continuation of the rectus tendon ; e, the popliteus muscle ; /', a ligament extended from the outer side of the tibia, forming part of the general ligament of the hock and canon; g, the plantaris muscle; h, h, the two heads of the gastrocnemius muscle; one is cut off to shew the parts beneath; i, the perforated muscle; k, the perforating muscle; its oblique fibres are seen run- ning into its tendon, immediately below which is the popliteal nerve of the leg passing with it; /, the assistant flexor of the foot; m, the invested bifiir^- cating tendon of the flexor of the canon; w, the investing tendons of the same muscle ; o, the general outer annular ligament of the hock ; p, the fascial liga- ments formed from the fascia of the perforatus muscle ; q, the continuation of the general aponeurotic ligamentous expansion attached to the small meta- carpal bones ; ?% an articulatory cartilage interposed between the end of the tibia and the flexor of the canon ; *, s, the inner condyle of the femur, arti- culating with the tibia, and resting on the articulatory semilunar cartilage; t, part of the tibialis anticus, or extensor of the canon ; u, the patella con- nected to the thigh by the insertion of the muscles of the leg, and by its liga- ments; V, the head of the femur, with the cavity, in which is contained the ligament connecting it with the acetabulum; below is seen the rough edge of the capsular ligament cut off; x, the great trochanter; y, the tendons of the perforating muscle ; z, the tendons of the greater and lesser flexors of the foot ; 1, is a ligament from the femur to the head of the tibia, formed in part from a continuation of the triceps muscle; 2, part of the cruralis muscle; 3, semilunar cartilage ; 8, the usual situation of windgalls on the hock. Figure the Second. a, the patella connected to the thigh, by the insertion of the rectus muscle superiorly, and of the vastus externus muscle ati; and below by its liga- ments ; 6, a ligament from its outer side to the head of the tibia, united with a portion of the tendon of the vastus externus; c, a lateral ligament of the patella; rf, the tendon of the tibialis anticus arising from the front of the con- dyle of the femur, forming an attachment of the femur with the tibia ; e, part of the semilunar cartilages attached to the tibia by a ligament ; f, the tendon of the lateral flexor of the foot, forming likewise an attachment from the femur to the fibula ; g, the insertion of the popliteus muscle ; h, the outer condyle of the femur; i, part of the vastus internus; A, the gastrocnemius muscle ; its tendons are seen running down twisted within the fascial liga- ments ; /, the perforans muscle ; its tendon is seen passing down at t ; m, the lateral extensor; n, extensor longus; its tendon is seen atr, and between it and s, is seen the artery of the leg passing down ; o, the investing part of the tibialis anticus ; p, the invested bifurcating part of this tendon ; q q, the ge- neral annular ligaments of the hock, formed from the expansion continued from the edges of the tibia, and carried downwards around the canon, leav- ing the posterior parts of it at 14, but continued in front over the tendons of the flexors of the foot, and the ligaments united M'ith them, from the sides of which it is reflected on to the small metacarpal bones : in the plate it is cut off to shew the parts beneath ; its cut edges are seen adhering to the meta- carpal bones : the portion between q q, which is thinner than these peculiar Fu,. liJ-.Hhhu. ddin. THE POSTERIOR EXTREMITIES. 347 bauds, is removed to shew the part underneath ; r, the tendon of the exten- sor of the foot ; *, the tendon of the lateral extensor ; t, the tendon of the flexor of the foot ; u, the inferior head of the tibia articulating with v, the os calcis ; immediately below it, is seen some lines which describe the posterior ligament of the hock, which is usually the seat of curb ; x, the fascial liga- ments, formed from the fascia of the perforated muscles ; y, the twisted ten- dons of the gastrocnemii ; z, plantaris muscle; 1, the union of the tendons of the extensor of the foot; 2, the elastic bifurcating suspensory ligaments continued on to unite with the extensor of the foot, and giving an expansion to bind the flexor tendons down ; 3, the metacarpal bones within their liga- ments, continued on to the ligament of the pastern ; 4, the perforated muscle going to its insertion ; 5, the perforating muscle entering the foot ; 6, the ex- pansion of the bifurcating ligaments ; 7, the union of the bifurcating liga- ments and tendons of the flexor muscle ; 8, the ligament of the pastern form- ed from its own proper ligament, and a continuation of the ligaments from the small metacarpal bones; 9, the little extensor muscle; at this part is likewise seen the sheaths of the tendons of the flexor muscles; 10, the ante- rior ligament of the patella; 11, the bursa mucosa that surrounds the tendons of the flexors of the foot, and that in its dilatation forms windgalls in the pas- terns; 1(8, an articulating cartilage between the tibia and flexor tendons; 13, the bursas mucosa of these tendons, which form the windgalls of the outer side of the hock; 14, is the part where the ligamentous expansion terminates pos- teriorly. DESCRIPTION OF THE POSTERIOR EXTREMITIES. On removing the skin from the loins, croup, thigh, and leg, the muscles of these parts are so covered with a strong firm ex- pansion, called fascia, as to be indistinct till it is removed. This fascia is intermixed with fat and cuticular nerves, and does not appear to be produced by any particular muscle alone, but arises conjointly from all the muscles of the posterior ex- tremity; principally, however, from those situated on the loins and buttock, and is found particularly strong and firm on the outer side of the thigh and leg, so as greatly to strengthen the muscles in their action. This peculiar ligamentous expansion is acutely sensible under inflammation ; and 1 am disposed to attribute to an inflammation in this, that distressing sensation frequently felt by a horse in blistered legs, grease, or other open sores behind ; in which instances the animal is observed, after he has been suffered to remain quiet a little time, when he next moves, to draw his leg up to his body in a convulsive and distressing manner ; sometimes to such a degree as nearly to throw himself to the ground. The integuments of the hinder extremities, like those before, will be found to be naturally much thickened, particularly over exposed parts: they are remarkably so over the hock, and down the canon likewise ; and as the hinder part, where the back sinews are situated, is much exposed, so they are there peculiarly thick and strong. At the coronet the thickness is also considerable ; and in many parts of the hinder legs, as in those before, the skin appears attached by peculiar ligamentous 348 DESCRIPTION OF fibres ; so that in dissecting the integuments, it is often difficult to remove them in such a manner as to be exactly able to as- certain what is the appropriate ligament to the parts remain- ing, and what only rendered the adherence more intimate be- tween the integuments and muscles. As soon as the skin is removed, the external layer of fascia then appears, and upon which two considerable veins are observed to pass su- perficially: sometimes there appear more than this number; generally, however, one runs on the inside of the hock, and is that which, when varicosed, forms blood spavin ; the other is situated in the hollow formed between the tendo Achilles and the flexor muscles. Like the fore extremities, the upper parts of the hinder limb appear covered with a true fascia, or tendi- nous expansion ; but the lower have this expansion formed of apparent layers of cellular and ligamentary substance ; one is dense, firm, and inelastic ; the other is dense, firm, and very elastic : the fascia itself is also composed of several layers, some of which surround only one muscle; some a set of muscles of the same action ; and some form a general invest- ment of the whole ; yet all of these intermix. The fascia that covers the inside Of the thigh is not so dense as that on the out- side. Muscles situated on the Pelvis and Thigh, belonging to either the Thigh or Leg, In the division of these muscles it will be seen 1 have, as in those of the fore extremities, diifered from all former authorities ; but in this I was not stimu- lated by any love of novelty, nor by any presumption in supposing my own mode unobjectionable ; but because I was not aware of any division known to me that did not appear to describe these parts very imperfectly. Tensor vagina femoris. — This muscle is called, by Stubbs, musculus fascia lata, and arises from the anterior angle of the ilium ; connected posteriorly with the external glutei, it runs into the flank, thus appearing, at the lateral external part of the thigh, a thin fleshy expansion, which soon degenerates into an aponeurosis, uniting in some degree with that from the other muscles, to cover the external part of the thigh very strongly, as well as part of the leg : being continued over a portion of the inner side of the thigh immediately under the fascia expanded from the panniculus carnosus, it inserts itself into the patella, as well as into the head and lateral part of the tibia. (Vid. g,fig^ 3, ^l. 6.) This muscle tends to bend and abduct the thigh; it likewise, by stretch- ing the vaginal fascia, increases the general strength of the muscles, and, as such, this name is a more proper one than that of fascia lata. Gluteus posticus, or externus, is the outer of the glutei muscles, and is not, as in the human, the largest : it arises by two portions; an anterior from the anterior angle of the ilium, and a posterior from the posterior angle of the same : between these two heads a semicircle is formed, leaving the gluteus maximus exposed ; at least it is only covered by a slight expansion of apo- neurosis, from which this part of the muscle takes its origin ; it then inserts itself at the small external trochanter, by a flat tendon, first giving oflF along the posterior side of its belly a firm aponeurosis to the muscles within the thigh. (Vid. fig. 3, pi. 6.) It acts as a flexor and an abductor. — Gluteus maxi- mus is not, as in the human, situated the most externally of the glutei muscles, but is placed under the former one. It is a very large muscle, contiguous to, and blended with, what Mr. Stubbs has called the sacro lumbar mass, and fills up almost the whole of the croup, covering the external surface of the THE POSTERIOR EXTREMITIES. 349 ilium and lumbar vertebrae : arising from the spinous processes of these as well as those of the sacrum, and from the anterior and superior spine of the ilium ; when, contracting, it becomes interspersed with tendinous layers, and terminates by inserting itself very strongly into the trochanter major. (Vid.f, fig. 3, pi 6) It acts by drawing out the femur, by which it can straighten the limb, and force it outward and backward. Gluteus minimus. This muscle is a small mass immediately under the former muscle, arising from the ilium above the acetabulum, and inserted immediately under the former and into the trochanter. It must assist the foregoing.— -Bicejj* flexor cruris arises principally by two heads ; the longest of which originates in common with the next described; the other from the tuberosity of the ischium: these two heads form one muscle, which inserts itself in a double manner by a ten- don which is fixed into the patella. By the length and mode of these inser- tions its powers are much increased, and it can act strongly as an abductor and a flexor. (Vid, h,fi(j. 3, -pi. Q.)— Flexor cruris posticus forms whatStubbs calls the semi tendinosus, and is so called in the human subject : by Bour- gelat it is named the demimembranosus ; but which are both indefinite terras. It arises by two heads, from the ligament of the sacrum and ischium ; the tu- berosity of the latter, and from some part of the coecygis : descending along tlie posterior part of the thigh, it inserts itself into the internal surface of the tibia, three inches below its head ; it likewise forms an aponeurotic expan- sion, (c, c, d, fig. 3, jj/. 6.) Semimemhranosus. — This muscle is a part of Bourgelat's longus vastus; it arises from the tuberosity of the ischium, and the whole of the inferior angle ; and from an aponeurosis connected to some part of the length of the femur; it then passes down in a fan-like form to be expanded into abroad fascia; the anterior portion of which is inserted into the anterior part of the femur and tibia: its posterior covers the posterior muscles of the thigh, leg, and teudo Achilles, (Vid. a, a, fig. 3,pZ. 6.) The whole must powerfully flex the leg, and abduct both thigh and leg. — Capsula- ris is a small fleshy and apparently distinct slip from the glutei muscles, arising from the brim of the acetabulum, passing over attached to the capsular liga- ment, and inserted into the lateral superior part of the femur. Bourgelat calls this the straight muscle, and describes as its use, that it assists in rotating the thigh: but it appears to me intended to keep the capsular ligament from being pinched between the pelvis and femur. Muscles on the Inside of the Thigh. Gracilis.— This has been called biceps adductor, and, by Bourgelat, it is named the short adductor ; nor is it hardly thin enough to be named gracilis, as in the human. It has a line of division through it, and is the muscle that first appears on the inner side of the tliigh on removing the integuments and fascia ; arising from the pubis, and from the ischium, and terminating by an aponeurosis, covering the internal part of the thigh, and more particularly ending in the superior and internal part of the tibia. (Vid, h,fig. 4, pi. 6.) It is a principal adductor of this part. Bourgelat gives the name of gracilis in- ternus to the muscle which is analogous to the semi tendinosus, and which we have named triceps adductor feiDoris.— Sartorius is so called from its cross- ing the legs, by which it becomes of great use to tailors; but it is questionable whether adductor longus would not be a more proper name for it in the horse. It arises from about the middle of the brim of the pelvis on its inner edge, and passes obliquely across the psoas and iliac muscles to terminate in a small tendon attached with the graciliii to the upper and lateral internal part of the tibia. It flexes and adducts the leg and thigh. (Vid. h,fig. 4, pi. 6.)— Psoas parvus is a muscle proper to the loins, and which is often wanting in the hu- man, but is always present in the horse. (See Muscles of the Loins, and d, fig. 4, pi. 6.) — Psoas magnus arises from the two last false ribs, and last lumbar ver- tebrae on the outside of the psoas parvus ; continues attached to the pelvis in its descent, and is inserted into the internal trochanter. (Vide e,fig, 4, pi. 6.) It draws the thigh forwards. The disease existing in the cellular membrane of this muscle, called psoas abscess, is not found in the horse ; which perhaps 350 DESCEIPTION OF strengthens the opinion that this complaint first forms in some of the bones of the spine, and to which affection also the horse is not subject. Iliacus in- ternus magmis, — This muscle arises from the internal surface of tlie ilium, passes on the outer side of the preceding, and terminates with the former. It rotates the thigh, and bends it inwards. (Vid.f,fig. 4, pL 6.) — Iliacus inter- nus minor is a muscle not present in the human, arising from the brim of the pelvis, and inserted into the small trochanter, by which it assists the former. — Pectineus takes its origin from the pelvis at the os pubis, and is inserted rather below the internal small trochanter. It draws the thigh inwards and upwards. (Vide c, fig. 4, pi, 6.) — Triceps adductor femoris arises by three heads; one from the internal edge of the pubis; another from the interior branch of the ischium; and a third, smaller, from its tuberosity; passing down together, but not intimately united : one is inserted into the posterior part of the femur ; another into the superior and internal part of the tibia ; the third inserts itself distinctly into the internal tuberosity of the femur. This last portion Bourgelat calls gracilis internus. fVid. a, a, fig. 4, pi 6.) These portions all flex the leg and thigh, and draw it inward. (Vid. h,fig. 1, pi. 8.) --—Vastus externum arises broad and fleshy from the root of the trochanter ma- jor, and external lateral parts of the femur, and inserts itself into the lateral part of the patella. — Rectus cruris arises by two tendons; one from the ilium above the acetabulum ; the other from the upper part of the femur : its fibres run in a penniform manner, having a tendinous centre. It is inserted into the upper part of the patella by a very strong tendon, which sends an expansion over this bone, and unites with a powerful ligament {vid, pi. 7), extending from its lower part to the head of the tibia : this expansion is united with a similar one of the vastus externus, and which, by this means, sends off from its side a fellow one that connects itself with the tibia laterally. These bands are assisted, both in their strength and formation, by the fascia which covers all the joint and adheres to this part. (Vid. i, fig. 4, pi. 6.) This muscle acts with the vasti, in straightening the leg by drawing up the patella.— Vastus internus, taking its origin from the neck of the femur, and from its whole in- ner surface; is continued down to be inserted into the inner side of the pa- tella.— — Cruralisy or crureus. — The propriety of the division of this into a distinct muscle admits of a doubt ; for it is very much blended with the three former, occupies the lower portion of the femur, and is inserted with the preceding into the patella. It must be evident, that the foregoing muscles are joint extensors of the leg ; and when we observe their mode of insertion, we shall be aware they can act with surprising stiength, and the power they act with is increased by the patella elevating their tendons from the centre of motion. It likewise affords a smooth surface for these two bones to act upon, and acts itself as a pulley to the muscles, which being short, require an assis- tant mechanism. — Obturator externus arises from the inner crus of the ischium, surrounds the foramen thyroideum; and likewise arises from the ligament co- vering this oval opening : collecting its fibres, it passes rather around the root of the back part of the neck of the femur; and is inserted by a strong tendon into the cavity at the posterior part of the great trochanter. Though it is a short muscle, yet by its direction, and by multiplying its points of contact, and those advantageously, it can act with considerable strength in rotating the thigh inwards; directly contrary to the action of the same muscle in the hu- man. Quadratus femoris is a long thin muscle not described by Bourgelat, arising from the lower portion of the ischium, and inserted a little below the great trochanter, by which it rotates the thigh outward. — Gemini are two slips arising, one superior to the other, from the ischium and pubis, near their junc- tion ; and inserted along with the preceding, to which they, in common with the two next muscles, are antagonists — Obturator internus arises within the pelvis from around the foramen thyroideum — Pyriformis arises within the pelvis from the sacrum ; both this and the former pass out at the nitch in the ischium with the posterior crural nerve, and are inserted with the gemini, assisting them in their action. THE POSTERIOR EXTREMITIES. 351 The Muscles of the Canon, The popUteus is a muscle that may be described either as belonging to the leg or canon. Bourgelat chooses the former, and calls it the abductor, de- scribing it erroneously as a very small mass, whereas it will be seen, that it is a very considerable muscle. It appears to me, that, in all the descriptions of it, both in the horse and man, its origin has been mistaken for its insertion : It may properly be described to arise from a ridge on the internal side of the tibia, below its head (vid. e,Jig. 1, pi S); with its fleshy fibres running ob- liquely outwards and upwards, to be inserted by a tendon into the lateral part of the external condyle of the femur (1,Jiff* 2), having in its course adhered firmly to the capsular ligament of the joint. Its use is extensive and various ; it strengthens the articulation by approximating the ends of the bones, pre- vents the eflTects of concussion, and is no inconsiderable flexor of the canon, turning the hock inwards, and preventing the capsular ligament from being pinched ; it also attaches the semilunar cartilages. Tibialis anticus. — This very curious and complex muscle forms the flexor of the canon of Bourgelat. It is a biceps, having two origins ; the first by a very strong tendon {d,jig. 2), from a cavity on the anterior part of the external con- dyle of the femur, which tendon performs the office of a support to the joint, and likewise serves as one of the origins of the flexor of the foot: this tendon, then passing inwardly, is received by the fleshy part which arises from the cavity behind the anterior spine of the tibia for nearly its whole length, and is con- tinued down still in a tendinous form within this fleshy part, and only slightly united with it. Towards the inferior part of the same portion it degenerates into a tendon, which now in turn becomes invested, being surrounded by the tendon of the first origin, and, coming out from that (vid. m,Jig, 1, p^jig. 2j, it bifurcates into two branches, one of which is longer, and expands to insert itself on the inner side into the lateral and posterior part of the canon : the other, and shorter, is inserted into the anterior and superior part of the head of the canon. The investing tendon (vid. n,jig. 1, 0, fig. 2) likewise divides into two branches, which attach themselves near those of the former portion, but rather superiorly. By this peculiar mode of insertion of its tendon, it acts with much greater force and advantage, embracing more points of con- tact, acting upon several points of the hock at the same time, and by these means strongly flexing the canon. Gastrocnemius (vid. h h, fig. 1, k,fig. 2 J forms what Bourgelat -calls the ge- mini ; but which in the horse is only a biceps, and therefore it does not deserve this name as in the human, where they are really a pair of muscles of twin ac- tion, origin, and insertion. The origin and termination of this, like the former, are not a little curious, arising by two distinct heads, an inner and outer; the outer from the inferior portion of the femur, at the external part ; when descend- ing, it gives off" a flat tendon, which, about midway along the tibia, becomes rounded, and passes under the tendon of the internal head. This ^internal head arises less fleshy (uid. h,fig. 1) from the lateral internal part of the femur, just before it expands into its condyles : it soon becomes tendinous, and its tendon stretches over that of the external, both becoming curiously twisted with the plantaris tendon, and united with cellular substance, into a rope with spiral Avindings {vid. y,fig- 2) : from this it passes down rather to the outer side of the perforatus tendon, between the ligaments united- with it, where the rope inserts itself into the point of the calcis or hock ; the tendon of the internal head sending down an expansion to the canon and parts below. I'his muscle forms the extensor of the hock, and is one of the most important ot those concerned in progression. It is by means of this, that the angle of the hock being opened by carrying the hinder extremity forvi^ard, as in galloping, leaping, &c., the horse is enabled to throw his body onwards, by again con- tracting the angle; and hence it is that a wide hock is of such advantage: for the farther this tendon is removed from the centre of motion, so much can it act with the greater force ; and hence we see great wisdom in the forma- tion of this muscle, which, by being divided into two portions, presents a 352 DKSCRIPTION OF greater number of points of contact; and also, by the division and twisting of its tendon, the strength becomes greatly augmented. Plantaris forms the lateral extensor ot Bourgelat, and is a very small thin muscle arising from under the external head of the gemini above the outer condyle of the femur: passing down tieshy and obliquely, it crosses the ten- don of the gastrocnemii (vid. g, fiy. 1, z, fig. 2) from within outwards, and in- serts itself by a tendon into the point of the hock, in company with the gas- trocnemius muscle, sending down an expansion that affixes itself into the inner side of this part. Its use appears doubtful in the horse, for, as an as- sistant to the flexor muscle, it is too trivial to have had a separate existence. Nature, who ever works w ith as much simplicity as is consistent with the pro- per formation of parts, and with the regular economy of the organs, will not make a small and large muscle, when one would be adequate to all the ends of the contraction: but it is more reasonable to suppose, that it acts during progression in keeping distinct some of the muscles and ligaments of these parts. Flexor pedis perforatus posticus arises near the origin of the gastrocnemius in the cavity behind the condyles of the femur: its fibres uniting, it proceeds from the inner side of the tendon of the gastrocnemii to the outer and pos- terior part, and then passing down, it receives the expansion of the fascial ligament, at p, Jig. 1, x,Jig. 2, and is, by this means, bound more closely to the point of the hock, at which part it is considerably expanded to receive the point of the os calcis into a kind of sac or cap, in which synovia exists: so that here also a wound of this part, sufficiently deep to penetrate the tendon, would have the effect of opening a joint. It then runs down the posterior and inferior part of the hock, and is seen infg. 1 and 3, having the investing fascial ligament cut off* to shew its progress as it proceeds to meet the per- forans tendon, which it passes to the outside of, and surrounds its outer por- tion: continued down, it wiiolly encircles the perforans tendon at the pastern {vid. h,f.g. 2), in a similar manner to the perforatus of the anterior extremities, when running through an expansion formed jointly from the elastic suspensory ligaments, and that extended from the small metacarpal bones, it bifurcates into two portions {vid, 4, Jig. 2), which are inserted one on each side of the large pastern at its inferior part, sending an expansion to the heels of the sen- sible frog. Flexor magnus pedis perforans posticus arises from the posterior and exter- nal parts of the head of the tibia ; continuing down, it receives oblique fleshy fibres, which pass into its tendon {vid. k,fg. 1) from the inner edge of the tibia, and some from the outer edge ; between which two places runs the posterior tibial artery, and some small branches of the vein and nerves. At the beginning of the hock it becomes one strong tendon, which enters into a groove, formed on the inner side of the calcaneum, and slides upon the articu- lation of the tibia and hock, having a cartilage interposed for the purpose of preventing friction. {Vid. r,Jig. 1, t,fig. 2.) This groove it passes into, under an annular ligament appropriate to it, and in common likewise under the ge- neral annular ligament of the hock : soon, however, after its passage through this groove, it comes in contact with the tendon of the perforatus muscle (z, Ji§. 1), and is continued down on the inner side, having its posterior part co- vered by it, till it arrives at the pastern, when it becomes surrounded by the complete ring of the perforatus, to be inserted, as in the fore-extremities, on the coffin bone. The metacarpal nerve accompauies the gastrocnemius muscle at its origin, and continues down on the edge of the tendon of the per- forans, passing with it through the annular ligament on its outer side ; it then gains the inner side, and runs within it, to be divided and distributed over the foot and pastern (vid. r, fig. 1, just above which it is seen.) This and the preceding muscle are the flexors of the foot, but this latter is more imme- diately so ; while the former, which is much more complex in its terraina- » Tlie term fascial ligament luay probably be objected to ; but as I observed it formed from a continuaiion of the fascia, and that it performed the office of a Hcamcnl, I yy named it, fill it gains a better. THE POSTERIOR EXTREMITIES. 353 tioiis, and more divided in its uses, appears to belong to the hock, canon, and pasterns also ; and forms a medium, whereby the actions of all the parts are uniform and consentaneous. Flexor minus pedis perforans posticus arises at the posterior part of the head of the tibia ; passing down on the outer side of the popliteus, it bends its course obliquely inwards, and proceeds uixler an annular ligament at the la- teral internal part of the hock (vid. fig. 1): it unites about the middle of the canon (vid. 2, fig. 1) to the preceding, and to which it is thus an assistant. — Ex- tensor longus pedis posticus. This is the first of three muscles, by which the extension of the foot is performed. (Vid n, fig. 2). It appears to arise first from around the tendon of the extensor of the canon, as well as by some ten- dinous fibres of its own; next from the head of the tibia at its outer part : it is then continued down, and becomes formed into a strong tendon (vid. r,fig. a), which passes under the annular ligament, connected to the tendon of the next muscle by the little extensor, about the middle of the canon. (Vid, I, fig. 1.) It then proceeds down in front of the canon, uniting with the next muscle, to be continued over the front of the pastern, receiving the expansion of the sus- pensory ligaments (vid. 7, fig. 2): it inserts itself, as in the fore-leg, into the anterior eminence of the coffin bone, and to which it is similar in its action, by extending the foot. — Extensor lateralis pedis forms the lateral extensor of Bourgelat, and is similar to the peroneus longus of the human; arising by a tendon from the lateral part of the external head of the femur, and likewise from the head of the fibula; running down, it becomes tendinous, and joins the artery some way under the annular ligament; then passing obliquely on the canon, it receives the fibres of the little extensor, and at the middle of the canon it unites with the extensor longus, to which it is an assistant. — Ex- tensor minor is an expansion of fleshy fibres continued from the tendon of the extensor longus to the extensor lateralis, at the superior part of the canon, descending two or three inches. (Vid. 9, fig. 2.) Its principal use appears to be, that of approximating these two tendons, which must greatly assist them in their action by keeping them in a right line. Ligaments and other Parts of the Hinder Extremities. The bones of these parts have already been fully treated of, and the liga- ments generally have been noticed with them; but there are others that are immediately approj)riate to the motions of the parts, as well as some that con- nect them. It must be at once evident, that the articulation of the femur with the pelvis is formed with peculiar strength ; so much so, there can be but little danger of dislocation. The thigh-bone is held in the acetabulum by the means of two ligaments, whose strength is very great: the capsular arises from around the neck of the femur immediately below its head (see fig. 1, pi. 8), and is inserted around the whole cavity of the acetabulum : but the principal strength is derived from a ligament improperly called round, which is connected by one end to a cavity in the head of the femur (see v,fig. 1, pi. 8), and by the other to a similar cavity in the acetabulum : by the conjoined force of these two it is evident this head must be held very firmly in its place. The articulation of the thigh with the tibia and fibula is formed likewise with great art and strength ; and that the muscles forming this joint, or rather that tTie muscles extending these bones, might act with greater power, there was given a patella, which allows them to move on the parts below without incumbrance, or without interrupting the ease of motion; for which purposes, therefore, the whirlbone, as farriers call it, glides smoothly over the articula- tion in front of the condyles of the femur. This bony appendage is retained in its situation by means of very strong ligaments, which appear formed in part of the fascia going over the joint ; in part also from the tendons of the muscles of the thigh, and likewise partially from some proper ligamentous fibres. One of these, placed before, appears jointly formed of the rectus ten- dons extended over the patella, and is continued with a ligament from its in- 354 DESCRIPTION OF fcrior aud anterior portion into the cavity in the front and head of the tibia (sec d,fig. 1, 10, fig. 2): another arises from its outer side, is united to an expan- sion of the vastus cxternus muscle, and is inserted into the external part of the tubercle of the tibia. (See c,fig. 1, h,fis. 2.) A third slight one, which IS removed in the plate to shew the joint, arises from the inner side of the patella, is continued with an expansion of the vastus internus, and inserted on the inner side of the head of the tibia. A fourth, coming from its outer side, inserts itself into the external condyle of the femur : there is likewise a correspondent one on the inner side, aud, independent of these, there are some strong fibres carried across the patella : the general capsular ligament of the joint also invests this bone. From the great strength of the muscles in- serted into the patella, it is sometimes fractured by a sudden effort; more frequently by a kick (see Fractures); and this would oftener happen, thick as the bone is, were it not for these continuations of the tendons over it, which greatly increase its strength and resistance. The articulation of the femur with the tibia is held in its place principally by means of the crucial or cross ligaments, which originate from the posterior part of the fiemur, aud, crossing each other within the joint, are inserted into the head of the tibia : the posterior arises within the articulation behind these ligaments, between the condyles, and terminates in the posterior part of the head of the tibia; which prevents this bone from being dislocated forward, as the crucial prevents both bones from being rotated or twisted on each other. There is likewise continued on each side, from the condyles to the femur, a tendon which answers the purpose of a lateral ligament. On the outer side this is effected {vid.f,fig. 2) by the tendon of the lateral extensor of the foot; and on the inner side by an expansion formed of part of the triceps, and vas- tus internus muscles. In the front of the condyles the tendon of the flexor of the canon arises, and by this means forms an additional connexion, and to than at its posterior part, and held in its situation by ligamentous fibres. The hock is covered by the skin very strongly, which is likewise connected to it very closely, and is particularly thick at its posterior part. It may be re- marked, that this is the most complex joint in the body, not excepting even the knee, and hence is very difficult to be understood. I have taken great pains to render my description of it clear, as well as accurate ; nor can the student, with a proper attention to this, and a reference to the plates, fail of gaining an adequate idea of the formation of this very principal joint. It is invested generally by several layers of ligamentous substance ; aud imme- diately on removing the skin, there appears a very dense membrane spread over its surface, and over that of the leg, loosely, but evenly, forming the whole into one nearly smooth equal surface ; that is, the tendons and liga- ments underneath are neither very prominent nor distinct. This dense cel- lular substance may be raised in several successive layers ; aud when it is all removed, the muscles of the leg, the hock, and the parts below, will then be found to have still a strong tendinous or aponeurotic expansion firmly ex- tended over them. This aponeurotic expansion appears to be a continuation of the fascia of the semimembranosus and tensor vaginae femoris, carried down over the muscles of the tibia, and, becoming stronger as it advances, it seems to give a complete covering to each muscle, and perhaps assists to form the sheaths of their tendons, as well as to be reflected generally over the whole. If it be raised from the front of the leg, it seems to thicken as it gains the hollow formed between the tendo Achilles aud the flexor of the foot, at which part it is very firm, and appears to end in two ligaments, which I have called fascial. These ligaments (vid. }y,fig. 1, a7id x, fig. 2) appear more immediately formed from a very strong tendinous expansion from the inner surface of the perforatus muscle. The annular ligaments likewise seem formed in part from this, and in part from a particular ligamentous expansion arising from the inner and outer side of the tibia. This expansion, passing over aud around THB POSTERIOR BXTRKMITIES. 355 the hock, attaches itself to the bones on the inner, outer, and posterior part, and is continued down over the tendons, as well anteriorly as posteriorly, to some inches below the hock, near to the origin of the elastic bifurcating liga- ments, where it appears Yithout a proper conversance with these key-stones of the healing art, his practice can be at best but a fortunately empi- rical one. He may possibly accumulate wealth, but he can never disseminate improvement. Educated originally for the practice of human medicine, and grounding on that more than twenty years' practice and teaching of the veterinary art, I may presume to form some judgment as to the importance of these acquirements, and may be allowed with confidence to recom- mend them to the strict attention of younger veterinarians : in which having well grounded themselves, I invite them, with the best intentions towards their welfare, to proceed with me through the remaining pages to a consideration of the diseases of this noble animal, whose admirable qualities render a life devoted to the melioration of his sulFerings, natural and ac- quired, not an unpleasing task. In the following detail of maladies and their cure, I have carefully avoided idle and unnecessary theory; yet I have en- deavoured to join cause and elFect, and to blend the reason with the act ; thereby attempting to teach the curative art by principles more than by recipes : nevertheless, the matter is so conducted, that the amateur who chooses to stiip it of its sys- tematic and artificial dress, may find a ready and safe guide to a domestic practice. In the first editions I borrowed little from others, for little was known. In the latter editions, I have in- troduced the numerous important improvements in the art made by the ingenious Professors of the Veterinary College and their pupils, and I have acknowledged and noted the debt : but I cannot say thus much of others ; for I may remark, with- out fear of contradiction, that some among the most popular Veterinary Works of the present day owe much to the former editions of the Veterinary Outlines, from which they have bor- rowed unmercifully without acknowledging their obligation, and, in some instances, without even noticing the existence of the author or authority derived from. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 373 The practice hereafter detailed was first formed on the prin- ciples I have recommended as guides to the practice of others : it has stood the test of a long and successful trial, subjected to the improvements of experience ; and it is now, therefore, of- fered with confidence to others : and as long as it remains un- contradicted, I would invite the young practitioner to study it, and to follow it, until another presents itself in a higher degree worthy of his attention. That such may happen, I make no doubt; but if it do not occur till one more disinterestedly writ- ten than this appears, or with more zealous intentions for the advancement of the art, it will long remain without a compe- titor. PART THE THIRD. THE ^racttceofiaeterinar^iWlelitdne; OR, A DESCRIPTION OF THE CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, AND MEDICAL TREATMENT, OF THE DISEASES OF THEHORSE; To which is added, gl more tontx^t account OF THOSE OF NEAT CATTLE AND SHEEP- Bb 376 OF DISEASE GENERALI.Yc OF DISEASE GENERALLY, i^ISEASE is a morbid affection of a part or of the whole of the body, whereby the exercise of some of its functions is altered or suspended. Tlie causes of disease are various ; some of them are evident, otliers we are entirely unacquainted with. We name these causes remote, or such as preth'pose a part or whole of the body to take on disease: thus peculiarity in conformation predisposes the body to various morbid at- tacks ; as small carcassed horses are more peculiarly liable to diarrhoea, and dark chesnut horses to contracted feet. By entailing a particular confonuation, hereditary aptitudes to diseases are occasioned ; some breeds being predisposed to cataract, and others to broken wind. The proximate, the exciting, and the occasional causes are, in fact, the same ; although it is attempted to give to the former a distinct meaning and character, as being itself the primum mobile and immediate agent; by which consideration it is made to be the effect, and not the cause. These exciting causes may be characterised as those immediately con- cerned in the production of the disease : a horse violently heated dur- ing hunting, plunges into a river, and pneimionia or inflammation of the lungs follows. Cold in this case is the occasional, the exciting, and, in foct, the proximate cause of the disease. Diseases were attributed for many centuries principally to an affection of the fluids or humours of the body, and thence it was termed the humoral pathology. In some instances this was ascribed to ^ fluxion or flow of some morbid fluid to a part, and in others to a congestion or total stoppage of the flow of the natural humours. Gradually, however, as anatomy and physiology shed their powerful lights over the subject, the solids were discovered to be also primarily affected, and more particularly the vas- cular system of the body. Boerhaave first conjectured that in fever the blood vessels themselves were somewhat affected, and that by such al- teration the blood was obstructed in its attempts to circulate through them. CuUen still further extended the idea that the solids were ac- tive agents in disease, and that it was to a spasm of the extreme arte- ries that the fancied obstruction of the blood was attributable *. Dis- eases are varied, not only according to the immediate nature of the attack, but also of the part it operates on : thus staggers depends on increased action of the vessels of the brain ; and enteritis on an inflam- matory attack on the peritoneal coat of the intestines — as grease is a local affection of the integuments of the extremities, but the appear- ances or symptoms of which vary equally with the attack itself. Each disease also, though it afford some characters in common, yet presents individual peculiarities according to the state of the patient, his age, situation, &c. &c. If a lingering and debilitating disease attack an * Hoffman, equally with CiiUeji, maintained the idea of spasm in the rapiila- lies as the cause of fever. OF DISEASE GENERALLY. 377 emaciated animal, his death is almost certain ; when one in full flesh and condition might readily withstand it. If a horse in low condition, or under the effect of the autumn constitutional change, he attacked with grease, the morbid symptoms rage with increased violence and ob- stinacy. Strangles is principally confined to a certain period of age ; and ophthalmia is not common long after the adult period : while the situation of crowded cities renders horses peculiarly obnoxious to ca- tarrh ; as very hot climates inflicts the greater liability to tetanic at- tack. The systematic division of diseases is termed nosology ; the sim- plest arrangement of which is the alphabetical*. Antiently, diseases were divided according to their duration, and this laid the foundation for the acute and the chronic ; but which subjected the founders to call in the aid of the subacute j for those which ranged in the intermediate spaces. It has also been attempted to arrange diseases simply accord- ing to the parts of the animal frame, which suits well with the plan of uniting the anatomical, physiological, and medical considerations to- getherf. Modern nosology is principally built on the distinctive symp- toms of diseases, united still more lately with doctrines drawn from an observance of the morbid actions of the vascular, nervous, and lymphatic systems. Linneus, Sauvages, and Cullen raised stupendous monu- ments of this description ; the bases of which still serve for founda- tions for modern superstructures. In England no systematic arrange- ment of the diseases of the horse had been attempted, until the noso- logy which accompanied the first edition of the Veterinary Outlines, the general correctness of which has never yet been questioned. The division of diseases into epidemic, endemic, sporadic, and spe- cific, is very generally admitted. Epidemic diseases are such as pre- vail generally at a particular time among all ages and kinds of horses ; dependant probably on some outward causes operating on the systems ge- nerally of that class of animated nature. Endemic diseases are those peculiar to a particular climate or place, confining their effects principally to the animals inhabiting those parts : thus the malignant epidemic of liorned cattle is principally a continental complaint. Altogether, how- ever, endemic diseases are but few in brute subjects. Sporadic dis- eases stand in opposition to the two former, and form a very extensive class, comprehending all such as have a particular cause, and affect particular constitutions or ages: thus strangles becomes a sporadic disease to young horses ; and the distemper a sporadic disease among * In human pathology, Dr. Heberden's excellent nosology, founded on this plan, forms a prominent instance. t The well-written lectures of Mr. Percivall, jun. afford an excellent illu8tra= tiou of this method of teaching the veterinary art; but however well calculated it may be to shew the writer's abilities to advantage, it is questionable how far it may prove the most eligible mode of teaching the art itself, in its present state at least, and among its present practitioners ; when compared with the more rer gular and uniform division of subject according to the methods pursued by the best practical writers. Among our continental neighbours, nosological arrange- ments abound. Bourgelat, M. Vitet, La Fos»e, &c. arranged the diseases of the horse, after various methods, into systems. Later professors have worked in the same field, and one of the last productions of this kind is the Esquisse de Nosographie Vet6rinaire of M. Huzard, jun. which, it may be added, is a work of great merit, and highly creditable to its author, who kindlv presented it t© Hie. B b 2 378 DIFFUSED OR GENERAL INFLAMiVTATION. [ClttSS I. young liounds. Specific disi^ases are such aR are peculiar to a particu- lar class of animal,^: thus farcy, glanders, and strangles, are among the specific diseases of the horse, as distemper, popularly so called, is one peculiar to dogs. To a proper knowledge of the management of diseases, we consider the cause, symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, and cure. The cause is frequently involved in obscurity ; at others, by attention it may be dis- covered ; and again, in some instances, it is evident at once. The symptoms of a disease are the immediate effects it produces ; thus an inflamed brain, being productive of delirium and redness at the eyes, makes delirium and redness at the eyes a symptom of inflamed brain : but this does not take in any other than the immediate effect ; for death is frequently a result of this disease, but death is not a symptom of an inflamed brain. From the symptoms, we form our diagnostic of the disease ; that is, we judge of its present state: being masters of which we are enabled to form a prognosis, or opinion of its probable ter- mination. The cure forms the most important part, and consists in an attempt at assisting Nature in her efforts to produce a natural remission of the disease. If these efforts are wanting, or inert, we promote an artificial one, or we attempt to resist the effects of the disease. CLASS T. DIFFUSED OR GENERAL INFLAMMATION. INFLAMMATION is a subject of the greatest possible importance, whether we regard it as a disease, or as an active and necessary agent in the restoration of parts. It may be considered under the divisions of general or diffused inflammation, in which the heart and the whole of the vessels arising from it, participate primarily in the affection. Or it may be local or confined, when the blood vessels of a part only are affected with the inflammatory action. To the first of these we refer fe- brile affections, and extensive inflammations of vital organs, as well as symptomatic fever generally : and it is this part that more immediately concerns our present pathological purpose. Local inflammation appears more directly concerned with the surgical part, or that which treats on the structural derangements of the more external parts. The leading features of this important subject belong to both departments, and as such we shall give a summary of the vdiole, reserving the practical illustrations of local inflammation to another part of the work. Inflammation may be considered as a disease of the blood vessels *, • It has been before stated, that inflammation was formerly under the humoral pathology considered as dependant on a diseased state of the blood itself, but the impossibility of giving a rational explanation of the causes which produced it, or the phenomena which accompanied it, by any change in the blood itself, led physiologists to investigate the effects likely to be produced by an altered state of the blood vessels, and considering the blood itself to be unaltered. Upon this consideration of the subject the theory of inflammation is now formed ; and as it is a most important subject to the veterinarian, and one on which the prac- tice of his art must mainly hinge, he would do well to inform himself of the ex- periments made, the facts collated, and the reasonings deduced in support of the present doctrines, from the able works of John Hunter, Drs. C. Smith, Wilson Phillip, Hastings, Thompson, with those of Messrs. Burns, Allen, James, &c. hchic. Class I.] DIFFUSED OR GENEHAl. INFLAMMATION. 379 principally of the arterial ones ; and thus in proportion as a part is more or less vascular, so is it prone to a more or less active inflamma- tion: and perhaps it might not be an improper consideration of the subject to characterise inflammation as an increase of the powers of life as regards the circulatory action of its blood vessels*. Inflam- mation is characterised by heat, redness, tension, and pain. The increase of the temperature of an inflamed part will be found in every instance considerable t ; and that usually in proportion to the degree of the inflammatory action. In the horse we cannot so readily detect the heightened colour of inflamed parts, from his exterior hairy cover- ing; but when this is shaved off it is sufiiciently evident, and in certain parts, as the conjunctive membrane of the eye, the mucous lining of the nostrils, and mouth, it is most easily observed. This eifect we know to be occasioned by more red particles being circulated than natural in such parts, as usually carry red blood, and by red globules being forced into such vessels during the inflammatory state, as at other times carried only the colourless parts of the blood, as the trans- parent part of the eye, which under inflammation is therefore often seen bloodshot. The swelling of an inflamed part is effected at first by this increase to the capacity and distention of its vessels : after- wards it may be kept up or even enlarged by effusion of the contents of the vessels within it J. The sensibility of an inflamed part is always * In this way a stimulus applied to a part, as heat, friction, acrid matters, &c. increase the florid tinge, by determining more blood to the part. Its sensibility is likewise augmented, and its temperature is raised ; and if it proceed further its bulk is likewise enlarged, producing all the phenomena of increased vital powers. M. Latta has however taught, and others have adopted the same opinion, that an inflamed part is not to be considered as possessing increased vitality or strength j but that, on the contrary, it is in a state of increased and acquired debilit}^ It is not, however, probable that such is the immediate con- sequence : but it is more than probable that after some continuance of the inflammatory state, the action is carried beyond the powers of the vessels of the part, and that they become weakened in proportion as their contractility is exerted to overcome their distention. According to Dr. Thomson, the velocity of the blood in inflamed capillaries, sometimes continues from the commence- ment to the termination of that state; and that at others a diminished velocity in the circulation marks the rise, the progress, and the close of the inflamma- tion ; but that this latter state is much more common during the progress of the affection, than during its first stages. — (See Thomson on Inflammation.) Dr. Wil- son Phillip says, "In short, inflammation seems to consist iu the debility oi the capillaries, followed by an increased action of the larger arteries." — (See Dr. Phillip on the Vital Functions.) It will thus be seen that the experiments made by Dr. Thomson and Dr. Wilson Phillip, to determine the contended point of increased or diminished strength in the capillaries, led to different results and conclusions, and that, unfortunately for the medical art, we are still somewhat in the dark on this interesting point: but as before stated, we are authorised from the best conducted experiments, as well as from the evidence of observation on the phenomena which occur, in concluding with Dr. Thomson, that under some circumstances the capillaries are in a state of increased action, and at others are affected with actual debility in inflammation. t It is extraordinary that so accurate an observer as Mr. Hunter should have denied increase of temperature to an inflamed part, when the experience of every day demonstrates the contrary. From the time of Celsus, this has been universally admitted : "Notae vero inflammationis sunt quatuor, rubor, et tumor, cum calore et dolore." — Cels. lib. 3, chap. 10, t The water farcy of horses subjected to violent general inflammatory action IS an instance of this, where the vessels pour out a serous fluid, which lodging in the interstices of the cellular membrane, occasions that dropsical pitting-in of the akin which is ob-ieivable m such cases. 380 DIFFUSED OR GENERAL INFLAIMMATIOK. [ClttSS I. increased, but not uniformly in proportion to the degree of its vascu- larity ; but it is in general dependent on the supply of nervous influence. The divisions of inflammations are endless, some of which are use- ful and appear natural, as into acute and chronic. Very vascular parts have usually the former, which is commonly more quick in its progress and more favourable than in parts less vascular, as bones, ligaments, and tendons, in which the chronic or slow is apt to occur. This leads to a division also into the healthy and unhealthy inflamma- tions. When a wound is inflicted into a muscular part, heat, swelling, and efi"usion quickly take place ; the results of which are either imme- diate union, or granulations, which finally restore the parts ; such is healthy inflammation. Tumours in other parts less organised, or under unfavourable circumstances, submit to mauy diseased changes of un- healthy inflammation. Inflammations are also called common, when only the ordinary processes go on ; and specific, when the common phe- nomena are not observable, as in rheumatism, rabies, specific gas- tritis, &c. &c. It has also been attempted to divide inflammation accord- ing to its seat in elementary tissues* ; from our observation that a dif- ference in structure has a great effect, not only on the particular and general inflammatory phenomena, but also on their future effects and terminations. A still more general and characteiistic division of inflam- mation is into phlegmonous, or the inflammatory affection of the skin and membranous parts, accompanied with heat, distention, redness, and an inclination to effusion when deep seated or extensive ; and to sup- puration when more superficial and circumscribed : and into the erysi- pelatous, w^xich. is seldom accompanied with much tension, is not uni- formly red, is early attended with serous effusion in the form of small blisterings, and future desquamation. This kind of inflammation, when it is superficial, affects the skin ; and when it is more internal, it eon- fines itself to the surfaces of mucous membranes. With some sub- divisions of each of these principals, a nosological arrangement of inflammations might be formed, at once comprehensive and satisfaetory. When the usual phenomena of inflammation have lasted a longer or shorter time according to their intensity, the parts they affect, or ac- cording to the age, constitution, and condition of the horse, another series of symptoms present themselves; and the inflammation termi- nates. These ordinary effects or terminations of inflammation, are re- solution, adhesion, suppuration, ulceration, and gangrene. Resolution arises when the overcharged and distended vessels not having been ex- cited either into effusion or suppuration, recover their proper calibre, leaving the texture and former state of the parts entire. To effect this termination the efforts of the veterinarian ought to be principally directed ; and it will stimulate his efforts to know that this favourable termination may take place in whatever part of the body the affection is situated. Adhesion, or the adhesive state of inflammation, appears to be dependent on a disposition of the capillary arterial branches to pom- out the coagulable parts of the blood ; or, in other words, what has been known by the coagulable lymph, and which process may be healthy or diseased according to circumstances. — (See Local Infiammation.) * This method of division is sanctiont- d by the names of Dr. C. Smith, Bichat, and Pincl.— See also obsew ations on the diflVrent species of infiammation, by .Mr, Jamc», of Exeter. 1821 Class 1.] DIFFUSED OR GENERAL INFLAMMATION. 381 When the continuance of the inflammatory action prevents either of these effects, the general affection of the system becomes increased ; the pain, which probably was before dull, becomes now darting and severe, 2i\i^ suppuration follows. These appearances are principally observed, when tumour forms, and the pus or matter is poured into a circumscribed cavity. When suppuration takes place on extensive mucous surfaces, the febrile symptoms are less, and the pus seems to be poured forth from the arteries with little or no abrasion or ulcera- tion of substance. Gangrene occurs when the arterial action has been so extreme, as actually to produce death in the inflamed vessels by congestion and extravasation of the blood; which in these cases changes its red, for a yellowish brown tinge. The part affected also becomes livid, and from the mouths of the ruptured capillaries, a thin fa?tid serum oozes in the form of small vesicles. The pain diminishes, the constitution sympathises, and universal debility succeeds. In addition to the foregoing terminations, there is another that now and then takes place naturally ; at other times it is brought about artificially. Two distinct inflammations are seldom found in parts situated near to each other: but a part in proximity may become sus- ceptible of the increased action in a superior degree to the part first affected; in which case, as it takes on the inflammation, it very gene- rally produces the effect of removing it from the other ; and this ter- mination is called metastasis: but as this is much more frequent in erysipelatous and arthritic inflammations, to which the horse is not very liable, so it is seldom that this termination takes place naturally in him: the most common instance, however, of this, is in what is termed moon blindness, wherein one eye will sometimes become sud- denly well, and the other affected. But an artificial metastasis is frequently produced in the horse with the utmost benefit; thus, in a pneumonic state of the lungs, by raising an active inflammation on the t^ides of the chest externally, by fire, by caustic, or by blisters, many horses are saved ; for a removal of the affection takes place from a part essential to life, and with which the system sympathises largely, to a part not essential to life, and with which the constitution does not so intimately sympathise ; and which likewise is more able to bear it. The termination of inflammation in schirrus is not known in the horse, and the modification of this in indolent tumours is also not frequent, at least of those permanent ones approaching schirrus or steatomatus. The liability to these various eftects or terminations of inflammation, it has already been stated, is not equally distributed to all parts of the body ; on the contrary, some are more prone to one set of inflamma- tory phenomena, and other parts to a different effect or termination. Deep seated parts and the great cavities of the body are more prone to the adhesive effects of inflammation, or to that variety of it which produces effusion. By the former, bands of coagulable lymph form adhesions in the chest and thicken the wind, or obstruct the trachea and produce roaring: by the latter, serous effusion takes place and produces dropsy. In mucous canals, and on mucous surfaces, the sup- . purative state of inflammation is most common. When the inflamma-= tory action is still more violent, it frequently ends in gangrene ; but it is seldom that suppuration takes place. In mucous canals and on mucous surfaces, on the contrary, suppuration most readily occurs : and, 382 DIFFUSED OR GENERAL INFLAMMATION. [ClaSS I. as in parts supplied only with exhalant capillaries, ulceration and an abraded surface must accompany the formation of pus, as already noticed ; it is here produced as a pure secretion from the surface with- out ulceration, because between the parts a great difference in struc- ture exists. It is to this cause we attribute the tendency of the nasal membrane to produce pus in catarrh, strangles, and glanders, but very rarely to take on gangrene. If bone become injured, its inflammatory process is ulcerative, but slow ; and granulations form very tardily ; for its structure is but little vascular, compared with skin or muscle, which being torn off, inflames, granulates, and is reproduced quickly. The causes of inflammation are said to be remote and proximate ; but which distinctions are by no means easy to define. Such occa- sional causes as act by their outward effects as stimulants, whether they act chemically or mechanically, we can readily comprehend : but the more remote agencies of heat, cold, miasma, and deleterious gasses, we are at a loss to explain, and they may be proximate or remote causes according to circumstances. Inflammations local and confined, and febrile affections generally, were wont to be attributed princi- pally to the effect of cold. Modern pathologists have been led to consider this as erroneous, and, on the contrary, they attribute more inflammatory affections to the alternation of heat with cold, than of cold with heat. But it is probable, that in attempting to prove too much, as is usually the case, they have proved little or nothing ; for daily observation of plain facts convince us that the application of cold, under various forms and circumstances, is an active agent in the production both of general and of local inflammation*. The proximate cause of inflammation is defined to be the state of the vessels, and of the relations between them and the circulating blood within themt. This subject has been already discussed. In inflammation, either some change actually takes place in the blood per se, or it is operated on by the vessels themselves. In gangrenous vessels, the fluid is altogether different from healthy blood ; and in the more early stages, inflamed vessels operate some change on it, for they are found to retard its coagulation and augment its fluidity, by which means the red globules fall to the bottom of the blood drawn, and the * Ou this subject Dr, Thomson most ingeniously remarks, that "No subject is more deserviug of attention, than the effects which are produced in the human body by the operation of cold applied to its surface ; but the subject is at the same time exceedingly extensive, complicated, and difficult. These effects differ according to the degree in which the cold is applied, the state of the system, the part of the body to which it is applied, and the mode of its applica- tion. So diversified, indeed, are these effects, that it requires no mean confi- dence in theoretical reasoning to believe, that the operation of cold in producing them is explicable upon any single general principle," CZecfwres on Inflamma- tion, p. 58.) If it were competent for me to form an opinion on the subject, it would be this, That there are states in the body, brought about by the agency of electricity, magnetism, and galvanism, singly or united; which operate some of the most surprising changes in the body, and give it aptitudes to be acted on by exterior circumstances, very different at some times to others. It is my opinion, that to this universal agency more of the phenomena of health and disease are attributable than to any other, and to most others united. -(- Here an evident difficulty occurs : If the state of the vessels be an inflamma- tory one. Is inflammation a cause or an eff?;ct of this state ? If it be a cause, it cannot be more proximate than that v.-hlch promoted it, whether cold or other; if it be an effect, no cause need be assigned to it. Class I.] DIFFUSED OR GENERAL INFLAMMATION. 383 gluten or coagulable lymph, called the buff, appears on the top : and thus, when blood drawn exhibits a white surface, and sizy consistence, we say, there is an inflammatory state in that habit. (See Pulse, p. 153 ; see also Nature and Properties of the Blood, p. 258 J. In local inflammation the vessels of the affected part only are in this state, un- less the part be of great magnitude or importance in the system ; in which case general inflammation sometimes accompanies it ; and this state is called symptomatic fever. General inflammation produces in- flammatory fever: nevertheless, there appear states or circumstances in fever which are not dependent on increased action alone, and it is this something that forms the very great obscurity in our theory of fever, and which is, in fact, the very essence of the disease. Diffused inflammation, constituting fever, should be distinguished from simple increased action arising from the affection of particular parts : the for- mer constitutes a disease ; but the latter is merely symptomatic, and sometimes even a salutary effort. It may, however, in some cases, rise to such a height as to wear out the patient. Most extensive inflamma- tory actions in the horse proceed to their termination sooner than those of the human, which appears to arise from the greater quantity of muscular coat found in his arteries. This gives a peculiar character to inflammatory diseases in him, and renders it particularly necessary that no one should form either his diagnosis, or prognosis, on the doc- trine of similar affections in the human. The prognosis, ov the being able to give an opinion as to the probable effects or terminations of ex- tensive inflammation, must be formed from an attentive observation of the foregoing circumstances ; and this attention must of itself form the diagnosis. In resolution not only the affected parts return to their former state ; but the system at large becomes less irritable, and the general circulation moderates, as is indicated by the pulse becoming soft and moderate, and which is particularly the case when the inflam- matory state assumes the character of fever generally. When more local, the sensibility of the affected part, the redness and the tension, gradually subside. Effusion is indicated by a remission of the in- creased action, the pulse usually also becomes smaller ; but if the ef- fused fluid be considerable, the pulse may be observed to be likewise irregular : there is also frequently an obstruction to the functions of some of the organs in the neighbourhood of the effusion. When sup= puration takes place, the symptoms of pain and irritation cease, the pulse becomes sensibly softer, and fluctuation soon follows. When gangrene follows inflammation, the pain likewise subsides, and the pulse becomes also softer ; but it likewise becomes weaker, and gene= ral prostration takes place ; and gangrene is particularly characterized by these effects taking place abruptly. The treatment of general or diffused iyifiammation. — In attempHiig the reduction of diffused inflammation, whether existing in the specific foiTii of inflammatory fever, or in that of the idiopathic inflammation of some vital and important organ, the first remedy usually employed is bleeding, because of all other remedies this tends most to lessen the morbid increase of circulation going on. In general inflammation it is prudent to abstract a large quantity of blood at once, and as quickly as possible, by making a large orifice, for reasons detailed in page 258 ; and if the state of the pulse and other appearances, as those of the 384 DIFFUSED Oil GENERAL INFLAMMATION. [ClaSS I. blood drawn, &c. *, betoken a continuance of the undue arterial action, repeat the bleeding as long as the muscular strength continues unim- paired ; and this more particularly if the horse be of due age, and in full condition : ever keeping in mind that one or two early and copious bleedings are more effectual in combating active inflammations, than numerous subsequent abstractions, which frequently weaken and impair the general strength, and thus often add to the disease. The practi- tioner must not, however, be betrayed into too indiscriminate a use of the lancet, in some specific affections of an inflammatory nature. The peritoneal inflammation of the bowels will bear repeated bleedings ; but that which affects the villous surface must be repeated with cau- tion. One bleeding is frequently useful in the early stages of catarrh, but more is seldom admissible : Miiile the inflammatory attacks on the parenchyma of the lungs wall bear numerous veneesections. When phlegmonous tumours are forming, and in strangles also, unless the symptomatic fever run very high, bleeding must be cautiously attempt- ed. Purgatives, in the human subject, form the next active agent in combating arterial excitement; but there are peculiarities in the struc- ture and functions of the horse, which render this less eligible than in man. To produce active purging in the horse, is a source of great irri- tation frequently, and one that calls forth more of the powers of the constitution, than under some circumstances can be spared. (See Pur- gation; see also p. 288). It also requires so much time to effect it, that our dependence on it is lessened. Nevertheless, we must not neg- lect attempting a soluble state of the bowels by such means as tend the least to irritate. In some cases, repeated small doses of aloes, in others, oil, neutral salts, &c. and in all bran mashes and warm water, are means within our power to effect the end without irritation; while other cases require a more active purgatory practice by the croton tiglium, or a full dose of aloes at once. Diaphoretic and nauseating remedies are available to the great end of combating arterial action. Antimonials given in sufficient doses, and repeated at proper intervals, have unques- tionably a considerable power over the arterial system ; and this with- out operating very sensibly, either in nauseating the stomach, or relax- ing the skin ; but apparently by a direct action on the heart and arte- ries, as soon as received into the circulation t. If the antimonial pow- * It is not the buffy state of the blood drawn, neither is it the cupped appear- ance of the coagulum, from which criteria of the propriety of a repetition of the bleeding can be drawn only ; but also from the adhesiveness and tenacity of the coagulum as a mass. However buffy the blood may remain, provided the coa- gulum be soft and easily broken, a continuance of bleeding will not be advis- able. f I am fully aware that I am combating the opinions of some of our best vete- rinarians, by recommending antimonials as active agents in lessening arterial action; but repeated direct experiments^ united to twenty-five years' attentive observation, have convinced me of the fact; and lam borne out in the recom- mendation by the opinion also of many other ingenious and eminent veterinary practitioners, in whose practice antimonials become a powerful antifebnfuge re- medy. (See Professor PeaVs excellent WorJi, p. 83 ,- and Clark's Vet. Pliar. p. 28). With Mr. Youatt, than whom a more acute and observant practitioner does not exist, it continues, as ever, a favourite febrifuge. But while I steadily maintain my opinion of the utility of antimonials in veterinary medicine, candour obliges me to own that I have considerably altered my ideas on the subject of the capal)i- lity of nauseating the horse beneficially, as an arterial sedative: and although mv experience on the subject uili not permit me to go to equal extent in my rtcora- Class I.] DIFFUSED OR GENERAL INFLAMMATION. 385 der be used, vulgarly called James's powder, it should be given as a ball twice a-day, in two dram doses. If the tartrite of antimony be used, it may be given in doses of a dram and a half three times a-day, dissolved in water, gruel, or other liquid menstrua. In diffused in- flammation of long continuance, or when considerable weakness is be- coming apparent, an excellent diaphoretic and arterial sedative will be found in the acetate of ammonia, and a still more excellent one in the acetated liquor of ammonia. (See Vet. Pharm). Nauseating re- medies are in some degree available in the horse, in lessening arterial action, and the pulse will be found to lessen under the action of all such agents as tend to produce this sensation in the stomach, of which there are many. (See pi. 269.) We have already had occasion to re- mark on the sympathising properties of the stomach : it is also to be recollected that, in turn, every part of the body likewise sympathiser with that. The arterial system and the skin are more particularly under this influence ; and, therefore, whatever nauseates the stomach, relaxes the skin and vascular system at large. But this effect so rea- dily under our command in the human system, and in most quadrupeds also, is not, from structural speciality, so readily nor so eligibly exerted in the horse. It is true he may be nauseated ; and during the effect, when confined within certain limits, the circulation will be diminish- ed : but when the nausea is pushed into unavailing efforts to regurgita- tion^ great irritation follows, and the pulse increases in frequency often ; becoming intensely hard, and sometimes irregular also. Under such circumstances, I have seen profuse perspiration, which, in every instance, has left the animal greatly prostrated in strength. When, however, a nauseating effect is found to be readily excited, and with- out producing extreme distress (and these aptitudes are very different in different subjects), it may be advantageously brought in aid of the other means of attacking inflammation. It must, however, be kept in mind, that in any inflammatory attack of the stomach and bowels, it is wholly inadmissible. The articles which may be employed for this purpose are various. When purgation is required as one of the inten- tions of lowering arterial action, two drams of aloes, given every sixth hour until eight drams have been given, will often conveniently fulfil both intentions of nauseating and purging. In the same way I have employed, with great advantage, the sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts), in doses of four or five ounces, every four or five hours, largely diluted, and this particularly where an irritable state of the bowels has forbidden the administration of aloes or other potent medicaments. The more active nauseants will be found among henbane (hyoscyamus), nightshade, (belladonna) wolfsbane, (aconitum) tobacco, (nicotiana) and the root of white hellebore (veratri album). Each of these, from my own experiments, I am enabled to state, will produce nausea, in repeated doses of fifteen to thirty grains. I have occasionally fluc- tuated between my opinions, not of the salutary effects of these various matters, but of the hurtful effects, for they will all produce injurious consequences, unless carefully watched. The white hellebore root, powdered, is employed for this purpose by many veterinarians, and it mendation of its beneficial agency, I freely own it possesses much more than f formerly attributed to it, but still much less in many case-? than others give i* ':r€dit for. 386 OF Fl'Vfin. GENERALLY. [CIUSS I. finds a warm advocate iii Mr. Percivall, who recommends it in doses of tw^enty grains, twice or thrice a-day, and asserts, but I think rather erroneously, that it is the only diaphoretic with which we are yet ac- quainted. Diuretics are also serviceable in allaying inflammatory ac- tion, under the cautions detailed in the article Diuretics. Diluent.^ are also to be considered as assistant febrifuges. Warm water, hay tea, thin gruel, or linseed tea, in considerable quantities, promote dia- phoresis and a soluble state of the bowels. As heat is known to in- crease arterial action, so a cool temperature is generally advisable in these cases, with a thorough access of fresh air. All exercise should be avoided, except such as the horse is inclined to take himself in a loose box : muscular action greatly increases the circulation. Stimu- lating articles, as spices, ale, &c. should be avoided, unless indicated by peculiar circumstances. Hot clothing also, and all general and local causes of irritation, ought to be guarded against. These form the more general indications of cure of diffused inflammation, in the form of general fever, and in that of internal and essential organs "; and Ave shall now^ proceed to speak of the several kinds separately. OF FEVER GENERALLY. The subject of fever is always an intricate one. Some ingenious practitioners do not even believe that it ever exists in the horse as an idiopathic, simple, or primary disease ; but that all febrile complaints are in this animal symptomatic of a local inflammation of some im- portant organ. That fever in the horse does very seldom exist as a pri- mary aff'ection, is certain ; and that it still less frequently remains in an original idiopathic state, without being transferred to some one par- ticular organ, is ei^en more certain. Nevertheless, the attentive vete- rinarian, whose opportunities for observation are extensive, will now and then meet with cases, where what may be called the specific nature of fever is present*. To perfectly understand what is here intended, we must again refer to what has been said on the subject of general in- flammation ; where we have remarked, that ' there appear states or ' circumstances in fever which are not dependent on increased action * alone ; and it is this something that forms the very groat obscurity in * our theory of fever, and which in fact constitutes the very essence of * the disease." (Fee?, jo. 383.) That fever is a disease sui generis, having a specific character not altogether dependent on the heightened action of the vascular system it creates, is pretty generally acknow- ledged, and tolerably easily proved : one very familiar instance seems to present itself. Pneumonia or inflammation of the lungs, even wiien very violent, and attended with alarming symptoms, does not produce so much absolute present prostration of strength in a horse, as an attack of epidemic catarrh, comparatively mild, and attended with little dan- ger. The reason is, that, let the former be as violent as it will, it is still local inflammation, and attended only with increased action, being * In the Nosographie Veterinaire of M. Huzard, a detailed account of simple inflammatory fever appears j and, from the inquiries I made when on the Conti- nent, I found this fever was generally described by all the continental Nosolo- gists. Intermittent fever finds a place also in this Professor's work. He, how- ever, acknowledges it to be extremely rare, but details a well marked case which occurred i\\ the practice of M, Dam.oiseau, ex Veterinaire au Haras du Pin. Class I.] OF FEVER GENERALLY. 387 unaccompanied with other fever than that which we term symptomatic; and which is, as has been before said, a state dependent on the mere increased action of the blood vessels ; and in fact may be rather consi= dered as an effect than a cause. But, on the contrary, as in true or primary fever, one of its strongest characteristics is an early and uni- versal muscular weakness ; so in the epidemic catarrh, which is evi- dently a true febrile affection, having superadded the increased vascular action of an extensive surface of mucous membrane, a comparatively mild attack of it produces a more speedy and evident debility of the muscular powers, than a much more serious affection that is purely local ; even though the symptomatic fever should be much higher than that of the epidemic. It is also very common to deny the existence of a putrid tendency in the fevers of horses ; or rather that any original disposition exists in the inflammatory affections of the horse to assume that type we cha- racterize by the term typhus : but if it be granted that the horse is not wholly incapable of generating or receiving a disease having the spe- cific character of fever (and from what has been brought in proof, I think it must readily be so) ; then, this being granted, it surely will be difficult to deny the putrid tendency of some of the fevers of horses ; seeing that all fevers have many characters in common, and that from analogy it may be readily assumed, that the animal, who is liable to a mixed febrile complaint, such as we describe the fever of the horse to be, shall almost necessarily be subjected to that type of fever so little remote from it. But one fact is worth all the theory in the world : in proof, therefore, it may be added, that the observant practitioner need not be reminded, the epidemic catarrh frequently produces oedematous swellings along the chest and belly, or over the head, or around the joints. In some cases buboes exist, or very large glandular abscesses form : in others a sanious, stinking, and bloody ichor flows from the nose, and, in the end, the whole cellular membrane becomes suffused with a serous fluid termed water farcy. All these are common appear- ances, singly or conjointly, in aggravated cases of the epidemic ca^ tarrh ; and are also now and then met with at the close of that fever which appeared to commence as an idiopathic affection. It may be, therefore, safely affirmed, that the unprejudiced observer, who has once only seen a horse sinking under a disease accompanied with the above appearances, will not hesitate to allow his being capable of be- coming the subject of putrid fever. In the malignant epidemic that sometimes visits horned cattle, the putrid tendency is still more evident and notorious. Under this view of the subject I shall proceed to describe the fevers of the horse into, first. Simple or Idiopathic fever. Secondly, Epi- demic or Catarrhal fever. Thirdly, malignant Epidemic, or malignant Catarrhal fever. Fourthly, I shall observe upon the most common of the fevers of the horse, the Symptomatic, or that febrile appearance that accompanies great local affection or inflammation of some vital and important organ. 388 COMMON OR SIMPLE FEVER. [CloSS I. COMMON OR SIMPLE FEVER. Latin Name. French Name. Synochus.'] [^Fievre inflammatoire. Pure fever is certainly a rare occurrence in the horse ; but I am dis- posed to think, that it is not so much its extreme rarity which renders its existence disputed, as that his constitutional tendencies are such as seldom allow general fever to prevail in him, without a more active and local translation of the inflammation to some vital organ. Few prac- titioners have enjoyed more extensive opportunities for observation than Mons. Huzard, placed as he is immediately under his father in the di- rection of the great Veterinary College of Paris ; and his known re- searches into every subject connected with the practice of veterinary medicine, stamp with no small authority what proceeds from his pen. On this subject we find, in his Esquisse de Nosographie Veterinaire— r '' Cette affection (Fievre inflammatoire simple) est commune au cheval, au bceuf et au chien, et elle debute dans ces trois animaux par des ca- racteres a-peu-pres semblables. Grand lassitude, pesanteur de tete perle de I'appetit, temperature de la peau plus elevee, chaleur de I'air expire plus grande, pouls plus fort, plus frequent, plus vite, rougeur des membranes muqueuses, larmoiement. Dans le chien, haletement sans cause ; dans le bceuf, secheresse du mufle et chaleur des oreilles et des cornes. Elle reconnait pour cause, des fatigues trop fortes, des alimens trop stimulans ; quelquefois dans le cheval, un repos trop prolonge. Cette maladie, d'abord generale ^ toute Teconomie, se termine souvent par resolution, mais degenere aussi en affection locale ; et se change en affection inflammatoire, soit des poumons, soit de quelques parties musculaires, soit enfin, et plus souvent dans le cheval, et inflammation du tissu reticulaire du sabot." In my own practice I have certainly met with this fever ; and I am convinced that many inflammations of vital organs begin by an attack, not local, and confined to that immediate part, but by one which exists, in the first instance, as a general diffused inflammatory action of the vascular system at large. Every practitioner is aware that it is a com- mon practice, when a horse is observed at the very first approach of illness, to rouse him by various means. Among horse-dealers and job- men, when the epidemic of the spring is prevalent, it is the custom to watch their horses narrowly, and to pursue some plan of this kind promptly ; after which they frequently observe no more of the com- plaint : but if the first cold fit be passed over without attention, a hot stage generally succeeds ; in due time the horse again shivers, his hair stares^ and he becomes subjected to other symptoms of illness, and the disease is then fully formed. The means pursued for this end are various, but they are all such as tend to rouse the flagging powers, during the cold fit, into increased action, and into such a degree of it, as considerably to overbalance the increased vascular action produced by the morbid attack, as shall be greater than the increased action of the complaint : and it is upon justly appreciating the two degrees of action, and upon pitting the forced one against the diseased one in Class i.] COMMON OR SIMPLE FEVER. 389 sufficient stvengthj that the salutary effort consists*. Now, were such a plan to be put into practice, when a topical inflammation of some im- portant and vital organ had actually taken place, it would most un- doubtedly greatly aggravate it : but as in diffused inflammatory action, constituting fever, there is a specific character, not wholly dependent on the increase of the vascular power ; so the production of an artificial action, greater than the diseased one, in the early stage, will some- times overcome the febrile one. I think this a sufficient proof that the inflammatory complaints of horses sometimes originate from true fever, translated afterwards from an universal to a particular affection. The proximate cause of this fever, to speak in the customary phraseology, is usually to be found in the plethoric state of the habit in general. The remote causes are probably various. Full feeding, without corresponding exercise ; sudden alterations from a low to a full diet ; excessive fatigue ; great and sudden changes of temperature, may, any or all of them, tend to this : long deprivation likewise from either food or water, particularly the former, may bring it on ; but an alternation of cold with heat is certainly the most common of the ex- citing causes of this as well as of most of the inflammatory attacks of the horse. The vessels of the skin seem in these cases to be first acted on, and probably it is the reaction of the heart and arteries upon this state that constitutes the primary attack ; the keeping up of this reaction is probably dependent on the specific nature of the com= plaint. The Symptoms that present themselves are, first, a shivering fit, in which the skin is corrugated, and shakes violently; the hair stares, and the legs, ears, and muzzle, feel intensely cold, all which last a longer or shorter period according to the violence of the attack, &c. To these some degree of heat succeeds, and the horse resumes nearly his usual habits ; until the second cold fit occurs, after which the pulse becomes increased in frequency and fulness. The skin is found alternately hot and cold, with occasional partial sweatings ; the bowels rumble, and are flatulent, and general uneasiness, without acute pain, is manifested, by restlessness, and frequent shifting of position. The inner surface of the eyelids and nostrils is slightly increased in redness ; thirst is pre- sent, and costiveness is also common, but the respiration is not greatly accelerated. * During the memorable expedition to the Helder, under Sir Ralph Aber- crombie, I was stationed in the advanced lines as Surgeon to the second battalion of the 40th Regiment. The troops so stationed were usual! j'^ under arms every morning by break of day, to prevent surprise; and, in that unhealthy country, the standing exposed for two or three hours was found to occasion many intermittent attacks ; thefirst rigors of which always took place while thus stand- ing unemployed. At first, when such an attack took place, the man was ordered out and retired, and, on my seeing him afterwards, the disease was formed, and usually ran through its course. This began to be so frequent, that our ranks were likely to be thinned, and I resolved on attempting at prevention in preference to cure. In future, therefore, whenever a man began to complain, I was instantly informed of it ; and, instead of allowing him to retire, I gave him on the spot from two to three grains of opium, nipped from off a piece I kept in my pocket for the express purpose. I then ordered him to be walked briskly for half an hour between two men, and afterwards to fall into the ranks again. So efficacious was this plan of combating the incipient disease, by a stimulant greater than the morbid one, that not one in ten of those in future attacked on the spot had oc- t^asion for medical assistance afterwards. 390 COMMON OR SIMPLE FEVER. [ClaSS 1, Such is usually the first stage of simple fever, as I have ohserved it, and thus much of it, I conceive, occurs more frequently than is gene- rally supposed ; hut it is very common for it at this time to sink its specific character of true fever into a local attack on some particular organ, as the brain, lungs, bowels, kidnies, and not unfrequently to the feet. Under any of these circumstances, the primary character of fever is lost, and the remaining febrile symptoms become secondary and symptomatic. The preference it may have in these instances for any one organ over another, is not easily accounted for ; but it may be con- nected with local circumstances, particularly with such as have had a tendency to produce an unusual determination of blood to a part. Violent and long-continued exercise is observed to give this disposition to the lungs, from the very great quantity of blood forced through them during exertion. Water, thrown over a horse when hot, is very apt, by checking perspiration, to bring on a state of the bowels, or of other viscera, predisposing them to inflame. A heavy and awkward rider, travelling a great distance, subjects the kidnies to such injury, that they often require but little additional stimulus to take on nephri-. lis : and it is equally notorious, that severe riding in the snow, or the custom of washing the feet when a horse is very hot, particularly in frosty weather, will produce, by re-action, a determination of blood to these parts, which a febrile irritation, the consequence of severe exer- cise, and injudicious management, may, by translation, be converted into acute founder, and such appears the origin of many acute foun- dered cases. It remains to be noticed, that, independent of these purely local attacks, there is great reason to believe that this fever not unfrequently degenerates into the catarrhal epidemic ; and I am inclined to think, that many of those cases which commence by a simple rigor, and which are often prevented from proceeding farther by simply overcoming this, are of this nature. But should none of these attacks occur, but, on the contrary, should this fever remain, after the first stage, purely idiopathic, which, though very seldom, does now and then happen, a series of symptoms supervene seldom invariably the same in any two subjects, but with sufficient general characters to describe them as follows : — The pulse continues to have a corded feel, but loses still more of its fulness, and increases in quickness ; the skin also becomes moist, the eyes weep, and appear red and inflamed ; and while the nose secretes a thin acrid fluid, the mouth is usually hot and dry. The urine at first is gradually secreted in larger quantities, and becomes of an opaque colour. It is not unusual, also, for the hind legs to swell, and sometimes likewise serous deposits take place about the head, the throat, or along the chest and belly ; and when these occur early in the complaint, I should consider them, in this as in the epidemic catarrh, rather as favourable indications ; that is, I have found the irritative fevers of the horse, so accompanied, more tractable than others without: but I think I have observed the reverse of this to be the case in the fevers of horned cattle. What I have just described may be considered as constituting the middle and principal stage of this fever, to which, under favourable circumstances, there succeeds a softer and less frequent pulse ; the coun- tenance looks more lively ; and although the muscular weakness rather Class I.] INFLAMMATORY FEVER IN NEAT CATTLE. 391 increases, the irritability lessens ; the secretions also return to their natural state ; the mouth feels cool and moist, and the heat of the body becomes lessened, as well as regular and equable throughout ; slight symptoms of returning appetite likewise appear : under which circum- stances, a resolution of the fever is formed. An unfavourable termi= nation I have never seen, and consequently I cannot describe the more mortal symptoms. Prognosis. — This must be formed from the degree of inflammatory diathesis manifested in the first instance ; the disposition of it to lessen or to increase in the second stage ; the age, constitution, and condition of the individual attacked being taken into the account. The Treatment of Simple Fever. — It has been before remarked, that if the first rigor be observed, and artificial means be judiciously used to overcome it, by rousing the flagging powers when under the in- fluence of the cold fit, that the specific morbid action will sometimes at once give place to the one artificially excited, and the future pro- gress of the disease will be completely arrested. It is but seldom, however, that sufficient attention is paid to detect the febrile attack at its outset ; and without it be thus attended to during the first cold fit, it would be useless, and even worse than useless, to attempt any thing of this kind afterwards. But when one case has already occui-red, and as others become attacked in a similar manner, it may happen that the attendants may notice the commencement of future instances ; so for the benefit of which cases it may be proper to point out the means that may be safely used. The instant the cold fit is observed, clothe the horse warmly, and immediately take him out and trot him briskly for ten minutes only ; when brought again into the stable, hand rub him well over by the assistance of two or three persons : having done which, give the following, with half a pint of ale :— Nitrous aether (srveet spirit of nitre) one ounce Acetated liquor of ammonia ( Minder erus^s spirit) six ounces Or, Carbonated ammonia (spirit of hartshorn) six drams Warm ale a pint. In spite of this preventive treatment, if the rigor continue its course, and a hot fit succeed to this, with the additional symptoms detailed also ; then proceed to treat as directed under Diffused Inflammation. More minute practical particulars may be readily gained from the treatment of the remaining febrile affections of the horse. INFLAMMATORY FEVER IN NEAT CATTLE. Oxen and cows are subject to a highly inflammatory fever which usually terminates by a critical deposit on some part or parts. This complaint is known to farriers, cowleeches, and graziers, by the various names of Black quarter; Joint felon; Quarter evil; Quarter ill; Shewt of blood ; Joint murrain ; Striking in of the blood ; and Black leg. It is more common among two or three year old cattle than those of any other ages. Any cause producing an inflammatory diathesis will occasion it : among the most frequent is a change of food from a meagre to a more nutritious one, and hence it is very common among the droves brought from the north into the luxurious pastures of tJie southern, midland, and western districtii. It is sudden in its attack, and rapid in C c 3^2 INFLAMMATORY FEVER IN SHEEP. [ClaSS I. its progress, presenting highly inflammatory appearances at first, which as quickly degenerate into a low and putrid type ; as indeed do most of the inflammatory afl'ections of neat cattle and sheep. The first symptom usually betrayed is a dull heavy countenance, with red eye- lids and nostrils, a pulse quick and hard ; the dung being either re- tained altogether, or hardened and in small quantities. The appetite fails, and the animal is sometimes drowsy, but more often is subject to increased watchfulness. On the second or third day a critical deposit takes place, which terminates the inflammatory action. This deposit, in some, proves an universal diffusion of bloody serum throughout the cellular membrane ; in others, inflammatory phlegmonous tumours form on the joints, or on the back or belly. From the putrid tendency in the complaint, a quantity of gas is likewise let loose within the cellular membrane in some instances, which produces a crepitation or crackling under the skin, similar to that which appears in veal when blown up by butchers. Under these appearances, unless speedily relieved, the ani- mal sinks ; and it may be remarked, that after the critical deposits have formed, the disease usually assumes a more putrid type, and pro- ceeds in its malignity in the same degree of rapidity that the early stage ran in inflammatory action. ^ The Treatment.-' When the disease is detected before the skin cre- pitates, or before swellings have formed, bleed freely to the amount of three quarts, and immediately give a brisk purge : but, if the critical deposits have been made, be more sparing of the lancet, and also of the purging, unless the pulse should still remain very full and strong, in which case the purge may be administered ; and when that has ope- rated, proceed to give the following night and morning: — Nitrous a&ther (sweet spirit of nitre) an ounce Acetated liquor of ammonia (Mindererus^s spirit) six ounces Strong decoction of camomile c... six ounces;, Or, Beer yeast six ounces Powdered charcoal ...» an ounce Ale or cider half a pint. The swellings may also be rubbed with yeast or beer grounds ; but the puncturing of the emphysematous tumors, unless they be enor- mously large, is not to be advised. INFLAMMATORY FEVER IN SHEEP. Sheep fever, Higham striking, or Blood striking, are all names used to characterize a sudden diffused inflammatory attack to which these valuable animals are liable. The treatment in nowise differs from that of neat cattle, making allowance in the proportions of the medicaments for the different proportions in bulk and strength of the animals. THE EPIDEMIC CATARRHAL FEVER. Catarrhus.] [Courbature, Morfondure. The catarrhal fever, which is also popularly called Distemper, at- tacks horses at anytime, and almost under any circumstance ; but it Chssl.] THK EPIDEMIC CATARRHAL FEVER. 393 is infinitely more prevalent at some times, and under some circum- stances, than at others. No age is exempt from it, but the number of yoimg subjects attacked is much greater than that of older ones. The horses of large cities and crowded towns are also more obnoxious to it than those less confined. Occasionally, however, it rages in a truly epidemic form, when the liability to its attack is almost uniform among all varieties, with the exception, that, even under this state, young sub- jects, and those newly brought into stable management, are more liable to it than the older and trained horses. The spring months appear particularly favourable to its production, and the prevalence is mate- rially increased by a variable state of the atmosphere, as great and sudden changes from dry to wet, from heat to cold, and still more cer- tainly if accompanied with a long continued easterly wind. Now and then it is found to occur in wet autumns also. It has been disputed whether it be contagious or not, and this point is by no means easy to decide. When the disease is generated from the mere application of cold or moisture, it appears but little contagious ; but when it rages as an epidemic, and is universally prevalent, it then certainly appears to exhibit contagious characters *. Our older farriers formed very erroneous conceptions concerning it, and also frequently confounded it with a disease known by the French under the term courhature, or chest founder; which, in some instances, was a rheumatic attack of the scapulary and intercostal muscles ; and in others an inflamma- tion of the feet. The old French farriers fell into the same error ; and even the more early ones of the reformed school have confounded it with pneumonia t; and although its causes, symptoms, and ter- minations are now as well known there as here, yet the French writers are so fond of wire-drawn divisions of their diseases, that we still find catarrh split into nasal, bronchial, pulmonary, and bastard strangles. With us also it is yet frequently confounded with pneumonia, or idio- pathic inflammation of the lungs. Nor is the mistake to be won- * It is not considered as epidemic or contagious by many veterinarians, and the circumstance of so many aged horses escaping it when fully within the sphere of its action, would seem to contravene the opinion that it is so, and to encourage a conclusion that it owes its contagious character more to the force and extent of the predisposition generated by a variable atmosphere, than to any morbid infec- tion. Mr. Wilkinson, of Newcastle, who appears to have seen a good deal of it, how- ever, describes it as decidedly contagious, and marks the differences between the two on the frame. Gibson, who gives a very excellent account of its ravages in London in the year 1732, said it then proved itself decidedly contagious. His de- scription of the symptoms exactly agrees with those we have detailed. He found benefit from bleeding when the irritative febrile symptoms ran high ; neither did he find that such a plan stopped the purulent secretion, but, as he thinks, rather prevented it running into gangrene. In 1734, we learn from him that it appeared again, and was accompanied with vesicular eruptions over the body, and which are, he observes, peculiar to the catarrh in the epidemic form. Osmer is no less particular in his description of it, as it raged in 1750 as an epidemic, as he observes. He advises bleeding in the early and highly inflammatory stages : in all others, he observes, it does harm. t La courbature est a peu pres la m^me maladie que la pleuresie : c'est une in- flammation du poumon, causae par u.ie fatigue outree, ou un travail force. Le cheval a une fi^rre considerable, tient la tete basse, est degout^, respire avec peine, tousse et jette par lenez une humeur glarieuse, quelquefois jaunStre, quel- quefois sanguinolente. On donne quelquefois le nom de courhature a une fatigue ou lassitude simple; mais ce n'est pas ce que j'entends ici.— Zo Fosse; Diet, d^Hipjoiatrique. C c2 394 THE EPIDEMIC CATARUHAL FEVER. [CIUSS I. dered at in thoae of moderate experience, from the circumstance of these diseases owning some symptoms in common ; and, in fact, from its frequently terminating in that complaint. It is however of ^reat consequence to distinguish it from simple in- flammation of the lungs ; as, from what follows, it will be found that there are some important differences to be pursued in the treatment ; for, in the catarrhal fever, if the bleeding and other parts of the de- pleting system be carried too far, the consequences are pernicious ; while, on the contrary, in pneumonia this plan, particularly in the early stage, can hardly be prosecuted too vigorously. To an atten- tive observer, such a mistake is not likely to happen ; many circum- stances will present themselves, as the early defluxion from the nose in catarrh, and its tendency to become purulent, the tenderness and swelling of the submaxillary glands, and the early prostration of strength which appears in it, compared with the violence of the other febrile symptoms. In catarrh, the pulse also is usually one which cha- racterizes irritative fever ; while in pneumonia it is usually oppressed^ and, when examined at the heart, it is almost indistinct. Catarrhal symptoms. — The disease usually commences with a rigor, or shivering fit, but which is frequently not observed : to this succeeds a defluxion from one or both nostrils, at first of a thin and serous na- ture ; the eyes also appear heavy, red, and moist. The serous exuda- tion from the linings of the nose, however, soon loses its thin, watery character, and becomes mixed with flaky coagula from the Schneide- rian membrane ; and if an early resolution of the inflammation does not take place, the suppurative process next succeeds, and the dis- charge becomes purulent. The general tendency in mucous surfaces in continuity, and even in contiguity, to become similarly affected, ex- tends the inflammation into the pharynx and larynx, from which the tonsils frequently become tumefied and tender. Sore throat is there- fore a very frequent accompaniment to the complaint, and which shews itself by a difficulty in swallowing water, which is rather sucked than gulped. The food also is chewed, or " quidded,'' as it is termed, and then thrown out of the mouth. The inflammation extending itself throughout the larynx makes cough a usual symptom also, and which is more harsh, dry, and frequent, as the inflammation passes the rima glottis and enters the trachea, or less so when it confines itself to the larynx alone. From the tumefaction about the rima glottis, the cough is sometimes so painful as to occasion impatience and stamping in the horse during his cough, which is deep and sonorous. When the in- flammation extends itself into the parenchyma of the lungs, pneumonic symptoms, as oppressed pulse, and intensely red nasal linings, are added to the catarrhal affection. The leading characters of the com- plaint, which seem to consist in an inflammatory attack on the secret- ing mucous membranes of the head and throat, give a tendency in the neighbouring parts also, concerned in other secretions, to participate in the same inflammation, which cannot but be considered as of a spe- cific and peculiar kind. Thus it is very common for the maxillary glands to become tender and tumid, and not unfrequently the parotids also. The same tendency likewise produces phlegmonous tumours, which sometimes form in various parts of the head, and greatly pro- tract the disease. In some instances also, swellings ap^ar on th,e Class I. ] THE BPCDKMIC CATARRHAL FEVER. 395 chest, belly, or legs, but these seldom prove critical, and terminate the disease. Neither do they, when they do not suppurate, aggravate it ; on the contrary, I have remarked, that when they appeared early, they formed rather a favourable prognostic than otherwise. As it is at the iirst, so it continues to be accompanied with general irritative fever, which shews itself by listlessness and lassitude, loss of appetite, some- what quickened breathing, and a pulse accelerated to near 60, and sometimes to more : but, unless the fever be unusually great, the pulse is seldom very full, or very hard. A remarkable prostration of strength soon follows the formation of the fever, and the suppurative process. Thus, about the third or fourth day, the horse, on being moved from his stall or box, will usually be found much weaker than the violence of the accompanying symptoms would give reason to ex- pect. This is so generally observed, that the attendant debility alone is a marked characteristic of the disease. About this time, if the complaint be mild, and if the treatment have been judicious, although the purulent discharge may rather increase than diminish, yet the severity of the other symptoms may be expect- ed to abate. The cough and soreness of throat will lessen, the pulse moderate, the heat of the body will become equable, the countenance more lively, and the horse will now probably be disposed to eat some favourite food. The dung, which has been before dry and in small quantities, and the urine, which has been also spare and high colour- ed, return to their natural states, and the horse recovers gradually, but seldom rapidly. The complaint however does not always take this favourable turn ; on the contrary, by injudicious treatment, or by the violence of the attack, or by a translation of the inflammatory action, the respiration some- times becomes greatly disturbed, occasioning much heaving at the flanks ; the legs, ears, and muzzle become cold, the pulse is found greatly quickened, and the weakness to be increased. The nasal membranes now often look in some parts livid, and in others of a fiery red : the discharge from them also is tinged with streaks of blood. In these cases, unless relief be speedily obtained, the pulse will proceed to falter, cold sweats will appear, and the animal will often sink on the fifth, sixth, or seventh day. In other cases, these fatal symptoms are not so rapid ; but, eventually, the horse becomes tabid, and dies after ten, twelve, or fourteen days. Not unfrequently also, when the inflammation has extended to the lungs, serous eff'usion takes place, as in pneumonia, and suffocation closes the scene. In some in- stances a partial recovery takes place, but the horse remains thick winded, or he proves a roarer, or the disease blocks up the air cells, and he becomes altogether broken winded. See these terminations fully detailed in Pneumonia. Causes. — These have been described as principally dependent on a variable state of the atmosphere, acting upon a peculiar liability or aptitude in the constitution to become affected ; more particularly at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. In some years, this liability is more general than in others, and if to these be added an unusually va- riable temperature, with atmospheric moisture, the disease assumes a severer and more epidem.ic type. In such seasons it is that catarrh 096 THE EPIDEMIC CATARRHAL FEVBR. [Classl» puts on appearances which has gained it the character of contagious? also. Prognosis. — This must be drawn from the mildness or violence of the general symptoms, as the quickness or moderation of the pulse, the state of the breathing, the early and kindly discharge of a moderate quantity of healthy purulent matter from the nose. When the pa- tient coughs strong and without much distress, eats moderately, and remains tolerably free from weakness, there is little danger: but if, on the contraiy, the local and constitutional symptoms are inordinate, and the prostration of strength very great, particularly when these are protracted beyond the fifth day, the danger is considerable. Treatment of the Epidemic or Catarrhal Fever. — According to the degree of violence exhibited by the symptoms, so must the treatment correspond in activity ; and before this is detailed, it is proper to re- mark, that when a cold fit immediately precedes the attack, and is de- tected, if any stimulant be given sufficiently strong to overcome the irritation already produced, that in such case the complaint will fre- quently make no further progress. The means whereby this may be effected are detailed in the treatment of simple fever. But when the cold fit has once given place to the hot fit, the disease may be consi- dered as formed ; and then to give stimulants would greatly aggravate it. The treatment in catarrhal cases must be begun by bleeding to the amount of two, three, or four quarts, according to the age, size, and condition of the subject ; but should a practitioner be called to a case of this kind the third or fourth day from the attack, he ought well to examine the state of the pulse before he proceeds to bleed. It would also be prudent to examine the general strength of the patient by walking him out a few paces ; for if the pulse, though quick, should be small, and the horse stagger in his gait when taken out, particu- larly should he be a young one, then by no means draw blood. But otherwise, when called early in the complaint, bleed to the amount mentioned ; and, unless urged to it by certain appearances in the blood drawn, or by any rational fears of topical affection of the chest, or that the febrile symptoms remain very strong, and the pulse does not become softer and less frequent ; unless any, or all, of these circum- stances urge it, do not repeat the bleeding ; but should the existence of any of these render it necessary, then repeat it to the amount of two-thirds of the original quantity only. After this, back rake, and open the body by laxative clysters (see Materia Medica), and bran mashes ; and if these do not succeed, give some laxatives by the moutb also (see Laxatives, Mat. Med.), but avoid actively purging the horse, and proceed to give the following ball twice a-day. No. 1. — Tartarised antimony (emetic tartar) two drams Nitrated potash (nitre) three drams Supertartrate of potash (cream of tartar) , . two drams Honey, sufficient to make a ball. But when the cough is painful, or when the throat is too sore to ad- mit a ball, then the following drink may be substituted with advan- tage, and may be repeated twice or three times a-day, according to ,the urgency of the symptoms : No. 2.— Tartarised antimony (emetic tartar) two drams Nitrated potash Cni^re) three drams Sim.ple oxymcl (see Mat, Med.) four ounces Class J,] THE EPIDEMIC CATARRHAL FEVER. 397 First dissolve the tartarised antimony and nitrate of potash in six ounces of warm water, and then add the oxymel. Should any symp- toms of pneumonia appear, the treatment must, of course, be varied ; but otherwise, the strength of the animal should be kept up by horn- ing down linseed tea or gruel, in case nutriment is not willingly taken ; and when the debility is extreme, gruel should be thrown up as clys- ters also. Chilled water should be frequently offered the horse, and it should be placed nearly on a level with his breast, and suffered to remain so, the soreness of the throat often preventing the horse from stooping, though he might otherwise be inclined to drink. Malt mashes may also be given as soon as the debility becomes apparent ; and from the first attack, green meat, if it can be procured, is desira- ble. Hand-feeding with choice picked hay (clover hay will be often pre- ferred) will entice 'such a horse frequently to eat. When the sore throat is a predominating symptom, apply a mild blistering application to it, and do the same also to the tumified submaxillary glands, or the paro- tids when similarly affected. The infusum lyttse, or mild sweating blister as it is called, will prove a convenient application for this pur- pose (see Mat. Med.). Early in the complaint, when perfect resolu- tion cannot be procured, proceed to assist the maturative process, to which end warmth tends ; as one means to apply which, a warm mash should be constantly kept in the manger, or, what would be much bet- ter, to hang it to the head by means of a nose bag, the mash being put in hot, and renewed every four hours, which will greatly tend to bring the vessels to a suppurative process, and thus terminate the in- flammation, and prevent the throwing out of coagulable lympth either in the trachea or bronchia ; which should be, to the practitioner, a de- sideratum of the utmost consequence : for, if catarrhal fever be early brought to discharge by the nose, and if such discharge be kept up without check from cold, the disease will rarely terminate in broken wind, thick wind, or chronic cough. This early discharge will be likewise promoted by clothing the head in a woollen hood ; the body should also be tolerably warmly clothed, and the legs ought to be watched, and should they become cold, they should be hand-rubbed and wrapped round with flannel or haybands. In fact, I think genial warmth more necessary in this complaint than in any other of the in- flammatory affections to which the horse is liable: and in this, as in every other fever of the horse, an open airy box, or at least a loose stall, is of great consequence. When the former is to be had, no other exercise is required than that which the sick animal will take himself ; for in walking horses out who are labouring under active ill- ness, it should be remembered that exercise hurries respiration, and thus increases the circulation. If the disease assume a still more ma- lignant turn, treat as detailed under the next head. Besides the terminations already stated, catarrh has been found to de- generate into a chronic form ; the mucous membranes affected with the specific inflammation have engendered an irritable habit, and they have been found to continue on every exertion to throw off purulent matter by the nose, and sometimes abscesses continue to form about the head. In all these cases, insert a seton or two in the jaws, stable soil the hoise^ and givp tonic remedies (see 3Iat. Med), Catarrh, long pro- 398 MALIGNANT EPIDEMIC FEVER. [ClttSS 1. tracted, has also ended in founder, which probably arises from the pressure of long standing producing congestion in the feet. Neat cattle and sheep are affected occasionally with catarrhal fever, in both of which it produces symptoms and effects similar to those of horses. Neither does the treatment differ, allowing for the peculiari- ties of the animal in point of situation, structure, and bulk, which renders one quarter of the dose (of antimonials less) prescribed for the horse proper for a sheep, and two thirds for an ox or cow. MALIGNANT EPIDEMIC FEVER. Typhus Gravior.] [Maladie Epidemique. It has been doubted whether horses are subject to putrid fever ; but whoever has observed a horse apparently first attacked with the mild or common epidemic, which then proceeded through all the stages of morbid debility to throw out the most foetid sanies from the nose ; the stools, and all the secretions betraying the same foetor ; and, at last, the whole cellular membrane becoming affected with serous effusion, termed water farcy ; cannot then doubt the existence of a putrid affec- tion in this animal. Among neat cattle its ravages are too notorious, and its characters too well marked, to need argument ; and it may be also considered as a full proof of the liability of the horse to the same, that during the ravages of the malignant epidemic among cattle» horses have also become affected ; though it must be allowed that this has but seldom taken place, and, on the contrary, in some seasons there has been undoubted evidence that horses have fed and housed among infected kine with impunity. But that, not only does the horse generate and produce this epidemic with a true malignant character in his own person, but that he does also now and then receive it by the medium of affected cattle, there is full proof. All the French veteri- nary authors describe this disease. Bourgelat treats largely on it ; and La Fosse, among other symptoms of putridity, notices the exist- ence of aphthae or thrush throughout the mouth, throat, and alimen- tary canal. Other authors, likewise, mention an epidemic among horses, accompanied with a phlegmonous tumour, similar to the human anthrax, which did not proceed to suppuration, but fell immediately into gangrene. Lancisi, an Italian veterinary writer, describes a pu- trid epidemic that destroyed many horses in that country in 1712. Osmer also, a well-known English veterinarian, notices an epidemic among horses, that had evidently some putrid appearances, and was undoubtedly of a malignant kind, from what he terms the critical ab- scesses, and which distemper, he says, had raged for more than fifty years, at different periods *. It appears to have been known also to the antients, and we learn from antient history, that they were in the habits of sacrificing to their deities to avert the calamity. Franciscus Fantasti,and John Baptist Mazzini, who have written DePeste Bourn, inform us, that the horses of their country became, in like manner, * Memoire sur une Epizootic qui se manifesta sur les chevaux du d6p6t du20* regiment de chasseurs, en garrison i Metz ; suivi d'un aper9u de celle qui aT6gne en I'an 2 sur les betes i cornes de la commune de Tramois j par J. B. Gohier, Lyon. CtoS I.] MALIGNANT EPIDEMIC FEVER IN NEAT CATTLE. 399 infected with it : and from whence, we are told, they inferred that the contagion of one kind of animal could excite a similar diseased action in another of a different kind ; and of which we have, in fact, other instances, as the grease of horses will inoculate the teats of the cow, who, in return, will taint the milker's hand. The rabid dog gives his mortal malady to all around him, &c. &c. Symptoms.~The m.alignant epidemic of horses always commences by similar appearances to those which characterise the mild epidemic: in fact, there is every reason to suppose that, in many cases, the one is only a heightened degree of the other, pushed into a putrid type by the violence of its action ; but at some times, we have reason to be lieve it has raged as a malignant disease altogether, sui generis, though, fortunately, it has been but seldom. In the malignant kind, in addition to the symptoms accompanying common catarrh, purging is usually present, and a bloody stinking discharge from the nose also ; the breath is likewise foetid, the pulse quick, small, and wavering, and the weakness extreme. Treatment. — Whenever the common epidemic rages with peculiar violence, still more caution ought to be observed with regard to bleed- ing ; but a laxative should never be omitted ; and as soon as any ap- pearances of malignity present themselves, the most active means must be employed to support the strength, and destroy the putrid ten- dency. The temperature around should be rendered cool, and fumi- gations of hot vinegar frequently used; perhaps even a vinegar bath might do good. Green meat should be given, malt mashes also, and nutritious clysters ; and when the weakness is very great, or the ap- pearances of putridity alarming, give port wine, ale, or cider, and in case of diarrhoea throw up starch clysters. The following may be ad- ministered every four hours : — "Nitrous aether (sweet spijnt of nitre) half an ounce Mindererus's spirit ( see Mat. Med.) . four ounces Infusion of camomile six ounces Beer yeast six ounces Tincture of opium three drams. Mix. To this, in case of necessity, may be added two ounces of Peruvian, oak, or willow bark. THE MALIGNANT EPIDEMIC FEVER IN NEAT CATTLE. The distemper, murrain, or pest, among cattle, has at various times proved a terrible scourge to the agricultural interest, and, in- deed, to the world at large. We gather from history, that the malig- nant epidemic was not unknown to the antients ; and the ravages it committed among their cattle were such as to induce them to make solemn fasts to appease the divine wrath and avert the calamity ; and though it is probable it has appeared more or less in every succeeding •^gc, yet among the moderns but little was written on the subject be- fore the beginning of the eighteenth century, during the first half of which it became very prevalent on the Continent. In 1757, it gave Britain also a very heavy visitation, before which it seoms not to have been much known in this kingdom. In 1710, 1711, 1712, and 1713, 1(K) MALIGNANT EFIDKMIC FKVER [ClaSS I. it raged among neat cattle tliroughout Hungary, Italy, and Spain. LaiM'isi, an Italian author of this time, whom we have before noticed, wrote a celebrated treatise on the comi^l'dint, JJiS'Serfatio Historica de Bovilla PestCy in which he attributed its origin to a particular poison. Michellotti likewise treated of the epidemic of this period, but sup- posed it occasioned ]iy the unfavourable weather having injured the grass, and rendered the ground damp: De 3Iorbis Bourn. Gazola describes the disease as accompanied with pustulous sores, from which issued an ichorous bloody discharge : De Peste Bourn. In the years 1730 and 1731, it also raged, and was the means of producing several tracts on the subject. In 17^0, there was another Continental attack, but which does not, from the accounts given, ap- pear materially to have differed from the former. In 1744, 1745, and 1746, it again became prevalent throughout Holland, extending to Germany, and other parts of the Continent, making dreadful havoc. Buchard, an Italian author, wrote expressly on it at this time, and called it an acute malignant continued fever, or a contagious and in- flammatory affection, accompanied with dysentery. The whole ac- count this author gives of it is excellent, and the plan of treatment, for the time he lived in, appears highly judicious : Buchard de Lue Vac- carum Tuhugensi. But the person who has left us the best description of this terrible disease, is M. Sauvages, the illustrious Professor of Medicine at Mont- pelier. He describes it as very fatal ; making its appearance by a dis- taste to food, and, when the symptoms had become well marked, the affected animal had a dull heavy air, the head was held down, the sight was indistinct; he grew restless, lying down and rising again frequently, with an unusual trembling ; the hair stared, the eyes wa- tered, the extremities were cold, and the whole of the muzzle was ex- coriated from the acrimony of the purulent running ; the respiration became constrained and difficult, and the pulse from forty-five to fifty in a minute ; while in health, he says, it only amounted to thirty-eight pulsations, more or less*. Purging was a constant symptom in the complaint after the first two days: but, previous to this, there was frequently an appearance of costiveness, and a little hard black dung was produced: after which, came on a constant evacuation of a deep green fluid, that was intolerably foetid, but which, it was remarkable, other cattle, so far from avoiding, sought it, and seemed to have a de- light in smelling to {i-enifler), and snuffing it up ; and that dogs and swine would eat it : this matter on the fifth and sixth days assumed an oily appearance, with air bubbles on the top. The prognostic was fa- vourable or unfavourable, in proportion to the violence of the diarr- hoea, which was so fatal a symptom, that it frequently carried off the animal the day it appeared. There was usually great tenderness about the withers and spine, and frequently also an emphysematous appearance. On dissection there existed marks of inflammation, but seldom of gangrene : the paunch was generally found full of hard, dry, undissolved matter ; the other stomachs were livid and inflamed, as was the internal surface of the intestines: the -^all-bladder was '^ It is probable that some error has accidentally crept into this account by this celebrated author ; as neither the increase during illness, nor the natural state of the pulse, can be correct. Class I.] IN NEAT CATTLE. 401 usually very much distended, with an acrid thick brown bile ; and the lungs sometimes, likewise, exhibited marks of inflammation. Mons. Sauvages adds, that, on a calculation, nineteen in twenty of those at- tacked were killed by it. No specific was found for it, nor any means of prevention, but that of separating the healthy from the sick ; even the dogs that went into the infected stables became diseased, and the per- sons attending upon the animals were so likewise. In conjunction with the other medical professors of Montpelier, this illustrious author re- commends to bleed the animal the moment he is suspected of being sick, and to do the same as a preventive; and immediately after to give a purgative of aloes and senna: he also recommends to augment the insensible perspiration by means of stimulants, after which setons are to be introduced into the dewlap. The other medicines employed, were the theriaca andromachi, or diascordium, with the testaceous powders to excite a flow of saliva, and a running at the nose : to give exit to the emphysematous air, he directs slight sections in the skin ; and he advises also to acidulate the drink with vinegar. He adds, in another place, that bleeding and purging appeared hurtful in this disease ; I suppose he means, that they were not to be proceeded with after the first day ; but that mucilaginous fluids, ipecacuanha, and the lesser astringents, were the best means of cure. Perhaps it would be diflicult to point out a superior mode of treatment to this. P^ide Memoir e sur la Maladie Epidemique des Bwufs de Vivarais. In 1756 and 1757 this disease raged in England likewise, which pro- duced several tracts on the subject at the time, most of which did not outlive the continuance of the epidemic ; but among them, one by Dr. Layard, a physician of London, was so much esteemed, that it became translated into several other languages. He describes the complaint as first appearing by a difiiculty of swallowing, an itching of the ears, an involuntary motion of the head, and a staggering gait ; to these succeeded the greatest debility, and a constant desire for rest : there was much cough, and the exacerbations of fever were greatest at night, with constant diarrhoea ; the perspiration had a disagreeable smell, and there were little tumours felt under the skin in passing the hand over the body : these symptoms augmented usually on the seventh or niuth day, at which time, if the body became covered with large pus- tules or tumours, which proceeded to suppuration ; if the foeces be- came less liquid, and the urine thicker or less pale, the prognostic was favourable : but if, on the contrary, the diarrhoea continued beyond this period, if the breath continued hot and the body cold, and the dis = charge from the eyes and nose increased, the animal appearing in pain, then death was usually near. Dr. Layard's mode of treatment appears judicious : he directs the animal to be placed in an open stable, the litter frequently removed : those which were robust he recommends blood to be taken from ; those that were lean, on the contrary, not : the body to be then washed all over with an infusion of aromatic herbs in water (if it had been in vi- negar, it might have been better) ; this was to be repeated every day : he likewise directs setons in the dew-lap, and, if there were much ap- pearance of inflammation, and the animal were also costive, he advises a f urgative of lenitive electuarv and Glauber's salts. In addition, he 40:3 MALIGNANT fcPIDKMIC PEVER [ClttSS I. advises an infusion of madder and horse-radish, fennel, feverfew, rue, and sage, to be given night and morning. From these united testimonies two indications present themselves ; the one is a curative, the otlicr a preventive one. The Curative Treatment of this complaint may be, in a great mea- sure, gathered from these united accounts. It may be added, that the treatment may be condensed info such means as will principally tend to support strength and combat putridity. Bleeding, even in the early stages, ought to be sparingly employed; but an active purgative may be with great propriety administered. Fumigations should be made use of tending to destroy contagion, and those of the nitric acid would be most proper. See Fumigation, Mat. Med, The abscesses should be bathed or fomented with hot vinegar ; but, above all, I would recommend an active and observant trial of the following, given three times a day : — Nitrous sether half an ounce Acetated liquor of ammonia four ounces Beer yeast eight ounces. Should there be much diarrhoea present, add to this, powdered opium one drachm ; and likewise throw up a starch clyster frequently. The Preventive Treatment must consist in first separating the infected from the healthy, and strictly preventing their future inter- course. Their usual stalls and houses should be fumigated. The un- healthy districts should be put under strict quarantine, and the healthy should destroy the germ of contagion if possible, by universal fires of green wood throughout the country. In these places particular care should be taken to house the cattle when the weather is intem- perate, and all exposure to inclemency should be carefully avoided. It is not improbable also that a mild purgative every ten days might do much as a 'prophylactic. The houses in which the aifected may have been, and all their appointments, should be washed with lime, and the apartments fumigated with the antiseptic fumigations. The bodies of the animals who die from the disease should be buried sufficiently deep to cover them from dogs, &c.; and their skins should be buried with them*. SYMPTOMATIC FEVER. Bv this is to be understood those general inflammatory appearances which accompany great local affection ; that is, when any one or more * For the agriculturist who may wish to prosecute his inquiries on this subject further, it may not be uninteresting to note the Continental works which contain the best information thereon : — Examen de la notice sur I'epizootie qui regna sur le gros betail, par M. M. Girard et Dupuy, Directeur et Professeurs a I'ecole Veterinaire d'Alfort. — Essai sur les epizootics, par M. Guersent, Paris. — Marasme (du) epizootique, des fourrages extraordinaires & de I'eroploi des matieres animales pour restaurer les herbivores, ou instruction sur les moyens d'arreter la mortalite du betail qui perit d'epuisement j par CoUaine. — Memoir sur la ma- ladie epizootique regne en ce moment 1814, sur les betes a comes, dans le departement du Rhoue et ailleurs, par J. B. Gohier, Lyon.— Rapports et observa- tion sur I'epizootie contagieuse regnant sur les betes a comes de pleusieur de- partmens de !a France. Tableaux synoptique des differentes voies par lesquelles les maladies epizoo- tiques contagieuses peuvent se communiquer, soit des animaux aux animaux, soit des aoimaux a Thomme, par J, B. Gohier. Class L] IN NEAT CATTLE. 403^ of the vital organs are extensively inflamed, or where there is any great internal affection, there is always present considerable derange- ment of the system at large, accompanied with much general increased vascular action or inflammation ; this is termed symptomatic or com- pounded fever. It is evident, therefore, that fever, in this instance, is not to be regarded so much a disease as a prominent symptom; and a« such it is to be considered in the practice, and any attention to it is but a secondary indication: nevertheless, as it sometimes runs so high, as greatly to aggravate the other symptoms, ^vearing away the strength of the animal, so as to render him unfit to struggle with the real dis- ease, it must still be attended to and regarded as a subject worthy of consideration. This is by much the most frequent fever of horses ; for though other febrile affections certainly do appear, yet it is com- paratively but seldom ; Avhereas fever, combined with inflammation of some essential organ or organs, as of the brain, lungs, intestines, &c., happens every day*. We must, however, except from this the catarrhal fever, which is sufficiently frequent. It is not easy to say whether the febrile disposition be antecedent to the local inflammation, which then becomes a consequence of it, or whether it be produced from it in the nature of metastasis ; but I helieve, from what I have observed, that local inflammation originates in both these ways. On the first attack of most fevers, there appears to be a particular disturbance in the action of the capillaries, perhaps by the application of a peculiar morbid stimulus which first increases their action, and finally impairs it: by this excitement the blood is driven into the veins, and this state seems to form the cold shivering fit preceding, or it constitutes a part of it. When this first effect is completely over, these vessels, before excited in their contractility, now become preternaturally enlarged, by the heart and larger arteries overcoming the resistance, and propelling a larger quantity of blood into them, and then there is first a return of heat, and at last sweat breaks out. Perhaps it may happen, when all the organs are acting in concert to overcome this contraction of the extreme vessels, some one part may be more weakened than another by the exertion, and its minute vessels rendered less able to contract on the distention that follows upon the hot fit, by which the weakened coats remain per- manently distended, constituting local inflammation of that part ; the irritation and derangement of which will keep up that fever as symp- tomatic, which before was primary: thus much must take place, to account for local inflammation arising from the attack of fever, and proceeding from it, which I believe is very frequently the case. It likewise is not difficult to suppose one organ in an accidental or even natural state of weakness, and which, in such cases, will be the one most likely to suffer. It remains to be remarked, that in some in- stances several organs shall be affected at once, and yet the fever * The intricacy of the subject of fever cannot be better exemplified than by the variety of opinions formed on it now, when we have been studying it and suffering under it some thousand years. One splits and divides it into genera and species by the nicest distinctions, while another denies it any particular essence, but considers all inflammatory action as the same, whether local or confined^ and asserts all the fevers called gastric, nervous, mucous, catarrhal, &C.&C. which occur without the influence of putrid miasma, are onij phlegma' sia, dependant on simple increased vascular action. 404 INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. [ClaSS J . remain symptomatic : these cases become very complex, inasmuch as the symptoms are difficult to define ; nevertheless the treatment must be that of general inflammation. When therefore, to the general characteristic marks of fever, which have been described, there are superadded other symptoms, we have reason to suspect that febrile affection is symptomatic, and owes its origin, or its continuance, to a local affection of some one essential organ ; the particular mode of judging of which may be gained by attention to the details in Class II. CLASS II. INFLAMMATION OF ORGANS ESSENTIAL TO LIFE. BY this is meant those internal inflammations, which though local und confined, yet affect organs of such magnitude and importance, as to form themselves each into a peculiar and marked disease. INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. Phrenitis.] [Mai cle Feu, ou Mai d'Espagne. This disease, which is by farriers called 7nad staggers, and phrensp fever, is also by some veterinarians termed apoplexy : but which is a much more improper name for it than either of the former; for it has none of the characteristics of apoplexy, which is a mechanical rupture of some of the vessels of the brain ; whereas this disease consists in an increased determination of blood to that organ, united with an inflamed state of its vessels. The staggers appears to exist in two different forms ; one of which is primary or idiopathic, the other is secondary or symptomatic, and is dependent on the presence of some other disease. We have instances of this in the phrenitis which accompanies rabies, and in that present in specific gastritis, or stomach staggers. Idio- pathic phrenitis appears under two different forms, one of which is known by the name of sleepy staggers, from the coma or sleepiness present ; and the other by the term of mad staggers, from the delirium observed. I was formerly disposed to consider these as sepa- rate complaints, or, at least, as distinct varieties of one disease; but a more extended experience has disposed me to consider them as one and the same affection, differing only in the different degree of inflam- matory action going on ; and perhaps also on the different degrees of irritability in the organ attacked: and this mode of viewing it appears the more correct, when we observe how frequently the drowsiness and torpor, which accompany the complaint in the outset, give place to the delirious and furious states in the latter stages. The comatose or sleepy state of the complaint renders it very liable to be confounded with another, but totally different disease, which originates in a specific inflammation of the stomach, and is at present known among veterinariaiis by the term stomach staggers. In this latter disease, such a paralysis takes place of the stomach, that it becomes incapable of contracting on its contents : and the pressure Class II.} INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. 405 occasioned throws a vast quantity of blood on the brain, which also produces comatose symptoms, as stupidity, drowsiness, and an incli- nation to press the head forward. These appearances, being not dis- similar with those of true staggers, would make it appear difficult at first to decide between the two ; but the increased urgency of the symptoms, particularly in the delirious state, is alone sufficient to distinguish them ; add to which, that in staggers the eyes and mouth remain of their natural colour, or at least are only increased in- vascu- larity ; whereas in stomach staggers they are almost invariably tinged with bile. There is also present in the stomach staggers, a more ge- nerally diffused nervous affection, characterised by spasmodic twitch- ings, not common in the true phrenitis, with symptoms of mechanical pressure and diminished energy, and a sympathetic v/eakness depen- dent on, and always present with, inflamed stomach and bowels. But, in some instances, a correct judgment can only be formed be- tween these two diseases by a very careful comparison between the detailed symptoms : for in our description of stomach staggers, it will be seen that now and then a considerable degree of violence is present in this also, which might, without a conversance with the other pecu- liarities, mislead a casual observer. The phrenitis accompanying Arables, occasioned by the bite of a rabid or 7}iad animal, as it is called, still more nearly resembles the mad staggers ; but even here the ob- servant practitiondr can detect distinctions fully sufficient to ground an opinion upon. In the rabid phrenitis the symptoms evidently be- token, not only a frantic, but a decidedly mischievous disposition, which prompts him purposely to attack every thing which comes in his way \ thus, not only are persons and animals within his reach attacked, but every thing around suffers ; rack, stall, and manger, are all laid pros- trate. In the true staggers nothing of this kind appears ; the horse is wild, and beats himself about, and endangers every thing around him, but not by premeditated design : on the contrary, he simply labours under a violent spasmodic contraction of his muscles, uncontrolled bv the judgment of his mind ; from whence he throws himself about, falls prostrate, or kicks, from mere muscular irritation. The Symptoms of true phrenitis, or staggers, are, a disinclination for food, with a slight running of moisture from the eyes, which, if attentively observed, even in the very early stages, will be found in- flamed and somewhat flushed in colour ; the nostrils also may be ob- served more vascular than usual : as the disease advances, the horse appears impatient, and throws himself about in a strange manner, as though frightened at something ; or he falls into a drowsy state, hold- ing his head low, and resting it in the manger, and which state some- times continues till within a few hours of his death, when he becomes violently convulsed, and is carried off: but in other cases, about the second or third day from the attack, he exhibits watchfulness, his e^^es sparkle, his nostrils extend, his head is raised, and he appears as though looking at the rack. Each succeeding hour aggravates the dis- ease, if nothing be done to stop its violence ; the animal, becoming more furious, bounds from side to side, and then perhaps falls in a state of insensibility on the ground, or dashes about the pavement in convulsive and insensible struggles, suddenly rising again to renew his violence. The pulse, under these circumstances, presents remarkable 406 INFLAMMATION Ot THE BRAIN. [ClaSS II. varieties. In one case it will be found much accelerated, but hard. In others, it will be found hurried and irregular ; while in the comatose, or sleepy state, it is usually oppressed and slow. The other symptoms also vary, as the brain is more or less excited to increased action, or as it is more or less depressed by congestion. Thus the general secre- tions are sometimes increased, but more frequently they are diminish- ed ; from whence results a scanty flow of urine, which commences with the disease, and accompanies it to the last nearly, when a very consi- derable flow often occurs : costiveness is also an usual attendant. The progress of the complaint is various : it now and then destroys on the second or third day ; at other times the fatal termination is protracted to the fifth, sixth, or seventh : or it may admit of a natural cure, by a resolution of the inflammation. When it terminates unfavourably, on examination after death, the pituitary membrane throughout has sometimes been found highly inflamed ; the membranes of the brain are always very much so ; and, in general, an increase of fluid has been found in the ventricles ; the plexus choroides is often greatly enlarged^ and more than usually vascular : it has, however, been seen compress- ed and pale. The Causes of phrenitis, or mad staggers, may be various : a com- mon one is, I believe, the translation of idiopathic fever to the brain. Excessive exertion, by determining blood to the head, may be a cause, with the usual alternations of cold with heat. When excessive : but however any of these may be the exciting cause, we are to regard the existing disposition as generally dependant on a plethoric state, for which reason it is seldom met with but in the young, robust, and in such as have acquired a full habit, particularly when acquired sud- denly, by an injudicious removal from a low to a full diet, without pre- paration or restraint. The Prognosis is favourable when the redness and flushing of the eyes decrease, when the horse becomes more tranquil, when the pulse becomes soft, uniform, and in proper number, when also the dung and urine appear in sufiicient quantity, and symptoms of appetite return : but when the secretions continue small, the impatience increases, the teeth are heard to grate, and particularly if a sanious discharge issues from the nostrils, the termination proves in general unfavourable. The Cure of Staggers. — As all the varieties of this disease appear to arise from an increased determination of blood to the brain, joined to an inflammatory state of its vessels ; so it is evident that the cure must principally depend upon lessening the quantity of the blood ge- nerally, and on diminishing the increased action of the vessels of the part particularly. Both these indications are equally promoted by bleeding; and whenever this is early and largely practised, the eff'ects are commonly salutary. In such a case, therefore, proceed to draw blood immediately to the amount of six, seven, or eight quarts, accord- ing to the age, size, and condition of the horse ; as well as referring to the degree of violence in the symptoms. But it will be often found very difficult to draw blood in this complaint, from the furious, impa- tient state of the animal : under these circumstances patience must be exercised, and the practitioner should not be deterred, but must wait the momentary cessations of the violence, when he may boldly open one or €vcn both jugulars, and suffer the blood to flow until something Class IT.] INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. 407 like the above quantity may be supposed to have escaped. Should the violence of the horse prevent the application of a pin to the vein, no danger need he apprehended from suffering it to bleed as much as it will, particularly if one only be opened; on the contrary, when the quantity that flows is not sufficient, a further encouragement ought to be given by a ligature passed round the neck. It has been strongly recommended, from very respectable authority, to bleed from the tem- poral artery in preference to the jugular vein ; but as the distribution of this artery in the horse is somewhat different to what it is in man {vid. b,pl,4), see also (^Aiigiology), the propriety of the practice is questionable, except the jugulars cannot be got at, under which circum- stances the practitioner would be justified in opening it, but not in the same manner as is described in bleeding from the human temporal, by dividing it across, for, if so done, the ends would probably retract under the skin by the muscular power in the artery : but it should be operated on by puncturing it in the same manner as is practised on a vein, and it may be secured if necessary afterwards by division or li- gature, neither of which will often be requisite, for the first bleeding can hardly be too considerable: on the contrary, if it be even pushed until the horse be faint, it will be so much the better, and then the ves- sels will collapse as a matter of necessity. Under this view the situa- tion of the temporal artery is purposely depicted in p. 4, letter b. On the living horse it maybe always detected three or four inches below the root of the ear in a line from its base towards the nostril. Having finished the bleeding, if possible, insert under the jaw a Towel well smeared with blistering ointment, back rake, and throw up a purging clyster (see Mat. Med.) ; and, if practicable, give an active 'Tfnercurial purge by the mouth, either as a ball, or, if more convenient, dissolved as a drink (see Purges, Materia Medica). Should the •symptoms continue violent in a few hours after all this has been done, bleed again largely, and blister the head, if it can be effected without ^danger of the ointment getting into the eyes : but if from his violence there is reason to fear this, I have, in such cases, very successfully en- cased the upper part of the head in a pitch cap, and have introduced the blister in the centre of this. Mr. Coleman recommends to pour boiling water on the pasterns, but I think stimulating them with the liquid blister might be more advantageously employed. It has also -been recommended to apply cold water, or even ice, to the head ; but much inconvenience attends the practice, and when the phrenzy is great, it is almost impossible. A current of cold air may be directed towards the head, while the rest of the body may be kept of a mode- rate warmth. There is little necessity to caution the attendant with regard to the food, for a total loss of appetite is usually present : if, however, from a false sympathy, the horse should be inclined to eat, he should be debarred from it on every account : the motion of the jaws is unfavourable to the return of the blood from the head : a full stomach is equally unfavourable ; not to add, that the weakness occa- sioned by fasting would be particularly salutary here. When the deli- rium and frantic symptoms are very great, it would be very advisable to sling the horse as is done on board ships, which will effectually se- cure him from injuring himself, and render him more conveniently got at by the operator. It can hardly be necessary txt hint, that the stable D d 408 SPECIFIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. [CloSS II. should be kept as cool as possible. When the disease assumes a co- matose appearance, and the horse has what a farrier would call the sleepy staggers, the treatment must be exactly the same as that al- ready detailed, and the blistering is as urgently called for in this as in tlie former ; and active purgatives 1 think even more so, from the greater time allowed for their operation. In cases of amendment, it is pru- dent to guard for some time against any exciting causes of plethora, as I have seen it return with increased violence more than once. Oxen and sheep are subject now and then to a species of phrenitis, not essentially differing from that of the horse, which the country peo- ple call a fever of the brain, phrenzy, or staggers ; the treatment of which is similar to that prescribed for the horse. SPECIFIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH, CALLED STOMACH STAGGERS. This disease, from its resemblance to staggers in its symptoms, and from its cause being attributed to an over-distended stomach, has re- ceived the name of stomach staggers. To Mr. White, of Exeter, the veterinary world were indebted for a much more detailed and clear ac- count of this complaint than any that had yet appeared, and though I differ from him in my opinion of the nature of the malady, I readily acknowledge that I have added also much to my stock of information concerning it from his researches. Mr. White thinks the complaint should be called the symptomatic staggers, in contradistinction to true phrenitis, which he terms the idiopathic staggers ; and, under his view of the matter, there would certainly be great propriety in so call- ing it : but some experience, and a very close attention to the subject, have fully convinced me that, on a more extended acquaintance with this peculiar disease, it will be found to merit the novel designation I have given it. Several of our older writers describe the complaint with sufficient accuracy, but they all consider it as a primary affection of the head ; and as their researches seldom extended to the examina- tion of the morbid appearances of cases after death, so the cause re- mained involved in obscurity. Mr. Coleman, early in his career, con- jectured that it originated in a simple distension of the stomach, and hence called it stomach staggers*. It however appears to me, that what has been regarded as its cause, is a consequence alone ; and that the distention of the stomach is a mere symptom of the complaint, but whose real nature seems to consist of an inflammation of that organ sui generis; differing from gastritis, or idiopathic inflammation of the part, as well as from the irritation brought on by chemical agents * French authors also consider it as an indigestion. " Le cheval qui a una indi^ gestion port la tete basse ; il bailie fr^quemment ; sa peau est seche et sa tempera- teur moins elevee que dans I'etat ordinaire j I'animal cherche bientot k appuyer sa tete ; il pousse quelquefois les corps qui sont devant lui avee son front ; d'autres fois il se recule au bout de sa longe, ou bien il frappe la terre avec un des pieds de devant, et tourne la tete vers son flanc. Le son Cbran) est de tous des alimens celui qui produit le plus souvent cet accident.'^— Esqiiisse de i^osogra- fhie V^teriitaire, par J. B. Huzard, p. 135. Class II.] SPECIFIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. 409 or poisons ; though a morbid effect produced from something without, has been also hinted at as its probable source. In all the cases that have been examined after death, one appear- ance was common to all ; an inflamed state of the depending portion of the great curvature of the stomach towards its pyloric orifice; but a distended state of the stomach was not always present : it is there- fore not unnatural to look on that as a cause which always exists, in preference to that, which, though common, yet is not invariably pre- sent. From the great frequency which a distended state of the sto- mach is met with in these cases, Mr. Coleman and Mr. White have been induced to consider mechanical pressure as the immediate cause of the complaint ; and the weight of such authorities entitles the matter to great attention. These gentlemen regard the symptoms produced, as resulting from the sympathetic connexion between the brain and stomach, united to the effects which naturally arise from this distention throwing an inordinate quantity of blood on the brain. This gorged state of the viscus is considered as an accidental circumstance, de- pendent on any cause that prompts the animal to take in an inordinate quantity of food, particularly of a dry nature ; and, hence, that it may, in many instances, be clearly traced to follow a full meal given after long previous fasting, the distention of which produces a mecha- nical debility in the organ : as a farther proof of which, Mr. White observes, that it usually attacks old, weak, and hard-worked horses. But, in my own experience, old and weak horses are by no means the only subjects of attack ; on the contrary, I have seen it in the young and robust also, and, likewise, under circumstances where no expo- sure to irregularity in the manner or matter of feeding appeared to exist ; and Mr. White himself candidly admits that it has occurred also under his observation as well at grass as in the stable ; and in cases where there was no opportunity of paralyzing the stomach in the first instance by abstinence, nor any stimulus to over-distending it afterwards. In these instances, at least, we must therefore look for another cause. But we need not be indebted to theory to induce a belief that this disease is not always dependent on an accidental distention of stomach ; we may at once advert to facts clear and decisive. There is before the public, through the medium of Mr. White, a very full account of this complaint as it existed in the neighbourhood of Swansea, in South Wales, where it appears to have raged in an endemial form, and to have assumed an epidemic and eVen contagious character. We are told by Mr .White's correspondent, that it was most prevalent between, July and September, and was fatal in seventy-six cases out of eighty. No age or sex was exempted, and, whether in the stable or at grass, or working underground in mines, all were equally obnoxious to it. It has also occurred more than once in the same neighbourhood, and always in an epidemic form: it likewise gave ample proof of its being highly conta- gious. Mr. White, though he admits these appearances were strongly characteristic of a contagion ; and though he also allows that the coun- try people familiar with it, all consider it " catching," as it is termed ; yet he himself very unwillingly allows it any character of this decrip- tion : but, from the very clear and satisfactoey statement of the dis- ease, as it raged near Swansea, and from what I have myself seen of Dd2 410 SPECIFIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. [ClttSSlJ. it, I have no hesitation in considering it, in some instances, as a con- tagions epidemic. In minutes of a correspondence, now before me, where my opinion was required, it occurred during the spring, and at- tacked three horses out of five ; the other two were removed as soon as the nature of the disease was understood, and thereby escaped. Other notes made by me, of actual cases, and other correspondences relating to tjjjs subject, all tend to confirm the opinion I have already stated ; nor does it at all go to weaken this argument, that it often se- lects a single horse from among a number, the rest of whom shall all escape it : the same happens every day with typhus fever in the human subject, which is too notoriously contagious to need comment ; and it is not attempted to be denied that it is only under particular circum- stances of malignity that it does assume an epidemic and contagious form. From all these considerations I feel, therefore, no hesitation in con- sidering this as a disease whose proximate cause is dependent on a spe- cific inflammation of the stomach ; distinct and differing from those inflammations of this organ brought on by the usual causes of such af- fection ; as, translation of common fever, access of cold, or from the action of any common poisonous substance. I was first disposed to regard this matter in the novel point of view it is now placed in, from observing the effects of inflammation (evidently specific) of the sto- mach in other animals, but particularly from that which occurs in the rabies, or, as is popularly termed, madness of dogs : for, whoever will be at the pains to inform himself by an attentive observation of the symptoms while living, and of dissections of rabid canine subjects when dead, will find that this malady unquestionably consists in an inflammation specific and sui generis, principally affecting the sto- mach of the animal: and though the inflammation is not in rabid dogs, nor in other brutes, confined to this organ alone, but extends also, in some cases, to the other viscera as well of the chest as belly ; yet this very circumstance rather tends to strengthen the proofs I would draw from it : for when the lungs form the principal seat of the complaint, the symptoms are always more violent, or, rather, the manners of the animal are so: and it is from these cases, and these only, that this fatal malady has derived the popular name of madness*. But when, on the contrary, the inflammatory attack is principally spent on the stomach and the bowels, it produces symptoms extremely similar to what oc- curs in stomach staggers ; and it is worthy of remark, that the ana- logy holds good still further ; for in almost every rabid dog who dies under that stupid drowsy kind, called dumb madness, there is present also an enormous distention of the stomach from substances taken in ; and here, likewise, the inflammation is usually greatest at its large curvature and pyloric orifice. This distended state of the stomach, in the rabid dog, is so very common, that it may be almost regarded as an imerring characteristic of the complaint :* and it appears, that the disposition thus to fill the stomach is actually dependent on the peculiar inflammation of the part, and on that alone ; for idiopathic * It is worthy of remark, also, that the rabid malady in other brutes, as the hoTse,the ox, and sheep, always produces symptoms of great fury and excitement j and, in all these, the lungs are principally inflamed, while the stomach and bow- els are, in general, subordinately affected. CteS II.] SPECIFIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. 411 gastritis is sometimes seen, and the inflammation produced by mineral poisons is sufficiently common ; but in these no such disposition is ob- served; whereas, in the specific inflammation of the organ, produced by rabies, there is a peculiar and almost invariable tendency to dis- tend the stomach sometimes with food, but more commonly with other substances. It further appears to me, that this uncontrollable desire (the effect of some morbid sympathy) is simply to fill the stomach, the sensation of hunger having no part in it : therefore, after death, in al- most every one of these cases, an enormous mass of undigested ano= malous matter is found within it, composed of every trash that comes in the way of the animal. Exactly the same, I conceive, occurs in the horse, the specific inflammation of whose stomach stimulates him in like manlier by a similar morbid sympathy to take in a large quantity of food, the paralytic state of which prevents its contracting on its contents ; consequently, though this distention is not the original cause of the complaint, yet it will greatly aggravate the distress and urgency of the symptoms. The Syjnptoms of this specific gastritis commence generally by a drowsiness ; the horse eats slowly and at intervals, but he still recurs to it again ; the breathing is slightly accelerated, but the pulse suffers no material alteration, except now and then when it is rather quicken- ed, and in other instances again it apj^ears rather oppressed; in the greater number, however, as has been observed, it is not materially altered until within a few hours of death, when it invariably becomes small and oppressed. There appears a particular diminution of all the secretions ; the costiveness is peculiarly obstinate ; and the urine is ejected by a convulsive effort, and in small quantities ; but the qua- lity is not generally altered. In every instance there are strong marks of biliary affection, and all the mucous membranes are tinged yellow by it; the probable cause of which is, that the liver, to a certain de- gree, partakes of the inflammatory affection. The nostrils, the eyes, the mouth, and the inner part of the anus, are therefore invariably yellow under this disease. There is generally, also, some appearance of slight rigor at the beginning of the complaint ; but as it advances, the extremities become, one half hour, very cold ; and, the next, the horse breaks out into a profuse sweat. The sympathetic effects on the brain very constantly and early shew themselves by the nervous or spasmodic twitchings present over the whole panniculus carnosus, which are particularly observed in the breast and hind quarters : the nervous affection is also accompanied by an early and characteristic muscular debility, which is such as to make the unfortunate sufferer bend his legs and totter, as though falling ; and he is likewise observed not to rest his head in the manger, as in the sleepy staggers, but he elevates it, in some of these cases ; and as though he wished to gain a fulcrum of support, he forces it often between the rack staves. I never saw the disease in a horse at grass ; but when it does occur there, it is said that it is peculiarly marked by the manner of the ani- mal, and the state in which he is frequently found : if he be discovered moving, he is seen to stroll about unconsciously till he meets with some obstacle against which he fixes his head, where he remains tottering. Now and then, however, there is some degree of irritability and vio- 412 SPECIFIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. [ClttSS IL lence present, but much more generally he is in a stupid, drowsy, and almost insensible state ; and, in either case, there is always present a marked distress of countenance and manner : the jaws usually have a considerable rigidity, but which does not amount to total jaw-locking. These detailed symptoms are the common attendants on the malady, and such as are usually present in every case ; but the spasmodic twitchings, the obstinate costiveness, and the marks of biliary affection, are constant and invariable. Prognosis. — As, in all the instances I have seen, the disease has terminated fatally, so I can only give, from my own experience, the symptoms that betoken mortality ; which are, an obstinate continu- ance of the costiveness, profuse sweats alternating with cold extremi- ties, and the under jaw rigid and nearly immovable : but from the ac- counts derived from other sources, returning health, in the very few who have recovered, has been signified by the convulsive twitchings abating, the jaw loosening, but particularly by the fseces passing. The Cure. — Here, likewise, I can offer little on my own experience^ having never witnessed a successful issue. This general fatality is not dependent alone on the obstinacy of the malady, but may be attri- buted, in some measure also, to the time generally lost before appli- cation is made for help. Mr. White has however been more fortunate ; and in the case or two that fell under his notice, where recovery did take place, he attributes it to an early overcoming of the costiveness : but, if my ideas of the nature of the complaint are correct, however much a free exit to the faeces is to be wished, our efforts should be particu- larly directed to overcome the inflammation of the organ concerned, which alone occasions the obstruction to the passage of the aliment. I perfectly agree with Mr. White, that bleeding promises but little change of benefit, seeing the disease arises from a specific d^SQctiow. Nevertheless, in all cases, I would at least try it; and when the symp- tomatic phrenitis is considerable, I would do it largely. The chest, or belly, about the girthing place, should be actively blistered ; and, as unloading the bowels must, under every circumstance, be desirable, immediately give the following : — Sulphate of magnesia {Epsom salts) eight ounces,^ Castor or linseed oil , , . , ditto, Watery tincture of aloes (see Mat. Med.) ..... ditto. Dissolve the salts in the tincture of aloes, united with an additional teacup full of warm water, and then add the oil and give. From a peculiar sanative effect that castor oil appears in other cases to produce on the stomach and bowels, I should be disposed to give this remedy a trial first, and then proceed to back rake and throw up a purging clyster (see Clysters, 3Iateria Medica): but as the costive- ness is usually very obstinate, and the symptoms very urgent, so I would not wait more than two or three hours, when I should recom- mend to repeat the same ; or, if judged more expedient, a strong purging ball (see Purges, Materia Medica) may be dissolved by rub- bing it down with a yolk of an egg and a little warm gruel or ale. But I should be disposed to advise the drink in preference, more frequently repeated. Those who reason from analogy only, will deprecate even the exhi- Class II.] INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 413 hition of the drink on an inflamed stomach ; but one fact is worth all the theory in the world, and it does appear, from experience, that no medicine given by the mouth aggravates the uneasiness * : which may be accounted for on a consideration of its specific nature ; and certain it is likewise, that no remedies are calculated to do more good, than such as tend to draw the inflammation from the stomach by act- ing on the bowels ; and, considering the paralysed state of the organ, a liquid remedy is much more likely to pass than a solid one, which does not seem to have been considered by Mr. White in his directions for the treatment : for the same reasons, also, active clysters should be continued. INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. Pneumonia.] [Peripneumonie, The lungs in the horse form a very large mass, which, united with their extreme vascularity, renders them very susceptible of inflamma- tion ; and as this affection proves very frequently fatal to him, so the subject is a very important one to the veterinarian. This disease was formerly but little understood among farriers, which added much to its fatality ; and if no greater improvements had been made in the art, than have taken place in the knowledge of the causes, effects, and mode of treatment of this disease alone ; still the founders of these improvements would have been eminently useful, and deserved well of the community. Farriers, from observing the gangrenous state of the lungs in these cases after death, supposed that their pa= tients died from some long-continued malady, which gradually decayed these parts, from whence they called it the rot: and their treatment of the complaint Was exactly what such a supposition would lead to ; as hot stimulating drugs to stop the rotting process. But as we now know that the disease consists in an active inflammation in the parts, we are aware that this heating plan is the most destructive that can be pursued, and must end in death in the majority of cases in which it is practised. Other farriers again, observing the difficulty of breath- ing present in it, have supposed that the lungs rose towards the throat, and have hence named it rising of the lights: these persons have set themselves to give weighty substances, mechanically to keep down the lungs ; and, at the same time, they combined with them stimulant drugs, so that the baneful effect has been the same. Writers on human medicine have usually described under thoracic inflammations two different diseases, one of which, termed peripneu- mony, is considered as an inflammation of the substance of the lungs, and is characterised by either a quick but soft pulse, or by an oppress- ed one. The other, called pleurisy ,, is an inflammatory affection of the membranes only of these organs, and is distinguished by a hard and more full pulse. The older English writers on farriery also, how= ever good, trusting too much to analogy, and deriving but little from experience, or from observations made on morbid anatomy, have also described at length, after the human, two distinct inflammatory pul= monary affections, one proper to the pleura, and the other confined to * The French treatment is, a bottle of wine rendered more stimulant by the addition of a glass of brandy. 414 INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. [ClaSS II. the substance of the lungs. The French authors of celebrity, as La Fosse, Bourgelat, and Vitet, describe a distinct affection of the pul- monary membranes, under the term pleuresie : but it was the peculiar fort of the French writers of this time to split differences, and to make numerous varieties, and their more modern teachers are not wholly free from the same disposition to minute classification. Mons. Huzard, jun., so late as 1820, says, " L'inflammation du poumon est bien souvent compliqu^e de rinflammation de la plevre, cependant il arrive quelquefois que ces deux affections existent Tune sans I'autre." Neither can it be denied, that the inspections, during frosty weather, at knackers or horse-killers, of the bodies of the numerous fatal cases of thoracic inflammation, will present some instances where the membranous covering of the lungs are much more highly inflamed than the parenchyma : but I never observed one instance in which the vascular structure of the lungs was not also sufficiently inflamed to form the disease pneumonia. Neither did I observe, that those wherein serous effusion was present, as hinted at by Mr. Percivall, vol. ii,p. 268^ were principally of this nature. Mr. Sliipp, in his Cases of Farriery, not only leads to the opinion, that pleurisy may exist without much peripneumony ; but he also describes the difference in the symptoms which characterise this variety. Mr. Percivall, who also inclines to the existence of genuine pleurisy in the horse, yet remarks, " I know of no difference myself in the symptomatology of pleurisy and perip- neumony."' For my own part, with the exceptions I have already no- ticed, and the circumstance that some of these cases are characterised by less oppression of pulse than others, I know of no distinction that can properly be drawn in the horse either from the symptoms, the ter- minations, or the morbid anatomy of pneumonic cases, sufficient to establish two separate diseases ; and which circumstance renders the term pneumonia peculiarly appropriate here, as strictly defining the existence of the two affections as one defined disease ; and such, also, I believe to be the opinion of the majority of the best informed veteri- narians. Symptoms.— The approach of pneumonia is not always character- ised by the same degree of intensity. It often presents sudden marks of considerable affection, and, at others, the symptoms steal on insi- diously for two or three days before they beget much attention. Neither are these precursory symptoms by any means always the same. A disturbance in the regularity of the temperature of the body is often first observed : the horse is found to have occasionally two or three times in the day a staring coat, with legs, ears, and muzzle cooler than usual. At others, a regular shivering fit ushers in the complaint, to which succeed the usual characteristic marks of fever. A short dry cough will sometimes precede the other usual symptoms, and will con- tinue a marked feature of the complaint ; and in other cases very little cough attends it throughout any of its stages. Whatever other symp- toms precede its full formation, a quickened respiration is sure eventually to come on, and which is always performed with difiiculty and pain. In extreme cases, the flanks heave with short but very quick respirations. The general surface of the body will frequently be found alternately hot and cold ; but the extremities, as the legs and fe^t, the ears, muzzle, and tail, as the disease advances, remain in- Class II.] INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 415 variably of a clayey coldness. The eyes are often moist and somc= what blood-shot, but the mucous surface of the nostrils is invariably reddened to a high scarlet. The pulse presents variations in different cases : in many it is marked by considerable quickness, as from 90 to 100, and which is now and tben, though but seldom, accompanied with some hardness. In other cases, on the contrary, it is found to be but little accelerated: and instead of being fuller than natural, it is marked by a peculiar in distinctiveness and oppression, very common to this complaint, and not unfrequent in inflammations of other import= ant visceral organs also. The appetite is commonly lost, and there is usually present a remarkable appearance of distress and anxiety in the countenance, which is heightened by frequent anxious looks at his sides. The whole body seems stiff and sore, and the horse is disinclined to move ; on the contrary, he stands with his head extended forwards, his nostrils outstretched, his fore legs somewhat apart and forward, and he seldom if ever lies down. If the complaint proceeds, the pulse becomes still more oppressed and irregular, so as to present, at the re- gion of the heart, nothing but the faintest flutter ; the legs, ears, and muzzle feel still more intensely cold, although partial sweats may visit the carcase. The nostrils change to a still more livid hue, and the air they expire is cold. The mouth now becomes deadly cold and pale ; convulsive twitchings affect the breast, neck, and face ; the teeth grate, and the animal dies from the effects of congestion in the overcharged lungs. In some instances this termination occurs as early as the second or third day*. Such are the usual and characteristic symptoms of this important disease, for which we can now readily account, since our more extend- ed acquaintance with the animal economy and with morbid anatomy. A suspension of the important functions of the lungs, must naturally lead to some particular morbid phenomena. The tension and enlarge- ment consequent on the inflamed state of these organs, must of necessity produce extreme pain and distress to the horse ; particularly in those cases where the membranous linings of the chest are much affected. The obstruction also which the congested state of the lungs must offer to the passage of the blood through them, must deprive the left side of the heart of its accustomed quantity and stimulus ; Avhile the right side of it must be gorged to distention, and, as has happened, to actual bursting occasionally. We are likewise, under these circum- stances, at no loss to account for the indistinct and wavering pulsa- tions felt in it, obstructed by distention on one side, and rendered feeble on the other from lack of stimulus. As the blood received from * This circumstance, Mr. Percivall judiciously remarks, has led to some very oppressive judicial arbitrations for horse dealers. Horses, particularly young OD«s, are purchased from the dealers' stables sound, and in perfect health often ; but which are nevertheless not prepared for much fatigue or great changes of temperature, and still less for the unskilful management of a new owner; who probably rides his new hobby as a schoolboy rides his new rocking-horse, night and day. The circulation is inordinately hurried, cold is taken, pneumonia fol- lows, and the horse dies under the management of some sapient farrier ; who, to save his credit, opens the horse, and exulting over the gangrenous appearance which himself and the disease have united to bring on, swears he died " rotten as a pear," and " must have been long unsound." In such a case, as Mr. Per- civall observes, the dealer is cast (but most unjustly), and the gentleman re'jo- vers (equally unjustly) his money. 416 INFLAMMATION OK THE LUNGS. [ClttSS 11. the lungs is both small in quantity and deteriorated in quality by the inflamed vessels, so not only is the circulatory force unequal to pro- pel it into the extremities, but the animal heat given out is unequal, and probably rather the effect of re-action than of oxygen regularly distributed: hence we have a permanent coldness of the extremities. The congested lungs likewise, receiving but little air, and acting on that little imperfectly, endeavour to remedy the want by an extreme quickness of action. The sensibility of the chest prevents the full ex- pansion of the lungs by the operation of the usual muscular agents, as the diaphragm and intercostal muscles ; and thus the assistant respi- ratory muscles of the neck, fore quarters, and extremities, are called in as aids, which occasions the fore legs to be placed forwards and wide apart, with the head protruded, to facilitate the entrance of the air ; while ihe fixed fore legs act as fulcri for the serratus major anticus to act on Cvid. p. 338), to receive which assistance the distressed animal remains continually standing. The deteriorated blood, not sufficiently oxygenated, stains the nostrils with its purple hue ; and when drawn from the jugulars, is also found more intensely dark than usual. Under these views we are enabled likewise to account for the extraor- dinary change frequently occasioned by one full bleeding only. The terminations of pneumonia are more varied and distinct than in most complaints. We have already mentioned an early and fatal one by suffocation from gorged air cells, and the irritation attendant on it. Instead of this, another equally fatal and but little more protracted takes place, in the form of gangrene, in which the parenchymatous mass will be found black, tender, and filled with grumous foetid blood. This state may be known previous to death by a foetid smell, with some sanious discharge from the mouth and nose. Another fatal termination is by serous effusion into the cavity of the chest, forming hydrothorax. At a very uncertain period of the disease, as from the third, fourth, or fifth day, to the fourteenth, the exhalent vessels of the lungs begin to pour out a serous fluid, which they usually continue until they completely fill one or both thoracic cavities, and the anim^al dies here also by suffocation. This termina- tion, which is sometimes equally acute with the first, is betokened be- fore death by a serous discharge from the nose, without foetor, by an irregular pulse, which occurs with a deceptive abatement of the vio- lence of the symptoms. After death, a large quantity of serosity tinged with red particles of the blood, and frequently intermixed with coagula, is found in one or both thoracic cavities. These form the early fatal terminations to the disease ; but there are other no less un- fortunate, but more protracted windings up of the account, one of which does not often take place until the third or fourth week, and sometimes a longer period from the attack, and is one also that fre- quently occasions the junior practitioner much mortification, and sometimes leads him greatly astray. It arises, equally with the last termination, from serous effusion into the cavity of the chest, but it is a more gradual one, and is accompanied with a remission of all the inflammatory symptoms, leaving only this disposition in the exhalents to pour out the interstitial fluid in great quantity, but gradually; com- bined also, as it usually is, with a tendency in the vessels, at the same time^ to form numerous adhesions between the costal and mediastinal Class II.] INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 417 pleurae, and also to deposit masses of coagulable lymph, which float in the serum, or are adherent to the surrounding parts. In these unfor- tunate and deceptive cases, the horse looks more lively, warmth re~ turns to the extremities, he begins to eat, and the pulse appears fa- vourably changed and increases in strength; and though it still be- tokens disease, it is only a very experienced observer that can detect any difference in it from that of a horse under a real amendment. In other respects, the variations from a convalescent state are so trifling, that they might most readily escape detection by the junior practitioner, particularly if he be still further thrown off his guard by the flattering picture drawn of the animaFs situation by those around him. But in general cases, the experienced veterinarian will detect, with a mode- rate degree of attention, a peculiar pulsatory stroke, notwithstanding the improved state of it before alluded to. There will be present a slight degree of hurried irregularity in it better felt than described. The peculiar sensation this pulse gives to the practitioner, may be still more distinctly felt by referring to the source, placing the hand against the left side, when the heart itself will afford a criterion to the touch, that it is beating through a watery medium, as though vibrating with- in a bladder of water. In some instances, a smart rap on one side of the chest will produce an undulation very evident to the hand on the other*. This examination, when at the same time contrasted with that of a healthy horse examined in the same way, will best teach the peculiarity. The existence of the water may be also generally suspect- ed from the state of the coat, which usually stares and feels unkindly; and there is likewise, in most of these cases, a yellow serous discharge from the nostrils, at first thin, but afterwards thicker and glutinous; and it may be observed, that the animal appears alarmed on any sud- den exertion, as turning quickly in his stall ; he will be particularly so on holding his head up to rece'ive a drink, which arises from a fear of strangulation t. In this state, something between sick and well, a horse will continue to deceive the persons around him unused to these cases, for a longer or shorter period: suddenly, however, he is taken with a shivering fit, and all his former symptoms recur ; and though they return with diminished violence, yet they usually carry him off in a few bours. It may be, therefore, prudent to recapitulate to the practi- * Mr. Shipp expresses the matter thus :— " Upon pressing the hand upon the «ide of the breast, the water may be felt to gush against the hand, but with more violence in the act of expiration than during inspiration." — Shipp^s Cases of Far- riery. t Mr, Percivall observes also, that " indistinct fluctuations may be perceived, by applying the hand, or the ear, against the ribs, while an assistant strikes smartly the opposite side : in this manner percussion and auscultation may be made of great service to us. Lastly, the stethoscope may be made trial of," voL ii, p. 27 i. It is without any invidious motive whatever, that I express my regret that tlie value of these admirable lectures becomes greatly lessened by the elaborate care displayed in bedecking them with such a redundancy of classic flowers, which, however they may enhance Mr. Percivall's reputation as an elegant writer, must materially detract from it as a useful one. As society is constituted at pre- sent (and I note it with regret that it is so), the majority of veterinary students cannot boast of an education equal to the reading of a work so written, without an accompanying glossary, or, more strictly, dictionary of terms. To such, a phra- seology, drawnwith a studied and sometimes with a forced care, from the depths of erudition, may px'ove dazzling, but it will also prove bewildering ; thus frus- trating the express intention for which the work professes to have been written. 418 INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. [Cl(tSS IL tioiier, that the distinguishing marks of these kind of cases are to be drawn from the peculiar state of tlie pulse above described ; — the breathing continuing rather quicker than natural; — an unhealthy feel, and staring of the coat ; — a disinclination to lie down ; — and an evident dread of any hurrying movement , or to a considerable elevation of the head. After death, it is surprising to see what disorganization has taken place in the chest: the lungs are usually full of adhesions, and large masses of coagulable lymph will often be found adhering to them, while lesser particles float frequently in the serous fluid with which the chest will be filled. Now and then, but much less frequently, pneu- monia, or peripneumony, will produce suppuration in the lungs ; in which case also, as soon as the suppurative process commences, some appearance of a remission of symptoms takes place, but not so perfect a one as in the former instance : matter will flow from the nose, the pulse will become hurried and irregular, and at length the animal will become choked without previous warning, or he may linger and die tabid from hectic irritation or tubercular obstruction. A very com- mon termination is by a deposit of coagulable matter into the cellular structure of the lungs, by which respiration becomes impeded, and the aerating functions of these organs obstructed. Some modifications of this injurious deposit produce wheezing and thick wind, while others end in complete broken wind. The substance of the paren- chyma is so perfectly altered, and its cells so blocked up with coagu- lable lymph, in bad cases of this description, as (contrary to their usual property) to make them sink in water. To particularize these we say, there are pneumonic terminations, just hinted at, not fatal, but still unhealthy and unfavourable. In one of these, arising from the coa- gulable part of the blood being thrown into the air cells, respiration becomes considerably impeded, and the animal is ever after forced to make up by more frequent or more forced inspirations, what ought to be effected by fewer or more easy ones ; and which state forms what is called thick wind. At other times, an increased irritability of the lungs themselves, or of the mucous membranes of the bronchia and trachea, is left, and which subjects the horse to a long continued or permanent chronic cough : if the affection be considerable, it lays the foundation for broken wind, which, as an accidental cause is applied, sooner or later in these cases takes place. In other instances, this pe- cular disease succeeds immediately to convalescence. Sometimes also the lungs themselves are left free from organic affection, but coagulable lymph is thrown out across the trachea or Avindpipe, which narrows its capacity at some particular part or parts, and the air, rushing through these strictures, produces a sonorous noise called roaring, as here- after detailed. On the subject of symptoms, it remains only to guard the practitioner against mistaking pneumonia or inflammation of the lungs for catarrh, or that of the mucous membranes in contiguity, with which it may be confounded; though the experienced veterinarian will readily distin- guish between the two. In the catarrhal epidemic, the extremities do not continue invariably cold, but are now cool and now warm: the dis- tress of countenance is not so great ; sore throat is commonly present ; the breathing is less laborious, and the pulse seldom oppressed. The cough in catarrh is generally deep, and very painful : a weakness, not Class II.] INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 419 corresponding with the violence of the symptoms, is very early seen in the complaint; and though the lining of the nostrils may be in- flamed in catarrh, it is seldom so much so, unless pneumonia he coming on, as to present a purple hue. The principal necessity which exists for making a careful distinction between the two diseases, arises from it not being found prudent in the catarrhal affection to push the bleeding, and other parts of the depleting system, so far as in the pneumonic ; and also from the greater necessity of placing the horse in a cool temperature in the latter, to what exists in the former. Inflammation of the lungs has also, by the inexperienced, been oc- casionally mistaken for colic, because the horse sometimes expresses considerable uneasiness, and often looks round to his sides ; in which mistaken cases the treatment generally pursued has been such as to increase the disease : but in colic, the horse expresses acute pain, by stamping with his fore feet, or kicking at his belly wdth his hinder ; by turns he lies down and rolls, and then suddenly rises : while, on the contrary, in peripneumony he never lies down, but stands stupidly quiet, except now and then, when he may look at his flanks ; but with- out any of the impatient indications of pain which colic forces him to: it may be added, also, that the nasal membrane in colic remains unal- tered in colour, unless enteritis be at hand. Causes. — The alternation of heat with cold is probably the most usual cause of this complaint. It was formerly considered that it could only be produced by a removal from a warm to a colder temperature ; but it is now known that the sudden access of a warmer medium produces it also, though certainly not in an equal degree. Mr. Coleman, I be- lieve, thinks that exposure to simple cold never produces the disease ; and that, though turning horses to grass without preparation may emaciate them, it never produces peripneumony: but this appears not borne out by experience, and has occasioned ill consequences. Hu- man subjects, horses, cows, sheep, and dogs, are all more liable to coughs, colds, and pneumonic affections, in cold climates than in warm ones. The persons who slaughter horses in London, are accus- tomed to expect a glut of dead animals in hard frosts, from the fatal effects of inflamed lungs. It is true that the candidates for the for- mer doctrine may say, that this still arises from the effects of exposure to stable heat, supervening upon the frost: but this cannot be the case in cows, sheep, farmers' horses, and those of others who do not treat them so artificially. Nor do w^e want numerous other facts to prove that a sudden access of cold is more certainly prejudicial than that of heat: few persons in the habits of hunting, but have met with, or heard of, cases of horses, who, from plunging into a river, have very soon after been attacked with the complaint ; and in such cases it has been observed, that a permanent rigor has commenced immediately, and the animal could never be got universally warm again. Hunting on a cold scent, with frequent checks, or travelling with a cold wind blowing against the chest ; washing the legs and body with cold water while the horse is hot ; a sudden removal from a warm stable to a cold one, may any of them occasion the disease: and, as has been remark- ed, there is reason also to believe, that the removal from a cold stable to a -warmer one, or from grass to a warm housing, without prepara- tion, will also produce it. In fact, so obnoxious are horses to affec- 420 INFLAMMATION OF THE JUNGS. [ClasS II. tions of the ohesi from a change of temperature, whether the change be from a warmer to a colder medium, or otherwise from a colder to a warmer; that it is very seldom a horse is brought from a dealer's stables, who does not, in a day or two, exhibit some cough. When a horse is removed from a cold temperature into a hot one, it is evident that the hot medium is immediately applied to the seat of inflamma- tion ; and as hot air must greatly tend to accelerate the circulation, so it is not difficult to account why it can produce the disease, and this more certainly if the heated air be less pure than that which the ani- mal was removed from: when, on the contrary, the removal takes place from a warm to a colder situation, a similar effect perhaps also takes place ; the cold air is immediately applied to the lungs, which may, by its sedative properties, particularly if the change be very great, by this means be suddenly weakened. But it is not only by application to the immediate cellular substance of the lungs, through the medium of res- piration, that cold acts injuriously on them. It more often exerts its baneful influence through the medium of the skin, with which these organs are united by a sympathetic and peculiar union, and which is liable to be at all times exposed to the vicissitudes of temperature : for both skin and lungs appear emunctories of the foecal parts of the blood, and hence the sympathy between them as observed to be very great ; and any thing that may prevent the exit of this foecal matter, called perspiration, from the vessels of the skin, will throw much more of it on the lungs. When, therefore, in addition to these occasional causes, we consider' that the lungs are very large as well as very important organs ; and that in an animal of speed they are peculiarly extensive in their sur- faces, and extremely vascular in their structure ; we shall be at no loss to account for their tendency to inflammation. This tendency also seems much heightened, in common with the proneness to other dis- eases, by a life of art ; for in a state of nature, or one nearly approach- ing to it, they are seldom attacked. The cows even experience this in- creased tendency, arising from artificial habits, as is observed in those kept near London and other great cities', where they are more artifi- cially supported, and subjected to occasional housing. The Prognosis in pneumonia or peripneumony must be formed from the strength of the symptoms, such as a greater or lesser difficulty in respiring, more or less oppression in the pulse, more or less intensity of cold in the extremities, &c. &c. The progress the disease has made should also be considered, and the accidental circumstances under which the animal may labour. The veterinary practitioner should never lose sight of the greater rapidity with which all acute inflamma- tions in the horse run to their termination than they do in man, or in animals with weaker powers ; but in this particularly, which renders caution here doubly requisite, when forming a prognosis relative to it. A resolution of the inflammation is the most favourable mode of its termination, and this maybe expected when the pulse approaches a natural state, or rises on bleeding; when the horse shews an inclination to lie down ; when the distressed look diminishes ; when the blisters applied, rise kindly, and the rowels, if any, inflame readily : and parti- cularly the appearances are favourable when the breathing becomes less laborious, the breath itself of a natural temperature, and when Class II.] INFLAMMATION OF THK LUNGS. 421 Hie legs and ears resume their usual warmth. But if, on the con- trary, the pulse do not rise on bleeding, if the breathing continue very laborious, if rattling in the throat come on, the pulse being oppressed, or hurried and irregular, with partial cold sweats, and with an extreme dejection of manner ; a fatal termination may be expected, either by direct gangrene from the extreme distention of the pulmonary capilla- ries, or from serous effusion into the cellular texture of the lungs. It is likewise always a most unfavourable sign when the skin proves in- sensible to external stimulants ; that is, when the blisters and rowels remain without operating. The vital stores of the body are drawn from the lungs ; and when they become diseased, all other parts lose their powers, and consequently their irritability and capability to be acted upon by external agents is diminished. I hardly ever remember to have seen a horse recover where neither the blisters nor rowels would act ; such cases ahvays betoken an intensity in the inflammatory action, and shew that the balance of power between the parts is destroyed be- yond restoration. The Cure of Peripneumony. — The principal indications o^ cure are two ; first, to lessen the increased vascularity or distention of the lungs by bleeding ; and next, to endeavour, by external stimulants, to change the diseased action ; that is, by raising an external inflammation, we may hope to lessen the internal one : and it must be remarked, that as this disease is obstinate and quickly fatal, so the treatment must be active and immediate. The cure should therefore be promptly begun by bleeding, according to the age, size, and strength of the animal, regard also being paid to the time the disease has existed: for, when the treatment is commenced too late in the complaint, the bleeding cannot be carried to the extent that it may be in the early stage. As a general rule, it should be re- membered that bleeding, in peripneumony, is never to be continued longer than it raises the pulse ; that is, supposing it to be previously in an oppressed state, which, in true pneumonia, it usually is, and in every variety it is quick and without fulness, even though somewhat harden- ed. More good is also gained by one bleeding within the first twenty- four hours of the complaint, than from numerous repetitions of it after- wards. From a moderate sized horse, five, six, or seven quarts, or even more, may be drawn ; and should the symptoms indicate a neces- sity for it, particularly if the pulse rose on the first bleeding, in five or six hours take three or four quarts more ; and, as long as the breathing continues laborious, the extremities permanently cold, and the pulse oppressed, but rising on the flowing of the blood; so long the bleedings should be repeated to the amount of two or three quarts at a time, at intervals of six or eight hours. This is recommended under a supposi- tion that the treatment commences soon after the attack : but, if other- wise, and violent symptoms have existed thirty-six or forty-eight hours, the bleeding must be repeated with more caution, and the pulse most attentively watched ; or the opposite extreme may be fallen into, and such debility succeed as may produce the very event we wish to avoid, by hastening gangrene or effusion. It is of considerable importance to draw the blood quickly by means of a large orifice, as directed under - General Infiajnmation, and to suffer the blood drawn to cool gradually without disturbance, by which the huffy surface will have an opportunity 422 INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. [ClaSsIJ. of shewing itself, and afford an additional indication of the propriety of persisting to hleed, or prove a check to its continuance. Immediately after the first hleeding, some active stimulants should be applied to the surface of the chest. Blisters have the effect of taking off the hair, which disfigures the horse for a long time afterwards ; and therefore their use is sometimes objected to. It is to be remembered, however, that they act by stimulating a part not immediately affected, and thus prove a counter irritant ; and that there is no specific virtue in one mat- ter more than another beyond its degree of stimulating action to the part it is applied to ; the degree of irritation necessary must be propor- tioned to the degree of inflammation it is intended to counteract by becoming a counter irritation to. (See Blisters). If that be very consi- derable, the medicinal stimulant must be so likewise ; and we know of none whose energy is great in this respect, that will not raise the cuticle and separate the hair. Consequently, as those matters called blisters act powerfully as stimulants, and particularly as they continue such action for some time, they should never be dispensed with. Whenever therefore the symptoms are at all urgent, proceed at once to blister the chest, first shaving the hair from the brisket or breast in front, and between the fore legs, and also from the sides behind the elbows ; and then rub in a blistering ointment wholly made of cantharides. In less urgent cases, and in such where the loss of the hair is particularly ob- jected to, any of the milder modes detailed under the head Blisters may be used. If also a strong prejudice exist in favour of rowels, and the symptoms are not very urgent, one may be inserted between the fore legs, and another ten or twelve inches further behind ; but each should be quickened in its action by smearing with turpentine or blis- tering ointment * ; or, what would be better, the sides may be blistered, and the brisket rowelled. But nevertheless, in all truly urgent cases, it should be remembered, that actively blistering is the quickest mode of subduing the inflammation. With some pathologists, blistering is thought to increase arterial action, and hence to be unadvisable here : but when sedative remedies are employed, the stimulating effects of proper counter irritants confine their effects to the skin, or parts to which they are applied, and prove most salutary. The state of the bowels should be next attended to, and a loosened but not a purging state encouraged; to this end, back rake and throw up a laxative clyster ; and in default of the operation of these in moderately loosen- ing the bowels, give a laxative drench composed of any of the neutral salts (see La.vatives, Materia 3Iedica): but active purging must be by all means avoided. During this stage of the complaint, more particu- larly, no stimulating internal articles should be given, under an idea of removing the existing weakness, or of raising the oppressed pulse. Cordials of all kinds will inevitably, during the active stages, aggravate the disease ; which can only be counteracted by lessening the arterial action generally by veuaesection : and locally, by counter irritants. It was early the College practice to attempt to lessen the morbidly hur- * Osmer pursued a plan which was by no means an ineligible mode af raising a quick, active, and permanent stimulus to the integuments of the chest. To the favourers of rowels it might farther recommend itself. It consisted in making small openings in the skin, and introducing pledgets of tow smeared with blister- ing ointment. Class II,] INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 423 ried circulation by the sedative effects of nausea and of cold. The nau- seating articles used were aloes; and as long as they simply nauseate, and refrain from actively purging the bowels, they do good. But as they are very apt to promote active and sudden purging, when not ex- pected so to do ; they are not to be depended on ; for it cannot have escaped the notice of every observant practitioner, that the derangement of one important bowel in the horse almost to a certainty leads to some derangement of those in contiguity with it. Veterinary practitioners of the present day, therefore, endeavour to keep the bowels soluble by other means, oV by using the aloes only to a certain point ; and then depend on other articles, of which the veratrum album, or white hellebore, stands foremost as a regular nauseant. This method, and my opinions upon it, are detailed at length, when treating on diffused inflammation. With regard to the application of cold ialso, as a direct sedative and lessener of arterial action, some alteration of the practice of the ingenious Professors at the head of that useful seminary, has, I believe, taken place. Mr. Coleman formerly recommended, after blistering or rowelling, that the horse might be turned out into the open air, however cold, without other medical treatment than nau- seating doses of aloes. The principles of such practice, it is probable, were mainly correct, and the theory whereon it was formed was inge- nious, and probably just: but it was, like most favourite theoretic points, found to be carried too far ; since which, with a praise-worthy candour, the application of cold has been moderated in a degree. That cool or even cold air, applied to the surface of the inflamed air cells, must tend to lessen irritation, there is little doubt ; and the cir- cumstance that horses, when left to themselves in this disease, will be always found opposite a full draught of air, bespeaks the relief it occa- sions : but the sedative effect on the skin by full exposure, there is reason to think, proves most hurtful. On the contrary, as we deem it of the utmost consequence to encourage an equal circulation and a warmth over the surface and extremities, so we direct to hand rub the skin to produce these effects, and then to clothe moderately ; and as it is, if possible, of still more consequence that we restore a due circulation to the extremities, which it is in general very difficult to effect ; so the legs should be very actively rubbed till something like warmth appears on them, and then they should be bandaged up either in hay-bands, or, what is preferable, in flannel. An efficient mode of restoring the cir- culation to the extremities, is to blister them ; and in desperate cases, and in those where blistering might be otherwise advisable, as in wind- galls or weakened sinews, it would be more particularly eligible ; for, by these means, much blood would be drawn from the chest, and the action of the vesicatory would keep it in the extremities. The muzzle, ears, and whole of the head in fact, may be considered as an extremity, and, as such, should be likewise particularly attended to ; the ears may be hand rubbed, and the head clothed in a neck hood ; and if no blistering be made use of to the legs, litter well up to the belly with clean straw. But it must at the same time be kept in mind, that the more care we take to promote warmth in the surface, and in the extre- mities, by clothing, &c., so we must be the more careful to counteract Ee 424 INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, [CluSS II. any tendency these means might have to encourage arterial excite- ment, and which, as before observed, is best effected by a cool and pure temperature of about fifty degrees. If the nauseating plan of treatment be not attempted by the active methods described under diifused inflammation, proceed with the milder sedative effects to be gained from antimonials, nitrated potash, tartrate of potash, and foxglove, in the following form, which, according to my experience, will be found to answer the end desired in most casess. No. l.—Antimonial powder two drams Digitalis (powdered foxglove) two drams Nitrated potash (nitre) three drams Tartrate of potash (cream of tartar) ditto. Mix with honey to make a ball, and give every four, six, or eight hours, according to the urgency of the symptoms. In cases where the cough is urgent, and the soreness of chest very distressing, the following formula is to be preferred, as more imme- diately tending to relieve these symptoms : — No. 2. — Tartarised antimony two drams Powdered foxglove one dram and a half Nitrated potash three drams Simple oxymel ("see Mat. Med ) four ounces Liquor No. 3 eight ounces. Or, in lieu of this liquor, add linseed tea, gruel, &c., and give every four, six, or eight hours. With regard to food, no anxiety need be entertained for the first twenty-four hours, during which time the less the animal eats the bet- ter ; but, if green meat can be procured, as being cooling and open- ing, it should by all means be given ; and in the absence of this, bran mashes may be allowed, with only a small quantity of hay : but no corn should on any account be offered, nor should his mashes be given hot, or hung round the head, as in the catarrhal fever, or distemper. On the contrary, every thing that heats the air carried to the lungs increases their action, and the disease can only be properly treated by a strict observance of Avhatever tends to diminish the inflammatory diathesis. In this point of view, though, as before noticed, we must carefully abstain from producing purging, we should also as studiously avoid costiveness, which is best done by back raking, or by aperient clysters ; and, in case of failure in these, a more efficient laxative may be given by the mouth (see Laxatives). The body and extremities should be frequently examined, and whenever any part is found to be getting cold, the means before detailed should be resorted to, to pro- mote a return of the circulation. During the continuance of the com- plaint, linseed tea, slightly warmed^ may be given to drink fre- quently; and if this be refused, give chilled water, and, occasionally, horn down the tea ; or, if preferred, the following liquor, particu- larly if there be cough and much chest soreness : — No. 3. — Linseed, and liquorice root, of each four ounces Mallows two handfuls. Boil in six quarts of water half an hour. It is, however, prudent to observe, that as little disturbance and force should be offered the Class II.] INFLAMED LUNGS IN NEAT CATTLE. 425 horse as possible in this complaint, therefore horning down fluids should never be practised but when absolutely necessary. By steadily pursuing this mode of treatment for the first thirty-six or forty-eight hours, it maybe expected that the distention and in- flamed state of the pulmonary vessels will subside into resolution, which will be indicated by the appearances detailed in the prognosis. The strength must now be supported to assist this process, and pre- vent a disposition to gangrene ; but this must not be done by heating cordials, but by thick gruel, or malt mashes, and if the debility be- come extreme, by the following, substituted in lieu of the foregoing medicines : — No. 4. — Powder of ipecacuanha two drams Tincture of opium half an ounce Camphor two drams Acetated liquor of ammonia (see Mat. Med.) four ounces. Rub the camphor with the tincture and powder, and then add the ace- tated liquor of ammonia, and give with half a pint of gruel, or liquor No. 3. But this is recommended only in cases where the severity of the in- flammatory symptoms has relaxed, and when from the existing debi- lity there is reason to fear a gangrenous termination, as will now and then occur from the eifect of this very debility. When, on the contrary, after the period before alluded to, the in- flammatory symptoms do not relax, push the medicines prescribed, particularly No. 2, still more actively, as, every three hours ; rub in more blistering ointment to the neighbouring parts ; or should that which has been rubbed not have operated, scald the chest with boil- ing water, applied by means of cloths wrung out between two other cloths, which will prevent scalding the hands of the operator. Con- tinue active in this and every other part of the treatment detailed, un- til a favourable termination has been obtained ; and, when it has taken place, it must be yet remembered, that there are few complaints in which there is more danger of recurrence ; every prudent precau- tion should therefore be used, as regular temperature, mild diet, gen- tle exercise: an early exposure to cold also ought to be guarded against. The whole list of what are termed expectorants, particu- larly in the early stages, should be carefully avoided, as they are always stimulants ; nor is their benefit much more manifest at any pe- riod of the complaint: digitalis, tartarised antimony, and oxymel, are the best and only expectorants admissible throughout the affection, as nauseants and cold air are the best sedatives. All active irri- tants, under the term of sudorifics or sweating medicines, should be also shunned, more particularly in the beginning of the disease, IxFLAMED Lungs in Neat Cattle, Horned cattle are also subject to pneumonia, but not by any means in an equal degree with horses. CoAvleeches and graziers call the com- plaint rismg of the lights, and it has also provincial names unneces- sary to be noticed here. Various causes may occasion it, but it is, in general, produced by exposure to inclement weather, as driving rains with easterly wind, or snowy nights: oxen become affected with it E e 2 42G INFLAMED LUNGS IN SHEEP. [CluSS II. sometimes from over driving, and I liave seen the disease attack calves. In its appearance it is very similar to the same complaint in horses : the animal heaves violently at the flank, the mouth opens to render respiration easier, the nostrils are very red, and the linings of the eyes also, and a moisture distils from them ; the pulse also is very quick, but small. The head is hung down dejected, but the beast in general refuses to lie down, though not so invariably as is observed in horses ; and the ears, legs, horns, and muzzle, are always intensely cold. The proper Treatment of the complaint does not essentially differ from that recommended for horses, and should be begun by bleeding to the amount of four or five quarts ; a large ox may lose six quarts : and here we may very properly avail ourselves of the power that nau- seating remedies have over the action of the heart and arteries, by the means detailed in diffused inflammation: and otherwise, if the cost be not objected to, give half the drink No. 2, detailed in the peripneumony of horses ; but, if preferred, exhibit half of No. 1, either as a ball or mixed for a drink ; or the following will nauseate, and has been" used with success : — Tariarised antimony (emetic tartar) j ^h^jrf^^J^ins Powdered foxglove one scruple to two Nitrated potash (nitre powdered) two drams Infusion of tobacco eight ounces. Mix and give two or three times a-day, according to the violence of the symptoms. The infusion of tobacco is made by boiling two drams of the herb in a quart of water, for a quarter of an hour. The bowels of the beast should be opened, but not purged ; and the sides either covered with a mustard poultice (see Materia Medica), or they may be blistered, and a large seton placed in the dewlap: the legs should also be wrapped up in haybands, and a rug thrown over the body, but the temperature of the air should be kept particularly cool. The heating remedies of cowleeches should be most carefully avoided, and even the recipe of a more correct practitioner, containing two drams of camphor, must be considered as infinitely too stimulating. In six hours after all these are done, if amendment be not very evident, repeat the bleeding, and increase the doses of the remedies until evi- dent nausea is produced ; but, if distressing efforts to retch appear, lessen the quanties ; beginning always with the smaller dose, and after wards increase it if there be occasion. Inflamed Lungs in Sheep. None of the writers on horned cattle describe peripneumony as a disease affecting sheep ; but I have seen it well marked, and in them, also, its origin could be clearly traced to exposure to inclement weather. Among my notes of practice, I find that the disease was rather preva- lent among the few sheep that 'were kept near London in February 1808. Among other cases that fell under my notice, I was sent for by Mr. Adams, of Mount Nod, near Streatham, to see the affected ones in his flock. From the shepherd's account I gained, that all the sick were attacked nearly together, immediately succeeding a very stormy cold night ; five of whom were dead when I arrived, and five others Class II.] CHROiNIC INFLAMMATION OF THE I.UNGS_, &C. 427 remained very ill with it ; and it may be noticed that the wiiole of them were ewes with young, and within a month of yeaning. The first symptom observed was the refusal of food, after which one and all had a peculiar stedfast fixed look ; from this they would reel about, elevate the head in the air, become convulsed, and fall backward in a strong fit ; and when the fit ceased, the teeth would grind so as to be heard to a great distance. The flanks heaved violently, the nostrils and eyelids were red, and from the nostrils distilled a watery moisture in some, and a purulent one in others. I opened the five dead ones, and, in all, the parenchymatous sub- stance of the lungs was highly inflamed ; in some, the whole of the lobes, in others only one side, was affected ; but wherever the inflam- mation reached, that part was condensed almost into a solid mass by the congestion ; some of the air cells also contained pus. The costal and mediastinal pleurae were little affected. In two, the liver was also slightly inflamed, but which was not a primary but a secondary effect, brought on by the participation of neighbourhood. It is somewhat remarkable that each of them contained two fcetusses. The five that were living I immediately bled and blistered ; and, as soon as it could be procured, a drink was given to each, composed of nitre and tartar emetic, which appeared to arrest the disease, as the whole recovered; and all, except one, went their full time. This one, which, though pre- maturely delivered, yet must have had less time to go than the rest, yeaned while I was standing by ; and, in despite of her illness, which was excessive, she made feeble efforts to nourish and cherish her young one, and appeared rather amended by the event : both mother and young lived. In the peripneumony of sheep the treatment in nowise differs from that of neat cattle : bleed from the amount of half a pint to a pint, shear the sides and blister, and give one-third of either of the recipes directed for kine ; house the sick, but not too warmly ; and if the cud be lost, drench with gruel. CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, ENDING IN TUBERCLES AND PULMONARY CONSUMPTION. A SLOW inflammatory action sometimes goes on in the lungs which ends in the formation of tubercles. It sometimes appears a primary formation or purely constitutional affection: but this is but seldom the case. It more commonly follows catarrh or pneumonia. In these in- stances the horse for some time seems convalescent: he is however occasionally observed somewhat affected, and, gradually, a short dry cough is observed : the coat becomes also harsh, dry, and unthrifty ; and if the pulse be examined, it will present an indication very differ- ent from a healthy state, and this, when the accompanying morbid symptoms are comparatively trifling, for it will be found almost invari- ably quick and small. As the disease advances, I have always distin- guished a peculiar smell about the horse ; the appetite becomes now affected, and pus mixed with mucus is passed from the nostrils, which in the latter stages is mixed with clots of coagulse, which escape both by the mouth and nose in the act of coughing, In the still more ad= 428 INFLAMMATION OF THE HEART AND sTOMACH. [ClcSS II. vanced stages the discharge increases and is very foetid, the hair falls off, the body wastes, and the complaint cither degenerates into absolute glanders or farcy ; or the animal sinks under the hectic irritation. If a horse be destroyed in the early stages, the tubercles appear like knots or kernels dispersed through the substance of the parenchyma, sometimes smaller, sometimes larger ; atone time darker, and at an- other lighter than the surrounding subsrance. In later stages these are found degenerated into abscesses, and, last of all, universal ulcer- ation is found, with occasional vomica. As the disease is invariably fatal, it is useless to prescribe an uncer- tain treatment for it. INFLAMMATION OF THE HEART. Carditis.] Idiopathic inflammation of the heart is a very rare disease in the horse *; I never met with more than two instances : but in conjunction Avith pneumonia it is very frequently inflamed; and its inflammation ends in serous effusion into the pericardium, forming hydrops peri- cardii. The general symptoms it produces are so similar to pneumonia, that it is commonly mistaken for that disease. The pulse, however, it may be remarked, is peculiarly characteristic of the disease ; at least it was so in the cases I saw of it. It was marked by oppression as in pneumonia, but superadded to that, a peculiar wiry yet fluttering feel was observable, totally distinct from any other I had ever felt. The countenance and manner were also marked by a peculiar expression of anxiety and alarm ; but acute pain did not appear present. Both cases terminated fatally. The treatment of carditis in no respects differs from that of pneumonia. INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. Gastritis.] [Gastrite. This disease is very rare also, though the stomach of the horse is certainly sometimes primarily attacked with inflammation, in which cases it is very difiicult to detect it, from its similarity to inflamed bowels. It is evident that it is not meant here to include those inflam- mations that are produced by acrid substances taken in ; the symptoms in which cases are more definite, and will be treated of in another place : neither is included the specific affection called stomach stag- gers. When idiopathic gastritis occurs, the uneasiness is extreme ; there is a loathing of all food, and if any thing be given by the mouth it creates increased pain for a long time aftenvards. The anima) breaks out into cold sweats, lies doAvn and quickly rises again, as in in- flammation of the bowels ; and the loss of strength is most remark- able: the pulse is usually quick and much oppressed. If the disease can be clearly detected, treat it in every respect as directed under En- teritis, except as regards internal remedies. Of these the following may be tried : — * It does not enter into the nosological arrangement of Mr. Huzard. which is AVi additional proof of its rarity. Class II.] INFLAMMATION OF THE INTKSTINE'*. 429 Dissolve half a dram of superacetate of lead (mgar of lead) in tighL ounces of water, to which add four ounces of very pure castor oil, and give every three hours. In a well marked case, pouring iced water into the stomach might not be an improper experiment. INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES. Enteritis.] [Tranchees Rouge. The Red Colic of the farriers is a phlegmonous inflammation of the peritoneal covering of the intestines, so called in distinction from the flatulentor spasmodic affection, termed, by the same persons, gripes, gullion, and fret ; and which will be treated of in another place. Next to inflammation of the lungs, enteritis, or inflamed bowels, is the most frequent and fatal of the local affections of the horse, and of which there appears two distinct kinds ; the one affecting their vil- lous coat or surface, and producing purging ; the other attacking the peritoneal coat, and accompanied usually with obstinate costiveness. It is this latter that forms the subject of our present consideration; the former will be treated of hereafter. From an imperfect acquaintance with the art, it has been common for farriers to mistake enteritis for spasmodic colic, and the error has commonly proved fatal to the affect- ed horse ; for the ''comfortable tilings" and heating drenches given on such occasions always increased the inflammation, and frequently pro- duced gangrene. A careful distinction should therefore be made be- tween the tAA'o, which may be readily done by attending to the charac- teristic marks of each as particularly detailed in spasmodic colic. The Symptoms.— It usually commences by a shivering fit, to which succeeds heat of "skin, restlessness, loss of appetite, the mouth being particularly hot and dry, and the inner membranes of the eyelids and the linings of the nostrils rather redder than natural. As the inflam- mation advances, the pain increases so as to force the horse to lie down and get up again frequently ; but, as the pain is less acute, he very seldom rolls on his back as in the gripes. Sometimes, however, he kicks at his belly or stamps with his feet, and in all cases he scrapes his litter or stall with his hoofs, and looks wistfully round towards his sides. The pulse is frequent, sometimes as quick as seventy or eighty degrees, but it is usually small and rather wiry. The breathing is ac- celerated, but is not usually laborious. The belly is painful to the touch, which does not occur in colic: it is also hot to the feel, and the pain, instead of remitting as in colic, is constant. The extremities are €o]d, while the surface of the body is often hot. The bowels are usu- ally confined, and if any dung be evacuated, it is in small, hard, and dry masses. The urine likewise is made sparingly and of a high colour ; and a strong character of tlie complaint is a very early and excessive debility. The Causes arc various, but they are generally dependent on the ap- plication of cold, as washing when hot, or plunging into a river; the drinking of cold water has likewise produced it, though more fre- quently this occasions spasmodic gripes. A long retention of the faeces may bring it on, as likewise hernia or intus-susception, Avhich is occa- sioned by one part of a gut becoming invaginated within another: it may also be produced by metastasis , or the translation of the inflarama- 430 INFLAMMATION OK THE INTESTINES. [CluSS II. tory diathesis of another part, or of general fever, or by the commu- nication by continuity of the inflammation from other parts, as I have often witnessed. Another and not unfrequent cause arises from flatu- lent colic, cither neglected or improperly treated, which I have many times seem degenerate into enteritis under such circumstances. Cal- cular concretions have also brought it on. The Prognosis. - If the costiveness be early removed, if the pulse become softer, more full, and less frequent ; if the pain remit, and the heat of the body and extremities appear equal, it will terminate favour- ably. But if the costiveness remain obstinate, or, otherwise, a void- ing of black foetid matter appear ; if the pulse become more quick and waver also, and if the extremities continue invariably cold, the danger is great. And when added to these if there be a peculiar earthy cada- verous smell from the mouth, with cold sweats, delirium, and extreme debility, and particularly if the belly become more and more tense, the termination will be almost to a certainty unfavourable ; and as soon as the pain ceases in such a case, gangrene may be known to have com-, menced. The Treatment.— lA\iG most of the other inflammations of import- ant organs, this requires a very energetic and early application of the remedial means, and which, it may be remarked, must be here still more particularly prompt than in most other cases, as an instance of recovery seldom occurs where the treatment has been delayed beyond the second day : indeed, it often destroys in twenty-four hours. Bleed- ing is the first indication, and if the subject be young, large, and ple- thoric, six or seven quarts may be safely taken away ; and should the symptoms continue unabated, the same may be repeated in four hours ^ to the amount of four or five quarts more ; nor should even a third lesser bleeding be omitted at the same distance of time, if the inflam- matory appearances have not become mitigated. The bleeding may be known to have a salutary effect by the pulse becoming softer and fuller, particularly if it shew a disposition to rise as the blood flows . Here also it is proper that the blood be abstracted quickly and from a large orifice. As soon as the first bleeding is over, proceed to back rake, to remove any hardened dungthatmay obstruct the passage, and which, if suffered to remain, would infallibly aggi-avate the complaint, and which indeed, in many instances, is the cause of it: the distressing strangury that sometimes accompanies the red colic, is also frequently as much produced by the pressure of hardened excrement as by a renal participation in the inflammatory affection. It is not the dropping away of a few balls of hardened dung, nor the passage of some thin glairy matter, which shews that no obstruction exists : on the contrary, when these are present, a most obstinate cos- tiveness may yet remain farther up in the passage; and a flow of thin fseces may escape by a groove formed by the side of an obstructing portion of dung, as has happened '^. Unless, therefore, there be an evident free passage to all the faecal matter, and that the excrement be wholly softened, it is always proper to rake ; for it must not be lost sight of, that, whether as a consequence or a cause, constipation ag- * Sometimes a very large faecal accumulation takes place in some one or more of the pockets of the colon. In such case the only difference is that the symp- toms are less acute. Class U.] INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES. 4e31 gravates the disease, and is always present. Neither does amendment seldom if ever take place until that he removed. It is always of con- sequence to bear in mind, that as the state of the bowels is such as not to render it prudent to allow of strong purgatives being given by the mouth ; so the greater activity is required to empty them mechanically, and by the assistance of clysters, which should be thrown up very fre- ijuently. Till the relaxation be complete, the injections should be mildly laxatives ones, as recommended in the 3Iat. Med. Afterwards warm water only, or thin gruel, will be sufficient. The quantities composing the clysters should be very considerable also, so as to pene- trate beyond the rectum, and to enter, if possible, the colon and ccecum (see Clysters, Mat. Med.) The next indication is to raise a brisk external inflammation over the belly, to lessen thereby the internal affection ; and in this case even the cantharides are hardly quick enough in their action : but a more speedy determination to the skin may be made, by first fomenting the belly with hot water for a quarter of an hour, and then by applying a ■large mustard poultice farther liquefied with oil of turpentine, or with the liquid blister (see Mat. Med. J, which may be spread on coarse linen, or ahorse cloth; or, what is preferable, the fleshy side of a newly- stripped sheep skin may be covered with it, and then applied close to the belly by means of flannel rollers, which will retain it in its situa- tion. When this has remained on for three or four hours, if an evi- dent abatement of symptoms have not taken place, proceed to blister in the usual way*. If a situation were to occur, where nothing be- sides of a blistering nature was at hand, the belly might be actually scalded with boiling water, or a hot shovel might be drawn over it ; or any other means may be made use of to stimulate the abdominal sur- face that are in the reach of the persons employed on the occasion. It next becomes a consideration as to what remedies may be properly given by the mouth, which must greatly depend on the degree of cos- tiveness present. In a case where the obstruction did not appear ob- stinate, 1 should recommend that castor and linseed oils be given united, six or eight ounces of each shaken together with a little gruel. When the bowels are more closely constringed, unite with four or six ounces of the watery tincture of aloes (see Mat. 3Ied.J, six or eight ounces of the sulphat of magnesia dissolved in gruel, which should be repeated every three or four hours till full evacuation be obtained. In cases of extreme danger, where the expense will not be considered an object, it will be prudent to advert to the use of croton tiglium ; the oil of which may be given in doses of fifteen or twenty drops every three hours until it operates. The powdered seed has also a purgative quality in doses of twenty-five to thirty and forty grains (see the sub- ject of Purgatives). Before the costiveness is overcome, we should be careful of increasing the distention of the bowels by much liquid ; * In human enteritis a very marked advantage has been received from the use of very large bread and milk poultices, applied over the whole surface of the belly. The cessation of the inflammation followed so rapidly after the use of this mode of applying external warmth, that it might be worthy the veterinarian's trial. On the contrary, a Dr. McCarthy relates, that, in tropical climates, hu- man enteritis is successfully treated by cold water externally and internally ap= plied. Neither will the observant pathologist find any difficulty in reconciling both these treatments to fact or to theory. 432 INFLAMED BOWELS IN NKAT CATTLli. [ClctSS II. given by the mouth ; but when a free passage is obtained, considerable quantities of thin gruel, or linseed tea, may be horned down. The horse should be clothed warm, to promote a determination to the skin ; the legs ought also to be bandaged up, and plenty of litter allowed ; at the same time the external temperature should be kept cool: and in this, as in every case of illness, the patient ought by all means to have the use of a loose box. INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES FROM SUPER- PURGATION. As the former affection consists of a phlegmonous inflammatory at- tack on the peritoneal covering or coat of the intestines ; this latter is usually an affection of their villous surface, the consequence of the ad- ministration of improper purging medicines, either as to quantity or quality ; by which such a state of irritation is brought on as ends in in- flammation. It is commonly accompanied with purging, v/hereas the former has almost always costiveness connected with it: neither is the pain so acute in the latter, consequently the horse seldom expresses so much uneasiness by rolling or stamping; the pulse is also quick and small, but seldom hard. If the symptoms of inflammation be very active, that is, if the pain approaches distress ; if the extremities feel cold, and the pulse betokens much vascular action, three quarts of blood may be drawn ; but unless these appearances exist in force, it will be more prudent to omit it. Stimulants should, however, be ap- plied to the bowels, as in red colic ; the clothing also should be warm, and means taken to keep up the circulation in the extremities by hand rubbing and bandaging : the stable also, in this disease, should be kept warm. The following drink may be given every four or six hours : — Prepared chalk two ounces Powdered gv\m arable half an ounce Powdered catechu two drams. Mix, in half a pint of thin starch, arrow root, rice liquor, or tripe li- quor ; and, in case the purging be considerable, not only give this by the mouth, but also mix the same with two or three quarts of rice or tripe liquor, or thin starch, and give as a clyster, which will be found peculiarly useful and efficacious. If the diarrhoea should be excessive from the first, or should prove obstinate afterwards, add to the drench, powdered opium and powdered alum, half a dram of each. Inflamed Bowels i7i Neat Cattle. Both the kinds of this disease, already described as common to horses, are also not unfrequent among kine. The enteritis, or red colic of horned cattle, presents similar appearances to those which occur in the same complaint in horses, except that it is in these somewhat more difiicult, I think, to distinguish between the red and the flatulent colic, which arises from our lesser conversance with the manners of these ani- mals than we are with those of horses. The treatment in no wise differs from that we have already laid down: bleeding, opening the bowels internally, and stimulating them externally, being here also the principal means of cure. Class II.] iNFLAMMATiON OF THE LIVKR. 4oS The inflamed purging state is likewise not unfrequent among cattle^ \)\it in them it does not draw its origin so much from the ett'ects of purging medicines, as it does from a diseased state of the natural purge of the body, the bile ; and to which form of the disease, from the greater complexity of their biliary structure, they are found peculiarly liable. Here the treatment pursued must depend on the cause, \diich will sometimes, as in horses, arise from inflammation of the internal surface of the intestines ; in which the curative plan must also be the same as detailed for the removal of the same complaint in horses; but Avhen it is dependent on a mixed inflammation, partly phlegmonous and partly villous, as is the case frequently when the liver is concerned, and which may be known by the accompanying symptoms betokening irritative fever, then the treatment must be more analogous to what is prescribed below for hepatitis, INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER. Hepatitis.] fHepatite. The liver of the horse is but seldom primarily aifected with inflam- mation ; though, when other great abdominal inflammations take place, then this often participates ; and now and then also it becomes the im- mediate object of attack. Symptoms. — The complaint commences by appearances not dissi- milar to a mild attack of inflammation of the bowels, but the pain is not so acute. There are usually cold extremities, heaving of the flank, a pulse quick and hard, but not very full, hot mouth, and considerable yellowness of the mucous lining of the nostrils, the conjunctive mem- brane of the eyes, and the surfaces of the mouth, and which tinge in some degree characterises it from other afl'ections*. ' It is sometimes, indeed, usually accompanied with costiveness, for the liver ceases to secrete, and the bile, previously formed, is not passed into the intes- tines, but becomes, from the increased activity of the absorbents, car- ried into the blood, and from thence is deposited on the skin, which is the cause of the yellowness observed. But now and then, instead of a stoppage to the secretion, there is a diseased increase of it, and the complaint is, at such times, accompanied with a purging of black foetid stools. A few years ago many cases of this kind fell under my notice about the same time, at the close of a very hot summer. In every in- staiice the symptoms of depressive fever are great, and the languor extreme ; sometimes so much so, it is hardly possible to keep the horse on his legs. The progress of the complaint varies much ; I have seen it fatal in three days, and I have known it continue three weeks, and destroy at last ; in which protracted cases, it is usual for the cellular membrane of the whole body to become suff'us^d by a serous fluid, form- ing extensive anasarca, or, as a farrier expresses it, the horse has water farcy. This disease is, as might naturally be expected, often con- founded with an inflamed state of the bowels ; and indeed it very often is connected with the inflammatory aflections of these or some other of * It is to be. observed, however, that the liver is so liable to become seconda- rily affected by other great local inflammation, that yellowness of the eye-lids, nostrils, &c., is not uncommon in enteritis, pneumonia, &c. Thus farriers make ■every great internal fever, a case of Yellows. 434 INFLAMED LIVKH IN NKAT CATTLE. [ClciSS II. the abdomiiiai viscera, from the general tendency observed in these af- fections to spread from one to another. The Prognosis is favourable if the extremities are not invariably- cold, if the weakness be not extreme, and if the pulse improve on bleed- ing: but if the languor increase, and the extremities cannot be got warm; if the breath be hot and foetid, and the pulse small and beyond 120 in a minute, then it is extremely unfavourable. The Cure should be attempted ; first, by bleeding to the full extent of the powers of the animal, and the same should be repeated at inter- vals of four or six hours, if complete success do not follow the first abstraction. Blister the sides of the belly ; or if preferred, apply a mustard poultice over the whole : but blistering is most to be depended on. The costiveness should be overcome by back raking, by clysters, and by the following, repeated every six hours till it operates : — Submuriate of quicksilver (calomel) one dram Antinionial powder two drams Powdered aloes three drams. In cases where there is already diarrhoea or purging, the lancet "should be used more sparingly, unless the inflammatory symptoms be urgent, and the state of the pulse shew a capability of bearing it, in which case it is as necessary as in the other. It is a repetition only of it that is less advisable here than in the former instance. If the heat of the ab- domen be considerable, rub in some liquid blister also (see Materia Medica); and instead of the purging ball, give the following: — Castor oil eight ounces Gruel, or linseed tea six ounces Powdered ipecacuanha half a dram. By the help of the yolk of two eggs beaten with the oil, and the gruel added gradually, a smooth uniform mixture may be made, and which will be found peculiarly useful to amend the state of the evacuations, and should be repeated every other day, giving the following ball also twice every day : — Powdered opium half a dram Submuriate of quicksilver (calomel) half a dram Powdered camomile half an ounce. Mix with honey to make a ball. No apprehension need be entertained that the calomel will increase the diarrhcea, as the opium will suffi- ciently restrain it. This treatment will be found singularly efficacious in this complaint ; this caution only being requisite, that should the disease be protracted beyond the third day, the calomel must not be persisted in, for fear of salivation ; but instead, a course of tonics with steel may be entered on for four or five days, and then again have re- course to the calomel, &c.&c., as an additional security against relapse. In other respects, as diet, clothing, &c. &c., treat as directed under in- flamed bowels. Inflamed Liver in Neat Cattle. From the increased complexity in the structure of the liver in neat cattle, they appear more subject to hepatic affections than the horse ; but these affections in them are more usually of a slow chronic kind ; ClaSSIh] INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNIES. 435 nevertheless now and then acute hepatitis appears, with all t.he symp= toms that characterise it in the horse. Both varieties of the complaint likewise are observed, but cattle are more subject to that which is ac- companied with diarrhoea, from the greater disposition in them to accu- mulate bile by the presence of a gall-bladder. In either case the treat- ment must be similar to what is directed for the horse, except that it would be prudent, in the acute kind accompanied with costiveness, to give a lessened dose of antimony, from the different degree of irrita- bility in the one stomach to the other. The treatment of that which is dependent upon, or accompanied with, a vitiated state of the bile, must also be similar; on which subject more information likewise may be gained by referring to diarrhosa and jaundice in cattle. I have never seen distinct hepatitis in sheep, though chronic affec- tions of the liver are sufliciently common among them. INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNIES. Nephritis.] [Nephrite. From the frequency of this complaint among horses, and from its fatal tendency, the consideration of it becomes an important matter : and it is rendered still more so, from the proper treatment not being understood by the common class of farriers. It has been said, that mares are more liable to it than horses, and that horses are more prone to inflammation of the neck of the bladder: but my experience has not justified this observation. Small as these organs are, they are very es= sential to life, and the quantity of blood passing through them is very great ; therefore, we cannot wonder at their aptitude to inflame, nor the great derangement inflammation occasions in the machine when they are so. Symptoms. — The complaint is usually first observed by the animal being dull, and expressing pain by looking at his lianks ; the urine is made in small quantities, and is often red or bloody. As the inflamma- tion increases, it becomes in some instances almost wholly suppressed. Sometimes, although the urine be suppressed by a sympathetic consent of parts, frequent attempts to stale are made, when the raucous secretion from the bladder and urethra only are pressed out. The pulse at first is rather hard and frequent, and somewhat full ; but as the disease ad- vances, it becomes smaller, oppressed, and intensely quick. The ani- mal stands with his legs wide apart, as though going to stale, and shrinks when the loins are pressed. If it be an entire horse, the testicles are alternately drawn close to the belly by the cremaster muscles, and al- ternately pendulous and relaxed. To distinguish it from inflammation of the body of the bladder, or from that of the neck of that organ, the horse should be examined by passing the hand up the rectum ; when, if the inflammation exist in the kidnies, the bladder, whether em^pty or full, will not be hotter than the surrounding parts, nor more tender: but should the affection be confined to the body of the bladder, it will be surely found empty, but very hot and painful to the touch: if again, the neck of the bladder, as sometimes happens, should be the seat of the disease, the heat and tenderness will be considerable, and the bladder will be found distended with urine. Durino- the continuance of the 43(3 mPLAMMATfON OF THE KIDNJKS. [ClaSS 11. complaint, the horse shews a great disinclination to inovij about, the hinder extremities swell, and, what will often characterise the disease, is their aptitude to become paralytic and cold ; and if one kidney OTily be atFected, one leg only has been found paralysed and swelled*. ♦ The following: strongl}' marked case I have selected from among others noted by me, because it was one purely nephritic, and which, from being in my own infirmary, I had peculiar opportunities of noting: nor do I conceive it irrelevant here, because it is a simple detail of facts, and, as such, a clear guide to future discrimination. A very valuable horse, the property of John Inglis, Esq. was sent to my infirmary on the 24th of Januar)', 1807, having been unwell since the 21st, with what was considered by the groom as a common cold ; and as such it had been treated. He was so ill when he arrived, that my remark to the servant who brought him was, that I dovibted whether he was not come to his last home; but so unconscious was this person of his situation, that he had ridden him from his master's stable, a distance of three miles. The animal was immediately hied, and put into a loose box, where lie appeared very uneasy and in considerable pain, but he never was observed t] INFLAMMATION OF THE KlDNlKS. 437 The disease may terminate by resolution, by suppuration, or by gan- grene. In resolution, which is what we should abA^ays aim at, the se- cretion of urine becomes increased, and of a thick whitish appearance ; the pulse rises, the pain lessens, and a cessation of the other symp- toms of fever occurs ; the extremities also return to their usual size, pliancy, and mobility. SuppuraUoii is, in the horse, not a frequent termination ; the strength of the vascular system in him tends rather to produce gangrene, when the inflammation is very great ; which ter- mination is announced by the increased debility, by the weakness and intermission of the pulse, accompanied with cold sweats. The Causes. — It is probable that it may sometimes arise, like the other topical affections, from a translation of general fever to these glands. It is more generally brought on from severe exercise, particu- larly if aided by the motion of a heavy or unskilful rider. It may be occasioned by the imprudent administration of acrid diuretic sub- stances, particularly of such as are long continued. The application of cold is also not an unusual cause of it, as I have witnessed in horses turned out to grass without caution ; nor is it uncommon for it to follow a cold wet tempestuous night, even among such as have been out to grass before ; the cold water lodging on the region of the loins appear- ing peculiarly hurtful to horses. Mode of Treatment.— Th^ve are some circumstances in the cure to be particularly attended to, but which have been passed over unnoticed by our best English authors ; on the contrary, many of them have re- commended a practice almost certainly destructive*, by ordering dif- ferent diuretic substances, which, from the difficulty that already exists in the vessels to separate the watery parts from the blood, it is evident must greatlr aggravate the complaint. As soon as the disease appears, bleed plentifully to the amount of four, five, or six quarts, according to the size, age, aiul strength of the animal; which, if the symptoms do not give way, repeat in four or five hours ; and should the disease still remain violent, a farther bleeding should not be neglected. After the first bleeding, empty the bowels by raking, and afterwards by a clyster ; and if there have been any appear- ance of costiveness, a purgative containiiig no diuretic substance should be given by the mouth also; and when the bowels are opened, clysters of gruel, or warm water, should be still constantly applied, which will act as a fomentation, and tend greatly to relieve the complaint. It is very necessary here also to excite an external inflammation over the loins, but we are much confined as to the means of doing this ; for the use of Spanish flies is here inadmissible, from their disposition to be- come absorbed, and to pass unchanged through the blood, until they get into the kidnies, when they exert their stimulating effects, evi- dently in this instance, to the extreme prejudice of the animal. Tur- around less than usual. The paralysis evident in this and other cases ma}' be ac- counted for, by considering that the inflammatory affection extended itself to the iliac nerves, whicli are situated in tlie immediate neighbourhood of thekidnies, and which nerves furnish the hinder extremities with nervous influence. * Bartlet copying from Gibson, and treating of this disease, directs that if the -frecretion of urine should continue suppressed, to give nitre, turpentine, myrrh, and balsam capivi. Now, as the suppression arises from the continuation of the in- flammation, this stimulating treatment would probably urge the kidnies into im- mediate gangrene. 438 INFLAMED KIDNIFS IN NKaT CATTLE. [ClaSS II, pentine, for the same reason, should not be used ; but no such fear prevents the use of scalding fomentations, or of a hot iron drawn over the back, or of any diluted caustic : neither can any objection be form- ed to the application of a simple mustard poultice without turpentine, which may be renewed every two hours; and, if the poultice be applied upon a newly stripped sheep skin, it will increase its activity*. We have before had occasion to point out the great connexion which subsists between the skin and the kidnies, and to shew that when one is in a high state of action, the othor secretes less ; this being the case, it will be evident, that whatever determines the blood to the skin, or, in other words, whatever excites perspiration, must be highly useful : but it must not be forgotten, that this secretion is very difficult to ex- cite, and that the exhibiting such medicines as would tend to produce active diaphoresis, w^ould increase the action of the heart and arteries too much. In such a case mildly, and mildly only, nauseating the sto- mach by means of aloes, or by the white hellebore (see p. 385), might be advantageously practised, both to lessen arterial action, and also to promote a relaxed state of the skin. Clothing of the horse hotly should be avoided, but the legs may be bandaged up, plenty of litter allowed, and the stable kept moderately warm. Diluting liquors are inadmis- sible, on account of the distention they produce, for which reason the animal should be allowed but little to drink. And should it not be deem- ed advisable to try the full nauseating plan of subduing the inflamma- tion, give the following : — Powdered white hellebore two drams Tartarised antimony (emetic tartar) one dram Powdered opium one scruple Acetated liquor of ammonia (see Mat. Med ) . . four ounces Camomile tea eight ounces. Mix, and give every six hours. Inflamed Kidnies in Neat Cattle. Red tvaier, which is the cowleech's and grazier's name for inflam- mation in the kidnies, is still more common among horned cattle than it is among horses : in them it is sometimes primary, and, at others, connected with an inflamed bladder : while again, in some cases, I have observed it accompanied with an affection of the bowels also. Graziers attribute it to low damp situations : and in many instances it seems brought on by drinking impure water, particularly that which is found in peat mosses. These varieties make it not a little complex to the common practitioners : indeed, these cases are in general to them wholly incomprehensible, for one only circumstance arrests their atten- tion, which is, that the afflicted animal has a difficulty in voiding the urine ; and they immediately attempt to overcome this obstruction by forcing diuretics. In a celebrated publication on cattle we find, when treating on this disease, a quart of infusion of pellitory is directed to be given two or three times a-day. Mr. Clater recommends camphor ^ oil of jmiiper, and salt of tartar. By such stimulating means, these inflammatory affections were very commonly pushed into gangrene ; and * Avery active external stimulant may be made by macerating the croton tig- lium in spirit, either of turpentine or of wine. (See Blisters, Mat. Med) Cte.5 II.] INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. 439 a disease that under proper treatment might have proved manageable, has been by this injudicious conduct rendered fatal. If the physiology of the kiduies be attended to, as fully laid down in treating of the ana- tomy of those organs, it will be found that all diuretics act by forcing a greater quantity of blood through them ; and, as inflammation also principally acts by increasing their vascularity, so the action of the in- tended remedy and of the disease are one and the same. The Symptoms of this complaint in neat cattle are the same as in the horse : the urine at first almost suppressed, soon becomes bloody, from whence its name : and as the disease advances, particularly if it termi- nate fatally, the urine becomes darker and of a brown hue. The medical Treatment of cattle nephritis is little different from that directed for horses : bleed largely, according to the state of the animal and the duration of the disease, and, if there be considerable marks of fever, give antimonials, but no nitre. The foUoAving may be tried : — No. 1. — Antimonial powder half a dram Powdered ipecacuanha one dram Powdered camomile three drams. Make into a ball with honey, and give twice a-day. I have likewise seen this complaint exist in cattle in a less acute form, so as to last some weeks, sometimes originating in over driving or blows across the loins, and not unfrequently from the effects of dif- ficult calvings. In these more chronic cases there is seldom. any neces- sity for bleeding : a warm charge applied over the loins is very proper ^ and the following drink maybe given every morning: — No. 2. — Powdered catechu two drams Mucilage of gum arable .... four ounces Lime water (see Mat. Med.) , . . six ounces. In such instances a change of diet also is often useful : I have seen gr-eat and immediate benefits arise from being fed wholly on carrots. Sheep now and then have red water also, both of the acute and the more chronic kind : bleeding, housing, and feeding on any sweet root, as carrots, parsnips, or in default of these upon turnips, form the best means of cure, with the occasional use of one-third of the medicine No. 1, if the inflammatory symptoms be violent. INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. Cystitis.] [Inflammation de la Vessic. The bladder may become inflamed throughout its whole body, or the affection may be confined to the neck of it only ; and as different symp- toms arise as either the one or the other of these are the immediate seat of disease, so we shall describe them separately. There is reason to believe, also, that the bladder itself may be the subject of two va- rieties of inflammation ; that is, its peritoneal coat in some cases, and its villous in others, may be the seat of the affection : but the former is usually the effect of some general abdominal inflammation ; while the latter is a primary affection, and is that which we mean to describe here, F f 440 INFLAMMATION OF THK NKCK OF THE liLADDER. [CklSS 11. Symptoms,— When a mucous membrane is inflamed, it ceases to secrete mucus ; this takes place in the inflammation of the internal coat of the bladder, and when it ceases to secrete the mucus that was to defend it from the acrimony of the urine, it then becomes acutely irritable, and is constantly endeavouring to rid itself of the irritating contents. This complaint may be distinguished from inflammation of the kidnies, by what has been said with regard to that disease ; and from inflammation of the neck of the bladder, from what follows. . As the inflamed bladder cannot long retain its contents, so there is a frequent evacuation of a small quantity of urine ; and, on passing the hand up the rectum, the bladder will be found hot and tender, but empty ; the horse is also commonly observed to have a disposition to dung frequently, as well as to stale, from the sympathy of the rectum with the bladder. The fever is usually considerable, and the pulse at first is harder and fuller than natural, but as the disease proceeds it usually becomes oppressed. Its Causes may originate in the translation of fe\er, perhaps sometimes by cold alternating with heat ; and it has been occasioned in mares by the passing some irritating substance up the urethra to make them horsy. Prognosis. — It may terminate by resolution ; by an increased secre- tion of mucus ; or by gangrene ; the first of which is the most favour- able, and the latter fatal. We must be guided, therefore, in our opi- nion, as the symptoms tend towards either of these terminations. Oure.'-Bleed according to the height of the fever and state of the pulse, and repeat as these indicate ; the rectum also should be imme- diately raked to empty it. Throw up clysters of warm gruel, or water, to foment the parts ; and as soon as one returns, throw up another. It might not be improper likewise, if the subject be a female, to pass up the urethra a decoction of linseed with gum arabic by means of a syringe, to sheath the bladder from the acrid urine. As in inflammation of the kidnies, avoid blistering with Spanish flies, but stimulate the abdo- men in any other way externally. Every thing that increases the flow of urine should be avoided, as it tends to irritate the bladder. The body should be kept warm to encourage perspiration, and the inter- nal medicines may be the same as recommended in inflammation of the kidnies. Inflmnmation of the Neck of the Bladder. Sometimes the neck of the bladder takes on inflammation alone, and this occurs more frequently to horses than to mares. It is to be distin- guished from inflammation of the kidnies, because, in passing the hand up the rectum, the bladder will be found distended: this will also pre- vent mistaking it for inflammation of the body of the bladder. The frequent making of a little water will not, however, distinguish either of the foregoing complaints from this; as, in inflammation of the neck of the bladder, there is sometimes a small quantity of urine evacuated at different times : for after the bladder is distended, there will be, by the force of the distention, a few drops now and then squeezed out. But in this disease the frequent staling will not take place until the bladder be distended fully, whereas in the former disease it will come on at the very first: and likewise, in the latter case, the distended bladder may be felt even by the belly. Class II.] INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB. 441 The Prognosis in this alFection will be more favourable in a mare than in a horse ; but it will be unfavourable in both if the stoppage continue obstinate twelve or fourteen hours. In attempting a Cure, the inflammation must be subdued at once, if possible ; but if not, means must be taken to obviate the present conse- quences. To promote the first indication, bleed very largely, open the bowels, throw up clysters, and stimulate externally, in the same manner as in the two last complaints. But if the inflammation do not subside sufficiently to permit the urine to pass, it must be drawn off by artificial means, or the bladder may burst ; or the irritation alone may kill ; or gangrene may come on. In a mare, from the urethra being large and straight, a catheter may be easily passed up, and the water drawn off": but, in the horse, to effect this, an opening must be made from the perinseum ; yet this should not be done until the effect of passing the hand up the rectum and pressing on the bladder has been tried, which will often promote the expulsion : but when this and every other of the usual means have been ineffectually tried, proceed to attempt the in- troduction of a catheter by the perinseum. By referring to the ana- tomy of the urethra, or passage into the bladder, page 308, it is there clearly stated why no sound or other instrument can pass into this cyst at once from the yard : but when it becomes necessary to force open the neck of it, a sound must be first passed up the penis until it reaches the thin membranous part of the urethra in the perinaeum there described : the instrument then introduced must be cut down upon, and a sufficient opening made to introduce a catheter : which must be done very carefully and gradually, as the resistance is sometimes consider- able ; so much so, indeed, in some instances, that no efforts are suffi- cient to overcome the contraction of the inflamed part ; in which cases, to prevent the evils arising from the distention, we must proceed to puncture the bladder itself, which may be done by means of a trochar introduced within the rectum, and which ope?>ing will not, in that case, penetrate the peritoneal cavity. (See remarks on this in the JJnatoniy oj the Bladder, page 299). It remains to add, that I have seen small continued doses of opium, as forty grains every two hours, greatly re- lieve this affection, and this in more than one instance : bleeding, also, till fainting was nearly produced, has relaxed the contraction. Inflamed Bladder in Cattle. This now and then occurs, though but very seldom. I have only heard it described, for I never saw the complaint ; but it is evident that a corresponding treatment with that we have laid down for horses should be pursued. INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB. This disease sometimes arises in mares a day or two after they have foaled, or at any time when abortion has taken place and they have slipped a foal. It is likewise not unfrequent in coivs, under the same circumstances, as well as in ewes; and is frequently occasioned in all, from violence used in attempting the extraction of the foal, calf, or lamb= Ff2 442 INFLAMMATION OF TiiK WOMB. [ClaSS II. It produces verysimil'ir syniptoiiis to inflammation of the body of the bladder, and can only be distinguished from it by its happening^ at these times. Ther^ is usually the same frequency and pain in stalincr, from the bladder beintr alTectcd by contiguity or sympathy, or from the pressure of the inflamed womb upon it. It is usually accompanied with shivering, marks of great distress, the extremities are cold, the pulse commonly oppressed, and the beast is much on the ground. Some- times there is a flow of a coftee-coloured matter from the vagina or bearing. It must be treated in a similar manner with inflammation of the bladder ; but as the animal must have been previously weakened by the act of foaling, calving, or lambing, so the bleeding and general cool- ing plan should not be carried so far ; nevertheless, if the inflamma- tory symptoms run high, and the subject be in full flesh, a propor- tionate bleeding must not be neglected. The bowels should also be opened first by raking, and then mild clysters must be frequently thrown up of a tepid temperature ; and, in this instance, a purgative of Epsom salts is particularly indicated. Sometimes the bladder also" becomes inflamed and irritable ; at others, the neck of it only receives the afi'ection ; in which latter cases the urine must be drawn ofl" by a catheter to relieve the distention (^see the last article). Foment the belly at its posterior part with hot water, and support the strength with gruel or other nutriment ; and in case there appears great irrita- tion of the bladder, by the extreme frequency of the evacuations of urine, give opium in small doses united with antimonials, or the follow- ing:— Tartarised antimony (tartar emetic) .... one dram Powdered opium one scruple Camomile tea, made strong, eight ounces. Give this drink every four or six hours : if to a cow, put only half the quantity of emetic tartar ; if to a sheep,on\y one-sixth of the quantity. In all other respects the treatment, whether for the one or the other of these subjects, must be the same ; except that the artificial habits of the mare make it more necessary to keep her warm. It remains only to notice on the subject of this class of diseases, that the pancreas, the spleen, the omentum, and indeed any of the contents of the abdomen, may, and occasionally do, become the seat of primary or idiopathic inflammation; but these instances rarely occur in the horse, and still more so in the ox or sheep : that they become seconda- rily so by participation with the inflammations of the larger viscera, we have constant proof. In the event of a primary attack, the proper treatment will not diff"er from that laid down for the other viscera of the abdomen. Class III.] TATAR RH, <)R COMMON COLD. 443 CLASS III. INFLAMMATION OF MUCOUS MEMBRANES. CATARRH, OR COMMON COLD. Catarrhus.] [Morfondure. THE disease I would describe here is common catarrh, without the epidemic character it occasionally assumes. We have dail^^proofs that stabled horses are very liable, in the language of horsemen, " to take cold" by change of clothing, by the vicissitudes of climate, and from the alternations of different temperatures Avith each other. Common catarrh, or the ordinary colds of horses, in no respect differ from that already described, and consequently they put on the various appear- ances of cynanche tonsillaris when the mucous membranes of the throat and fauces are inflamed: and when the aitection extends over the larynx and trachea, it has been considered (but I think erro- neously) as cynanche tonsillaris by one of our best veterinary writers *. In very young subjects catarrh often brings on strangles, in which in- stances it bears the characters of cynanche parotidese : and lastly, when catarrh attains a great degree of malignancy, the characteristics of cynanche maligna are present. * Mr.Percivall appears one of the first who has introduced cynanche trachealis into our nosology, Kut with what justice as a standard disease, future patholo- gists must judge. The human croup has peculiar and distinct characters, defined by its raging occasional!}^ as an epidemic j by its being almost wholly confined to very young subjects ; by its being a primary attack, wholly confined to the mu- cous surfaces of the larynx, trachea, and bronchias j and is secondary, or conti- nuous only, to the measles, scarlatina, or cynanche maligna- I would ask the observant veterinarian, whether he acknowledges these characters in any known disease in the horse ? As a common inflammation, diffused over the extensive surfaces of mucous membranes, in contiguity or continuity ; those of the nares, fauces, tonsils, in fact, the whole of the pharynx, the larynx, the glottis, the trachea, and bronchiae, may participate wholly, or in part", in various degrees and modifications of catarrh, and they frequently do so: but I and others re- gard the human croup as an inflammation sui generis, in causes, symptoms, and consequences, differing from any other known inflammatory affection. If it were of the ordinary nature of inflammations attending mucous surfaces, we might expect to find tracheal concretions, as in croup, at ail ages, and under every cir- cumstance, liable to produce increased vascular action over these parts ; which we know to be daily obnoxious to inflammation of the ordinary kind, but without ever producing true cynanche trachealis. Mr. Percivall further appears to re- gard this disease as so frequent and important in the horse, that he considers *' the proximate cause of roaring is grounded in cynanche trachealis." Mr. P. acknowledges that " the inflammation here does not put on that type which makes croup so formidable and dreaded a malady in a human being : nor is it confined to immaturity." Might he not have added, that this catarrhal symptom in the horse (for I believe it v/ill be found to be nothing morej never proves fatal, jjerse, by one continuous coagulable layer over the attacked surfaces? Mem- branaceous portions are never coughed up; and lastly, roaring, the common product of this sequine complaint ot Mr. Percivall's, is happily never left to the human survivor of this perilous disease. I differ, however, from Mr. Percivall in this matter with some diffidence j for he appears to have bestowed a peculiar por- tion of his attention to it, and his lectures on the suhjecAs of wind affections, to use the horsemen's phraseology, must be regarded altogether as admirable performances, and as the very feather in the cap of his work. 444 ROARING. [Class III. In its usual mild form, catarrh produces some little defluxion from the nose and eyes, a little staring of the coat, some cough, and perhaps less anxiety after food than usual, hut rather more after water. The treatment required is, care in avoiding exposure to currents of air, substituting bran mashes or green meat for corn, with the nightly ex- hibition of the following powder in a mash : — Tartarised antimony (tartar emetic) two drams Nitrated potash (nitre) three drams. If the cough be troublesome, bleed; and in case the complaint assume a more formidable appearance, treat as directed under epidemic ca- tarrh. The hoose in cattle is nothing more than an accidental cold taken ; for the cure of which they should be housed a few days, and have grains or mashes, with the above powder, giving to them only one quarter of the quantity of emetic tartar. DISEASES OF THE PULMONARY AERATING PASSAGES, Known by the Popular Names of ROARING, CHRONIC COUGH, THICK WIND, AND BROKEN WIND. Roaring. As whatever at all obstructs the respiration of the horse, tends by common consent materially to deteriorate his value, and actually to de- tract greatly from his utility ; so these deviations from a healthy state are most important subjects to the .veterinarian. Mr. Percivall has laboured hard to remove the veil which obstructs our views of the causes of these evils ; and if his success in discovering a remedy for them had been equal to his ingenuity and industry in searching for their origin, the veterinary art might have hailed him as her favoured son. As it is, the veterinarian must acknowledge his obligation in having much of the obstructing matter removed from the Aus^ean stable. The various situations in which a morbid change takes place in the air tubes, has given rise to distinctions in popular language un- necessary to enlarge upon here. Roaring, which is a principal one, is ti mechanical obstruction * to the passage of the air to and from the lungs, which exists in some part of the larynx or trachea, but is usually confined to the latter. The forms of this obstruction are va- rious, according to the causes which have given rise to it, the length of * Roaring is so perfectly a mechanical impediment to perfect respiration, that Mr. Coleman, I believe, says it occurs principally in the best winded horses. This very obstruction, however, by exciting the parts to increased efforts to inhale and expire air, may lay the foundation of future disease. Mr. Percivall relates a case of a horse belonging to his father, where the roaring was so great in degree, that humanity directed him to be destroyed: no alteration was to be found in the trachea, but the lungs were under sufficient disorganization, being, as Mr. P. expresses it, completely hepatized. From this case it would seem as though roaring can be produced by other causes than mechanical impediment in the trachea,— i-ecfitres, vol. ii, p. 256. Class III.] ROARING. 445 its duration, &c. &c. In some instances, a deposit of coagulable lymph is spread over the larynx, the remains of former inflammatory affection of the parts, producing wheezing ; in others, it more particu- larly constringes the rima glottis, in which cases a whistling sound is heard, when the horse is constrained to respire unusually quick or forcibly. In a few instances the general calibre of the trachea suffers contraction by concretions over a considerable portion of its surface : but much more frequently roaring is the effect, either of a local deposit of adhesive matter, or it consists of a corrugation of some particular portions of the internal membrane, thickened by inflammation and ren- dered hard by additional concretion. This is sometimes found in the form of a band stretched across the tracheal tube ; at others an inter- nal ring simply diminishes its diameter, when, if the remaining opening be uniform, the horse rsLther pipes than roars, as I have ohserved in the dissection of well marked pipers. The obstruction is sometimes so considerable as to excite the sound called roaring on the slightest ex- ertion. I have seen the tube diminished to one-third of its original size. In general cases, however, roaring is only exerted when forcible inspirations and expirations are made ; for it is in most cases *, as I have fully proved, equally produced by the one as by the other. The Causes which occasion roaring are more numerous than at first sight the veterinarian even would suspect. Inflammation may be ranked as the foremost. Whatever either primarily or secondarily tends to excite arterial action here, may end by an effusion of coagu- lable matter, which becoming organized, remains as a permanent ob- struction to the passage. Pneumonic affections and catarrhal ones are particularly liable to produce roaring ; therefore, strangles also, by occasioning very general inflammation of the surrounding parts, is not an unfrequent cause of it. Occasional abscesses, besides those conse- quent to either strangles or catarrh, occur in the throat, and leave be- hind them by their effects the disposition to roaring. Mr. Percivall has also specified a cause of roaring which I have not myself noticed, but which I think by no means unlikely sometimes to occasion it ; which is the custom of reining-in harness horses so tightly, to produce incurvation of the neck and elevation of the head : and Mr. Sewell in- forms us, he thinks that the practice of using tight throat lashes or neck straps may lead to it. In furtherance of which opinion it may be recollected, that horsemen have a very general supposition that cribbiting ends in roaring, in thick or in broken wind. May not the tight collar strap also here tend to the former of these affections ? The custom of coughing horses so brutally, certainly must be likewise injurious. An unsightly horse is led from fair to fair, and perhaps his unfortunate throat is compressed in the rude gripe of brutal coper's thirty or forty times each day. Is it to be wondered at if inflamma- tion take place, and adhesive deposit follow ? The Treatment of roaring is very uncertain, or rather it is almost certain that no medical means will remove the affection : but the vete-^ * Mr. Percivall describes a preparation in the Woolwich Museum, vhere thf posterior part of the air tube was intersected by a cross band of adhesive matter, with an outer space divided in two, each of which admitted a walnut only ; the other was contracted to the diameter of a hazel nut. As may be supposed, the subject, during life, laboured for breath, and when « but modevately exercised, roared aloud." 446 CHRONIC COUGH. [Class III. rinary surgeon will often he called on to do something. If he could detect the actual existence of the obstruction, and its precise situa- tion, it is possible that he might be successful in operating a division or removal of it, as has been successfully practised in one or two in- stances ; but the extreme difficulty of detecting the exact situation of the obstruction, will prevent its being generally used. In a very recent case blistering might be tried ; but other remedies afford little or no chance of relief. Chronic Cough. Coughing, considered as an action generally, is a violent effort of the diaphragm, intercostal, and abdominal muscles, producing a for- cible expiration of the air from the chest, with such violence as is in- tended to remove any extraneous body that may intercept the free pas- sage of the air. Whenever it accompanies a general affection of the constitution, it is regarded as simply symptomatic, and the original disease is attended to for its removal. Thus catarrh and pneumonia are frequently accompanied by a cough, but we attend principally to the inflammatory state of the general circulation, as the best means of subduing it. A chronic cough is no less symptomatic of some af- fection of the air passages, yet as it is the only prevalent symptom, the mitigation of which removes most of the ill effects of the complaint, so in this instance, though we do not neglect the cause, we attend to the cough also. Chronic cough is a very usual attendant on thick wind, and on broken wind: it likewise accompanies glanders and pulmonary consumption. Worms also within the stomach and bowels are pro- ductive of a fixed cough. But besides these, there exists at times ^ without any attendant difficulty of breathing, the horse eating well and thriving, a permanent cough, usually more considerable in the morning and evening, after meals, and on any violent exertion, parti- cularly also on first going out to exercise. A cough of this description is very common, and it will remain in this state, without otherwise affecting the horse for years, sometimes even his whole life. In other instances it does not end in so harmless a manner, but upon any occa- sional cold taken becomes aggravated; at each cold becoming worse and worse, till at length, by repeated attacks on the bronchiae, which in this instance become congested and thickened with coagulable mat- ter, the wind is at last affected. The effects and termination of chronic cough are dependent, in a considerable degree, upon the cause pro- ducing it. From what has been said of the terminations of pneumonia and peripneumony, it will be seen that an irritable state of the bron- chial passages often remains after that disease, as w^ell as after. the catarrhal affection : in which cases any change of atmosphere excites these irritable parts into action ; thus the horse coughs whenever he moves out of, or into, the stable ; for the air inspired is either colder or warmer than what was before breathed, and hence becomes a source of irritation. Drinking cold water produces the same effect, for a similar reason. Any hurry or irregularity of motion does the like, because it propels more blood towards the chest, which cannot bear the increased stimulus. In some cases the irritability of the bronchial membrane itself does not seem so much increased, as that the mucus secreted from it appears altered, either in quantity or qua- Class 111.] CHRONIC COUGH. 447 lity. It may become inordinate in quantity, as is often observed, and such horses, when they cough, throw off much of it by the nose : or it may be more acrid in quality, and hence by these means prove a source of continual irritation : or it may be lessened in quantity to the injury of the passages. In other instances, the inflammation arising from catarrh or peripneumony appears to have deposited thin layers of adhesive matter within the trachea and bronchiae, which do not afford sufficient mechanical obstruction to produce either roaring, wheezing, or impeded respiration ; yet prove a source of irritation, and produce cough. That such is the case, we know by what now and then occurs after such inflammations, in which the cough continues some time until these layers become absorbed, or be forced up by the violence of the cough: and it is by assisting the separation of this de- posit, that expectorants act in relieving this complaint. The Treatment of Chronic Cough must depend on our view of its causes and consequences. When it appears to arise from a want of mucous secretion, expectorants which excite such secretion are pre- mised, as No. 1. When a redundancy of the mucous secretion is appa- rent, tonics are required. When the secretion is acrid, give No. 2. The cough, which is the effect of an irritable state of the parts, is sometimes relieved by stimulating the throat externally, and by giving internally opium with bitter tonics. (See Mat. 3Ied.) In horses na- turally of full habits, and otherwise living high, without much exercise, and fe'eding foully, our attempts must be directed to lower their general plethora, by bleeding, exercise, and more moderate feeding. If at grass, a less luxuriant pasture should be chosen. In the stable, such a horse should be muzzled at night to prevent him eating his litter, and his water should be given in moderate quantities only : all sudden ex- ertions likewise should be as much as possible avoided. I have frequently seen chronic cough benefited by a course of mer- curial physic ; but the cough in such cases was probably dependent on worms : and, whenever a continued cough exists, with irregular appe- tite and unthrifty coat, stools foetid and slimy, at one time loose and another hard and dry, it is more than probai3le that worms occasion the affection. (See JVorms). In all chronic coughs the best effects sometimes follow from feeding with carrots. Turnips, parsnips, beet, and potatoes, may be beneficially used where carrots cannot be got ; and a mash with bran and linseed,' or malt, may be occasionally given. In cases of chronic cough, where it may be suspected to be dependent on coagulable lymph deposited within the trachea or bronchise, the rubbing in of mercurial ointment its whole length, for a week, would be advisable, and then to blister the like extent of surface. No. 1. — Submuriate of quicksilver CcaZomeZj one scruple Gum ammoniac two drams Balsam of Peru one dram Powdered squill one dram Horseradish, bruised , two drams . Make into a ball with honey, and give every morning fasting. In some cases the following has been found efficacious :— No. 2.— Tar water (see Mat. Med.) half a pint Lime water (see Mat. Med.) ■, ditto Powdered squill one dram. 448 THICK WIND. [Classlll. Mix, and give every morning. To either may be also added, with be- nefit, in some instances, as an additional expectorant, one or two drams of tartar emetic. Thick Wind Is also the common consequence of either acute or chronic pulmonary inflammations. Thus it frequently follows catarrhal and pneumonic attacks. In some instances, it is the produce of a more chronic or slow affection ; in which cases it seems connected with or is dependent on general increased vascular action ; for we find it more ready to take place in full plethoric habits, and in those which bring on this state by gross and great eating. I have observed it very common among short thick-set horses, particularly those of low breeding. Long continued and hurried exercise beyond the capacity of the lungs, is a common cause ; and such is particularly the case when horses are driven or ridden hard on full bellies ; and also when quick action is not propor- tioned to their condition. Confinement is apt to produce it, by exciting an inflammatory diathesis, and this more certainly when over-feeding is added to it. The remote causes of thick wind are, as stated, to be found in morbid vascular action. The proximate are more obscure, but the examination of morbid subjects, in most instances, shews some disorganisation in the structure of the lungs, or of the aerating vessels. I have, however, now and then been puzzled to point out any diseased alteration whatever. It is notwithstanding probable, that in such in- stances also the very minute cells were choaked with adhesive matter. It is commonly, but not always accompanied by a general thickened and deranged state of the substance of the lungs, formed from a mor- bid deposit in the parenchjTnae; frequently in the form of little grains of a blueish substance. The most usual appearance, however, is a mor- bid alteration in the minute bronchial ramifications, occasioned either by a thickening of their own membranous structure, or by a deposit of coagulable honph within them, by which their capacity becomes lessen- ed. Some cases appear to me to be compounded of both these states ; , jut the most frequent are those in which adhesive matter is deposited over the bronchial surfaces. The syinptoms of thick wind are sufficiently known to any one at all conversant with horses, and the rationale by which they are produced is not difficult to explain. The capacity of the air cells being dimi- nished, renders it necessary for the air to be more frequently taken in ; because, being acted on by a less surface, the blood is not sufficiently oxygenated ; and a sufficient number of air cells not being expanded, a sense of fulness in the right side of the heart induces the animal to make hasty inspirations to remedy the defect, and consequently hasty expirations : the force with which these are operated, occasions the sound so well known as the distinguishing mark of tldck wind. In this afi"ection, the obstruction to both being equal, the inspirations and ex- pirations are equal, which serves to distinguish it from broken wind, in which there is also no obstruction to the entrance; and therefore the breath is drawn in with its usual facility, but is e.vpelled with diffi- culty. Thick wind is very apt to degenerate into that state termed broken wind : and here we are totally at a loss to explain how the change is brought about : we must, therefore, content ourselves with the fact that it is so. Class 111.] BROKEN WIND. 449 The treatmeiit of thick wind can seldom he more than palliative, as when once fully formed it hardly ever again removes. In very recent cases, bleeding, blistering the chest, or mildly stimulating the course of the trachea and bronchia, by mercurial frictions, to promote absorp- tion, may be tried. The expectorant, No. 1, recommended for chronic cough, may be given also. The general treatment of the horse should be the palliative one recommended for broken wind. I have, now and then, witnessed benefit from repeated mild mercurial physic. Broken Wind. This incurable and peculiar affection has excited the attention not only of veterinarians but of the curious in general : and as a cure for it holds out the certainty of a plentiful harvest, both of credit and emo- lument, it has been a subject of much experiment and more conjecture. The older writers indulged in the most extravagant notions respecting it ; one of which originated from observing that horses so affected have much flatus, and pass off much more wind per ano than sound ones : from this they concluded that some immediate communication existed between the lungs and fundament ; and therefore they re- commended an artificial opening or new anus to draw off the superflu- ous air ; thus many an unoffending animal has been made to endure two evils instead of one. Gibson attributed it to an enlargement of the contents of the chest. Dr. Lower conjectured that it arose from a rup- ture of the phrenic nerve, which supposition seems to have been kept in mind by the professors of the veterinary school at Lyons, where late experiments on the subject have led them to the conclusion that broken wind has its origin in a reversed situation of the section of the diaphragm ; which altered situation is dependent on a nervous af- fection of it. M.. Godine, jun., veterinary professor at Alfort, consi- ders it as a defect in the natural and relative proportions of the right and left sides of the heart. M. Demonssy, in a Memoir presented to the Royal Society of Agriculture of Paris, affirms, that by direct ob- servation he has discovered that those districts of France, where hay or other dry food is most used, is subject in a peculiar degree to broken wind among their horses. Rapport de la Societe Royal cV Agriculture^ Ibth Avril, 1823, j9. 10.— The theory which has been hitherto best re- ceived on the subject, originated with Mr. Coleman, who describes it as a mechanical rupture of the air cells. This opinion has been like- wise supposed to be much strengthened by the appearances detected after death in the lungs of such subjects as had been affected with the complaint when living. The alteration in the structure of the broken- winded lung, in general, is very considerable. It has been asserted, that, in a very few instances, no change whatever has been detected. I have seen also lungs of broken-winded horses with but little morbid change ; some little was however to be seen in every case which has fallen under my notice. This alteration consists principally in an em- physematous state dependent on air extravasated, not only through- out the parenchyma, in minute aerial bubbles, but also extended over the pleural covering in vesicles both large and small. This extrava- sation is, in most cases, so complete as to make the lungs specifically lighter than ordinary, and to make them crepitate and crackle under the hand*. They are also in every instance of a more pale colour * See a well written article on this subject in Rees's Cyclopaedia, wherein the 450 BROKEN WIND. [CldSS 111. than natural, in some cases being almost white ; which may be ac- counted for, either by the disorganization having injured their vascu- larity, or by its admitting more light through its gaseous cells*. The invariable presence of emphysema in these cases being esta- blished, it becomes a most important question, whence this extrava- sated air originates ? For some years I was so prepossessed with the opinion that mechanical rupture of the air cells, as ingeniously sug- gested by Mr. Coleman, would satisfactorily explain every phenomena met with, that, until struck with some irreconcilable discordances in the theory, I looked no further. Similar doubts have, I find, been entertained by others, resulting from the many difficulties which present themselves under this view. It remains therefore to inquire. Do equal difficulties exist, in a view of the matter, founded on a supposi- tion, that instead of being received from without, this air is generated within the lungs, and is a gaseous fluid let loose by some chemical act of their own, effected by a morbid alteration in their functions ? That a similar effect takes place in various parts of the body we have abundant proof. In many diseases emphysema is present, nor is any part exempted from the liability to a gazeous inflation. In the stomach and bowels air is continually forming on the slightest derangement of the digestive organs. The morbid states which precede this formation of gas in the ali- mentary canal will also throw some light on our present subject^ and enhance the justness of our views of the matter. Thick wind, as it is termed, which is very generally known frequently to terminate in broken wind, is also as generally known to be accompanied by indiges- tion, or by dyspeptic symptoms, characterised by thirst, greedy and irre- gular appetite, cough, and constant flatus. Between the digestive organs which furnish the blood, and the aerating which ameliorate it, a peculiar sympathy is known to be kept up by an especial nervous communica- tion, which is so intimate and determined, that to derange the one is functionally to injure the other. Dyspepsia, therefore, is the natural consequence of either a lessened quantity or a deteriorated quality of the aerial fluid, of which'"we have innumerable proofs. Exactly in these states, under our view of the matter, are the pulmonary organs in broken wind. The extravasated air generated within the membranous substance of the lungs is necessarily in itself unfitted to perform any salutary ef- fect on the blood ; it also lessens the capacity of the natural cells destin- ed to the reception of atmospheric air. This vital stimulus therefore be- ing received in undue quantities, promotes, as a natural consequence, an unhealthy exercise of the digestive powders, and a train of dyspeptic symptoms follows. Now, were the air thus extravasated pure atmo- dissection of a case of broken wind is very ably detailed, and the origin of the complaint satisfactorily traced to this source. * Mr. Percivall appears rather sceptical on the subject of the emphysemaious disengagement of air being the proximate cause of broken wind ; and he grounds his objections on two cases, wherein emphysema was present in the lungs without broken wind. But as the cases stood, it is not easy to draw even this or anj' just inference on the subject: One was acutely affected with inflamed lungs, a state not unlikely to excite emphysema, particularly when approaching gangrene. The other was a more chronic case, but was so universally affected with visceral affection both of the thoracic and abdominal viscera, as to render it most likely to generate air in the disorganised state of the parts. Class III.] BIIOKKN WIND. 451 spheric air, received from without, and simply entangled by mechanical rupture of the proper bronchical cells, it would not occasion this train of symptoms, for it would first answer all the purposes of oxygenation ; and the remainder would be absorbed or passed off as azote. We have also another proof that this air is generated by an act of the lungs themselves, in the circumstance that attempting the re-distention of these vesicles, or of the parenchyma, when the air has been pressed out by inflating the bronchi se, totally fails. A strong argument, however, in favour of mechanical rupture of the cells, appears at first sight to present itself, from the kind of horse which is more frequently the subject of spontaneous broken wind than any other. It is notoriously common among greedy, foul-feeding, and also among coarse, fat, low-bred horses. But a little reflection will shew that an argument equally in favour of the spontaneous formation of air in the lungs may be deduced from these facts : for the same connection between the digestive and the aerating organs here pro- duces that effect in the lungs which was begun in the chylopoietic vis- cera; for they are mutually dependent on each other. Under this view we are at no loss to account for the phenomena of horses becoming suddenly broken winded without apparent illness or exertion, but qui- etly feeding in the stable or grazing in the field ; but mechanical rup- ture is unaccountable in these instances. The irregularity in the urgency of the symptoms of broken wind renders it clear that there must be some other cause, besides one common communication kept up with the external air by rupture of the recipient aerial cells. On some days, broken-winded horses are capable of much exertion, and feel little difficulty in inspiration; at others, the affection is painful and distressing to them in the extreme if the least exerted. I have occa- sionally hunted a bi'oken- winded horse, whose performances on some days surprised myself and those around me; at other times, I was forced to be a quiet spectator. It is said, that some breeds are more subject to the affection than others: this hereditary tendency, if true, also militates against rupture of the air cells. For one other forcible argument against extravasation of the atmospheric air, I am indebted to Mr. Percivall, who very justly remarks, if the extravasation follow mechanical rupture of the cells, how comes it that blood is never found effused? or that, in parts so vascular, they do not sometimes reinstate themselves, and cure the affection ? which we know never harpens. Neither would the simple distention of the stomach, seeing it so quickly subsides in the horse, according to Mr. Coleman's the- ory, account for the benefits which result in broken-winded cases from particular methods of feeding, or from particular articles used : but these phenomena may be readily comprehended by considering that some ingesta give a greater or less disposition to the formation and disengagement of gas in the lungs, as they do in the stomach and intestines ; and that under this view it is possible that a cure may yet be discovered for this complaint. I leave this matter to the further consideration of the veterinary pathologist; but I leave it unwil- lingly, as it affords a fair and wide, and, as I view it, a satisfactory field for fuller investigation, did my limits allow it. The symptoms of broken wind it is almost unnecessary to do more than mention. The cough which accompanies it is of a particular kind, 452 B RO K E N W 1 M) . [ CIUHS III. and seems to be ejaculated with a sort of gnint through tlie upper part of the trachea, perhaps from a sympathetic connection witii tlie parts helovv. Human asthmatic persons are frequently heard to emit simi- lar sounds ; and, during life, the symptoms of hoth complaints bear a great resemblance : hut a morbid anatomy of the two differs greatly. The difference between the inspirations is most remarkable, but easily accounted for. Inspiration, or the act of drawing in the breath, is effected with the ordinary ease, and the favourers of the theory of mechanical rupture find a ready passage for it (as I myself did formerly) into the cellular tissue, by means of the ruptured cells ; where, becoming entangled, it forms a difficulty to its expulsion. But it is probable, that the extravasated air already diffused through the cellular tissue, by means already explained, is still the real cause of this difficulty, by offering a resistance to the complete ejection of the atmospheric air contained in the bronchial cells. Thus the broken - winded horse inspires with ease, but expires with a protracted and great effort, by means of very forcible contractions of his abdominal muscles ; the observance of which gave rise to the idea that the diaphragm was paralysed. The expiration is performed by two apparent efforts, in one of whieh the usual muscles operate, and in the other the aux- iliary muscles, particularly the abdominal ones, are put on. the stretch to complete the expulsion more perfectly ; after which the flank falls with peculiar force, when these muscles resume their relaxations. The treatment of broken wind, if its incurable characters continue confirmed, can be only palliative ; but if it originate in a morbid tendency in the parts to generate air, I can see no reason to despair but that chance or research may yet discover a remedy for it. What- ever increases the distention of the vessels generally, as a state of plethora, or of the stomach and bowels particularly, aggravates the complaint by increasing the difficulty of distending the thoracic cavity. Besides, therefore, general attention to avoid stimulants, and to pro- mote regular evacuations by the bowels, abstain from over-distention of the lungs by too violent and too sudden exercise. By carefully at- tending to these principal indications, a broken-vrinded horse may be rendered comfortable to himself, and useful to his owner. The food should be regularly given in moderate quantities only ; but most par- ticularly it should be of such a nature as will contain much nutriment in a small space : hence corn is more proper than hay, and, above all, I have found a manger food composed of one part bran, one part bruised beans, and two parts bruised oats, agree particularly well, given somewhat moistened, as indeed all the food given to a broken- winded horse should be. On a sufficient quantity of this food a horse will need but very little hay, and what he does have, should be of the oldest and best kind; and, when they can be got, carrots, chopped and mixed with the manger food, will often be attended with a salutary effect on the wind, particularly as it will render less water necessary. Indeed, food of this description, when it can be procured, may advan- tageously form the whole feeding of the horse. Turning out to grass commonly aggravates the symptoms of broken wind ; hut a daily run on a very short pasture is generally found advantageous in these cases, and a neglect of sufficient moderate exercise aggravates the complaint greatly : water should be sparingly given, and without this caution all Class 111.] BROKEN WIND. 458 tlie others are useless ; whatever also is allowed should be given by mea- sure, for if a horse, under this affection, be allowed to drink his fill at a pond, he will probably injure himself, so great is the greediness after wa- ter on these occasions, originating in a defective digestion. But this de- barring from drink should never be such as to border on cruelty ; neither is benefit derived from it, but the contrary. Four quarts may be given morning and noon, and six quarts at night ; and when the exercise and perspiration are considerable, something more on that account should be allowed. As a medical treatment, it may not be improper to bleed when the occasional symptoms run high ; and benefit has been received from daily doses of foxglove under these circumstances. I have also administered antimony an 1 nitre with advantage. By judi- cious management, and the exercise of a little humanity in proportioning the work to the state of the disease, much may be done in these cases ; and if the sufferings of this valuable animal are considered when a different course is pursued, I should hope that it is ignorance, and neither obstinacy nor cruelty, that dictates it. Modesof distinguishing Soundness and Unsoundness of the JFznd. These various affections of the 2vind are very important to the vete- rinarian, nor can he be too well informed of the appearances that cha- racterise each distinctly ; because, as their existence affects the legal soundness of horses, so he will be very often forced to decide pe- remptorily on very slight appearances. With regard to thick wind, it is not every horse who heaves at his flanks that is permanently thick- winded : he may have an occasional cold or other ailment ; the stable may be unusually hot, or some accidental cause, as alarm, &c. may have operated to produce it; of the probable existence of all or of any of which he should inform himself before he decides : but if, by strict in- quiry, he can ascertain that, under every circumstance, and in the ab- sence of every occasional excitement, the horse he examines breathes always quicker than natural, and is likewise heard to cough, he may safely decide that he is unsound; and this the more surely, if a brisk trot increases the heaving beyond what it would do in a perfectly healthy horse. With regard to the cough which often accompanies thick wind, and the permanent chronic cough without such present affection, a little difference is usually discoverable bet veen them. Much stress is laid on the varieties in the sound of the coughs of horses by dealers and other persons about them, and it is with consi- derable justice that they are so considered. When a perfectly sound horse is made to cough, he is expected to produce a shrill whistling noise ; and the effort seems to arise from the upper part of the neck ; and there is little reason to doubt but that, in these cases of pressure of. the hand on the windpipe to produce the cough, the muscles of the larynx act upon the part pressed on, and that such cough is more immediately produced of that determinate sound than at another time; and this is so certain, that a horse shall have an occasional cough on him that does not sound so pleasantly as a judge would wish, and yet, when coughed by pressure, he shall produce a satisfactory effort ; for in the one instance he coughs naturally from the parts affected, Avhich are the bronchial passages : and in the other from the upper part of the throat ; that is, he contracts the larynx by the laryngeal muscles 454 SORD THROAT. [CiuSS ill. into such a lessening of its diameter, as shall produce a torciblu rush of the air through the part, to displace the obstruction offered by the pressure. The sound emitted this way, therefore, is not altogether con- clusive ; nevertheless, a considerable dependence may be still placed on Ihe sou7id of the cough, which should be, as before described, a light whistling expiration, giving a tracheal more than a pulmonic vi- bration, as though operated in the windpipe. There is also a firmness with fulness in the cough of a sound horse, and he clears his nostrils after it usually by snorting: while, on the contrary, in the permanent cough, and more particularly in that which betokens any actual af- fection of the lungs, the cough is deeper, as though the chest vibrated, and it is more deeply sonorous. Roaring maybe immediately detected by a brisk gallop, but the person who is to judge of its existence should be on the ground, and the horse should pass him several times, but without restraint ; for I have seen horses whipped into a momentary cessation of the roaring. Broke?! wind can hardly be mistaken ; the cough accompanying it conveys a peculiar sound ; it is short, deep, and combined with a grunt- ing effort, and which is more particularly observable on any sudden motion or surprise. Dealers hold up a horse^s head, and then either strike, or pretend to strike, him suddenly, or kick him, which usually elicits this peculiar grunting sound. Such horses are also peculiarly flatulent, and break wind most frequently ; but the principal feature in the case arises from the beating of the flanks. These, though much quickened in their action, are rendered peculiarly remarkable, by their operating in respiration or breathing by three efforts instead of two. In the first, the air is drawn in naturally, and the flanks fill up as usual; but in the next, the falling of the flanks, again to expel the air, is most unusual, for it is not done with a gradual sinking in of the muscles, but at once by a momentary effort, leaving a line across the flank ; and then a third effort takes place, which is a slow but strong drawing up of the muscles of the belly to press out the remain- ing air entangled in the cells. Broken-winded horses are also observed to be petuliarly greedy after water ; and a little hurried motion distends the nostrils, and produces evident distress. SORE THROAT. Cynanche Tonsillaris.] Horses seldom have the tonsils and pharynx inflamed under some attacks of catarrhal fever, or of strangles : when, therefore, a horse is observed to sip his water, shaking it about with the lips, and readily inclining his head tov>-ards it, but with an evident fear of swallowing, it may be known that a soreness of throat is present ; and the fact will be still more certain, if, after he has chewed his hay, he lets fall the chewed mass, which is termed quidding his food. As it is always conrected with a febrile affection, so it can only be properly treated in con- junction with that. See Catarrhal Fever. It may seem to require an exception in favour of that which accompanies strangles; but the treatment will be essentiallv the same. Class III.] GLANDERS. 456 GLANDERS. [La Morve. This fatal and loathsome disease has long been the scourge of this noble race of animals, as it remains the opprobrium medicorum of the veterinary art ; and there is yet reason to fear that some time may elapse before we shall find its antidote. It is not certain to whom it was indebted for its name of glanders, nor is its derivation clear ; but it does not seem to have received any particular designation, either among us, or our neighbours the French, till the restoration of learning after the irruption of the Goths ; for we find some of the French authors disputing what disease Vegetius meant, when he was evidently describing glanders under a term, which, translated, signifies humidity or moisture. He speaks of it as a viscid white matter running from the nose, of a bad smell, accompanied with moisture from the eyes ; a haggard countenance, and dry harsh hair ; it was added, that, when this running became bloody, the disease was incurable*. It is likewise described in similar terms in the celebrated work of Ruini, in 1618. The antients formed the most vague opinions relative to the nature and treatment of glanders, and with the older English farriers the absurdities lost no ground. De Gray says, a horse must be first cured of sundry complaints before the glanders can be removed, as con- sumption of the flesh and hmgs, aches in the head, diseases of the liver, pursiveness, hide-bound, swelled legs, &c. SoUeysel and Blundeville supposed its seat was the spinal marrow, which was wasted by its ef- fects ; others thought the brain was exuding through the frontal sinuses. Neither do Gibson nor Bracken appear to have formed any cor- rect notion of it : the latter considered it as the remains of a cold, con- fining its attack to the glands of the throat, and denies its being in- fectious ; directing, as a cure, balsam copaivi, eggs, and wJiite ivz7ie ; at the same time advising the use of stimulating injections up the nostrils. Both the younger and eider La Fosse have immortalized their names by their efforts and success in ascertaining the true nature and cause of this complaint. In 1749, La Fosse the elder demonstrated before the Academy of Sciences in Paris, that the seat of this disease was %vholly in the pituitary membrane, and he, therefore, proposed as a cure the injecting the whole surface of this membrane, by openings to be made with the trepan into the frontal, nasal, and maxillary sinuses. This memoir was translated into English by Bartlet, and the same ex- periment MTis made by various persons, particularly by Snape, farrier to the king ; but I am not aware of the practice being carried to any beneficial results. La Fosse, jun., informs us, that the farriers of that time were enraged at the discovery, and, so far from endeavouring to examine into the truth of Ms evidence, they obstinately persisted in the antient opinions, that the seat of the disease was in the lungs, the kidnies, or the liver. In 1752, La Fosse senior presented another me- moir to the Royal Academy of Sciences, in vrhich he more fully ex- plained his theory, and presented many new facts. In this treatise he * A late author was not aware of this, probably, when he asserted that glanders and the venereal disease bore the same date in medical annals. ti g 45G GLANDERS. [ ClciSS III. divided the disease into seven different species. The result of these discoveries went to prove, that the sflanders was a specific affection of the pituitary memhrane, alYecting all the nasal cavities and its depen- dent sinuses ; that though every appearance of mucosity from the nose was denominated glanders, two only were specific affections ; and that the disease is so truly an affection of the pituitary memhranes alone, that 0W7/ inflammation of them, if long continued, may degenerate into it : hence he has seen fractures of the bones of the nose produce it; along-continued catarrh likewise; the strangles may also termi- nate in it ; and, lastly, as full proof, both himself and father have pro- duced it upon a sound horse by acrid injections up the nose. It was the opinion of these authors, that this disease was only to be cured by local applications, and that those must be applied to the whole affected surface of the membrane by artificial openings*. M. St. Bel, the late professor of our Veterinary College, likewise pub- lished his remarks on this disease ; but it is evident that he knew little or nothing relating to it but what he gained from La Fosse, and conse- quently his opinions offered nothing new. Mr. Coleman, the present professor, has prosecuted the subject much farther, and, by an exten- sive course of experiments, has thrown very considerable light on the nature of the affection. These researches have been followed up by enlightened coadjutors, and have made us aware, by direct proof, that glanders and farcy are dependent on a poison speeificalhj the same ; but that the seat of the one is not the same with that of the other. The experiments made have set this matter beyond doubt ; for horses have been inoculated with the matter of farcy, and glanders has been the result : glanders has also been produced by inoculating with the matter of glanders, which M. St. Bel asserted could not be done : farcy has been brought on likewise by inserting the matter of farcy: and, lastly, the artificial introduction of the matter of glanders has occasioned a true appear- ance of farcy. It has, however, been inferred, that because these two diseases are so different in their situations, they must be essentially different in their natures ; but in answer to this, had not even nu- merous experiments and established facts already set this matter clear, it might have been urged a priori, not only that every poison has its preference of situation, but likewise that the same poison, under dif- ferent modifications, affects different parts. The first and secondary attacks of syphylis are very different, and the parts they affect remote from each other. The poison of the plague inflames the lymphatic glands, but it is by no means certain which "of them it shall attack. It may not unaptly be added, that it is sufficiently notorious that farcy always proceeds in the course of the lymphatics, and observation has proved that glanders, when it produces ulcers, proceeds in the line of the absorbents of the nose. When the matter of glanders is intro- duced under the cuticle without occasioning a sufficient flow of blood to liquefy or neutralize the poison, a slight swelling is produced in a day or two, and in another day or two a purulent discharge takes place ; after which the lymphatics of the part become inflamed and tumefied, * Since this time, the French medical catalogues teem with treatises on the sub- ject, most of which are either histories of cases, or theoretical disquisitions on pro- bable modes of cure. Class III.] GLANDERS. 457 or " corded," as in farcy. The original sore now soon assumes the appearance of a true farcy bud or ulcer, and similar ones will also follow in the course of the absorbents : in short, the disease will take on every characteristic of genuine farcy. Soon after, matter begins to flow from the nostrils, the lymphatic glands under the jaw become en- larged, and every feature of perfect glanders also appears in full force. Exactly the same will occur, if the matter of farcy be used for the in- oculation instead of that of glanders. Some veterinarians, notwith- standing their acknowledgment of these facts, still consider farcy as a local disease, because its progress is sometimes arrested by the extir- pation of the tumefied lymphatic or farcied bud, but that glanders is a constitutional complaint, and incapable of local cure ; but this opinion wants confirmation. Glanders appears also generated in the consti- tution ; and it likewise follows as a consequence of other affections. Whatever keeps up a protracted purulent discharge from the mu- cous pituitary membranes is capable of entering into some new com- binations, and of forming therefrom the true glanderous character. Thus it sometimes succeeds to catarrh and to pneumonic attacks, and also occasionally to strangles : it is said to have been brought on by wounds of the nose, and to have followed the use of acrid injections up the nostrils. A contaminated air is capable of producing glanders : thus it was found to be very common in the cavalry horses in the Pe- ninsula war, from the unwholesome nature of the places used for stables. When the impurity of the air is heightened by close confine- ment, the disease has been known to put on an acute form. This has been found to occur among horses emaciated by a long voyage. In one instance, where the hatches of a transport carrying a dragoon regiment were fastened down in a storm, this acute form appeared, and, in three days, destroyed a third of the horses. The contagious nature of glanders has been long a subject of dis- pute, but which is now settling into a pretty general conviction that it is so* : but the degree of its contagious character is still a matter of de- bate ; nor without many authenticated facts recorded, and well con- ducted experiments made, shall we be able to form a decisive opinion on the subject. I formerly thought it more often engendered than caught ; but an extensive experience has convinced me that it is more frequently brought on by contagion than engendered constitutionally. But although this is not without its interest, it is of much more impor- tance to determine Jiow the contagion is communicated, which has hitherto been differently accounted for, and is not yet satisfactorily ex- plained. I have seen much of the disease in the army, and in private practice, and I lost no opportunity which presented itself for experi- mental enquiry, yet I could never satisfy myself entirely on this point. Experiments conducted with the utmost precision, and general cha- racters, would lead to very discordant results. Mr. White's experi- ments go to prove, that the simple contact of glandercd matter, ap- plied to a surface neither abraded nor inflame 500 HERNIA. [Class\. on their back to relieve the scrotal or inofuinal strangulation; but I never myself saw this clone. The animal paws, looks at his flanks, while cold sweats bedew his frame : his pulse is extremely quick and small. If it be a stallion, the testicle of the affected side will probably be found drawn upwards, and closely embracing the hernial sac, while the other remains pendulous. The Treatment of Strangulated Hernia. — Having ascertained the existence of scrotal or inguinal hernia, cast the horse, and both by soothing means, as well as by the judicious applications of re- straints, as hobbles, side lines, and plenty of assistance, endeavour to keep him as quiet as possible, with his hind parts elevated. We will suppose him to have been previously blooded to the amount of se- veral quarts, back raked, and clystered with a tobacco injection. Pro- ceed, by the application of the taxis or pressure, to attempt the reduc- tion of the hernia. If it prove very obstinate, introduce the arm Avithin the rectum, and endeavour to direct the hand, so as to discover the abdominal ring; which having done, attempt gently to draw the strangulated gut out of its confinement, assisting its retraction with the other hand, all which must be so done as to avoid injuring any of the parts. If all attempts by these means fail, recourse must be had to the division of the constricted part of the hernial sac by the following means : Having loosened the hind leg of the hernial side, draw it for- ward and upward. If the horse be on his side, draw it forward only ; but if on his back, as before directed, forward and upward: proceed to open the scrotum* very ca^refully, and by minute touches of the scalpel, in case the intestines fill the scrotum : but if it lie concealed in the groin, make the scrotal opening more freely, and passing up the finger along the spermatic cord, endeavour to discover the situation of the intestine and the strangulating stricture : which having done, intro- duce a blunt-pointed bistoury, still further guarded by being carried on one of the fingers, with the edge sideways, towards the abdominal ring;. In this way, carefully effect a dilatation of the stricture upwards and outwards, sufficient, and only just sufficient, to admit of a free re- turn of the protruded gut; which being done, secure the wound by compress, and by padded bandages, tending to impede the future descent of the intestine. In performing this operation on the Conti- nent, where it very frequently occurs, my friend, M. Huzard, informed me it was not unusual to castrate at the same time on the hernial side : by which ?[. permanent cure was frequently effected, the inguinal open- ing completely closing afterwards. * In a very able description of the method of performing this operation in India, by Mr. Hodgson, V. S., and introduced by Mr. Percevall into his Lectures, vol. ii, p'. 60, it is particularly recommended to make the first incision at the lower part of the scrotum, which not only facilitates the operation, but leaves a dependent opening in case of future abscess, which has frequently occurred. Class VI.] JAUNDICE. 501 CLASS VL DISEASES OF THE GLANDS, JAUNDICE. Icterus.] THE yellows; as jaundice is called by farriers, is, as a distinct af- fection, unfrequent in the horse, from his liver being less complex, having only hepatic but no cystic bile. But, as a symptomatic affec- tion, it is sufficiently frequent; for whenever any great abdominal in- flammations occur, the liver is liable to participate ; bile then passes into the blood vessels, and from thence is thrown on the skin. Now and then, however, a more slow and primary affection of this organ occurs, and the bile is either increased in quantity, altered in quality, or obstructed. In the former case, purging accompanies the other symptoms : in the second, the evacuations are ordinate ; but they are constipated in the third and most numerous variety ; and, in all, the bilious tinge of the skin is invariable. Symptoms. — The inner surface of the eyelids, nostrils, and mouth, looks of a dingy yellow ; frequently the dung is hard, dry, and sparing; there is also a particular listlessness, and early fatigue, about the ani- mal, with hot breath, sickly appetite, and high-coloured urine. Treatment. — We must attempt to produce a healthy action in the liver, or we must remove its obstruction. To promote these inten- tions (as in the greater number of cases costiveness is present), begin by giving the following : — No, 1.— Calomel (suhmuriate of quicksilver) one dram Aloes two drams Powdered gentian ditto Castile soap ditto. Form into a ball, and give night and morning until the bowels are ac- tively purged ; and then continue only so much of the same, for a week or ten days, as will keep them lax, but not in a purging state. If the symptoms be at all violent, or such as betoken inflammation, bleed and blister the sides: a rowel also in the belly may be applied. In cases where costiveness is not present, but, on the contrary, a relaxed state of the bowels appears, give the following, which is also proper as a tonic for the latter stages of the former kind of affection: — No. 2.— Submuriate of quicksilver CcaZowieZ) ... twelve grains ■ Sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) one dram Gentian, in powder three drams Oak bark, ditto ditto Camomile, ditto ditto. Make into a ball, and give night and morning, unless the calomel should affect the mouth, in which case give only one a-day ; and should the looseness increase on this plan, add powdered opium, half a dram to each ball. In all cases of yellows, a change of food is proper, and generally necessary. In v>inter5 spear the corn, or give carrots ; in 502 BLOODY URINE. [CIUSS \l. summer, soil, or turn out to grass ; but, in such case, avoid exposure to the night air, and keep on a rug in the day so long as the calomel is continued. Jaundice m Oxen and Sheep. These animals having a gall bladder and cystic duct, are more liable to biliary obstructions than horses, and hence this complaint is more frequent among them. It is very common in some of the cold provinces on the Continent, where these animals are stall-fed in win- ter ; from which, numbers of them are attacked with it in the spring. The cure is promoted, in these cases, by turning them into grass lands. In England it is less often the consequence of confinement than of a slow inflammation of the liver. In such instances, therefore, treat ex- actly as detailed under this head in horses, regarding, at the same time, the strength and size of the beast. INFLAMMATION OF THE SPLEEN. Splenitis.] I NEVER met with this disease in my own practice, but I have lately heard of a very well authenticated one, in which the symptoms so ex- actly resembled hepatitis, as to be mistaken by a very observant prac- titioner for that. An active and judicious treatment was promptly pur- sued, but the violence of the disease destroyed the horse on the fourth day. On examination, the spleen was highly inflamed and nearly gan- grenous, while the surrounding viscera were unaff'ected. A chronic enlargement of the spleen is less rare, and produces symptoms not unlike jaundice, even to the yellow tinge of the skin. Rupture also of the spleen occasionally occurs. BLOODY URINE. Farriers term this pissing of Uood: it arises sometimes from in- flammation of the kidnies, in which case it must be treated as under that head : it may accompany a stone in the cavity of the pelvis of a kidney, or an ulceration of any of the urinary passages ; but these are unusual causes. Violent exercise, by rupturing the small vessels of these glands, produces it more often, and therefore it frequently fol- lows hard riding. The Cure must consist in restoring the healthy action of the parts, and promoting a healing of the vessels ; and, particularly, in avoiding violent exercise and heavy weights. Diuretics are always hurtful. Mild astringents are proper, as alum, catechu, dragon's blood, log- wood, &c. I have also known great benefit to be derived from a large strengthening plaister across the loins. In one instance, the following, given once a-day, produced excellent effects, after many other means had failed: — Acetate of lead ten grains Vitriolated zinc two scruples Catechu four drams. Make into a ball with conserve of roses. VlaSS VI.] PROFUSE STALING. 503 In another obstinate case, a permanent cure was effected by turning to grass, having first covered the loins with a strengthening charge. Bloody Urine in Cattle. This disease among cattle is called red water. When there are strong marks of fever, the complaint probably proceeds from inflam- mation of the kidneys, and must be treated as under that head ; but when the symptoms are milder, and the urine is only slightly tinged with blood, then treat as is recommended above. PROFUSE STALING. Diabetes.] A DISEASE much resembling the human diabetes is sometimes, though not frequently, met with in the horse. Now and then it as- sumes all the diabetic characters of the human disease : in most in- stances, however, it is simply an inordinate increase of the urinary secretion. It is first detected by the making of five or six times the natural quantity of urine, which is milky or watery, and now and then, as before stated, in very bad cases, it, deposits a sediment, which, when subjected to experiment, does not materially differ in taste, colour, or appearance, from common sugar. It is attended, in these latter instances, with great emaciation, for the absorbents act violently, not only on the fluids, but on the solids, converting every thing into a compound, from whence this fluid discharge is formed : hence the weakness is great, the thirst excessive, and appetite vora- cious ; the pulse is likewise usually quickened. But in the more ordi- nary cases of the pissing evil of the horse, the kidneys appear to be topically affected with a simple increase of their action, brought on by the effects of some diuretic matters taken into the stomach, as bad hay, musty oats, &c.; and not unfrequently, from the exhibition of vio- lent diuretics and drugs, something like a morbid action continues: but less frequently does it appear to arise from a deranged state of the di- gestive and assimilating powers, as is suspected in the human. Treatment. — When this disease, as is usually the case, arises from improper aliment, it must be immediately changed ; and, therefore, when no other apparent cause is manifest, the food ought to be parti- cularly examined. When it occurs from the use of violent diuretics, moderate doses of catechu and alum, with oak or willow bark, will effect a cure. When, however, from its violence, and the presence of a sweet taste in the urine, there is reason to suspect that the disease exists in a deranged secretory structure of the kidneys, and is not the mere effect of external stimulants ; or, perhaps, originating in a dis- eased absorbent or assimilating system ; in such cases try the follow- ing:— Liver of sulpher (sulphurated potash) two drams Uva ursi, in powder , four drams Oak bark, ditto one ounce Catechu, ditto two drams Opium, ditto half a dram. Kk 504 DROPSY OF THE CHEST. [CklSS VI1» Mix with a pint of lill water, or other liquid, and give daily. In very desperate cases, instead of other drink, broth or tripe liquor might be substituted. In case benefit is not apparent from this treatment, try the following twice a-day : — Nitrate of quicksilver ten grains Extract of belladonna ten grains Conserve of roses to form a ball. CLASS VII. DISEASED COLLECTIONS OF FLUID WITHIN CIRCUMSCRIBED CAVITIES. DROPSY OF THE HEAD. Hydrocephalus.] I NEVER heard of more than one or two instances of this disease in the horse ; hut it is not unlikely to occur, from previous inflammation of the brain, by which serum may be poured out into the cerebral cavi- ties. The Sy}npto7ns greatly resemble those of staggers, and the Cure will be best promoted by medicines exciting the waste of the watery parts of the blood, as diuretics ; and of those also which excite the absorbents, as mercury, &c.: blistering the head would be also proper, and rowelling the throat. DROPSY OF THE CHEST. Hydrothorax.] Thi§, as a primary affection, is a rare occurrence, but, as a secon- dary one, it is very common : and then consists in a collection of fluid within the cavity of one or both pleurse. It is said that it sometimes appears encysted, by being separated from the general thoracic ca- vity by a membranous sac. Hydrops pectoris forms a very common termination of pneumonia, and appears to arise in these cases from a peculiar disposition on the part of the exhalent arteries of the pleurae to secrete an inordinate quantity of serous interstitial fluid, during the active symptoms of pneumonia, or towards its close. Many gallons of fluid have been found so formed, within a very short space of time. In some instances less rapid, the fluid has been discovered mixed with pus or matter ; and in many others, coagulable masses are found floating in it. Causes and Symptoms. — These are so fully described under the head Pneumonia, p. 416, that we shall not enter on them here. The Cure. — It is seldom that we can detect the disposition to inor- dinate secretion sufficiently early to attempt any means to restrain it ; and when formed, we have seldom power enough over the absorbents to effect its removal through their agency. It is, however, always our duty to attempt it ; and as Nature now and then effects a natural cure, we may occasionally assist her efforts. It has been recommended to Class VII.] DROPSY OF THE CHEST. 505 bleed, if any inflamraatory action remain ; but it is very seldom, when the affection is formed, but that such a practice would be highly inju- rious ; and the result would prove that we had mistaken cause for ef- fect, as the febrile symptoms, when remaining, are consequent to the irritation occasioned in the system by the presence of the fluid. Nau- seants to promote absorption, and mild diuretics to lessen the serum . of the blood, generally bid fairer ; and these I have tried with some advantage. Active friction to the chest, with the use of mild mer- curial agents, both outwardly and inwardly, may be properly applied. Rowels are also useful, but when in use, the horse should be liberally supported by the most nutritive food. In case these plans of treat- ment should all of them fail, it will be prudent to perform the opera- tion of paracentesis, or tapping the chest, which, although I have never succeeded in myself, I have known to be fully successful in the practice of another ; and since understand it has proved equally for- tunate with a few other veterinarians. It should however be borne in mind, that the more early in the disease the operation is performed, the greater is the chance of success. - The mode of operating. — The situation most eligible for the open- ing, is that wherein a depending orifice may be gained for the com- plete evacuation of the water, without danger of wounding important parts by the puncture. If it be carried too low, the mediastinal folds, or even the pericardium, may be endangered; but in either of the costal openings, between the seventh and tenth ribs, nearly as low as their termination into cartilage (see pi. of Skeleton), an opening may be first made by a scalpel towards the anterior edge of the rib, to avoid wounding the intercostal vessels (vid. p. 160), first drawing the skin a little forwards or backwards, to ensure a future closing to the access of external air. By means of this integumental opening, care- fully introduce a long and large trochar, unless the dissection with the scalpel be carried quite through both integuments, muscles, and pleura at first ; in which case, a canula only is necessary. But if the trochar be used, which is the safer plan, direct it through the opening in the skin, over the posterior rib, rather slanting, upwards and backwards. If the hydrothorax be very fully formed, that is, if one or both cavi- ties be nearly filled with serosity, less caution is necessary in the in- troduction of the trochar: but if the operation be performed more early in the complaint, which there is reason to think it should be, to insure success, then it is necessary to proceed more cautiously, to avoid puncturing the lungs. Having introduced the trochar only so far as to observe a gush of fluid, push the canula forward, retracting the trochar itself. After which fasten the canula around the horse, to prevent displacement. If both thoracic cavities be thus affected, pro- ceed in the same manner with the other side. Coagula, or even the inflated lung, sometimes is found to obstruct the flowing of the latter portions of fluid ; to obviate which, a bougie or piece of whalebone may be occasionally introduced up the canula. When the whole of the fluid has been withdrawn, remove the canula, and close the orifice by adhesive plaister and bandage ; as it will be better to operate a se- cond time than to admit air w^ithin the thoracic cavity ; for although the same fears are not now entertained as formerly on this head, yet K k 2 506 DROPSY OF THE BELLY. [CluSS VII. inflammation is apt to supervene, or external air gain admission betwc^en the lungs and its pleura. When matter forms within the chest, its removal may be also effect- ed in the same manner. HYDROPS PERICARDII. Carditis, or inflammation of the heart, is apt to terminate by an inordinate effusion of serum within the membranous sac, called peri- cardium. It is likewise occasionally consequent on pneumonia. If it admit not of a natural cure, or of one promoted by the remedial plans detailed for hydrothorax, no mechanical means of abstracting the fluid presents itself. DROPSY OF THE BELLY. Ascites.] [Ascite. This is a very unusual disease in the horse ; now and then, however, it does take place after inflammation of some of the abdominal viscera. It consists of an increased deposit of interstitial fluid within the cavity of the peritoneal sac, being seldom encysted in the horse. It is known by the tension of the abdomen, and by the undulation felt by one hand when the belly is gently struck with the other. The urine is made in small quantities, the thirst is great, the breathing is quick and laborious, and the flesh wastes. It may arise from an increased action of the exhalents, or from a deficient one of the absorbents, by previous inflammation, or by chronic disease of the liver. Hydatids may also bring it on, in which case it would be encysted. The Treatment. —In these cases it would be fortunate if we could ascertain whether the absorbents or the exhalents were in fault at the origin of the complaint. To promote the Cure, however, in either case, we must stimulate the arteries to throw out their superabundant fluid by other emunctories, as the bowels and kidneys : diuretics are therefore principally to be resorted to ; and the more so, as in the horse we have greater power over these glands than in the human. Strong purges likewise promote a serous discharge, but, from their weakening effect, cannot be very often repeated. The absorbents may also be stimulated by mercury, or other means known to have the ef- fect of acting on them, as nauseants, &c. As a last, or indeed as an early and the most prudent resource, paracentesis, or tapping, may be resorted to. The mode of operating in these cases will not differ in any essential particular from that described for hydrothorax. The spot chosen for the opening should be one that will avoid wounding the stomach, the liver, or the epigastric or other vessels ; and the most eligible for this purpose in the horse, is the middle line between the umbilicus or navel, and the sheath. In the mare, any portion of the linea alba between the umbilicus and pubes, that is, any part of the median line of the belly situated between the bag and navel, is proper. In whatever way recovery is promoted, the recurrence should be pre- vented by strengthening the general habit. Class Vpi.] SWELLED LEGS. ' 507 CLASS VIII. DISEASED COLLECTIONS OF FLUID WITHIN THE CELLULAR MEMBRANE. DROPSY OF THE SKIN. Anasarca.] [OEd^me. THIS is variously called by farriers. It does not materially differ from ascites, either in cause, effect, or cure ; but is very different in its seat, being generally, or partially, diffused through the cellular mem- brane of the skin. When it is partial, it usually occupies the legs, the sheath, or the lips : when general, every superficial part of the body becomes affected. It sometimes is joined with farcy, but is then purely symptomatic. If it occasion troublesome ulcers, it then bears the name of water farcy ^ which, however, is a very indefinite term, as oedema, from whatever cause, is apt to be called by farriers water farcy, when no farcy is present. Anasarca is particularly charac- terised by the indentations of the skin remaining, when the pressure occasioning them is removed. It may he brought on by all the causes of ascites, and is frequent in spring and fall, when horses are weak from moulting. When partial, it is not difl&cult of cure ; when general, it is more obstinate. Diffused inflammatory affections, and important local ones, terminate some- times in general oedema ; and which cases are very frequently fatal. I have more than once successfully evacuated these oedematous swellings by small punctures with a lancet, following up the treatment with tonics. Cure.— Vue^ nutritiously, and use similar means as in ascites or dropsy of the belly ; to which add vigorous rubbing of all parts of the body, and considerable walking exercise. Alteratives and mild diure- tics should be tried ; but if the horse be in a weakened state from any previous affection, feed liberally with malt, carrots, or speared corn. Give bitter tonics, with sulphat of iron or copper, &c. &c. — See Con- dition; see also Mat. Med. SWELLED LEGS. Anasarca.] [Enflure des Jambes. This is a most common disease, affecting sometimes the fore legs, sometimes the hinder, and sometimes both ; but nine times out of ten, when it attacks the one of these only, it is the hinder. Swelled legs may be occasioned by various causes, as injuries producing tumour, or inflammation occasioning phlegmon; but the enlargements we here allude to, arise from local anasarca, occasioned by a deposit of fluid within the cellular membrane of the limbs, commonly of their lower parts. When long continued, the distention so weakens the skin as to force it to yield in the form of cracks, from which the serum first ex- udes ; gradually, however, the whole of the secreting capillaries of these parts inflame, and then throw out pus, and the disease becomes what is called grease. 508 SWELLHD LEGS. [ClUSS Vlll. Causes. — This complaint always originates in weakness ; but this may be general over the whole system, or confined to the legs only, in consequence of the increased strength and action of some parts over- balancing that of others. That debility, local or general, is the cause, we know, by the phenomena occasioned. At the close of long conti- nued diseases that weaken much, the legs always swell ; and it is rea- sonable to expect they should do so, when we consider how far they arc removed from the source of circulation, the heart ; added to which, the lluids in them have to move in a direction perpendicularly against their own gravity ; the veins therefore finding a diiSiculty in propelling their contents, appear to excite the secreting capillaries to an increased deposit within the cellular membrane. The absorbents may also be affected, but it is more than probable they are the least pJtT't of the cause, for we find them, in these cases, equal to taking up the fluids on the increase of stimulus ; that is, a little exercise soon removes the whole swelling. Sudden changes in the tempera- ture of the atmosphere that horses are used to, or in the degree of clothing they wear, or hasty alterations in the nature of their food, may occasion swelled legs ; and which may occur either by these causes diminishing the means that keep up life, and hence producing a general debility, or, they may act by adding to the means that pro- mote life, by which a general plethora may ensue, still equally pro- ductive of a partial debility : for the balance of power being unequal here, the legs cannot resist the pressure on them, and swellings ap- pear. Thus it is, that when horses removed from grass, or from a straw yard, are brought at once into a hot stable, and fed highly, their extremities swell immediately; for the powers of life are unduly pushed before the parts have taken on a capacity for this increased action. Therefore arises a necessity for bleeding and physicking in these cases, but which are found to be less necessary when this al- teration is gradually brought on. Standing in the stable, with a full allowance of food, and little exertion, acts in the same way, and from the same cause. Hence exercise is doubly useful, by promoting other excretions, and by the increased action it excites in the absor- bents. On the contrary, turning horses out to a straw yard from full feeding, warm clothing, and a hot stable, may likewise bring on swelled legs, by occasioning a general debility: but so much do horses improve as they approximate a state of nature, that though this is an equal change with that of removing them hastily into stables, yet they comparatively seldom suffer from this treatment. Standing in snow, or in cold water, produces swelled legs, by weak- ening the parts, and by being unfavourable to absorption. It is very usual also for horses to have oedematous extremities in autumn, at which period the powers of life are unequal: there being an increased action in the skin to produce new hair rapidly, and those parts most remote from the seat of circulation are consequently unequally sup- plied with vital energy. Cure. — This will not be difficult, when we make ourselves master of the cause. In removing horses from grass to the stable, with the precautions mentioned, it may be prevented: but when it has oc- curred, it must be combated, in plethoric full horses, by loosening the general action of the vascular system at large, at the same time in- class IX ] CALCUJ.AR CONCREilONS. 509 creasing the individual strength and tone of the affected paits in par- ticular. For this purpose, bleed ; reduce the diet, if too full ; give bran mashes and alteratives, with three or four hours walking exer- cise every day. Intervene between the alteratives one or two doses of active physic ; and, if the swelling prove very obstinate, insert a rowel in each thigh to alter the action: in general cases, however, these are unnecessary. But when swelled legs occur in a horse that is thin and impoverished, the general debility must be counteracted to promote a cure, by feeding liberally, and by giving mild diuretics, united with tonics, as prescribed in ventral dropsy. Purging in this case, though it may lessen the swelling momentarily, by carrying off the watery parts of the blood, yet it will probably increase the cn- largement/wa%, by further weakening the system in general. Apply friction to the legs; use gentle exercise, but not to produce exhaus- tion. The weakened vessels having been long distended, will per- haps not readily regain their tone; they may therefore, in this case, be assisted by bandages moistened in astringent solutions. When it occurs among cart horses, haybands may be used for this purpose dipped in cold water, in which some grooms and carters are very expert. In other instances, strong woollen of any kind may be made use of; but flannel forms the best bandage, when evenly and firmly ap- plied, by means of a roller of three yards in length and four inches in breadth. Occasionally we meet with cases wherein the legs appear to become habitually enlarged, or where the recurrence of the swell- ing is so frequent as to occasion continual trouble ; in these a perma- nent bandage is best, produced by firing, and which, in this cf^se, should be done in nearly perpendicular lines ; for, by corrugating the skin, and in some measure lessening its elasticity, it becomes itself a bandage to the weakened vessels ; but if the firing be done in any other than a perpendicular, or nearly a perpendicular direction, the eifect is in a great measure lost. See this subject farther pursued in Grease; see also Condition. CLASS IX. CALCULAR CONCRETIONS THE horizontal situation of the abdomen, but more particularly the manner of feeding, with the nature of his food, renders the horse par- ticularly liable to concretions within his intestines ; no animal with which we are acquainted being so subject to them. The nature of these intestinal concretes varies extremely in composition, form, and size. Most of them are, however, composed of sabulous matter, which first collecting around some accidental nucleus as a nail, small stone, &c. &c., increases in concentric lamellae, each strata diifering in colour as the various ingesta yield matters of various deposit, or as the state of the alimentary canal forms various chemical decompo- sitions= Some arc so dense and compact, as to bear a polish; while 510 STONE IN THE KlBMiYS- [ClasS IX. others are more soft and friable. In some instances they appear princi- pally composed of inspissated mufiis, mixed with indigestible matter, agglutinated into a hardened mass or masses, taking on the shape of the dung, from their lodgment in the sacculi of the colon, or other large intestines*. Hair balls {tophus hovinus) are rarely found in the horse. I have seen calcular masses of enormous sizes and weights: in some instances numbers of lesser ones exist ; in others, one, two, or more of considerable magnitude have been found with sides adapted to each other, by which it would appear, that, notwithstanding the peri« staltic motion, they were principally in a state of comparative rest. Many horses appear to sutler little from them, while in others theybe- get occasionalspasm, and finally by displacement they bring on fatal strangulation, constipation, or inflammation; in each of which ways, I have known them to destroy horses. The frequency of occurrence of intestinal calculi cannot surprise us, when we consider the habits of some horses, which leads them to eat roots, and even the earth itself; while those most carefully fed, must still m.eet with much" silex in the matter and manner of their feedingt. The cure is out of our power, and the prevention is little less so, from the universality of sabulous matter around the animal. STONE IN THE KIDNEYS. Sometimes, though very seldom, stones form within jthe cavity of the pelvis of one of the kidneys. In the humf?.n these do not often remain long, but, by their gravity, fall into the bladder ; in the horse they accumulate, till they fill the cavity of its pelvis. The kidney does not appear to suffer much at first, but continues to secrete for some time. In the end, however, more active symptoms arise, and the irritation kills. It can only be removed in the early stage by diuretic medicines, which might relax the passages, and wash away the concretion while small, STONE IN THE BLADDER, Though this also is not frequent in the horse, it occurs oftencr than the former. I have seen several urinary calculi taken from horses after death. Mr. Clark, of Edinburgh, informs us he has several which had been taken out of different horses. Dr. Mead had one in his cabinet that weighed eleven ounces. The symptoms are an irre- gular flow of urine, with sudden stoppage of it, and occasional spasmo- * The b)ind pouch of the coecum is a very common situation for them, where^ unexposed to the peristaltic motion, they remain secure and accumulate. f Mr. Rickwood, Veterinary Surgeon, of Bedford, has given the public some judicious remarks on these concretions, which he supposes prove more frequently fatal than is supposed. He observes, they are particularly common among millers' horses, which he attributes to their feeding principally on bran and spHt- beans. He thinks, that the soft nature of the stones used in the splitting of these beans aflfords so much gritty matter, that it is likely some must become con- creted, from the mucrlagiuous nature of the bran.' The practice of watering their horses at the mill tail may also assist in this, \vhevc a large quantity of cavthy matter must neccssaiily be put into motion. Class's..] HYDROPHOBIA. 511 die pains. The presence of a stone may be detected by examining the bladder by means of the rectum, and its removal may be effected in the same manner as is practised from the human bladder ; that is, an opening must be made from the membranous angle of the perinseura, sufficiently large to admit a forceps to extract the stone with.— See Inflamed Bladder. CLASS X. MORBID POISONS. HYDROPHOBIA. Rabies.] [La Rage. THE rabid malady seldom occurs in horses, and when it does, it- arises from the bite or contact of morbid saliva, produced by some rabid animal, either of the canine or feline species : more frequently from that of a dog. The Symptoms in a horse are various ; it usually, however, com- mences by great apparent distress, and sudden breaking out into pro- fuse sweats ; at length he becomes completely unruly, he stamps and paws violently, au'd attempts to disengage himself from his halter. Though madness be a complete misnomer in the dog, it is by no means so in the horse ; for within twelve hours from the attack he usually becomes frantic : and I have seen one, level with the ground the whole of the internal fitting up of a six -stall stable, himself sweating, snorting^ and foaming amidst the ruins. The disease follows the inoculation, or bite, at the same periods as in otheranimals ; that is, from five weeks to three months : but I have observed, as in dogs, its attack is always quicker when the bite is received in the head. On examination of the morbid appearances after death, in two cases, there were great inflam- matory marks in the lungs ; the stomach and bowels also participated in the affection. The meninges of the brain were likewise suffused with blood. Treatme7it. — Our efforts must be principally directed to a preven- tive plan ; for nothing we yet know of mil arrest the disease when it has actually appeared. When a bite has been received, immediately dissect out the wounded part, or, if only superficial, apply a caustic to it : but when deep or much lacerated, dissect the part carefully out, and afterwards apply the caustic. AVhen this is properly done, no fear need be entertained for the safety of the animal: but it is very difficult often to decide that no other bite has been received. Under such circumstances, any antidote at all, possessing but questionable ef- ficacy, should be also given. I have, from innumerable trials, a great dependence on the efficacy of the huccus or box ; the virtues of which are fully detained in the Canine Pathology. I would therefore ad- vise the administering of the following: — Box leaves Cif possible, the tree box) , eight ounces Rue .<.,... eight ounces. 512 THIS BITE Ot V KNEW O US REPTILES, [ClilliS X. Cut very fine, and boil in three pints of milk in a close vessel for one hour ; then remove and strain oJf. Again, boil the ingredients another hour in three pints of water. Again, strain off, and mix the liquors. Give a third of the mixture every morning fasting. A cow may take the same quantity, and a sheep one third of it. Mr. YouATT, Veterinary Surgeon, of Nassau Street, Middlesex Hospital, London, with whom I was for many years in connection, places, however, more dependence on some preparation of his own. The known integrity and extensive research of this gentleman render his preparation worthy of confidence and trial. THE BITE OF VENEMOUS REPTILES. Many of these, in warmer climates, inflict fatal wounds both on man and beast. In the East Indies, the cobra di capello will occasion death in the largest animal in a few minutes : fortunately we have none of the serpent tribe whose bite or sting is poisonous but the adder ;' which now and then wounds horses and oxen while grazing, and some- times dogs in hunting. This accident is not very frequently of much consequence ; and country persons, in these cases, merely rub the part witli an onion, and force another, mashed, down the throat, which may not be injudicious. In more serious cases the following will give relief: — To ahorse, ox, or cow. Spirit of hartshorn (liquor of carbonated ammonia) one ounce Olive oil a pint. Mix, and give. To a sheep or dog, a third of this quantity may be administered, and the wounded part may be likewise bathed with oil of turpentine. In case the above cannot be procure^, the same quantity of oil of turpentine internally may be substituted^ for a horse ; or a large glass of brandy with half a pint of melted but'ter ; or gin and melted butter, of each half a pint. The stings of hornets, wasps, and bees, may be successfully washed with vinegar, or rubbed with the blue (indigo) used by washers, which is often found to bean instant specific. VEGETABLE POISONS. The stomach of the horse is sensible to the deleterious effects of many, indeed of most of the narcotic and acrid stimulating vegetable matters, which prove destructive to the human. Of some of these, however, it takes an immoderate dose to seriously disturb the func= tions ; of which opium is an instance among others : while a moderate dose of the prussic acid in the form of lauro cerasus kills him in a short time. The taxus baccata, or yew tree, is very poisonous to horses, stealing away life speedily, without raising convulsion or com- motion. Digitalis purpurea, or foxglove ; cenanthe crocata, or drop- wort ; phellandrium aquaticum, or water parsly ; conium maculatum, or hemlock ; cicuta viroso, or water hemlock ; nicotiana, or tobacco ; are all poisonous likewise to horses. Vegetable narcotics appear to produce their effect through the medium of the stomach on the sen- sorium. Drastics inflame the villi of the stomach and bov.cls, as do Class X.] MINERAL POISONS. 513 also the more acrid stimulants. After death liom narcotic poisons, the stomach often bears but little marks of afTection, nor are more to be found in the head ; the lungs are, however, found in many cases very highly inflamed. The more acrid vegetables leave very powerful marks of their ravages, by deep inflammatory spots over the villous surfaces of the stomach and intestines. We cannot hope to effect the removal of poison by vomits in the horse ; but we may do it in the cow, sheep, or dog, by considerable doses of emetic tartar, or of white vitriol. We must therefore, in the horse, counteract the effects by a liberal use of acids and demul- cents, as oil, butter, &c.: but in such cases a ca.ution is necessary with regard to vinegar, which in doses of a pint has destroyed; half a pint may, however, in urgent cases, be safely given, or a dram of oil of vitriol (sulphuric acid) may be infused in a pint of water, and poured down : if it can be procured, the stomach pump should super- sede every other means. MINERAL POISONS. These act usually by their caustic quality on the coats of the stomach and bowels ; but the horse is an animal whose powers of re- sisting the effects of the more active mineral agents is remarkable ; much of which capability is unquestionably dependent on so great a portion of his stomach being insensible. But there must be an inhe- rent structural power in the other parts of the alimentary canal also, to resist their effects, or otherwise how comes it that the caustic mi- neral acids do not, when they have passed the cuticular portion of the stomach, which they naturally do in common with other matter ; how comes it that they do not then exert their baneful influence, except in quantities which bear no proportion to the mere bulk, or the general powers of the animal, compared either with man or other animals ? Tartarised antimony (emetic tartar), to the amount of four ounces, creates little disturbance in the horse, and proportionate doses of its sulphuret (crude antimony) and oxyde (antimonial powder) are equally innocuous*. The acetate of lead can also be borne by the horse without disturbance in very large quantities : and although arsenic and the oxymuriate of quicksilver (corrosive sublimate), the acetate of copper (verdigris), cannot be borne in any thing like equal doses ; yet quantities that would astonish the inexperienced, are given every day medicinally. The Symptoms which arise from the imprudentt or malicious ad- * It has been erroneously argued, that because a horse can bear this quantity of antimony, that therefore in moderate doses it must be inert. Analogy teaches us that repeated small doses of many articles effect that which one large dose cannot do^ and fact fully evinces that the power of antimony in lessening vascular action is considerable. t By the term imprudent, I mean the continued administration of even mo- derate doses, without carefully watching their effects, and of occasional cessa- tions from the administrations of them : for it is remarkable, that a horse will continue to take 30 or 40 grains daily of the most potent of these, without ap- parent ill effect. All at once, however, symptoms arise, and consequences . ensue, as though the united quantities he has taken had been given at once.— CSee Treatment of Farcy). In these cases a loathing of food is a precursory symptom, perhaps for a day or two, which if attended to may save the animal, by preventing the repetition of the hurtful agent. 514 LOCAL INFLAMMATION^ [ClciUS X. ministration of the more commonly used mineral acids, do not materially differ. The horse is first observed uneasy and shifting his position, Avhich ends in his lying down and rolling, or stamping with his feet, as in gripes ; he also looks round at his sides, in the same manner ; so that these cases might be readily mistaken for colic, were it not for an appearance which is almost constant here, and is very rarely seen in spasmodic colic. This is the presence of a viscid, ropy, or frothy mucus, which continually distils from the mouth, which is singularly hot and often foetid to the smell. In some in- stances there are frequent attempts to stale and dung: now and then foetid bloody evacuations pass. Profuse cold sweats break out, the weakness becomes extreme ; the pulse, from the first quick and small, now intermits, and he sinks to rise no more. Dissections of these cases, as far as my limited means of obser- vation enable me to judge, do not always present appearances com- mensurate with the violence of the symptoms. In some cases, the whole alimentary canal will present gangrenous and sphacelated por- tions of great extent, when the sufferings were not apparently intense, and where even hopes were entertained of amendment. In others, spots of an inflammatory hue are dispersed over the villous surfaces of the stomach and intestines, at considerable distances from each other, and yet the sufferings during the disease were extreme ; but strong marks of structural derangement are, however, present in every case. The Treatment is very seldom fortunate, from the difficulty of ascertaining the nature of the disease, and the time usually lost before assistance is sought for. If an early application be made, and a stomach pump can be made or procured, it ought to be at once employed: but under other circumstances, our efforts should be first directed to dilute the poisonous matter, and then to weaken its po- tency. Alkalies have been supposed the best means to fulfil the second intention, as an ounce of potash in thin gruel. Orfila, hov/- ever, recommends in these cases, particularly such as arise from corrosive sublimate, entangling the poisonous matter in the albumi- nous (i. e. the white) matter of eggs. Back rake, clyster largely, and otherwise act as the symptoms direct, LOCAL INFAMMATION. The principles and doctrine of infiammation have been so fully treated on at the commencement of the Pathology, under the head General Inflammation, that we shall only introduce the practical inferences to be drawn therefrom; with such particular observations as immediately connect it with the surgical part of our subject. Avery attentive consideration of these principles is necessary to a successful practice of horse surgery, as many, nay most of the local and external diseases of the animal, have their foundation in inflam- mation. Local inflammation is characterised by heat, by redness, by tension or swelling, and by pain or tenderness in the part affected. Accord- ing as such inflammation is violent or mild, or according to the struc- ture or functions of the inflamed part, so the circulation in general Class X.J LOCAL INFLAMMATION. 515 participates, or it does not participate in the affection. When the general circulation is increased, the horse is said to have symptoma- tic fever, but in every instance the vessels of the inflamed part are in a state of distention* ; the effects and terminations of which are various according to the nature of the part, the state of the patient, and the violence of the attack. If the inflamed vessels be enabled to reinstate themselves by getting rid of the distending column of blood within them, and of recovering their tone and contractility, resolution takes place. But when this does not occur, the same vessels pour forth the coagulable part of the serum, which still further increases the tension already occasioned by the distended vessels. In wounded surfaces, this ad- hesive matter thus poured forth is the very pabulum for the new formed parts, and the cement by which the breaches are to be repaired. This inflammatory effect is called adhesion. If the morbid attack be still more active, or longer protracted, or if extensive injury have been done to the surrounding parts by pressure, laceration, &c. then the same vessels, instead of the albuminous part of the blood, secrete from it a homogeneous fluid called ^^^^ or matter, with which process ulceration or lymphatic agency in the removal of surrounding edges is united. This state is called suppuration. Occasions will, however, occur when the inflammatory action is very violent, or when it is very long protracted, or when it occurs in a constitution generally debili- tated, or when a part has suffered great accidental violence ; in any of which states, the inflammatory congestion may rupture the vessels, and destroy them ; and the effused blood will putrefy in and around them, when sphacelus, gangrene, or mortification, is said to have come on. The treatment of local inflammation must be varied accoiding as the tendency to these different kinds of termination exists ; but when it is in our power, there are but few instances in which we should not choose the termination by resolution. The first indication to produce which, is to restore and equalise the balance of power between the parts ; and this must be done either by bringing the system at large down to the level of the affected parts, or to raise the tone of the inflamed parts to the level of the system. The former is only to be attempted when the general plethora is very great ; in which case we make use of general bleeding, purges, and diuretics (see Diffused In- flammation). In most instances, however, topical bleeding is to be preferred, where it can be practised, by which the distended vessels are at once freed from their load. When blood cannot be drawn from the immediate part, still it is often practicable to open a vein in the neighbourhood of it, and which returns the blood from that indivi- dual part immediately. In violent local inflammations, both topical and general bleeding may be usefully employed at the same time. * It seems doubtful whether an inflamed part is always in a state of increased strength. On the contrary, it may, under some circumstances, be considered as in a state of increased debility ; for the inflammatory action, particularly X)f the larger arterial trunks, has carried the distention of the capillary branches beyond their contractile power to overcome ; and debility appears to be the natural consequence of long continued or inordinate distention. This view of the matter is a very important one in practice, and deserves the most attentive examination and consideration. 516 LOCAL INFLAMMATION. [ClaSS X. Topical applications are among our most active agents in local in- flammations. In phlegmonous inflammations particularly, cold is a most active agent in promoting resolution, and also in the inflamma- tory actions which follow those injuries known by the name of strains. With the coldest water mix the acetate of lead (see F'et. Pharm.), and renew the application frequently in the wettest state, by which means constant evaporation will increase the cold. Or a still colder application may be formed from the muriate of ammonia with vinegar (see Vet. FUarm,)\ and when a discutient application is required from the effects of outward injury, this is the preferable application*. As cold proves itself an active agent in local inflammations, so also heat, or rather warmth, in many other cases, proves no less so. It is in vain to theorize on the seeming incongruity of curing the same disease by two such opposites : the facts are so, and all the theoretic argu- ments in the world cannot overturn them. In many cases, therefore, we reap the most decided advantages from the use of warmth in the form of poultices or fomentations, which appear to act by unloading the vessels of the part in the form of sweat o^- exhalation:* but as ac- tual heat increases inflammatory action, and therefore promotes other termination than resolution, we should be careful to avoid applying either of these means too hot. On the other hand, as in these imme- diate instances, cold vrould prove injurious ; so we should be careful in the use of fomentations, that we do not leave the part afterwards wet and exposed, otherwise cold will be generated by evaporation (see Poultices and Emhrocations, Vet. Pharm.) For these reasons a moderately warm poultice frequently applied becomes, in many cases, one of the best applications in promoting resolution, and perhaps it is peculiarly eligible when the inflammation is some way removed from the surface, as it tends to unload the vessels near the part, without at all adding to their increase of temperature. When the inflammation is situated still deeper, we frequently use rubefacients or actual blis- ters, which create an artificial metastasis (see General Inflammation and Blisters). But when, notwithstanding all our efforts, the tension, heat, and tenderness of the part increases, suppuration will take place. When suppuration becomes unavoidable, it is then our duty no longer to attempt to retard, but on the contrary we should promote it, to prevent the worse termination (by a continued irritation and debility) into gangrene. If the inflammation have been confinod to a mucous surface, we may expect the transition to take place without trouble, these surface? changing their secretions from a mucous into * Mr. Fercevall recommeiids the application of ice to inflamed smfacts ; but there can be few cases in which such practice ought to be employed, except with extreme caution ; for extreme cold immediately applied to an inflamed surface reduces the temperature so quickly, as frequently to destroy the life of the part and to produce gangrene. I am also at variance with Mr Percevall on the subject of lead as a valuable agent in lessening inflammation in the horse ; and his proof to the contrary is not in the same scale with his usual reasoning. Mr. Percevall states that lead is inert as an external application, because even in ounce doses, taken into the alimentary canal, it is perfectly innocuous. In grain doses it is hurtful to the human alimentary canal, and yet the external parts maj' be soaked with it to the greatest advantage, for weeks together, and surely the one argument is as good" as the other; while the latter fact is a full antidote to the rationale drawn from the former. Class X.] LOCAL INFLAMMATION. 517 a puriform fluid, without great increase of cfroit. If the inflamma- tion be situated on the skin, or if it belong to muscular fibre, or more particularly if it be such as engenders abscess, greater changes will be observed (see Tumours), The heat and pain will lessen, but the ac- tual sensibility of the part will often be augmented. It must be our care now to avoid depleting the system ; a moderate warmth should be constantly applied to the part, by means of warm poultices. Should the suppuration be deep seated, or when it becomes prudent to hasten the maturation, solid turpentine may be added to the poultices, and which poultices should be frequently renewed. Fomentations might possibly, if persisted in and often renewed, be better, as re- newing the heat oftener ; but in these cases the part must not be suf- fered to cool, nor be left wet, otherwise evaporation will do more injury than the fomentation does good. When neither poultices nor fomentations can be used, the part should still be kept warm, by means of an adhesive plaster over it, or with cloths ; or it may be thickly greased over, which promotes heat, and prevents the effects of eva- poration. In this state it is still to be remembered, that if the gene- ral action of the system should be very inordinate, it is to be re- pressed ; or the inflamed parts may, instead of falling into a healthy suppuration, be hurried in the end to such debility as will produce an entire loss of their tone, when mortification must ensue. When sup- puration has been long continued, sometimes the vessels become so habituated to the action, that it is not easy to promote a healing pro- cess: in this case setons and rowels are introduced, to promote a new action. Mortification.— yV\\en the congestion in the capillaries is extreme, or when debility to a^ great degree takes place in a part under inflam- mation, it falls into mortification. If the adjacent parts likewise are equally debile, they frequently participate, and become gangre- nous also; but if they are strong, the absorbents are equal to\he removal of the edges of the sound part, and by this means a separa- tion of the dead from the living takes place. It is, therefore, our duty to prevent this extension of death to the sound parts, and Xo promote the removal of the dead from the living. To effect this we must attend to the system generally, as much as to the parts indivi- dually, for upon a salutary effort of the constitution at large are we principally to hope for this ; particularly when the inflammation is extensive, or deep seated. Constitutional remedies are peculiarly available, because the immediate parts are already dead, and no topical applications can restore them. The constitutional means are such as tend to moderate arterial action, if it yet remain inordinate, without producing debility or exhaustion. These ends are best ful- filled by nitrous or vitriolic aether; and the liquor ammonise acetntis (Med. Pharm.J. If the debility be already extreme, we must employ more active tonics, as bark, opium, camphor, &c., with malt, ale, and gruel, as beverages. With regard to medicinal tonics and cor- dials, they should be administered in small quantities, but frequently, that their action may be uniform and permar.eiit, and at tiie same time not inordinate. Local applications are to be made use of also not with a view to restore the parts already dead, but to prevent the spreading of the evil-, and to assist the separation of the sound froui 518 WOUNDS. [Class XI, the unsound. The fermenting poultice is a useful application (see Poultices); and occasionally the parts may be washed with the mu- riate of ammonia and vinegar. Scarifications are not to he recom- mended, for they only reduce the living parts into the same state as the dead ones. We shall proceed to apply these doctrines to a consideration of the several subjects of wounds, ulcers, tumours, inflammatory, indu- rated, and encysted, and to that inflammation, both healthy and dis- eased, which aflfects the bones. CLASS XI. WOUNDS. A WOUND is a solution of continuity, or a division of some of the parts of the body ; and as wounds frequently occur to all the animals domesticated to our use, it becomes a matter of great impor- tance for the veterinarian to be equal to the treatment of them. The surgical treatment of wounds differs in the horse from the human, from peculiarities in the constitution ; but principally it differs in the mechanical parts of the treatment: therefore veterinary surgery cannot be perfectly learned from the most intimate acquaintance with the practice of human surgery. A wound in the horse should be treated according to the particular circumstances which take place, as the nature of the wound, the part in which it happens, as well as the immediate structure of the substance divided, and the constitution and habits of the animal. When a wound occurs, it undergoes several states before the part is again made whole: hemorrhage first takes place, which if very con- siderable must be immediately attended to. It is, however, to be remembered, that the vital resources are so much greater in the horse, that the division of an artery which in the human would require pres- sure to stop the flow, in the horse may be allowed to remain un- attended to ; and that when nothing but taking up a human artery can secure life, moderate pressure will be sufiicient in veterinary practice. When, however, a very large artery is di^dded, it should be secured with a tenaculum, if possible ; or if not practicable by these means, a ligature should be passed around it of fine strong silk (see Wounds of the Arteries). The next circumstance to attend to, is the removal of any extraneous matter which may have insinuated itself; and if this can be done without washing the cavity, the chances of early union will be increased. But when dirt, dust, &c. render washing out the wound absolutely necessary, tepid water is all that is requisite. All stimulating applications, unless to a contused wound, are worse than useless, and promote an unhealthy after inflammation. It has been already stated that in ordinary wounds it is prudent to attempt what has been called union by the first intention, which modern surgery defines to be a state brought about by the vessels of each side ofthe wound inosculating with each other. Each tubular opening having poured out its adhesive congula, hastens to prolong itself through the Class XL] WOUNDS. 519 extravasated matter by an effort of its own vitality, the adhesive fluid gluing the surfaces, as the inosculating vessels interlace and dovetail the union. Some veterinarians deny that this union ever takes place in the horse ; but which is certainly erroneous. I have seen many instances to the contrary ; and although the force of the arterial circulation in the horse usually hurries on the suppurative process, yet it is more owing to the difficulty arising from his restless- ness, than to any speciality, that it does not more frequently happen. It is, therefore, the duty of every veterinary practitioner to endeavour to promote the adhesive union by a perfect adaptation of the sides- of the wound together, and by a careful retention of them in this situa- tion. In any wound beyond the most superficial, the only safe means of doing this is by sutures. Sutures are stitches made in a wound with needles armed with either silk, cotton, thread, worsted, or fine tape ; and which arming is usually many times doubled, that it may not cut the parts : it is also waxed to increase its tenacity. There used to be many kinds of su- tures, but modern surgery has reduced the number to three ; at least, the interrupted, the twisted, and the glovers, are those principally in use ; of which the first is by much the most useful and general in its application. The interrupted suture is nothing more than an indefi- nite number of distinct stitches, unconnected by the threads with which they are made. For deep wounds, and for such where the sub- stance of the integuments is to be brought into union, the needles used are curved, with their substance somewhat flattened, which form best adapts itself to the penetrating of the substance of the di- vided edges of such wounds * ; the lips of which having been cleansed from clots of blood, or any extraneous matter, should be carefully brought together in exact opposition. The needle properly armed, is now to be carried from without, inwards, to a sufficient depth to pre- vent the ligature tearing away the flesh. Having penetrated the one lip, carry the needle through the other, from within outward. Cut it away from its ligature, which leave untied ; again thread or arm it, and if more stitches be required, repeat the operation in the same manner for each stitch, the distances of which from each other must be regulated by circumstances, as the depth of the wound, its being exposed to much or little motion, &c. I have seldom, in wounds of the integuments, found it adidsable to put them nearer than an inch to each other ; but oftener I have allowed an inch and a half or two inches between each. Having inserted as many stitches as are requi- site to sustain the parts in their just position, begin to tie each liga- ture, an assistant carefully holding the edges of the wound together ; bearing in mind that, if the wound be considerable, it is prudent to fasten the centre stitches first. The disposition that is observed to ulceration in the horse and other quadrupeds, greatly lessens the ad- vantages which are often derived from sutures in the human subject. It is very seldom that the veterinarian can depend on any suture re- maining beyond the third or fourth day, after which it ulcerates out. * The prudent veterinarian will furnish himself with these needles of various sizes, degrees of curvature, &c. ; and which he will find in sufficient variety at Mr. Long's, High Holborn, who has made some important improvements on them lately. L 1 ^20 , WOUNDS. [Class Xf, It is therefore of great importance, that he possesses himself, in these cases, of the assistance of adhesive plaister made of resin, pitch, or cobhler's wax, and spread on leather, strips of which should be pass- ed across the edges of the wound (which, if possible, should be pre- viously shaved or shorn), of sufficient extent to reach beyond the exuding moisture. It is also of equal consequence, that the whole be se- cured by a proper bandage. Wherever the uniformity of the part, as in the limbs, will allowit, the bandage in human surgery, calledthe uniting, is the best, which consists of a long roller having two heads or rolls, by which means the central part can be first applied to the portion of limb opposite to the wound ; by then drawing each roll forward, the divided edges are brought into contact by the pressure, and the completion of the bandage will retain them 'there. The conical form of some parts of the extremities will in some measure prevent the permanent application of any bandage, unless retained in its situation by sup- porting ends passed in the fore legs over the shoulders and over the loins for tbe hinder. This form of suture is applicable to most wonnds, and is even now practised on the intestines in lieu of the glovers suture, which having been thought to pucker the wound and increase the inflammation, has been brought into disrepute. (See TVoundsofthel7itestines.)—T\\e twisted suture, though popular in human surgery, is not frequently applicable to the horse. I have however occasionally used it ; and I think that in wounds of the eye- lids, lips, nostrils, &c., it may in some cases be advantageously em- ployed*.— The glovers suture, as before observed, is in disrepute; and though still used by many older surgeons, is certainly superseded by the interrupted, which, it has been found, is fully equal to pro- ducing adhesion in the intestines and other thin membranous cavi- ties. All straight surgical needles are made with a triangular cutting edge, which greatly assists their entrance into the substance of a wound, particularly of membranous parts. It remains, however, on the subject of sutures in general, to remark that it is questionable whether their use might not more often be dis- pensed with, and whether the irritation occasioned by the ligature does not more often retard than promote the adhesive union : it is principally as a promoter of this union, that they are advisable ; for, as before remarked, it is very seldom that the ulcerative process allows them toremainbeyondthethird,fourth,orfifthday at the utmost. It is likewise not unusual for the irritation of the wound to occasion the horse to rub or bite them out before even this time, unless both horse and wound be very carefully secured. It is also necessary to remark that in some cases, particularly where any foreign body has been incautiously allowed to remain within a wound, fhe irritation becomes so great, that it is prudent to divide the stitches, which will sometimes give immediate relief: and the same occurs often when the mere inflammation of the part runs high. The adhesive inflammation may, however, and certainly does in * When I was in Holland, acting as surgeon to the 40th Regiment of foot, T was requested by a field officer to look at a valuable charger whicli had the right nos- tril divided by a sabre wound, and which had penetrated through the lip into the mouth. I conceived the project of retaining these parts in their situation by means of needles, which I supposed, as being thin, were act so likely to ulcerate out J and the event justified my view of the matter. eiass XI.] WOUNDS. 521 some cases, appear to be promoted by the judicious use of sutures : and as in all wounds it is our duty to attempt the present or future union, by a close opposition of the divided parts ; so we must be guided by circumstances as to the best method of retaining them so applied, until structural union binds them indissolubly. The adhe- sive union will be also greatly promoted by moderating the inflam- matory tendency which may be expected to arise from an extensive wound by general bleeding, low diet, cool temperature, &c.: but it is proper to remark, that, until this union be despaired of, no moist ap- plications should be applied. Suppurative process. — When, however, circumstances prevent this early and desirable union, a more considerable inflammatory action necessarily arises, in which, if the wound be veiy extensive, the con- stitution partakes and produces symptomatic fever. The wounded portion itself becomes hard, swelled, and tender, and a thin fluid is discharged. This state either ends in the death of some of the parts, if they were much injured ; or the vessels first secrete a matter called pus on the surface of the wound. The former state occurs when great debility before existed, as in old or emaciated horses ; particu- larly if added to this there had been much previous hemorrhage ; or the parts had been much bruised, or exposed to the cold. In such cases, we must support the strength, as well of the system at large as of the parts themseh^es, in the manner laid down when treating of gangrene. The formation of pus is usually followed by a cessation of the inflammatory symptoms, and is succeeded by a formation of gra- nulations, to which the suppurative process seems essential. It may, however, itself become inordinate, and require restraint, by lowering the inflammatory diathesis, as already directed in inflammation, at the same time that the topical irritability is to be lessened by the ap- plication of fomentations, poultices, &c., by which a healthy and more ordinate action will be promoted ; or should gangrene still occur, the separation of the living from the dead parts will have been assisted. When granulations have begun to form, the chasm is gradually dimi- nished until they reach the surface, when exsiccation of the part takes place, and the cutis is formed over it. — Cicatrization is the pro- cess of forming new skin, but which is never so ample as before, by which means the situation or the scar of an extensive wound is puck- ered.' It is also hard and ligamentous when fully formed, though at first it is thin, very vascular, and highly sensible. To the formation of skin succeeds the growth of hair, if the injury have not been ex- tensive ; but if it have, this is not replaced. In the process of form- ing granulations, the wound should be kept from exposure, but the applications used should be simple ; for whatever is applied, is more for the purpose of defending the part than from any peculiar opera- tion on the sore. Great stress was, by the older farriers, laid on healing ointments, driers, digesters, and innumerable others. Mo- dern surgery has discarded nearly the whole ; but as occurs in other improvements, in correcting an evil, too much has been attempted. Experience every day shews that it is not equally indifferent to every wound what is applied to it. I have seen an ulcerated human leg, that would bear no application with comfort, but the old compound called black basilicon : the yellow, which is so little different, tortured the L12 522 WOUNDS. [Class XL feelings to madness. Many applications certainly promote a forma- tion of granulations, as all the tcrcbinthinated ; but these are sel- dom necessary, for in the horse the flesh is apt to sprout too fast, ex- cept in very deep wounds, or those of glandular parts, in which in- stances we cannot promote their growth too much. In other cases of luxuriant growth, applications called desiccative, as ointments of calamine, or minium, &c. &c., are proper, as they defend, with- out promoting the too rapid growth of parts. When the granulations have extended beyond the level surface of a healthy part, they may be deemed diseased, and the wound will never heal while they remain so ; on the contrary, it frequently enlarges: for the pressure the luxuriant granulations makes on the edges produces an absorption of the healthy parts, and thus increases the surface of the sore. This luxuriance must, therefore, be kept down by mild escharotics.-'(See Mat. Med.) It is the general practice of farriers to plug every wound with something of the nature of fitent, under an idea of keeping it properly open, by which the healthy processes of nature are frustrated, and simple wounds arc rendered complicated and tedious, by this intro- duction of tow, sponge, candle, &c. &c. In this way also sinuses form, and the edges of the wounds, by being in constant contact with yb- reign bodies, become hardened and callous, and are for ever inca- pable of union until they are removed either by caustic or the knife. The only circumstances that can justify the use of tents are, where a very deep wound exists, with a very small orifice ; in which case it is certainly not prudent to permit the external opening to heal until the granulations have filled the cavity from the bottom : likewise, when any extraneous body is suspected to be within a wound, as thorns, splinters, gravel, &c., or when a bone has been injured ; in which case its exfoliation being slow, if the muscular parts healed up, the exfo- liating bone would become a foreign body, and occasion continued irritation and repeated new abscesses'. In such cases of protracted suppuration, we have a powerful auxiliary in roM;e/* ; and which, in full plethoric horses, may be likewise inserted in every case of exten- sive local injury, as near the wounded part as is convenient, by which the inordinate action will be greatly checked. But when on the con- trary, from the nature of the wound, the peculiar circumstances of the patient, &c., the action of the parts is really below the ordinary stand- ard, stimulating applications must be made use of. Among which, warm fomentations stand foremost, assisted by terebinthinated dress- ings, or by pledgets dipped in tincture of myrrh with aloes, or the tincture of benjamin (called Friar's balsam) ; or one part of oil of tur- pentine with three parts of olive oil will answer the end. But it is only on such occasions that these applications are necessary; and only in those particular cases before noted that tents can ever be at all proper ; for it should never be lost sight of, that it is our business to watch and assist Nature, and not to interrupt her; and it will al- ways be better to leave her to herself, than to interfere injudiciously, which it is the express intention of these instructions to prevent. WOUNDS OF THE HEAD. Wounds of the head should be treated according to the part they Class XI.] WOUNDS OF THE NECK AND CHEST. 523 happen in: in most, the first step is to ascertain whether any in- jury has been done to the bones underneath, which, if found to be broken, must be first treated by such means as are directed under Fractures. When any part of the ear is much lacerated, it will be better to remove the whole ear and its fellow. When, from accident, either the parotid or other salivary glands become \A^ounded, every at- tempt should be made to produce a speedy union, or the continued flow of saliva will occasion a fistulous sore. If the wound be small, apply the budding iron, which I have found to stop the salivary flow, and promote immediate union of the divided portion ; but if it run into a fistulous state, the only cure is the extirpation of the whole gland, carefully securing the vessels. In wounds of the eye, or of the eyelids, the parts should be replaced as neatly and carefully as pos- sible, having in view their future functions, so that their motions may not be impeded : in such cases, it is evident, no irritating applica- tion should be used, but every means made use of to avoid inflamma- tion. In divisions of the eyelid, neat small stitches of the interrupted suture should always be inserted near together, and the horse should be secured from rubbing, by placing him in a box or barn, with his head tied to a beam in the ceiling, at the usual height, by which means he cannot rub the wound with his knee or his hind leg ; nor will there be any rack or manger to rub against: he should also have a cradle constantly on his neck. I have, in one or two instances of wounded eyelids, used the twisted suture with success. (See Sutures.) In wounds of the nose, care should be taken to replace the bones if any be displaced, and to retain them in their situation, by the putting any firm substance up the nostril well guarded with soft tow or rag ; or the fingers may be used if they can reach so high, and the external wound should be afterwards closed, to prevent the unnatural access of the air. WOUNDS OF THE NECK. If by any means the neck becomes wounded in its ligamentous part, a depending orifice should be immediately made, and the wound should be dressed with terebinthinated or other warm applications, by which the ligamentous substance may be stimulated into an healthy inflam- mation, and sinuses prevented from forming. (See Pole Evil.) When the oesophagus is divided, treat as directed under (Esophagotomy : and if the trachea have suff'ered in the same way, refer to the treat- ment under Bronchotomy. The integuments of the neck are not un- favourably situated for the insertion of interrupted sutures ; but to prevent their being rubbed out, a neck cradle should be worn, and the horse's head should be racked up to the manger day and night. When it is necessary to perform operations in the neck, by dilating an already existing wound, the longitudinal direction of the muscular fibres should direct the section, and due regard should also be paid to the nerves and blood-vessels around. WOUNDS OF THE CHEST. When these take place in the muscular and intcgumental parts of the chest, they must be treated like other external wounds •, but when ^^4 WOUNDS OK THE ABDOMEN. [ClasS XI. they penetrate the cavity, the treatment must be regulated by the ex- tent of the injury, and the nature of the parts penetrated. When the lungs are punctured the danger is always great ; for should the hae- morrhage not destroy, fatal inflammation is likely to follow. These wounds are distinguished by the air rushing out at the wound, and by the scarlet hue of the hsemorrhage. Having ascertained that no fo- reign substance is left within the thorax, carefully close the wound by the means already directed, enveloping the chest in a circular ban- dage. The force of the circulation must be also immediately restrain- ed by copious bleeding ; and if blood becomes effused into the cavity of the chest, it should be suffered to escape by the opening already made, and if it will not do this, the operation for empyema must be performed. (See Dropsy of the Chest.) If emphysematous swellings take place in the parts around the opening, which may be known by the crackling noise and peculiar feel they will be accompanied with, the extravasated air should be let out by small punctures with a lancet. WOUNDS OF THE ABDOMEN. When these are external, the treatment must be similar with that of common wounds ; but when such an injury penetrates the cavity, much danger arises ; nevertheless, as the brute resources are much greater than the human, so wounds that would prove fatal to man, a horse frequently survives. When a wound has penetrated the cavity of the abdomen, the extent of it should be carefully examined, that we may learn what viscera are likely to be injured ; in which examina- tion we shall be aided much by a previous knowledge of the different regions, as already taught, and the viscera that occupy them. (See Splanchnology, p. 263.) If any of these be protruded, carefully re- place them ; unless they should have become frozen, or mortified, in which case remove the injured and' replace the sound part. When the intestines are wounded, the opening in the gut must be neatly united by suture. (See Sutures.) It has been recommended, in case the external wound be large, to stitch the intestine to it, in pre- ference to letting it float loose in the abdomen ; but I believe it is only particular circumstances can render this eligible. When an intestine is completely divided, the chances of union are small ; nevertheless, I should not hesitate to invaginate one portion within the other, and fastening them with suture to return them into the abdomen. The external wound may, if possible, be drawn together by sutures, but much more dependence is to be placed on a firm supporting bandage. In these cases food should bo at first avoided, and little drink given, but nourishing clysters are proper ; in which, however, we must be guided by what intestine is wounded. In any case, bleed and use every means to combat irritation and fever. Sometimes, from very large openings made in the abdomen by staking, or from the gores of oxen, there follows an extensive protrusion of parts, which must be returned. It will often require much force and more dexterity to do this : I have first placed close to the wound a very firm bandage already drawn moderately tight, and then have replaced the parts with my fingers under it, gradually drawing the bandage onwards as I return- Class XI.] WOUNDS OF THE JOINTS. 525 ed them : the integuments should, in such case, be carefully and firmly sewn up, and an adhesive plaister placed over all, to keep a permanent pressure on the protruding portions *. The internal state of the bow- els also should be particularly attended to, that they may never be distended ; for this purpose, food should be at first withheld, or given very sparingly in a liquid form only ; but nutritive clysters may be more freely administered. WOUNDS OF THE JOINTS. There are few injuries which prove more destructive than these, and the more so, as the treatment of them has hitherto been grossly injudicious. Most of the parts forming a joint have but little sensi- bility except under inflammation ; but when inflamed they become ex- quisitely tender; and when we consider the structure of a joint, it will be altogether found particularly unfavourable for a successful treat- ment under injury ; for the internal surface of the capsular ligament is very vascular, but the external is nearly of the nature of other ligaments and has few vessels ; the rest of the parts around likewise are such whose powers are comparatively small, and consequently their means of restoration fev.\ Any of the joints may have their ca- vities exposed ; but such injury more frequently happens to the knee, the shoulder, and the hock. Occasionally the hip, the stifle, and the pastern joints, are also penetrated. In describing the anatomy of the joints, the capsular ligament which surrounds them has been noticed, as forming a complete cavity ; within which is secreted a slippery glair called synovia, and known to farriers and horsemen by the term joint oil. When a joint is penetrated, this of course escapes, and the loss of this mucilage subjects the opposed ends of the bone to attrition, and moreover the entrance of the air occasions an inflammatory ac- tion throughout the whole extent of the capsular surface. Not only, therefore, from the extreme sensibility of ligamentous parts when in- flamed, is the immediate joint itself exquisitely tender and tumefied, but the constitution at large is affected with all the efl'ects of great symptomatic fever ; and cases have occurred where this alone has proved fatal. When a joint is newly penetrated, the synovia flows pure, or is mixed with a little blood only, which is very common. In two or three days, the inflammation increases this flow considerably, unless the vascular action be very inordinate, when it lessens it, or oc- casionally converts it into a muco-serous discharge. If means be not taken to close the external opening, coagulable lymph is thrown out ; the articulating cartilages and the capsular ligaments become enve- loped with accretion, and their vessels inosculate together ; by which anchylosis, or a stiff joint, becomes so frequent a consequence of these injuries. In some cases where the wretched animal does not sink from the first irritative symptoms, protracted sufferings Avear him down by hectic. Nor can the fatal effects of these injuries be wondered at, » It becomes a matter of inquiry how far the flatus, which is usually the grand obstacle to the return of intestine, may be prudently removed by puncture. In two cases in which I practised it on cows, it did not succeed j but in both, symp- toms of inflammation had already taken place: in neither could the protruded ''parts have been replaced by any other means ; and in such cases it io both war- rantable and to be recommended, and perhaps in such only. 526 WOUNDS OF THE JOINTS. [Class JLl. when we arc aware how destructive is the treatment they meet with, by the generality of common farriers, who, in these cases, very fre- quently inject into the sensible cavity of the joint the most powerful stimulants, under the idea of stopping the flow of synovia. Very young practitioners sometimes find a difficulty in distinguishing an open joint from a badly lacerated wound of the integuments, par- ticularly where the synovial opening is minute ; but a little attention will detect the smallest quantity of it, from its yellow tinge, glib smooth feel, and its general resemblance to the albuminous glair of an egg in colour and consistence. The junior practitioner is ex- posed to the danger of another mistake, which may arise from the ac- ' cidental division of some mucous c apsule surrounding a tendon, insert- ed into the circumference of the joint, and which he may mistake for the cavity of the joint itself. This, however, as Mr. Percevall justly observes, is more likely to happen to the shoulder joint and to the hock, where mucous capsules are so numerous, than to any other. Treatment. — We must, in every recent case, at once attempt the closing of the wound, and the complete shutting up of the cavity of the joint. In more advanced cases we must, in addition to this indi- cation, combat the more violent symptoms of irritation, local and general. The immediate closing of an open joint is not very difficult, when it has been penetrated by a small uniform cut or division. In these cases the surrounding hair should, if possible, be shaved or shorn clean away, which will greatly facilitate the application of ad- hesive or sticking strips of plaister, extending from side to side, and then again covered over with an adhesive cap, to embrace the whole circumference. By these means, we shall give the parts a chance of uniting at once, by adhesive inflammation. When the wound is more irregular or extensive, we must have recourse to ligature or sutures, having previously, in every instance, carefully removed all extraneous matter, as dirt, &c. (See Sutures.) When these are used, still a great portion of our dependence must be placed in the application of such bandages as will restrain the part from motion, which, in some cases as of the punctured knee and hock, may be assisted by opposing splints ; and in all, a neck cradle and tying the head up are necessary. An early and immediate union in this manner unhappily, however, does not so frequently occur as we could wish, and we are often obliged to resort to the more tedious one of promoting a cure by the suppurative process. It is, however, equally indicated here to close the capsular opening at once ; and notwithstanding, according to the principles of modern surgery, it is prudent to try the effects of adhe- sive strips to a longitudinal opening, I should myself, in every in- stance of a circular one, or one which could be embraced by the ap- plication of the mild cautery or heated iron, at once try its effects, from having so frequently witnessed its beneficial operation, and having nearly as often seen the other fail. A wound with a simple puncture or stab may be treated with the budding iron. A more irregular opening may easily have an iron shaped to it, or the budding iron may be more often applied, but which is a less eligible method. The irou should not be heated beyond a dull red heat, and it should be carefully applied to the external surface of the orifice only: for i||k the inner surface be cauterised, great inflammation may follow. We Class XL] WOUNDS of the mucous capsules, &c. 527 may judge when the cautery has been sufficiently applied, by the stop- page to the synovial flow. It is recommended by some practitioners, to apply over the jEired surface a composition of pipe clay and alum, flour, linseed meal, &c., which uniting a desiccative with an aggluti- nating quality, may more effectually dry up the surface, and glue any remaining opening. In my own practice, 1 have usually contented myself with placing a small pledget of lint immediately over the cau- terised orifice, assisting the adhesion, when the inflammatory symp- toms have not been great, with strips of sticking plaister, but which cannot be properly applied when the tumefaction is considerable : neither, under these circumstances, are tight tjandages other than hurtful. Over the whole, a cold saturnine poultice may be applied, and kept frequently wetted anew. If the oozing of synovia recom- mences, by no means hesitate to apply the iron again, and this as often as the oozing appears, by which eventual success may be en- sured. In aggravated cases, after the firing, a blister has been bene- ficially employed ; by some immediately on the part, and by others about three inches below it, and which is the most prudent practice, particularly when the inflammation is intense. It is also of the ut- most importance that the general state of the system should be at- tended to : in a plethoric horse, or when the fever is considerable, bleed plentifully, open the body, and place a rowel in any part near the joint that may be convenient. Feed low, and give febrifuges also. WOUNDS OF THE MUCOUS CAPSULES AND THECAL SHEATHS. By a reference to Bursalogy (page 146), and to a description of the Extremities (pages 335 to 370), it will be seen that there are ex- isting cavities similar to those of the joints, interposed between, or appropriate to, most of the large flexing and extending tendons. Most of these sacs are situated at the ends of the tendons, and are then called bursas mucosae, or mucous capsules, being filled with a syno- vial fluid similar to that within the joints, and serving the same pur- pose of freeing the parts they are attached to from the effects of at- trition. Other bursse again form more extended cavities around the sheaths of those flexing or extending tendons which move upon each other. In the fore extremities, these are principally confined to the perforated and perfoiating flexors of the pastern and foot, which form the back sinews. (See Fore Extremities.) A very important bursal cavity is situated behind the knee ; another extends down a considerable part of the length of the back sinew; and a third is formed at the back of the pasterns, where the perforating tendon performs the office of the capsular ligament to the joint. In the posterior extremities, the first important bursal cavity is at the point of the hock ; other bursal sacs exist throughout this important joint. (See pages 347 to 356.) Below also, the back sinews present similar thecal cavities: and at the pasterns, both before and behind, bursal capsules, forming similar vascular sacs, are found. All wounds into these thecal and bursal cavities ; that is, whenever any of the puft'y swellings called wiudgalls, capulets, thoroughpins, or bog spavin, are penetrated; and likewise v/henever an opening is 528 WOUNDS OF THE AaiEKlES. [CteiXI. made sufficiently deep to divide the integuments, and penetrate to the back sinews either before or behind, a capsular or circumscribed ca- vity is laid open, and the most serious effects ensue ; for every one of these possess secreting surfaces like the inside of a joint, and form a mucus like synovia to lubricate and assist motion. These are all liable to be wounded from cuts, staking, from the fork in the stable, or innumerable other injuries : and, in such cases, the inexperienced observer is surprised at the violent train of symptoms which follows so apparently small an injury. And here, also, the mischief is usually aggravated by the injudicious use of heating applications, which ope^ rate in a similar destructive manner to wtat they do in wounds of the joints. Treatment. — This differs in no respect whatever from that which is laid down iii our description of Wounds of the Joints. These wound- ed openings must also, like them, be closed as soon as possible, and the escape of the secreted mucus prevented. If the wound be lace- rated and extensive, or the edges ragged, adhesive strips of stickr ing plaister, spread on leather or canvas, should be carefully applied so as to draw the divided edges together, and thus to close the ca- vity ; and these should be maintained in their situation till healing has commenced. But when the wound presents a smaller and more circumscribed orifice, carefully apply the budding iron, but not red hot, and treat afterwards as directed under joint wounds. WOUNDS OF THE ARTERIES. An intimate knowledge of the course of the large arteries is es- sentially necessary to every veterinary practitioner, by which he may avoid their division in operations ; or when such an accident has oc- curred, such knowledge will assist him in tracing the course of, and stopping the divided trunk. By the elasticity of the external tunic, the divided ends of moderate arteries, and of such as would occasion fatal haemorrhages in the human, are in the horse attended with no danger; the ends retracting within the cellular substance, and closing their orifices. In many cases, therefore, of partial division of these, a total division puts a stop to the flow of blood, which the veterinarian should keep in mind. HcEmorrhages are stopped by the application of styptics ; by compression ; by firing ; or by ligature. Styptics are but a delusive term, and have cost, in human surgery, many a va- luable life ; they act by mixing with the blood, and either form it into a fine paste, as puff ball, flour, cobweb, &c., or they coagulate the blood within the vessels, as alum, vitriol, &c. Compression is proper when the vessels cannot be easily got at, and may be made with a bit of sponge or a pledget of any kind pressed immediately on the vessel. The tourniquet is an instrument much in use in human surgery, for effecting compression ; but it is not readily applied to the horse, from the superior resistance of parts. In docking, nicking, and sometimes in wounds of the legs, it may, however, be occasionally applied with advantage, particularly in the form of twisted ligature. Firing is proper when an artery or vein remains undivided ; in which case the haemorrhage may be readily stopped by the application of the budding iron to the bleeding orifice. It is also the means in general use in ve= Class XI.] WOUNDS OF THE VEINS. 529 terinary practice for checking the flow on divided surfaces: thus, in docking, nicking, castrating, &c., it is generally resorted to, and is found, by experience, to be the safest styptic. In deep-seated wounds this cannot be put into practice ; but the best mode of checking hae- morrhage in these cases, is either by means of a tenaculum or hook- like instrument, on which there are some late important improve- ments ; which being applied to the bleeding end of a vessel, draws it out sufficiently to pass a double thread around it : but when it cannot be got at in this v/ay, some of the surrounding substance should be in- cluded within its curve, and a ligature passed around it. A ligature is also applied in a similar manner, by means of appropriate needles, on which Mr. Long, of Holborn, has made some judicious improve- ments. In taking up very large arteries, it is prudent to secure both ends, or the anastomosing branches may furnish the end remote from the heart with blood sufficient to destroy life. The ligatures with which blood-vessels are now tied, are not thick, as formerly, but arc found to act best when rather thin than thick. WOUNDS OF THE VEINS. When a large vein is divided, it should.be secured by a ligature above and below, or the anastomosing branches may continue the bleeding: when smaller veins are divided, the haemorrhage soon ceases spontaneously. A divided vein will unite, and become again pervious ; but an artery will not. Morbid Consequences of Blooodletting, There occasionally follow very serious consequences from bleeding, which are of two kinds ; one shews itself by a simple eftusion of blood from the punctured vein into the cellular substance, occasioning in- flammation in the parts around. In the other the vein itself becomes inflamed, and extends its morbid affection towards the head or the heart. In the first of these cases there occurs a thrombus or ecchy- mosis, from extravasation of the blood into the surrounding cellular substance ; originating frequently from an improper mode of closing the orifice, the operator frequently drawing the skin much out to in- troduce the pin, by which means the blood becomes effused into the cellular substance between the skin and vein : or sometimes the open- ings between the skin and coats of the vein are not correspondent, which produces the same effect; or they may not be retained in that situation wliile the blood flows, or afterwards by the pin. Whenever this takes place, press the effused blood carefully out with the fingers, and, if the bleeding appear not likely to come on again, put no pin in, or if one have been already introduced, remove it, and let the horse be watched, and his head tied up. If tlie effusion have already occasioned inflammation, apply a cold solution of muriate of ammo- nia and vinegar to the part, or a solution of acetate of lead. If the tumour suppurate, as soon as fluctuation is felt, make a depending opening, or introduce a seton through it. Inflamed Vein. This arises from an inflammation of the vein itself; the effect, as 530 WOUNDS OF THE VEINS. [Class XI. supposed, of rusty, dirty, phlcmes or lancets, or from the iuexpert- iiess of the operator, by which the vein is punctured on its opposite side, as well as on that which presents itself; that is, the instrument has been carried altogether through the vein. Frictions, after motion or improper pinning up of the neck, may also occasion it (see Blood- letting); but as it occurs when none of these circumstances appear to have operated, we must search for its origin in other sources, in some instances at least*. It would perhaps be too much to look for these in constitutional liability, but it is more than probable that a particular state of the veins may at times exist, disposing them to take on this morbid state. This disease appears to consist in a pecu- liar inflammation of the inner or membranous coat of a wounded vein, which shews itself about the second or third day from the puncture, by a small tumour : at the same time the edges of the original orifice unclose, and look red and distorted, while a sanious discharge issues, or sometimes blood itself is poured out. From this state, if the pro- gress be not stopped, the tumefaction extends along the course of the veins ; if in the jugular, in general towards the head; and if it oc- cur in any of ^ the other veins of the body, as the saphena and ptate vein, it proceeds towards the heart t, hardening the vessel into a cord- * IVlr. Percevall, who considers every case of this kind dependent on some me- chanical cause, yet admits that Mr. Cherry, V. S., made numerous attempts to in- flame veins, bypassing packthread through them, &,c. &;c. ; and Mr. P. himself has failed in every instance to induce such inflammation, when purposely attempted with rusty phiemes, irregular punctures, and even escharotics. Mr. Coleman, in a communication to Messrs. Cooper and Travers, which appears in their Surgical Essays, seems to attribute it principally to the circumstance, " that the most simple wound through the integuments of horses is scarcely ever healed by the first intention, and which is the cause why the punctured orifice in horses does not at once unite by adhesive union as the human." But if such were the case, the disease must happen much oftener than it does. Independent of which, it appears to me that few instances could be brought forward of non-union by the first intention in the horse, so inapplicable as the punctured orifice of the divided vein in bleeding, which, when carefully performed, commonly heals in this way, or why do we direct the pin to be removed the next day ? It is not a little remarkable, that though the common thrombus, from extravasa- tion in the cellular membrane, should be accurately described by Mons. Huzard and other French pathologists, yet I have hitherto met with no French description of this venal affection. f Mr, Perceval], in treating on this subject, has been at much pains to account for this peculiar disposition in the inflammation to extend so generally towards the head when the jugularis punctured, and towards the heart when it takes place in any other vein ; being in the one instance against the course of the circulation, and in the others with it, as is invariably seen in the human. To reconcile these seeming discrepancies.; Mr. P. observes, that although the obstructed state of the vessel is not the exciting cause of the inflammation, it invariably directs the course of it. It therefore remained to inquire, in what manner the obstruction was prevented in the pi-evious course of other veins similarly affected, as the sa- phena and plate vein of the horse, and the basilic and cephalic of the human. Now these veins, Mr. P. ingeniously argues, freely anastomosing with contiguous trunks, preserve a continual flow of blood up to the obliterated part; but above this, such anastomosis does not exist, the communicating branches being few and small ; consequently the blood remains to coagulate and to continue the disease. The jugular is similarly situated upwards, for it has no anastomosis to carry off the obstructed blood above the puncture, in which direction, therefore, the inflammation proceeds, the obstruction being prevented downwards towards the heart; for, having once emptied itself, the inflammation and tumefaction will prevent its receiving more blood, by which means no offending coagulum re- mains. Thus Mr. P. arirues, thai the deviation fromjvhat i? considered as a Class XI.] WOUNDS OF THE VEINS. 531 like substance, occasioned both by the inflammatory action, and by its forming the contained blood of the venal trunk into a firm coagulum, from which it becomes impervious, and therefore all attempts to save it afterwards fail. Suppuration of the tumour now often appears, though sometimes the immediate punctured part, although much en- larged, will present little more than a spongy mass, from which gru- mous ichor distils, while abscesses form in various situations above. As the morbid action extends upwards, it frequently involves the whole neck, and often the affected side of the head, in tumefaction, from which results difficulty of motion ; and often some difficulty is ex- perienced in eating and drinking likewise. There is commonly some constitutional affection also : in some cases the symptomatic fever runs very high. I have witnessed the pulse at upwards of ninety ; and the excess of irritability brought on, has even destroyed life. Treatment.— The course to be pursued will much depend on the state of the disease and its previous continuance. In the early stages, our efforts should be at once directed towards closing the venal orifice, which is best done by the budding iron applied to the outer edge of the wounded orifice, but of a moderate heat only, sufficient, however, to oc- casion a slough: with some an eschar is formed by escharotics, as oxymuriate of mercury (corrosive sublimate) ; but I prefer the iron, as occasioning less after irritation. The cautery sometimes at once stops the ichorous oozing, and saves the obliteration of the vein, which is of considerable consequence, as when lost, it is some time before the ver- tebral (the horse not having an external jugular as the human) can return the blood sufficiently to support the functions of the parts pro- perly. It will, however, be sometimes necessary to repeat this every two or three days, to, ensure success. It is of importance to keep the horse as quiet as possible, and the neck from all motion ; which latter is best effected by tying up the head. It is also recommended to apply a blister upwards, in the course of the tumefied vein, and which seems to assist the action of the cautery materially, by lessening the general inflammation above. When, however, we have no hopes of saving the obliteration of the vein, but, on the contrary, a disposition manifests itself to form ab- scesses in various situations of it upwards, we must proceed to more active measures. One of which is to take up the vein altogether, by which, in some instances, the morbid action has ceased, and either the vein has become absorbed, or has sloughed away as dead matter. This may be effected by inclosing it within a ligature both above and below, to the extent of its disease. If preferred, it may be then dissected out. But this plan is only to be recommended where the horse is si- tuated at a distance, and not immediately under the practitioner's eye. Neither is it at all practicable, when the tumefaction and the morbid action extends itself to the cellular substance and to the integuments around, forming in them large abscesses and extensive sinuses. In such cases, it is more prudent to pass setons through them, or to apply escharotics, as the case may indicate. When they have not been fixed law in human pathology, that this inflammation always occasions obliteration iii the vein towards the heart, is thus reconciled, and that *' the same cause is ope- rating under different circumstances. "—Zerhtres, vol', i, p. 103. 532 BROKEN KNEES. [ClaSS XI. too deep or numerous, I Iiave succeeded ])y injecting them with a tincture of Spanish flics, made with oil of turpentine ; or with a solu- tion of white or blue vitriol, or any other mild escharotic. The practice of the farriers in coring' out the sinuses with corrosive sublimate is com- monly too violent ; yet I have sometimes found these ulcers get into such an indolent state, as to require very active means to bring on a healthy action in their sides. Jlnother morhid consequence of bloodletting arises frequently from injudicious bleeding in the plate or in the thigh vein ; in which cases, from the force used, or from an improper part being chosen, the phleme passes through the vein into the fascia which covers the muscles, and over which these veins pass. In these cases the fascia inflames, and a formation of matter or pus takes place within it, which, as it cannot escape, insinuates itself to some depending situation: an opening should, therefore, be made to evacuate the matter, or a seton may be passed through it for this purpose, having first premised fomentations to relax the inflammatory tension. In these cases, if a rowel be inserted into the same limb, it increases the evil; but if in the opposite limb, it is frequently beneficial. BROKEN KNEES. Horses, when they fall, extend their knees forward to save their head ; and as the fore parts usually descend with considerable violence, so there happens, very commonly, some laceration of the integuments of the knees. When the cavity of the joint is penetrated, which may be known by the escape of the synovia, or joint oil, as it is termed, as well as by the extreme lameness and swelling which occur, the case must be treated exactly according .to the rules fully detailed under Wounds of the Joints. But when there is simple laceration of the in- teguments only, treat according to the extent of the injury. However, let it be great or small, carefully abstain from the heating applications of the farriers: sufficient inflammation will ensue without the aids, or rather the torments, of turpentine, ardent spirits, oil of vitriol, &c. Wash the wound with warm water to remove gravel, hair, or other fo- reign matter ; and if the laceration be extensive, or the bruise consider- able, apply a saturnine poultice ; if not, a simple dressing of any mild ointment will be sufficient ; which likewise will be all that is necessary to apply when the inflammation is subdued, and the poultice dispensed with : more than this does harm rather than good. But, to prevent or to lessen the blemish consequent on these cases, is often as much a consideration as to heal the wound itself. Three cir- cumstances are desirable ; to bring the hair on ; to bring it on smooth ; and to lessen the scar. Nothing tends so much to all these ends, but par- ticularly to leave a small scar, as avoiding escharotic applications during the cure; but after the part is actually skinned over, it is prudent to apply a mild blister. This absorbs the edges of the scar, and, by re- moving the old hair, it stimulates the skin to a reproduction of new, of one colour, and lying smoothly. Many recipes are given to make the hair grow, most of which are useless, for nothing acts specifically in Class XL] GUNSHOT WOUNDS. 533 this way : but whatever gently stimulates the skin, may assist generally. Use, therefore, the following : — Venice turpentine one dram Lard or goose grease one ounce. Mix, and rub the part daily with it. GUNSHOT WOUNDS. These wounds present some considerable differences in appearance and effect from other wounds, particularly in their first stages ; and though wounded horses in battle are not often much attended to, yet, when circumstances admit of it, by proper treatment, many hundreds of those might be saved that are generally abandoned; for, even if they should not prove afterwards altogether fit for troopers or chargers, they may make excellent bat or draught horses, which is a matter of great moment in an army. I have been witness to the abandoning of numbers of wounded horses, which in any other situation than a pre- carious one, or in an enemy's country, or v/here a blameable indolence prevailed, might have been cured and rendered useful. Inconsequence of horses not being impressed with anxiety, from the hopelessness of their situation when wounded, it is surprising how little irritability they shew till the constitution becomes affected. I stood in Holland by a horse which had his hinder leg taken off by a cannon shot, above the hock, but the blow did not throw him down ; whereas, in a few seconds after, an officer, who was struck with a spent bullet in the back, that penetrated only through the integuments, was rolled over by the shock. I have been witness to similar instances in different ac- tions. Gunshot wounds are a species of bruise, in which, from the velocity of the ball, the parts become pressed together and lacerated, some- times in a very peculiar manner. Any one acquainted with these wounds is aware, that nothing but an attentive examination can disco- ver the track of the ball: there is no reasoning upon its probable course from its entry but what may prove fallacious, for sometimes the slightest substances will turn its path ; while at others it penetrates every thing it meets with in its passage : neither can a simple view of a gunshot wound enable us to judge what parts are injured. The lacera- tion and bruises are such in these cases, that there is seldom hsemo? - rhage at first ; but it occurs sometimes unexpectedly in a few days af- terwards, when the sloughing takes place : therefore the vessels ought always to be secured when they can be got at, to prevent this, for we cannot keep a tourniquet conveniently on a horse. We must not judge of the extent of the wound by the simple appearance, for the injury may be such as to kill many parts that are not discoloured : this may be particularly remarked in spent ricochet balls. The blackness ob- servable in this kind of wounds does not arise from the balls burning them, nor must the application be conducted under this supposition. The complexity of the treatment of gunshot wounds arises from the . degree of bruise received, not bearing any comparison with the exter- nal wound ; from the uncertainty of the direction of the ball; and from the introduction of foreign substances, as the ball itself, harness, 534 ULCERS. [Class XII. clothes, &c. It was formerly deemed so essential to remove these, that every gunshot wound was dilated and tortured till the *uspected suh- stances were found : the consequence was, tliat many horses were lost from the irritation unnecessarily occasioned : but it is to be remember- ed that extraneous substances are a less serious evil than the increase of the original mischief, by too great an enlargement of the wound to hunt for them ; yet when it is absolutely necessary to do it, as when the ball can be felt, or when there are large loose masses of harness, or other bodies, known to be left, whose continuance would infallibly irritate, then it should be done at once. With the foregoing excep- tions, however, it must be remembered, that, generally speaking, the first thing is to remove the ball and other extraneous matter, and the next to guard against the danger of haemorrhage. In the sloughing stage we should promote the separation of the living from the dead parts by warm stimulating applications (see Digestives, Mat. Med.). When the suppurative process is, however, too great, it should be checked by astringents, and the general strength must be supported by tonics and liberal feeding. The processes of inflammation, suppuration, and gangrene, having been already fully treated on, to them I would further refer the prac- titioner ; as whatever occurs in gunshot wounds is equally to be re- ferred to the same laws. It remains only to hint, that as these wounds will usually occur when the animal has already undergone many privations, so a lessened necessity exists for much blood-letting or other evacuations ; and also that it is still more proper to avoid it when a wound occurs in the neighbourhood of large blood vessels ; as, probably, when sloughing commences more bleeding will occur than Ave wish. The treatment of sahre wounds is also in every respect referrible to what has been said of Avounds in .general. CLASS XII. OF ULCERS. ULCERATION may be defined to be an alteration, generally a morbid one, whereby some parts become broken down, and absorbed through the medium of the lymphatics. At the same time also that this process goes on, the surfaces acted on, produce a purulent or other discharge. An abraded surface thus circumstanced, is called an ulcer, for the cure of which we must endeavour to remedy the mor- bid action, by exciting a new and more healthy one ; the part being then brought to the condition of a simple wound, will heal. When ulcers have continued for a long time, it is often necessary to employ constitutional remedies. In full habits we increase the other secre- tions, as those of the bov»'els, the kidneys, the skin, &c., by purga- tives, diuretics, and such remedies as act on the skin. We also lessen the excess of morbid secretion of pus, by establishing a new and artificial drain in the neisrhbourhood, which is done bv setons or Class XIT.] POLE EVIL. 535 rowels. In some cases, instead of plethora the ulcer has occasioned, oris accompanied by great irritability of system, which must be com- bated by opium, and other sedatives. If much debility be also pre- sent, tonics must be given, together with a liberal diet. In many cases, stable soiling, a course of carrots, or other total change of food, assists the healing and restorative process greatly. Ulcers are often found of a greater extent internally than externally ; and when by this means cavities are formed in different directions, they are called sinuses, and pipes, by farriers. When the external opening has hard- ened edges, it is said to be fistulous.. In general cases, the longer an ulcer has lasted, the more obstinately will the vessels have gained a diseased habit, and the more difficulty there will be to bring them back to a healthy state. The external means employed for this pur- pose are usually three; stimulating injections, seton, or incision; which operations it will not be necessary to enter upon here, as we shall proceed to describe the more common and important ulcers, with their treatment, separately. It remains, however, to state, that ulcers in general are apt to be treated by farriers erroneously, hy plugging up the sinuses, by which the matter formed penetrates farther, bring- into its own action all the neighbouring parts. They likewise dress them so seldom, that the pus frequently takes on a process of decom- position, and becomes acrid ; and, lastly, they neglect to gain a de- pending orifice for these sinuses. POLE EVIL. [Taupe. One of the most troublesome ulcers we meet with arises from an injury done to the integuments or ligaments, or to the mucous cap- sules at the junction of the head with the first vertebra, near the inser- tion and first attachment of the cervical ligament, or farriers ^'fix-fax'* of the neck, and which, after it has proceeded to an open sore, is called by farriers j9o/e evil. It is most common in large coarse horses, and is not unfrequently brought on in them by the continual itching of the roots of the hair of the mane, which occasions them to rub the head against the manger continually, and sometimes so violently as to bruise the parts underneath. It is also, sometimes, occasioned by hanging back in the stall, and thus forcibly pinching these parts be- tween the collar rein, or halter, and the cervical bones. Blows act in the same manner. When the early tumour forms on the integu- ments only, it will often submit to external applications, and perfect resolution takes place : but when the ligamentous parts have become injured, resolution is less likely to happen : on the contrary, from the living powers of these parts being comparatively small, an unhealthy inflammation follows, and a double action is the consequence: a sup- purative one in the integuments, and an ulcerative one in the tendinous and ligamentous parts which surround the attachment of the cervical ligament; from which circumstance it is that we so seldom meet with healthy pus from pole evil ; but, on the contrary, a thin sanious discharge, or sometimes a more glairy one, when any of the mucous capsules are affected. Treatment of pole evil. — When the injury which usually occasions Mm 536 POLE EVIL. [ClassX.!!. pole evil is first discovered, if not very violent, it will frequently, as before noticed, yield to the applications of discutients, as the muriate of ammonia (crude sal ammoniac J diluted with vinegar, or to saturnine washes (Mai. Med. J, applied cold and frequently renewed. In one instance, where it appeared to remain stationary, I promoted the reso- lution by the application of the liquid blister; but it is only under such circumstances that such a plan would be advisable. When all hopes of preventing the formation of abscess have ceased, we should then promote the formation of matter by fomentations, or by warm poultices, or by the application of an adhesive plaister spread on leather. When the maturation is perfect, which may be known by the soft feel of the tumour, the next indication is to procure a speedy evacuation to the contents, and a depending orifice for its future pas- sage, that no sinuses may form ; this is best done by the introduction of a seton on each side of the swelling, beginning near the mane, and passing it to the bottom of the abscess ; doing the same by each side, by which means this early state of pole evil may usually be speedily cured. But when, from improper management, matter has not only formed, but has been suffered to remain, or has only evacuated itself by a superficial opening, either natural or artificial, and not from one in a depending situation, whereby accumulation has taken place, and the ligaments have become extensively diseased, extending under the cervical ligament, and leaving it hollow below. In such cases, the healthy secretion of pus always ceases, and instead, a thin ichorous or a glairy discharge succeeds ; the ulceration extends, sinuses form in every direction ; some of the bursal cavities open, and notunfrequently the cervical vertebrae become carious. To prevent or to remedy these evils, we must cast the horse, and having ascertained, by a careful examination with a probe or the finger, the extent and direction of the sinuses, proceed to make a lateral opening in the direction of the muscular fibres. As it proceeds, probe in every direction, and occa- sionally introduce the finger also ; which will be more likely to detect an early caries than even the probe. If such exists, it must be dis- sected out, or a cure cannot be formed ; but it will increase and spread the disease. Hardened callous edges must be removed, and the smaller sinuses laid open, so as to form one continuous cavity. If all this be not thoroughly done, it will happen that when the whole seems on the point of healing, a new tumour will suddenly arise, and frustrate all our hopes, which renewed abscess, in every instance, arises from some carious bone being left, or some diseased ligamentous por- tion remaining. In this way the experienced veterinarian, who is expert with his knife, and acquainted with the anatomy, will combat the worst cases. But in other hands much mischief has been done by an injudicious use of excision. For instance, some have even com- menced their operations by opening the tumour by a crucial incision at the summit of the neck, forcing the skin and muscles to recede be- yond the power of surgery to reunite them. In other instances, the cervical ligament itself has been divided. Instead, therefore, of hazarding any of these evils, the junior prac- titioner will be justified, particularly if the sinuses be few and exten- sive, but deep, to proceed by introducing a seton needle armed, from the original opening to the most depending situation, doing the same class XII.] FISTULOUS WITHERS. 537 by each sinus or pipe. Each seton tape should every day be touched with liquid blister, or blistering ointment, till the matter from the wound become of a good consistence. But in cases of great obstinacy, when this also fails to produce a good effect, I would recommend him to proceed to try the effect of escharotic injections, as the following: — • Nitrated qixicksilver (lunar caustic) .... one dram Water two ounces. Dissolve, and with a pledget of lint, wash the inside of the wound, or inject with a syringe, or try the following: — Muriated quicksilver (corrosive sublimate) . . two drams Water three ounces. Humanity requires that he should first try all these milder means ; but unless an evident and decided amendment be quickly apparent, too much time should not be wasted in the use of them ; for frequently cases will occur in which the disease has so completely got possession of the ligamentous parts, that all milder means must fail. In these instances, the scalding mode of the farriers will be found his best resource, and the only one whereby he can overcome the morbid action, and produce a healthy inflammation, from which granulations may follow: any of the following formulae may be used for this purpose: — • No. 1.— Arsenic, very finely powdered . . , . . one dram Cersite o£ resin {yellow basilicon) .... four ounces. No. 2. — Muriated quicksilver (corrosive sublimate), \ , very finely powdered J Cerate of resin (yellow basilicon) .... four ounces. No. 3.— Caustic potash . • . . one dram rubbed down with Oil of turpentine four ounces. Either of these may be melted to a scalding heat, when, having se- cured the horse in a favourable position, pour it hot into the cavity, so as to penetrate all the sinuses. A solution of lunar caustic is also a proper escharotic in these cases, or verdigris and tar: but either of the foregoing are excellent, and sufficient for this purpose. In case the outer opening of the pole wound is not sufl&cient for the sinuses to be readily got at, it must be enlarged. After the scalding, wait for the sloughs to separate, which will be three or four days ; then dress with any mild ointment; and if, after this, healthy matter shews itself, and granulations arise, a cure will proceed: but if the dis- charge again become ichorous, and the sore look unhealthy, at the end of a week or ten days from the first scalding, repeat it again as before. FISTULOUS WITHERS. When a saddle has continued to press on the withers, by the im- proper management of an incautious rider for a whole day, and the evil has, perhaps, been repeated the next, the consequence is fre-^ quently an inflamed tumour, which should be dispersed in the manner recommended in the former case : but if the heat and swelling remain stationary, we should apply poultices to promote the formation of the matter, and as soon as ripe it is not prudent to wait its bursting, but to open on the affected side in the depending part ; or what will, I con^ Mm2 538 ULCERS IN THE MOUTH, AND STRANGLES. \ClaSS XII. ceive, be preferable, to pass a seton from the top to the bottom of the tumour: if it appear on both sides, place a seton on each of them. But should the attention be called to a case that has proceeded to a fistulous state, treat exactly in the same manner as with pole eviL Instances have occurred where the matter has penetrated under the blade bone, and made its way to the point of the elbow or shoulder : in these cases a dependent orifice should be made, and a seton intro- duced*. This disease has injured the dorsal spinous processes form- ing the withers. In any such case, exfoliation should be encouraged, or healing will not take place. Fistulous stermwi. — Occasionally the point of the sternum be- comes so much tumefied by blows or pressure, as to proceed to suppu- ration, in which case a fistulous state of the wound is not uncommon. The treatment of this must be regulated by circumstances, but will follow the rules laid down for fistulse in general. ULCERS IN THE MOUTH. There sometimes appear small ill-conditioned ulcers in the mouth : the continued irritation of a ragged tooth has sometimes occasioned it, or a wound from a sharp bridle. When they are accompanied with any appearances of constitutional aflection, they must be considered as symptomatic, and the general disease attended to; but when i\\\^ does not occur, their removal may be brought about, by touching them lightly with the following : — Subacetate of copper (verdigris) one dram Honey one ounce. The Ulcers of farcy and glanders, and those arising from grease^ are treated of in their proper places. STRANGLES. It is truly remarkable how very contrary the opinions of almost all the writers on this subject have been, and how lamentably ignorant appear their descriptions of it. Mr. Prosser, though he wrote a treatise professedly on the strangles and fevers of horses, in which he intro- duced some excellent critiques on other writers, yet left both subjects entirely where he found them. Gibson supposed the complaint re- sembled small-pox; Bracken, the quinsy ; others, the hooping-cough, measles, small-pox, chicken-pox, &c. All \\\\\c\\ suppositions origi- nated in a want of attention to the animal economy in general, and to the disease in particular ; for it bears no more resemblance to either of these than as it attacks horses about the adult period, and as it appears only once. In other respects it may be characterised as a catarrhal affection, accompanied with a specific phlegmonous inflam- mation of the cellular, substance in and around the parotid and sub- maxillary glands, tending in most instances to abscess. La Fosse divides it into mild or malignant, and false or bastard strangles : but these definitions do not seem to be well founded, for though there are *At Mr. Long's will be found seton needles of immense length, purposely to embrace these cases. Class XIL] STRANGLES. 630 cases in which the symptoms are milder than others, it does not appear that any specific virus is ever left, by which future depositions are formed, called inves*. There is no reason to suppose the strangles infectious, though it has been said to have been given by inoculation, A number of horses having it together, is not a proof of its contagi- ous properties ; any more than some escaping and others having it, is a proof it is not so. The strangles, in many instances, produces so little interruption to the health, particularly in mild weather, and at grass, as to inflame, maturate, and heal, without the matter being hardly noticed. In some cases, however, it reduces young horses to a state of considerable emaciation, and it has been said, when very long protracted, to degenerate into glanders. Symptoms. '^Hhe disease usually commences with the common symp- toms of mild catarrh, or, as popularly expressed, of slight cold and fever. The horse is somewhat dull, has often cough, some soreness of throat, a slight disinclination to food, but still more to water. The under surface of the throat between the jaws swells, and is hot and tender: sometimes the tumefaction extends to the ear of one or of both sides. On the second or third day it is not unfrequent for the nostrils to throw out a muco-purulent discharge ; and if the affection be con- siderable, his mouth is suffused with a mucous discharge also, or his saliva is slabbered out in great quantities t. Now and then the lungs become slightly inflamed, and heaving at the flanks, with oppressed pulse, are present. In most instances the pulse is somewhat hurried. Treatment. — When the inflammatory symptoms are considerable, treat exactly as directed under catarrh, with this single exception, that the bleeding is not to be pushed, nor even to be attempted at all, unless there be some urgency in the case ; that is unless the pulse be hard and much quickened, with considerable heaving at the flanks ; or the extremities be cold, the cough painful, and the nostrils red ; then bleed without hesitation. Keep constantly to the head a nose bag, with a warm mash frequently renewed ; put on a hood, and having * Few terms in farriery are more indefinite than that of vives. I have scarcely ever met with any swelling of the head, which has not been attributed to vives, or, as 1 understood the matter, to the strangles not "cleared off."— If the inflam- matory attack of strangles had left any enlargement in the parotid or sub- maxillary glands, then it was as impossible to deny the existence of vives, as to convince farriers they were not the occasion of bad eyes, lampas, and even glanders; and as though well "drained strangles'' were to render these glands invulnerable to any accidental tumefaction afterwards, when such did take place the "undrained strangles" had degenerated into vives. When older horses have strangles, it gften happens that the tumid glands do not suppurate so readily as those of younger horses, and here some enlargement is often left. These are sure to be called cases of ^^rarik vives,'' which is or are Cfor I know not whether vives be smgular or plural) the very bogie in the imagination of the farriers of the old school. t This nasal discharge appearing before the suppuration of the salivary glands, is called by farriers ihe bastard strangles^ but which symptom has little to do with the specific inflammation of the strangles, but is rather a common symptom of the catarrhal affection which accompanies strangles, and which I am disposed to think is, in many instances, merely the exciting cause of the specific action. That is, that such colts in many instances take cold, and catarrh •follows; the predisposition to strangles existing, is now brought into action, and accompanies the catarrh, which is itself pur'ely accidental. This view of the matter will serve to explain the diversity of symptoms, and the great difference m intensity in the disease. 540 INFLAMMATORY TUMOURS. [ClaSS Xllf. first rubbed the swellings with an ointment of equal parts of suet and turpentine, apply a warm poultice, and repeat it every twelve hours. Should the hair covering the glandular swellings be very thick, remove it ; and particularly observe that the poultice be properly secured, so as not to fall off, nor become detached from the part. The reason for which caution is, that should air get between the poultice and swell- ing, it would become a source of cold, from the evaporation occa- sioned, and this would act as a repellent instead of a promoter. Hot fomentations may also be applied to promote suppuration ; but it is seldom that they are continued long enough to be useful, and the parts are apt to be left wet, and subjected to cold afterwards. To obviate these serious inconveniences, Mr. Peel recommends at once to blister these swellings, which he assures us, in every instance, is found to promote the formation of matter without the smallest inconvenience. The tumours having suppurated, sometimes burst inwardly, in which case the future cure must be left principally to nature, and nothing more, in general, will be requisite than mild food, as green meat, if pro- curable, and gentle exercise. But when the tumours point outv/ardly, as soon as the matter is felt to fluctuate freely, but not before, they should be freely opened with a lancet, which will tend to shorten the complaint considerably. It is customary to squeeze the abscess violently with the fingers to press out the matter, which is wrong ; a very slight pressure for this purpose is proper, but only a slight one; and if a natural opening have occurred, and should be small, either introduce a pledget smeared with digestive ointment to keep it from closing up, or, what will be better, enlarge it, or apply, for a day or two, a poultice. In every other respect the proper treatment is so exactly similar to that prescribed for catarrh, or cold, that we shall pursue the matter no further. ^^■^^■f^^^^^*^^^.r^f^.r^ CLASS XIII. OF INFLAMMATORY TUMOURS. THE Tumours of the horse may be divided into such as are ac- companied with active inflammation, and those without. Among the former, the most common are the phlegmonous. Phlegmon is a pain- ful throbbing tumefied state of a part, accompanied with increased heat, and all the other appearances of healthy inflammation. Abscess. — When phlegmonous inflammation exists and does not give way to medical treatment, but proceeds to suppuration ; the following process has been found to take place in the inflamed part, by the examination of innumerable subjects in every stage of the complaint, and under every variety of it. The first stage is that, wherein the distended vessels pour out coagulable lymph, from which increased action arises throbbing, as the deposit occasions swelling and tension ; irritability of the parts producing the pain and tenderness, as the increased vascularity is the occasion of both the heat and redness. At length, within the centre of the adhesive mass, the suppurative action commences, and the more active symptoms give place to general rigour : Class XIV.] RHEUMATISM. 541 and if it proceed, the condensed deposit becomes absorbed, and the whole internal surface is converted into one of purulent secretion. No- thing now obstructs the process of ulceration, which happily commonly proceeds outwards, fiom which the sides of the abscess become daily thinner and thinner, when it is said to come forward. At length one part becomes more prominent than the rest, at which point it usually bursts, and evacuates its purulent contents. The Treatment of Phlegmon. — In the early stages of this inflamma- tion, the tumour will often yield to the remedies detailed under local inflammation. In France, I was witness to a plan of treatment which, in the two cases I saw, was eminently successful. Powerful stimulating applications, as blistering, &c. are there first tried, which, if they are not immediately attended with evident advantage, two or three scarifi- cations are carried down to the bottom of the tumour, and the parts are afterwards likewise dressed with stimulating applications. This method has been both recommended and practised among us in human surgery with advantage ; but I believe it is rare in veterinary practice, but will merit more general trial. When abscess has formed, it is always prudent to open it, giving suf- ficient vent to the matter, and in the most depending situation. This may be effected by a scalpel, bistoury, or large lancet. When the si- tuation is such as to make it feared that the matter will not freely eva- cuate itself, it is sometimes prudent to effect the opening by passing a seton through it. And at other times, when the suppuration has been tardy, and it is supposed some parts underneath are affected with an unhealthy inflammation, the opening has been made by caustic or cau- tery. Abscesses forming in some parts are apt to degenerate into ulcers, under which class we have particularised the most important, as pole evil, fistulous withers, &c. &c. Strangles also is an abscess of the cellular membrane around the salivary glands ; but it partakes somewhat of a specific nature, by which it only occurs once to each animal. CLASS XIV. OF INDURATED TUMOUftS. RHEUMATISM. FORMERLY, I had some doubt whether the horse was ever aftected with rheumatism; for I was disposed to think that what the farriers term flying lamenesses, were commonly ideal or dependent on other causes : and the cases of this kind, which fell under my own notice, I attributed to very different sources. But since that time conviction has been forced on me by many well-marked cases of a rheumatic na- ture ; and other intelligent practitioners I know have witnessed the same. The French writers all treat on this complaint as common to the horse, and describe it as a painful affection, accompanied with 542 RHEUMATISM, [Class XIV. lameness resembling the cramp, and which shifts from place to place. Some of the older farriers meant this malady when they described chest founder, which they considered to be an inflammation of the intercostal muscles, and from thence called it eocternal pleurisy. The pectoral muscles, it is certain, become a common seat of the complaint, and of course at this time a considerable stiffness appears on moving : if the affection be long continued, or often repeated, it likewise occasions a lessening and wasting of these muscles ; and as the same circumstances happen from the pain and inactivity brought on by foot founder, so one common term of founder (this has been also called body founder) has been intended to describe such opposite diseases. Rheumatism, either acute or chronic, may be occasioned in various ways; as by dashing cold water over a horse when hot; by suffering him to stand unusually long without doors ; by swimming him ; but particularly by riding against a bleak wind ; or, in fact, by any undue exposure to cold. Under these circumstances, it happens frequently that, on the following day, a horse is found to be very stiff, and pain-- fully affected in some of his limbs or in his loins ; more generally, how- ver, it affects the muscles of the shoulders and chest, which are, in some cases, slightly tumefied, and tender to the touch. I have wit- nessed instances where this complaint took on an acute form, and were evidently occasioned by cold. In every one there were present universal stiffness, great fever, and an evening exacerbation: the cold rigors were strongly marked, and the subsequent heat and sweating as distinct. Ihave always bled largely, opened the bowels, employed ex- tensive embrocations, inserted rowels in the chest and belly, and have given antimonials internally. One of these perfectly recovered in ten days, another in a fortnight: a third was not well till the fourth week. A local rheumatic affection I have many times witnessed, but this universal and acute attack is, I believe, rare. When this com- plaint occurs in the loins, it is commonly attributed to strain or blows. Treatment. — I have treated the chest founder, as this complaint is commonly termed, variously, according to circumstances, or agreeably with my views of the matter at the moment. By my notes of practice, I find that, in one instance, I fomented with success ; but in this much caution is necessary to rub completely dry afterwards, and to clothe warmly : in another I used stimulating applications, and gave antimo- nials. In a third, where the stiffness was extreme, I bled in the plate vein, and inserted a rowel into the chest ; which practice I was led to by having witnessed, in the former case, a serous effusion in the cellular membrane of the muscles, which followed the attack, and proved diffi- cult to prevent from proceeding to suppuration ; which is not an unfre- quent result of these affections, though less frequent with us than with continental horses, where the tumour so formed is termed anticor, i. e. before the heart : it also receives the same appellation by our farriers. In one instance that fell under my notice, such suppuration followed a very slight rheumatic attack, and in a few months reappeared, appa- rently then without the rheumatic stimulus : in another, the origin and termination accompanied the exciting affection distinctly. The proper treatment, whether its seat be in the loins or chest, will, therefore, consist in stimulating topical applications to the part, warm clothing, Class XI v.] A NT I COR, WARBLES. 543 rest, and mild food: in case the febrile symptoms are considerable, bleed, and in every instance open the bowels, and give antimonials with nitre. It remains to remark also, that if the flying lamenesses we meet with are most of them rheumatic, which there is great reason to believe to be the case ; then it is common to observe them attack every part of the extremities. I once possessed a valuable horse, which I kept some years, which I bought with the character of being occasionally lame. He would sometimes work a week or two perfectly sound, and then be- come lame for two or three days. His feet were excellent, he had no corns, and was wholly without blemish. It could arise from no liga- mentary strain, for it was neither better nor worse for work, nor was he lamer when he set oif than when he had gone some distance. It ap- peared to be confined principally to the off shoulder ; and it was parti- cularly remarked, that when he returned hot from exercise, and was not immediately attended to, his lameness was sure to come on. Every other practitioner must also have met with instances of lameness re= turning at uncertain periods, of which the cause is not apparent. The older farriers always attribute these to humours, and, therefore, give physic : and though the cause thus considered is erroneous probably, yet the treatment is, nevertheless, judicious ; for I have never found any mode that was so certainly efficacious as this, though I have tried others: nor is this the only instance in which the older methods of cure, founded on long experience, prove the best, as in other instances they prove very bad. ANTICOR. This is described as a species of tumour in the integuments of the chest or abdomen, which all the old writers on farriery mention, but most of them without having seen it. It is said to be more common on the Continent, but in England is not often met with. I have seen two instances only; one evidently referrible to rheumatism, the other arose from some cause not apparent. — See Rheumatism. — The indefinite na- ture of the language used in farriery, has appropriated very diiferent affections to one term : thus, when pressure or blows on the point of the sternum have tumefied and proceeded to suppuration, these have also been called anticor in old books of farriery. WARBLES. These are tumours which arise in consequence of the pressure of the saddle. If the pressure have been continued, they suppurate, and form a troublesome sore for some weeks. If they remain indolent, and the irritating cause be slightly kept up, coagulable lymph is thrown out, which does not become reabsorbed, and they then form sitfasts. As soon as the tumours are perceived, to prevent these consequences, give the horse perfect rest ; but if this cannot be granted, let the saddle be properly chambered, and in either case apply a solution of lead, or muriate of ammonia (sal amiiioniacj and vinegar. When a sitfast is formed, by no means tear it out; but if large and veiy trou= 544 STRAINS. [Ctass XIV. blesomCy let it be blistered : if this should not remove it, it may be carefully dissected out. CONTUSIONS OR BRUISES. These arc tumours formed by some external injury, wherein the con- tinuity is not interrupted ; but a rupture of the smaller vessels occa- sions an extravasation of blood within. If the injury be small, the parts will reinstate themselves, the extravasated blood will become ab- sorbed, and the tumour removed: but, when the injury is violent, the parts may be unable to reinstate themselves ; the extravasated blood will then become a source of irritation, and suppuration will follow. Should a still higher degree of violence be offered, the entire tone of the parts becomes destroyed, and sphacelus must take place ; when the living parts will make an effort to remove the dead, and ulceration and an extensive sore will be formed. At other times the blood thrown out, instead of irritating or becoming absorbed, coagulates, and at Icnsfth becomes vascular, when the part remains permanently enlarged. The Treatment of bmiscs must vary according to these several cir- cumstances. We should always endeavour to reinstate the part, and promote the absorption ; Avhich may be done by giving local strength by external stimulating applications, as saline matter with vinegar, verjuice, spirits of wine and camphor, &c. If the blood remain fluid, promote its escape by making a small depending orifice. If it suppurate, treat as a common abscess. When sphacelus occurs, treat as under mortification. If the tumour remain indurated, stimulate the absorbents by mercurials, by friction, or by blisters, and, if very obstinate, by fire. MUSCULAR, TENDINOUS, AND LIGAMENTOUS EXTEN- SION, CALLED STRAINS. Very few subjects have occasioned more diversity of opinion or dif- ference of treatment, than what are called straim. This is to be the more regretted, because these injuries are very common, and exceed- ingly ruinous ; while only a moderate knoAvledge of the physiology of the animal body, and of the leading features of pathology and sui'gery, would generalize the mode of treating these cases, and would reduce it to principle ; on which alone uniformity, and in fact success, can de- pend. By a strain, we understand a violence done to the muscular, the ligamentous, or the tendinous parts, which, without actual lacera- tion of fibre, yet subjects them to greater extension than their structure is able to resist, and thus interrupts their functions. The consequences of strains are often rendered very serious from the nature of the parts injured, which are more frequently the tendinous and ligamentous than the muscular, which, having little vascularity, and consequently few powers of life, are not readily restored. But when an extension of a purely muscular mass occurs, although the symptoms at first be very considerable, from the extreme vascularity of the part, yet the same vascularity operates a speedy reinstatement from the effects of the injury. Not but that great and immediate inflam.mation often follows strains of parts where little muscular substance is found, which arises Class XIV.] EXTENSION OR STRAIN OF THE SHOULD liR. 545 from the injury done, not to the tendons and ligaments, but to the cel- lular membrane investing and connecting these parts, and to the thecse or sheaths of the tendons, both of which are highly vascular. It is also apparent that, in violent exertions, some of the connecting cellular membrane may be lacerated, or some of the connecting ligaments also, together with the thecal investures, which must greatly aggravate the symptoms, protract the cure, and tend to leave a permanent enlarge- ment of the part. Although some elasticity cannot be denied to the tendons and ligaments, yet they certainly have not much ; and any treatment founded on considering strains as an over distension of the natural elasticity of these organs, as was formerly done, is founded on wrong principles, and leads to an injudicious treatment. Having pro- ceeded thus far on the subject generally, we will now enter on an exa- mination of each individual strain, according to the part it affects. Extension or Strain of the Shoulder. What is now generally known by the term shoulder strain, was for- merly called chest or body founder. It appears to consist in an unna- tural extension of the muscular or ligamentous parts of the scapula, operating the motions of the shoulder, and serving to connect it with the body ; and which parts, it must be evident, are very liable to this kind of injury, from the great extent of motion the omoplate enjoys forward and backward, and its close confinement laterally. Shoulder strains are, therefore, frequently the consequences of a side wrench, or slip, which, by separating the fore legs too widely, puts these parts suddenly on the stretch. The adductor muscles, or the sustaining ones, as the serratus major, are usually the sufferers on these occasions : sometimes, however, the ligaments of the articulation are principally affected. Mr. Percevall, on the contrary, attributes this affection al- most always to an affection of the tendon of the flexor brachii : but when it is considered that the principal scat of tenderness in most of these cases is within the arm, close to the chest, it is difficult to recon- cile this as the general seat of the disease. Shoulder strains are ra- ther rare occurrences, much more so than is generally supposed ; for farriers and persons about horses are led, from habit, to attribute every lameness they do not exactly uTiderstand, and whose seat is not self-evident, to an affection of the shoulder : and when, on viewing a horse in front, the muscles of one or both shoulders appear wasted, it requires more than usual exertion to make even intelligent persons be- lieve that the evil did not originate where its effects are so evident. In all affections of the feet, where there is much pain and lameness, and the animal consequently much at rest, not only the external but the internal muscles of the shoulders waste : this draws the fore legs closer together, the spine of the bladebone becomes prominent, and the whole substance seems lessened. This appears to have two origins; one from inaction, in which muscles always diminish as a necessary consequence ; the other proceeds from the pain disturbing the healthy functions of the part. It is very necessary, therefore, to be able accurately to distinguish a strain in the shoulder from the numerous affections with which it is often confounded. In these cases^ it appears to give the horse extreme 546 EXTENSION OR STRAIN OF THE SHOULDER. [ClttSS XIV. pain to extend and advance the leg, for which reason he drags the toe along the ground, and having rested the limb, he drops considerably, and again catches it up quickly. Mr. Percevall says, little pain is felt in walking, which is certainly not always the case : I have usually, on the contrary, found the difference between walking and trotting, com- paratively with the exertions required, not great. These cases are farther characterised by the extreme difficulty with which a horse moves down the slightest declivity, from the weight being thrown on the shoulders : and, when the ligaments are the principal seat of lame- ness, the horse even, in walking, swings the leg round in a remarkable manner : in fact, he evidently attempts to describe the circle of the whole limb in any direction, but that in which the motion of the shoul- der must take a very active part. At rest, the limb is generally placed forward in a relaxed position, resting on the point of the foot: and this will particularly serve to distinguish it from affections of the feet, in which, though the whole limb may be carried forward and poe??^ the toe, yet the leg will beset straight out, and not relaxed; neither will it rest on the toe, but on the entire foot. In shoulder strains, if pressure be made between the fore leg and chest, in the direction of the serratus major, and other attaching muscles, the horse will flinch considerably ; and as a farther mode of distinguishing this affection from those of the feet or other parts, with which farriers are so apt to confound it, if the foot be elevated forward considerably, and the whole limb at the same time brought out into a straight line, it will give intense pain if the shoulder be the seat of lameness. Treatment. — AVhen the heat and tumefaction are considerable, and the injury is at all recent, it will be prudent to draw blood from the plate vein, giving also a dose of physic, and otherwise treating the horse to keep down inflammation. Let the parts be kept constantly well wetted with Goulard's wash, which,' if it fail to mitigate the heat, change to warm fomentations applied three or four times a-day, for twenty minutes each time, carefully rubbing dry afterwards. In these instances, when the heat and tension are not very considerable, but when the lameness is yet recent, there will be reason to consider the ligaments as particularly affected, in which cases insert a rowel in the chest, in addition to the other treatment. The ligaments of either the shoulder, or of the arm or elbow joint, may be the seat of the strain, which a careful examination will detect. If the affection ap- pear in front towards the point of the shoulder, invest the whole cir- cumference of that part, as soon as the more active symptoms are re- moved, with a blister. If the junction of the arm with the fore arm be affected, blister also ; but when the evil evidently exists in the muscular parts principally, which, as before noticed, is known by the inner side of the arm being tumid and tender, I would recommend the following practice, which I have long pursued in these cases with invariable suc- cess. As soon as the more active inflammatory symptoms are abated, I proceed to raise an artificial inflammation by the free use of stimu- lants, generally of the liquid blister, in the following manner : Mix six ounces of common oil with two or three ounces of liquid blister (see Mat. Med.), and with this rub the whole affected part twice a-day, imtil the swelling and inflammation it will bring on prevent the use of more. In two or three days these will subside, when it should be re- Class XIV.] EXTENSION OF THE FLEXOR TENDONS. 547 peated, until the same effects again prevent the application. In this way keep up a mild inflammation for a week or ten days, according to the original violence of the affection. In general cases, the subsiding of the second swelling will leave the horse sound. This will be found a much more efficacious mode of practice than the common blister : but it must be particularly remembered, that I know of no affection so liable to return as this ; consequently, although the horse may appear sound, it will be very dangerous to put him to immediate work : on the contrary, it^ will be more prudent to turn him out to giass, if possible alone, or with cows only ; otherwise, by playing and galloping with others, he may renew the injury. Swimming a horse for shoulder strain is a very common remedy among the older farriers, under a supposition that dis- location has taken place ; but which practice is founded on an igno- rance of the anatomy of the animal, and always proves hurtful. Much less injurious is the old-fashioned mode of pegging, which consists in making an opening in the skin of some part of the shoulder, and then, by means of a pipe, blowing in air, exactly as butchers blow up veaL The air thus introduced raises considerable inflammation, after the manner of a blister, and thus may do good, though not more than any other stimulant. Blows on the Point of the Shoulder. — These injuries occur more frequently than strains, and are often productive of more present lameness, and consequences eventually more serious. Turning sud- denly in a narrow stall, running against a hard body, or being kicked, or violently struck, may any of them occasion it. There will be great tenderness and heat at the point of the shoulder, some swelling, and the lameness will be extreme. In such cases bleed in the plate vein ; insert a rowel in the chest ; foment the part ; and, when the heat and swelling are reduced, blister. Extension of the Flexor Tendons, their Sheaths, and Ligamentous Connexions. A strain or clap in the back sinews, according to the phraseology of farriers and horsemen, is a very grave and serious evil. It has been already stated, that it may be accompanied by laceration of some of the ligamentous fibres. It is,, however, more generally confined to a simple distention of these parts, and of the sheaths of the tendons, be- yond their structural capacity ; although there is little reason to doubt but that the tendons themselves are also sometimes thus acted on. It may occur to the flexors, both of the hind and fore limbs ; and may be brought on by any thing which acts violently and suddenly on the limbs, as downward leaps, attempts to recover a false step, tread- ing unevenly on any hard and prominent substance. It is also oc- casioned sometimes by lowering the heels too much and too suddenly, by which unusual weight is thrown on them. The injury received brings on inflammation, with its accompaniments of heat, swelling, pain, and tenderness, with an incapability of extending the limb. The effusion from the inflamed vessels, which at first is merely serous, may be reabsorbed ; but if the cause be reapplied, or improper applica- tions be made use of, coagulable lymph may be thrown out between the tendons and their sheaths, which, not being so readily absorbed^ 548 EXTENSION OF THE FLEXOR TENDONS. [ClctSS XIV. may remain, and form those pcrmnnent callosities around the back sinews, which so frequently follow these accidents, and which, by ob- structing the freedom of motion, occasion a lameness much felt after very hard work, and likewise at first starting ; but which, after the horse has been some time in action, as his attention is drawn off, he feels little of. Part of the obstructing deposit is likewise actually re- moved by the exertion ; and thus, as horses with old strains go better when they have moved some time, it has induced some persons to hold it as a maxim, that a strained horse may be ivorked fiound. It would be as humane and as reasonable to drive the crippled soldier with one leg till the other grew. Tlie Treatment of thecal and ligamentous distention or strain. — If the principles already so fully laid down on the subject of inflamma- tion be attended to, it will be hardly necessary to enter into particu- lars here. The inflammation in the limb must be promptly combated by bleeding in the plate, or thigh vein, according as the injury is be- fore or behind ; or blood may be drawn from the toe with great pro- priety. Warm fomentations, in the very early stages, will tend to un- ' load the vessels. The same indications will be likewise followed by large poultices, or immersing the whole limb in warm water. In two or three days, change this plan for a Goulard poultice or embrocation, until the heat and tumefaction have considerably subsided. Any treat- ment more stimulant than this in the early stages, only tends to in- crease the deposit of lymph, and to organize it into a permanent tu- mour : how much more erroneous, therefore, is it at once to blister strains as soon as they happen, as is sometimes practised ! When the tumefaction, heat, and tenderness, begin to subside, then mildly sti- mulating and tonic applications are proper, as the muriate of ammo- nia with vinegar, camphorated spirits, verjuice, and gin, in equal quantities, either of which may be rubbed in three or four times a-day, continuing the friction for twenty minutes each time, which will greatly tend to promote the absorption of the deposited coagulable lymph, and prevent the cellular membrane from becoming irretrievably thickened, or the sheaths of the tendons obstructed in their motions around them. It is also of consequence to attend to the constitution ; for there is often present much symptomatic fever, which must be re- duced by the proper means of general bleeding, physic, cool stables, and low diet ; and which attention is of more consequence than may be at first sight apparent. For it is to be recollected that metastasis is continually taking place in the body ; and the inflammatory diathesis of the constitution generally, induced by want of exercise, increased irritability, and heat, will invariably augment the existing local evil ; as every thing which tends to take from, or obviate this state in the constitution, will subtract it also from the injured limb. No fears need be entertained, that by these means the horse may be" thrown out of condition." Not only will long rest be necessary for the esta- blishment of the parts, but one week^s pain and fever will injure his condition more than all the constitutional means recommended here. It being supposed that the heat and tenderness are removed, and the lameness in some measure also, it becomes necessary to regulate the treatment by the effects which remain. It is seldoin but that some will continue for a time : and even when no outward appearance be- Class XIV.] OVERREACH. 549 token other than a sound limb, it is not often that the parts are really so reinstated as to be equal to continued exertion. It is always , there- fore, better, even in the most favourable cases, to give a few weeks rest, using a roller or laced stocking round the part. If the horse can be turned out, it will assist the cure, particularly if alone or with cows. But in less favourable cases, when lameness or induration remain, it will be prudent to stimulate the limb more actively, as detailed for lameness in the shoulder, or by the application of a regular blister, which must be repeated every three weeks until the strength be perfectly re- stored, and the absorption of the enlargement be complete. The be- nefit of a long repetition of blistering is often most decided. An apo- thecary in the neighbourhood where I lived, with whom I was on terms of intimacy, had his only and valuable horse injured by a hasty step on a stone, while playing on the road unridden. The consequence was, some lit- tle heat and tumefaction under the knee and some lameness. I directed him to be firstconfinedtothe stable, and fomented. In a few days this was changed for a saturnine, and then a more discutient application. He was also bled and physicked, but in three weeks little progress was made, and the lameness, which was never considerable, remained the same, with some heat and very slight tumour, from whence I judged there had been some slight laceration of ligamentous fibre, but not ex- tensive distention of tendons. I now recommended him to be blistered, which was done ; but still the amendment was trifling. At the end of two months he was again blistered : it was still the same. A third time he was blistered with but little alteration. I still requested my friend not to despair. He was therefore kept at grass and repeatedly blistered, in all seven times. At the end of six months, and not be- fore, the limb was perfectly restored, and remains sound to the pre- sent time : all which I detail merely to shew how necessary it is often to continue the means of cure in obstinate cases sufficiently long. Blistering is preferable to firing in these cases ; for this reason, that we can repeat it as often as we please, and both blistering and firing act in the same way : nor is firing ever to be recommended in these in- stances, until blistering have been fully tried and failed : then, as a more active blister, it may more actively stimulate the absorbents, as well as, by permanently corrugating the skin, it may become a perpetual bandage to the weakened parts. Elevating the heel by means of a proper shoe, is a very prudent measure in these cases; and the use of a laced stocking or woollen bandage continually, may be also used with advantage. OVERREACH. This is usually a blow inflicted on some part of the fore extremity by the hinder one. When it happens that the hinder foot strikes the flexor tendons or back sinews, it produces inflammation and tumour, some- times of considerable magnitude and consequence. The treatment must be similar to that just described. RUPTURE OF THE SUSPENSORY LIGAMENTS. Breaking down is the name given by farriers to this accident, and 550 EXTENSION OF TTl R IJGAMENTS, &C. [ClctSS XIV. wliicli now anil then hnppens to yonng horses in breaking, and more frequently to others in traininp^. It has been usually supposed to arise from a rapture of the tlcxor tendons themselves, either before or be- hind ; but it is very seldom, indeed, that this accident happens to the horse; the immense strength* of these organs almost prevents the possibility of their rupture ; but their connecting and suspending liga- ments, and the tendinous thecoe surrounding them, may and are occa- sionally broken through. The limb, in these cases, betrays the great- est weakness, and the fetlock is brought almost to the ground, but the horse can bend his foot when he raises it ; which is not the case when the flexor tendons or back sinews themselves are broken through. A perfect cure is seldom obtained, but the inflammation should at first be obviated by the former means ; the limb should then be ele- vated, and the heels particularly much raised to relax the parts, when an intermediate substance will be thrown out to unite the interstices of the laceration, after which the limb will regain some of its functions. A laced stocking, or firm bandage, is essentially necessary to be used till some degree of strength is gained in the limb. Firing is sometimes useful, as it applies a permanent bandage to the part. RUPTURE OF THE FLEXOR TENDON, OR BACK SINEW. This is a very rare occurrence, but frequently the former i»jury is mistaken for this : the treatment would diifer in no respect from that, except that, in the rupture of the suspensory ligament, the flexion or bending of the limb below the pastern only Avould be necessary ; but here it would be proper to flex the whole limb from the elbow down- wards, and to keep it constantly in that state, which could only be ef- fected by slinging the animal, in which case it is probable a tolerable cure might be effected, and probably only ; for so few horses can be kept in even moderate quietude by slinging, that it is very seldom we derive the benefit we hope from it. EXTENSION OF THE LIGAMENTS OF THE FETLOCK JOINT. ,/! Strain of the Fetlock Joint arises from some injury done to the ligamentous and tendinous connexion of this part, either from long continued exertion or from the effects of more momentary but violent efforts. The effect immediately produced is, considerable inflamma- tion, which produces heat and swelling in the part, accompanied with great lameness, considerable pain, and much tenderness. When it occurs behind, it is often mistaken for common swellings arising from cjedema, or what is called want of condition, particularly when the ac- compaying lameness be not considerable. I have frequently seen a slight strain thus mistaken, from which the horse has continued to be more actively exercised to take down the enlargement; until the in- creased inflammation thus occasioned has forced the vessels to deposit coagulable lymph, which, becoming organized, could never be removed, * Two cwt. have been suspended to the tendo perforans without rupturing it. — PercevalVs Lectures, vol. i, p. 203. Class XIV.] STRAIN IN THE WHIRL OR ROUND BONE. 551 but what is called a callus remained ever after. In other instances of similar error, the affection has become increased, until conviction has been forced on the owner by the extreme lameness and misery of the poor beast. The Treatment proper for these cases is the same with that already so fully detailed for other strains. EXTENSION OF THE LIGAMENTS OF THE COFFIN. A Strain of the Coffin Joint is not an unusual occurrence ; and, like the former, consists of violence applied to the tendinous and ligamen- tous connexions of this joint. When a horse becomes suddenly lame, and attentive examination can discover no injury above, the feet should be closely examined, when it is very probable there will be found in one of them some tenderness, and perhaps swelling, particularly at the back part, towards the upper portions of the heels, and in the hollow of the junction oi the little pastern with the coffin. In these strains this part will be more hot than the others, and the horse will express pain when the foot is bent or extended, and he will generally also, though not always, point the foot when in the stable, or, as it is ex- pressed, will ?,tdin^ favouring. Treatment. — If the ht?at be considerable, put the whole foot into a Goulard poultice for three or four days: in very bad cases I have thinned the whole crust of the hoof, and have drawn blood from the toe with advantage. After the heat has in some degree subsided, blis- ter, as a milder treatment will seldom avail here. A fracture of the coffin or navicular bone sometimes also occurs ; either of which will produce similar symptoms, but so highly aggravated as to enable the practitioner to form his judgment thereon con-ectly: add to which, the fractured portions may, by attentive examination, be felt to grate on each other. (See Fractures.) Strain of the Ligaments of the Femur, Whirl, or Round Bone. As chestfounder covers all the other defects of the fore limbs, so the lamenesses behind are all referred, by the older farriers, to either a strain of the round bone, or of the stifle, as their fancy leads them to favour the one or the other. Violence may, however, and certainly does, occasionally injure the ligaments of the articulation of the thigh with the pelvis. The Treatment, from the deep situation of the part, must necessa- rily be attended vt^ith some difficulty. It will be proper to foment, or, otherwise, to apply saturnine lotions till the heat be reduced, after which blister actively. It is not improbable that the practice of pegging, as performed by older farriers on the shoulder, might here, from the depth of the affection, be a useful stimulant, and may in this case be very properly tried. But, in these instances, the parts some times do not readily reinstate themselves, in which case do not at once fire, but try repeated blistering and rest. A seton, if the blemish, be not minded, might be applied opposite the articulation with be- nefit. As a last resource, fire over the joint in a star-like form: in a Nu 552 CURB OR EXTENSION OF THE HOCK. [ClttSS XIV. few days apply a charge of pitch and crocus metallorum or minium, and turn out for two or three months at least. Strain of the Ligaments of the Patella or Stifle Joint. The ligaments of the patella, or of the articulation between the fe- mur and tibia, called the stifle, may be strained, or rather injured, by violence, or by blows. As the former affection may be distinguished by a peculiar dragging of the limb ; this may be known by the circu- lar direction in which the leg is carried, during motion, purposely to avoid flexing the joint, except very violent injury indeed have happened, when the leg is dragged along with great pain and lameness. The heat and tenderness will, however, always serve to guide the practitioner materially in this instance. Sometimes the muscles of the thigh, and not those of the joint, become extended, and produce the lameness ; in which case, the tenderness will be found within towards the groin, and not around the patella or stifle. In treatment^ however, this affec- tion in nowise differs from the former, except that sometimes a rowel withinside the thigh has benefited this, but is inapplicable to the" other. Curb or Extension of the Ligaments of the Hock. In compliance with custom, which has usually ranked this disease with exostosis, it was in the former editions placed immediately after Bony Spavin ; but it is so very seldom an affection of the bones, that, in systematic arrangement, it ought to find its place among Tendinous and Ligamontary Extension, being in almost every instance the effect of some violence offered to the ligaments of the hock, or of the sheaths of the tendons passing from the hock downwards, as of the flexor perfo- rans. Such violence may be the effect of leaping, rearing, kicking, &c. It is often sudden in its appearance ; because, like strains, it is dependent on a sudden effort. A kind of predisposition to curbs from conformation is apparent in horses with sickle hams (i. e. distorted). In these instances, all the parts must be constantly on the stretch to establish a perpendicular line of bearing, which this form interrupts. The lameness arising from curbs is not in general severe: occa- eionally, however, it may and does prove considerable. The Treatment of Curb. — This must also accord with the general rules established for the cure of other ligamentary extensions or strains, by first allaying the inflammatory symptoms, and then by counter irritants, as blisters, &c., promoting an absorption of the de- posit, and a healthy re-establishment of the parts. Firing, though sometimes practised, can be very seldom either necessary or judicious ; unless indeed in very old cases, when it may be suspected that exosto- sis of the calcis has taken place, or that the ligaments are weakened to an extraordinary degree, in which instances, and in which only, is it admissible. ANEURISM. When I published the former edition of the Veterinary Outlines, Class XV.] VARIX, OR BLOOD SPAVIN. 653 I had never met with a case of aneurism in the horse ; but having since seen one*, and likewise learning from my friend, M. Huzard, that several preparations of aneurismal tumour exist in Continental ve- terinary cabinets, I am constrained to introduce it. I know of only two English authors who have even mentioned sequine aneurism. The' first of whom, Mr. Feron, appears to have given rather a fancied than a real description of it ; it being evident that he never saw one. Mr. Percevall, a late writer, speaks more decisively on its occasional ex- istence, from having examined a fine specimen of aneurismal tumour of the thoracic aorta, in the Woolwich Museum, gained from the slaugh- ter house. It is not at all improbable, however, but that many horses which drop down suddenly and die on the spot, die from the rupture of an arterial trunk previously diseased, and not from bursting of the heart from mere mechanical distention: such cases might therefore, on examination, often present aneurisms. CLASS XV. OF ENCYSTED TUMOURS. VARIX, OR BLOOD SPAVIN. A DISEASED enlargement of the coats of the veins is termed variXj but which seldom takes place in the venal tubes of the body of the horse, as his superficial order is comparatively small, and not subjected to such artificial pressure as our own. The only instance common in veterinary surgery is, that termed hlood spavi7i; which presents cer- tainly something like a varicosed enlargement of the superficial vein passing over the inside of the hock ; which, however, appears by no means a spontaneous disease in the vessel, but originates in an en- largement of a bursal capsule underneath, which, when it is sufficiently prominent to attract notice, is called bog spavin. This dilatation being situated immediately under the course of the vein, occasions some ob- struction to the passage of the blood, and a consequent dilatation of its coats. Usually, therefore, the dilated capsule is the part to be attend-' ed to ; but when the vein itself becomes so much enlarged as, by its own pressure, to occasion mischief, it can only be remedied by counter- pressure, or by removal. A bandage must be so contrived as to sur- round and take in the hock generally ; but should press on the vein moderately only, or we should increase instead of diminish its disten- ♦ In 1819, as I was passing over Hounslow Heath, my attention was directed ta a country collar-maker, who was preparing to draw away a horse which had dropped down dead suddenly. As I learned that the horse was proceeding slowly when it happened, and was before in apparent health, I felt anxious to examine into the cause of his death. 1 therefore bribed the man to open him on the spot, when we found the chest filled with blood. After some difficulty from the suffused fluid, I traced a rupture of the anterior aorta, immediately as it is given off from the posterior trunk. The collar-maker becoming impatient, and passengers gathering around, but more particularly as I had no convenient means of carry- ing it, being on horseback, I neglected saving the aneurismal sac, which I have ever since regretted. N n2 554 wiNDGALLs. [Class XV. tion by interrupting the passage of blood through it. The bandage may be kept wet with any astringent wash, as an assistant application ; but should it still remain so much enlarged, that its existence proves really hurtful, which, however, is very seldom the case, then its re- moval may be effected by carefully including the vein, and the vein alone, above and below the varix with two ligatures. Having done this, the tumour may be opened and the contents evacuated, suffering the remainder to slough away. But it should be remarked that, in five hundred cases of what is called blood spavin, it would not, perhaps, in one of them be actually necessary to take up or bar the vein, as a farrier would call it. It is infinitely more prudent, in almost every in- stance, to attempt the reduction of the dilated bursa, or mucous cap- sule of the hock, which occasions it, as directed under bog spavin. DISEASED ENLARGEMENT OF THE BURS^ MUCOSAE, OR, WINDGALLS. The tendons of those muscles connected to joints have membranous vascular bags attached to their ends, called burscB mucosot, and which are filled with a mucus to assist the motions of the part. These mu- cous capsules are distributed about all the joints ; but, in a practical point of view, some are more important than others. The immediate anatomy of these sacs may be learned by referring to Bursalogy ; and, for an account of individual important bursa, see Description of An- terior and Posterior Eoctremities, where they are individually noticed, with a reference to their diseases. It is the morbid enlargement of these mucous bladders that forms the windgalls of farriers ; but which is a most erroneous appellation, inasmuch as under any increase of size they never contain a particle of air. Throughout the body, there exists a sympathy between the organs, which brings one kind into action to supply the deficiencies and accidental wants of another kind : thus increased exertions in the tendons produce an increased secretion of thus mucus; and this the more, as, by exertion, a greater deter- mination of the blood, from which it is secreted, is occasioned ; and thus it is, that windgalls are almost the invariable attendant on hard work. While they remain small they can do little mischief, and had much better be let alone ; but when they become enormously enlarged, they may produce injurious effects from the unequal pressure they oc- casion ; which, by stimulating the parts around to throw out coagulable lymph, interrupts their motion ; and, also, by a sympathetic effect on themselves, their contents become not only increased, but diseased, proving frequently inspissated and thick, by which means the obstruc- tion to motion is still further promoted. In the Treatment of windgalls we must attend to three particulars ; the removal of any diseased alteration they may have occasioned in the neighbouring parts ; the removal of their own distention ; and the pre- vention of its recurrence. Stimulating applications are the most likely to produce a removal of any coagulating deposit: these are likewise still more proper, as they will tend to effect a removal of the contents of the windgall itself. The liquid blister of the Mat. Med., applied as there recommended, will be a very proper application of this kind. But simply to promote absorption of the contents of the windgall, conti- Class XV.] WINDGALLS — BOG SPAVIN. 555 iiued pressure will be found the most convenient and efficacious me- thod. This may be applied by means of a bandage around the enlarge- ment, in the following manner : — A calico or a flannel roller may be prepared, of two, three, or four yards long, according to the part af- fected, and size of the horse : four inches is a proper width, and, from its superior elasticity, flannel is preferable to calico or linen. In addi- tion to this, be furni&hed with one or two pads, stuffed with horse hair or other elastic matter. Begin to apply the roller, and, after having made a turn or two below the swelling, place the pad exactly upon the windgall ; if in the pasterns, one should of course be placed over each side : continue the roller firmly and evenly over all, and fasten off. It will farther assist if either the pad or roller, or both, are first wetted with any astringent application: nor must it be forgotten, that but little benefit can be expected unless this be continued as a constant ap- plication for a considerable time, during the day, when not in exercise. I have pursued this plan, and recommended it with singular success, in cases of bad windgalls, both as a removal, and as a prevention to fur- ther increase, A run at grass will commonly remove windgalls, if not callous ; but, on a repetition of the original cause (hard work), they are sure to return again : indeed, having once existed, they are pecu- liarly liable again to re-appear ; the dilated capsule seldom regains, with its original size, its original strength. When windgalls are very large, and of long continuance, if the blemish be not objected to, firing is perhaps the most effectual means of relief, and the more, as it tends to remove both cause and effect ; for its stimulating effects excite the absorbents more actively than any other means ; and by its lessen- ing the elasticity of the skin, it becomes a continued support and source of pressure to the distended parts. I cannot dismiss the subject without warning the junior practitioner never to be incautiously led to puncture a windgall, or to evacuate its contents by caustic, or to dissect it out as recommended by even the best of our old writers, as Osmer, Bracken, &c. &c. Most of those of great bulk and long continuance actually communicate with the cavity of the joints they surround, by rupture or extravasation ; and the others are of themselves sufficiently vascular to excite similar effects with open joints, when they are laid open; and even if no mischief followed, no good could result ; the cyst would be only momentarily emptied ; for its capacity would commonly remain the same, and the exhalent arteries would almost immediately fill it up again. Even in this point of view it is quite useless, therefore ; but, in another, it is worse than useless, being never done with impunity, for inflammation of the most serious kind is sure to follow. Horses have even been de- stroyed by it ; and, when the consequences are not fatal, they are still sufficiently serious, by generally ending in anchylosis. Bursal enlarge- ments, or windgalls, bear different popular names, according to their situations, and are particularized immediately following ; but, in all, the treatment must be radically the same. Bog Spavin. This is only a bursal enlargement of the mucous capsules on the inner side of the hock ; and is what usually occasions the dilatation of the 556 THOROUGH-PIN — CAPULET—ELBOW. [CloSS XV. vein of thnt part, formincf varix, or blood spavin. The general treat- ment of this hiirsal enlargement is rcfcrrihle to windgalls. It is only necessary to remark here, that any handa^e framed for the hock should allow the point of it to he uncovererl : for it is not possible to apply one with sufficient elasticity as to allow the necessary motion without destroying the eifect of a bandage. Thorough-Pin Is the farriers' term for the bursal enlargement situated in the upper and back part of the hock, between the tendons of the great flexor of the foot and those of the gemini ; and, as it necessarily shews itself on each side, so it is a thorough-pin. From the peculiarity of its situa- tion it seldom occasions lameness, unless very large. The Treatment of this must also be the same as that directed for windfalls. Capulet or Capped Hock. This arises from a swelling of the mucous capsule that surrounds the insertion of the tendon of the gemini muscles into the point of the cal- cis or hock. From its situation interfering with none of the moving parts, it is seldom detrimental: it is, however, very unsightly, and sometimes becomes of a great size, particularly when it is occasioned by the practice of kicking ; in which cases not only is there an im- mense increase to secretion, but the integuments also thicken sur- prisingly. It has been punctured occasionally with success, and the contents have been drawn off by setons ; but the inflammation raised has endangered life. Mr. Feron details a case of this kind. It is more prudent to trust to the effects of blistering repeatedly. The Elbow Is also subject to a diseased bursal enlargement, which I have seen of considerable magnitude; and which appears, in some instances, the consequences of blows, and in others to arise from the practice of horses sleeping with their fore legs doubled under them, when the high calkins of their shoes press injuriously these parts. Mr. Feron has met with dropsical swellings containing two quarts, brought on by these means. In one case, such a swelling was tapped four several times, and in all, eight quarts of fluid were evacuated. This was not, however, it is probable, a bursal, but a cellular accumulation, or se- rious consequences would have resulted from opening so extensive a cavity. An indurated tumour is likewise sometimes occasioned by the pres- sure of the heels of the shoe, which the French call couche en vache. Sometimes these enlargements are continuous with the integuments ; at others they are moveable, and of almost cartilaginous hardness. In the first case, blistering is necessary, and, in the second, the only remedy is to make an opening through the integuments, and dissect out the hardened mass, which is easily effected. Class XVI.] FRACTURBS AND DISLOCATIONS. 557 The Kneb Also occasionally presents small bursal dilatations, but which are never found to produce inconvenience. CLASS XVI. FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS. WHEN any important bone is fractured in the horse, from the trouble of managing him, the expenses attendant on his keep, and the risk of his future usefulness ; attempts are seldom made to reduce the fractures, but the animal is usually destroyed. In France, on the con- trary, to shew their ingenuity, they attempt the reduction of every bro- ken bone, however difficult. I have now lying before me a treatise written expressly on the treatment of fractures, in the cases which have occurred in the practice of the principal French veterinarians, collect- ed by M. Fromage-Defeugre, and sent to me as a complimentary testi- mony by its ingenious author*. This little work contains not only ample proofs of the ardour and industry of the French veterinarians ; but also very excellent directions for the treatment of the fracture of every individual bone liable to meet with this accident in general cases ; as, those of the head, the vertebrae, scapula, humerus, canon, and pasterns ; likewise the ribs, sternum, pelvis, femur, patella, tibia, canon, &c. I have ever been of opinion, that we destroy an immense number of horses with fractured bones that might be saved; and, I believe, it was formerly much more the custom than at present, to attempt the cure of most of these. Under the present improved state of the art, there are probably but few broken bones but what might be again perfectly consolidated by judicious attention ; and, particularly, in the event of such an accident happening to a beast of tractable and patient disposition. In some of the fractures of large and im- portant bones, if the horse were of a very quiet disposition, and were closely and compactly littered up, or supported by bales of hay or straw at his sides, so that the idea of restraint was not excited in his mind, a cure would often follow. In some other cases he might be slung ; and, in almost all, the cure might at least be attempted. Nature restores fractured bones in the same manner as she does the soft parts ; that is, by inflammation. When a bone is broken, and there is no external wound, it is called a simple fracture, in distinction from that producing a wound externally, which is termed a compound fracture. In simple fracture, coagulable lymph is thrown out from the ends of the bones, in which vessels first form, and then * Traite des Fractures dans les Animaux Domestiques ; oil I'on Rapporte des Examples de Fractures Queries aux Os des diverses Parties du Corps des Anirnaux, dont un tres grand Nombre dans le Cheval, et des Observations sur cette Matiere, tirees de la Pratique de plus de soixante Hommes de I'Art. Par M. Fromage- Deufeugre. Buc'hoz has also published, Memoires V6terinaire sur la Mani^re de r^duire les Fractures de Jambe des Chevaux, &c. 558 FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS. [CluSS XVI. deposit ossific matter; this, by consolidating, unites the fractured cuds of the bones, and is called the callus. But, in compound frac- ture, the coagula escapes, and the union must be formed by suppura- tion and granulation : the vessels shooting through which, deposit the ossific matter: thus the same end is brought about, though by a much ^slower process. In the Treatment oi fractures, therefore, it is ne- cessary that our ends be directed to assist nature, first, by replacing the divided ends as nearly as possible in their original situation ; and, next, that by proper applications we retain them there, till union be effected. It is to be remarked also, that when bones are fractured into numerous fragments, it is often necessary to remove the smaller and useless portions, otherwise the irritation of their sharp ends will occasion an unhealthy inflammation. It is also in such cases prudent, when extreme tumefaction shews the existence of these fragments, to cut down on the fracture, and remove them, before union will com- mence. We shall now proceed to particularize the several fractures individually. Fractured Skull. — This injury, though not frequent, may happen from a violent kick or blow on the head. The first thing to be attended to, when a suspicion of this kind is entertained, is that of carefully securing the horse ; by which means the nature and extent of the injury may be more readily traced : if any depression of the bones appear, or if there be any doubt relative to it, the scalp should be removed by two cross incisions, when the depressed parts will come into view: those that are loose and detached must be removed, and other portions that are only indented may be raised by any instrument having a firm and safe hold. If this cannot be done without, apply the trepan. When this is effected, the scalp may be drawn together by a stitch or two, but the wound should be by no means exactly closed. No irritating dressings should be applied, but the part simply kept from the external air ; and if much blood was not lost when the acci- dent happened, a considerable bleeding should take place from the jugular, to prevent staggers coming on ; and other depleting means must follow. Fracture of the Zygomatic Jlrch. — This bony process is liable to fracture from kicks, blows, &c., in which case the broken portions may interfere with the motion of the jaw, and thus staiVe the horse. In a case, therefore, of this kind it would be prudent, if the fractured ends could not be replaced through the skin, to make an opening and remove the loose portions ; for should coagulable lymph become thrown out extensively, the motion of the coronoid or condoloid processes might be interfered with. Fracture of the Jawbones. — These distressing cases are not un- frequently happening from kicks or other injuries, and the unfortunate animal is almost always destroyed under an apprehension that nothing can be done for him, or that he must be inevitably starved ; but which is not always necessary. In jaw fractures, there is frequently a splin- tering of the bone into fragments, when, the sharp ends irritating the surrounding parts, a vast tumefaction takes place. In such cases we must not hesitate to open the swelling, and remove any such de- tached portions. It is true, this reduces the case to that of a com- pound fracture ; but it is nevertheless, in some instances, absolutely Class XVI.] FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS. 559 necessary before the remaining parts can be replaced, or a healthy action follow. When it is the posterior or lower jaw that is fractured, it is most fortunate if one branch only be broken ; should, however, the injury happen to both, there is still no need to despair. In such case, particularly if the bones be much shattered, both jav/s must be actually bandaged together for sometime, feeding the horse only by the nose, which is not impracticable, and is greatly assisted by nu- tritious clysters : but when one side only is fractured, the jaw can be let loose twice or thrice a-day, and the animal suffered to drink and eat, or rather mumble up a mash. In a fracture of the lower jaw, I once succeeded very tolerably by making a strong leather frame that exactly encased the whole jaw, which I made to adhere by means of pitch. Fracture of the Nose. — From the brutality of drivers, this accident sometimes happens ; it is likewise not unfrequently occasioned by kicks from other horses ; and I have still more frequently seen the nasal bones extensively fractured from sabre wounds in engagements. Whenever it happens, the bones should be immediately replaced as much in a natural situation as possible, and the external wound care- fully closed from the action of the air. In case the fractured parts cannot be replaced by the nostrils, it would be prudent to elevate them by means of an opening made with the trepan : but, in general, the replacement of these bones, when depressed inwardly, as is usually the case, may be effected by means of something introduced up the nostrils wrapped round with tow, linen, or woollen. After which, if necessary, a false nostril of pasteboard, covered with wool or velvet, or one made of stiff leather, &c., might be introduced and kept there. Fractured Ribs. — Blacksmiths are apt, from the effect of passion, to strike a horse with their shoeing hammer. I have more than once seen a fractured rib from this cruelty. In other ways, also, the ribs may become fractured. If the end of a fractured rib penetrate the cavity of the chest and wound the lungs, there is considerable danger from the haemorrhage, and also that the air will escape, and, being admitted into the cellular membrane, will form emphysema. The pro- per treatment is, therefore, immediately to apply a bandage to prevent the air insinuating itself, and which will tend also to bring the rib ex- ternally into its place, while the action of the lungs will assist it inter- nally. If, notwithstanding, air escape and enter the skin, which is known by the distention and crackling feel under the hand, evacuate it by small openings made with a lancet. Fractured Vertehrce. — ^When horses, according to the phraseology of farriers and horse-dealers, are what is called broken-backed, chinked in the chine, or go german, derived horn a managed gait, there is sometimes a rheumatic affection of the ligaments of the spine, or a forcible exten- sion of them: in others, anchylosis has occurred. But occasionally fracture is present from some violence offered. It sometimes happens to one of the dorsal or lumbar vertebra, either in casting or during the struggles a horse makes to disengage himself, after he is down. (See Casting.) As no such accident can happen without the spinal marrow becoming pressed on, so paralysis of the hinder parts follows, and death ensues. It might, as a matter of experiment in these cases, be 560 FRACTURED BONES OF THE EXTREMITIES, [ClaSS XVI. worth the attempt to cut down on the fracture, and endeavour to re- move the loose portions of hone, by which the pressure might be reliev- ed from the spinal cord. FRACTURED BONES OF THE EXTREMITIES. In fractures of the larger bones of the limbs, the horse is almost always killed, as being supposed incurable, or that, if cured, he would be utterly useless : but not only are many of these cases also curable, as has been occasionally proved, but a horse frequently becomes per- fectly useful afterwards ; and it is evident that the breed of such an animal at all events, provided it be a mare or stallion, may be made subservient to our purposes. ^ fractured Scapula, or shoulder-blade, may be successfully united by slinging, and the judicious application of bandages ; but particu- larly by enveloping the whole part in an adhesive mass, to which some light splints could be attached to the shoulder, and, proceeding down- wards, might be fastened around the arm. This plan steadies and supports the limb more than any other. The ingenious French author, already quoted, directs that the whole of the fore parts may be en- circled with bandages to keep the injured bones as much as possible in their natural situation. After which, the horse should be gently forced on the opposite side (it would be better to do this first, I should think), and retained there till the cure be effected. In a case of Fracture of the Cervix of the Scapula^ the same author informs us a cure was brought about by attaching the lame limb to the well one for forty days. I should suppose that something sufficiently soft and bulky was placed between the fore legs, and that all were then rolled round together ; in three months, we are told, the horse walked without lameness. The Humerus is not often fractured. It is very short and thick, and so strong as to be little in danger ; but, in such a case, the plan recom- mended for the cure of the scapula would be here also proper. T\iQ Cubitus, or Ann 2iS it is called, is rather more frequently fractured, and may be successfully treated as follows : — Having first slung the horse, reduce the fracture ; that is, replace the ends of the divided bones in correct opposition to each other. The animal should be so slung that the feet may just rest on the ground, without taking but little of the weight of the body: fasten each foot in its natural situa- tion; that is, in the situation it would of itself fall. Do this by any ingenious means, as hobblea ringed to the pavement or floor; or four strong boots might firmly be attached to the floor, and each leg, being introduced to its appropriate boot, might be firmly laced in. When all is safe, bandage the fractured limb accurately, by making the bandage embrace every part, and strengthen the whole with proper splints. If slinging in this case produced extraordinary efforts, it should not be persisted in, but well bedding up should be preferred. Whenever slinging can be dispensed with, it should, for few horses can be kept very quiet thus suspended ; but partial slinging I have often found to be well borne, which is effected by passing a wide sheet under the belly of sufficient strength to support the body, if the horse choose to recline Class XVI.] FRACTURED BONES OF THE EXTREMITIES. 561 on it, and of sufficient tightness to invite him to it, when he is fa- tigued. The French method of enveloping both limbs with one ban- dage, might also be tried in this case. The Olecranon, or Elbow, has been fractured by violent efforts of the muscles ; but the tendinous attachments render it extremely dif- ficult to apply means to retain it in its situation. It is only by preserv- ing a state of absolute relaxation of the limb that any attempt can have a chance of succeeding. Fractured Canon.^This bone, when fractured, might be managed in a manner similar to the arm. I have seen it, however, treated suc- cessfully without slinging, by a stiff frame of leather resembling splints for human fractures, only more extensively applied. In Blount's Far- riery there is a plate representing some ingenious machinery for the cure of these cases. Mr. Bass, V. S., near Barnet, is said to have had several of these cases, which have terminated successfully, by the ap- plication of proper splints and bandages, and which instances are now so common, that no practitioner would be warranted in condemning a horse with a simple fracture of one of these bones, unless the fracture were near to or within the capsular ligament ; in which case anchylo- sis, I believe, always takes place in the horse. Fractures of the Pastern Bones are commonly observed to occur obliquely or longitudinally ; and the lesser pastern or coronet more frequently suffers than the large. A bandage carefully applied with splints to' steady the limb, and keep it wholly free from motion, would probably, in most cases, secure a union of its divided portions. Fractures of the Coffin and JVavicular Bones.— The coffin bone is very rarely fractured : La Fosse gives, however, some well marked instances, in all which it appeared to occur from some violent action of the muscles upon it, which forcibly pulled it into several pieces. I have seen two or three preserved fractured coffin bones ; but I never met with the case in the living subject. M. Hazard directs the foot to be immersed in a mass of pitch and resin, which, he assures us, will ef- fect a cure. But no perfect cure is likely to follow such an accident ; neither should the means he recommends be adopted, until the inflam- matory symptoms have somewhat ceased. Fractured JVavicular Bone. — This accident, though rare, is, how- ever, more frequent than the fracture of the coffin. La Fosse has very circumstantially described it; Osmer also notices it; and, in later times, Mr. Turner, V. S., has met with it sufficiently often to engage his particular attention, which he does under the name of the navicular disease. The accident is betokened by a considerable and obstinate lameness following an apparently trifling accident. In some cases, however, of navicular lameness, it is not the bone which has become broken, but its ligamentous attachments, which proves equally in- curable. Mr. Field has also two preparations of this fracture, as we are informed by Mr. Perce vail. The Femur and Tibia are likewise occasionally fractured; and though the French authors give us reason to hope for a salutary re- union, and likewise directions for the management ; yet I never saw a favourable instance, and I doubt the prudence of the attempt ; but all the parts below may be most properly attended to in case of fracture, in the same manner as those of the fore extremities. 562 MORTIFICATION. [ClttSS XVII* Fra'^tures of the prominent portion of the Ilium, or Haunch Bone, sometimes occur, and, when not connected with injury of the pelvis, usually unites of itself, but not in just opposition from the action of the muscular fibres implanted into it. These cases are called hipped, or let down in the hip. No treatment can prevent the deformity which is consequent on it. The Patella is likewise occasionally fractured by violent kicks, when the real cause is sometimes passed over, and the lameness and incapa- bility of motion attributed to other causes. The leg in such cases is inert and helpless, and is sure to waste also, from the position and inaction of the muscles. Unfortunately likewise, when it is disco- vered, from the difficulty of approximating the separated bones, a mo- derately successful issue is very seldom attained, and, unless the horse be of extreme value, is hardly worth the trial. DISLOCATIONS OF THE JOINTS. Nature has so guarded the joints by the great strength of the liga- ments and muscles, that luxation seldom happens ; and, when it does, counter-extension is the only means by which the bones could be re- placed : but, from the immense strength of the muscles, I believe few reductions of dislocated bones have yet taken place in the horse. Dislocated Patella. — The whirlbone of the farriers is now and then displaced from its socket by kicks, and likewise by being run against by carriages. I once saw it happen in hunting, from the attempts of a horse to gallop through a gate which was falling to, or shutting. It was a distressing sight, from the total helplessness of the limb, which was dragged along the ground, from the incapability of the flexors to act, having lost their point of support. With dexterity and care, the reduction may be effected by first bringing the limb forwards, so as to extend the joint. While this is doing by an assistant, who should also apply one hand to the inner side of the stifle, the operator may, by depressing the outer angle of the patella, and by a sudden elevation ©f the inner angle, by means of both hands, slip the patella into its socket, the return of which will be heard by its snap. It is said to be very liable to recur, and which could only be prevented, in an instance quoted by Mr. Percevall, by firing, which corrugated the skin, and formed a permanent sustaining bandage. ^^«sr«sr«sr^^'#N^^sr«vr^^«y^4v» CLASS XVII. DISEASES OF THE BONES. Caries, or Mortification. BONES are subject to inflammation, which terminates, like that of the soft parts, in resolution, suppuration, or in mortification. The living powers of parts are generally proportioned to their vascularity ; Class XVII.] EXOSTOSIS. 563 thus bones, as having but little blood, are weaker ; and their actions, both healthy and unhealthy, are slow ; from which they do not readily fall into disease, but, when they do, the morbid action generally pro- duces death in them. A loss of the medium by which bones are cover- ed and partially supported, will also produce mortification: thus, when the periosteum becomes torn off, or otherwise destroyed, the bone under it dies. Exfoliation. — When death has taken place in a bone, the process of its removal is called exfoliation, and which process is effected by the absorbents ; for the dead bone becomes a stimulus to the absorbing vessels belonging to the living bone with which it is in contact, stimu- lating them to remove as much of the living as formed an union with the dead ; by which means the decayed portion, losing its attachment, comes away. In caries, therefore, it must be our endeavour to assist this exfoliation by any means that will further stimulate the absorbents of the living part. Sometimes, from an actual want of power, the ca- ries spreads ; in which case we must rouse the living bone into greater action by forcible stimulants ; as, oil of turpentine, tincture of myrrh and aloes, brandy, or other spirits ; but the most effectual mode is, by the application of the actual cautery, in the form of small heated points applied around the outer edge of the decayed part. Exostosis. From the unnatural exertions we force horses into, an inflammatory action is induced throughout all the parts concerned in motion, and which action appears im some measure sympathetic, that by its means secretions may be more vigorously performed, and the hard parts in- creased in their solidity. But all inordinate actions, carried beyond a certain degree, become morbid ; and that which under restrictions would tend to strengthen and repair, becomes a source of disease. This happens in the present instance, wherein the bones and their ap- pendages take on exostosis, or a diseased increase of bony matter from the effects of ossific inflammation, stimulated to it probably by a sense of weakness from over exertion: the repair is therefore set about in this manner : There are but few of the bones of the body of the horse but have been found subjected to exostosis : as some parts are, however, more prone to it than others, it has given rise to popular terms, as defining exostosis of particular parts. Thus we have splints, bone spavins, ringbones, &c. In human surgery, exostoses appear to have different origins ; but in the horse, that which Sir A. Cooper calls the periosteal exostosis is the most common ; although I am perfectly convinced, that cases are not wanting of that which he terms the me- dullary. In the first, the deposit forms between the periosteum and the bone ; and in the second, it takes place more internally within the cancelli of the bone itself. In the horse, also, exostosis appears to have an origin unknown, or at least very rare in the human, but which is here sufficiently common. This, instead of commencing within the bones. Originates within the ligamentous attachments, not only cap- sular, but in such as connect the parts generally. By slow inflamma- tion, under certain circumstances, these first become of cartilaginous 664 EXOSTOSIS. [Class XVII. hardness, and then furnish a nidus for the deposit of ossific matter, and which at length communicates its morbid action to the bones also. These tumours have one remote cause, which is pressure ; and one proximate, which is inflammation. According to the observations of Sir A. Cooper, in his admirable Surgical Essays, even the morbid de- posit of bone requires, like the original and healthy, its accompanying cartilage, as a nidus for lodgement, for, during the diseased process of periosteal exostosis, cartilage is formed between the bono and its covering, into which the earthy matter is deposited, at the same time that the periosteum itself becomes thickened, while the exostosis be- comes cancellated and structural, like the true bone to which it ad- heres. That pressure is the common proximate cause of sequine exostosis, many facts testify. In young animals the vessels furnishing the bones are in a state of enlargement and activity, because they have not only to replace the absorbed portion, but they have to secrete for the increased growth and solidity. These vessels are more liable, therefore, to be dis- tended upon any exertion, and hence to fall into inflaimnatory action, from whence bony deposit is formed ; and this will take place in such parts as are most subjected to pressure ; as, on the inside of the canon or shank before, and on the inside of the hock behind, which parts are placed more immediately under the central line of gravitation. In the first they may be occasioned by blows from the opposite foot, or from standing on too great an acclivity in the stable : a very common cause probably arises from reducing the naturally increased height of the inner quarter, which is further done by improperly raising the outer heel of the shoe ; from whence a greater proportion of weight is thrown on the inner small metacarpal bone, and which being, by this pressure, in danger of dislocation, occasions bony matter to be thrown out to consolidate its union with the large rnetacarpal bone or canon, and the matter thus thrown out forms splint. When this takes place in the tarsal bones, or those forming the hock, it becomes hone spavin. Pres' sure may also produce exostosis in another manner, which is, by means of the ligaments and tendons, or of the cellular substance around them, which frequently becoming thickened by coagulable lymph, from violent adhesive inflammation following strains, &c., occa- sion pressure on the bones below, which in process of time will so sti- mulate the absorbents, that the bone pressed on will be in part re- moved by their action : therefore, to repair this loss, a greater and morbid deposit is occasioned, and thus exostosis is formed. Bad curbs are instances of this ; an incipient curb is usually an affection of the ligaments simply. But it must not be forgotten, however, that the thickening of the ligaments is sometimes the effect of previous exosto- sis, which, by its rough surface, irritates and inflames them, and some- times the ossific deposit commences in them. That species of exostosis which is frequent in old horses, seems more the effect of sympathy than of inflammation, or of a sympathetic inflammation : for the absorbents, in the latter periods of life, are in stronger action than the depositing arteries ; hence pressure, and perhaps a sense of weakness, easily sti- mulates them either to take up the articular cartilages of parts parti- cularly exposed to the effects of pressure and exertion ; as those of the articulations of the vertebice, those of the lateral parts of the foot, Class XVII.] SPLINT. 565 and some others : the consequence of which will be the deposit of a more solid matter within a new cartilaginous matrix ; or the original cartilages may be themselves the nidus for the bony deposit, as we find to be the case with the ligaments sometimes. After which the carti- lage may become absorbed, but cannot be itself converted into bone, as is often expressed, but, it is probable, erroneously so. A morbid sympathy appears frequently to pervade other parts than those imme- diately connected with the bony machine, and which occasions bony de- posit in them, as within the coats of the large arteries, in the cartila- ginous rings of the trachea, the internal parts of some glands, &c. &c., by which nature appears to endeavour to renovate the constitution, by consolidating the whole mass, and thus warring, as it were, against the universal and inevitable decay of their structure. The Cure of exostosis must consist in whatever stops the disposition to farther deposit, and removes what has been already produced. In the human subject, these effects have been attempted by constitutional means, intended to act on the absorbents generally ; but in the horse, these have not been found to answer any end: local means are, therefore, only resorted to in veterinary practice, and which are principally of a stimulating nature, variously modified, as will be seen under the indi- vidual diseases occasioned by it. SPLINT. Splint or Splent is the farriers' term for a species of exostosis* si- tuated upon or about some part of the metacarpal bones, usually com- mencing in the semi-cartilaginous substance which unites the great and small metacarpals ; and much more frequently of the inner than of the outer side. Formerly, when a splint was attached to the superior ex- tremity of the canon near the knee, the older farriers called it osselet; and, when two small bony enlargements were found near each other, they then named them fuzee. But when, as is most common, there is one osseous tumour at the upper part of the shank, or canon, it is uni- versally known by the name of splint, or splent. Splints are a very common evil with young horses, but less so among the old, for the rea- sons before given. It is usual to consider the consequences of a splint as principally dependent on its situation, and this is generally correct ; but a splint may probably prove painful, and otherwise injurious, al- though it do not interfere with any tendon or ligament ; for, indepen- dent of the increased sensibility of bone itself under inflammation, the periosteum that surrounds it being inelastic, and having no yielding powers, must become stretched and diseased also. Now, though in a natural state its sensibility is but small, yet, under these circumstances, it probably proves considerably so, and hence may become a source of pain to the animal, till it either becomes absorbed, or has burst t. * Bracken, the father of the English School of Farriery, derives splint from the circumstance of its serving to strengthen the bone, as thin pieces of wood or splints would strengthen other matter. t Mr.Percevall strongly contends, that the pain experienced in splints is never dependent on the periosteum, or how, asks he, is it that so few splints are accom- panied by lameness, and that almost all spavins are ? And again, that if the stretched or inflamed periosteum were the seat of pain, would not the division of it immediately give relief? In answer to which, it may be asked, although the 566 EXOSTOSIS. [Class XVII. Nevertheless, as the inflammation is seldom very acute, and the in- crease is generally slow, thereby enabling the periosteum to accommo- date itself to the distention ; so more generally, when a si)ient is not situated immediately under a tendon, or contiguous to ligamentary matter, it occasions but little uneasiness, nor does it often lame. But when it is differently placed, and does interfere with the motion of a tendon, or an important ligament, it is easy to conceive that it must then inevitably occasion pain, and produce much lameness ; for a liga- ment so pressed on loses its pliancy, and a tendon passing over a splint must necessarily have inflammation excited on the vascular surface of its theca, which, being stimulated to pour out coagulable lymph be- tween its surface and the tendon, must obstruct the tendinous motions, and, by this means, bring on lameness. The veterinary practitioner should, therefore, in his consideration of the coJisequences in these cases, be guided, in a great measure, by .the situation of the splint. If placed anteriorly, that is, when it exists at the fore edge of the small metacarpal or splint bone, it is productive of much less injury than when placed at the posterior edge of the same bone. For, as already pointed out, in this latter case, the swelling may press on the ligaments and tendons of the flexors of the limb, which all occupy this backward situation ; and it must, therefore, of necessity, raise much inflamma- tion among them. For the same reason also, a splint placed at the lower end of the canon, is still more prejudicial than when situated higher up the leg. All which circumstances are still farther elucidated in pages 121, 315. It is however necessary to remark, that it is not uncommon to attri- bute that lameness to a splint which is dependent on other causes ; for, as pointed out, this enlargement does not often occasion lameness, ex- cept situated very unfavourably, or on its first appearance : and it be- hoves the veterinarian to look well to other probable causes of lame- ness, before he pronounces on the evil as arising from a splint. It is usual, but not invariable, for every hurtful splint to be attended with some heat and tenderness ; and when, as it does occasionally, it ex- cites inflammation in the ligaments and tendons themselves, it loses all its harmless character, and is not hurtful only, per. se, but becomes a source of additional evil from these aggravations. As the nature of splint is the converting into bone that union of the small with the large metacarpal bone, which was before of a mixed kind, between ligament and cartilage, so it is evident, in this point of view, a splint can never be wholly removed : but from the absorption in the later periods of life being greater than the deposit, so it happens that the extra depo it beyond the simple ossific union, and which extra deposit is that which constitutes the bulk of the splint, is removed in old horses, or, as grooms express it, they " wear away." For the same reasons it may, with equal truth, be said, that every old horse dies with splints ; for, in almost every instance, the union between these bones consolidates by age, when the stimulus, of necessity, being lost, a hurtful addition to these natural splints seldom occurs in them. division of the periosteum fail to give immediate relief, does it not, in most in- stances, do it in a little time afterwards ? And also are not the most painful splints sometimes situated where they do not interfere with the ligaments, which Mr. P. contends is the seat of the pain ? Class XVIII. j SPLINTS BONY SPAVIN. 567 Treatment of Splints. — Altliough, as before stated, we cannot re- store the cartilaginous union to the bones ; yet we can, particularly in the early stages of the disease, promote an absorption of the hurt- ful and prominent portion of the exostosis, and which is that which forms, in the popular idea, the splint. The appearance of splints, as much as their hurtful consequences, has occasioned so much attempt to remove them. In olden times very rough means were used for this purpose, which sometimes succeeded, but oftener left matters much worse than before. Such were thumping the swelling with a hammer; ruhbing it violently with a stick ; piercing it with a gimblet, &c. An attempt at removal was also made by dissecting away the ligaments, when, with a mallet and chisel, the prominent part of the exostosis was chipped off. In the last edition of the Outlines, I stated, in re- ference to this method, that when a splint was very prominent, it might very possibly be laid bare and removed by means of a very fine saw. I affect not the spirit of divination, but such a plan will yet be acted on, particularly in exostoses not close to a joint ; and I make no doubt advantageously, being first perfected in the great emporium of the healing art, human surgery. For;, since those pages were composed, numerous successful experiments have been made on human exostoses, and orbicular saws have been invented for cutting away bony tumours, at any depth, without endangering the other parts : and we have the high authority of Sir Astley Cooper for stating, " that there is reason to believe that these structures may, with properly constructed instru- ments, become much more the subject of operations, than they have hitherto been considered." Pressure, by means of lead, &c. &c., is an invention also of antient date ; and is evep yet practised. Blistering and firing are also very old remelies ; while '^ sweating" with oil of origanum, and other es- sential oils, is of patriarchal extraction, and if not superseded by me- chanical removal, will probably last to the end of time. It has lately heen the practice to substitute setons for blisters ; hut these do but half the w^ork of blisters in twice the time, and do they not leave a ble- mish into the bargain? It is but justice, however, to add, that they have succeeded, particularly in spavins, where all other remedies had failed. At the Veterinary College, it has likewise been common to divide the periosteum over the splint, by which much relief has been obtained. It is, however, seldom necessary to have recourse to other means than vesication, which if persisted in by first actively blis- tering, and then keeping up an irritation by milder means (as blister- ing ointment one part, lard three parts), for three or four, or even more weeks, will generally complete all that can be effected. Or one active blister may be followed up by another, with intervals of a week be- tween. In some few cases, where the ligaments are identified with the exostosis into one tumid mass", it is necessary to apply the highest sti- mulus which we know, which is firing in the lozenge form ; and the fired part may, if thought fit, be blistered immediately. BONY SPAVIN. This is also an exostosis, whose existence is very prejudicial to the value of the horse. Its seat is usually on the inner side of the liock^ O o 568 BONY SPAVIN. [Class XYlll, either upon the cuneiform tarsal bones, or at the upper extremities of the large and small metatarsals. Both in cause and effect, it presents probably but little difference from a splint. Its origin may be attri- buted, like that of splint, to inflammation, first, probably originating in the humerus and complex ligaments of the hock, or in that semi- cartilaginous union between the inner small and the great metatarsal bones, and is probably more immediately the consequence of violent exertions, than of central pressure, but which also may have its share. These effects weaken the structure of these parts, and not only irritate them into diseased action, but also transmit the evil to the bones, and produce exostoses in them. As this osseous inflammation proceeds, an union of some of the tarsal bones takes place, whereby the elasticity of the mechanism of the hock becomes injured, and lameness ensues. The lameness, however, it is probable, is also equally or more the ef- fect of the same circumstances as operate in producing lameness in splint ; namely, the painful interference these bony enlargements offer to parts in motion over each other. For the before-mentioned reasons, as splint is more usual among young horses, so spavin is more frequent among older ones. A spavin, or jack, as it is sometimes called, will often lame when outwardly small ; but, in such case, the exostosis is probably greater within : and, on the contrary, sometimes a very con- siderable enlargement produces comparatively little mischief. Unless very deep seated, or very large, the stiffness and lameness occasioned by a spavin go off by exercise, which will serve to distinguish it from other affections ; and, even when the lameness remains permanent, still it is much more painful at first than after a little motion. The reasons for which appear to be, that the ligaments, both capsular and other, which are kept in a continued state of irritation and tumefaction by the morbid ossific inflammation by exercise, lose some of their irrita- bility, and gain pliancy as they proceed. A spavin of the cuneiform bones usually lames more than that which is lower down and affects the metatarsals only. Neither do spavins, when arrived at a certain state, usually increase ; consequently spavined horses for some pur- poses may prove very useful. Post-masters and stage-coacji drivers are not however very willing to purchase these, or any others, with per- manent lamenesses hehmd, though they do not object to those which are lame before vnXh. founder. The reason of which is, that, in lame- nesses in the hind extremities, horses, from instinctive fear, are un- willing to lie down ; but, when lame before, they are not impressed with this dread ; for a horse makes his principal effort to rise from be- hind. Impelled, therefore, by pain, a foundered horse readily lies down, and these persons find, by experience, that the horse who lies most can work most. Treatment of Bone Spavin. — This does not differ from that of splint, except that, as it is much oftener a cause of serious lameness, and occurring as it commonly does in older horses, from the effect of long-continued exertion, so it also proves more obstinate ; and the treatment required, therefore, should be more active. Among the older farriers, who, like some of the moderns, think nothing too strong for a horse, violent mechanical operations were resorted to, to remove spavins, as well as splints ; as the mallet and chisel to chip it off, boring the exostosis with a gimblet, punching it with a hot iron, or Ctes XVIII.] BONY SPAVIN— CURB, 569 applying caustics ; the first removing it mechanically, and the three latter methods destroying its vitality and promoting its exfoliation. But, as might be expected, for one case which succeeded, twenty in- creased the lameness, or ended in anchylosis, and sometimes in death. But the very few successful cases gained by these violent means, still give the practitioner without professional character a decided advan- tage over the regular veterinarian ; for should the former, by these violent means, destroy his patient, he only stands where he did ; but if he cure him, all the world is told that he has effected that which the veterinarian could not do ; that is, what he dare not attempt. As with splint, it is not improbable that instruments may yet be devised which will operate on these bony enlargements without risk ; though the chances are fewer in the hock, from its connexion with capsular and bursal ligaments, than in the fore leg. The treatment pursued by veterinarians of the present day varies somewhat ; those bordering on the old school, still rub them with some violence, and then stimulate them with ol origanum, ol terebinth, &c. &c. Those of later date blis- ter and fire. At the Veterinary College setons are used, by nipping up the skin and pushing a seton needle armed with tape through it, so that the tape within the skin exactly opposes itself to the spavin. If the skin be tender or tumefied, it is more proper to make an opening above and below the exostosis, and to push a 5/^^?^^ seton needle, or eyed probe, from one opening to the other, armed with the tape, which should be daily smeared with mild blistering ointment, or common tur- pentine. In this way, report says, the College practice has proved very successful, and therefore merits trial. Blistering I have, how- ever, found, when repeated over and over, and particularly when mild intermediate stimulants have been kept applied, as a weak ointment of Spanish flies, or oil and turpentine, &c., has commonly proved equal to all the benefit these obstinate cases can receive ; for when the bony deposit is fully formed, it is in vain to expect its entire absorption : even its partial absorption is often frustrated. Our principal hope lies in removing that inflammation which is the existing cause of much of the pain, stiffness, and tumefaction in the ligaments around, and like- wise in preventing the increase of the bony deposit. Our hopes of suc- cess must also greatly depend on the time of the existence of the evil. When it is early attended to, before the bony deposit has gained its full solidity, stimulants act more favourably, and lessen it more mate- rially. It remains to add, that, when repeated blistering fails, the more active method of promoting absorption by firing may be tried, carefully avoiding to fire too actively or deeply, otherwise the integuments may be penetrated, and a dangerous inflammation and sloughing of the ligaments follow. CURB. It has been so long the custom to rank curb with exostosis, that in the former editions I yielded to it, and entered on the description and treatment of it in this place. Curb is, however, so very seldom ac- companied with any bony affection ; and when it is so, the treatment does not materially vary; that it is now treated of among ligamentary and tendinous extension, to which it properly belongs. O 2 570 RING-BONE — ANCHYLOSIS. [CIUSS XVIII. A RING-BONE. Tins is usually an exostosis surrounding the whole, or part, of the circle of the coronet. Sometimes there are only two lateral swellings ; but, although the situation is no further varied than this, in the dif- ferent cases which occur ; yet the parts affected are very dissimilar, and the degrees of lameness by no means the same. In very upright pasterns, either such as are naturally so, or become so from hard work or from high-contracted heels, the bones are so perpendicularly opposed to each other, that great jar is sustained during the motion, and inflammation is either excited in the ligaments, cartilages, or bones themselves ; by which an osseous deposit takes place, either around the coronary ligament, or around the extremities of one or both pas- tern bones. When the deposit takes place within the lateral carti- lages, the prominence is not circular, but on each side of the foot ; and these cases, which are common to aged and hard worked horses, are not in general attended with so much heat and lameness as those which extend around the coronet, and have the pastern bones or coro- nary ligament for their seat. Ring-bones are not uncommon among colts at the time of their backing, from the ruinous weights of a heavy rider, over rough or ploughed ground, and from their being thrown on their haunches during their training, and which effort is, perhaps, the reason that they are more common to the hind than to the fore feet. The Treatment of a ring-bone resolves itself into attempts to re- duce any considerable inflammation which may exist by bleeding at the toe, and a poultice with bran and vinegar applied around the foot two or three weeks, until active inflammation be abated. After this blis- ter the coronet, and keep up the inflammatory action of the blister for a month. If the ring-bone be still in the same state after this pe- riod, proceed to fire, and again blister over it. Ea^ostoses of the Coffin and Navicular Bones are still more common ; indeed, the cofiin bones of old horses are seldom seen without them : it is equally common to see the lateral cartilages absorbed, and their place supplied by bone. It is curious to observe the vast varieties in these deposits ; in some, the cofiin is increased to a grotesque form, totally distinct from the original. In some few, the absorption is greater than the deposit, but this is not frequent. The navicular bone becomes sometimes incrusted also with osseous matter, and the sen- sible laminae do not escape a similar incrustation. Can we, therefore, wonder at the stiffness and disinclination to unusual exertion in old horses ? or can we be surprised that these affections are so irreme- diable in them ? ANCHYLOSIS. When ossific matter is deposited within or upon the extremities of bones, or within or upon the capsular and investing ligaments, so as totally to destroy the flexibility of a joint, it is called anchylosis. This tendency is manifested in a very great degree in the horse, as might be expected, from his being so subjected to continued and vio- lent exertions, tending to put all the parts on the stretch, and, by the Ctos XVIII.] INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. 571 stimulus of exertion, to press all their powers of the parts to the top of their action. Few of the joints of the horse escape the chance of anchylosis, as few of his bones are out of the ordinary reach of exos- tosis. The joints of the spinal column, particularly of the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, are very frequently the seat of these affections, which seem to be occasioned by the heavy weights imposed on these animals. It is this affection which renders old horses stiff, and in some instances unwilling to lie down, or when down to rise up again. (See Osteology.) Anchylosis of the knee and hock is likewise not uncommon from punctures into the cavity of the joint, either by accident, or by the lamentable ignorance in the treatment of their medical, or rather non- medical attendants. Anchylosis of the Pastern Joints is also not unusual. One cause appears to be ulceration of the articular cartilages. (See the Groggy Jlffection.) Another is the inflammation of the ligaments, from an un- favourable opposition of the bones of the pasterns, gained either by excess of exertion, and then called knuckling, or by that malconforma- tion called upright pasterns. In these cases the tendons and ligaments are ever on the stretch, to rectify the unnatural line of the limb, and to prevent the shocks of concussion, which eventually terminates in a de- posit of ossific matter in and around them ; this soon communicates to the bones, and these joints become finally anchylosed. From what has already been said, it will be evident that no treat- ment will be effective in promoting a perfect cure in any of these in- stances ; we can only palliate the symptoms by the means before de- tailed in Exostosis. CLASS XVIII. DISEASES OF THE EYE. INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. Ophthalmia Membranarum.] [Inflammation de la Corijonctive. IT is very remarkable, that though the diseases of the human eye are estimated at more than a hundred, yet there is one only very com- mon to the horse ; but which, in obstinacy and ill effects, more than equals all the human catalogue : this is the ophthalmia membranarum, by farriers termed moon blindness, or lunatic. The ophthalmia tarsi finds no place in the diseases of the horse. The ophthalmia membra- narum is a specific and a constitutional inflammation of the coats of the eye, and, as such, it requires probably a complete alteration in the constitution for its cure, which will serve to account for the difii- culty attending it. The present Professor of the Veterinary College paid a very early and minute attention to this subject ; but the result of his researches has only tended to confirm the character of its obsti- nacy, and of its fatality to the organs it affects. It is remarkable how 572 INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE, [CIUSS XVIII. uninformed the older writers were on this subject; and some of the moderns have little to boast of on this head. The attendant ap- pearance and a slight enlargement of the haw, which are only effects of the disease, have been continued to be regarded as at least adding to the complaint, and very often, even now, they are thought to occa- sion it ; thus writings of modern date still contain directions to remove it in these cases. Nor were the former Continental writers much better informed on the subject ; their descriptions of the affec- tions of the eye being mostly drawn from treatises on human diseases, and hence they have introduced complaints never met with in the horse. The French writers of the present day are better acquainted with this disease, but equally lament with us its obstinacy; both which, and its frequency, appear to be greater in some provinces than in others. But throughout the country generally, it is sufficiently de- structive ; so much so, that the Royal Agricultural Society of France have offered 1200 francs for the best dissertation on it. One general error has attended the consideration of this disease, which has arisen from neglecting to regard it as a specific affection ; on the contrary, farriers and grooms have usually attributed it to the effect of accident, and, therefore, viewed it as simple inflammation : whereas the inflammatory affections consequent to violence seldom produce any ill effect, and in fact are removed very easily. The practice pursued in these cases has likewise been very improper; for it has been supposed that the accompanying opacity is brought on by a membranous film, distinct from, and foreign to, the eye; and hence abrading substances have been universally used: but even when they did good, it was not from their scouring quality, but from the stimu- lus applied to the absorbents, which sometimes by this means re- moved the coagulable lymph that obstructed the transparency. The Symptoms are not invariably the same in every instance ; some appearances are, however, constant and universally characteristic. In its active state, it produces the following: — swelled eyelids, which appear nearly closed over a sunken retracted eyeball, giving the eye the appearance of being diminished. This arises from the retractor muscles acting to withdraw the eye from the stimulus of light, which appears in every case of active inflammation to give extreme pain. This retraction of the eye inwards, forces the haw over a portion of its globe, where it is seen swelled and preternaturally red, from its participation in the disease : and which addition to its size and colour, have, among farriers and horsemen, long subjected it to the accusa- tion of being the cause, instead of the effect, of the disease. The eyelids, if everted, will be found highly vascular and hot, pouring forth, in most instances, a flood of tears, which continually trickles down the face in successional scalding drops. The globe of the eye, in this active inflammatory kind, will present anet-work of turgid red ves- sels over its opaque, and at other times white surface: and such is the distention of the blood vessels, before intended to carry only the colourless parts of the blood, that they not only impinge the opaque cornea, but are seen obtruding their red lines into the transparent cornea alscr, producing that appearance denominated bloodshot. Not only does the exterior surface of the globe present this discolouration, but the humours also, or the internal parts seen through the opening Class XVIII.] INFLAMMAarON OF THE EYE. 57S of the pupil, appear unusually turbid and muddy. This appearance is dependent equally on distention of the vessels carrying that part of the blood which is called colourless, but which is not strictly without colour, but apparent only, from the extreme minuteness of its column. When, therefore, such column is enlarged by inflammation it loses its transparency, and, from the multiplicity of these distended tubes, the otherwise transparent humours look cloudy. In certain stages of the complaint, or under a very aggravated form, these vessels are still further distended, and they may even deposit coagulable lymph, when the eye presents opacity over its whole surface, and within the humours also. This transition, from a simple dimness in the appearance to a perfect opacity, sometimes takes place with a re- markable quickness, and its return to its former state will often- times be as rapid. I have seen an eye perfectly opaque within and without, which was merely dim the night before ; and perhaps, within twelve hours, it will be the same again, without any apparent medical or natural cause. This extreme activity of both the depositing and the absorbing vessels is peculiar to the brute eye ; in the human these changes are less rapid, which has been attributed to the coagulable lymph in the human eye rupturing its minute vessels and becoming extravasated; but in the brute eye, to its remaining within its vessels. This, however, cannot be the cause, since, from our present physiolo- gical theory, it is natural to suppose that a fluid must be extrava- sated, before it can be absorbed; consequently it would disappear, under this view of the matter, quickest in the human subject. It is really dependent on the greater energy of the absorbing system of the horse under the inflammatory action in these cases. In the above detail of symptoms, the active inflammatory state has been described, and which is frequently so sudden in its attack as to gain almost its maximum in a few hours, which has led inexperienced persons to look for the cause in blows, irritating matter falling into the eye, as hay seeds, stings of wasps, bees, &c. But it is neither in every instance thus violent, nor thus sudden ; on the contrary, it sometimes approaches more slowly, when the impatience of light is not remarkable, and amounts only to a winking of the lids, and mois- ture from tears, when brought into the full glare: the globe of the eye looks rather yellow than red, and within it is only slightly disturbed with a discoloured muddiness. The haw is here hardly apparent, the eyelids are less swollen and gorged, and the tears pass in their natural channel; the eye or eyes remain without much variation many days, and sometimes weeks even. This apparent mildness of symptoms is not, however, a prognostic of a less formidable disease, for this proves usually as obstinate and as eventually fatal to vision as the other. Among the other peculiarities between ophthalmia of the human and of the horse, one is, that it usually attacks both eyes in the former, whereas it is by no means unusual for it to attack one only in the horse, leaving the other totally unaffected, or at most only sym- pathetically so, but without specific affection. Equally worthy of remark, is the complete and sudden metastasis, which often takes place in this monocular ophthalmia. From being in a very aggravated state of inflammation in one eye, it will suddenly shift its seat to the other, leaving the original much amended or nearly well. This 574 INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. [ClaSS XVIII. complete metastasis has caused the aequine ophthalmic disease to he compared to a gouty aflfection ; and it certainly fully estahlishes its character as a specific disease. It is this shifting of situation also that has given rise to the custom of putting one eye out hy violence, with a view to save the other. It has heen observed, that when the dis- ease is attended with tumefied lids and much weeping, it usually attacks both eyes, but I have not unfrequently seen it confined to one only. It is also asserted, that under ophthalmia a horse rarely sweats, and that when he does it is not a favourable perspiration, but a cold clammy one. I have not observed this as by any means a general fact ; but there certainly in these cases is an evident sympathetic connec- tion between the eyes and skin ; which latter is often harsh, and pro- duces a strong coat in ophthalmia. Another distinguishing peculiarity in this complaint is that there is almost a certainty of a recurrence of its attacks at indefinite periods, which the older farriers usually estimated at about a lunar month ; and hence supposed that the moon had some influence on it^ and therefore named it lunatic or moon blindness. It is justly ob- served by the French nosologists,that periodical ophthalmia would be a more proper term ; since it is evident the moon's increase or wane has nothing to do with it, for it recurs at periods from two or three weeks, to as many nionths. It is seen, however, that the first of these intiammatory attacks however violent, having arrived at its height, usually gives way to medical treatment, or the disease leaves the horse of its own accord, and the eyes recover nearly their former appearance : but they are seldom so perfectly transparent as before ; for, on a narrow inspection, there will be observed either some small opaque spots within the pupil, or the general cornea will not be so dis- tinctly clear as before ; oi even should the centre of the cornea be perfectly transparent, yet there will commonly remain some cloudy lines around its extreme circumference. This latter appearance should always be particularly attended to, for this is the very last part the opacity quits: and, I believe, in an eye once affected, this hardly ever wholly leaves the extreme edges. The eye or eyes, however, thus recovered, seldom remain very long sound, but something again calls the deseased action forth, and the complaint recurs Avith its former violence and its former appearances. As these attacks are repeated, they leave the eye less transparent each time ; sometimes a very small white speck is left w^ithin the humours, which may be seen through the pupil. This opaque spot forms a nucleus for the growth of future cataract, by gradually increasing: sometimes, however, it will remain stationary a great length of time, and now and then it never enlarges. But in general, repeated inflammatory attacks succeed to each other, and the whole crystalline lens at last becomes opaque, when the dis- ease takes the name of cata^-acf, in which almost all these inflamma- tions terminate. It is remarkable, likewise, that when the process of forming cataract is become fixed and regular within the crystalline, that active inflammation usually leaves the coats of the eye, and sel- dom again returns. Causes. — It has been conjectured, that the remote cause of this disease arises from the plethora, which takes place in horses at the adult period; that is, when they have just attained tlieir growth: at Class XVIII.] INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. 575 which time it is observed they are more frequently first attacked with the complaint ; for till this age the blood has not only to nourish the body, but to increase it also by the addition of parts ; but after matu- rity, having only to support the organs it has already formed, there must be a superabundant quantity of it circulating through the ma- chine: at this period, likewise, the arterial system is in a state of increase generally, and consequently subject to distention. This theory, however, though ingenious, is by no means suflScient to account for the constitutional tendency observed to it ; for it is by no means confined to the adult period ; and even barring this objection to its correctness, it yet remains to be accounted for, why the eyes should be, of all the organs, the only ones attacked, seeing the plethora is uni- versally distributed ; and why also the complaint should be confined to the horse, and not take place in any thing like an equal degree in the mule and ass, at their adult periods, even in those countries where the treatment of them is equally luxurious with that of the horse. We must, therefore, for the present content ourselves by considering it as a constitutional liability, dependent on some peculiarity in the system, which certainly appears to be greater at this period than at any other, but which is by no means invariably confined to it. At the same time we may indulge a hope, that a more intimate acquaintance with the animal functions, and with the anatomy of the head, may, hereafter, enable us to discover the source from whence these organs draw this liability. The occasional causes are probably various. A determination to the head must be the consequence of the exertion which a horse is exposed to when he is first put to active and laborious exercise, particularly that of drawing ; and this, as he is unused to it, must act considerably in distending these -parts. Colour has been thought to influence the disease ; but there needs no other proof that this is incorrect, than that no two persons agree as to the shade most obnoxious to it ; neither is any particular kind of horse more exempted from it than others : but size has certainly some connexion with it, as blindness is much more rare with ponies than with large horses. The acrimonious fumes of a hot foul stable to a young animal, that has been only used to a barn and paddock, may very readily call forth the liability into action likewise: and it is not improbable, as we have before said, that this is a very frequent cause* : though as farmers' horses and others, who are more naturally treated, still are subjected to it ; so this cannot wholly account for the disposition. Nor are mules, asses, and stall- fed cattle, however closely confined, often attacked by it. There is no doubt also but accidental plethora at any time predisposes to it ; and likewise inflammatory aftections of other organs may, by trans- * Does the late prevalence of the Egyptian ophthalmia throw any light on the subject of our present inquiry ? The great frequency of the disease in that country is very generally attributed to acrid particles generated by the recession of the Nile; and probably as much also by the acrid burning dust continually 6ying in the air of that fiery region. If this be the case, the gaseous effluvia, generated by crowded and foul stables, may be a more universal cause of the ophthalmia of the horse than is generally imagined : and from this error in natural treatment, even farmers and others are not exempt, who, when they do stable their horses, certainly often crowd them, and as often suffer them to stand on foul litter. 576 INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. [ClaSS XVIII, lation, prove a cause: and cold applied in any way frequently calls the disposition into action. Treatment. — It is not in general found difficult to remove the im- mediate attack ; but from the specific nature of the disease, and the connexion it has with the constitution at large, it is extremely difficult to prevent the recurrence. Common farriers attempt its present re- moval, and usually go no further. More scientific practitioners miti- gate the urgent symptoms, and then attempt to attack the cause, through the medium of the constitution at large ; though it must be owned, in general cases, their efforts are attended with very dubious success. The treatment should be always commenced by general and copious bloodletting, except in cases of much emaciation, when it should be confined to topical bleeding only. The general bleeding in a full plethoric horse may also be repeated once or twice afterwards : but when there is no existing plethora, I have not found a frequent repetition of general bleeding advance the cure. Topical evacuation of the blood may be attempted under every state of the body, and may be continued as long as any active inflammation exists : but cases will often occur when no benefit appears to result from even this. It is common both to practise and to recommend a division of, or a bleed- ing from, the temporal artery as a more than usually effective remedy ; but I have already been at some pains to point out the error of such recommendation, seeing this artery is not distributed to the eye, but is wholly spent on the masseter muscle. (See Angiology, page 147 ; see also Plate of general Splanchnology, where the distribution of this vessel is particularly and purposely traced.) Topical bleeding, however, intended to unload the vessels of the eye, can be effect- ed from a small venal ramus which enters the inner canthus of the eye ; or still more favourably by a division of the very fine vessels of the conjunctiva ; which, in these cases, may be always seen turgid and full of blood around what is called the white of the eye, as well as within the lids. It requires only moderate dexterity to do this; for if the horse be firmly twitched by the nose, the eyelids being ele- vated by one hand, with the other these vessels may be readily di- vided by means of a small scalpel, lancet, or very fine scissars. I have now and then scarified the inner surface of the eyelids in preference, and have sometimes thought I gained more benefit from it. Consi- derable amendment has also followed the use of setons placed as near the eye as possible. In some instances they have been passed through the under part of the conjunctive coat ; but I am not aware that any greater advantage has resulted from this mode, in preference to placing them in the integuments just below the eye. The general objection to setons here, is, that they leave a blemish; but by the use of a small seton needle (see Instruments) this is rendered very trifling. Rowels Under the throat are, however, not liable to this ob- jection, and, as b6ing a much larger drain, probably act with more advantage. I have occasionally tried them with evident benefit ; and as they are not likely to be rubbed out by the horse, so, in many cases, they are to be preferred. I have also blistered the cheeks with success ; but much caution is requisite to prevent the blistering matter from being rubbed into the eye itself: it may, however, be done in the Class XVIIl.] INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. 577 following manner : — Spread over a piece of stout but pliant leather, the size of the palm of the hand, a thick margin of cobbler's wax, an inch in breadth, which will leave a central part bare; over this place some stiff blister plaister, such as is used for human blisters, which is much firmer than that made by the veterinarian. Apply this, a little warmed, three inches below and behind the eye ; afterwards carefully tie the head up by each side, when no danger can occur. The external applications proper in these cases are next to be pointed out; previous to which, however, it must be remarked, that the inflammation present does not, in all instances, bear the same character ; but in some is accompanied with a higher degree of irri- tability than in others. For in some cases mildly stimulating appli- cations agree best, as vitriolic solutions, tincture of opium, diluted aether, diluted brandy, saline washes, &c.: but at other times, and that more frequently, weak solutions of the superacetate of lead are best borne, and relieve most. In these cases of high irrita- tion, poultices may be applied. I have experienced the utmost benefit from scraped carrots or turnips, and in one instance the common houseleek also was applied beneficially in this way: the most common poultices, however, are the saturnine, which may be very properly and very generally tried. But, owing to the irritability of the animal, it is often found difficult to retain a poultice: in every case, however, an apparatus of folded linen, wetted with the Goulard water or other wash, may be kept on with ease. Soft linen cloth, several times doubled, may be used for this purpose, fastened to the headstall from the ear of the affected side, as far as the centre of the collar front, hanging from this down the middle of the face over the affected eye, and then secured across by tape. This will have the double advantage, of shielding the eye from light, which is always desirable, and of keeping the medicaments constantly applied. The following formulae will be found a good one for the early states of the complaint; but, when the irritability is extreme, omit the vinegar* : — No 1. — Superacetate Csw^ar o/Zead) one dram Hose water four ounces Vinegar half an ounce Soft water a pint. Internal 7nedicines ought next to occupy our attention. In every instance, if the horse be tolerably full of condition, debar him from corn ; instead of which give bran mashes : and, if it can be procured, green meat instead of hay ; if not, give carrots, which will support the condition without heating. Every thing that requires active chewing must necessarily force much blood to the head, and, there- fore, should be avoided. Some practitioners prefer diuretics in these cases ; some purge ; and others trust principally to alteratives. I have generally found it beneficial to direct two doses of physic, and to give alteratives in the meantime. And as there are frequent rigors in some cases, and in all the skin is unthrifty, so warm clothing is advisable: and, as a farther assistant towards a determination to the skin, unite calomel, tartarised antimony, and nitre, as the alterative used. * I remember to have been induced to try warm fomentations to one case, from its extreme obstinacy. The amendment was striking. I afterwards tried it on others with variable success. 578 INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. [ClaSS XVIII. Carefully avoid every source of unhealthy irritation from dung, urine, or stables not ventilated. Exercise, for the first few days, had better be omitted, and afterwards it must not be allowed when the wind is high, or the air cold. In a week or ten days from the first attack, it may be expected that, by these means, the extreme irritation of the affection may have given way, when any of the following formulae may be tried ; for it may be remarked that, in three cases, all appearing alike, it is not uncom- mon to find each require a different application. The prudent vete- rinarian will, therefore, vary them until the benefit from one shall be evident : — No. 2.— Superacetate (sugar of lead) one dram Sulphate of zinc (white vitriol) ^ two scruples Water a pint. No. 3.— Muriate of ammonia (crude sal ammoniac) two drams Vinegar two ounces Infusion of red rose leaves a pint. No. 4. — Brandy one ounce Vinegar ,, one ounce - Tincture of opium two drams Rose water , eight ounces. No. 5. — ^ther half an ounce Infusion of oak bark six ounces. No. 6. — Rose water six ounces Mindererus's spirit (see Mat. Med.) ...... three ounces. Introduce any of these, by means of a small piece of sponge or rag? within the inner angle of the eye, gently pressing in a little, which the action of the nictating membrane, or haw, will soon carry over the surface. Various other applications have been used besides those enumerated, all with dubious permanent benefit, but many with pre- sent advantage. Among them may be noticed an infusion of deadly nightshade, which, from its wonderful properties of apparently pa- ralyzing the iris, was supposed cppable of arresting the inflammatory action : but the event has not justified the expectation. Had it proved otherwise, it would have formed a most convenient applica- tion, as it will produce its effects by absorption without actual intro- duction to the eye ; consequently an ointment rubbed on the temple would, in such case, have been sufficient. The cajeput oil has been also tried with some benefit. Gall, common salt, watery solutions of opium, of aloes, and of ground ivy also, have all of them had their advocates. The mechanical means used as remedies in this complaint have also been various. The removal of a part or of the whole of the haw has been practised under the most erroneous view of the matter : ne- vertheless the bleeding and irritation consequent to such an operation, have sometimes proved somewhat beneficial, and have thus served to perpetuate the barbarism. Taking up the carotid artery on the affected side has also been tried, under an idea of lessening the arterial deter- mination to the head. It has, however, failed in affording relief, and is altogether an ineligible practice. The temporal and angular arte- ries have been also taken up. Neither have the veins escaped, but several have been divided experimentally, and all with equal want of permanent success. The destruction of one eye has also been prac- Class XVIII.] INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE. 579 tised with lasting benefit to the remaining eye ; and this in so many instances, that it in a degree blunts the natui'al repugnance to its appa- rent brutality and violence. The benefits resulting from it are founded on a law in the animal economy, that where organs are double, as the eyes, ears, &c., the loss of one is sure to throw additional strength into the other. In correspondence with this view, it had been long observed that after both eyes had been aifected, if the disease became permanent in one, that as soon as it assumed this character the other eye recovered its remaining affection; it has, therefore, been a prac- tice with some farriers to put out the worst of the two affected eyes, for the purpose of saving one. If this should ever become general, it is evident it can only be successful before any considerable disor- ganization has proceeded in the eye attempted to be saved. The operation may be performed by introducing a couching needle within the globe, and by breaking down its texture to excite suppuration. Totally destroying all structural function in the diseased eye would probably be necessary to excite in the other the sympathy of necessity requisite to ensure its future health. To pursue the disease, it may be remarked, that consequences follow the active inflammatory attacks, which have also occasioned attempts to combat them in particular. The principal of these is the opacity of the transparent cornea, in either the form of one or more specks; or otherwise of a general pervading film, for the removal of which mechanical friction has been very generally practised by means of rough substances, as powdered glass, powdered tutty, char- coal, &c. &c. But it should be remembered that this opacity is not confined to the outer surface of the cornea, but pervades its whole substance likewise, so that, when such applications do any good, it is not by mechanical abrasion, but by stimulating the absorbents to re- move the coagulable lymph, which forms the obstructing matter. This being the case, other substances may be found more efficacious than those that are simply abrasive and rough. Calomel, acetate of lead, a mixture of chalk and powdered alum, or of white vitriol, cala- mine and tutty, &c. have been all used for this purpose. These mat- ters may be introduced by placing a little of the powder within the inner angle by the help of the fingers, leaving it to be carried over the eye by the action of the haw: but it is not prudent to blow in any powder by means of a quill, as is frequently done, for it alarms the horse, and is apt to make him shy about the head ever after. In some instances, when the disease has beeii thus far removed, I have recommended turning out to grass for a considerable time, and it has seemed as though the constitutional tendency has been removed by it, for it has never returned. In other cases it has again appeared ; nor do I think turning out proper, so long as the slightest degree of inflammation lasts, although even here it has done good. In other cases I have seen it hasten the fatal termination into cataract. When it has once occurred in young draught horses, from the increased ten- dency such work has to force blood to the head, I have always recom- mended that such horses be afterwards used only for the saddle, and this sometimes with apparent advantage. In other cases, the recur- rence appeared to be prevented by permitting horses, which were otherwise constantly in use, to lie without doors every night, and I have 580 CATARACT. [CIUSS XVllh my doubts whether this might not be often practised with more ad- vantage than any other plan. Mercurial courses, occasional physic, periodical bleedings, and often repeated alteratives, have all been tried, but have too frequently failed. Nevertheless it is left to the dis- cretionary judgment of the veterinarian to determine which means to adopt, seeing all have occasionally evinced some preventive efficacy. CATARACT. The specific ophthalmia just described has too common a tendency to terminate in cataract ; which as it never appears, as in the human, as a distinct disease, independent of the active inflammation of oph- thalmia; so it can hardly be said to merit a distinct place among the diseases of the horse. There is in the cataract of horses, indepen- dent of the opacity of the lens, generally much derangement of the other internal parts of the eye, particularly of the iris, which some- times adheres to the lens, at others to the cornea, and in some cases it is so contracted as to render the cataract hardly perceptible. This internal derangement, therefore, prevents any benefit being derived from the operation of couching or extracting in him ; add to which, a horse so operated on would be under the necessity, to render the operation useful, to wear glasses ever after. It has, however, been suggested that, even without glasses, so much benefit might be gained from it as to prevent accidents, as running against posts, falling into pits, &c. This, however, would be greatly overbalanced by the im- perfect vision of other objects, and a horse, so operated on, would be sure to become very startlish. If, nevertheless, any person should be disposed to try the effects, the operation of couching is by no means so difficult as imagined, as the eye may be reached and steadied through the great orbitary fossa, which, being opened for that pur- pose, facilitates the operation. It has also been attempted without this*. A^ccidental Ophthalmia. — The horse, it is evident, must be liable to receive injuries of the eyes, in common with other animals ; the conse- quences of which are the ophthalmic inflammation, without its specific tendency to recurrence ; at least when it occurs in a horse which had not before the constitutional predisposition. The symptoms are si- milar with those already detailed : but it may be right to remark of these cases, that although the symptoms are at first considerable, yet they more readily yield to a judicious treatment, and the amendment, once begun, is regular and progressive, and not subject to the varieties present in the specific affection. It may, there- fore, not be improper here to introduce a caution to the veterina- rian, that he should always first minutely inspect the insides of the eyelids on any occasion of ophthalmia. I have more than once found a hay-seed in the eye; once also a splinter proved the offending cause: and in such cases it would not be creditable to the medical attendant's abilities, to have this discovered by the groom. It should, likewise,^ be remembered by the veterinary practitioner, that it is always pru- * A Monsieur Valet was mentioned to me, while in France, as having operated both in couching and extracting the lens, but I could not learn the result. Class XIX.] GUTTA SERENA GREASE. 581 dent, and often indeed necessary, to ascertain, if possible, whether the disease be really of the true specific kind, or the simple effect of external injury. Various circumstances, besides those already point- ed out, will assist him in this respect, though they may not fully en- sure him ; such as the age, the condition, and the other liabilities. For, unless he can ascertain this point, his treatment may be either too little or too much for the occasion ; and, at all events, his prog- nosis of future return must be very open to error. The Treatment of accidental ophthalmia must correspond with that already laid down for the specific affection. GUTTA SERENA. Farriers call this complaint glass eyes, from the peculiar glassy appearance the eyes put on. It is supposed to consist of a paralysis of the optic nerve, and the remedies that have been made use of with success in the human subject seem to justify this idea. By others it is, however, thought to arise from the effects of inflammation, by which coagulable lymph is placed over the optic nerve, thus rendering the retina inaccessible to the stimulus of light. Any irritation on the tubercula quadragemini, as a spiculi of bony excrescence, or even pressure of any kind on them, which is liable to arise within the head from many causes, may occasion it. The veterinarian, and, indeed, every one concerned in horses, should make himself familiar with the appearance this complaint puts on, otherwise he may lie open to se- rious imposition. In amaurosis, a horse presents indications of blind- ness in his manner, though but little in his eyes ; he seems cautious in stepping, and moves his ears quickly : but, above all, a hand moved close to the eye occasions no winking, unless held close enough for the motion to influence the air around, which an artful person might ma- nage with ease. When this kind of eye is examined closely, the pupil will be found of one invariable si^ze, and will not enlarge and diminish as in a healthy horse, when removed farther from, or nearer to, the light. The reason of which is, that the retina, ceasing to be open to the luminous ray, no longer influences the contractions of the iris. It is, therefore, from the peculiarities in the manner of the horse, from the want of motion in the iris, or rather from the invariable size of the pupil, and also from a greenish glassy cast in such eyes, that these cases may be distinguished. As it has hitherto proved incurable, we shall waste no time on its treatment. CLASS XIX. DISEASES OF THE SKIN. GREASE. [Eaux aux Jambes. THIS disease appears to be an inflammation of the integuments and of the secreting capillaries of the lower part of the hind or of the fore legs, having something of a specific character attached to it. At 582 GREAsiE. [Cto^XIX. least we are warranted in concluding it such, from what occurs in cow- pox, which is a specific affection which may he drawn from this source : hut the human ulcerated sore leg would produce no effect on another person, or on any animal ; because the inflammation is ordinary, and not specific. The disease appears to have its origin in debility, either general or local. It originates in general debility, when the system at large is debile from long-continued disease ; or from want of pro- per nutriment ; or from long-continued exertion : in which cases these parts being farther removed from the source of circulation, which it- self labours under additional languor, they must suffer proportionally in a greater degree than those more within the sphere of the action of the heart ; and hence accumulation takes place, which, if not removed, terminates in grease. This species of general debility appears a na- tural occurrence in spring and autumn, when horses are moulting or casting their hair, at which times swelled legs are very prevalent. Grease may be said to have local debility for its cause, when the powers of the system are not properly balanced, as when there is great general vigour, with perhaps increased action from plethora, and likewise little waste to the system by exercise. Fluids press, not in proportion to their diameter, but to the height of their column ; hence we can readily suppose that the venous blood must find a diffi- culty to its ascent. This resistance, at all times considerable, is much increased by circumstances, as size, in a tall long-legged horse ; it is also increased in plethoric horses kept without exercise, because, not receiving additional aids from the pressure of the surround- ing parts, accumulation takes place: and in a greater degree, when the whole vascular system is in a state of distention : weakness, there- fore, is still more certain in those distended vessels remote from the influence of the heart, under all which circumstances the effects we treat of necessarily ensue. The capillaries of the pasterns likewise become unequal to the exertion of pressing forward the column of blood into the veins, when, to their natural remoteness from the source of circulation, any additional cause is superadded, either of weakness in themselves, or of resistance in the veins. For it must not be sup- posed that by this mode of reasoning we mean to infer any original defect in the parts. Nature formed the balance of power equal, as she made the functions equal ; but this balance is kept up in some parts by their own force, and in others by the aid of other powers. Animals, being formed always for a life of nature, have no alteration in structure to accommodate them to a life of art, beyond their natu- ral powers of bearing this change ; hence, therefore, though the ves- sels, at this remove from the heart, must be supposed weaker in indi- vidual strength; yet, in a state of nature, they become equal from the support and assistance they derive from surrounding parts, more par- ticularly from the pressure of the neighbouring muscles, tendons, li- gaments, and integuments, during exercise ; for by this means the ca- pillaries of the skin are pressed upon to throw their blood into the veins, and are themselves likewise acted on and assisted in their func- tions by the same aids : a temporary respite is likewise given to them by the blood being forced into the superficial order. By this pressure, during exercise, the cellular membrane also is itself pressed upon io resist accumulation : and, lastly, the absorbents by this means b^- Class XIX.] GREASE. 583 come stimulated to greater action to remove any deposit that may have been formed. This is evident from the effect which takes place upon horses with swelled legs, which enlargements are removed by a few minutes exercise. In a state of nature, horses have these benefits arising from exercise constantly, and in due degree ; for it is so neces- sary to their well being, that nature has given them an appetite al- most equal in its stimulus to hunger, which is a love oi play, to gra- tify which they are compelled to exertion and exercise. This is wisely given strongest in those in whom it is most necessary ; in the young to enforce the circulation, that the vessels may be stimulated to their deposit for the growth of parts ; and in the lusty and ple- thoric, that the absorbents may be kept in equal action with the se- creting vessels : hence when, perchance, horses might find their food readily and without exertion, if they did not feel a stimulus to exer- cise by a love of play, they would become too fat, and fall into dis- ease : we, therefore, see them at grass several times in the day race round a field with all the frolicksome sport of children. In the weak- ened and the old, in whom the absorption is equal, and often greater than the deposit, this would be unnecessary, and they are thus not stimulated by this passion. (See the subject. Exercise.) The horse is, therefore, an animal intended by nature for exertion ; and, when- ever we deprive him of exercise, we prevent the proper balance of power being kept up between different parts of the frame, and hence we must expect disease to take place; and thus it is that, whenever these animals are confined, and at the same time well fed, they almost invariably have swelled legs : and for the same reason it is that within twenty-four hours, horses taken up from grass or a straw yard begin to swell in their legs. We deviate likewise from a state of nature, when we feed horses overmuch ; for in these cases a larger quantity of blood is formed, which produces a distention in the vessels in general ; and if to this plethoric state the want of exercise be added, these parts will be most likely to suffer from the reasons before given. They will first be- come distended, the consequence of which will be an inflammatory re- action of the vessels, by which the greasy secretion of the skin of the heels will become diseased ; and the parts, that should have thrown out mucus in small quantities, will now pour forth a serous effusion in the form of cracTcs, or a general purulent one under the character of grease. A local stimulus is equally an after parent of debility, and therefore encourages grease. It is from this cause that it so fre- quently follows blistering ; and if a horse be incautiously blistered in the hinder legs in the winter, grease is almost sure to follow. Cold and moisture are likewise circumstances favourable to the generating of this disease. Cold is unfavourable to absorption ; it likewise weakens the general energy of the parts, and suspends the circulation ; and, when this has happened, on the return of warmth the circulation becomes increased, and the vessels, being weakened, are rendered in- capable of contracting on their contents. It is perhaps to the pre- sence of cold, and its effects on the constitution, that swelled legs, cracks, and grease, are so much more common in winter. Grease has even been called a winter disease and the chilblain of horses. Mois- ture is likewise favourable to the complaint, for it first produces a de- pp 584 GREASE. [Class XIX. termination to the parts, and then, as a parent of cold, it weakens the already-distended vessels. I was informed that, in a regiment of dragoons stationed in America, one oflEicer was favourable to the cus- tom of washing the heels of horses, and which custom he was per- mitted to exercise on his own troop ; the result was, that this indivi- dual troop in three months furnished more than twenty greased horses, and the remainder of the regiment not more than two or three. It is, however, probable that there is nothing immediately detrimental in the simple washing; the evil arises from the legs being permitted to dry without friction, by which means evaporation generates cold. It has been very ingeniously argued by Mr. Richard Lawrence, that the removing the hair of the heels is a very common cause of grease ; but as, whenever accidental wet occurs, this hair must retain a large quantity of moisture, and hence be long in drying, occasioning a large evaporation, and thus generating much cold ; so it may be doubted whether it is so detrimental. It is seldom, likewise, when there is much hair, that the dirt can be effectually removed from the legs ; in- deed it is too apt to be altogether neglected in such horses ; though Mr. L. appears to think that the hair itself prevents the application of either dirt or moisture to the legs. That it may prevent the access of dirt in a degree, I believe ; but I think it is evident that it does not prevent the access of moisture, by nature having supplied the surface itself with a defence of another kind from the secreted matter ; on the contrary it retains it, as may be readily seen when they get once well soaked. Reasoning from analogy, from the resistance which feathers give to wet, is fanciful, but erroneous. The hair appears in a natu- ral state to answer two wise purposes ; it keeps the heels warm, which, from their distance from the heart, and from their exposure, require such a covering ; it likewise prevents injury to the heels and fetlocks, from stumps and stones, with which,, in a state of nature, most parts of the earth are covered : that this is true appears from what we ob- serve in blood horses, who, as being natives of a sandy hot soil, re- quire no defence either from cold or from stones, and hence have no long hair on their fetlocks. That it is even with us a defence from the cold cannot be denied ; but, then, the benefit is counterbalanced by the evil of our permitting these parts to remain in our stables wet, thus generating cold, and applying it to the parts intended to be warmed. And as a defence, except to farmers' horses at plough, or to foresters' horses, it is unnecessary, for our fields are smooth, and our roads are levelled. The hair being suffered to remain, indepen- dent of its generating cold when wet, prevents the benefits of friction, by which warmth is produced and absorption promoted ; nor are we liable, when the hair is long and thick, to detect the complaints of these parts in their early stages. The acclivity oi the stalls in our stables has been considered as aiding the other causes of grease, and with some apparent propriety; for it tends to throw considerable weight on the hinder extremities, and, by the unnatural position of the heels, puts the parts on the stretch, and hence weakens them. The hinder legs are much oftener affected with grease than the fore, which their situation sufficiently accounts for: they have less of the influence of the heart, and are forced to depend on their own «»nergy more than the fore extremities, which are much nearer the Class XIX.] GREASE. 585 source of circulation, and thus experience more of its power. To this it may be added, that the hinder legs miss some of the benefits that the fore experience from art ; for in many instances, indeed in most, grooms, from a certain fear, rab tlie hinder legs less than those before: they seldom dare trust themselves on their knees, or seldom employ both hands at once to the hinder extremities ; and not only do these parts feel the want of this, but they are also more exposed to cold in the stable, and more liable to the ill effects of moist dung or wet litter. Thick fleshy-legged horses are peculiarly liable to grease ; therefore it is very prevalent among cart and coach horses, particu- larly of the low heavy breed : but among those which have a mixture of what is termed blood, in whom the cellular membrane is in small quantities, it is little known : hence, as this breed is now more in use than formerly, so grease is not so prevalent among coach horses. Co- lour, likewise, as it marks debility, so it influences grease ; that is, it has been remarked that white-legged horses are more liable to cracks, to grease, and to diseases of the feet, than others, whose legs are dark. The Cure of Grease. — Grease has several stages or states, each of which presents considerable varieties ; and according to the existing state or stage, so will the proper treatment vary. It must likewise vary according to the cause from whence the disease arose. When this affection is accompanied with great general vigour, or originates from plethora, which is a parent of local debility, as we have explained ; it often shews itself in the form of cracks, which come on without great previous swelling. But when grease originates in general debi- lity, it frequently first assumes the form of swelled legs. However, these must not be considered as invariable facts, though sufficiently common. These several states or appearances which grease assumes have different terms, and are apt to be considered as distinct dis- eases: but the causes producing any one of them may produce the other, and the treatment of all must be grounded on the same prin- ciples: nevertheless, for simplicity of reference we shall consider these several states separately, still blending the character of the specific affection and the treatment. Swelled legs without discharge have been already fully considered, with dropsical swellings. See Class VIII. See also Condition. Oi Cracks. — As a consequence of general plethora, the capillaries of the heels are subject to have their secretion not only increased, but to have it altered also. This state is frequently the consequence of a sudden change in the habit of life, and therefore frequently shews itself in young horses at once removed without caution from grass or straw, to hot stables and corn. At first there will be simply heat and itching in the part ; the horse will be observed to rub one leg against the other, and sometimes . to stamp with his foot, the whole surface appearing more red than be- fore, but perhaps without enlargement. If this state be not attended to, there succeeds an oozing out of a serous discharge from a kind of crack, of which there are sometimes several. Occasionally the suppu- rative state follows so closely on the adhesive inflammation, that pus . or matter appears to flow from them from the first ; but, if suffered to proceed, pus always comes from them first or last. In this early state, frequently little more is necessary than a saturnine wash, joined with Pp2 586 OF CRACKS. [Class XIX. attention to regular exercise ; proportioning the food to the exertion ; keeping the parts free from dirt, from moisture, and from permanent cold. But when they occur in a horse of a very full plethoric habit, and an ulcerative process is fully established, the cracks shewing much virulence and tenderness, then something more is necessary, as a moderate bleeding, with alteratives, and a nightly bran mash ; or even one or two doses of physic may be prudent, if the horse should be of a very gross habit. The cracks themselves must be carefully washed with warm water, whenever the horse returns from exercise ; after which, bathe with any mild astringent lotion, as the following : — No. 1.— Superacetate (sugar of lead) two drams, Sulphate of zinc (white vitriol) one dram, Infusion of oak bark «... a pint. Mix. Sometimes the irritability of the parts requires the application of a cooling poultice, previous to the use of the astringent, which will now and then irritate, until the inflammation has been a little appeased by milder applications. In these cases a turnip or scraped carrot poultice will often prove very beneficiaL These cases sometimes prove very ob- stinate, particularly when they occur in coarse horses, and have been brought on by sudden changes of stabling, feeding, &c. I have occa- sionally found nothing prevent fixed grease from supervening but turning to grass. Swelled Legs, with Discharge. — ^When grease has its origin in general debility, there is usually accumulation, in the first instance, within the cellular membrane, as well as a serous discharge from one or more cracks over the general surface of the heels. The curative plan in this case differs from the former, and is more complicated. It should be commenced by lessening the watery deposit ; to which end we must diminish the distending column of blood, but not by general bleeding, for that would weaken, and thus increase the disease ; but by taking away that part of the blood that can best be spared, by which means we strengthen the distended vessels, without ex- hausting the system. This we do by very mild diuretics, by reme- dies determining the watery parts of the blood towards the skin in the form of perspiration, and sometimes also by mild purges ; but the former are more immediately advisable in general debility ; because in these eases, particularly by mild diuretics, the watery parts of the blood are, as it were, simply separated: whereas, purging appears to be more the increase of a secretion, that answers some necessary pur- pose in the system, and, as such, the operation calls more of the powers of the constitution forth, without any additiomal advantage. This appears the proper mode of considering this circumstance gene- rally ; but I must not forbear to mention, that I have now and then, even in cases of emaciation, witnessed the good effect of one or two mild doses of physic ; the discharge has mended, the horse's carcase has become let down, and other signs of improved condition have ap- peared. It was before hinted that cases occur of discharge from the heels, where astringents, immediately applied, only irritate. Every practitioner must have met with such instances, as they are sufficiently common ; the cause of which is attributed by farriers to humour. Without cavilling about this extensive term, we know that this form Class XIX.] SWELLED LEGS, WITH DISCHARGE. 587 of the complaint originates in an irritable and inflammatory state of the vessels^ which must be altered before they will suffer themselves to be even gently stimulated by the mildest astringent applications. This irritable state is easily detected by the red sore look of the heels, the ichorous discharge, the tenderness to the touch, and the stiffness on motion ; and it is also frequently characterised by the inflammation going on, actually making the heels smoke. This highly irritable state of the vessels can only be reduced by poultices. Sometimes it most readily yields to those made with bran, and wetted with Goulard water : other cases are most benefitted by those made of scraped car- rots ; others by mashed turnips, previously boiled (see Poultices, Mat. Med.). By the use of this kind of softening application, the heat, the tenderness, and the redness, will abate : the discharge also from a thin ichorous one will become white, bland, and purulent. At the same time, likewise, that the poultices are producing this effect on the dis- charge, the general swelling should be counteracted by alteratives. The following unites the necessary properties: — No. 2. — Oxymuriate of quicksilver (corrosive sublimate) ten grains, Supertartrate of potash {cream of tartar) three drams,^ Nitrate of potash {nitre) ditto, Prepared antimony ....ditto. Give this every night in a mash, except the complaint take place in a very emaciated horse ; when, instead of the oxymuriate of quicksilver, substitute the same quantity of arsenic. On the contrary, if the pa- tient be of a very full plethoric habit, add one or two drams of powdered aloes to the diuretic, making the whole into a ball instead of a powder ; watching, however, the action of the aloes, that it does not proceed to active purging or griping. In some cases, when the expense has not been an object,! have found the following an excellent alterative in cases of grease ; — No. 3."— Sulphuretted quicksilver (jEthiopg mineral) .... half an ounce, Supertartrate of potash one ounce. Give every night in a mash. In these cases, also, one or two doses of mild physic are often useful ; and when the parts have been brought into a proper state for the action of astringent applications, wash with No. 1 ; or, instead, either of the following may be sprinkled over the sores : — No. 4.— 'Powdered oak bark , one ounce, Sviba.cet3.te of copper {powdered verdigris) two drams. Or, No. 5.— Alum, finely powdered, one dram. Charcoal, ditto half an ounce, Chalk, ditto «.... two ounces. No. 6.— Subacetate of copper (verdigris) .... half an ounce. Prepared calamine an ounce, Tar four ounces. Mix, and smear the parts lightly night and morning, and after each exercising, having first washed them with warm water. When, also, much tumefaction takes place, united to the use of any of these, a linen bandage is often beneficial ; beginning at the coronet, and rolling it more than half way up the leg, being careful that it is only done with a very moderate degree of tightness at first. As amendment proceeds. 588 SWELLED LEGS, WITH DISCHARGE. [ClaSS XIX. great care is requisite to prevent relapse, by avoiding the original ex- citing causes. This will be best effected, in full strong subjects, by long-continued walking exercise, with moderate feeding, particularly by the use of green meat in summer, and of carrots in winter, avoiding much corn, but, in lieu, allowing a sufficient quantity of less heating food, as those kinds already particularised. Bran mashes, as tending to open the body, should not be lost sight of ; and when it can be con- veniently managed, place the horse in a loose box. But when the complaint occurs in one already emaciated, or weakened from other causes, give only moderate exercise, but let this be compensated by a loose place to live in ; feed liberally with green meat in summer, and an occasional malt mash ; and, in winter, give carrots, beet, boiled potatoes, or other food of this kind. I have, in cases where these could not be got, experienced the greatest benefit from spearing the corn, for the use of such horses as were low in their flesh and condi- tion. (See 3Iateria MecUca.) Any change of food, almost, is proper ; at least, any not manifestly injudicious, I once observed the best ef- fects follow the substituting of beans for oats, and this in a horse not particularly emaciated ; but I had previously remarked, that oats passed av/ay unchanged, which ground beans did not do. Before we quit the subject it may not be improper to remark, that this species of grease is frequently the result of blisters injudiciously applied, when the legs are in a state of sv/elling and debility ; and it may be offered, as a caution to the junior practitioner, that he never attempts a blister, particularly of the hind legs, under such circum- stances. For, towards the close of the year, or during winter, or when- ever there is a previous determination towards the heels, if blisters are applied without considerable precautions and subsequent care, it will be hardly possible to prevent the legs, ppa'ticularly the hinder, from becoming greasy immediately afterwards. Confirmed Grease. — This is to be considered only as a more ag- gravated stage or state of the former ; in which case the matter that issues has a foetid peculiar smell, which strongly characterises the dis- ease ; so much so, that a person used to it can at once tell whether a greasy horse be in a stable or not. The inflammation that was before principally confined to the secreting capillaries, now affects the integuments generally, producing extensive ulceration with intermedi- ate dry horny scabs : the hair stands erect ; the whole surface becomes exquisitely sensible and vascular, bleeding on the slightest touch ; and the vessels of the heels not only secrete pus, but some of them take on a peculiar action, and form horn ; so that, in the advanced stages and violent degrees of this complaint, hardened horny knobs form over the fetlock, some of them being vascular, while others are more hard and insensible ; and which protuberant portions are called grapes, from their figure. The constitution sympathises much with this extreme state of grease, and the horse, unless very well fed, becomes weak, lean, and irritable : good pus or matter is seldom produced, but a pe- culiar foetid discharge. Treatment. — It becomes a question, whether, in a case of confirmed grease, even if it Avere in our power, it would be prudent to stop the discharge at once ; for when secreting vessels have been long habitu- ated to any action, they can seldom be suddenly checked with impu- Class XIX.] CONFIRMED GREASE. 589 nity ; and in this case also, were the running stopped without previous preparation for the change, it is more than probable that some morbid effects would arise. To commence the Cure, therefore, of confirmed grease, we must prepare some other parts to take on this action of forming pus. But it is to be first remembered, that the discharge from grease is seldom a healthy one, and it is hence much more diffi- cult to check than one that is simply purulent ; therefore, while some other parts are preparing to receive this purulent action, the heels themselves should be subjected to a treatment that may produce a more healthy secretion in them. The best means I have ever witnessed for effecting this, has been a fermenting poultice, made with either barley meal, flour, oatmeal, linseed, or any other farinaceous matter capable of fermenting with yeast. This should be applied every day, as soon as mixed, and suffered to perform all its fermentative process on the leg ; when, by the action of the carbonic acid gas, or fixed air let loose, it is remarkable what a change is performed on the part, bringing on, from the most ichorous discharge and irritable state, a mild bland pus-like fluid, with a decrease of irritability. (See the formulae for these, under Poultices, Mat. Med.) Should either the trouble or expense of these be objected to, a carrot or turnip poultice may be tried instead, either of which may be applied till it produces a secretion of healthy matter ; but it must be remembered, previous to the use of these means, that no ulcer shews a favourable disposition to heal so long as its surface remains above the level of the surrounding healthy parts ; therefore it is essentially necessary to the cure, that these sprouting luxurious portions should be reduced even with the surrounding integuments. Caustics only render these grapes, as they are termed, more luxurious ; but the mode best adapted to their re- moval is, to scrape off all the horny deposit, and thus level the surface with a very blunt knife ; which, when effected, the poultice may be applied as directed. To prepare the other parts to take on the form- ation of matter ; on the first day of applying the poultice, if the horse be large and tolerably strong, put a rowel in the belly, and introduce a seton on the inner side of each thigh ; or place two rowels only, one in each thigh. If the horse be either small or weak, one rowel will be sufficient. In three days the maturating of the rowel and setons will be complete ; and, in this time, by the above means, the heels will have taken on a more healthy action: it is now, therefore, that we are to attempt the stoppage of the discharge, which can only be done by the use of the most active of those applications, termed astringents, which will stimulate the parts to take on the adhesive inflammation. For this purpose either of the following may be tried as a wash, to be used daily, or every other, or every third day, or as often as the irritability of the parts will permit : some cases may require either of these ap- plications strengthened, others weaker than here detailed : try, how- ever, the weaker first : — No. 7. — Nitric acid (aquafortis) one ounce, Water eight ounces. Mix. No, 8. — Sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) one ounce, Water ,....* , ten ounces. Mix. 590 CONFIRMED GREASE. [ClaSS XIX. No. 9*.— .Oxymuriate of quicksilver (corrosive siiblimate) three drams, Spirit of wine or brandy one ounce, Soft water ten ounces. Dissolve the mercury in the spirit by the help of a mortar, then add the water. No. 10.— Subacetate of copper Cverdi^m) . , . half an ounce, Sulphate of a\um(^alum) ditto. Sulphate of zinc Cro^ife riirtoZ) .... ditto, Superacetate of lead Csugar of lead) . . ditto, Tar six ounces. Mix. This may be smeared over the parts daily, and will seldom occasion so much irritation as the former ; but it is essential to the cure that a considerable inflammation should be raised ; the necessary degree of which must depend on the state of the case, and temperament of the patient. The clivers, or goose grass, has been likewise extolled as a remedy for bad grease cases : four ounces of the expressed juice are di- rected to be given daily, as a drink, and a poultice of the herb, mashed^ is to be applied to the heels. When the discharge has ceased, it will sometimes be found that coagulable lymph has been thrown out, by which a hardened, thickened state of the limb remains ; blisters may, in this case, be first tried, to promote the removal, assisted by a run at grass ; but should these, as is sometimes the case, fail, the stimulus of firing should be tried. It must likewise be remembered, that this com- plaint is very liable to recur again ; the parts have taken on a habit, which, though removed, they easily assume again, and the secreting surface is likev/ise increased. This recurrence is also best prevented by firing, for by this means there is a great lessening of secreting sur- face, by the making an extensive cicatrix or scar ; and the limb gains additional strength by the artificial bandage which the firing occasions. A remedy, not, I believe, much known, and which I have had few op- portunities of trying myself, is, however, well worthy the practitioner's attention, which is that of active pressure : where it can be borne, it has given considerable relief in the form of a uniform bandage of con- siderable tightness. Nothing has hitherto been said on internal medi- cines, nor on other parts of the treatment as regards food, or exercise ; in fact, it will at once strike the judicious reader, that exactly the same rules, and the same cautions, will apply here, as have been detailed when treating on the other states and stages of this complaint. The constitutional tendency to disease must be equally amended by the in- ternal remedies there laid down. MALLENDERS AND SALLENDERS. [La Malandre et Solandre. When a disease appears in the follicular openings on the integu- ments, exhibiting a scurfy or scabby eruption at the posterior part of the bending of the knee, it is termed mallenders : and when a similar one appears at the ply, or bending of the hock in fiont, it is called ^ Mr. White relates two remarkable cases of confirmed and virulent grease, cvired by the application of corrosive sublimate in the form of a wash, when other means had failed. I have also often seen it beneficial : the strength of the appli- cation should be increased to the full amount that the animal can bear. CtesXIX.] MALLENDERS — SALLENDERS WARTS — MANGE, 591 sallenders. Neither of them lame or do much harm ; but sometimes, when neglected, they degenerate into a more ichorous discharge, a little more troublesome, and always unsightly. Both of them are very easily removed by washing with soap and water, and by applying the following : — Camphor one dram, Subacetate of lead Csit^ar o/?eae of the utmost consequence that every thing worn by the horse should be carefully washed with soap and water ; as, the cloathing, halter, and, in fact, every appointment used. The stable utensils, and the stable itself, should be purified also by lime whitening, or washing with pearlash ; otherwise the dis- ease may be again taken from these things. It is also necessary that the veterinarian should caution the attendants about mangy animals to be careful of themselves ; I have seen the itch taken from a mangy horse more than once : but, as soon as any proper applications are used, little danger is then present ; in fact, it ceases with the first dressing '&■ HIDEBOUND. I HAVE had many occasions of noticing that this popular term is erroneously applied, and that the ejfect is frequently mistaken for the cause. It is very seldom that hidebound exists as a ^r2m«r|/ disease of the skin, but as a symptomatic affection it is sufficiently common. It is unnecessary to enlarge farther on it ; the introduction of it here is merely intended to keep the systematic order of diseases complete. All that regards the practical consideration is detailed under the article Condition, page 62. CLASS XX. DISEASES OF THE FEET. FOUNDER. I BELIEVE that every veterinary practitioner at all attached to his profession, has some particular hobby-horse in it; that is, that some one particular branch, sometimes one particular disease even, engrosses all his leisure attention. Most unfortunately it often hap- pens that the one chosen is nearly, or perhaps wholly, incurable : the selection of which I should suppose could only arise from the glory of conquering the hitherto unconquered. Mr. Coleman spent much time in combating the ophthalmia; Mr. Morecroft, m forging of shoes; Mr. White, in experimenting on the glanders. Others have devoted their attention to the farcy. Mr. Bracy Clark's extreme ingenuity 594 ACUTE FOUNDER. {Class XX. has been wasted, I am afraid, in devising a method o( fastening shoes without the assistance of nails. While a new method of castration oc- cupies the mind of another, who lives in a neighbourhood where a stal- lion does not reside once a quarter. My hobhy, from the beginning of my veterinary pursuits, was the diseases of the feet in general, but that oi founder in particular ; and though, like my cotemporaries, I may not have advanced as much as I could wish towards a cure, I feel con- fident that, if I could infuse my ideas into the minds of persons con- nected with the management of horses, the prevention of many dis- eases incident to the feet, but of founder in particular, would be the consequence, and this by no secret method, but by a simple at- tention to the subject, on the broad scale of the economy of the animal in general, and the functions of the parts concerned in particular. I am the more led to this conclusion from the circumstance of my never having had a horse who became diseased in the feet while in my pos- session; and, although I have purchased a great number who have been faulty in this respect when bought, T do not remember failing to rer- lieve every one, so as to render him serviceable to me, and comfortable to himself: and I am much mistaken, if the following observations and directions were properly attended to, whether others would not experience the same benefit. Founder y as a general subject, is very important ; and when it is considered as probable, that if it does not destroy, it at least renders useless more horses than all other diseases put together, its import- ance can hardly be rated too high. To a proper consideration of it,- however, it must be regarded as consisting of two kinds, and these es- sentially differing from each other. The one is an acute attack, de- pendent on diffused inflammation or fever, like the inflammations of any other important organs : the other, a chronic, occasioned by local inflammation, sometimes dependent on constitutional liability, but much more frequently on outward occasional causes. ACUTE FOUNDER. [Fourboure. Of all the definite and well-marked diseases of the horse, this has been most mistaken among the older farriers, and the least noticed among the modern. In many works on farriery it is not even mention- ed, and in most it is little more than hinted at. I am at a loss to account for this, seeing that, though not a frequent disease, it is yet sufficiently common to have been many times met with by every practitioner who has only a tolerable range of veterinary practice : and, when so met with, it is, both in appearances and effects, too characteristic to be easily passed over without impressing the mind forcibly. Among com- mon farriers, when this disease occurs, it has been very generally mis- taken for an affection of the loins or chest ; and thus, their applications being made to these parts, it has usually terminated either in the death of the horse, or in incurable lameness. Acute Founder appears to have two origins. In one instance it is dependent on a true metastasis of primary fever. Professor Huzard says," Cette maladie (Fievre inflammatoire simple) d'abord generale a toute Teconomie, se termine souvent par resolution mais degenero aussi en affection locale, et se change en affection inflammatoire, soit Class XX.] ACUTE FOUNDER. 595 des poumons, soit de quelques parties musculaires, soit enfin, et le plus souvent dans le cheval en inflammation du tissue reticulaire du sabot." In the other case, the attack appears made more directly on the feet themselves. I have seen it consequent on translation of fever in pneumonia, and it has occurred likewise from phrenitis and en- teritis also. In some instances it can he directly traced to the effect of obstructed perspiration ; or at least of the sudden alternations of temperature operating in the production of general febrile affection, whose translation to the feet is sometimes perhaps accidental, and at others may be produced by some cause which has already weakened them. In this latter way, it often occurs after very severe exertions, as very hard riding or driving, with previous, present, or subsequent exposure to wet or cold, particularly of the feet, as washing them im- mediately after the horse arrives. I once saw it produced by permitting a horse to stand in the snow, after being violently driven. Or the ten- dency may, perhaps, be sometimes occasioned by first exposing the feet to extreme cold, and then suddenly removing them into a warm stable ; the vessels of the feet, not being able to bear this sudden alteration, dis- tend, and fall into inflammation. It may, in any of these cases, occur prior to the fever, which will then be symptomatic ; or it maybe conse- quent to it, when the founder itself is the effect of metastasis ; and both are frequently occasioned, as before stated, by violent and long-con- tinued exertions, particularly on hard roads, with subsequent exposure to cold, especially to the custom of washing the feet and legs when hot. It is no argument against this, that it is done daily to coach and post horses ; habit reconciles the most contradictory practices. A careless rider or driver travels his horse in a cold day, perhaps through the snow, twenty or twenty-five miles in two hours and a half: being thoughtful only of himself, at his baiting place, he delivers his horse to an unfeeling stableman, with — * Here, ostler, take care of my horse; I shall want him in two hours.* In a profuse sweat, the poor animal is taken into the stable to stale, and to have his harness or saddle and bridle taken off, and, within five minutes after, he is again brought out and hung at the door with the bleak air acting on his smoaking car- case ; added to which, his feet and legs are deluged with water ; and when, from the excess of cold, his perspiration is absorbed, and his skin dry, he is taken in to be fed. Such a horse almost necessarily takes cold. If he had been travelled only six or eight miles, still he would most likely have caught cold, because he had been injudiciously exposed ; but then there would have been, perhaps, no preference of parts. That is, in the former case, the long journey, and the quick- ness of it on a hard road, having heated and tendered the feet, they were the parts most disposed to fail ; and the old adage is here made good, that tlie weakest must go to the wall. And, likewise, had the horse travelled slowly, or a moderate distance only, but yet in the face of the wind, with SifteT exT^osuie, he would be equally subject to an inflammatory attack, but then it would have been catarrh, or pneu- monia ; because the head, neck, and chest had been most exposed. Had the wind blown keenly from behind, and the journey been pursued with but moderate speed, it might then have occasioned rheumatism in the loins, or inflammation of the bowels ; or, in fact, whatever part had at that time been accidentally or constitutionally the weakest. 596 ACUTE FOUNDER. [Class XX. would probably bavc been the object affected. I mean by this to prove, that acute founder comes on like any other topical inflammation, and only operates on the feet, because in an attack of cold y under such cir- cumstances as those pointed out, they are the most weakened parts. Founder may be confined to one foot, to two, or it may attack the whole four ; but it is more common to the fore feet. I have seen it at- tack all the feet, apparently occasioned by the weight of the body and congestion, from long confinement. Symptoms of ylcute Founder. — When a horse labours under this complaint, the attendants are usually unconscious of the real nature of the disease ; and it is not unfrequent that even the medical practi- tioner, when called in, does not immediately detect it, unless much used to these cases: for he finds the horse heaving at his flanks, with a quick labouring pulse; and, on inquiry, he hears that the attack commenced with a rigor or shivering fit ; that the suffering animal has been lying down and getting up frequently ; groaning with excess of pain, and occasionally breaking out into cold and profuse sweats. In such case, unless he be informed that the horse has been ridden or driven with violence, and afterwards exposed to cold; or, unless his eye catches the particular disinclination to remain on his feet, with their extreme heat, he is at a loss, frequently, whether to consider it an attack on the bowels, kidnies, or bladder ; or an inflammatory or rheumatic fever. An experienced practitioner will, however, even though called in at first, when the symptoms are not altogether per- fectly well marked, still observe that though the horse appear to suffer much pain, and to lie down and rise frequently ; yet, that he does not attempt to roll, he does not look at his flanks, or kick his belly ; and that, although not yet arrived at the height of the complaint, he betrays a peculiar manner of shifting and lifting up his legs ; standing likewise particularly, by either drawing his hinder ones much under him to relieve the fore, or placing the fore under the chest to relieve the hinder, according as one or the other are the principal seat of in- flammation ; or, by a marked disinclination to remain long up, when the whole of them are affected. The practitioner will, however, be commonly saved the trouble of much discrimination ; for he will, in general cases, not be called in till the features of the complaint are sufficiently marked, by the utter impossibility to make the horse re- main on his legs ; on the contrary, when forced up, he lies down again almost immediately, exhibiting every symptom of distress and uneasi- ness. As soon, likewise, as the complaint has arisen to any height, the feet will be found intensely hot, and the pastern arteries pulsating very strongly; which alone would serve to mark the disease. There is sometimes some little tumefaction around the fetlocks, and when one foot is held up for examination, it gives so much pain to the other, that the horse is in danger of falling. The poor beast groans and breaks out into profuse sweats at one time, and, at others, is cold ; his eyes are moist and red, and his whole appearance betokens that he is la- bouring under a most painful inflammatory affection. In this state the complaint shews itself the first two, three, or four days : after which its effects are various. In the worst cases, when the symptoms we have stated have raged a iQw days ; a slight separation of the hoof at the coronet may be observed, from which may be press- Class XX.] ACUTE FOUNDER. 597 ed a small quantity of reddish ichor or thin matter : the sensible la- minae now losing their connexion with the insensible, by the efforts of the inflammation, the hoofs gradually separate, and, at last, drop off: or, in some cases, mortification at once ensues. At other times, the effects are not quite so violent or rapid ; still, however, the termina- tion is sufficiently unfortunate ; for, instead of the death of the parts, or their falling into the suppurative inflammation, coagulable lymph is thrown out, which equally forces off the hoofs ; but not until some time after, and not until the parts underneath have acquired some so- lidity ; nor, indeed, till the germ of a new hoof appears, but which, if suffered to grow, never proves perfect : on the contrary, the horse usually remains permanently lame. I have likewise seen instances where coagulable lymph has been thrown out between the laminae and under the coffin bone. This inflammation, however, not being suffi- ciently active to force off the hoofs, they have remained; but still have gradually become imperfect and deformed. This imperfect reso- lution may be known, before its effects on the horn become apparent, by the very peculiar gait the horse exhibits when taken out, and which, once seen, can never be forgotten : for he throws his feet for- ward in a seemingly burlesque manner, and brings them down as oddly on the heel. In fact, he clearly shews that he has lost the proper sensibility of his feet. In other cases again of imperfect resolution, the laminae losing their elasticity and power, yield to the weight and stress of the coffin bone, which becomes pushed backwards, and, in its passage, draws with it the anterior crust of the hoof, which thus falls in ; the pressure also of the coffin bone destroys the concavity of the horny sole, which, instead, becomes convex or pumiced, leaving a large space towards the toe filled with a semi-cartilaginous mass, and which is not an unfrequent termination of founder. But when the at- tack is not commenced with the extreme violence we have detailed, or when an early and judicious treatment has been adopted, the resolu- tion of the inflammation will often be perfect. The horse will first exhibit some relaxation from pain : some inclination to eat will be ob- served, the pulse will moderate, and he will stand up longer. These favourable appearances will increase daily, and, in the end, the animal will recover the perfect use of his feet. Treatment. — As soon as the disease is discovered bleed largely, as four, five, or six quarts, according to size and condition ; backrake, and throw up clysters: but, unless there be actual costiveness, do not give physic, as it would be inconvenient to the horse to rise to re- lieve himself; neither is it proper, on account of the extreme irri- tative fever present ; but febrifuge medicines should be given, as the following, twice a-day in a pint of warm water : Tartarised antimony (^eme^ic ^artar^ four drams Nitrate of potash Cnitre) four drams Supertartrate of potash {cream of tartar) ditto. The feet themselves should be next attended to after the general bleeding. In the first place remove the shoes, and rasp the hoofs round as thin as is prudent, which will greatly relieve the pressure of the horn on the internal swollen tender parts. As each foot is rasped, let it be also bled from the toe (see Bleeding) ; after which immerse each foot into a cold poultice of bran and Goulard, and occasionally 598 CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR CONTRACTED FEET. [ClaSS XX. moisten the poultice with the same ; or, if preferred, wot cloths may be kept around them, or sponge boots may be used. The horse should be extremely well littered up, and permitted constantly to lie down, as this position will favour the return of the blood : further to encourage which, his food and water should be given on the ground. In case amendment does not follow this treatment, the next day re- peat the bleeding at the toe ; and, if the general febrile symptoms run very high, bleed also from the neck again. Continue the cold applica- tions to the feet, and proceed to actively blister around the pasterns, but avoid blistering so low as the coronets : neither would I recom- mend blistering at all, unless a beneficial effect be not apparent from the other treatment towards the close of the second day ; but at this period, if the affection continue violent, by all means proceed to blis- ter, and bandage up, as otherwise the blistering matter will be smear- ed over other parts. Hang a cradle also around the neck. As soon as amendment becomes apparent, common care only is then necessary ; feed mildly, give plenty of water, allow the horse to rest much ; and do not proceed to exercise until the feet have gained some firmness. Nor must it be forgotten that feet, once foundered, require great future caution in their management, as they are very liable to become again affected on any considerable exertion. In cases of imperfect resolu- tion, thin the feet; and, if contraction have commenced, score the hoofs, blister the coronets, and turn out, or treat as under CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR CONTRACTED FEET. Chronic Flounder, or contraction of the horn of the hoofs, some- times called hoof-bound by the farriers, is, perhaps, of all the evils this noble animal is heir to, the most common and the most destructive. In this country I am convinced that it shortens the life of more horses than all other diseases united ; and although the ruinous properties of this malady are very notorious and universally allowed, still they are not, I believe, considered so in the degree they merit : but whoever will pay as close an attention to the subject as I have done for some years past, will, I am convinced, fully agree with me. Nature, ever bountiful in her gifts, bestows organs on her children fully requisite for their natural wants ; but for unnatural habits she has not pro- vided : on the contrary, she always punishes artificial deviations from her established laws, and has left it to the ingenuity of mankind to counteract the evils he has entailed, by subjecting the various domes- tic animals to a life of art. Among these evils the subject of our pre- sent inquiry stands foremost ; but on the operation oi \7\\dii particulars of this artificial deviation the mischief arises, very different opinions have been formed: and as upon a due comprehension of this subject our principal means of preventing this very important evil must be grounded, so it is of consequence that we examine and compare them separately. It was the opinion of the French veterinarians, and of M. St. Bel as their copyist, that the extreme paring of the crust, the sole, and the frog of the foot, was the leading cause of contraction ; and, therefore, on the first establishment of the Veterinary College, parings of all kinds were absolutely condemned, and the grand agent in the business Class XX.] CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR eONTRAGTED i'EET. 599 of this supposed error, the butteris, was sent at once to the d — 1. The unnatural and erroneous practice of forcing horses to stand con- stantly on litter, by producing artificial heat, has been considered as the immediate agent in contracting the feet. Others have attributed it to the friction of hard roads principally ; while a still greater number regard a wrong system of shoeing as the grand cause. Mr. Bracy Clark has even written a luminous treatise expressly to shew that all shoeing, good or bad, necessarily tends to produce contraction, by the confinement the foot experiences from the nails. A very minute attention to the subject, and a diligent examination of innumerable horses every year, have led me to differ very widely from the general opinions entertained on this head: on the contrary, I consider the popular doctrine of the emls arising from paring the feet generally, as having been productive of infinite mischief; and that, for one horse injured by paring, at least one hundred are ruined by letting it alone. I have been a patient attendant in many forges for hours to- gether, and particularly where the drawing knife only was used, and I have invariably observed that, to avoid labour, the workmen are too apt to neglect paring altogether, contenting themselves with rasping the horny crust to a level, opening the heels, and smoothing the frog. Nor is this to be wondered at ; for if the gentlemen, who are taught to cry out against this operation, were only once doomed to go through the extreme labour of properly paring out a foot that is but mode- rately grown, they would agree with me, that there was much more danger of its being neglected than of its being over-done. Dependent on this reasoning it maybe proved also, that the popular outcry against the hutteris is carried too far. The drawing knife is a neater instru- ment, and, for particular parts of the operation of paring, is infinitely most handy and proper ; and it is much to be regretted that its use is not more common among country smiths, many of whom never use it but in cases of surgical practice : some do not, or cannot,^ use it even then. Deprive these persons, therefore, of the butteris, and your horse must go unpared ; nor would there be any difiiculty in proving, that, instead of being so destructive as supposed, it is, when judi- ciously and dexterously applied, a very useful instrument, as it will do moTe work in a minute than the drawing knife can effect in five : and where there are a number of large coarse horses waiting to be shod, many of them with very high and large feet, this expedition must prove of very great consequence. What I have advanced, however, though strictly consonant with reason and fact, is so directly in contradiction to the popular doctrines and opinions entertained, that I shall be taxed with an attempt at no- velty, or rather with an affectation of peculiarity, by what I have stated: but in answer to this, and fully to disprove it, I only request a minute attention and extended inquiry towards this subject. Nor must it be supposed that I am an advocate for the old system of treating the feet; on the contrary, in most of its parts I condemn it: for it is true, that the frog has been too often injudiciously pared, the bars erroneously cut out, but, worse than all, a thick heeled shoe with unequal pressure has been invariably afterwards put on. The sole tendency of what I mean to impress is, that extreme general paring seldom occurs ; and that the evils of txxQw^QM^ partial cuttings, bear no possible comparigo.a Qq 600 CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR CONTRACTED FEET. [Ctos XX. to the mischiefs that result from that neglect of sufficient paring ; to which the outcry raised about five-and-twenty years ago, and since kept up, has so much contributed, and which has, by its effects, propa- gated and increased this disease instead of diminishing it. But it must not in justice be omitted to state, that it is not the smith only to whom blame is to be attached on these occasions ; for when a foot wants much paring, it is evident that a neglect must have occurred before it could be brought into this state. This originates in a mistaken opi- nion, common among the owners of horses, that paring of the feet is never necessary but when a renewal of the shoes is required ; conse- quently, if a horse wear his shoes lightly, or is little used, he may not want new ones oftener than once in two months : but the owner appears utterly unmindful that all this time the feet are becoming preternatu- rally increased in length, and consequently preteruaturally decreased in diameter ; and as the labour of reducing such a foot is considerable, not only from the increase but from the hardness of the substance, so the chance that a proper paring will be neglected is greatly enhanced. ' It appears, therefore, that the destructive tendency to contraction in the feet of horses, so common, is not dependent on one, but on several causes, and this I believe is the opinion of all who examine the matter attentively ; but the several degrees in which these operate, I am dis- posed to contend, are, in general, erroneously considered even by these persons. It has been the subject of much of my leisure to trace this correctly ; and if I have not laboured in vain, these operating causes of contraction are in degree according to the scale in which I have placed them. In the first place, and infinitely of greatest import, stands, \st, A neglect of paring away the unnecessary parts of the horn. '^dly^ The application of artificial heat. Zdly^ The deprivation of natural moisture. Athly, Constitutional liability. £>thly. Bad shoeing. Gthly, The existence of thrushes. Tthly, The removal of the bars, and too great lessening of the frog. Lastly, The effects of pressure occasioned by long confinement in a state of inactivity, principally in an erect position ; as is the case in some illnesses, and some lamenesses. That a neglect of paring is the principal agent in this case, appears evident on considering the operations of Nature in general, and the structure of horn in particular. This bountiful mother, who supplies her creatures according to their wants, yet is inimical to waste, and gives nothing unnecessarily. Under this principle it is that a certain portion of horn only (at least in general cases) is furnished to each animal, and consequently it cannot be possessed in height and breadth too. I will not say that a high foot may not in many cases have, if cri- tically weighed, more horn than a lower one ; but, ccBteris paribus, as it increases in height, it decreases in diameter ; and, as a principle, this cannot be too strongly impressed on the mind, nor can any rule be found with fewer exceptions. In coach-horse dealers' stables, where four year old horses frequently stand for two or three months, without perhaps having their shoes removed or changed, this complaint is not only common, but almost every horse so situated becomes contracted Class XX.] CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR CONTRACTED FEET. 601 in the feet : however, as it is not to such a degree as to cause imme- diate lameness, so it passes unnoticed ; but the disease has commenced, and, when such a horse is sold, often before the force of the warranty is expired he is returned as unsound : but such is the force of habit, and such is the obstinacy of these persons, that, to avoid the trifling expense of removing the shoes, they risk the loss of the horse. In many cavalry regiments a similar neglect occurs, and every third horse, or even a greater portion, may be observed with high feet, and, as a certain consequence, with a partial contraction. As the system of shoeing in these regiments is generally good, and as they never stand on litter, or are too hotly placed ; so it can only arise from their being shod by contract, by which means the shoeing only is paid for, but not the removes and paring : and this cause alone would destroy as many horses as an active campaign. It is not sufficiently considered that the wear the hoof would experience in a state of nature is prevented by the application of shoes : but the growth is not stopped; on the contrary, by rest and confinement in hot stables it is even increased beyond its natural limits. Instead, therefore, of a slight rasping once in six weeks, and sometimes even less frequently; in horses who exercise little, and wear lightly ; instead of this, the shoes should be removed, at least where the feet grow fast, every three weeks ; when the hoof should have a level paring throughout, so as to bring it to exactly the natural height of horn. But, as before observed, so contrary to this is the usual custom, that after an interval, such as we have no- ticed, a horse goes to the smith's shop with an inordinate quantity of horn ; the extreme ends of which being far removed from the surface that secreted it, become so dry and hard, that the smith, even were he so disposed, can hardly make any impression on it ; he, therefore, only rasps or burns a smooth surface, and puts the new shoes on the old horn. Neither is it unlikely that his duty and inclination in this case go hand in hand ; for the owner having adopted the prejudices that all smiths destroy the foot by excess of paring, has probably given peremptory orders that his horse's foot should never be cut away. It would, therefore, be difficult to conceive how such a foot should avoid contracting ; seeing it is a general principle, and subject to few devia- tions, that the cylinder of the hoof will lessen nearly in the proportion that it lengthens. By pursuing this subject through the other causes, this matter will be still further elucidated. The application of artificial heat stands next in order as a cause of contraction ; and when we consider the common properties of hoof, nail, and horn, it will be found that this cause and the former are closely linked and operate together. It is the well-known nature of these substances to be much acted on by heat ; they become softened by it, but only so long as the cause is applied, for, as they cool, they again become hard ; and as the heat applied evaporates some of the contained moisture, so they always become harder and drier than before. But they have another peculiar property, and which is the actual operating cause in producing this complaint. This is the dispo- sition to contract its fibres generally into a circular form, and which approximation of the extreme ends of the body is always inwards, with a reference to the centre of the circle ; and this equally, whether the heat be applied externally or internally. This action may be easily Qq2 602 CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR CONTRACTED FEET. [ClaSS XX exemplified by placing the sc's within the body of the shoe, that acted as levers, and forced one limb of the shoe from the other. Each heel had also a clip to embrace the bars. With these shoes I have frequently extended contracted feet, and in many cases, in conjunction with thinning and moisture, their use is marked and considerable : but they, in common with all other expanding shoes, are still liable to objection ; for whenever either constitutional liability exists, or any of the external causes are allowed again to operate ever so slightly, I have observed the recurrence is more frequent after mechanical ex- pansion by the means of shoes than after any other of the plans in use. The expanding process, by means of screw shoes, was a few years ago successfully (that is, to himself successfully) practised by an officer of the army : but the recurrence of the complaint, so common after these means, soon destroyed the undeserved reputation of the process, and it fell into disuse. Cte^XX.] CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR CONTRACTED FEET. ()09 Other means have also been used for the cure of this complaint ; such as dividing the heels their whole length ; taking up the pastern arteries ; and lately taking up the pastern nerves has become popular, and has been much practised. (See JS^eurotomy .) Firing the coronet has been tried ; blistering also. Turning out has long been the common remedy ; and immersing in moisture has been little less so. The in- efficiency of most of these, and the liability of a recurrence of the complaint after their use, long ago induced some practitioners to en- deavour to make the foot itself enlarge its horny covering. To this end they lessened the resistance of the envelopement by numerous deep scores around, operating as so many hinges, on which the hoof, yielding to the pressure of the internal parts, expanded. To this was sometimes added a thinning of the hoof generally: but very seldom were the heels lowered or the sole divested of its inordinate increase ; so that only half the proper benefit was derived. When Mr. Coleman began his career, he adopted and amended this plan ; and, by his re- commendation, it became more known and practised than it had here- tofore been. I also, previous to this, had made some trials of it ; but at that time I preferred the quicker, though less permanent mode of the expanding shoe, assisted by moisture and other supposed auxiliaries. I had at one time eight horses, each under a separate process for re- ducing hoof contraction. An extensive subsequent experience has taught me to depend principally on what may be called a natural and voluntary expansion of the hoof, in contradiction to that produced by expanding shoes, which may be termed the mechanical and forced en- largement of it. By the former mode a more radical cure is effected ; for the parts are themselves brought not so much to enlarge the ma- terials of the old hoof, as to form altogether a new one ; and which, if the former disposing causes of contraction be avoided, will not be sub- ject to disease. The means I have long and successfully used, and which I shall proceed to detail, are of this kind ; and though I lay no claim to the invention, yet I believe few have tried it so extensively, and few, if any, have so varied its modes, or watched its progress so atten- tively as myself: and, therefore, though the general practice of it be not new, the full detail of it, I am persuaded, is so ; for hitherto this valuable means of removing contraction has been hardly more than hinted at. When a hoof is contracted, on a removal of such portions of offend- ing horn as can be spared, a considerable part of the pressure is at once removed, and the parts within begin immediately to reinstate themselves, and to enter on the process of forming an enlarged circle, which sufficiently shews the beneficial tendency of such a proceeding. And it is upon a removal of the horn in such a way as to lessen the contraction as much as possible, without weakening the support of the hoof, that the nicety of this operation depends. The mode of doing this will be to take away such portions as can be best spared, and yet such as are the principal agents in the injury. These prove to be, in most cases, the contracted horn of the heels, and likewise, in no less a degree, the inordinate increase of the sole; for, strange as it m-ay appear, experience has fully proved, that a thickened state of the sole, instead of affording a support to a tender foot, is the most painful addition that can be made to it. To render the performance of this useful operation easy and intelligible, I have added a figure re- 610 CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR CONTRACTED FEET. [ClaSs'K.'K., presenting a hoof so operated on, and which, with the following di- rections, will enable any intelligent smith readily to perform it. ft should, however, be premised, that when thrushes exist in a foot or feet to be operated on, it is highly necessary that they should be first removed, particularly if considerable; unless, indeed, it should be very clear that they arc actually occasioned by the extreme pressnre of the heels on the frogs ; in which case proceed to thin the heels with- out too much lowering them, but sufficient to bring the lessened frog into the line of pressure as much as possible. Treat afterwards as directed under Thrushes, and, when an evident amendment appears, proceed to complete the whole of what is intended. A very small thrushy affection need not, however, impede the process, which, on the contrary, may be at once proceeded on as follows. Expanding process. — First, let the sole be carefully pared. I have already stated that the increase of this, which is surprisingly great in usual cases of founder, greatly aggravates the painful affection ; so much so, that I have frequently afforded instant relief to a hoofbound horse by merely thinning the sole. This fact seldom enters the head of a smith, nor is its operation sufficiently attended to even by the veterinarian: but at no time can a horse, at all affected in his feet by contraction, step with even tolerable ease without his soles are thin. Having, therefore, pared the sole all over equally, until the thumb, by a firm pressure, is able to make it yield, proceed to lower the crust generally, correspondent with a proper line of the sole;" but lower the heels still more closely, in fact as much as they can safely bear, without depriving them of all their horny covering, or reducing them too much beyond the general level. In this paring, clear away the horn within the angle of the bars, and along the whole line; but leave the bars themselves sound and full. Do the same by the frog, leaving it as large as possible to relieve the weakened heels, clear- ing away only the ragged parts, unless it be thrushy, when all pressing and decayed portions, and all under-runnings , must be cut out clear. Having finished the under surface, proceed to rasp the walls or sides of the hoof, beginning about the middle of the quarter, and rasp- ing it to the heel. I find it however useful first to draw a line nearly or quite around the hoof, immediately under the coronary ring, which is that rising covered with the last hairs above the hoof, directly below the quick, marked a a am the Jig. This line should be made as near the quick or sensible part as possible, yet must by no means touch or wound it ; and in doing this the horse's feelings will in general be a pretty sure guide, for, as the rasp approaches near the vascular por- tion, he will flinch considerably. This line proves a direction to the rasping, which should be carried close to it from the beginning of the quarters about c in the fig. to the heels, doing it lightly at first, as may be seen by h in the fig., but deepening the rasping as it approaches the heels, so as to remove the substance of the horn in a progressive thickness from the quarters to the heels, rasping the whole surface uniformly from the coronet downwards, leaving towards the heels a covering of horn of only an eighth of an inch in thickness, or in fact so much only as the thumb nail can indent by a firm pressure, carefully however avoiding to go too deep, so as ^o wound the sensible parts underneath. Class XX.] CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR CONTRACTED FEET. 611 To avoid this danger, as well as to leave the coronary ring distinct, and free from the pressure of any more of the contracted horn than is necessary simply to cover it, the operation should be finished with a small drawing knife, by which means all the hard horn can be re- moved from parts where the rasp would be inconvenient, particularly towards the heels, where the thinning should be carried back quite to the inflections or binders (vide posterior c in the fig.). The coronary ring should be left quite distinct by a clean angular removal of horn, as scan at b in the fig. ; and upon a regular thinning from above down- wards of the whole of the horny portion covering the lateral parts of the heels, except the thin lamella of covering we have direted, depends the perfection of the operation. I have endeavoured to make it under- stood that the rasping having commenced at the black c in the fig. is there to be lightly done, and a moderate portion of horn only removed, increasing the quantity as the rasping proceeds, till, having reached the centre of the quarters, it is then to be removed to the prescribed thinness. When finished, the hoof will present exactly the appearance depicted in the following figure. When there is a very great thickness of horn, I usually also rasp the whole circumference of the hoof moderately, so as a little to lessen the general resistance without weakening the foot, which should be care- fully avoided. To favour the further expansion, let the foot now be taken in front, and a line of rasping be carried from above downwards to a moderate thinness ; not however so thin as at the heels, which would weaken the foot too much. This front rasping should not be more than half or three quarters of an inch over, and its intention will explain itself; for as the centre of general contraction must be here, and as even though the heels should be principally affected, yet there is usually also some lessening of the whole circumference, so the re- sistance to expanding is by this front hinge materially decreased ; and of so much importance is this, that I have also practised it as a pre- ventive at every shoeing with manifest advantage. When the inner quarter only is affected with contraction, as is now and then the case, then the rasping may be performed on that only; it will be very seldom^ 612 CHRONIC FOUNDER, OR CONTRACTED FEET. [ClaSS XX. however, but some " wiring in'* of the outer quarter also may be observed. It is evident that the above mode, performed exactly as here laid down, is principally calculated for the benefit of such feet as are contracted at the heels, with but a small lessening of the general cir- cumference of the hoof. But there are cases in which the horny box is contracted generally ; in such instances I have still rasped the heels, but not quite so deeply ; nor have I carried the rasping so far forwards, but I have instead added three additional hinges to each side, by means of the old method of scores made in the hoof with a fine drawing knife. These scores should be narrow and of a moderate depth ; the strongest iTOofs will allow a quarter of an inch with perfect safety, and the weakest more than an eighth. One of these scores may be made a little within the heel side of the anterior letter c ; the next a little beyond the toe side of the same letter ; and the third between that and the front of the foot, where another ought to be placed. Having finished the operation thus far, put on a tip or tips with four or five nails only to each, and these towards the toe. To complete the process, if the heat- and lameness were considerable before the operation, blister round the coronet, which greatly encourages the growth of new horn, and also tends to remove any mischief that the contraction may have occasioned. The future management must depend on circumstances, and on the convenience of the owner. One thing, however, is indispensible, which is the application of moisture to lessen the remaining resistance, and thereby assist the expansion, as well as to promote the future growth of the horn. The best means of applying this moisture is to turn out to grass ; but unless this be done where the situation is wet^ less benefit will be derived. A dry pasture in a hot summer without rain would be injurious instead of beneficial ; and a moist meadow, salt marsh, or one wherein is a pond to occasionally wet the feet, should be chosen. When thrushes exist, they need be no impediment to the turning out ; but in such cases it is requisite that the horse be taken up every other day at farthest, and the thrushes dressed. When turning out is im- practicable, it becomes a consideration as to the best mode of keeping the feet moist in the stable; and innumerable have been the con- trivances for this purpose. Boots of all kinds, some containing sponge, some to be filled with poultice, &c. have been invented ; but they prove so inconvenient, that they are seldom retained long in use. I have, however, seen some cased with small iron plates with hinges that answered the end tolerably. Standing in clay is a common plan, and, provided the horse stand's level, it is not an inconvenient one ; but often the paving of the stable is pulled up under the fore feet, and the poor animal is tortured by resting the lame limbs on a descent. On the other hand, I have seen him inounted up in a wooden trough, where much force was required to bring him into it. The best mode certainly is to cover the floor of a loose box with dung, mould, or clay, moistened so as to allow the wet mass to reach over the coronet. In this the horse can move about during the day, and may be removed at night to a stable, having the moisture still continued by means of wet cloths around the feet ; and which cloths, when other means of moisture can- not be resorted to, may be wholly depended on. Two circles of thick woollen cloth, doubled over a tape within, will form a convenient apparatus, which tied (not tightly) around the pastern will adapt itself Class XX.] CHRONrc founder, or contracted feet. 613 to the shape of the foot, and being dipped in water two or three times a day, will keep it wet. If moisture be duly supplied, the coronary ring will expand, and the new horn will proceed downwards in a large bulbous expansion: the heels also will widen, and this faster than the frog is able to keep pace with them, seeing its growth in these cases is generally slow. This will leave a hollowness and excavated appear- ance which it will take some time to fill up : and when this exists in a very considerable degree, I have considered it as a mark that the re- production of horn is not entirely free from disease, and the benefits resulting from it will not be perfect or lasting. Care should be taken that the tips do not come off unperceived, and the horse remain without them. Every three weeks the sole should be carefully thinned, at which time the old horn may be slightly rasped again, and the line of separa- tion between the old and new rendered distinct and angular as at first. If also the bulbous prominence of the new horn should be very high, thin it a very little by means of the rasp, to prevent internal pressure. In about three months the new horn will first reach the heels, and become opposed to the ground, at which time, if the horse be much wanted, he may be taken up, and maybe gently worked in har shoes ; but if he can be suffered to remain longer without work, it will be advantageous. The whole of the appearances occasioned by the rasping will not be effaced in less than six months. It remains to add, that a mode of relieving founder, as well as other painful affections of the feet, has of late become popular, and which is peculiarly applicable to such cases as have failed to become relieved by the process just described. This operation, first called the Nerve Operation, and more lately Neurotomy, is fully described in the Surgi- cal Operations. Groggy feet. — What is now understood by the term groggy, applies less to an inflammation of the laminae than to a diseased alteration of the ligaments, bones, and articular cartilages, which are in those cases sometimes found eroded, and if not in an ulcerative state, at least in a very disorganized and irritable one. This affection occasionally at- tacks the articular cartilages and the capsular ligaments of the pas- terns also, and in either case is the product of unnatural exertion, and equally tends to a bony deposit and eventual anchylosis. No treatment, unless very early in the affection, can offer much hope of amendment when, if it assume any thing like an acute form, treat as in ligamen-= tary extension, and finish the operation by blistering repeatedly. THE PUMICED FOOT. As this is a very common effect of both acute and chronic founder, an account of it very properly follows those affections. Mr. B. Clark has observed, that it ought to be called the pomme foot. Pumiced feet are in every instance the effect of inflammation ; but the vascular increase may be an acute or a chronic one. When they are the effect of the former, the complaint immediately follows an attack oi acute founder, and is brought about in the manner described when treating on that disease. But when it is produced by a slow chronic inflammation, its attack is much more insidious and slow, and its appearances gradual. The front of the hoof is first observed to fall in, and the 614 THE FUMICED FOOT. [ClctSS XX, solo to become nearly flat ; at which time the horse begins to falter, and is sometimes very lame, at others he can move moderately welk The foot, when shod, generally presents no acquisition of horn ; on the contrary, the sole becomes thinner and thinner, and at last bulges out into a surface more or less convex as the internal derangement is greater or less. The large wide feet of the native horses of moist counties are most prone to this evil, for their feet cannot resist the weakening and irritating elFect of battering on stony roads ; and least of all on the pavement of the streets of London and other cities.. Any kind of feet, however, may take on the affection, after either hasty or slow founder, to which it is so frequently consequent. Thus, active founder is attended with a general increase of horn ; but this conse- quence of founder decreases it, and both the walls and the sole usually become thinner: occasionally, however, the sole is increased by it. The laminae seem first to become affected, and lose their elasticity ; and their vascularity appears excited, not to secrete horn, but a con- siderable quantity of a diseased substance, which, with the weakened . structure of these supports, displaces the coffin bone, drawing the crust with it, and greatly increasing the natural obliquity of the hoof. The pressure that the coffin bone thus displaced makes on the fleshy sole, occasions sometimes an absorption of its own edges, but always an in- terruption to the healthy secretion of horn, which accounts for the di- minished thickness of the sole before noticed. The sole, therefore, being unable to resist the superincumbent weight, loses its concavity, and, yielding to the altered form of the parts above it, bulges into convexity. The whole of the parts within likewise become deranged in structure as well as situation. A large quantity of hardened matter, between the nature of horn and coagulable lymph, occupies the space in front, left by the recession of the coffin bone, which now approaches the heels, and rests there in an altered line of declivity. The Treatment of these feet can be only palliative, as a removal of the deformity has never taken place. 1 have experienced much benefit from blistering the coronets in early cases, which has stimulated the foot to an increased secretion of horn. Every means must be taken to avoid outer pressure on the sole, which is not only painful, but actu- ally aggravates the disease ; and if sufficient rest were now and then allowed in these cases for the crust to grow level with the sole, such horses might be rendered useful ; but instead of this it is permitted to wear away by repeated shoeings, until the sole is exposed, and be- comes tender, and unable to bear the most ordinary pressure. Pumiced feet should not be kept too moist, nor can they ever be cured by turn- ing out without shoes, though I once thought differently; but they may be very properly dressed every day, both sole and walls, with a mixture of tar and oil, which proves extremely beneficial to them. The shoe in use for these feet is sufficiently known, being framed with a very wide web, and either made so thick as to allow of being bevelled away on the inner surface, to receive the convexity of the sole without pressing on it, or otherwise cockelled generally to the shape. But lately a different mode has been practised by some persons, and strongly recommended, which is to apply a shoe so narrow in the web as to cover the crust only, but of sufficient thickness to elevate the sole above the chance of pressure from the ground. This shoe is said to Class XX.] THE PUMICED FOOT. 615 obviate the ill effects of stones, gravel, &c., getting under the wide webbed shoe, which sometimes lamed the horse ; and it is said that pumiced horses go best in these kind of shoes. — Facts are stubborn things: there can be therefore no objection to their trial, though, reasoning from analogy, I should be disposed to depend principally on the older method, which, if judiciously managed, will render such feet very useful. In some cases no shoe answers so well as a strong bar shoe. CORNS. [Bleime. This unmeaning term is now so fixed, that no efforts of mine, did I aim at the dictatorship , could disturb it: but that it is a most er- roneous one is evident, supposing that it drew its designation from being situated in the feet, where human corns unhappily dwell. In the human subject a corn is a mere morbid increase of the cuticle, and is itself never vascular: it is, in fact, no further a disease than by the consequences of its mechanical pressure. A corn in the horse, on the contrary, originates in an injury done to one of the most vascular parts ; is itself equally vascular, and instead of tending to increase the cuticle (i.e. the horn) over it, it derives its principal character from being ini- mical to every future growth of it. These very troublesome affections arise from injury done to the vessels of the sensible sole, exactly at the surfaces of union between it and the horny sole, whereby blood becomes extravasated within the angle of the inflexions of the heels, that is, be- tween the outer crust and bars. Corns appear in every instance the effect of undue pressure, by which the sensible vascular sole becomes acted on between the horny sole and the heels of the coffin bone. This disease is equally produced whether the pressure arises from the horn of the sole or the horn of the walls ; and it is from the pressure of the walls of the heels bruising the sensible sole that corns are so common to contracted feet, and also to weak hoofs. It is also to the increased weakness of the inner wall and heel of the hoof that corns are so much more frequent in the inner than the outer heel ; and from the superior strength of the hinder heels arises their little liability to them. But though the contraction of the walls of the heels does often occasion the complaint, yet it is much more frequently the consequence of pressure of the sole, the very form of which shews that it never was intended to be thus acted on ; for the crust meets the ground, and the sole recedes from it in every part ; .consequently, whenever pressure does take place on the sole, it is unnatural, and produces injury. The general mode in which injurious pressure is applied to the sole is either by an improper form of shoe applied, or by not removing the horn opposed to the seat of corns, or by neglecting to renew the shoes themselves at proper in- tervals : and to one or other of these errors most corns may be at- tributed. Bad shoeing operates in various ways, but in none more commonly than by the thickened unequal heel of the shoe, which is in general formed into a sort of clubbed end, that prevents its presenting a level surface towards the foot ; on the contrary, a bulbous i^rojection indents itself into the very part, as though purposely placed there to produce Rr G16 CORNS. [Class XX. this injury. The custom also of making the seat of the shoe slant or bevel inwards, is, I believe, sometimes productive of corns, by forcing the crust to press on the sensible sole laterally. Neglecting to prepare the foot for the shoe is also a fruitful source of corns; for that part of the horny sole which fills up the acute angle between the crust and bars, the pressure on which is so injurious, is, in a state of nature, pro- tected by the prominences of the frog and bars, as well as by the in- clined direction of the latter ; but as artificial habits alter the shape of the foot, this part becomes exposed; and, therefore, in preparing a foot for the shoe, this angular portion should be so pared as to remove it from contact with the iron, without weakening the horny covering of the sensible sole. For so surely as this part becomes subjected to pressure for any considerable length of time, so surely extravasation takes place, and a corn is formed, and this more quickly when the heels are weak. The third common cause is the neglect of removing or re- newing the shoes at proper intervals. When a shoe has been long worn, the growth of the hoof carries it forwards, by which the parts originally opposed to the heels are carried beyond them, and now press" on the sole, often becoming indented within the line of the crust, and producing a most injurious pressure. Sometimes, also, either from the original form of the shoes, or by long wear, they become loose and " springy" at the heels, as smiths call it ; in which eases gravel is apt to make its way between the shoe and foot, and by the pressure of the heels during action, is indented into the substance of the horn ; other gravel becomes received in the same manner, which presses the first still onward, till at last it meets the sensible part. As soon as it reaches here, inflammation ensues, and a very different complaint is formed to that of common corn ; for in every instance of this kind suppuration proceeds, and the matter, unable to make its exit below or sideways, forces its way upwards, and a small tumour appears at the coronet, which breaks, and discharges a purulent matter. The treatment of these cases is referrible to the rules laid down for pricks, and in nowise differs from what is there described. But the common effects of pressure from long-worn shoes, are the ex- travasation of a little blood, which, on paring away the horn at tlw? angular point of the heel or heels, appears as a black or red speck, as the blood has been longer or more newly thrown out from its vessels ; and it may be followed with the paring knife to its source in the sen- sible part. If the injury have been considerable, this blood itself may irritate and produce suppuration in a similar manner with gravel. But in general cases this extravasation remains unchanged, and, unless at- tended to, a weakened action of this part of the sole becomes perma- nent, and blood continues to be thrown out ever after upon any occa- sional renewal of the pressure. In such cases the horn itself over the part proves a source of future irritation, and therefore horses with old corns only go well when fresh shod and newly pared ; for as soon as the portion of sole between the bars grows to a level with the surround- ing horn, the sensible sole receives a fresh bruise, and lameness again appears. It is by contemplating this possible termination of corn, that the law has wisely considered every horse with this complaint as unsound. Treatment of Corns. — When a corn first appears, it is not difficult CtesXX.] CORNS. 617 by proper means to remove it completely ; but when it has existed some time, the injured parts become weakened, and the diseased action of throwing out blood, instead of secreting horn, becomes familiar to them. As soon, therefore, as it is discovered, the cure should be im- mediately attempted ; first, by removing with a fine drawing knife every portion of diseased horn around, and the whole of the extravasa- tion likewise, avoiding, however, the wounding of the sensible sole under- neath. Having done this, introduce any caustic liquid, as muriate of antimony, into the opening, which will act on the sensible sole by de- stroying the unsound parts, and by stimulating the remainder to a healthy secretion of horn. If any contraction of the heels be present, they should be slightly thinned to relieve the pressure ; and, without this, it is probable a cure will be in vain hoped for. A shoe should be then applied, properly chambered opposite the weak part ; or a bar shoe may be used, laid o^the heel or heels, and taking its bearing on the frog. In a week's time, or less, the part will have gained sufficient strength, when the horse may be turned out ; but, during this interval, introduce every other day a small pledget dipped in the escharotic liquid used, as muriate of antimony, a solution of lunar caustic, potash, &c. &c. (see Caustics, Mat. Med.) After the horse has been to grass a month or six weeks, if the meadow be tolerably moist, and the feet be naturally strong, remove the shoes, pare the horn lightly away from the seat of corn, not however sufficient to weaken the support, and then put on tips ; but if it have taken place in heels naturally weak and low, continue the bar or chambered shoe. In this way corns may be perma- nently cured, when not of too long standing. But when the derangement of this part of the sole is become habi- tual and permanent, a palliative treatment only can be pursued. In the first place, the pressure of the horn must be guarded against by a regular and frequent paring out of that portion between the inflexion of the heel ; and if the hoof be very strong, and at all disposed to contract, the quarters also should be attended to, and not allowed to become too high or too thick. I have also in very strong feet found the use of a short shoe sometimes of the greatest service ; but to a weak foot, either a chambered or a bar shoe is preferable. When the weak- ness is very considerable, or the corn a A^ery bad one, a bar shoe is the most proper support, and should be constantly used ; remembering in these aggravated cases to remove occasionally all the surrounding horn likely to press on the injured part, at the same time taking care to let the frog rest on the bar of the shoe. And whenever such a horse is shod, it is proper for the corn to be dressed with some active stimulant, as the butter of antimony ; by doing which regularly when shod, and ahout once a week also in the intermediate times, I have rendered horses, before useless, able afterwards to work with comfort to them- selves and satisfaction to their owner. In slight cases of corn, the shoe proper to be used is one of rather more substance than common, with the web a little wider than usual, and its width equal throughout, that is, as wide at the heels as at the toe ; it should also extend rather farther back than it generally does, and present a perfectly level sur- face. This shoe will afford ease and protection : future pressure must be avoided by keeping the seat of corns clear from offending horn, R r 2 518 THRUSH. [Class XX. THRUSH. Some pains have been taken to trace the source from whence this unmeaning term arose. Two centuries ago it was called running Inrush ; and as, before that time, in some of the very old treatises on farriery, which borrowed much from the French, we find it named running Fourche, it seems to be probable that it really did take its name from fourche, the French term for the frog, gradually corrupted into its present appellation of running thrush. This complaint con- sists in a diseased action of the sensible frog, whereby, instead of se- creting horn, it produces pus, which escapes out between the cleft of the horny frog. It is very improperly considered by many as a mat- ter of trifling import; but a little experience only in the diseases of the feet will shew that it is one of the most destructive tendency. Still more erroneous is it to suppose that thrushes can possibly do good by drawing off humours, or that there can ever be any danger in stop- ping them. On the contrary, there never was a harmless thrush, or one that could exist long without doing great injury, by laying the foundation for contraction of the foot in which it existed, by the in- flammation and heat excited in the parts around. Various proxi- mate causes produce thrush ; the remote one is always inflammation of the sensible sole. Contraction, though a very common origin, is by no means the only one, for we observe them frequently in the wide open feet of very young horses, in which cases they appear to originate much in the same way as swelled legs, &c. by accumulation, or a deter- mination of blood to the feet, from general plethora, which, occasion- ing inflammation, thrushes form. In many other instances their origin is to be traced to the application of moisture, particularly of acrid moisture, as that of dung, urine, &c., which, soaking the horny frog, at last penetrates it, and then becomes a source of irritation to the sensitive frog underneath. This effect of moisture accounts for the in- creased tendency of thrushes to affect the hinder feet in some instances, while the fore feet remain perfectly free from them. Contraction is notoriously a common cause of thrushes; but they are by no means necessary consequences of it, seeing many contracted feet are without them, though many more are with them ; which is not difficult to account for, when we consider how likely it is that the inflammation accompanying painful contraction should extend itself to the vascular frog. The different actions of secreting organs are here strikingly exemplified. The inflammation attendant on contraction stimulates the laminae and the vascular sole to an extra secretion of horn ; but the same inflammation applied to the vascular frog diminishes the se- cretion of horny frog ; and it is farther remarkable, that although the contraction may be removed, it is not often that a full secretion of horny frog readily again takes place. As contraction is a very common cause of thrush, so it is equally certain that a long continued thrush always ends in contracting the foot ; and which is one of the few in- stances in which a complaint may be both a cause and a consequence. Neither can any horse be considered safe that has a thrush, for there is always some degree of tenderness felt; and, in these cases, if the point of a sharp stone at any time should penetrate the cleft, or any of the sinuses occasioned by the complaint when considerable, the horse Class XX.] THRUSH. 619 will sometimes come to the ground at once from excess of pain. The appearances of thrush are sufficiently known : when mild, the matter escapes only through the natural cleft of the frog ; hut when it has existed some time, and affected the sensitive sole throughout its whole surface, all the fissures of the horny frog produce a purulent discharge of a peculiar foetid smell; and such cases, if unattended to, particu- larly in the hinder feet, may degenerate into canker. Treatment. — Thrushes may he always considered as local com- plaints ; and it is not only impossible to do any harm hy stopping them, but it is absolutely necessary in every instance to do so. In that kind we first noticed as sometimes taking place in the open feet of young horses, which, fresh from grass, become suddenly subjected to confine- ment, it will perhaps assist the cure if the plethora of the constitution be attended to ; but in all other instances the treatment should be at once wholly applied to the affection. When thrushes are connected with a contracted state of the feet, it is evident that a removal of the irritating pressure of the walls of the hoof is necessary to a radical cure (see Contraction). When moisture has been the exciting cause, it should of com-se be carefully removed, and its occurrence again pre- vented. But this caution must not operate as a means of denying the application of moisture to the feet in ordinary cases, either as a pre- vention, or as a cure of contraction ; for it is sufficiently easy, when ne- cessary, to guard the frog against the effects of wet, and yet to apply it to all other parts of the foot ; for when all the fissures of the frog are dexterously stopped with tow, charged with some oily astringent mix- ture, no moisture will penetrate to the sensible sole. The present stoppage of thrush is seldom difficult, but to prevent its recurrence is not so easy always ; for the parts having once taken on this action, easily fall into it again. Almost any astringent sub- stance will check the suppurative action of the vascular sole, as com- pound tincture of Benjamin (Friars halsam)^ tincture of myrrh, so- lutions of vitriol, alum, lead, ^c, which may be either of them use- fully applied for this purpose. Tar and salt mixed is also a good ap- plication, or tar and bole armenic ; but perhaps the following com- bines the good properties of all in a very considerable degree :— Ore oi zinc {prepared calamine) half an ounce Subacetate of copper (verdigris) ditto Sulphate of zinc {white vitriol) one dram Tar ., three ounces. Mix. Before the introduction of this, the frog should be inspected, and all the decayed hardened parts, concealing underrunnings and sinuses, re- moved; so that the introduction of the mixture may be facilitated, and the disposition to harbour filth and moisture prevented. The whole frog may then be very properly smeared over with the mixture ; but more particularly, a small piece of tow should be charged with it, and by means of a skewer, or other similar instrument, pressed to the bottom of the cleft of the frog, and also into every other fissure that may exist, as at the lateral parts where the frog joins the heels, where sinuses very commonly form in cases of bad thrush. Care should be taken, when introducing the tow, to do it neatly, so that no parts hang out, by which means the dressing will remain secure two or three days ; SANDCRACK. [ClaSS XX^ but no application simply poured in, without the aid of some other sub- stance, as tow, soft sponge, wool, or rag, which retains the applica- tion and guards against moisture, will answer so well. In bad cases the dressing should be repeated every day, in others every other day,, or twice a week ; but in all it is of import, as a guard, that the cleft should never be Avithout the intermediate substance employed. When it becomes necessary to turn a horse out to grass with thrirslieSy and which is often the best means of cure, it is of consequence to re- member that this treatment should be equally actively pursued during the time the horse remains out, otherwise the moisture applied will aggravate the evil: hut if once a day, or at least every other day,, a pledget of soft sponge or tow, charged with the mixture, be introduced,, so as to leave no hanging parts without, it will remain free from danger of escape, unless the frog should be in a very diseased state, in which; case the tow should be fastened in with cross bars, as in canker ; or a bar shoe may be put on, and the dressing applied under it. These pre- cautions also are necessary when thrushes exist in feet operated on for contraction, and where the treatment requires continual moisture to' the general horn, but the absence of it for the frog in particular. SANDCRACK. [Seime. This is a solution of continuity between some o-f the horny fibres of the hoof, generally in a direction parallel to their growth ; that is, from above downwards. Now and then, though but very seldom, these cracks exist in an horizontal position. The term sandcrack has been said to arise from the dirt or sand usually observed within the fissure^ which is supposed to be its cause : but this is erroneous ; for absurd as are many of the names of diseases in the old nomenclature of farriery, this has a more significant origin ; and is called sandcrack, because it was formerly supposed peculiar to hot sandy districts, the heat of which, applied to the feet, gave them a disposition to crack thus. These fis- sures are more common to the fore than to the hind feet, not but that the latter are sometimes affected with them, particularly of cart and other heavy draught horses ; in which cases they are most generally ob- served in the front of the hoof ; whereas in the fore feet they are more usually situated towards the inner and less frequently on the outer quarters. I have, however, seen sandcracks in the front of the fore feet. In every instance, where it is not occasioned by some outward injury to the hoof, it is, I believe, brought on by a brittle state of the horny fibres; the effect of some of the same causes that operate in pro- ducing contraction, wuth which it is very nearly allied in origin ; for it is very seldom observed but in such hoofs as have undergone some un- favourable alteration in form, in which the horn, having taken on a dseased brittleness, does not readily yield to the daily contraction of the walls, but some momentary application of force suddenly disunites a portion of its fibres. The fissure is not always of a determined depth, being sometimes so superficial as not to penetrate the whole thickness of the horn, and oc- casioning no inconvenience at first. At others it exactly extends through theiiorn, but does not divide any of the sensible parts underneath: while Class XX.] SANDCRACK. 621 sometimes again a lesion of some of these takes place. Neglect, and a continuance of work, will, however, commonly bring any case from the slightest into the most aggravated state. When the hoof is completely penetrated, it becomes a most painful affection, and productive of ex- treme lameness ; for the divided edges of the horn are apt, during ex- ercise, to admit the protrusion of the soft parts underneath ; which be- coming suddenly pressed on by the approximation of the horny edges, exquisite momentary pain is produced. From the injury done to the sensible laminated expansion, there is often a sprouting of fungus be- tween the divided edges, which greatly aggravates the complaint. Ac- cidents of all kinds, injuring the vascular origin of the hoof around the coronet, may occasion sandcrack also, as treads, stubs, &c. Treatment. — A very different curative plan is proper to be pursued, according to the state in which the complaint may be found. The grand object must be to interrupt the communication between the crack and the sound horn, which will otherwise take on the fissure likewise : and when it occurs in a hoof evidently contracted and brittle, a radical removal of the evil will be best attempted by reducing the resistance of the horn, and by correcting its contractile tendency by the means re- commended against contraction, such as a moderate thinning of the quarters, and the application of future moisture, after the edges of the fissure have been brought completely together. Much difference of opinion has arisen as to the best mode of destroy- ing the connexion between the divided and the sound horn. Some prefer the firing iron, others the rasp. Mr. White's method is that of firing the fissure, by which " a gliie-like matter'' becomes an artificial and temporary bond of union till new horn be formed, and the opening closed by ultimate connexion. This plan of Mr. White's is not, I con- fess, the one I prefer, but I have seen it very successfully practisedi When a sandcrack is the effect of injury done to the coronet, the rising edges of the horn must be reduced almost to the quick, and the whole of the surrounding portion must also be thinned. Having done this, draw aline of sufficient depth, not to penetrate the quick, across the inferior limit of the crack, either with a drawing knife, rasp, or firing* iron ; which will prevent the further extension of the fissure. After this, bandage up; but should any inflammation remain in the original wound of the coronet, do not bandage tightly over that. In the usual cases of sandcrack from a disjunction of horny fibres, the state of the opening must be first carefully attended to. When, either from pressure, the original depth of the injury, or when dirt has got into the wound, and suppuration has taken place, were an attempt made at once to close and bind up the opening, very extensive mischief would be the consequence. Instead of this, the hard edges of the horn should be first removed,^ and the surrounding portions thinned consi- derably ; after which the opening should be dressed with a pledget of tincture of myrrh with aloes, friars balsam, &c. &c. ; and over this another thick pledget spread with defensive ointment may be placed. If the irritation and inflammatiou are considerable, apply a poultice over all. In case of underrunnings and detachments of horn, the sepa- rated portions must be removed. But as this will seldom happen, con- sequently tke removal of more than the horny edges is not often neces- sary. In a few days, by repeating a sinailar mpde of dressing, the dirt 622 SANDCRACK. [ClttSS XX, will be evacuated, and the parts will heal, harden, and become dry ; when the process about to be recommended for common cases, without suppuration, may be proceeded on. When a sandcrack has occurred, and which shews no signs of sup- puration, although it have completely penetrated the horn, and a little blood or moisture shews itself at the edges, from the effects of motion merely, proceed to thin the hoof around it, and next, by means of a camel's hair pencil, introduce within the edges a small quantity of so- lution of lunar caustic, as ten grains to a dram of water ; or butter of antimony may be used, though I prefer the former. Bandage the hoof up moderately tight for two days, then again examine the fissure ; when, if the oozing be altogether stopped, and no inflammation appear, proceed to draw a line of a moderate depth with a sharp firing iron, a very little above the upper limit of the crack, and another just be- yond the lower limit also, and afterwards bandage as directed below. If preferred, these lines of separation may be made with a rasp, or fine drawing knife ; but I have commonly chosen the iron, as I think the seared line of distinction stronger and more perfect than the rasped or cut one. But in case no moisture at all has appeared at the crack, and on examination with a probe it is clear that the fissure has not reached the vascular parts underneath, then the insertion of any caustic matter is unnecessary ; the wasting two days for probable con- sequences is likewise equally so ; and the completion of the treatment for the above state, and the commencement of the treatment for this, will be as follows. The horse being shod with a bar shoe, and the hoof either pared away in a line with the crack ; or otherwise the shoe chambered, so that the hoof immediately under the fissure may not press at all on the shoe (in a strong hoof the former perhaps is proper, in a weak one the latter may be preferable) ; proceed to bandage up the foot, so as to fulfil the following intentions. Completely bring the divided edges of the fissure together, perfectly retaining them there, and totally ex- cluding moisture from entering the opening. Whatever mode will answer these purposes may be very properly adopted : perhaps the fol- lowing, though a common one, is among the best. Melt some shoe- makers wax, and smear all over the hoof; and, before it is quite cold, bind upon the wax neatly, evenly, and firmly, about three yards of tape, so as to include as much of the hoof as may be within the turns : fasten off with a hard knot, and again over the whole smear more wax, and lastly smooth it into an even surface. After all, rub over a little lard or other greasy substance to prevent the pitchy matter from stick- ing. The horse may now be turned out, which will be particularly de- sirable ; or, if to be kept in the stable, he may be exercised every day by walking in hand. It remains only to remark, that as most of these cases take their origin from an altered condition of the hoof; so all the preventive means detailed under Contraction apply here after the recovery is completed. PUNCTURED FOOT, OR PRICK. 1'he under surface of the horny covering of the foot is unavoidably exposed to numberless injuries from sharp bodies penetrating its sub- 'Class XX.] fUNCTURED FOOT, OR PRIGK. , 623 stance, which may happen in various ways, from nails, pointed flints^ glass, &c. The shoe being partly torn off, and then stepped upon, may produce it ; but the accidental puncture by a nail during shoeing is one of the most frequent causes of these accidents. Injuries of this kind are proportioned in their effects according to the parts punctured, and not entirely to the depth of the wound: a knowledge, therefore, of the anatomical structure of the foot is necessary to enable us to form a prognosis, as well as to establish a proper method of cure. A punc- ture through the fleshy frog, even to the vascular portion, is not pro- ductive usually of such serious consequences, as an apparently more superficial opening made through the centre of the sole, which may pe- netrate the capsular ligament, and either produce anchylosis or destroy the animal. Whenever a puncture takes place, of sufficient depth to penetrate to the bony connexions (which may be ascertained by examination with a probe), and synovia escapes, the external opening should be enlarged; but it should be attempted to close the internal o^Qwrng at once, by the application of the actual cautery, not to the immediate surface of the capsular ligament, but to the skin directly over it. If, however, this treatment has been neglected, and suppuration has actually taken place, the cautery should be omitted: but the action of the part may yet be attempted to be altered by the application of milder stimulants introduced by means of a brush : as diluted muriate of antimony with oil maybe lightly pencilled over the outer edges of the capsular orifice ; on which may be placed a pledget moistened with tincture of myrrh, or tincture of benjamin, &c.; and any mild digestive may be laid over all as a defence. If the inflammation be considerable, bleed at the toe, and imbed the whole foot in a poultice. A very deep posterior puncture may extend itself into the flexor tendon or its sheath, and is always productive of very great irritation and inflammation. In such case enlarge the opening, and if the wound be seen immediately after the accident, introduce any very mild stimulant, as the warm tinctures : but if the accident have occurred a day or two, and the inflammation be considerable, bleed at the toe, and place the foot in a saturnine poultice. When suppuration comes on, watch its progress, moderate the inflammation, give a free exit to the matter, and remove any horn that becomes detached. And as the life of these tendinous parts is in- considerable, at each dressing a little of any of the above warm spi- rituous applications may be introduced, which will assist the healing, or, if a sloughing of any portion be unavoidable, will tend to assist its separation. A puncture of the sensible sole must be treated in a simi- lar manner, remembering in every instance that caustic or highly sti- mulating liquids should never be introduced, as is often done, except under particular circumstances, which will be noticed. The introduc- tion of tincture of myrrh, tincture of benjamin, or a mild solution of vitriol, &c., at the moment of the accident, is admissible ; because it may gently stimulate the part to the adhesive inflammation ; and if even suppuration be inevitable, the mildness of such applications cannot aggravate the process. But the most usual cases of punctures are those which arise from a wrong direction of a nail in shoeing, in which it either presses on or actually wounds the sensible laminae. This is commonly known to the 624 PuNCTURKD FOOT, OR PRICK. [Class XX workman at the time, by a peculiar sensation arising ftom the different resistance occasioned ; or otherwise is detected by. the flinching of the horse ; when, if the nail be immediately removed, no ill consequences follow, unless the injury be considerable ; and even in this case, were but a little common honesty practised, the serious evils that freotientlv follow these punctures might be commonly prevented. Were the nail immediately redrawn, the opening enlarged, and a little spirituous balsam of any kind introduced, it would very frequently heal imme- diately after ; and even should it proceed to suppuration, still a de- pending orifice is made for the evacuation of the matter, and extensive detachment of horn prevented. But when a smith, in shoeing, consi- ders the horse not SiCtnaWy pricked, though he may be conscious that the nail has taken a wrong direction, or is driven too high, he is apt, from laziness, to let it remain; and sometimes, even when he is aware that the nail has penetrated the inner surface of the horn, and wound- ed the vascular parts, he is often then not sufficiently candid to ac- knowledge it. The offending nail, therefore, even in such case, is allowed to remain, and, according to the extent of the injury, the in- flammation becomes considerable the same night, or perhaps not till two or three days after. In such cases, as suppuration proceeds, the confined matter spreads around, detaching a portion of the fleshy from the horny sole, more or less considerable, and, at last extending up- wards, it finds itself an exit by an opening at the coronet. In pro- ceeding this course, the inflammation does not always confine itself to the parts nearest the exterior surface, as the sole and sensible laminse'; but sometimes, when not assisted by an artificial opening, it extends to parts less vascular, and whose action not being of that nature to make them immediately throw off the injury by forcing the matter out- wards (as is done by parts more vascular), sinuses form inwards, and the disease then becomes quittor. Fortunately, however, the vascular action of the sensitive sole and laminae being extreme, the matter usually proceeds outwards, and finds an exit at the coronet. It may therefore, in pursuing this subject, be stated, that at any time when a horse becomes lame within a week after he has been shod, if the origin of it be hid in any obscurity, the shoe should be al- ways first removed, and the foot gently struck all over with taps of the hammer. If the lameness springs from this source, and any part be injured by one nail in particular, at that part the stroke will occa- sion the horse to flinch. If this fail to detect the evil, pinch the toe and quarter round with the pincers, which, if the mischief arise from a prick, will readily point out the affected part by the pain felt there ; and under this spot matter will have surely formed. Proceed in such case immediately to pare away the horny sole till it be very thin, when, on close inspection, if the paring be done within two or three days from the prick, a dark coloured fluid will ooze from one of the nail holes, but, if a longer period has elapsed, a purulent matter will appear. By a proper opening evacuate this, and then carefully exa- mine the extent of the injury by the probe, as how far the fleshy and horny soles have become separated from each other, for to the same extent must the horn be removed; not, howei^er, taking the whole away the first day, but completing the removal the second. No greasy matter should be applied over the denuded sole, but a pledget of Class XX.] QUiTTOR. 625 lint, slightly moistened with compound tincture of benjamin (^friars balsaiii), or tincture of myrrh, may be laid on ; and any mild defensive dressing may be applied over this. When matter has proceeded to evacuate itself by the coronet, exactly a similar plan must be pursued ; the original wound below should be traced and opened, so as to give a free exit to the pus. And in all these cases, when the symptomatic fever rages high, bleed, give physic, and treat in every respect as under inflammation. Perfect quiet is abso- lutely necessary in every instance of puncture ; the slightest exercise irritates, and should be avoided. A shoe should be made so as to " lie of' the injured parts, and should only be very lightly tacked on with four nails unclenched. TREAD, OR OVERREACH. A WOUND about the coronet is a very common accident to horses, from one foot being set on the other, when the outer margin, or heel of the shoe, will wound the integuments, together with the vascular coro- nary rim. Or it may occur from a blow inflicted on the heel of the fore foot by the hinder one overreaching it. In the first instance, all these cases are to be considered as simple wounds, or rather as lacerated bruises, which, if extensive, have produced death in the surface and ad- jacent parts of the tread ; in which some inflammation must occur to remove the edges thus injured. In no instance, therefore, should the irritating caustic applications of the farriers be applied, by which more extensive inflammation and an increase of sloughing are produced. On the contrary, wash with water to remove dirt, &c., apply a pledget of tincture of myrrh, or tincture of aloes, or compound tincture of ben- jamin (friars balsam), %ic.\ and, if the wound be considerable, wrap up the whole in a poultice ; if not, apply over it a simply defensive dressing, and bandage lightly up. Should the injury be slight, it may be healed at once by the adhesive inflammation ; but if not, a moderate suppuration only will occur. Under some circumstances, however, more extensive mischief will follow, when the case comes to be considered under the su,bject oi quittor. QUITTOR. [Javart. It is not every wound of the cavity of the foot which can strictly be called a quittor ; but to deserve this appellation, the wound must have existed some time, and have taken on a peculiar unhealthy state, by which the ulcerated surface produces a diseased secretion, which spreads the same action around ; and instead of proceeding outwards, commu- nicates itself inwards in various directions. In surgical terms, these tracts of ulceration are called sinuses ; but by farriers are very gene- rally termed pipes. It is not difficult to understand why any wounded internalportion of the foot should so readily take on this state, as it is found to do, when we consider that the internal parts of the foot have very dif- ferent living powers, and hence are very diff'erently affected under dis- ease. When an injury happens to the integuments only, to the sensible laminae, or to the other highly vascular parts, our only care is to lessen 626 atriTTaii. [Class XX. the irritation, when their vascularity quickly works their own reproduc- tion. But when the injury extends to the ligamentous and cartilaginous parts, their living powers being small from their diminished vascu- larity, a very different complaint is formed, and a very tedious process is that of forming granulations in parts thus constituted. Quittor may have several origins — pricks from shoeing, or other punctures, as we have pointed out, oftentimes occasion it ; an overreach also : but with draught horses the most common cause is a bruise or wound in- flicted by a tread on the coronet ; the high calkins of their shoes proving particularly mischievous on such occasions. Any part of the upper margin of the foot is open to this accident, but one of the quarters is most usually affected. Treatment of Quittor. — The older farriers cvf almost every country adopted very violent means for the cure of this complaint, impelled to it by the obstinacy of its character and their erroneous views of its- nature. The celebrated La Fosse, who was rather fond of novelty, in some measure overturned this practice in Fiance, and introduced a new method, founded on an idea that the obstinacy and derangement that accompanied the complaint originated in the lateral cartilages becoming diseased, which he affirmed were capable of being thus affected, but incapable either of exfoliating like bone, or sloughing like ligament ; and therefore, that, to promote a cure, the whole of that cartilage on the affected side must be removed. But his first premises were erroneous, for cartilages are vascular, and as such they must be ca- pable of living action, though it is slow ; and hence where disease exists, they will exfoliate and granulate like other parts. This practice of La Fosse was received in England with some avidity, and was still further propagated by the late Professor of our Veterinary College, M. St. Bel. But the awakened attention to this interesting art at that time, and the assimilation of its principles with those of human surgery, soon exposed the impropriety of this treatment. The removal of so large a portion of hoof as was necessary to get at the cartilage for its extirpation, and the certain destruction of the coronary secreting sur- face, from whence alone a full secretion of new horn could spring, were most fatal objections to this method of treatment. It is now the practice to consider that these parts, possessing little vascularity when diseased, require stimulating, and sometimes very actively ; for it is necessary first to destroy the diseased surfaces, and then to excite the healthy ones, to enable them to throw off the destroyed portions. Formerly, as we have noticed, either the actual cautery or caustic were the means employed for this purpose, though the practitioners were unaware of the rationale of their operations. Of later date the knife has been used by some to dissect away the diseased surfaces, under an intention of bring- ing the parts into the state of a simple wound, and thus to promote a natural cure. Such is the present French practice : they first stop the circulation with a tourniquet, then dissect out the parts, bandaging tightly, and suffering all to remain untouched four or five days. But very weighty objections lie against this method also. Its very premises are wrong ; the simple excising of organs, so little vascular as those affected in confirmed quittor, will not bring the part into the state of a simple wound, that is, of such a simple wound of soft parts as may usually be expected to heal at once: to which healing process there is C7assXX.] QuiTTOR. 627 often another objection, from the difficulty of exactly removing the ^hole of the sinuses with a knife ; and it is well known, that if any of these be left unexcised, the disease is not subdued. It is further in- eligible, from the great danger of wounding the capsular ligament in making the necessary sections, particularly where the sinuses run in- wards. Were these not sufficient, the destruction of horn, and the separation of so large a portion of coronary ligament, would be most serious objections to the cure by the knife on ordinary occasions. Against the fire also much may be urged, but which is unnecessary, as it is seldom now employed ; consequently nothing is left for us but the stimulating plan. Previous, however, to entering further on the treatment of this disease when fully formed, it is necessary again to remark, that a wound into the cavity of the foot only becomes a quitter Avhen it has taken on a peculiarly diseased ulcerative process ; and even an accident may hap- pen, and the cartilages and ligaments may be injured on the spot, and the integuments may be even lacerated and killed. All this may take place, and the consequent reaction may throw off the dead portions by suppuration, when the farriers would say a core has come out. At this period of the complaint it is, however, evident that the disease can neither be called or should be treated as a coafirmed quittor, but simply as a wound or abscess ; and it is to a different consideration of the subject that many of the future evils result ; for farriers are too apt on these occasions, under an idea of assisting the coring out, to introduce strong stimulants, the inflammation excited by which actually occasions the evil they intended to prevent ; for the less vascular parts then take on the disease, and sinuses immediately proceed to form. Until therefore the full operation of the immediate injury shews itself, and until there be evident appearances of unhealthy action, with an actual formation of spreading sinuses, apply no simulating applications internally ; on the fluid if punctured. Under such circumstances the plan I have laid < down is not only prudent but necessary. When much swelling follows the operation, common farriers reccommend trotting the horse about^ but this should never be done ; on the contrary, in all caises of adult castration, the horse should be put into a loose box, and not exercised till the third or fourth day, unless the legs swell very much, and the horse appear otherwise but little affected, when a little gentle walking may be allowed. The food should be moderate, as hay and mashes in winter, and in summer green food, if it can be got. Now and then, but not often, sinuses, and ill-conditioned sores, will form in the scro- tum. In such cases the cavities must be syringed with the mild liquid blister, which will readily promote a healing process after the first application. It remains to observe, that the plan in use by some BRONCHOTOMY. 649 *^ gelders" of castrating at twice, by means of caustic, with an appear- ance of little form or trouble, should neither be attempted nor sanc- tioned by the regular veterinarian, who should, on the contrary, pursue one steady course, foundedon proper principles ; in whichcase he will not be answerable for adverse circumstances, and will also be com- monly able to combat them. In Algiers, instead of excising the tes- ticles, it is customary to squeeze them in the colt state, in the same manner, probably, as Italian human castrati are made by their mothers. Tetanus is not anunfrequent consequence of this operation on the continent ; but it is by no means frequent with us. I never met with more than one instance of it. This possibility should how- ever make us particular not to operate under unfavourable circum- stances, particularly of a heated atmosphere. BRONCHOTOMY. Cases may occur in veterinary practice when this operation is re- quired ; as in strangles, when the tumours threaten suffocation, or when an apple, potatoe, or piece of carrot, have slipped into the oeso- phagus, &c. &c. In a distressing case of gunpowder bursting imme- ^ately under a horse's nose, the effects of which tumefied his mouth and nostrils, so as to prevent free respiration, the animal owed his life entirely to my excising a portion from the tracheal rings, about six inches below the angle of the throat. The operation of traclieo- tomy is most simple, and may consist either in a longitudinal section made through two or three of the rings ; or a square portion occupy- ing about an inch square, may be excised from the anterior cartila- ginous substance.. A tuhe, if possible a flexible one, should be intro- duced into the opening, and retained there as long as possible. The operation has been also performed in cases of roaring, under an idea of dividing the stricture, which impeded respiration ; but unless the exact situation of this were discovered, it would be but an uncertain attempt. When an opening is made into the upper part of the trachea, or larynx, it is called laryngotomy. This is not quite so simple an ope- ration, and is very seldom requisite. It consists in dividing the integu- ments exactly opposite the cartilaginous box of the larynx (see p. 229), which will bring the cricothyroid ligament into view, which should be sufficiently divided, either to remove any offending substance, or other- wise to admit a respiratory tube. (ESOPHAGOTOMY. The oesophagus may be divided purposely in cases of strangulation, from the obstruction of too large a ball, an apple,orfrom the accumula- tion of bran or chaff, which has taken place in greedy horses. In such case, as this tube inclines rather to the left side, the opening should be made there, and directly opposite to the obstructing matter. The section should be carried longitudinally or lengthways of the neck, which will be in the oourse of the muscular fibres of the tube. The carotid artery, the eighth pair of nerves, and the jugular vein, must be avoided, which, if the section be made with only common caution, is easily done : the s« a stall, or a leaping bar ; which modes are prac- tised by grooms and horse dealers, who are often very expert at nick- ing, and who seldom, if ever, cast a horse for the purpose. Profes- sional practitioners, I believe, most of them, used to throw the horse for this operation : for many years I never operated without so doing ; but I became averse to it from the difficulty of making the sections of NICKING. 657 equal depth, and likewise from the dangers of casting ; but more than all, from every day seeing horse dealers performing it with the great- est ease and security standing. It should, however, he remembered,, that unless the practitioner be very expert at using the side lines, and have all the necessary conveniencies, it will be safer for him to ope- rate by casting: for want of these precautions, I remember, a few years ago, a horse dealer being killed on the spot while nicking a horse one Sunday morning in London. Mode of operation. — The horse being properly secured (if by the side line, two had better be used), and a twitch being ready for both lip and ear, endeavour to gently place first one, and then the other hind leg, as far under the belly as the horse can bear with comfort, but not farther, or it will increase his disposition to resistance, [f it be suspected that he will prove very obstreperous, or any timidity exist in the mind of the operator, as a further security, include both hind legs in another rope, or in a wide web, a little above the hocks. This may either run in a noose, or, which is better, let each loose end be at- tached to a manger ring, or, if operated out of doors, fasten them around the neck or across the breast. The tail having the hairs of the dock first bound together with wax end, &c., as the future means of attachment to the pullies, and also, if very full of hair, having it plaited back and secured, prepare to use a short stout scalpel ; if double-edged, it is more convenient, and will save trouble in turning. The mode of making the sections must be left to the discretion of the operator, but the junior practitioner will find himself materially as- sisted by an accurate acquaintance with the anatomy of the tail, which maybe gained by a reference to the Myology, p. 146 ; but much better by a few carefuLdissections. He will there see that the tail is neither conical nor perfectly cylindrical, but somewhat quadrilateral: its up- per angles being formed of the fleshy bellies of the coccygeal elevators, and its lower of the depressors, leaving the under surface of the tail co- vered with ligament and skin only. It is of the utmost consequence to the junior operator that he bears this in mind, and that he does not penetrate further than the skin at this part, or he may divide the liga- ments, and even penetrate the joint between one coccygeal bone and another, when anchylosis and a stiff tail would ensue. This latter ac- cident may, however, be readily avoided by making the sections in the centre of a tail bone, which may be distinguished by the prominences of its articular surfaces ; between which no such accident can happen. It is sometimes directed, and practised also, to make a section first through the integuments only, beginning at the roots of the hair on one side, and carrying it across the bellies of the depressor muscles ; then doing the same by the other side ; and, lastly, making these sec- tions meet by a light and careful division of the integuments only, on the median line of the tail. Such is a very cautious and proper mode for the tyro, and is consistent with the best principles of the art ; but it somewhat delays time, and the expert practitioner will probably find it more ready to carry his scalpel at once through the depressors, by a steady sweep, embracing all the parts to the median line, casing off the depth of section as he approaches it. By turnmg his hand, the same may be done on the other side, by which two strokes judiciously per- formed, the operation, in expert hands, is at once complete. This first section should not be nearer in the smallest horse than two inches 658 NICKING. and a half, a^d in a full sized three inches, or three and a half, as the centre of the coccygeal hones may indicate. If another section he wanted, make it at two inches and a half or three inches from the first and the third, if it he necessary, somewhat less distant than the others ; but in blood horses, one orat most two sections,according to the fulness of croup and height of the sacral line, is all that will be at the present day required. In mares of whatever breed, one section less than for the horse is advisable. The most expert operator will, how- ever, find it prudent, when the sections are made, to examine them carefully that they are all of equal depth, and have divided the de- pressor muscles completely. Should any difference appear in these re- spects, and should such unequal division be allowed to remain, the operation would be incomplete, and the horse would probably carry his tail awry. Add to which, any portion of the muscle being left un- divided, would tend to prevent the others from retracting, and might also serve to promote a reunion of them. Having proceeded thus far, the haemorrhage which ensues need not be considered as of con- sequence, nor will it shew itself until the tail be wholly relaxed ; while it is elevated therefore, proceed to remove the tendinous ends, which will bulge out, not being retracted with the divided ends of their accompanying muscles. If one section only be made, they will be less prominent than when there are more ; but enough will always protrude to enable them to be laid hold of by a tenaculum or forceps, and then cut off by a pair of strong and sharp scissars. The removal of these will not only separate the attachments of the muscles farther from each other, which, if reunited, would of course frustrate the operation, but their removal greatly facilitates the healing of the wounds. The sections being thus complete, proceed to restrain the haemor- rhage, which is done in various ways. By some, by means of strips of cotton, tow, hemp, &c., which, twisted and inserted into each nick, are separately tied on the back of the tail. My own practice of late was to place a piece of lint on a pledget of tow, and introduce into each sec- tion, sufficient to fill it up, over which t placed linen strips long enough to tie, on the back of the tail, which were then tied sufficiently tight to restrain the haemorrhage. Here also it behoves the practitioner to consider the principles of his operations. He purposely strangulates the tail to prevent a dangerous waste of blood, but the very action is an incipient death to the part, and therefore should be most carefully guarded against that it does not proceed too far. If the bleeding be considerable, and require the bandages to be made very tight, I usually loosen them a little in two hours, watching the wounds ; but when these ligatures are not necessarily so tight, they may be allowed to re- main all night, but should be snipped in two at the back of the tail in the m-orning, which will not disturb the tail: indeed, whatever the de° gree of stricture or tightness used in the application of the ligatures, as soon as symptoms of strangulation have commenced, less risk will be run by a too early than by a too late division. When the practitioner is on thespot, an examination of the tail may be made in the evening previous ; and in case any re-action has commenced, and the tail is very hot, loosen or divide them at once on the evening of the day of the operation, when, if the re-action appear to be considerable, which will known by the tail becoming very hot, it will be prudent to divide them at once, and this more particularly if the operation have been NICKING. ^9 performed early in tlie morning. Much difference of opinion has pre- vailed on the subject of dressings, and whether any medicament were proper beyond dry lint. If it were possible to promote the adhesive union, then a dry dressing would be the best; but when it is considered that an early and healthy suppuration is, in human surgery at least, thought to be some guard against tetanus, and as it will enable the dressings to be removed with less difficulty, so there can be no objec- tion to any mild digestive being made use of, if it fall in with the view of the operator. Many of the best veterinarians, however, content themselves with simply watching the nicks, that they be kept clean and free from fungus or other unhealthy process, which, if they do not oc- cur, they use no application but the bandages. It is evident that, were a nicked tail left to itself, the depressing muscles v/ould reunite, and carry it nearly as before : a suspension of the tail afterwards is therefore necessary to keep the divided ends of tlie muscles apart until a cicatrix be formed, and such junction thereby prevented. Various means have been^ised for this purpose : an inge- nious one will be seen among the Instruments. Formerly the tail was fastened on the back, to the danger and torment of the animal. It is now suspended by means of pullies, the best of which are double. When one is used, one wheel is passed through a line stretched across the end of the stall, rather behind the horse, and through the other wheel the line to which the weight is appended. A more improved mode is used by means of two of these pullies, one of which is placed directly behind the horse, at some distance from him, through which, after passing through the pulley on the cross line, it is also passed. By these means, whatever be the motions of the horse, the tail is dis- tended at a right -line with the body. The weight used for this disten- tion should be such that, for the first day or two, it will hardly keep the tail straight, or more than straight ; for two or three more, elevate it to a little above the horizontal line, advancing it every two or three days to the required height, but which should never be carried per- pendicularly erect. The elevation ought, however, principally to de- pend on the height to which we wish the tail to be carried in future. The carriage of the tail should therefore be examined every two or three days, bearing in mind that, after it has altogether done with the pullies, it frequently, indeed commonly, drops a little. Among farriers and horse dealers, some difference of opinion has existed, relative to the propriety of exercising a horse during the use of the pulley, and also as to how long the pulley should be used ; but these matters can never puzzle the veterinarian, being easily solved by a knowledge of the general principles of the animal economy,^ which alone ought to guide him. The pulley is only an extension of the tail, to keep the ends of the muscles from uniting again ; but the simple ex- tension does nothing of itself, as is foolishly supposed, towards the making the horse carry it in future. As soon, therefore, as the v»^ounds are closed, or nearly *so, then all benefit from the pulley is finished; but till then, of course, the muscular ends may unite, and frustrate the operation. Sometimes incrustation of the wounds v^411 take place in ten days or a fortnight, and sometimes it will take a longer time. With regard also to the propriety of exercising the horse, there ought to be but one opinion. As the hair is, or ought to be, platted and carefully secured, so no inconvenience can arise, but every benefit may be gained. ^0 CROPPING. from letting him from the pullies, and exercising him gently to re- move swelling, &c. &c. The hair being put on the stretch by the force used, so a great part of it usually comes off, and this will happen in spite of every precaution ; but the longer it is kept in one imme- diate position, so much the more certain it is for much to fall off. At the end of five or six days, therefore, it may be untied or unplatted, combed out, and then tied afresh, being first greased at its roots ; and the same may be repeated every three or four days afterwards, Avhich is the best means 1 have found of preventing it from falling totally off. Having thus carried the operation through its ordinary course, it remains to say somewhat of its rrregularities. Occasionally inflam- mation follows the operation, either from suspending too much weight to the pully, or forcing it backwards ; or otherwise from too long con- tinuance of the ligatures, or too great tightness. This may proceed to mortification, or it may leave the tail with an unhealthy ulceration producing sinuses. When the former happens, the horse shews evi- dent uneasiness the second or third day, the tail swells, is very tender towards the rump, and the heat is excessive. If the dressings be re- moved, the wounds appear highly inflamed and tumefied ; and unless this inflammatory state be arrested by the most active means, the wounds will become gangrenous, the stump will feel cold, and mortifi- cation will proceed towards the body, and either destroy the horse ; or it is sometimes arrested at the base of the tail, and at length sup- purates and drops off. In such cases the treatment must be prompt, and exactly those already detailed for active and important inflamma- tions. As part of such treatment, remove it from the pullies, or only very slightly suspend it ; wetting the tail frequently with cold water ; keep- ing it continually so, will be found even more useful. It will also be a proper plan to apply cold water during the common process, whenever the tail is at all hotter than is wished. Another evil to which these cases are exposed is tetanus or locked jaw, and which is brought on by causes unapparent to us : in some instances, however, heat in the tem- perature ;g. 675 be quickly removed, the serum may be reabsorbed, and the surface re- stored by a slight effort of adhesive inflammation. If the irritant act in a still minor degree, it simply irritates the vessels of the cutis to an infiltration of fluid through the sensible pores, but produces no desqua- mation of cuticle. Such has been called, and not so erroneously as supposed, a sweating blister. But when by continued irritation, or by denuding the surface by rupturing the vessels, the cutis is exposed, suppuration succeeds, and the part is fully blistered. The salutary action of blisters depends, first, on the stimulus they give to the absorbents, and, next, on the inflammationv/hich they excite, proving a counter-irritant to some other part. As a stimulus to the absorbents, they act in the removal of injurious deposits, as the coa- gula arising from strains or ligamentary extensions ; and we expect them to act beneficially also in the same way ¥/hen we apply them to the exostoses of splints and spavins. But it is to be remarked, that when any existing deposit is of long continuance, or is osseous, it re- quires that the action of the vesicatory be kept up, either by repeated active blistering, or by a frequent renewal of a milder kind of the ori- ginal blister, or by a daily application of the ointment of savine. (See 3Iat. Med.) Mercurial blisters have been thought to accelerate the absorption, and I once thought so myself; but it is very doubtful whe- ther they at all assist active blistering. Alone they may assist, and therefore I would still recommend some days* previous applicacion of mercurial friction over obstinate and bony swellings. Blisters are very important aids in inflammatory affections, as coun- ter-irritants. It appears to be a law in the animal economy, that two inflammations seldom exist in the vicinity of each other ; therefore, when such an affection has taken place in any part, and we wish to re- move it, we attempt to raise an artificial inflammation in the neigh- bourhood by means of blisters ; which, if we effect, we remove, or at least lessen, the original one. Therefore, in inflammatory affections of the lungs, bowels, &c., it is proper to blister the chest, belly, &c. very extensively, by which means the vascular action may be removed from the vital organs to parts of less importance. The vesicatory , or blister for general use in veterinary medicine, as a simple stimulant, should for these cases be composed of Spanish flies only. (See Blis- ters in the Materia Medica.) Cheaper substitutes are used ; but they irritate violently, and, in extensive inflammatory affections, they are on this account perfectly inadmissible. The mode of blistering is sufficiently known ; the hair should be cut or shorn as close as possible from around the part ; the blistering mat- ter should then be well rubbed in for ten or fifteen minutes ; on which thorough application of it, much of its operation depends: having done this, smooth it down, and spread a little more on the surface with a spatula. If the pasterns and fetlocks are the parts to be blistered, previous to rubbing in the ointment, smear some lard, tallow, or melt- ed suet, over the heels, and within the hollow at the back of the small pastern. This will often prevent grease or troublesome sores from forming, from the blistering ointment falling on these parts. Another caution is also necessary to be observed with regard to this operation, which is, that when a horse is much out of condition, particularly in the autumn or winter, and is blistered behind, the suppurative surface 676 BLISTERING. is very apt to degenerate into the diseased state of grease, and to pro- duce much trouble. In such cases, therefore, if blistering cannot be avoided, much caution is required in the operation, as well as to pre- pare the animal for it. While a blister is acting, the litter should be removed from under the feet, or it will tickle the legs, and irritate: the hoi-se should also have hay or other food constantly before him, which will draw off his attention and quiet the pain ; but, above all, his head ought to be most carefully secured, for two days and nights, to prevent him lying down, but more especially to prevent him biting the blister- ed part. Unless this be particularly attended to, the irritation will make him tear and disfigure himself much. On the third evening, he may be permitted to lie down ; but a prevention should even then be continued, by means of what is called a cradle, which should also be put on the moment the blister begins to be troublesome, as an assistant security. This apparatus may be bought ready at turning shops ; or may be made of eight or ten pieces of round wood, an inch and a half in diameter, and two feet long. These are strung at each end on a rope, and fastened around the neck, by which the horse is effectually prevented from bending his neck to bite or tear himself. When it is intended to blister repeatedly, the effects of the first should have com- pletely subsided before it is renewed ; the scurf and scabs be first cleared away, and the part well washed with soap and water, which will clear it from any matter that might obstruct the action of the re- newed blister. In all cases, the third or fourth day after a blister has been applied, the part should be well rubbed with some lard, palm oil, or other greasy matter, to prevent the skin cracking and chapping ; and when it is proposed to turn a horse out after, it should never be done until the whole blistered surface be quite healed, or dirt, flies, &c. may prove hurtful. It remains to add,. that in blistering for bony swellings, as ringbones, splints, spavins, and also for ligamentary en- largements of long standing, called " callusses," I would recommend to rub the part well with mercurial ointment once or twice a day for a week or ten days before the blister is applied ; by which means the ef- ficacy and action of the blister appear to be increased. Instead of re- peated active blistering, it is in some cases preferable to keep up a continual slight irritation on the original blister, by means of stimu- lants, as turpentine, savine ointment, mild blistering ointment, &c. ; but caution is necessary to avoid forming an eschar, and thereby a permanent blemish: when a blemish is not of consequence, this plan will be found often more efficacious than firing, as in splints, spavins, &c. Some practitioners blister mildly one day, and on the next wash off the blistering matter, and thereby save the loss of hair. But there is more of appearance than of reality in this plan. If a blister be requi- site, it requires all its activity ; if it can be dispensed with, and yet some stimulant be wanting, use the following, which will equally save the hair, and promote a longer action. Sweating Blisters. — This term is made use of among farriers, to imply a moderately active stimulant, generally of a liquid kind, that will not excoriate, raise the cuticle, or cause a separation of hair; and yet will rouse the absorbents, and occasion, as is supposed, a transpi- ration of fluid mater, or a sweating effect, whereby accumulations are removed in the latter stages of muscular and ligamentary strains, as BLISTERS. 677 those of the shoulder, hip, stifle, and some others ; in which, it will be seen, I have sometimes ree(^mmended this plan. The mode I generally adopt to effect it, is this : I apply the liquid stimulant (see Sweating Blisters in Mat. Med.) of a strength adapted to the irritability of the skin, which varies much in different habits ; rubbing in daily a suffi- cient quantity, so that on the third or fourth day, but not before, a considerable tumefaction or swelling shall appear. I then desist, and suffer the swelling to subside, when I frequently find that it takes with it all the enlargement previously existing, as well as the lameness ; if not, I repeat it. All lesser matters in operative farriery may be found distributed under their several names in the Veterinary Materia 3Iedica. When I had completed the anatomical detail of the present Work, I paused a little, to endeavour to impress on the student's mind the importance of the subject treated on. Having now brought this more interesting part to a close also, I may with propriety again attempt to arrest his attention, and to point out to him the still greater impor- tance of this subject, as well as the absolute necessity there is to his future well doing, that he should make himself fully master of every part of it before he proceeds on his professional career. Any attention he pays to this during his novitiate, will be amply recompensed by the success that will attend his future endeavours. By having a well grounded knowledge of the principles of his profession, he will be en- abled to form a judicious plan of treatment for each case ; not tied by invariable precedent, or confined to any unbending set of practical rules ; but, thus armed, he may successfully vary his curative agencies, as the cases may themselves vary, or as their exigencies may require. A practice thus founded, will enable its artist to meet extraordinary or adverse circumstances, without that anxiety, suspense, and indeci- sion, which often bcTsilder the but half informed ; or push into blind hazard and rashness, him who has totally neglected to store his mind with ih^se principles. In possession of these I would, however, strongly caution him from entering into speculative opinions, or wild and vi- sionary theories, which too often prove a trap to the ardent and youth- ful mind, by affording a delusive prospect of a short road to fame, wealth, and perfection. Let him apply all he has gained to practice and experiment ; and let him remember that the wisdom derived from experience is the most ready path to improvement ; and that, although occasionally a sudden gleam may irradiate the extraordinary mind, the bright halo more often dazzles than informs. The safest and the surest track is the observance and collating of facts, from which a storehouse of the most useful knowledge may be raised, built on an unyielding base, which fashion cannot overturn, nor new opinions bring into disrepute. Of these, that is of professional facts, I would recommend that he should carefully note all he may obtain, from the most varied sources: and that he may fully avail himself of the be- nefits resulting from his own experience, I would advise him to care- fully note and set down in a ca^e hook the practice employed in every disease that comes before him : with its leading symptoms, progress, 678 CONCLUDING REMARKS. and termination. These notes maybe afterwards revised, and arranged under their several heads and classes ; by which he may at any time, and at one view, see what appears worthy of repetition, and what pre- sents itself as a matter to avoid. Finally, by neglecting no opportuni- ties for improvement, and by a steady undeviating course, founded on integrity towards his employers, and humanity towards the animals concerned, he will gain esteem, reputation, and emolument. The pleasing consciousness will also arise, that he has proved useful in his day and generation, and has tended to ennoble the art he professes. PART THE FOURTH THE '¥eterinar^ iWlaterta JWeDica, OR, AN ALPHABETICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE LIST VARIOUS MEDICINAIi ARTICLES At present in Use in Veterinary Practice, XX 6^0 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. THE VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA, 8sc. JL HE veterinary art is even yet so much in its infancy, that the ope- rations of a few medicinal agents only are at present familiar to us ; and some time will prohahly elapse, before any thing like a complete and systematic Materia Medica can be offered, for the use of the vete- rinary student ; and I am very far from considering that I at all ap- proach this by the following sketch. It will serve, however, as a vade mecum to the junior practitioner, and will give the leading features of most of the medicaments used in veterinary practice. I have intro- duced into it few formulae: I would have introduced none, but to save repetition in the body of the work, and for the convenience of both the junior practitioner and amateur. For such as do appear I can answer, by their effects in my own practice. It has been, throughout, my aim to teach the practice of the art on principles, and not on receipts, which are but the bolsters to ignorance and empiricism. Neverthe- less, as before stated, as a guide to both the junior practitioner and the amateur, the introduction of a few which have stood the test of a long experience, may prove useful. I would strongly recommend to the veterinarian setting out in life, to have a neat and well regulated dispensatory. Except that the mat- ters need not be quite so numerous, it should be a fac simile of a well arranged apothecary's shop. The various articles should be enclosed in drawers, pots, or bottles, according to their forms or properties : each should be separate, and each should be distinctly marked. Above all, it behoves him, if he wish either to satisfy himself, or to do justice to the cases under his care, to be most particular as to the quality of the simples and compounds he uses. On this, too much stress cannot be laid ; for it has been justly observed, " any thing is thought good enough for a horse," and hence no medicinal articles are so shamefully adulterated as those intended for his use. The prudent veterinarian will find it his interest to deal with a druggist of established reputa- tion, and to order none but genuine drugs, and of the best quality. At the present day, I should hope I need not caution him against the wretched trash offered under the names of horse powders and horse oils. These articles can be sold at any price ; for they rre very gene- rally adulterated by farriers' druggists, to suit the pocket, t^ie credit, or the tastes of their customers, whose usual ignorance of chemistry and pharmacy makes the imposition the more easy. The only means to avoid such deception is to compound for himself; and to do it with the best drugs. In the formidce, and doses, the apothecaries weights and measures are always meant, a table of which is added as a guide. I would also recommend to those v/hose knowledge of pharmacy is limited, to pro- VETERINARY MATERIA MEDFCA. 681 cure a complete set of weights and measures of apothecaries use, mark- ed and graduated in Eiiglish characters. Such are now sold at scale- makers, and prevent the possibility of mistake. I have in this edition described the articles under their proper che- mical characters, adding also the pharmaceutical one of the Lon- don Pharmacopoeia ; but I have at the same time inserted all the old popular names also, with a reference to their proper nomenclature : by which means the most unlettered will be at no loss ; and others may be gradually led to assimilate this with its parent art of human phar- macy. A TABLE of the WEIGHTS and MEASURES generally used in PHARMACY. WEIGHTS : The Povxnd .^ ^Twelve ounces ■ Ounce } c VEight drams ■ Dram > J < Three scruples Scruple \ g /Twenty grains. ^^ Grain J -^ \. MEASURE OF FLUIDS : The Gallon '\ g T Eight pints — — Pint f "3 J Sixteen fluid ounces- ■ Fluid ounce ^ a ^ Eight fluid drams — Fluid dram j u (^ Sixty minims or drops. Absorbents. — The efficacy of this class of remedies is supposed to consist in their- tendency to correct a diseased acidity in the stomach ; but as this organ in the horse has but a small portion of secreting sur- face, so he is less liable to affections of this nature than many other animals. In horned cattle, complaints apparently originating from this source are more common; hence cows, calves, and sheep, are sometimes benefited by chalk ; which is the most usual antacid in ve- terinary practice. Acetated Liquor of Ammonia. — This has been long known by the popular term of Mindererus's spirit, and is made by pouring a quart of vinegar on an ounce of volatile salt of ammonia. It may be also made by taking any quantity of spirit of hartshorn, and adding vine- gar to it till it tastes neither salt nor sour. I consider it as a very im- portant medicine in horse practice ; it gently invigorates, is diaphore- tic, and sometimes it proves mildly diuretic. It principally shev/s its salutary effects on the commencement of the debile stage, or at the elose of lingering febrile diseases, particularly of the epidemic catarrh; in which cases it may be combined with camphor, but,more particu- larly with powdered camomile (see Camobiile). In the more early stages of the epidemic catarrh, it may be united with nitre and oxymel. The dose is from four to six ounces. In strains and ligamentary lame- nesses it forms a very useful external application also. Acetate of Copper, or Verdigris.— Internally, this subacetate of copper has been given in daily doses of two to three drams, and some- times with success ; but it does not appear, from what I have seen of it, to merit the exclusion of more appreciated remedies. It has, how- Xx2 682 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. ever, some power as a tonic, and, in tliis point of view, may be pro- perly administered. Externally, its benefits are more apparent, as it proves one of the best detergents and mild escharotics with which we are acquainted. Mixed with honey, it forms segyptiacum, and is used in ulcers of the mouth, and likewise as a paste to other ulcerated parts. Mixed with tar, it becomes one of the best applications for thrushes, grease, and cracks. Acids. In chemical language these are a class of salts ; but, fami- liarly, they express whatever produces the sense of sour to the taste. They are gained from the a^nimal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms. Such as are in use in veterinary medicine, are described under their proper names throughout the Materia Medica. jEgyptiacums are mixtures of the acetate of copper (verdigris) and honey, sometimes with vinegar, borax, alum, &c. The simple aegyptiacum is used for ulcers of the mouth, the others for grease, cracks, &c. JLrugo. — See Acetate of Copper. ^■THER. — The volatility as well as the expense will ever prevent the sulphuric sether from coming into general use in veterinary practice ; but the more dilute preparation of it, called spirit of sulphuric cether^ may be often used with great benefit in spasmodic colic, in addition to the other means. The nitrous cether, or sweet spirit of nitre, as it is called, is a more general remedy, and will probably become still more so as it is more known. As a febrifuge, it is at once cooling without lowering. (See Nitre.) A dram of sulphuric aether to eight ounces of rose water makes an excellent coUyrium for the latter stages of ophthalmia. ^THiops Mineral. — See Sulphuret of Quicksilver. Aloes. — These form a very important article in the veterinarian's list of medicines, and therefore too much care cannot be taken to pro- cure them genuine. Every practitioner, however, should purchase them in the gross, and have them reduced to powder under his own in- spection, as the surest preventive against adulteration. Aloes are of three kinds ; Socotrine, Barbadoes and Cape. Formerly the socotrine were recommended, and the other kinds condemned as unsafe: but the Barbadoes are now in most request, as being the most certain in their action ; principally, I believe, because they are less adulterated. So- cotrine aloes appear in colour compounded of red, brown, and yellow ; are very brittle and fragrant to the smell. Barbadoes aloes are of a deeper tint, less brittle, less fragrant, and more intensely bitter. Cape aloes in appearance hold a middle place between the two, and indeed what are so called are in many instances compounded by druggists of the refuse of both, and to which perhaps may be attributed much of their uncertainty. The action of each kind as 2i purgative is detailed under the head Purgatives. As an alterative, a stomachic, or a vermi- fuge, aloes are sometimes given in doses of one dram to two daily ; they are also used in similar doses as a nauseant in inflammations. As an external detergent and stimulant application, they are used in the compound tinctures of myrrh and of benjamin, called friars balsam. Aloes will not pulverise readily except in frosty weather, at which j:ime a sufficient quantity should be done to last the year through ; and as they are apt again to unite into a solid mass, so, as soon as powdered, they should be mixed with something. I have always used for this pur- VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 683 pose half their weight of lard, or palm oil: mixed in this manner they keep well, and form a uniform mass of a proper consistence to make balls ; which dissolves readily in the stomach, never hardens, and is, I think, less apt to gripe than any other form. The great difficulty attending aloetic balls is the keeping them in a uniform state. They are apt to become too hard or too soft. Mr. Bracy Clark has invented a method by which he informs us these in- conveniencies are obviated. He places one vessel within another, ex- actly as carpenters melt glue ; having water in the outer vessel, and aloes with one fifth of their weight of treacle in the inner one, which is carefully covered with a lid. The apparatus being put on the fire, is suffered to remain, the aloes and treacle being now and then, but not too often, stirred to combine them, for an hour or more, or until per- fectly melted. The inner vessel being now taken from the outer, the contents are expeditiously cast in paper moulds or tubes, of the usual diameter of a horse ball. When cold, Mr. C. finds these balls flexible, yet solid, and that they remain so. He gives an ounce to a saddle or carriage horse, and ten drams to a cart horse. A loatery solution of aloes should be kept by every veterinarian, and which will be found in many instances a very convenient form, as well as desirable, on account of its quicker action. It maybe made by grossly powdering a pound of the mass, and infusing it in a warm place in one pint and a half of proof spirit for three or four days ; after which add soft water tvvo quarts, and bottle for use. When to be taken, shake the vessel containing it, and give sediment and all, in doses of two, three, or four ounces, as the case may require. Alteratives are articles that are supposed to act medicinally on the body, in a slow and nearly imperceptible manner. The usual alteratives among farriers are nitre, antimony, sulphur, resin, and spices ; but a better acquaintance with the art teaches us to add mer- curials, mineral acids, foxglove, wood barks, aloes, with some of the gums, and gum resins. A change also in the food becomes in some instances a powerful alterative. Nitrated potash or nitre, in doses of two to six drams, increases the urinary discharge, and thus becomes an alterative, by gently decreasing the accumulation of fluids in swelled heels and other oedematous enlargements. Antimony is given in seve- ral forms. The sulphuret, or what was called crude antimony, has been long a common alterative. It is still given in doses of two to six drams, in skin aifections, as hidebound, Stc. Antimonial powder, and tar- tarized antimony, called emetic tartar, which are both prepared from this (see Antimony), are also alteratives of a diaphoretic quality, in doses of one to two drams. Resin is an active and useful diuretic al- terative, in doses of two to three or four drams ; but it simply empties the system, while nitre is a refrigerant also. The supertartrate of potash, called cream of tartar, is an excellent alterative, particularly in conjunction with mercurials and sulphur, in skin affections, as sur- feits, &c. &c. Spices are often too freely used by ignorant persons to pro- duce a fine coat ; but in judicious hands they become useful alteratives, by their invigorating and tonic quality. The submuriate of mercury, or calomel, is useful in all herpetic aftections, and as a vermifuge also, in doses of a scruple to a dram ; but its effects must be watched, or salivation may unexpectedly come on. The oxymuriate of mercury, or ^84 VETERINARY MATERIA WliDiCA. corrosive sublimate, may likewise be given in similar cases, and in farcy, glanders, grease, &c., in doses often grains to a scruple, watch- ing its effects even more attentively than the former, as, in addition to salivation, it may produce inflammation of the stomach. Arsenic is not only given with the same intents as the last article, but as a tonic its effects are also very considerable, particularly in cases of protract- ed debility from chronic diseases. It is also a useful anthelmintic. The dose is the same as of corrosive sublimate, and similar cautions are to be observed in its exhibition. Foxglove is likewise a useful al- terative in watery accumulations, in doses of two scruples to a dram. Diuretics, diaphoretics, laxatives, stomachics, and tonics, maybe all likewise considered as alteratives. See these articles. Alum (Jllumen). — This compounded body of sulphuric acid and |)ure argil is in very general use in veterinary practice, both externally and internally. In doses of one or two drams, it is an useful astrin- gent in diarrhoea, diabetes, and other fluxes. It also possesses some virtues as a stomachic. Externally it is used as a styptic to stop haemorrhage, by sprinkling it on the bleeding orifice, when its coagu- lating properties plug up the mouth of the vessel. It is a useful escha- rotic to destroy fungus, and a valuable detergent for foul ulcers. It is also a useful stimulant in inflammations of the eye ; and a whey made of it forms a good astringent clyster. When it is burnt, it is rather milder, but its properties are not otherwise materially altered. Ammonia (^^;«wi(9wm carhoiias). — The gazeous ammonia, fixed into a solid form by combination with carbonic acid, forms the volatile am- moniacal salt of the druggists. It has been said to be a good stimu- lant in the latter stages of fever ; but I have never tried it alone : united with vinegar, it forms the liquor ammonia acetatis, or spirit of Mindererus, and becomes then, indeed, a most excellent febrifuge.— See this article. AMMONiAcuai. — This gimi'is sometimes given in old obstinate coughs, but I have no evidence to offer of its efficacy. Anise Seed. — The powder of these seeds was formerly much used by farriers, and the druggists who make horse powders find it a profitable article ; for it is adulterated to one third only of the genuine powder. It may be very properly united with other warm aromatics when cor- dials are admissible. It is also thought to possess some pectoral pro- perties, but they are very trifling. The essential oil is the most active preparation of it ; which see. Anodynes. — These are medicines that quiet pain. In the human, they procure sleep also, but no article with which we are acquainted is capable of producing this effect on the horse ; whose stomach having but little secreting surface, on which almost all anodynes first act by a sympathetic effect, so, in him, this class is not very numerous. Never- theless, here also the grand anodyne of the human, which is opium, must be the sheet anchor of the veterinarian. Camphor and oether will likewise mitigate spasm (see Antispasmodics and Narcotics) ; but in all painful affections, where relief is essential, opium in doses of one, two, or three drams, is chiefly to be depended on. Anthelmintics, or Worm medicines, are such substances as mechani- cally irritate them by their speculi, or such as dislodge tliem by removing the mucus of the bowels, as purgatives, or such as prove noxious to the VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 685 worms themselves. Tin or pewter, or iron filed fine, but not levigated, two or three ounces. Common salt, six to eight ounces. Oil of turpen- tine, two to three ounces. Savin, one to two ounces. Cowhage, half a dram. Calomel, a scruple. Arsenic, ten grains. Aloes, till they purge. All these are thought to fulfil one or other of these indications. Worm medicines should he given fasting, every day, for a fortnight. — See WoR3is, in the Diseases. Antimony. — The Sulphuret or crude antimony (Antimonii sulpJui- return) is now very generally levigated after it is powdered, which con- siderably improves it. It has long been used as an alterative in doses of six drams to ten. Antimonial powder (antimonium oooydum) is a preparation from the crude, similar in qualities to Dr. James's cele- brated powder, and affords the veterinarian an excellent febrifuge in doses of one to two drams, ^dntimonium tavtarizatum, or emetic tar- tar, is another agent in horse practice. (See tartarized antimony.) In inflammatory affections, but particularly in catarrhal and pneumo- nic ones, its virtues are considerable in doses of one dram to two or three. In larger doses, it sensibly lessens the pulse. Murias antimonii, or butter of antimony, is a caustic liquid prepa- ration well known. — See Caustics. Antiseptics are remedies supposed to possess a power of resisting a putrefactive process in the body ; but this disposition is questioned, and all medicines of this class are now considered as acting only by their stimulating qualities. — See Tonics and Stimulants. Antispasmodics. — The horse is not subject to many spasmodic affec- tions, and the class of remedies that applies to the few he is troubled with is small. Opium stands first on the list. Camphor, aether, oil of turpentine, and asafoetida, have all of them likewise proved useful. Cold also, in an intense degree, is a powerful antispasmodic, for which reason we apply it in tetanus. Aperients. — See Laxatives. Argenti Nitras. — See Nitrated Silver, Arsenic, oxide (Arsenicum Gxydum). — This powerful medicament has been but lately properly appreciated. It is now known to be an ex- cellent tonic, in doses of ten grains to thirty daily, in a very fine powder. Much more has been given ; but as it sometimes appears to remain in the constitution until fully saturated with it, when it commences its noxious effects suddenly and irreparably, so it is always prudent to exhibit it with great caution. Nor should it ever be given on an empty stomach. It has the power of staying the progress of glanders, and it ultimately cures farcy. It appears also to have some vermifuge pro- perties ; and there is reason to suppose that it may in time prove an an- tidote to some animal poisons. Externally, it assists other applica- tions in the cure of mange. Asaf(etida. — This gum is a minor antispasmodic. Astringents. — These are supposed to act on the living fibres by pro- ducing increased contraction in them, in which point of view they form a very numerous and important class ; but in a more limited sense, they are considered as substances that restrain immoderate fluxes, as of the intestines and kidnies. Those that act by constriiiging the divided ends of blood vessels are called styptics. Opium, chalk, alum, starchy and 686 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. catechu, act favourably in restraining intestinal fluxes. Catechu, aluniy and acetate of lead, operate as astringents on the urinary passages. Balls. — There are some circumstances, in the preparation of this form of medicines, uot in general sufficiently attended to by veterina- rians. Substances that are volatile do not keep well in balls, and there- fore should only be made when used. The same caution is also requi- site with such as liquefy by the absorption of air. All hard substances entering into balls should be finely powdered, and the moist matter that is to form them into an adhesive mass, should be of a nature that will neither ferment nor become mouldy. Very dry and bulky powders are no way so conveniently formed into a mass, or keep so well, as by the addition of lard or palm oil. Such as are less bulky, and other mat- ters, may be mixed with honey, syrup, or treacle, unless they are in- tended for keeping some months ; in which case, if lard or palm oil be not used, well made conserve of roses forms the best medium. A mass of balls not intended for immediate use should be pressed down into a jar, and tied over with a bladder. As the giving of a ball is a forcible operation, so, when it is requisite to exhibit medicines more than once a day, it is more prudent to give them in the form of drinks. A horse ball should not be so large as a pullet's egg, but rather longer ; nor should it be too hard. Among the Veterinary Instruments maybe seen a very ingenious one for givingballs, which may be used in every case, but is particularly applicable to colts, ponies, or horses with a small mouth. The common balling iron, used by persons not expert at delivering a ball as it is termed, should always be guarded with cloth, to prevent the bars of the mouth from being wounded. The most convenient mode of " delivering a hall" is, to back the horse in his stall, when the operator, raising himself on a stool (the bottom of the bucket is a very usual convenience, but it some- times falls in, and alarms the horse), should gently draw the tongue a little out of the mouth, so as to prevent its rising to resist the passage of the hand ; but it should not be laid hold of alone, or the struggles of the horse may injure it, but should be held firmly by the fingers of the left hand against the jaw. The ball, being previously oiled, must now be taken in the fingers of the right hand, lengthwise, when the hand, being squeezed into as small a space as possible, should be passed up the mouth close to the roof, by which injury from the teeth will be avoided : having placed the ball on the root of the tongue, the hand may be withdrawn, and the tongue liberated, when the ball will pass down. The head should, during the whole, be but mode- rately elevated : when it is held too high, there is some danger of choking the horse. BALSA3IS are a kind of resinous juice, united with some of the ex- tractive matter of the various plants they are obtained from, in com- bination with an essential oil. All the balsams are occasionally in use in veterinary medicine, and were formerly in very high estimation, for their supposed salutary action in chronic diseases of the lungs. They were also considered as a sovereign vulnerary for abraded urinary passages. It is the modern doctrine to think their efficacy overrated, and which is probably in some respects true, particularly as regards their expectorant qualities : nevertheless they are far from being inert ; VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 687 on the contrary, they appear to act favourably in some instances, as a warm terebinthinated stimulant. There are balsams of Canada ; of copaiva ; of Gilead ; of Peru ; and of Tolu, What is called balsam of sulphur, is merely a compounded preparation of sulphur in oil. Barbadoes Tar. — See Tar. Bark. — Several of the harks enter into the veterinarian's list of me- dicaments, and all act by an astringent property on the animal fibre. Peruvian bark, which stands foremost in reputation, is almost ex- cluded from our reach by its cost ; and as horses are little subject to intermittents, so we can more readily dispense with it, particularly as the tonic qualities can be gained from others less expensive. I have used the willow, the elm, and the oak barks, particularly in conjunc- tion with camomile, in cases of debility after fever, with advantage. Cascarilla and angustura barks prove themselves also valuable stoma- chic tonics. The elm and oak barks, in decoction, form excellent astringent washes for herpetic complaints, chapped heels, grease, &c. &c. Bathing is not a convenient remedy for horses, but is occasionally a useful one. Sea bathing has been found beneficial in farcy, mange, and hidebound. And the bathing with cold water, or rather the dash- ing with it, is now and then beneficial in tetanus. A warm bath has been likewise tried with advantage in these and other cases. Basilicon (Ceratum resince). Beans, in a medical point of view, are sometimes used as a tonic, and the flour of them as a restringent. Benzoin. — See Gums. Blisters. — The action of blisters, and the cases in which they are properly applied, are detailed under the operations. The sicbstances^ used for this purpose are various ; the most important is the meloe cantharides, or Spanish ily, whose action is so certain and mild, that, as a simple vesicatory for internal inflammatory affections, every thing else is totally inadmissible. Euphorbium, v/hich is the general sub- stance introduced as a substitute for a portion of these flies, is suffi- ciently active ; but it irritates, and therefore ought never to be em- ployed in these cases. However, in common blistering for strains, &c., where the expense of cantharides is objected to, auxiliary vesica- tories may be admitted. — See CxIntharides. No. 1. — JI71 excellent Blister for general Use. Powdered cantharides one pound Venice turpentine ditto Resin ditto Palm oil, or lard two pounds. Melt the three latter articles slowly together, and, when not too hot, gradually mix the cantharides or flies. No. 2. — A strong cheap Blister, not proper in Fevers. Powdered euphorbium three ounces Oil of vitriol two drams Spanish flies one pound Palm oil, or lard 4 three pounds Resin three pounds Oil of turpentine eight ounces. Melt the resin with the lard or pahn oil, after which add the turpon- 688 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. tine. fJavhig previously mixed the oil of vitriol very gradually with an ounce of water, as gradually add these to the melted mass, which a^ain set on a very slow fire for ten minutes more: afterwards remove the whole, and, when beginning to cool, add the powders previously mixed together. No. 3. — A Mercurial Blister for Splitits, Spavins, and Ringbones, which may be used where dependence is placed on the action of Mercurials with Blisters. Of either of the former four ounces Corrosive sublimate, powdered finely half a dram. No. 4. — Liquid Blister, strong. — See Sweating Blister. Spanish flies, in gross powder half a pound Oil of turpentine two quarts Olive oil one quart. Steep the flies in the turpentine three weeks ; strain off, and add the olive oil. No. 5. — Liquid Blister, mild. Of the above one pint Olive oil a pint and a half. No. 6. A 3Iustard Blister or Poultice, to be applied in cases of emergeiicy, ichen blistering ointment is not at hand. Mix half a pound of flour of mustard into a paste, and apply hot. It may in some cases be strengthened by the addition of two ounces of oil of turpen- tine. Blue Vitriol (Cupri sulphas). — See Sulphate of Copper. Bole Armenian, vulgarly called hole armenic, is an argillaceous earth impregnated with iron ; and was formerly extolled for its astrin- gent strengthening qualities, both externally and internally ; but, al- though it has some claim to attention, it is seldom now used except in charges. Borax. — See Sod.e. Bran.— Independent of the use of this as an*article of food, it may be here introduced as a medicine also, being mucilaginous and aperient. In the latter point of view, it is perhaps the m.ost certain laxative with which we are acquainted, and at the same time the most mild also. — See Mashes. Burgundy Pitch differs so little from resin in ils qualities, as to need no particular comment. — See Resin. Butter of Antimony (Antimonium muriaium). — See Caustics. Calamine, prepared (Lapis calaminaris), is an ore of zinc, which, -when reduced to a fine powder, may be very usefully sprinkled on ex- coriations, and on cracks of the heels, to dry them. It is, however, most frequently used in the form of the unguent called calamine ce- rate, and formerly Turner's cerate. It is an excellent desiccative ap- plication. Calomel.— (See Submuriate of Quicksilver).— This is a very useful medicine in horse practice, but is liable to some uncertainty in its action; therefore, in cases in which its use is to be continued, it should only be given in doses of fifteen to twenty grains daily; and even then should be carefully watched ; for the moment the gum.s look red, the mouth feels hot, and a tenderness is observed in chewing, it should VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 689 be immediately discontinued. Calomel has not much effect as a vermi- fuge beyond its purgative properties ; but it is an excellent alterative in skin affections, as hidebound, surfeits, &c. It has proved useful also in farcy, grease, and oedema. I have used it successfully likewise in constitutional ophthalmia, both externally and internally. It is often united with purges, but is not to be depended on alone as a pur- gative in cases where it is used, and, in such, I prefer to give it in a mash on the evening preceding the morning the purge is to be o-iven Two drams are a proper quantity in such cases, but it must not be for- gotten to subtract something from the strength of the mornino- pursue. During the use of calomel as an alterative, the horse should not be exposed to v.'et or cold. It remains to add, that, unless this ar- ticle be purchased from a druggist of reputation, it is very apt to be adulterated. Camomile. — If I do not very wrongly appreciate this veo-etable it unites in an admirable degree the qualities of a stomachic and febri- fuge. In debility of the stomach and bowels it is a most excellent tonic, in doses of an ounce and a half once or twice a day, particularly in conjunction with carbonate of iron. In fevers, but more particularly in the dcbile stage of catarrh which succeeds the first inflammatory attack, and when the purulent discharge has appeared, it proves a most valuable assistant to the other medicines prescribed. In conjunction with Mindererus's spirit, it forms the best febrifuge for the secondary stages of fever in general with which we are acquainted. Camphor is an Indian produce, chiefly extracted from the laurus camphora. It is a narcotic to the horse as well as to the human but only in very considerable quantities. In moderate doses, as two drams it proves antispasmodic, and therefore may be usefully employed in flatulent colic, in conjunction with other remedies. United with opium it has acted beneficially in spasmodic constrictions of the neck of the' bladder not dependent on inflammation. It has also been highly spoken of as a powerful remedy in locked jaw ; but though I have fully tried it in these cases, I am not able to say much in its favour. It has on very respectable authority been warmly praised for its virtues in fever* and as it is certainly a stimulant in moderate repeated doses, so in the' latter stages of febrile complaints, where the debility is considerable it may be very properly given. But in the more early stages its bene- ficial action is questionable : nor are its powers sufficient as a perma- nent stimulant to be depended on at any time without other auxiliaries. Externally it proves a mild discutient, in indurations and rheumatic affections ; and I have also experienced advantage from its use in col- lyriums for inflamed eyes. Cantharides, or Spanish Flies. — These are, or ought to be the principal stimulating ingredient in the making of blisters ; and every veterinarian should purchase them whole and powder them himself otherwise he will be very apt to buy them adulterated. Previous to being powdered they should be moderately dried, and then leisurely pounded, or rather ground into a powder, the operator guarding his face with a fine muslin handkerchief, so as not to receive the fine par- ticles into his nose and throat, otherwise an unpleasant sense of sore- ness will arise. If they arc very dry, and the powder flies much, add a few drops of sweet oil, which will prevent this. 690 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA, Capsicum. — In Indian horse practice, an infusion of Cayenne pep- per is often given as a cure of flatulent eolic, and as a vermifuge also ; it is likewise used externally as a stimulant. I have myself tried it in colic with some advantage, but not with sufficient benefit to prefer it to the more established means. As a stomachic, it is'decidedly inferior to the other spices. Caraways. — Both the seeds and essential oil are used as warm sto- machic cordials. — See Cordials. Carbonate of Ammonia is called salt of hartshorn ; carbonated water of ammonia is the spirit of hartshorn of the shops. It is conve- nient in veterinary practice, from its peculiar property of uniting oil and water. Internally, it is an antispasmodic in doses of eight to ten drams. United with acetous acid, or vinegar, it forms an excellent diaphoretic febrifuge. (See Mindererus's Spirit.) And in conjunc- tion with equal parts of oil, it forms the volatile liniment, which is a warm discutieiit application, much used for sore throat and indurated tumours. Carbonate of Iron. — See Iron. Carrots. — These become, under many circumstances, a medicine, as well as an article of diet. Even for the latter purpose they are not sufficiently known; for they fatten without heating, i. e. without pro- moting plethora ; but, on the contrary, they keep the body cool by keeping it open, and greatly promote a healthy coat. As sl inedicine they often remove cough, cure incipient grease, are good in farcy, and beneficial in surfeits and mange; but in these latter cases they must be wholly substituted for corn. A poultice formed of the scraped root is an excellent application in cases of ichorous discharge from the heels. — See Poultices. Castor Oil (Oleum ricini).-^See Oils. Cathartics. — Whatever excites the intestines to a more early, a more frequent, and a more copious discharge of their contents, may be termed a cathartic, or purge. If this effect be intended to be produced in a slight degree only, the article effecting it is termed a laa?ative ; which see. The principal cathartic in veterinary practice is aloes. Castor oil, calomel, and neutral salts, may be considered as laxatives. — See Physicking, Aloes, &c. Catechu. — By universal suffrage this has long been called japan earth ; although it is an extract from a species of Indian acacia. It is a very mild but tolerably certain astringent ; and its effects are, I think, even more certain on brutes than on the human subject. It acts favour- ably in relaxations of the urinary passages, and also in alvine fluxes or diarrhoea ; in which latter cases it should be united with chalk, in doses of an ounce. Caustics. — In the human materia medica, these are described as escharotics ; but, as this is the most familiar term, and our art is not sufficiently advanced to adhere strictly to an academic form ; so we shall, under the term caustics, consider such substances as erode or desh'oy the animal solids, and in general coagulate the fluids also. The caustic Wticles are numerous, but we shall notice only such as are par- ticularly useful or popular. The mineral acids are active caustics. Sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol, is sometimes mixed with blistering ointment and with other matters, to hasten their stimulating effect. VETERINAPxV MATERIA MEDIC A. C)91 Nitrous acid (aquafortis) may be used in a similar way. Muriate of an- timony, very commonly called by farriers the h utter of antimony , is an escharotic or caustic in very general use in veterinary practice. Applied to a raw surface, it instantly changes it white, destroying a thin layer of substance ; hence it is a very convenient application in cankered feet, as, by means of a small camel's hair brush, it can be spread over as much or as little a portion of parts as is necessary. In sand- crack, when the sensible substance protrudes, it may be applied in a similar way. For the cure of corns, after the bruised portion has been removed, it likewise proves particularly useful. In obstinate cases of grease, the buds are sometimes beneficially touched with it : but in quittor, pole evil, and other sinuses, it is not so proper as some other escharotics. Nitrated Silver (^iy?mffr caustic, ot argenti nitras.)- — This is a pre- paration from silver, which renders it expensive : it is, however, essen- tially necessary to the veterinarian's dispensary, from its being so completely under command in its action, not extending its effects be- yond the immediate part it is applied to. It proves the most conve- nient caustic for destroying the edges of a contaminated wound, when not too extensive, as the bite of a rabid animal. Dissolved in five, six, or eight times its own weight of water, it forms an excellent ' liquid caustic, peculiarly useful as a dressing for the foot rot in sheep, and also to touch the protruded portions in sandcrack. Dissolved in twenty times its weight of water, it makes a useful detergent wash for foul ulcers, and to keep dovvn too luxuriant surfaces. — Caustic potash (potassa fusa), called lapis infernalis, formed into a solid body, is also another powerful ca,ustic, quicker in its action than the lunar, and therefore more convenient for extensive action; but its ready liquefac- tion renders it unfit for tedious operations or deep seated parts. Made into a paste with soap, it forms a useful escharotic to insert into the pipes of a quittor. — Oxymuriate of mercury {Jiydrargyrioxymu- rias), known by the term corrosive sublimate, is a very usual caustic employed, and is, perhaps, one of the best for " corm^owf of quitters ; it also enters into the formation of very active blisters. In strong so- lution it is an excellent application for grease, often curing when every other means have failed.— The nitrous oxyde of quicksilver, called red precipitate, is also another preparation from mercury, and in very general use as an escharotic in horse practice. Sprinkled over very foul surfaces, it changes them quickly into a better state ; and it acts equally beneficially on luxuriant sores, by destroying fungus, for which purpose its form of a powder renders it very convenient. — The Sulphate of copper, called hlue vitriol, is a much milder escharotic than some others, and much used to destroy fungus, both in powder and solution. A milder solution, of a dram to six ounces of water, makes a detergent lotion for ulcers, as grease, &c. — Quick lime is sometimes used as an escharotic substance, for sprinkling over ulce- rated surfaces, as cankered feet, &c. ; for which purpose it is conve- nient, from its property of absorbing the moisture. Cerates are ointments of a drying healing nature ; the principal of which is calamine, or Turner's cerate. Chalk. — This is a carbonate of lime, commonly used in a prepared state under the name of jnepared chalk. It is an excellent antacid 692 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. and astringent, in diarrhoea, dependent on a vitiated state of the sto- machic, biliary, and intestinal secretions: in this way it is that it proves so beneficial in the scouring of calves. The dose is from half an ounce to two ounces. It is occasionally sprinkled over cracks also. Charcoal has a peculiar property of amending the ichorous dis- charge from ill-conditioned ulcers, either sprinkled over them in powder, or mixed with a poultice. Charges are not much used by modern veterinarians ; for a more extensive acquaintance with the animal economy teaches us that there is but little activity in what are considered as external bracers. Never- theless, I think there are some other points of view in which we may place this matter, to prove that charges may yet prove of much service in some cases, if it be merely to act as a bandage, or to protect from cold. In this way a charge becomes a useful application to the loins in rheumatism ; not only as it protects the affected part from cold, but also from the resin in it proving a useful stimulant. Windgalls, old lamenessess from ligamentary extension, &c., may be still further as- sisted after firing or blistering, by the continued bandage kept up by a charge. Any strong adhesive, as resin, pitch, &c., melted with wax or oil sufficient to keep it from being too brittle, may be formed into a cA«r^e, and applied warm on the part ; and as it cools, it should be co- vered with flocks or short tow. The strengthening part of a charge was supposed to consist in adding armenian bole, crocus metallorum, litharge, or other matters; which may be still done if thought proper. Clysters. — These often form very important medicaments in veteri- nary practice, and have the valuable properties of being always safe, and commonly easy to give. From the length of time it requires to open the bowels by purgatives given by the mouth, clysters are often our principal dependance ; and also when aperients cannot be given by the mouth, they become our only resource. Nutriment may likewise be given this way, when circumstances prevent its being received in the usual manner, or when it is requisite to throw a large quantity into the system. When clysters are given to remove costiveness, it is always proper to back-rake first (see Raking), as it removes any hardened dung that might obstruct the passage of the liquid. The apparatus made use of in giving a clyster should be a large hog's or ox's bladder, capable of holding five or six quarts, attached to a smooth wooden pipe an inch in diameter, and fourteen or sixteen inches long. The liquor should not be too warm ; but the pipe being oiled, the whole must be conducted gently, so that the horse may not be surprised with its being thrown up too suddenly. This is a better instrument for giving an injection, than the pewter syringe made for this purpose by the vete- rinary instrument makers. A laxative Clyster. No. 1.— Thin gruel, or broth five quarts Epsom or common salt si« ounces. A Clyster for Gripes. No. 2. — Mash two moderate sized onions, over which pour oil of tur- pentine two ounces. Thin gruel four quarts. VETERINARY MATERIA MEDIC A. ()93 A nourishing Clyster. No 3. — Thick gruel three quarts Strong ale one quart. Mix.— Or, strong broth two quarts Thickened milk two quarts. Mix. Astringent Clysters. No. 4.— Tiipe liquor, or suet boiled in milk, three pints Thin starch two pints Laudanum half an ounce. No. 5.— Alum whey one quart Boiled starch • one quart, CoLLYRiu3is are washes, commonly in use for the eyes. — See Washes, Conserves. — These are numerous in the human pharmacy, though but few are used in horse practice. The conserve of red roses is, how- ever, a most convenient medium for forming balls, as it is adhesive, and, when properly made, keeps well. Cordials. — These, with stomachics and tonics, might perhaps all of them be properly defined under one comprehensive terra oi stimulants ; for on this property their utility principally depends. The mode of action of all of them in general cases appears to be by a sympathetic effect they excite between the stomach and the system ; but as this organ in the horse is not so sympathetic as that of some animals, so their activity here is less apparent: nevertheless, warm spicy matters do certainlypossess some efficacy ; biit,as might be supposed, such cor- dials appear to act best, and most permanently, as are received into the system at large, as generous food, malt, gruel, ale, &c. After this, it may be gathered that much dependence is not to be placed on what are termed cordials. In compliance, however, with the general prejudice, I have added three formulae, as good, perhaps, as any. No. 1.— Gentian, powdered eight ounces Ginger, ditto four ounces Coriander seeds, in powder eight ounces Caraway ditto, ditto ditto Oil of anise seed half an ounce. Make into a mass with lard, honey, treacle, or conserve of roses, and give one ounce and a half for a dose. No. 2.— Of the above mass one ounce Gum myrrh one dram Balsam of Tolu ditto. No. 3.— Of the first mass ten drams Camphor one dram Opium twenty grains. Either of these may be given as a drink also, by infusing the powders in a pint of ale. Coriander. — The seeds of the coriander are a warm aromatic sti- mulant. Corrosive Sublimate. — See Oxymuriate of Quicksilver. CowHAGE. — This has been described as a valuable vermifuge in doses of half a dram to a dram •, but it does not appear to me io possess much medicinal activity. 694 VKTERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. Cream of Tartar (Potassce super tar to^as). — See Supertartrate of Potash. Croton Tiglium. — In India this has long been used both as a human and brute purgative, and lately it has entered into the veterinary prac- tice of this country. In England the seeds only have been introduced. These are about the size of a tick bean, oval shaped, and of a dark brown colour, and consist of a capsule and a kernel. The capsule has been pretty generally tried, but without establishing any character for certainty of action. According to Mr. Field's report, two drams may be estimated as equal, in purgative action, to eight drams of Barbadoes aloes. The seed itself produces, by expression, the celebrated novel human purgative, croton oil, but which is much too dear for veterinary pur poses. The remainder of the seed having lost about a fifthof its weight by the expression of the oil, presents, when powdered, a brown fari- naceous powder, which appears to possess all the purgative qualities of the oil, and has been given with much safety and certainty to horses. In estimating the proper dose of this farina, reference has been had to the effects of aloes also ; and it has been found that five grains are equal to sixty of Barbadoes aloes. It is equally drastic, indeed some- what more so than aloes, and it takes to the full as much time to pro- duce purgation. At present, therefore, it appears to possess no other advantages over aloes, than its diminished bulk. Crocus Metallorum. — The older farriers gave this in farcy, but it has now given place to more active agents. CupRi Sulphas. — See Sulphate of Copper. Decoctions. — Many herbs are boiled to make decoctions of them. During the boiling, the vessel should be covered ; and if the liquor be not intended for immediate use, it should afterwards be bottled, and have a small portion of some spirit added to it. Demulcents are medicines that act mechanically, by surrounding acrid matter, and thus sheathing it from hurting sensible and irritable parts. In this way, oily preparations act ; likewise honey, gums, mucilages, &c. Diluents, as warm fluids, mashes, &c., are also demul- cents, because they dilute acrimonious matter, and hence render it less active. Diapente was an old cordial, composed of gentian, bay berries, bithwort, ivory shavings, and myrrh. When made genuine, there are few better compounds as a stomachic cordial among those in present use. Diaphoretics are supposed moderately to increase the natural ex- halations of the skin. Sudorifics are intended to do it more actively, and to occasion actual sweating, which, in the horse, it proves very dif- ficult to do ; but a diaphoretic effect is more easy to excite. Vinegar will however often produce a violent perspiration, but it is not a salu- tary one ; yet the same liquid, neutralized by ammoniacal salts into Mindererus's spirit, will often excite a favourable but mild diaphoretic effect. Antimonials in repeated doses, assisted by diluting liquors and warm cloathing, will likewise commonly produce some diaphoresis. Camphor, in considerable doses, will also uniformly occasion determi- nation to the skin. The principal diaphoretic is gained from such me* dicines as nauseate. See this subject, p. 385 ; see also Veratrum Album. VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 695 Digestives are stimulant applications that produce or increase the ^eiKlency to suppuration. They are mostly of the warm terebinthin- ated kind, or the gum resins. Of the former, are turpentine, resin, |)itch, and tar: of the latter, are myrrh, aloes, balsams, &c. Digitalis. — Foxglove is said to be another of the articles which are inert in veterinary practice, except in very large doses, and even then they are not always active. But it is one thing to act on the senso- rium through the medium of the stomach, and another to act from being received Int^ the circulation. In moderate repeated doses, the ■digitalis will lessen arterial action, and excite mild diaphoresis. It is, however, irregular in its action, and appears to act best when the con- stitution is already excited. In some cases it commences its opera- tions by increasing the pulse: but it usually ends, when sufficiently continued (in doses of a dram to a dram and a half, every four hours), in lessening arterial action materially, particularly in pneumonia. DiscuTiENTs are remedies which dissolve impacted matter, as old swellings. — See Embrocatioks. Diuretics. — As we have but little power over the skin of the horse, so we have correspondently a greater one over the kidnies. In the human, the very reverse of this is the case, and the articles that do act on the human kidney appear to do it principally by a sympathetic effort of the stomach ; whereas, diuretics in the horse, at least the greater number of them, appear to act primarily on the kidnies by determin- ing a greater quantity of blood to them, and by stimulating them to separate a larger quantity of water from it. The blood, therefore, losing an unusual proportion of its serum, or watery part, must be supplied from other sources: this is done by the absorbing vessels, which take up, in that case, any superfluous fluids they meet with, to supply the deficiency ; therefore, in swelled legs, in cracks, in grease, or in any preternatural enlargements occasioned by fluids, we give diuretics with great advantage. The principal diuretic substances in general use for the horse are, resin, nitre, turpentine, potash, and corrosive sublimate. The milder ones are digitalis, tobacco, squills, cream of tartar, neutral salts, juni- per, &c. Many other substances act on the kidnies of the horse, but in a less degree. Resin is, perhaps, the most active diuretic in veteri- nary practice, and, in a dose of three to six or eight drams, is very certain in its operation. Nitre, in similar doses, is equally certain, but a little less active. In inflammatory diseases, and in urinary obstructions from gravel, it is also much to be preferred to resin. Turpentine, both liquid and solid, in doses of one ounce to three, are pretty certain diuretics ; as also is potash, one or two ounces being diluted in two or three quarts of water, and given fasting. Corrosive suhlimate proves a powerful diuretic, in doses of half a dram to a dram ; but it is evident no such quantity should be given for this pur- pose, without first ascertaining that a lesser dose can be borne with impunity. I am disposed to think that the diuretic effect here pro- duced is through the medium of the stomach alone, and not by its pri- mary action on the kidnies ; although mercury in all its forms in- creases the action of other diuretics, in the horse as Avell as in the hu- man. As a mild diuretic, \\\q foxglove is a good one, in doses of one dram to two, but it requires to be repeated at daily intervals to be- Y y 696 VETERINARY MATERIA MKDICA. come certain in its effects. In similar doses, tobacco proves a diuretic, but it is less certain even than the digitalis ; squills are the same. Cream of tartar, to prove certain in its action, must be given in doses of four to six ounces. All the neutral salts, in similar doses, act in the same way ; but not always with uniform certainty. When they prove aperient, the floAV of urine is in general inconsiderable, but it lasts some time. When strong diuretics are used, it should not be forgotten that they act by over-exerting an important organ ; so a frequent repeti- tion of them may prove very injurious, and can only be warranted by some very urgent circumstance, as ascites. The unobservant are but little aware how very seriously too powerful and too often repeated diuretics injure the horse ; for extreme debility and emaciation very usually follov/ when given in these extremes. Whenever a diuretic is given, the same cautions should be observed as with a purgative : to keep warm ; to avoid over exertion ; but, above all, to allow a large quantity of chilled water, which greatly increases the elFect, and ren- ders the action less hurtful : indeed, a large quantity of water will of itself prove a diuretic, particularly if the horse have previously fasted from it. Diuretics are given in the form of balls or po^vders ; a formula of each of which is added : — Diuretic Balls. Resin, yellow four pounds, Nitre, in powder * two pounds, Horse turpentine ........ two pounds, Yellow soap one pound. Melt the resin, soap, and turpentine, over a slow fire ; and when cool- ing add the nitre. Strong dose, one ounce and a half to two ounces. Mild dose, six drams to eight. The former may be given once a week ; the latter every third or fourth day. Diuretic Powders. Yellow resin, powdered ...*.. two pounds, Nitre, ditto four pounds, Cream of tartar, ditto two pounds. Dose, six drams to ten or twelve, twice a week, in a mash. Drenches, or Drinks, are the liquid remedies given to brutes. It is not so safe to give them by means of a bottle, as by a horn, as instances have occurred of the neck of the bottle breaking. The head being elevated exactly in the same manner as in giving a ball, and the tongue also held ; the drenching horn should be introduced to the hinder part of the mouth, and the contents poured over the root of the tongue ; when, still keeping the head moderately elevated, but letting the tongue loose, the drrnk will be swallowed. Mr. Bracy Clark recommends to reverse the drinking horn, closing up the large end, and forming a moderate opening at the smaller end, to introduce that into the mouth. In tetanus such a horn would be useful ; and at all times it prevents the waste of the liquid. Electricity is seldom used in veterinary practice with us. On the Continent, powerful machines are found at the Veterinary Colleges oi Paris and Berlin, for the treatment of cataract, gutta serena, paraly- sis, &c. VCTERINARY MATERIA MEDiCA. 607 Embrocations are external remedies applied by rubbing them on the part with the hand, a sponge, flannel, or brush, as occasion suits. The formulse for them are very numerous, and it would extend be- yond our limits to particularize them here ; but, in the course of the Work, frequent mention has been made of a Saline Embrocation^ the recipe for which is as follows : — Bay salt, bruised one pound. Muriate of ammoniae {crude sal ammoniac), ditto - four ounces, Acetate o{ lead (sugar of lead) ----- - one ounce, Vinegar three pints, Water one pint. Mix. Emetic Tartar (Antiorwnii tartarisatum). — See Tartarised An- timony. Emollients, are remedies that soften and soothe irritation. — See Demulcents and Anodynes. Epsom Salts (MagnesicB sulphas).—See Sulphate of Magnesia. Glauber's salt possesses nearly similar properties, but is hardly so active, and much less convenient. Escharotics are known among farriers by the more familiar term of caustics ; which see. EuPHORBiuM. — This most acrid substance is sometimes used as a substitute for cantharides. In blisters for general purposes, where the expense is an object, a portion of it may be admissible ; but it irri- tates extremely, and therefore should never be used in fevers; and I would even in all other cases advise the veterinarian rather to save in any other way than out of the feelings of the animal, whose welfare he is set as a guard over. — See Blisters. Expectorants. — These are remedies that promote the removal of the irritating mucus formed in the bronchia and trachea, in affections of these parts. The principal of these are tartar emetic, foxglove, Mindererus's spirit, oxymel, and squills, and likewise nauseants. Extract Saturn. — See Lead Preparations. Ferri Carbonas. — See Iron. Fomentations are warm fluid applications to an injured part, generally by means of cloths wrung out of the bot liquor, and re-ap- plied as it cools. Infusions of various herbs have been employed for fomentations ; but as the good effect is principally dependent on the warmth and moisture, so warm wsiteT alone is generally sufficient. Fomentations allay irritation, and are useful as stimulants to the flagging powers in gangrene. By tending to unload the vessels, they also promote resolution in active inflammations ; but they are seldom applied sufficiently long, and attendants are very apt, when they are removed, to leave the part wet and uncovered, by which more harm is done frequently than good, as the evaporation thus occasioned is a source of cold. As soon as an embrocation is removed, immediately wipe the part perfectly dry, and cover it up from the external air. I have in some cases fomented, and immediately applied a poultice. I believe the practice is singular, but it is more than ordinarily bene- ficial. Gamboge. — This gum often proves a drastic purgative to the horse ; but the same irregularity marks its effects here as in the human, Yy2 698 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. and therefore it should not be substituted for better appreciated articles. Garlic was formerly much used in chronic coughs by the older farriers ; but it is greatly inferior to squills, and therefore now sel- dom used. Gentian is a useful stomachic bitter, and was much used in dia- pente ; but it has now given place to articles more highly estimated, or perhaps more in fashion. Ginger is perhaps the best spice in the veterinary materia medica ; but even this should be sparingly used. As a warm cordial, it may be occasionally given in doses of two to three drams ; and in flatulent colic, in doses of four to six drams. Glauber's Salt (Sodce sulphas), — See Epsom Salt. Glysters. — See Clysters. Goosegrass, or Clivers. — I have heard it asserted that this is an excellent remedy for obstinate grease ; but I have had no opportunity for trying it myself. A pint of the expressed juice is to be given twice a day, and a poultice of the bruised herb applied to the heels CA'eiy night. Goulard's Extract, 7 c t j r» r Goulard's Wash. \ ^"^ ^^''°' '"■'^ Preparations of. Grains of Paradise are a warm spicy seed, much in use among farriers, particularly for horned cattle; and are given by grooms to promote a fine coat. In this way they often do mischief; but as an addition to other stomachics, when necessary, they may be still pro- perly made use of. Gruel is an article of no small consequence in the veterinary materia medica, inasmuch as it is bland, mild, and diluting. In making it, care should be had to its intention. If as a cordial or for nutriment, it ought to be thick ; if as a diluent, it cannot be too thin. It should likewise, when made, be perfectly clean, and free from smoke. Ignorant servants are apt to think any thing sufficiently clean for a brute, without being aware that the most delicate female is not half so susceptible to unpleasant sensations from dirt, as is the horse. If this animal once has gruel offered to him that has been smoked, it is only by force that he will ever after take any. A useful diluent is also made from bran, by pouring boiling water on it, when it is called bran tea. It should be strained when cold. Gum. — This is a juice that flows from various trees and plants, and inspissates by heat. The gums in use in human pharmacy are numerous ; but they are fewer in veterinary practice. Gu7n arabic and Gum tragacanth are both sometimes used in pectoral drinks, and other deiiMilcent medicaments. Gum Resins are compounded of gum and resin. Gum, ammoni- acum is sometimes used in chronic cough, but with doubtful advan- tage. Gum guaiacum is now very seldom used ; Gum dragon has shared the same fate. Gum myrrh: This has outlived the reputation of the others ; but it is questionable whether its virtue as a cordial, in the usual acceptation or meaning of the word, is not ideal ; but as a permanent tonic it ranks higher. — See Tonics. Hartshorn, Spirit of (Aqua carbonatis ammoniw). See Carbo- nate of Ammonia. — Carbonated water, or spirit of ammonia, is coji- VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 699 veiiieiit in veterinary practice, from its peculiar property of uniting oil and water. Internally, it is an antispasmodic in doses of eight to ten drams. United with acetous acid, or vinegar, it forms an excellent diaphoretic febrifuge. (See Mindererus's Spirit.) And in conjunc- tion with equal parts of oil, it forms the volatile liniment, which is a warm discutient application, much used for sore throat and indurated tumours. Hellebore, white.— See Veratrum Album. Honey is an article of importance in the veterinary pharmacopoeia, not only as it is a usual medium for making balls with, as well as segyptiacums ; but also as it forms, in conjunction with vinegar, the simple oxymel, an article that should always be at hand, and which should never be made with sugar for cheapness ; as there is little doubt but that the honey is in itself a demulcent and balsam of much virtue. And pi;ovided the veterinarian orders from his druggist the foreign honey, and watches his time for purchasing it, it may be ob- tained for 6d. "id. or 8^. per pound. But this kind will be found too thin to form balls with ; and, indeed, honey is so apt to ferment, that it should never be used in this way, but when the mass is intended for immediate use. Instrusients. — Veterinarians are not sufficiently careful relative to their instruments, which should be kept in the best order, and always ready for immediate use. The lancets, fleams, &c. purchased at cutlers, are too apt to be procured wholesale from Sheffield or Bir- mingham, where the tempering is not sufficiently attended to. But the veterinarian who is curious in this respect, will do well to furnish himself from Mr. Long, of Holborn, London ; who is, I believe, the only professed veterinary instrument maker in England. Here may be seen all the improvements that have taken place either from the suggestions of the various practitioners in this art, or from the inge- nuity of Mr. L. himself; whose attention to this useful branch of the arts is acknowledged. For the use of veterinarians, I have added Mr. Long's List of Veterinary Instruments manufactured immediately by himself. Infusions are different from decoctions only, by the articles being steeped together instead of boiled. Ipecacuhana.— This valuable article, in human practice, seems inert in the horse. I have given it in various doses, and under various circumstances, without having witnessed any eiFect from it. Iron. — Almost all the preparations from this metal prove excellent tonics to the horse. Iron filings (limatura ferri) may be given in the corn or a mash, in doses of two or fliree ounces once or tv»dce a day. The rust, or carbonate (ferri carbonm), is another form, and proves useful when given as the former, in doses of one ounce to two. Green vitriol, or copperas as it is called (ferri sulphas), is also given as a tonic, and some think it a preferable preparation, on account of its saline admixture. It is usually given in a daily dose of four to six drams. All the preparations of iron appear to produce most effect when combined with aromatic bitters. Jalap, though so strong a human purgative, is totally inactive in the horse. James's Po\v«)ek,— Sec Axtimonv. 700 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. Japan Earth. — This erroneous term has been long applied to an inspissated juice now called catechu ; which see. Juniper. — The berries are now and then given, but more frequently the essential oil is used as a warm stomachic and slight diuretic. Kali.— See Potash. Lard. — Many practitioners are at a loss for a substitute for lard, which forms the basis of most of their unctuous matters. When, however, lard cannot be procured, or is extravagantly dear, the fatty matter called palm oil, which is of the same consistence, may be al- ways obtained ; commonly at less than a shilling a pound. Laudanum. — The liquid preparation or tincture of opium. — See Opium. Laxatives may be denominated a milder purgative, but acting with less irritation, and hence much to be preferred in \aolent inflam- matory afTections. In some chronic cases, also, they arc eligible, be- cause they can be more frequently repeated. Of this latter kind are calomel with small doses of aloes. The laxatives proper in febrile cases are Epsom, Glauber's, or, in default of these, common salt, eight to twelve ounces, dissolved in thin gruel, and repeated every six or eight hours till it operates. In some cases, as bowel affections, from six to eight or ten ounces of castor or linseed oil, with a few ounces of watery tincture of aloes, form the best laxative. It must, however, be allowed, that most of these articles are uncertain in their action ; but their uncertainty is by no means equal to that which it is the fashion of the present day to represent, as the experiments detailed, in w^hich there is much discrepancy, shew. The action of laxatives is much as- sisted by diluting drinks, bran mashes, raking and clysters. Indeed, both bran mashes, and clysters, are of themselves in many cases suffi- ciently laxative. Grass, particularly that of the salt mashes, forms also an excellent laxative. Lead. — Several preparations of this metal enter into veterinary practice. The principal of these is the head. Acetate of fSuperacetas plumbi). — In the former dispensa- tory, this was called the acetate of lead ; but it is still familiarly known by the old term of sugar of lead among farriers ; originally so called from its sweet taste. It is of much importance in veterinary practice, forming a more convenient, and I think a more efficacious, mode of making Goulard ivate^-, as the solution of it is popularly called ; but which water has been usually made from a preparation of litharge, called extract of saturn, or Goulard's extract. When this celebrated liquor is made from the dry acetate, do it as follov/s : Goulard Water. — Take acetate of lead, one dram to two, proof spirit an ounce, soft water a pint. When the extract is preferred, make as follows : — Liquid acetate of lead, extract of saturn (liquor plumbi acetatisj, one dram to two ; proof spirit an ounce ; soft water a pint. Either of these preparations of the acetate of lead are excellent, and justly appreciated applications, in superficial inflammations ; but, to produce the full effect, the part affected should be kept constantly wet with one or the other of them. Internally, this preparation is inert : even four ounces have been given without producing any visible effect. Lead, Carbonate of (Plumbi carbo7ias).-~-W\\\t(i lead is sometimes used as a deslccative, being sprinkled over a sore. VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 701 Lead, Litharge of (Plumbi oxydum semivitreum). — From this the celebrated extract of Goulard is made, which, infused in Avater, pro- duces the Goulard wash, but which I prefer to make of the super- acetate or sugar of lead, as it is erroneously called. Lime is, in some cases, when quick, a useful caustic ; and, when pulv(?rized, is found good to sprinkle over cankered feet, greasy heels, or any foul surface, where an absorption of moisture, as well as an escharotic process, are desirable. Lime Water. —Six pounds of lime, infused in two gallons of water, may, after standing three or four hours, be strained off, and kept in a close stopped bottle for use, without which care it will be useless. Lime water is a good application for mange, and is also sometimes recommended internally for obstinate coughs and gravelly complaints. LiNBiENT is a fluid preparation of oil and other matters. Linseed. — The seeds boiled form a thick mucilaginous demulcent drink, used in catarrh, sore throat, and all chest affections. Lin- seed powder makes a convenient poultice, particularly where a close application of the poulticing medium is required. Liquid Blister. — See Blister ; see, also. Sweating Blister. Liquor A^imonle Acetatis. — See Ac etated Liquor of Ammonia. Liquorice, like linseed, entered into the composition of numerous old recipes , but, in this way, the virtues of neither, particularly of the latter, are very conspicuous. Litharge.— See Lead. Lotions. — See Washes. Lytta Vessicatoria — See Cantharides. Madder.— Much dependence used to be placed on the virtues of this, among old farriers, in diseases of the stomach and liver, as well as in farcy. It was also considered as a preventive against the effects of venomous bites. In farcy, I have witnessed some good from it, but not enough to deserve particular attention. In other respects, I believe it does not merit much notice. Magnesi^e Sulphas.— See Sulphate of Magnesia. Malt.— This forms an excellent cordial in cases of debility, and, when continued, it becomes a permanent tonic. It has also some pectoral qualities ; but in active inflammations of the chest it is too stimulant. Malt is also an excellent alterative. In farcy, in grease, and in mange also, when accompanied with emaciation, I have used it with extreme efficacy : but, in such cases, it should be given in con- siderable quantities without other corn, and even with as little hay as possible, so that almost all the nutriment received by the constitution may be by the malt. This practice is not generally known, but it has proved with me, in some cases, singularly efficacious. The best mode of giving malt is by mashes.— See Mashes. Marshmallows. — Either the leaves, stalks, or roots, when boiled, yield a mucilaginous liquor, formerly much used as a fomentation, and occasionally given internally as a demulcent; but it has fallen into disuse. IMashes are much in request in stable management, and are made from oats, barley, bran, malt, linseed, and sometimes chaff. They are also given cold or warm; but, in either case, should always be hot 702 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. when made. In making them, care is necessary to avoid smoking the water, and not to stir them with any thing dirty, or the horse, being a cleanly animal, will refuse them. The mode of making is sufficiently known : boiling water being poured on the bran, corn, or whatever is the subject of the mash, to the consistence, when stirred, of a poultice; it should be covered over, and suffered to remain an hour or two, unless it is to be given hot to steam the head, as in catarrh ; but even here it should not be hung round the neck imme- diately, or it would alarm the horse. Some horses will not readily eat bran mashes Without a handful of corn to make it palatable. When horses are weakly and much emaciated, it is prudent often to mash all their corn. The quantity intended for them the ensuing day may be put into a vessel the over night, and boiling water poured on it. In this way it is rendered more easy of digestion, and hence more nutritive. Speared corn has been sometimes recommended in the course of the Work ; which is nothing more than malting a quantity, by putting cold water to it for twenty-four hours, and then spreading it on a floor two inches thick, which will soon make it sprout, when it may be given. In this way, it must be made from day to day, or it will become musty or mouldy. Mercurials. — The various preparations oi quicksilver diVe so called, and may be seen under their several names, as submuriate of, or ca- lomel; oxymuriate of, or corrosive sublimate; nitrous oxyde of, or red precipitate ; precipitated quicksilver, or white precipitate. Mercurial Ointment ( Unguent um hydrargyria . — Unless the ut- most confidence can be placed in the druggist employed, the practi- tioner would act prudently in making this ointment himself; for it is too common to aduUerate it: indeed, it is hardly possible to purchase it of a druggist of the strength prescribed by the pharmacopoeia. It is a useful assistant in mange ointments. ' Before blistering, or firing a splent, it may be rubbed on the part for a week, with benefit. When it is used extensively, its effects should be watched, as, some- times, a small quantity will salivate. I once affected the mouth of a horse of my own, by rubbing in three drams daily for three days only. Mindererus's Spirit (L'quoT ammonice aceiatis J. —This is made by pouring a quart of vinegar on an ounce of volatile salt of ammo- nia. It may be also made by taking any quantity of spirit of harts- horn, and adding vinegar to it till it tastes neither salt nor sour. I consider it as a very important medicine in horse practice; it gently invigorates, is diaphoretic, and sometimes it proves mildly diuretic. It principally shevrs its salutary effects on the commencement of the debile stage, or at the close of lingering febrile diseases, particularly of the epidemic catarrh ; in which cases it may be combined with camphor, but more particularly with powdered camomile (see Camo- mile). In the more early stages of the epidemic catarrh, it may be united with nitre and oxymel. The dose is from four to six ounces. In strains and ligamentary lamenesses it forms a very useful external application also. — See Acetated Liquor of Ammonia. Mint and Peppermint. — See Oil. Myrrh. — This excellent gum resin is a valuable tonic to the horse- in doses of an ounce, particularly if united with salt of stoel. and VETERINARY MATERIA MEDIC A. 703 any warm bitter. There are two tinctures of it; one simple, and one compounded Avith aloes : both of which are much used externally as warm digestives. Narcotics are not altogether similar in their action to antispasmo- dics or anodynes; but the analogy is so considerable, that, in the pre- sent instance, it is not necessary to separate the consideration of them from what lessens irritation and eases pain. —See Antispasmodics and Anodynes. Natron. — See Soda. Nitrate of Silver (called lunar caustic). — See Caustics. Nitrate of Potash (Nitrm potasses) Nitre. — The nitrate of pot- ash is the most powerful refrigerant we know. It greatly diminishes febrile action, and determines more certainly to the kidnies than any of the saline articles we use. It is also antiseptic and diaphoretic, and therefore of great consequence in active fever, given tv/o or three times a day in doses of three or four drams. As an alterative it is also well known.- See Alteratives. JSfitre, Sweet Spirit of(Spiritus cBtheris nitrici). — This is a valu- able preparation of nitre, inasmuch as it is a refrigerant, and yet, in some measure, a cordial, from its ethereal composition; therefore it is a useful medicine in the more advanced stages of fever, in doses of an ounce two or three times a day. It is also a useful article to give in the immediate approach of the first cold fit of fever, iu a dose of two ounces. — See Fever. Nitrous Acid (Acidum nitrosu7n dilutum), or aquafortis. — See Caustics. Oak Bark. — See Barks. Oils. — These are either fixed or volatile. The Jiot?ed oils are so called because they are not liable to be changed into vapour but under a high degree of temperature, and are also generally gained in quan- tities by expression. The volatile oils, on the contrary, are produced by distillation, and evaporate by a moderate heat. The fixed kind, in horse practice, are : — Oil of Elder, which is only common oil tinged with elder, or some- times with verdigris. Oil of Bay is an expressed oil from bay berries. Oil of Castor. — See Castor Oil. — In very large doses this occa- sions some disturbance in the bowels, and does not often operate as a laxative; but in doses of eight or ten ounces, repeated every five or six hours, it proves frequently an excellent laxative when m.ore dras- tic matters are inadmissible. It is apt to be decried, and numerous experiments are detailed to prove that it is noxious as well as inert, but hardly any two experiments agree. I have given it for years, with- out experiencing any ill effect, but often the best, from its use. It can never gain a character as a certain aperient ; it is, on the contrary, an uncertain one, unless joined with a watery tincture of aloes, or with neutral salts, when the mixture seldom fails, if mashes have been in use. Oil of Olives. — The best olive oil may be substituted for castor oil, when the latter cannot be obtained. It is the principal iv.edium in the composition of liniments, and enters into many ointments. 70^ VETKUINARY MATERIA MKDICA, Oil of Linfteed. — This is considered as a pectoral by the older far- riers, and was formerly much used in coughs, but is now seldom given. It is also a pretty certain laxative, and is certainly more to be de- pended on than olive or even castor oil. Oil of Palm. — Country practitioners hardly knov/ there is such an article as this, which has the consistence and all the other properties of lard, with the addition of a most fragrant smell. In quantities it may be also purchased cheaper than lard, and, as it does not become rancid, it is greatly to be preferred. The essential or volatile oils are, — Oil of Amber. -^An antispasmodic not much in use. It is said to have a peculiar property of hastening the action of aloes. Oil of Anise Seeds. — This is an elegant warm aromatic, and may very properly be added to cordial balls, in doses often to thirty drops. Oil of Caraways may be used in the same way, and considered in a similar point of view. Oil of Jimiper. — This is often added to diuretic balls, to increase tlieir ertect : it acts, however, principally as a warm aromatic. Oil of Lemon. — This is principally used to disguise the smell of nauseous articles: I have, however, given it in colic with much be- nefit. In one instance, two ounces, with four ounces of common oil, produced immediate relief. Oil 'f Petre is only Barbadoes tar in oil of turpentine. Oil of Tar is a cheap penetrating distillation from tar, that may be substituted for turpentine. Oil of Turpentine — See Turpentine. _ Oil of Origanum. — This warm penetrating oil was formerly much used among farriers as an external stimulant; but it possesses no powers superior to turpentine, and is therefore little used by modern practitioners. Oil of Spike. — To this, also, the older farriers attributed superior efficacy, although it was nothing more than oil of turpentine coloured with alkanet root. Oil of Fitriol.SeG Sulphuric Acid. OixTME>7TS are greasy applications for covering excoriated surfaces. The numerous preparations of this kind are much reduced in number; for, although some certainly have a salutary influence on a wound, yet, after all, their principal merit is in the defence they afford. Onions. — In domestic practice the juice of three or four onions in half a pint of sound ale or gin, has relieved flatulent colic. The French, in such cases, introduce a large one up the anus. Opium. — I believe it has been attempted to prove that this valuable antispasmodic is nearly inert in the horse ; but, let the student be aware that no theory can overturn facts, nor any private views long smother public benefit. Opium has a most salutary and active effect on the horse. In spasmodic colic its benefits are particularly ob- servable in doses of two to three drams ; in which cases, also, it may be given in clysters as well. It greatly assists the action of astringents in diarrhoea; and, in profuse staling, united with alum and catechu, it has proved singularly efficacious ; as also in difficult staling not de- pendent on inflammation. In farcy and skin complaints, it combats VKTEllINAIlY MATBUIA MEDICA. 705 the ill effects of too large doses of active minerals. It increases the pulse, in repeated doses of one to two drams everj^ six hours; hence it is an useful auxiliary remedy in the debile stages of fever. Laudanum is the tincture of opium, but it is too diffused for much use in horse practice, unless when a very small dose is required. A watery solution may, however, be made strong, and the whole given; that is, sediment and all. — See Tinctures. Opodeldoc (Linimentum saponis coinpositum) has given place to more active remedies; it may, however, be still employed in slight strains and bruises. Origanum. — See Oils. OxYMEL, Simple. — This is made by simmering a pint of vinegar with two pounds of honey. Sugar is sometimes substituted, but this is never advisable, as it destroys, I am disposed to think, a considerable por- tion of the efficacy of the compound. Oxymel, properly made, will be found a most valuable remedy in pneumonia, and all catarrhal affections ; particularly in conjunction with nitre, tartar emetic, and foxglove. The dose is from four to six ounces. OxYMEL OF Squills. — In chronic coughs, or in catarrhal affections, where the cough remains obstinate, and yet no active fever is present, this may sometimes take place of the other, in doses of three to four ounces ; but, as a general medicine, the other is greatly to be preferred. OxYMURiATE OF QuiCKSiLVER (Hydvavgyrus Gxymuricis), popularly called corrosive sublimate, forms an excellent medical agent in judi- cious hands. As an alterative, it may be given in doses of ten to twenty grains daily. In glanders and farcy this quantity may be gra- dually increased to as much as the horse will bear without inconveni- ence ; but as its noxious effects are often sudden, so it must be most carefully watched. It proves also a very certain diuretic in large doses (see Diuretics). Eooternally,2L\so,\i'A effects are considerable. As an eschaiotic it has already been noticed among Caustics. It forms a useful wash for mange, and is an excellent auxiliary to the stimu- lant properties of blisters, v/hen used for exostosis. Palm Oil. — See Oils. Pectorals are medicines that exert their healing influence princi- pally on the chest; thus they include expectorants, demulcents, and emollients. Pectorals, in horse practice,, maybe considered as of two kinds : such as allay inflammation, as the remedies used in pneumonia; and such as allay topical irritation simply, as those recommended in chronic cough. Peppers. — The various kinds of peppers are sometimes used by far- riers, particularly in colic. Mr. B. Clark has written a treatise ex- pressly on the virtues of the pimento berry (see Colic). As a domestic remedy, either of them may be very properly given in doses of three drams to six ; except the Cayenne, which, as being very strong, admits of only a dram as a dose. The peppers are sometimes used as a sto- machic, or to warm other more permanent tonics, as steel, bitters, &c. Physic. — See Cathartics. Pitch is used to give a consistence and adhesiveness to plaistcrs and ointments ; and is also the basis of.charges. It has as much medicinal quality as its relationship with terehinthiimtcd substances allows it. 70G Vl^TERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. Potasses Subcarbonas, or Potash. — See Carbonate of Potash, \u f.outradistiiiction to soda, which is termed the mineral alkali. Potash is, in itself, seldom used but as a caustic (which see) ; but its combina- tions frequently enter veterinary practice (see Cream of Tartar), Avhich is the supertartrate of potash ; and nitre, the nitrate of potash. Potass,^: Supertartras. — See Supertartrate of Potash, or Cream OF Tartar. Poultices. —In veterinary practice, bread would be too expensive an article to make poultices of in common cases. Bran, therefore, is very commonly used ; and, to give it a proper consistence, some linseed meal, if thought necessary, maybe mixed with it ; or, in default of this, a little of any other meal. A pouUice should be made of a sufficient consistence, that it may not run through the cloth it is put in ; and yet it should not be so thick as to dry too quickly, for a poultice acts principally by its moisture : therefore it should be frequently wetted through the cloth with the predominating fluid, of w^hatever kind. In applying poultices to the legs, care should be taken not to tic them too tight, as is frequently done, and thereby the mischief aggravated in- stead of relieved. A piece of broad list is, for this reason, very proper to fasten them on with. They should also never be applied too hot ; very little good can be derived from it, and much pain may be occa- sioned. A hot poultice soon comes to the heat of the part ; and as, in most cases requiring them, the part, at the moment of application, is in a state of comparative debility, too great heat only farther weakens it. Poultices are likewise, in many cases, applied cold, as in some strains, and in affections of the eye. A very convenient mode of ap- plying a poultice to the extremities, is by means of an old worsted stocking cut oiF at the ancle, The leg of it being slipped over the hoof, is brought around the part, and secured below by means of broad list not too tightly applied. The poultice is then put into the stocking by means of the hand, and afterwards secured above by another piece of broad tape loosely applied ; after which the ton of the stocking may be folded down over it. In cases where it is found difficult to keep a poultice on any part of the extremities, from its inclination to slip down, still by no means tighten the supporting bandage ; but, instead, pass a long tape from it over the withers, or back, if behind, and attach it to the other side of the bandage ; it will then be etfectually secured from slipping. A common softening Poultice. Bran, any quantity; pour on it boiling v/ater, to form a thin paste; add lin- seed meal sufficient to make it adhesive. After this, stir in one or two ounces of sweet oil. •d cooling Poultice. Bran, any quantity ; pour on it a sufficient quantity of cold Goulard water to form a poultice; which, as it dries, moisten wjth more Goulard water. Clcansiiig Poultices for Grease, or ichorous Discharges from other diseased Surfaces, or for gayigrenous Wounds. Oatmeal half a pint Linseed meal ditto Powdered charcoal four ounces Stale beer grounds, sufficient to make a poultice. VETEUINAllY MATERIA MEDICA. 707 Or, Carrots, scraped, sufficient to make a poultice. Or, Boil and mash turnips, sufficient to make a poultice. To either of these, four ounces of powdered charcoal may he added, if thought proper. Or, Linseed meal, or oatmeal flour, any quantity ; mix with boiling water, and ferment with a table spoonful of yeast: as it rises, apply to the part. Ill cases of extensive gangrene, an ounce or two of oil of turpentine may be added to either of these poultices. Powders. — Pulverized medicines, without much taste, may he con- veniently given by mixing with a mash, or in the corn. If the latter, and the matters given are very dry and light, the corn should be first sprinkled with water, to prevent the powder being blown away by the horse breathing or snorting. But whenever a horse is delicate in his stomach, and refuses his food on this account, it should not be per- sisted in. Precipitate, Red (Hydrargyri nitrico occydum) is the red nitrated quicksilver of the former dispensatory (see Caustics). The white precipitate is seldom used among brutes. Purges. — See Cathartics. Quassia, a useful bitter in doses of six to ten drams. Raking is a method of emptying the bowels by means of the hand. The right-hand arm being stripped and oiled, with the left hand the tail is drawn aside, when the right being made as small as possible, and cone like, should be gently introduced up the fundament, and any quantity of hardened excrement the hand meets with carefully removed in small pieces. From this it will be at once evident that ha-ch raking must be useful in a vast variety of cases. It should always be made use of previous to giving a clyster, otherwise the hardened matter may prevent the passage of the fluid. It is also always proper in colic ; and in all cases of costiveness it should never be dispensed with. Repellents. -Medicines whose action was supposed to consist in driving back humours from one part to another. Modern physi- ology allows no such action; and it appears, from the theories now received, that all repellents, as they were termed, act simply by their tonic power. Resin, commonly called rosin, is either yellow or black. The yellow is the one used in veterinary practice ; internally as a diuretic (see Diuretics) ; and, externally, in charges, plaisters, &c. Roses, Red Conserve of. — See Conserves. Rowelling. — Rowels act like blisters by inflaming the surface, whereby more deep-seated inflammations are removed ; but it is evi- dent they cannot act either so quickly or so extensively ; yet they are more convenient often, and more permanent in their action. The com- mon mode of making a rowel is sufficiently known. A slit being cut in the skin, about an inch in length, the finger, or a blunt horn, is in- troduced to separate it from the surrounding flesh, in a circle of two inches in diameter ; into which is introduced something to prevent the reunion of the skin. Apiece of circular leather tolerably stiff, with a central hole, is a very common substance used. When the inflamma- 70S VETKRJNARY MATKiilA MEDLCA. tion to be raised is required to bo speedy, this leather is smeared with blistering ointment, otherwise with basilicon. By the improve- ments in veterinary instruments, a history is now used, that renders the introduction of the finger unnecessary. — See Instruments, at the end. Rue, joined with box, has been thought to be an antidote to the etfects of the bite of the rabid dog. I have myself witnessed the preventive powers of this mixture : but 1 am disposed to attribute the principal efficacy to the box (see Rabies, p. 511). As a remedy in farcy, worms, and grease, in all which it was formerly used, it has little virtue. Saline Embrocation. — Sec Embrocations. Salts are divided into acids, alkalies, and neutrals. Common Salt. — This is a useful remedy in veterinary practice ; foi when Epsom or Glauber's salt cannot be conveniently got at, this may be substituted as an aperient. It also proves itself a vermifuge, and in solution assists the etiects of opening clysters. It may be given in doses of from six to eight ounces. In the proportion of a dram to six ounces of water, it has been found an excellent collyrium for ophthal- mia when the first iniiammatory irritation has subsided. Sal Ammo7iiac (AmDionicB vinrias): — Crude sal ammoniac, so called in contradistinction to the volatile or prepared ammoniacal salt before described, when dissolved in vinegar, is an excellent application for torpid swellings, strains, and bruises ; but it is not more efficacious than the saline embrocation, which see. Sal Indus. — A nev^ salt, said to be an excellent vermifuge, par- ticularly against bots, but I have always found it nearly inert. All salines however are, in some degree, vermifuges, and more particularly to bots. Salt of Steel. — See Iron. Salt of Tartar. — See Potash. Savin. — This was formerly strongly recommended as a powerful ver- mifuge. I have sometimes seen worms come away when it has been given, particularly by considerable doses of the essential oil, as five or six drams ; but I consider it altogether as less efficacious than those vermifuges already noticed. Sea Water. — For the same purposes that common salt is given, sea water may also be employed in doses of two or three pints. Some horses will drink it of themselves ; and persons living on the sea coast affirm, that it is not uncommon for a horse out of condition to break away and go to the sea side to drink, as though impressed with an instinctive knowledge of the efficacy of it as an alterative or vermi- fuge. It is remarkable, however, that horses on the sea coast seldom carry a fine coat, which can only arise from the action of the sea air on them. Soda is the mineral alkali, whose medicinal properties do not differ materially from potash, or the vegetable alkali, which see. Spanish Flies. — See Cantharides. Squills (Scilla maritima).— Squills are highly recommended by Mr. White ; but I cannot speak in equal terms of their efficacy in the cases I have tried them. As an expectorant, however, they may, per- haps, assist other remedies. — See Oxymel of Squills. VKTEUINAKY MATERIA MEDICA. 709 Starch. — In diarrhosa, starch clysters have proved very useful. It may also be given internally in such cases, united with chalk and opium. Stimulants are medicines that exert an influence on the system, by increasing the power and action of a part, or of the whole of it ; hence they may be considered as very numerous, and the term as of very ex- tensive signification : but the veterinarian's purpose will be fully an- swered, by considering the various stimuli under the heads Cordia.ls, Stomachics, and Tonics, which see. Stomachics are intended to express such medicines as act more im- mediately by determining a greater quantity of blood to the stomach, hence increasing the secretion of its gastric juice, as warm spicy bit- ters, &c. ; or those supposed to act by strengthening its muscular tone, as bark, steel, acids, &c. Hence stomachics are only a more perma- nent cordia.1 or stimulant. The remedies that may be considered as meriting this appellation, beyond those abovementioned, are diffused through the Materia Bledica. The following formulse will, however, be a clue to the veterinarian, and either of them v/ill, on trial, be found to answer the end proposed. Oak bark six drams Aloes one dram Ginger one dram Sulphate of copper (6f Me vitrioZj one dram. Make into a ball with honey, lard, or conserve of roses. Oak bark four ounces Watery tincture of aloea four ounces Ginger, in powder half an ounce "Forge water three pints. Boil the oak bark (first bruised) in the forge water, and when cold add the infusion of aloes and ginger, and divide into four drinks. Gum myrrh two drams Mustard flour one dram Opium five grains Camomile powder , four drams Camphor half a dram. Make into a ball with thin Venice turpentine. Powniered gentian four drams Powdered quassia four drams Powdered opium five grains Oil of juniper twenty drops. Make into a ball with Venice turpentine. Stoppings are articles introduced into the hollow of the bottom of . the hoof, to moisten the horn ; and in other instances also, as in cases of pricks, corns, or bruised soles. For the first purpose, any thing that will retain moisture may be used : the following will be found as good as any, as it not only moistens but toughens the horn. Cow dung and horse dung, mixed six parts Tar one part. Clay is not a good stopping. It dries too soon, and then rather adds to the evil of hardening the hoof than diminishing it. In cases of pricks, &c., hot tar is not improperly used as a stopping. Pieces of 710 VETIiRINARY MATiiRIA MliDICA. tow are dipped into it, and are then retained by means of tough strips of wood, as witliy from the broom binding, which maybe laid across. Oil of turpentine one part, horse turpentine one part, and grease a third part, make also a good warm drawing stopping for similar pur- poses ; but it should be always first considered whether the case re- quires stimulating. Storax. — See Balsams. Styptics are remedies that restrain haemorrhage, either internally or externally. Those used in the former case are vitriol, alum, and catechu ; in the latter, vitriol and alum, together with such articles as coagulate the blood either mechanically or chemically, and thus plug up the open vessel. Sublimate. — See Corrosive Sublimate. SuDORiFics. — These are uncertain remedies in the horse. We can procure a slight relaxation of skin, by diluents, warmth, and diapho- retic medicines ; but actual perspiration we can seldom excite, except by violent nauseants. Vinegar, however, in frequently repeated doses of six ounces, will generally produce it ; but it appears to excite much action in the system, and hence not to be recommended. Increased cloathing will generally produce it ; but by exciting increased action, it may do more harm than good. In common cases, it will be therefore prudent to content ourselves with diluents, antimonials, and Minde- rerus's spirit. In important ones we may use nauseants. Sulphur. — Flour of sulphur is a very common remedy in veteri- nary practice,, internally as an alterative, and externally as a cure of eruptions of the skin. For the latter purpose, the black sulphur, which is cheaper, is equally proper. Sulphuric Acid, or Oil of Vitriol (Acidinn sulphuHcuyn), as it is popularly termed, is a preparation from sulphur, which is seldom used in horse practice but as an escharotic, or added to blistering substances to increase their activity. Sulphur, Balsam of (Oleum sulphur etum). — Brimstone, boiled in oil, was used formerly to be called a balsam ; and was then mueh used among farriers in old coughs, and thick wind ; but, as maybe supposed, with little advantage. Annisated balsam of sulphur was made by add- ing oil of aniseed to the former. Sulphate of Copper. — See Blue Vitriol. SuLPHURET OF QuicKsiLYER {^Sulpliuretum hydrargyri nigrmn), or ^thiops Mineral, is not very frequently used in horse practice, both on account of its cost, and because its virtues are not sufficiently known ; but in surfeits, and some other cases of what are called foulnesses, six drams of it with twelve of cream of tartar, given daily, forms the best possible alterative. Sulphate of Magnesia (^Magnesite sulphas) , Epsom Salts, or bitter purging salt, so well known, is a valuable medicine oftentimes to the veterinarian ; much more so than the sulphate of soda, or Glauber's salt. In cases requiring a loose state of bowels, but where aloes are inadmissible, as in inflammatory affections, this salt is often a re- source, [n fevers it appears to have a double effect ; one as a febri- fuge, the other as an aperient. It requires from six or eight ounces to twelve, dissolved in water or gruel, to open the bowels : and some- times it is necessary to repeat the dose before the effect is produced. VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 711 It cannot, therefore, "be considered altogether as a certain laxative ; but when combined with linseed or castor oil, it seldom fails, particu- larly if assisted by bran mashes. In opening clysters also it may be very properly added. SupERTARTRATE OF PoTASH (Pottt^scB supertartros) , or Cream of Tartar. — This also has been said to be inert in the horse ; but I think the assertion erroneous : on the contrary, I consider it as possessing a high degree of efficacy as an alterative, in doses of one ounce to two particularly in combination with ^thiops mineral. It acts also as a mild diuretic, and is therefore very proper in oedematous swellings as well as skin affections, united with nitre, &c. It is likewise a valuable auxiliary refrigerant in fevers. Sweating Blister.— This is only a more mild epispastic, and simply occasions heat and swelling, without excoriation or loss of hair ; con- sequently it is a very convenient application, when it is an object to avoid a blemish, and when the case is not a very desperate one. But there are also instances in which it is to be preferred to an actual blis- ter, as in recent strains, where the whole of the heat and inflammation is not yet abated : in such cases the sweating blister is often very effi- cacious. The mode of application is to apply it by rubbing it in of sufficient strength to irritate in a mild degree only, rubbing it well in every day, until considerable swelling is occasioned, when the applica- tion should be desisted from, and the swelling suffered to subside. The formula for sweating or liquid blister is among Blisters, which see. Sweet Spirit of Nitre. — See Nitre. Tar is a very useful article to the veterinarian. Equal parts of tar and fish oil make an excellent application for the hoofs of horses, ap- plied daily with a. brush, the hoofs being previously moistened. Tar is also an excellent stopping for the bottom of the feet, in the propor- tion described under Stoppings. It is also either alone, or mixed with oil of turpentine, and applied warm, often used with advantage as a stopping in pricks and bruises of the sole. Tar enters also into some of the digestive and detergent unguents ; particularly in preparations for the cure of thrushes in the feet. Tar has also been given inwardly in balls, and the water of tar as a drink in obstinate chronic cou^^hs • and when joined with expectorants and alteratives, particularly of the mercurial kind, benefit has been often received from it in these cases. Tar, Barbadoes. — This is valued more highly as an internal remedy for coughs, than the common tar ; but, as far as my experience goes, it merits no preference. Tartar. — See Cream of. Tartarised Antimony (Antimonii tartarisatum), or Emetic Tar- tar. — This is a new remedy in veterinary practice, and not generally sanctioned ; but the practitioner will find, I think, reason for its fu- ture employment when he has tried it a few times. It is both a febri- fuge and expectorant ; and, as most of the fevers of horses are con- nected with some pneumonic affection, so a remedy that combines the properties of diminishing action, and increasing expectoration, is inva- luable. In active pneumonia, I unite it with nitre, foxglove, and oxymel, in doses of one to two drams, two or three times a day. In lesser cases, it may be given with nitre and cream of tartar, in similar Z z 712 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. doses, once a day, in a mash. It is also an excellent alterative (see Alteratives). In full doses it determines to the skin, and ultimately lessens the action of the heart and arteries: sometimes it increases the flow of urine. In extolling this preparation of antimony, or indeed in praising the virtues of any preparation of this mineral, I am at va- riance with some, nay, with most of the best veterinarians of the pre- sent day : I therefore continue to recommend it with cautionary notice to the reader. One, two, or more ounces, have been given without ex- citing any peculiar symptoms. What therefore is to be expected, it may be asked, from two or three drams ? I have only to ask in return. Are not minute successive doses of many medicaments useful where large ones fail, if given at once ? My experience is my guide: I have found it to allay arterial action, and to promote pectoral secretion ; ought I not therefore to recommend it ? Tents are substances introduced into a wound, to prevent its too early closing. In deep wounds having a narrow outlet, and when any foreign body remains to be expelled, they may be very properly employ- ed ; and any soft substance, as lint or tow, may be introduced for this purpose. But the old plan of the farriers, of cramming every wound with tents, is an absurd and hurtful practice. Tin. — This is given as a vermifuge to horses frequently. It has however but moderate efficacy, and, when given, it should be always in fine filings, and not levigated ; as there is reason to believe its action is purely mechanical; in which case, tin must be preferable to pewter filings, as being harder, but which are generally substituted. Dose, three ounces daily. Tinctures, are solutions of vegetable or other matter in spirituous liquors. When any of the resinous gums are to be dissolved, pure spirit of wine should be used. When the roots, bark, leaves, &c. of plants are to be made into tinctures, dilute spirit is sufficient. Tinc- tures are not, in general, a convenient formulae for the veterinarian."" The substances employed are too diffused, and cannot be given in ge- neral cases in sufficient quantity, without using an unnecessary and even hurtful portion of the spirit or menstruum. But as sometimes it may be wished to give either aloes or opium diluted ; so a watery solu- tion or tincture might be wished. In these cases, equal weights of the substance and of proof spirit maybe digested together in a warm place for two days, and then the united articles may have double the weight of water added ; and in this state the tincture may be kept for use. In giving it, the bottle must be shaken, and the sediment and all poured out. Any of the tinctures of the human pharmacopoeia may occa- sionally be employed in veterinary practice, but, for the above reasons, this will never be a very useful formula. The principal ones in use are tincture of aloes ; tincture of aloes with myrrh ; tincture of ben- jamin compounded, called friars balsam ; tincture of myrrh ; and tinc- ture of Spanish flies, all of which are occasionally used as detergents. Internally also, all of them, except the tincture of aloes, are sto- machics and tonics. Tincture of catechu likewise may sometimes be useful in restringent drinks. The tincture of opium also made as above, or a stronger laudaiium, would be useful. Foxglove, as being a power- ful remedy, may be very usefully given in tincture; and for convenience, the veterinarian may keep this also of double strength to what is order- ed in the Pharmacopoeia. VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. 713 Tobacco. — This is a very powerful narcotic. An instance is men- tioned by Mr. White, of two ounces having been given by an igno- rant groom to produce a fine coat, which occasioned almost imme- diate death. But this very activity, when we are better acquainted with its mode of action, may be made subservient to important medi- cinal purposes. Externally, tobacco is very useful in infusion, as an external remedy for mange. Tonics are supposed to exert their influence on the muscular fibre, and to improve their tone: this they do, in some instances, through the medium of the stomach, and are then called stomachics (which see) ; or they are received into the blood, and then become a very part of the fibre themselves. Tonics are, therefore, stimulants of perma- nent action ; and from which may be gained, that this class is nume- rous, and is, in fact, diffused through the whole materia medica. A complete knowledge of their numbers and their effects can only be gained by an intimate conversance with the animal economy, and the nature of the various foreign agents employed in acting upon it. As a guide to the junior veterinarian and amateur, a few formulae, that I have found by experience to be efficient, are added ; either of which may be given daily. Gum myrrh three drams Green vitriol two drams Oak bark, powdered three drams Ginger, ditto one dram. Mix into a ball with conserve of roses ; or into a drink with a pint of camomile tea. Arsenic Ten grains Gentian, powdered three drams Cascarilla, ditto three drams. Mix into a ball with conserve of roses, or, as above, into a drink. Gum myrrh three drams Balsam of Tolu and of Peru, of each .. one dram Liquid storax ditto Levigated rust of iron two drams. Make into a ball. Lunar caustic, fifteen grains, dissolved carefully in strong camomile infusion, one pint, forms likewise a most excellent permanent toviic to the horse. — Or, Blue vitriol half an ounce Ginger one dram Powdered willow bark three drams. Make into a ball with conserve of roses. In cases where either the sulphate of iron or the sulphate of copper is used, I would recommend that it be not given on an empty stomach, but after the horse has had about two quarts of water and a lock or two of hay. Turner's Cerate. — See Cerates. Turpentine forms an article of very considerable importance in veterinary medicine. There is no great difi"erence between the Venice and the common, which are the kinds principally used in our practice. Turpentine is a considerable ingredient in digestive and blistering oint- ments, and is also a convenient adhesive medium for forming balls. 714 VETERINARY MATERIA MEDICA. Internally, it is a warm stomachic; an excellent assistant diuretic; and has some vermifuge powers. Turpentine, Oil of. — This terebinthinated preparation is still more in use than the massy turpentine. Internally, in doses of two to four ounces, it forms an excellent antispasmodic in flatulent colic, and in similar daily doses it is one of the most effectual vermifuges. In both chronic and acute indigestion it is also serviceable. Externally, its use is still more frequent : it is a ready and never-failing stimulant, and hence it is the basis of the sweating blister ; and, more dilute, it forms the best application for old strains and bruises. Unguents. — A derivative name for ointments ; which see. Verdigris ft/^7'ugo). — See Acetate of Copper. Verjuice is only an apple vinegar, and hence applicable to similar purposes with the common kind. Vermifuges. — See Anthelmintics. Vesicatories, blistering articles. — See Blisters. Vitriol (Sulphas zincij. — White vitriol, or sulphate of zinc, is an excellent styptic and astringent ; it is also a good tonic, in doses of four to six drams. In ophthalmia it forms the best wash for the middle and latter stages. It is also a good detergent in grease and other ill-conditioned sores. Vitriolated Copper. — See Blue Vitriol. VlTRIOLATED IrON. — ScC GrEEN ViTRIOL. Vitriol, Oil of. — See Sulphuric Acid. Vinegar (AcetumJ.—The acetous acid is very frequently used in veterinary practice ; it is of the utmost consequence, therefore, that it should be pure. It is, however, unfortunately, very liable to be adulterated with, or wholly made of, sulphuric acid, and then be- comes very unfit for use as an internal remedy, being changed into an active stimulant instead of a refrigerant. Vinegar, not neutral- ized by salt or sugar, is capable of proving very noxious to the horse. We have instances on record, of a pint of strong vinegar destroying life ; but, neutralized with carbonate of ammonia, it forms a most ex- cellent febrifuge, under the old name of Mindererus's Spirit. Neutral- ized with sugar or honey, it forms a valuable expectorant, called oxy- mel. As an external application, the acetous acid is likewise no less useful. In strains, bruises, and other local injuries, it is the base of the best remedies, either in combination with acetate of lead when active in- flammation exists, or mixed with crude sal ammoniac, or the bay salt, to counteract the effects of distention. — See Saline Embrocation. Vinegar, Distilled. — This elegant preparation is nothing more than the common vinegar deprived of its water and feculent parts, but is in no respect preferable for the purposes of horse practice. Washes are watery solutions, or infusions, of various substances, to be washed over the parts to which they are to be applied. Wax, White AND Yellow. — The yellow is principally used by the veterinarian, to thicken and give consistence to ointments. Willow Bark. — See Bark. AVoRM Medicines. — See Anthelmintics. Zinc. — See Vitriol and Calamine. INDEX. Abscess, 54 1 Abd'otnen, anatomy of, 262— -dtopsy of, 506 — wounds of, 524 — Abdominal ring, 144 Abso7'bents, 173— diseases of, 179 Acetabulum, 125 Adenology, 194 Adipose membrane, 201 Mgagropilus, or collections of hair in the stomach, 199 Age of horses, how known, S3— of oxen, 35 — ^of sheep, 35 Air, its effects in respiration, 53 — its action . on the blood, 261 Anatomy in general, its importance, 25, 372— anatomy of the horse, 92 to 371 Anasarca, 507 Anchylosis, 570 Aneurism, 552 ^rai«ja/heat, how produced, 261 Avgiology, 147 Anticor, 543 Arm,{ore, 41 — bone of, 116— muscles of, 335 Arteries, structure and functions of, 147 — distribution of, 155 — aorta, 155 — axil- lary, 157 — humeral, 157 — carotid, 159— aorta posterior, 160 — emulgents, 161 — crural, 163 — pulmonary, 164— wounds of, 528 Ascites, 506 Back, how it should be formed, 47 Bad sinews, how' they should be formed, 41 — clap in, 547 — rupture of, 550 Ball, mode of giving, 686 Bag of the mare, 312 Barbs, the removal of them injurious, 223 Barking, how produced, 231 Bartlet, account of, IS JSar^, oflhefoot, S64 of the mouth, 223 Bel, Mons. St., account of, 17, 18— his shoe, 635 Bile, 290 — no cystic bile in the horse, ib. Bladder, structure of, 99— functions of, 300 — mode of puncturing it, 441 — in- flammation of the neck of, 440 — inflam- mation of the body of, 441 Black quarter in cattle, 391 — black leg, ib. Bleeding, how performed, 661 Blindjiess, moon, 571 Blistering, 674 Blood, circulation of, 247 — nature and properties of, 255, Sl2— its hfe, 256— relative proportions of, ?6.— appearances under disease, 258 — how acted on by the air, 266 — purity of blood among breed- ers, 323 — pissing of, 502 — blood spavin, 553 Bloodletting, 661— morbid consequences of, 529 Bloodstriking in sheep, 391 Bloody ray, 470 I Blown in oxen, 484 — in sheep, 486 Blundeville, 11 Body founder, 541 Bog spavin, 555 Bones, anatomy of, 92 to 132— their com- position, 93 — diseases of, 562 Bone spavin, 567 Bourgelat, his writings, 5 Brain, its structure, 166 — its supposed functions, 179 — inflammation of, 404 — diseases of, 471 Bracken, Dr., 11 Braying, how produced, 231 .Sraa;?/, 470 — in sheep, 471 Breaking down, 549 Breast, proper form of, 40— anatomy of it, 239 Breeding, Sl5— high breeding, or blood, 323 — breeding in and in, 324 Broken knees, 532 — signs of, 41 Broken zvind, 449 — how distinguished, 453 Bronchotomy, 649 Bruises, 544 Buccus, or box, a preventive of rabies, 511 Buckeyes, 581 BuTsalogy, 146 Bursas mucosae, structure of, 146— enlarge- ment of, forms windgalls, 554 Calcular concretions, 509 Cahes, scouring in, 497 Canler in the feet of horses, 629 Canter, how performed, 60 Capsular ligaments, 1-34 Capulet, 556 — capped elbow, ib. Carcase of horses, the best form of, 46— a proper consideration of this formed ; Mr. Bakeweirs secret in breeding, 46 Carditis, 428 Carpus, or knee, 40 — bones of, 90, 1 18 Cartilages, 133— the lateral, 367 Casting, 645 Castration, mode of, 647 Cataract, 582 Catarrh, mild, 443 Catarrhal epidemic fever in horses, 392 — in oxen, 398 Cattle, age of, 35— pithing of,what, 107— remarks on their stomach, 276 — lowing, how produced, 231 — common, or iri- flammatory fever, 391 — black quarter, joint felon, quarter evil,shewt of blood, black leg, ib — influenza, distemper, or catarrh, 391 — murrain, or pest, 399 — brain fever, 408— inflamed lungs, 425 — inflamed liver, 434 — inflamed kidnies, 438— inflamed bladder, 441— dysentery, scouring, braxv, bloody ray, slimy flux, 470— colic, 48 L— hove, 484 — puck- eridge, 491 — looseness, 495 ~ scouring cow, scantering, 495 — jaundice, 502 Cellular membrane, 203 Cervical ligament, 237 716 INDEX. C/taLerty his writings, 7 Charge, 692 C/iesnut horses subject to contracted feet, Chest, anatomy of, 242— dropsy of, 504 — wounds of, 523 Chestjoundery 642 Circulation of the blood, account of, 247 — 'liscovered by Hervey, ib. 2 55— fcetal circulation, 326 Clap in the sinews, 547 ^/ori, Mr. Bracy, hiswritings, 22— his par- atrite, 638 Clarky Mr., of Edinburgh, his works, 13 — his shoe, 635 Coagulabh lymph, what, ^57 Coagu/w/iy ^57 Coffin bone, 123 Cold, as a disease, 443 Coleman, Mr., his professorship, 18— his writings, 19 — his shoe, 637 Colic, red, 429— spasmodic, or gripes, 478 — in cattle, 481 Colour of horses, 50 — some colours more disposed to disease, 50— light-coloured legs most subject to grease, 585 Columella, an antient veterinary author, 2 Colt, fcBtal, 328— his peculiarity of form- ation, and the wisdom displayed in if, S29 Conception in the mare, how brought about, 315 Condition of horses, 62 — " getting a /lorse into condition*', 71 Contracted feei, 593— chesnut horse pecu- liarly liable to them, 51— mode of re- lieving them, 611 Contusion, or bruise, 544 Cooper, Sir Astley, his opinions on exos- tosis, 563 Copulation in the horse, physiology of, 311 Coronet bone, 125 Corns, 615 Costas, or ribs, 112 Costiveness, 493 Couching, 580 Cough, chronic, 446 Cracks in the heels, 585 Cramp, 472 Crassamentum of the blood, what, 257 Cribbiting, 498 Cropping, 660 Cruor of the blood, what, 257 Curb, 552, 569 Cuticle, 199 Cutis, 199 Cutting of the feet, how done, 43 Cutting a horse, 647 Cynanche tonsillaris, 454— C. parotid.e,443 — C. trachealis, 443— C. maligna, 41.3 Cystitis, 439 Diabetes, 503 Diagnosis of disease, what, 378 Diaphragm, 243 — mode of its action, 254 Diarrhoea, 493— in cattle, 495 — in calves, 497 Dt^e.9<»Vm, economy of, 272 — differs in the iiorse from most other animals, 274— its economy within the intestines, 231 Disease, what, 376— epidemic, 377 — en- demic, ib. — s|)oradic, ib. Dislocations, 562 Distemper in horses, 392 Diuretics, how they act, 297 Docking, 654 Downing, Mr., account of, 21 Dropsy of the head, 504 — of the cnest, 506 — of the heart, 506— of the belly, 506— of the skin, 507 Dysentery, 467 — in cattle, 470 Dyspepsia, 482 Ear, its structure, 205 — varieties in its formation, 205— the Eustachian cavity, 207 — the ear presents an indication of intention, 29 Elbow, capped or diseased, 556 Endemic diseases, what, 377— mode of re- lieving them, 611 Enteritis, 428 Epidemic catarrh, 392 — malignant ditto, 398 Epidemic diseases, what, 377 Epigastric region, 263 Epilepsy, 471 Eustachian cavity, 207 Exercise of horses, 87 Exfoliation, 563 Exostosis, 566 Exterior conformation of the horse, 28, 29 — his head, !?8 — his eyes, 29— his age, 32 — his neck, 55 — his shoulders, 38— parts below , 40 to 46 — body, 47, 48 Extremities, the fore, structure of, 335— progressive functions of, 53 — bones of, 113 — fractures of, 560 Extremities, hinder, structure of, 345 — bones of, 124 — their part in progression, 54— fractures of, 561 Eye, external form of, 29— examination of, ih. — its structure, 209 — why animals see better than man at night, 212— phy- siology of vision, 217 — , inflammation of, 571 — moon eyes, 574 — glass eyes, 581— mode of judging of the eyes, 29— why it weeps under ophthalmia, 220 — , anatomy of, 209 — sense of vision, 217 Face in the horse, 31 — facial angle, 29 False quarter, 632 Farcy, 462 Fardel-bound, in cattle, 481 Farriery, account of its stale before the es- tablishment of a veterinary college, 10 Fat, formation of, and uses, 201 Feeding of horses, directions relative to it, 80— varieties, 274 Feet, external consideration of, 43 — ma- nagement of in the stable, 86— anato- my of, 357— the bones, 123, 357 — con- tracted, 598 — mode of expanding them, 611 — pumiced foot, 613 INDEX. 717 FeroHf Mr , his writings, 21 Fever in general, 387 — common fever, S88 — symptomatic, 402 — mild epide- mic, 392 — malignant ditto, 399 Fever in cattle, common or inflammatory, 391— ditto in sheep, 392 Firing, 672 Fistulous withers, 537 Fluids oi \.\\G body, 371 Fluke worm in sheep, 491 Flux^ slimy, in cattle, 495 Foal, its formation, 328 — its peculiarities and evolution, 330— treatment of when at foal, 333 Foaling, 520 Fcetal circulation, 326 Food of horses, various, 79 — relative pro- portions of nutriment in it, 81 — mixed food, 82 — cooked food, 83 — physiology of its mastication, 223 to 228— how col- lected, 232 — physiology of deglutition, ib. — the action of the stomach on it, 2T2 — further acted on in the intestines, 286 — bad food a cause of ill condition, 64 Foot-founder, 593 Foot-rot in sheep, 69 1 Forehand, how it should he formed, 37 Fosse, La, senior, his writings, 5 -— — , La, junior, his writings, 6— his shoe, 634 Founder, foot, 593~acute, 594— chronic, 598 Fractures, 55G~of the skull, 568— of the jaw, 558 — of the ribs, 559 — of the nasal bones, 559— of the vertebra;, 559— of the limbs, 560 Freeman, Mr , his work on shoeing, 20 — on progression, 55 Frog, horny, 361 — uses of, 362— fleshy frog, 366 — dis?ase of, 618 Gall-bladder, wanting in the horse, 29 L Gallop, how Y^erformed, 59 Gangrene, what, 517 Gastritis, 428 Gelding, 647 Generating organs in the horse, 301 — in the mare, 312 Gestation, physiology of, 321 Gibson, Mr., account ot, 12 Gid in sheep, 491 Glanders, 455 Glands, structure and functions of, 194 — lymphatic, 175 — lacteal, ib. 285 Gravel, 609 Grease, 581-"viru]ent and confirmed, 588 - Gripes, 478 Groggy, what, 613 Gunshot wounds, 533 Cufta serena, 583 HcPMorrhage, 528 Hair, structure of, 196 — its colours, 50— changes by disease, 196 — falls off and is reproduced twice a year, 197— light-co loured legs subject lo grease, 50, 585 f/tfir balls, 199 //cmof thecye, 215 //end, external form of, 28— anatomy of, 265 — dropsy of, 504— wounds of, 522 Hearing, sense of, 208 Heart, anatomy of, 244 — inflammation of, 428 Heat, animal, sources of, 261 Heats of mares, 315 Heels of the foot, opening of, so called by smiths, 365 — what really opens them, 611 Hepatitis, 433 Hernia, 499 Hidebound, what, 86 — improperly consi- dered as a disease, 593 Hig ham-striking in sheep, 392 History of medicine, 1 Hocl, how "it should be formed, 50 — bones of, 127 — its mode of action, 129 — muscles influencing it, 354 — capped or capulet, 556— spavin of it, 567 Ho'if, structure of, 358 Hoose in cattle, 444 Horse, history of, 27— exterior conform- ation of, 28 — his form cannot readily be reduced to a geometrical scale, 28 — beau- ty of his head, 26 — his eyes, 29 — his age, 33 — horses considered old before they really are so, 34 — comparison between the age of man and horse, 34— his shoul- ders, and importance of, 39 — his feet ex- teriorly considered, 43— colour of, 50 — race horse, proper form of, 52— the hun- ter, 62 — the hackney, 53 — the coach- horse, 53 — the cart horse, 53 — paces of the horse, 53 — condition of, 62 — stable management of, 77 to 80 — feeding of, 80 — watering of, 84 -exercise, 87 —dres- sing of, 85 — anatomy of, 9;^ — diseases of, 376 Horsing in mares, or osstrum, what, 315 Hoven, in oxen, 484 Humoral pathology, what, 259 Hunger, what it is physiologically, 2/3 Hunter, Mr., debt of gratitude due to Mm, 19, 259 — opinion of the blood, 150 Huzard, senior, his writings, 7 Huzard, junior, his writings, 7 Hydatids, 491 Hydrocephalus, 504 H^drothorax, 504 Hydrophobia^ 511 — a misnamer in brutes, ib. Hydrops pericardii, 506 Hygroiogy, 371 Hypogastric region, 263 Jaundice, 501 — in oxen and sheep, 502 Jaw bone, fracture of, 558 Jaixi locked, 473 Joints, wounds of, 525 — dislocations of, 562 — stiff joints, 570 Joint felon in cattle, 591 Indigestion, acute, 482— chronic ditto, ib. Ivjiammation, general or diffused, 379 — treatment of it, 383 — local or confined. 718 INDEX. 514- treatment of, 515— of the brain, 404— of the lungs in horses, 413— in oxen, 425— chronic inflammation of,427 — of the heart, 428— of the stomach, ih. specific ditto, 403— of the intestines, 429; of the liver in horses, 433— in cattle, 434 —of the kidnies, 435— of the bladder, 439— ofthewomb,441 — of theeye,571 —of the feet, 594 Influenza, 392— in cattle, 598 Integumevts, 196 Intestines, anatomy of, 281— situation of, 282— the small, z6.— th.e large, 283— uses of intestines, 286— inflammation of, 429— ditto from superpurgation, 432 — Kidnies, structure and economy of, 294 — inflammation of, 435— in neat cattle,438 Knees, broken, 532 Lachrymal duct, how formed, 217 Lacteals, structure of, 174, 285 Lamince, sensible, 368 Lampas, 486 Lanjnx, 229 Leaping, how performed, 61 Legs,vfhdit form of best, 41— anatomical conformation of, 324 to 356— fracture of the bones of, 500— swelled legs, 507— with discharge, 586— white legs most subject to grease, 585 — washing the legs when injurious, 583 Ligaments, genereiUy J 134— of the fore ex- tremities, 343 — rupture of, 549 Ligamentary extension, or strain, 547 Lights, the rising of, 413— in cattle, 425 Liver, structure of, 289— economy of, 291 — inflammation of, 433— fluke worms in the liver of sheep, 491 Locked-jato, 473 Loins, proper form of, 47 Looseness, 493 — in oxen, 495— in calves, 497 Lumbar region, 263 Lunatic blindness, 574 Lungs, their structure, 250 — physiology of respiration, 253 — inflammation of, 413 Luxations, 562 Lymphatics, 115 Madness, rabid, 511 Malignant epidemic, 98— in neat cattle, 399 Mallenders, 590 iVfamwz<£ of the mare, 312— variously placed in different animals, ib. Mane, 36 — better mode of pulling it, i*^.— instance of a very long one, ib. Mange, 591 Mare, her organs of generation, 812 — her horsing, 315— periods of her gestation, 328 — evolution and birth of her foal, ib. Meagrims, 47 1 Membranes, cellular and adipose, 20 1,203 Mesentery, 284 Milk, the organs for its formation, 312 — its composition, 370 Moisture, a cause of grease, 583 Molten grease, 457 Moon blindness, 574 Morecroft, Mr. account of, 18 — was join- ed in the professorship with Mr. Cole- man, ib. — his Treatise on Shoeing, 20 — his shoe, 636 Morfoundering, 443 Morfiflcation, 517 Moulting, what, 197 3Iouth in horses, 31— structure of, 222— uses of the bars, 223— ignorance of far- riers in removing the paps and barbs, ib. — ulcers in, 533 Mucous capsules, 146 — diseases of, 554 Muscles, their structure, 135 — their pro- perties, 136— individual muscles, 139 to 146 Murrain or pest in cattle, 399 Myology, 137 — of anterior extremities, 338, 343— of hind ditto, 348 to 353 Navicular disease, 561 Neck, proper form of, 35— internal struct- ure, 237— wounds of, 523 Neighing, how produced, 231 Nephritis, 435 Nerves, structure and functions of, 179— cerebrine, 183— spinal, 188— diseases of, 471 — nerve operation, 650 Neurology, 179 Neurotomy, 650 Nicking, mode of, 656 Nictating membrane, 215 — monkey the only brute without, 215— extreme igno- rance displayed in removing it, ib. Nose, anatomy of, 219 — sense of smelling, 221— fractures of, 559 CEsophagotony, 649 (Esophagus, 238 CEstrum, or lust, 315 Omentum, 263 Operations'in farriery, 644 Ophthalmia, 571 Osmer, Mr., account of, 13 — his shoe, 635 Osteology, 92 to 132 Overreach, 549 Paces of the horse, 53 Palsy, 471 Pancreas, structure and functions of, 292 Panniculus carnosus, 203 Pa/?s, ignorance of farriers in their removal, 223 Paralysis, 471 Pastern, best form of, 42— bones of, 121— muscles of, 341, 353 Paunching, 485 Peale, Mr., his writings, 23 Pelvis, 298 Penis, structure of, 306— urinary uses of, 310 Percivall, Mr., his writings, 24 Periosteum, what, 93, 133 Peripneumony, 413 Peristaltic motion, what, 286 Peritoneutn,264: Perspiration, what, 371— connexion with the kidnies, 298 Pest, or murraia in cattle, 399 Pharynx, 228 Phlebotomy, 661 Phlegmonous tumour, 541 Phrenitis, 404 Physicking of horses, SQS Pissing evil, 503 Pithing of oxen, what, 107 P^flcewf a, peculiarity of it in the mare, 319 Plate-vein, its situation, 168 Pleura, 242 Pneumonia, 413 — in cattle, 425 — in sheep, 426 Poisons, morbid, 511 — vegetable, 512— mineral, 513 — poisonous bites, 511 Pole evil, 535 Pregnancy of the mare, 315 — physiology of, e'i.— treatment under, 333 Prick, in the foot, 622 Prognosis, in disease, 378 Progression, how performed, 53 — me- chanism of the bones, 131 Propagation, an irresistible stimulus im- planted in animals, 301 Prostate gland, 306 Fuckeridge in cattle, 491 Pubnonary vessels, 164, iJ48 Pulse, account of, 153— where felt, 152 — mean pulsations in different animals, 153 Pumiced foot, 613 Puncture of the bladder, 441 Punctured foot, 621 Purity of the blood, its value, 323 Purgatives, 663 Quarter evil in cattle, 391 Quittor, 625 Rabies, 511 Jle