Part 92

It sometimes happens, and not unfrequently, that there is an accumulation of excrement in the cœcum, by which the valvular orifice is so completely obstructed, that it cannot be overcome by any efforts of the stomach, though excited by opium and the most powerful carminatives. Clysters in this case will always afford relief, if properly administered; that is, by means of a large ox’s bladder and a long pewter pipe, not less than fourteen or fifteen inches in length. The only clyster required is from half a pound to a pound of salt, and five or six quarts of warm water. This will excite the whole of the large bowels to action, and dislodge the fæces from the cœcum. By this means the animals may always be relieved, and without it he will in such cases certainly die.

There are cases of flatulent colic, however, which are in their nature incurable, that is, first, when there is such a quantity of food taken into the stomach, and the digestive power of the organ has been so depressed by previous disorder, that no effort it can make, however powerfully it may be excited, can enable it to get rid of its contents. Secondly, when the horse is put to work, and into quick exercise in that state: such cases are by no means uncommon in post and coach horses, and rupture of the stomach is sometimes the consequence. When this happens, the horse breaks out into a profuse, but very cold perspiration, is extremely depressed, breathes quickly; the pulse can scarcely be felt, but is very quick. It is soon followed by death. The distension of the small intestines sometimes forces a portion of them through the mesentery, in such a manner that one coil of it becomes so completely tied that the included air cannot escape.

ANODYNE CARMINATIVE TINCTURES, RECOMMENDED FOR RELIEVING COLIC.

Turkey opium 1 oz. Cloves, bruised 2 oz. Ginger, ditto 3 oz. Brandy, rum, or gin 1 quart.

Or,

Turkey opium, cloves, and ginger, of each 1 oz. The best old brandy, rum, or gin 1 quart.

Let them be digested together in a well-corked bottle, and shaken several times a day for three or four weeks. It is then to be strained through blotting paper, and is fit for use. The medium dose is two ounces, which may be given in a little mild ale, or an infusion of some aromatic herb, such as peppermint, pennyroyal, camomile, &c. Mr. Bracey Clarke recommends a tincture made with allspice, bruised, half a pound; brandy, gin, or rum, two quarts. The following mixture has been found effectual.

Camphor ½ oz. Oil of turpentine 6 oz. Mix.

One half of this is a dose, and if the first dose does not afford relief, the second, it is said, has always been found effectual.

I am inclined to believe that flatulent colic is sometimes brought on by drinking largely of cold pump water, or hard water, in hot weather.

_Stomach staggers, or sleepy staggers—Paralysis of the stomach._—The symptoms of this disorder are great heaviness and drowsiness, resting the nose in the manger, or inclining the head, and resting the cheek, or bearing against the wall. The head is forced against the manger, or rack, or the nose between the rack staves. In this way the eyes and face are often much bruised and swollen. The horse stands with his fore leg much under him, appearing to give way every now and then, as if he would fall. There is an appearance of convulsive twitching of the muscles of the neck and chest. There is, too, a great degree of yellowness, approaching to orange-colour, of the membranes of the eyes, and often a yellowness of the mouth also. Urine scarcely any, and high-coloured; sometimes none is voided, and sometimes it is discharged by a convulsive effort. Sometimes the disorder is attended with locked jaw, ending in paralysis and death. In the early stage of the disorder the horse is sometimes suddenly roused by opening the stable door, he lifts up his head, and sometimes neighs; but this is only a momentary effort. When the disease happens at grass, the animal is generally found forcing his head against the hedge, or a gate, or moving about in a state of stupor and apparent insensibility. Sometimes he is found struggling in a ditch, and in that situation he often dies.

As soon as stomach staggers are observed, the horse should be bled, in order to relieve the head in some degree; but the principal object is to enable the stomach to get rid of the load which oppresses it. Various remedies have been proposed for this purpose. The best I believe are purgatives joined with cordials and stimulants, and small quantities of warm water frequently, in order to soften the contents of the stomach. Clysters of salt and water are useful also, and should be thrown up several times a day. The disease is often incurable, probably from a want of early attention.

When medicine cannot be readily procured, two or three tablespoonfuls of flower of mustard, and three or four ounces of common salt may be tried.

DRENCH FOR THE STAGGERS.

No. 1.

Barbadoes aloes 6 dr. to 1 oz. Calomel 2 dr. Oil of peppermint 20 drops. Warm water 1 pint. Tincture of Cardamoms 2 oz.

Mix for one dose.

No. 2.

Common salt 4 oz. Ginger 2 dr. or 2 teaspoonfuls. Carbonate of soda 1 oz. Water 1 quart.

Mix for one dose.

About a quart of water may be given every now and then with a horn; and if a teaspoonful or two of compound spirit of ammonia (sal volatile) be added to it, the effect will be promoted. A tablespoonful or two of common salt may also be added three or four times a day. The horse should be drenched and clystered during the night as well as the day; in short, without unremitting attention success must not be expected.—_Montagu_—_White._

STOMACHIC, _s._ A medicine for the stomach.

STONE, _s._ Stones are bodies insipid, hard, not ductile or malleable, not soluble in water; calculous concretion in the kidneys or bladder.

STONECHATTER, _s._ A bird; the wheatear.

STONEFLY, _s._ An insect.

STONEHAWK, _s. obs._ A kind of hawk.

STONEHORSE, _s._ A horse not castrated; a stallion.

STONEPLOVER, _s._ A bird, commonly called the red godwit.

STOOLBALL, _s. obs._ A play where balls are driven from stool to stool.

STOOP, _v._ To bend down; to bend forward; to submit; to descend from rank or dignity; to come down on prey as a falcon: to alight from the wing.

STOOP, _s._ Act of stooping; fall of a bird upon his prey.

STOP, _v._ To hinder from progressive motion; to teach dogs to stand to game.

_Stopping for the Feet._—A mixture of clay and cowdung, or either of these separately, is commonly used for this purpose; and, by keeping the bottoms or soles of the feet moist and cool, often does good. In soles that are too thin and soft, or for the frogs when in that state, the following composition is more proper:

Tallow and tar, of each 1 lb. To be mixed by melting together.

Mr. Goodwin has contrived a kind of boot for keeping the feet cool and moist, as well as for applying the above composition.—_White._

STORK, _s._ A bird of passage, famous for the regularity of its departure.

STRAGGLER, _s._ A wanderer; a rover; anything that separates from the rest, or stands singly.

STRAIN, _v._ To squeeze through something; to purify by filtration; to sprain, to weaken by too much violence; to put to its utmost strength.

STRAIN, _s._ An injury by too much violence; race, generation, descent.

STRAND, _s._ The verge of the sea or of any water; a division or portion of a rope.

STRANGLES, _s._ A disease incident to young horses.

The treatment of strangles is very simple. As the essence of the disease consists in the formation and suppuration of the tumour under the jaw, the principal, or almost the sole attention of the practitioner should be directed to the hastening of these processes; therefore, as soon as the tumour of strangles evidently appears, the part should be actively blistered. Old practitioners used to recommend poultices, which, from the thickness of the horse’s skin, must have very little effect, even if they could be confined on the part; and from the difficulty and almost impossibility of this, and their getting cold and hard, they must weaken the energies of nature, and delay the ripening of the tumour. Fomentations are little more effectual. A blister will not only secure the completion of the process, but hasten it by many days, and save the patient much pain and exhaustion; and it will produce another good effect—it will, previous to the opening of the tumour, abate the internal inflammation and soreness of the throat, and thus lessen the cough and wheezing.

If there is much fever, and evident affection of the chest, and which should carefully be distinguished from the oppression and choaking occasioned by the pressure of the tumour, it will be proper to bleed.

A few cooling medicines, as nitre, emetic tartar, and perhaps digitalis, may be given, as the case requires. The appetite, or rather the ability to eat, will return with the opening of the abscess. Bran-mashes, or fresh cut grass or tares, should be liberally supplied; which will not only afford sufficient nourishment to recruit the strength of the animal, but keep the bowels gently open. If the weakness be not great, no further medicine will be wanted, except a dose of mild physic, to prevent the swellings or eruptions which sometimes succeed to strangles. In cases of debility, a small quantity of tonic medicine, as camomile, and gentian with ginger, in doses of a couple of drachms, may be administered.—_The Horse._

STRANGURY, _s._ A difficulty of urine, attended with pain.

STRAP, _s._ A narrow long slip of cloth or leather.

STRAW, _s._ The stalk on which corn grows, and from which it is threshed.

STRAWCOLOURED, _a._ Of a light yellow.

STREAM, _s._ A running water; the course of running water; current.

STRETCHER, _s._ Anything used for extension; the timber against which the rower plants his feet.

STRIDE, _s._ A long step, a wide stretch of the legs; the pace of a horse.

STRINGHALT, _s._ A sudden twitching and snatching up of the hinder leg of a horse much higher than the other.

STRIPE, _s._ A lineary variation of colour; a shred of a different colour; a weal, or discoloration made by a lash or blow; a blow, a lash.

STRUCTURE, _s._ Act of building, form, make; edifice, building.

Under the term _Structure of the Eye_, Mr. White, describing its anatomy and physiology, divides the subject into two parts, that is, the eye itself and its appendages. Under the latter head, he comprehends the eyelids, the muscles which move it, the eyelashes, the lachrymal gland, the puncta lachrymalia, and lachrymal duct, the caruncle of the eye, the haw, and the membrane named conjunctiva, and the muscles by which the eye is moved.

He then proceeds:—Having described the appendages, as they are termed, I shall proceed to a description of the eye itself, the structure and economy of which is most curious and interesting. It is said to be composed of coats and humours, and this perhaps is the best manner of considering it. The first coat that appears is the cornea, or glass of the eye, which forms the anterior part, and is beautifully transparent. It is not of a circular form, as in man, but of an irregular oval, or rather oblong form, when examined out of the socket; but in its natural situation in the living horse, that part which projects beyond the eyelids is of a regular oval, or rather of an oblong form, and corresponding in some degree with the form of the pupil. It forms a larger portion of the globe of the eye than in man, and, by its convexity, causes the rays of light which pass through it to converge towards the pupil. This convexity may be too great or too little, and in either case render vision somewhat imperfect, and cause starting. The convexity of the cornea is preserved by the fluid which it incloses, named aqueous humour. On puncturing the cornea this fluid escapes, and then the cornea becomes flat and wrinkled. On removing the cornea the iris appears, which is a thin delicate brown or blackish muscle, with an oblong hole in the centre, named pupil. The iris is composed of two orders of fibres; the one circular, which, by contracting, diminishes, and even closes the aperture in the centre, named pupil; the other radiated, which by contracting, opens or enlarges the aperture or pupil. The second humour of the eye is situated immediately behind the pupil, and is named crystalline humour, or crystalline lens. On taking it out it appears to be a solid and beautifully transparent double convex lens, the posterior surface of which is more convex than the anterior one. It is found to become denser and denser from the circumference to the centre, and the slightest pressure so deranges it as to lessen or destroy its transparency.

The crystalline humour may be considered as composed of numerous concavo-convex lenses, admirably fitted to each other; those of the largest size having their circumference or edge opposed to and nicely joined to each other, thus forming altogether a double convex lens. The point of union between the two largest lenses is embraced by a band of muscular fibres, disposed in a circular direction, and named the ciliary ligament. These, by contracting, assisted probably by the muscles of the eye, increase the convexity of the crystalline lens, or rather of the series of concavo-convex lenses, of which the eye is composed, in a manner so just and equal, as to adapt it to the distance of the object at which the animal is looking, while, by the relaxation of these muscular fibres, the convexity of the lens is diminished by its own elasticity. These changes take place with inconceivable rapidity and accuracy. There are other muscular fibres proceeding from the band of circular fibres named ciliary processes, in a straight, or rather radiated, direction, towards the second coat of the eye, named tunica choroides; these are so arranged as to be drawn into folds, by which disposition they are enabled to perform their office more easily, which is that of drawing the lens towards the optic nerve, and thereby increasing the intensity of vision, whereby the animal is enabled to see small objects distinctly. The crystalline lens is inclosed in a transparent capsule, which is not in contact with it, there being about one drop, as it is computed, of a transparent liquid interposed, which, from the anatomist’s name who first observed it, has been called ‘liquor Morgagnii.’

I have seen a case where the convexity of the lens has been so increased, by an unusual degree of contraction of the circular fibres, named ciliary ligament, that it burst the capsule, and was forced out of its situation. I found it lying with its posterior convex surface on the inferior margin of the iris; about half of it appearing in the anterior chamber of the eye, as it is termed. The transparency of the lens was not affected, at least, it appeared so to me, and I rather think the accident had occurred, just at the time I observed it, from twitching the horse violently. In cataract, a disorder in which the crystalline lens becomes opaque, it always becomes globular in its form from an irritable state of the band of circular fibres; the same effect may be observed in the circular fibres of the iris, causing the pupil to be small, even in a moderate light, while the inflammation is going on, which occasions the cataract; but when the opacity is such as to exclude the light from the posterior part of the eye, which contains the third or vitreous humour, with the choroid coat, retina, and optic nerve, then the circular fibres relax, and the radiated fibres draw up the iris somewhat irregularly, which adhering to the capsule of the opaque lens, the pupil remains permanently open.

All that part of the eye which is posterior to the iris, is chiefly occupied by the third, or vitreous humour, and it is in this humour that the crystalline lens is imbedded. The vitreous humour is perfectly transparent, and consists of a fluid, inclosed in numerous small transparent cells, all of which appear to be inclosed in one delicate transparent membrane, named tunica arachnoidea. If the vitreous humour is cut, by snipping it with scissors, a fluid, like water, drops from it freely, so that it appears to be nothing more than water, probably holding a little salt in solution, which escapes when the transparent cells are thus cut open.

That part of the vitreous humour in which the lens is imbedded is different from the other parts, and of the consistence of jelly. Immediately behind the ciliary ligament, as it is termed, the arachnoid coat may be inflated with a small blowpipe, and made to resemble a circular canal; this has been called from the name of the person who first observed it, the circular canal of Petit. It is supposed to be connected with the radiated fibres of the iris. I have seen the whole of this humour in the eye of a sheep that had an hydatid in the right ventricle of the brain, of the consistence of jelly.

It is now time to speak of the optic nerve, and its appendage, the retina, with the third coat of the eye, named tunica choroides. The retina is a delicate transparent membrane, which embraces the vitreous humour, and is supposed to be an expansion or production of the optic nerve, serving to receive the impressions of objects, in order that they may be conveyed by the optic nerve to the organ of vision, named thalamus nervi optici, or speaking of both organs, thalami nervorum opticorum. After death, the retina becomes opaque, and of a light grey colour. It is so delicate a membrane, that there is some difficulty in preserving it for exhibition unless the eye is quite fresh. Under the retina lies the choroid coat, which is nothing more than a plexus of blood vessels, covered with a mucus substance of different colours. In the human eye it is black, which is the cause of the human pupil, or apple of the eye, appearing black; but in the horse it is variegated with mucus of a purple, a blue, a green, and a black colour, which, blending together, causes the pupil to appear of a dark blue colour. This mixture of colours in the bottom of the eye, or choroid coat, has been named tappetum lucidum.

The last and most considerable coat of the eye is the sclerotic coat, which is a very strong thick membrane, including all the other coats and humours, except the cornea. The sclerotic coat forms the greater portion of the globe of the eye, and is intimately united towards the anterior part with the cornea, which may be viewed as bearing the same relation to the sclerotic coat, as the glass of a watch does to the case. By maceration in water the cornea separates from the sclerotic coat completely.

* * * * *

_Diseases of the eye._—Though the horse’s eye is commonly supposed to be subject to a variety of diseases, they may, without impropriety, be comprehended under two heads. That is, disorders which arise from internal causes, and such as are occasioned by blows, bites, and other accidents. The former are generally, I may say almost always, incurable; that is, they are incapable of a perfect cure, or, in other words, the eye is very rarely perfectly restored after being so affected, unless a complete cataract, or total blindness, takes place in one eye.—_White._

STUB, _s._ A thick short stock left when the rest is cut off; a log, a horse nail.

STUB-BARREL, _s._ _Vide_ BARREL.

STUBBLE, _s._ The stalks of corn left in the field by the reaper.

STUBBORN, _a._ Obstinate, stiff, inflexible; harsh, rough, rugged.

STUB-NET, _s._

Stub-nets are very useful in catching carp or trout, when they flee to the banks. They should be made of very strong twine, inch and quarter mesh, be nine feet long, with cork and lead line; upon which there should be plenty of each: a few widenings should be thrown into the middle, so that there may be a little appearance of a bag; the net is then to be firmly fastened (so that it stands from lead to cork, three or four feet deep) to two ash pitchfork handles, shod with iron spikes at one end. In surrounding a stub, one spike is to remain fixed in the ground, whilst the other is thrust underneath the stub: the fish, thus annoyed, try to regain the deep water, and strike into the bosom of the net, which is then hoisted up, the fish taken out, and the net put down for other trials. If the stubs are very jagged, both spikes are to be stuck in the ground as close as possible to the harbour, and the parties grope with their hands, and those fish which escape their fingers are caught in the stub-net.

STUD, _s._ A post, a stake; a nail with a large head driven for ornament; a collection of breeding horses and mares.

STUMBLE, _v._ To make to trip or stop.

STUMBLE, _s._ A trip in walking.

STUMP, _s._ The part of any solid body remaining after the rest is taken away.

STUNT, _v._ To hinder from growth.

STUPE, _s._ Cloth or flax dipped in warm medicaments, applied to a hurt or sore.

STUPE, _v._ To foment, to dress with stupes.

STURGEON, _s._ A sea fish.

STURK, _s._ A young ox or heifer.

STURNIDÆ (VIGORS), _s._ Starlings, a family of perchers (_Insessores_, VIGORS).

STURNUS (LINN.) _s._ Starling, a genus thus characterised.

Bill strait, depressed, rather obtuse, and slightly awl-shaped, the base of the upper mandible advancing upon the front; the point depressed; nostrils at the sides of the base, and partly closed by a prominent rim; wings long, the first feather very short, the second and third the longest in the wing, and of nearly equal length; feet with three toes before and one behind, the middle toe being united to the outer one as far as the first joint.—_Montagu._

STY, _s._ A cabin to keep hogs in; any place of low debauchery.

STY, _v._ To shut up in a sty.

STYPTIC, _a._ The same as astringent, but generally expresses the most efficacious sort of astringents, or those which are applied to stop hæmorrhages.

_Styptics_ are medicines which constringe the blood-vessels when wounded, so as to stop an effusion of blood. Many preparations have been recommended for this purpose: but when the size of the wounded vessel is at all considerable, an adequate degree of pressure by means of bolsters and bandages is alone to be depended upon; and when that cannot be done, the vessel must be tied up above the wound and below, by which the bleeding will be effectually suppressed. No danger is to be apprehended from slight bleedings in the horse, as they always cease spontaneously.

The styptics commonly employed are oil of turpentine, diluted vitriolic acid, muriate of iron, absorbent earths, and flour.—_White._

SUBLIMATE, _s._ Anything raised by fire in the retort; quicksilver raised in the retort.

SUCK, _s._ The act of sucking; milk given by females.

SUDATORY, _s._ Sweating.

SUDORIFIC, _s._ A medicine provoking sweat.

SUET, _s._ A hard fat, particularly that about the kidneys.

SULPHUR, _s._ Brimstone.

SULPHUROUS, _a._ Made of brimstone, having the qualities of brimstone; containing sulphur.

SUMMED, _s._ A term in falconry to describe the hawk’s condition when fully feathered, and ready to leave the mew.

SUMMER, _s._ The season in which the sun arrives at the hither solstice.