CHAPTER VI.

THE CHEST AND ITS CONTENTS--THEIR ACCIDENTS AND THEIR DISEASES.

CONGESTION IN THE FIELD.

It is a dangerous thing to trust a dumb animal to the guidance of an ignorant man; such a person is dangerous because he does not understand that certain preparation adapts vitality to particular usages. A racer may be a mysterious creature, about which he dares to think nothing, excepting that it is a horse, very beautiful and very fleet; a hunter, in his notion, is any horse running after hounds; he takes the stable favorite out for a morning canter, crosses the hunt, and immediately, with no thought of harm, joins the field. For the first few acres a very ungentlemanly person may, in a very gruff voice, request him to "hold hard and not to ride over the dogs;" but the first three fields passed, there is no need of such a caution. The horse, with that perfect abandonment of self which makes its will its master's choice, and converts the rider's pleasure into its delight, strains every nerve; its head is protruded and its legs outstretched; it struggles hard, but can make no way. Voice, whip, and spur by turns urge the animal onward, but it has been taken suddenly from its uses; the horse thinks not of that, it only seeks to gratify the being who for a time has become its ruler. To his amusement it devotes itself, and obedient to this idea, it runs, or endeavors to run, till its limbs are with difficulty lifted from the ground; it reels, it falls, and the would-be huntsman stands over a prostrate steed.

The horse has =congestion of the lungs=. Yes; but what caused it? Over-exertion, accompanied by a consequent absence of nervous energy. The sensibility of the larynx, feeling the exhaustion before the body appreciated it, inclined inward; they prevented the atmosphere from oxygenating the blood. Deficient oxygen causes the frame, spite of violent exertion, to feel clammy cold. The brain being supplied with impure blood, produces temporary insensibility. Vitality seems to be contesting with death.

Now, were a fleam, and some one who understood how to use it, at hand, venesection might do good; neither are to be found; the animal after some time rises, and with difficulty is led to shelter. Country opinions always incline to stimulants; gin and pepper is, in all rural districts, a potent horse physic. A dose is administered; the horse seems to amend; another and another jorum is poured down the animal's throat. After the third potion it is clear to all the horse is becoming worse. Bloody water is soon blown from the nostrils; partial sweats break forth; the eye assumes a gray appearance; all at once the departing life appears to rally; the animal seems to walk with a firmer step; but just as this fact has been observed, it falls, and almost without a struggle expires.

Such is a lamentable instance of the general ignorance which prevails concerning horses. Firmly as nature may have united man and horse, gentility would dissever them; it is not polite in society to speak of man's most patient companion and most faithful slave. Gentility condescends to use animals, but loves to prate only of frivolity. The education of the young, which should be directed by the conversation of the matured, is thus neglected; boys, London boys especially, regard the stable as a place to be avoided; they view horses, not as the gentlest of created beings, but as creatures it were a breach of good manners to speak of "before ladies." They learn to consider these animals and all that concerns them, as subjects to be forgotten the instant "_society_ is entered." From the ignorance thus fostered, and from the fashion which prefers to talk about trifles to conversing of those matters which constitute the facts of reality and involve the instruction of the youthful, springs that mishap which has been described as congestion of the lungs.

A noble animal is thus, by prejudice, denied the benefit which would otherwise result from social opinion. Woman, whose gentleness fits her for the companionship of the timid horse, is, as by design, kept in perfect ignorance of her lawful possession. The creature is separated even from those benefits which would result from the expression of feminine sentiment. A being that seeks protection, that with a submission amounting to a perfect denial of self, entreats for shelter and begs to serve, is handed over to the harshest order of the human race. Much more than this, it is transferred to the custody of the ignorant, who view its nature as requiring to be subdued, and think they display spirit when they treat the most fearful of living creatures as though it were a carnivorous brute bent upon ravening and destroying.

When a horse sinks in the field, bleed if possible; should the necessary means not be at hand, a vein may be punctured with a knife, and every vein in the body is then turgid with congestion. There is no difficulty of seeing where to puncture, and a pint taken at this time does more good than a gallon abstracted one hour subsequently. Then cover the body; pull off your own coat if there be any want of clothing; you caused the mischief and should not heed personal nicety when reparation is possible. Lead quickly but gently to the nearest stable; there heap hot rugs upon the body; the desire is to relieve the lungs by determining the blood to the surface; bandage the legs and cover the neck; warm the stable either with fire or by means of tubs full of boiling water. This being done, if a chemist lives in the neighborhood, procure one ounce of ether and half an once of laudanum, which dose, in rather more than half a pint of water, should be given, without any noise or bustle, every half hour. Should no chemist be near, take two tablespoonfuls of turpentine, which beat up with the yolk of an egg, and give in half a pint of water. Place a pailful of cold gruel within easy reach of the horse, and see that there is an ample bed under it. These things being done, do not leave the place before the fate of the horse is determined, which it invariably is before thirty hours have expired; for the proprietor's presence is the only surety that orders are obeyed, where horses and the uninstructed are concerned.

CONGESTION IN THE STABLE.

This affection mostly attacks debilitated or fat horses. These creatures are driven far in a four-wheeled carriage, heavily laden. One animal, of small size, has to drag an entire family. Else, the quadruped has to journey fast to avoid a shower of rain. The horse is flogged onward. A horse, whose motions are quickened by the lash, is not likely to be very closely observed. It is much more probable the speed will be blamed as laziness, than the laboring life be pitied for exhaustion. Yet, when =congestion= follows, it is proof positive that the powers of nature were overtaxed.

The wretched slave, after the distance is accomplished, is taken from the shafts and led into the stable; it is hardly tied to the manger before a sickening sensation seizes on the body. The head hangs down; the furnished rack and manger are not glanced at. This alarms the groom's prejudices. At length the man imagines it must be thirst which prevents his charge from eating. The attendant hastens for water, but on his return he finds the horse blowing; that is, panting or breathing quickly.

This symptom, which only denotes exhaustion, used to be regarded as the forerunner of inflammation of the lungs. Doubtless, it would terminate thus seriously, were nothing done to arrest the progress of the affection. The change from extreme labor to perfect rest produces a revulsion of the system. The capillaries contract and soon become in a congested condition. Not only does this state affect the lungs, but it is present all over the body. Should the pulse be now taken, the artery will be round and gorged. The beat may be either quicker or slower than most books fix the number at; but it will be very feeble and will convey no idea of vital activity. It hardly stirs, suggesting the surging of a tranquil summer sea upon a sandy shore. Partial perspirations may break forth, and the body may become wet with a fluid of no higher temperature than the skin from which it exudes. The feet are cold; the eye is fixed; the living type of obedience moves not, when commanded; hearing is lost; all natural functions appear to be arrested, except the breathing; and that being involuntary, nevertheless is evidently disordered.

If this condition be immediately attended to, it will disappear almost as quickly as it was exhibited. Take two ounces each of sulphuric ether and of laudanum; cold water, one pint. Give this drink with caution, as the animal to which it is administered is not conscious. Have patience with sickness, and the whole will be swallowed; or the fumes will be inhaled and do almost as much good as the imbibition of the fluid.

The drink being given, do not leave the stable. Wait by the side of the horse, watching the effect of the draught. If in ten minutes the horse has not perfectly recovered, or be but partially restored, let another similar portion be poured into the body. More will seldom be required; but, notwithstanding, watch for twenty minutes after the last drink, as such fits occasionally vanish and reappear.

The rack and the manger must be emptied. Gruel is all we dare at present trust within reach of an exhausted frame. Though the animal would eat, solid food must be withheld. The body should be lightly, but well clothed; and a pail of gruel should be suspended from the manger, so that a heavy head need not be raised high to partake of it.

The next day the creature, thus treated, may return to its customary food and be as well as ever; but when the animal reached home, should the groom have been in a hurry, if company should have been waiting for dinner, and the horse should be hastily turned into the stall by the only servant kept by gentility; then the congestion is unseen, and any disease may follow it. This condition used to be, as fainting in the human being once was, treated by the abstraction of blood. But to bleed a debilitated horse, is to increase the cause of the affection, which it should be the province of physic to destroy. By the stimulant, which leaves behind no inflammatory tendency; by the subtle distillation, which speedily traverses the frame, we revive the system and awaken lagging nature once more to vital activity.

When congestion is not noticed in the first instance, and has time to become confirmed, the original disorder is invariably swallowed up in some greater evil. Pneumonia and pleurisy are the favorite shapes which it assumes; but it has terminated in fatal enteritis.

BRONCHITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE AIR-PASSAGES.

This serious affection is, mostly, the consequence of man's neglect. The master rides far and fast. He dismounts at some pleasant threshold and remains long under the roof. During that time the horse stands outside, either shivering in the cold or pelted by the storm. The general treatment seems to say, that life and machinery, being equally subservient to man's will, are, in fact, the same things in man's regard. Even the wheels and bars of polished iron, however, require care or they soon become useless; the thews and sinews of a living body cannot be abused with impunity. So plain a truth should be acknowledged by something more than words. Life and functions connect men and animals. Their habits may be dissimilar and their food not alike; but, when we consider the wants of each, their liabilities and their diseases, the approach to actual sameness becomes almost startling. The man who can enjoy himself, without bestowing a serious thought upon the unfortunate steed which has carried him hither and will bear him hence, deserves to lose the life of which he is so culpably careless. Change the places of the two existences. Let the horse be rendered comfortable and the man be stationed outside. The result would be the same: the man would in that case probably suffer from bronchitis. Does intelligence require a more startling evidence of the link which binds master and servant while sojourners upon this earth?

=Bronchitis= is indeed a painful malady. Originally situated upon and confined to the membrane lining the air tubes, it has an aptitude to involve the entire contents of the thorax. Being the ailment of mucous membranes, it requires cautious treatment. A small blood-letting may induce the prostration no tonics can remove; a slight dose of aloes often starts up the purgation no astringents will check. It is agile at metastisis. It too often leaves behind the evidence of its visitation. Add to all this, that though so much to be feared, it does not announce its advent with a thundering double knock. It creeps on insidiously, and comes in so gradual a form, as if it intended to deceive the groom. The appetite, during the primary stage, is often unaffected, nay, is sometimes increased. Stable-men have a strong prejudice where feeding is concerned. The most educated of the class can imagine nothing more than a slight cold, while the corn is only partially consumed. Thus the disease, in consequence of delay, mounts into fury, before its presence is fully recognized.

Very rarely is the groom's attention excited during the approach of the disorder, or while a short cough simply bespeaks irritation; while the breathing is merely excited; while the legs are warm; while the mouth is moist, and the nasal membrane only a little deeper in hue than is positively consonant with perfect health. No! The stable-man is content while any desire for food remains. Let appetite be quite gone; let the horse be averse to move; the cough sore, but evidently suppressed and painful; the breathing quick and audible; the nasal membrane violently scarlet; the mouth hot, dry, and clammy; the legs and body of uneven temperatures--here, cold as ice--there, of a dusty heat. When danger cannot be mistaken, and hope has almost fled, then the stable-man creeps to the parlor, with "Please, sir, I wish you would step and look at the horse."

In a case of such a description, abstract no blood. Depletion is forbidden, when mucous membrane is disordered. The first thing is a large loose box. Into this is put the machine represented in the annexed engraving. It is a portable boiler, having a covering of iron wire. The steam, generated by the charcoal fire, soon renders the air of the place moist and warm. It must be kept boiling day and night. It is of more service during night than day, and it should be very gradually withdrawn.

The water, as it is exhausted in the above boiler, should be supplied with more at the full temperature. Very little fire will then keep up the steam, though, as the fumes of charcoal are decidedly unhealthy, it is always well when those fumes can, by means of a pipe, be conveyed to the outside of the building; if that be impossible, let every door and window be left open; the necessary admission of air may impoverish the steam, but the vapor is too dense to be entirely dispelled. The steam acts upon the lungs; warm, moist air being soothing and curative to the thorax affected with bronchitis. When the apparatus cannot be obtained, the large nose-bag should be frequently applied during the day.

Some scalded hay is also to be fixed under the throat by means of an eight-tailed bandage. A macintosh jacket is then laid on the floor, and the horse gently led forward till one leg rests within one armhole. The opposite leg is to be raised and put through the other opening; the cloth is next lifted up and temporarily fixed upon the animal; afterwards, have six pieces of flannel, two three yards long and the entire width of the fabric, the others half a yard long and a foot wide. Saturate three of these with cold water; having folded the long piece, apply it over the back, equally to either side; the short pieces place upon the sides of the chest; fasten the jacket over the spine. When the flannel is warm, remove it; replace it immediately with other flannels, which should be ready for this purpose. Do this continuously for at least a couple of hours, after which time the flannel may remain on; but must, on no account, be suffered to become dry. The jacket and flannel should be worn for a week subsequent to restoration.

Then prepare the following:

Burgundy pitch Half a pound. Powdered camphor Two ounces. Powdered capsicums Half a drachm.

Melt the pitch. Take the vessel which contains it off the fire; throw in the other ingredients, stir well, and apply while warm to the front of the neck, as low as the jacket will permit.

For bronchitis, consisting principally of aggraved congestion, prepare the following drink, and repeat it every half hour, until the pulse has regained its tone; then give the drinks at longer intervals, and ultimately reduce them to three during the day, which continue till restoration is perfected:--

Sulphuric ether One ounce. Laudanum One ounce. Water One pint.

Should no effect be produced after the third drink, discontinue the frequency of the ethereal medicine, and substitute the following:--

Infusion of aconite Half an ounce. Extract of belladonna (rubbed down with one ounce of water) Half a drachm.

Persevere with the above till the pulse amends, when withdraw the aconite, but keep on with the belladonna, half a drachm of which may be added to each dose of the ethereal drink; which ought to be resumed, should amendment ensue upon the administration of the aconite draught.

Let the food consist entirely of thick gruel. The appetite occasionally is unaffected during bronchitis; but, however pleasant it may be to behold a horse masticate, all solids should be withheld, especially during the acute stage. Nothing is so injurious to respiration as a loaded stomach, and a single meal (if permitted) would speedily aggravate the symptoms of this disease. When the disorder has subsided, food must be carefully introduced; the water should be, as grooms say, "chilled," or, in ordinary language, should have the chill removed. Boiled roots or crushed and scalded oats should constitute the earliest approach to natural diet. Hay should be given with extreme caution, the desire being to nourish the body, not to load the stomach. A bundle of grass each day may be allowed upon recovery being assured; and when hay is at length presented, mind that for the first month it is thoroughly damped; for nothing more retards recovery after bronchitis than the inhalation of those dusty particles with which hay too often abounds.

When the disorder is to terminate fatally, the proprietor, in the majority of instances, speedily learns the fact. The pulse continues unamended at first, but soon grows very quick and tremulous; the breathing becomes more painful even to the spectator. Every inhalation appears to shake the body; yet, so eager is the desire for air, that the haste and violence of the respiration evidently defeat their object. The nasal membrane assumes a bluish tint, a foul, bloody froth hangs about the nostrils; the eyes are dull and fixed. The cough is the most distressing symptom. It occurs in fits, and during the paroxysms the wretched animal reels about. The noise cannot now be restrained; the horse has no strength to struggle with disease. The sound which shakes the sore lungs and checks the breathing that was already short to suffocation, cannot now be suppressed. It continues until a quantity of discolored fluid is ejected from the nostrils, then a brief respite ensues; but, as time progresses, the fits grow more severe and much longer, while the strength to endure them even more rapidly decreases.

It reads sadly, that hundreds of horses have thus perished without making any impression upon either masters or men. The directions, which have been given at some length, will probably be discarded by grooms as far too troublesome; they like the man who can give physic to a horse when the animal is sick, and "wants no more bother made." The proprietors will object to the expense and the personal superintendence which is necessitated. Most gentlemen hurry through the stable as though they were intruders upon their own premises, and expected all business there transacted to be dispatched most expeditiously. The master, when in the stable, is never at home; he is generally very much abroad; the groom, if a horse dies, always knew of something which must have saved the life, only it wasn't tried; and to prove his comprehension of the malady, in answer to inquiries, he says, thereby showing the real extent of his information, "The horse caught a cold and died of an inflammation." The employer commonly follows a system which custom approves; he does not trouble himself to hire a better qualified or a less prejudiced attendant for his stables. The place and all that is in it continues the same, only it contains one life the less. The lesson is thrown away, and all this great suffering in a huge animal has produced no more than a passing regret for the pecuniary loss.

PNEUMONIA.--INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.

Under this title our grandfathers congregated all affections of the lungs. Congestion, bronchitis, pleurisy were all regarded as stages of =pneumonia=. This error, even at the present time, confuses the descriptions of most authors. True pneumonia is, consequently, now more rarely encountered; such a result accords with the knowledge gained by anatomical investigation concerning the structure of or the substance of the lung. The bronchial tubes constitute a large portion of these organs, but their disease is termed =bronchitis=. The pleura covers the lungs, but its inflammation is called =pleurisy=. The blood is affected during all disorders, but the vessels themselves are rarely implicated; involvement of the absorbents constitutes glanders and farcy. Yet, when the tubes, covering, veins, arteries, and absorbents are abstracted, there remains only cellular tissue; that structure is not apt to take on inflammation, and when it is so implicated, the inflammation of cellular tissue is regarded as =rheumatism=: consequently, there remains only a species of general disorder of all the constituents to stand for pneumonia.

Horses supposed to have perished from pneumonia, not unfrequently, when examined after death, present hydrothorax or dropsy of the chest; thus proving the pleura to have been affected. However, such vivid descriptions of pneumonia are bequeathed us by our ancestors, that we are, to a certain degree, overpowered by the authority of assertion. Too many are actually overawed by the positiveness of the dead; thus, in many instances, influenza is treated as inflammation of the lungs; dropsy of the chest, brought on by weakness, naturally ensues.

When =acute pneumonia= (as it is called, which really represents a subacute disorder of all the contents of the lungs) does occur, it is rather lingering in its development; the breathing is labored and slightly accelerated; the pulse is less increased than would be expected; the artery is full, and the beat seems driven by some hidden force through a gelatinous obstacle; it bulges out, and then all is still for an interval, after which the operation is repeated. The horse has lost all spirit, indeed, a considerable portion of its consciousness has evidently departed; it stands as though from giddiness it feared to fall; its legs are separated and strained outward to the furthest limit.

The head and ears are dejected; the coat rough; the extremities cold; the body without warmth; the visible membranes discolored, and the bowels costive; in short, the animal appears oppressed by some heavy misfortune. Feeling seems half dead; thus we are warranted in imagining that the attack has embraced all the component structures of the lungs, and that it consists in no small degree of congestion.

The general practice is to bleed, and to bleed largely; to let the current run till the animal is on the point of fainting; then, as bleeding always quickens the pulse, more blood is abstracted to lower it; this not answering, the same plan is adhered to. The vein is tapped and the liquor drawn, as though the vital fluid were table beer, and the animal an inanimate cask. At last, nature resents such repeated depletion. No sooner is the fleam struck than weakness is alarmed; then the eyes and nostrils are sponged with cold water, to procure a _little more_ blood; until, at last, the animal dies, as practitioners have said, because the horse could not bear bleeding enough!

The writer does not advise to destroy the strength, which is now essential to surmount disease. Bleed only once, then take no more than will afford ease to the sufferer; if a pint accomplishes that object, a pint is sufficient. Be guided neither by the quantity abstracted nor by the faltering of the pulse; watch the head of the animal; so soon as that is raised and the general aspect denotes a sense of life, pin up the orifice; but think twice before you bleed once, and shun the operation if it can possibly be avoided, or if the fluid has a thick and black appearance, dribbling down the neck, not spirting from the vein.

When you first behold the horse, carefully examine it; place your ear to the side; in health there is only a gentle blowing sound audible; if more than that is heard; if something within the chest seems to grate or suck; if, in addition, any noise, as of a huge pair of bellows at violent work, is detected, make up your mind to a case of pneumonia. No time is to be lost; procure a large and airy loose box; strew it thickly with tan; do this, because pneumonia has an aptitude "to fall into the feet," as grooms say, or, in other language, the disease is subject to metastisis, and the inflammation will sometimes quit the lungs to reappear in the feet; something soft and cool is most likely to prevent such a mishap; therefore, when the tan is strewn upon the floor, moisten it with a watering-pot, and have the iron shoes taken off the animal.

Place a pail of water within easy reach of the horse. Food--even gruel--is not now required. If it is winter, put a hood upon the head and throw a loose cloth over the loins and quarters; then introduce the steaming apparatus, and set it to work with all speed, leaving every window and door open, while the vapor is generated. The air being loaded with vapor, take off all clothing; but give, in the first instance, so soon as it can be procured, the following drink:--

Solution of aconite root Half an ounce. Sulphuric ether Two ounces. Extract of belladonna (rubbed down in half a pint of water) A drachm.

Repeat this dose three times in the course of the day and once during the night, keeping up the steam all the time. Watch the pulse and observe the breathing. When the first amends, the quantity of aconite may be diminished; when the last grows easier, the amount of belladonna may be decreased.

These medicines should be persevered with, increasing the ingredients or diminishing them, as the symptoms warrant. Thus, if the pulse prove very obstinate, six, or even nine doses of half an ounce of solution of aconite in a little water, without other ingredients, may be exhibited in the twenty-four hours. Should the breathing be severe, the belladonna may be augmented in a similar proportion. Until the symptoms are more than merely amended, the nourishment ought entirely to consist of hay-tea, with a little oatmeal boiled in it. When improvement decidedly takes place, the hay-tea may be made a little thicker, and a couple of pounds of boiled potatoes allowed per day. So soon as the appetite seems to be eager for food, a pint of crushed oats, thoroughly scalded, may be given six times during the day. Great care, must, however, be taken not to overload the stomach, or to permit a full meal: a single gorge is likely to provoke a return of the disorder. Little and often must be the rule at first; and the quantity may be increased while the frequency is diminished, as recovery is confirmed. Let some days elapse, however, before any hay is presented: this substance rather amuses the horse and fills out the stomach, than nourishes the body. Allow to enter the stable none of the groom's favorite drink, which consists of a handful of flour stirred into a pailful of cold water. The flour is not in solution--it soon sinks to the bottom; and the horse, which you intend should in some degree be nourished, receives nothing but water.

Order the cook to prepare the gruel, and see that she does it with as much care and cleanliness as she would exercise for any Christian. The groom's gruel is hot water, which may or may not be boiling, stirred upon a certain quantity of meal. A lady may conjecture how she would relish such a composition sent to her sick chamber; and the horse is as nice in its taste as any human being possibly can be.

Neither permit any grass to be put before an animal which is recovering from pneumonia. Grasses of all kinds contain the least possible nutriment in the largest possible bulk. The object now is to accomplish the introduction of nutriment in the most concentrated form. A distended stomach impedes the action of the diaphragm, and thereby is most injurious to the breathing.

The first marked sign of improvement, during pneumonia, is the animal lying down. When this wished-for sight is before your eyes, do not enter to disturb the prostrate horse. It has, under disease, stood for several days. Its limbs must ache and its feet feel sore: make no noise, therefore. Respect the repose of the sufferer, and be grateful that your horse, probably, has escaped from danger.

If, subsequent to recovery, the restoration to perfect health is not so rapid as you could desire, be very particular about the feeding. At the same time apply a strong blister upon the front of the throat, down to the chest and between the legs. That blister having worn itself out, apply another upon the sides of the throat and the _upper part_ of the ribs; but respect the sides of the thorax; because the animal rests on these parts, and, during recovery, rest is of more value than medicine. Nothing, therefore, should be permitted that is likely to prevent so beneficial a state from being indulged in. Abjure all purgatives--these favorite potions are too debilitating for pneumonia; forbid all mashes; nature, as she permits recovery, will, at her own time, relieve the body; adhere to the treatment which has been laid down; permit no tonics; care and good food are the best restoratives. But, above all things, be certain the health is thoroughly recovered before the horse, which has been seriously ill, is again compelled to labor.

Several states are mentioned as the consequence of pneumonia. Adhesion of the lung to the covering of the thorax is alluded to as one result of this disease; but before adhesion could take place, inflammation must have existed in the pleura, which lines the interior of the chest and envelops the lung itself; consequently, pleurisy must have been present before the pleura could be sufficiently inflamed for adhesion to ensue. The other condition is the result of congestion; the tubes and vessels alike are clogged, the lung is converted from its soft and spongy natural texture to a firm and solid substance resembling liver. But congestion is not pneumonia, neither is a solid state of the bronchial tubes by any means good evidence that pneumonia has provoked the morbid alteration.

Now, in conclusion, we must answer the important inquiry,--what is the cause of this affliction? Poverty, without dependence, inherits few disorders. Nature, in mercy, spares the peasant those visitations which are heaped upon the nobleman. To what, then, shall we attribute the ailment of a life so entirely in possession of another as that of the horse? Is it untruth to point to that which in ordinary language passes for the master's thoughtlessness? The creature is often worked, not to the point of fatigue, but is goaded to the possibility of exhaustion; fed upon the cheapest sustenance, and lodged according to the proprietor's convenience; made subservient to the whims of vanity, and forced to conform to the habits or the caprices of fashion; now, waiting patiently in the storm; then, hurried along the dusty roads through the parching heat; now, stopped during a long journey and expected hastily to consume the provender which shall support life the remainder of the distance: treatment like this will provoke more acute evils than pneumonia. The last disorder is of too dull a type to be begotten by so harsh a parent.

The horse which is pampered, or has much to eat and little work to do; the creature which for days may stagnate in the stable and then be suddenly brought forth to extraordinary exertion; the horse whose owner is capricious; the animal whose work is uncertain; the quadruped which now is idle, and now is required to make good the lost time,--is the living being prepared to exhibit any slow disorder--to consume itself with the disease which an existence, properly treated, would possess the energy to resist.

Is it strange, that a creature doomed to so much and such deep subserviency, occasionally fails, even when possessed by what men call the best of masters? Is it just reason for wonder, that flesh occasionally rebels against the treatment which human ignorance subjects it to? Were the horse not a very hardy animal, were not the life implanted as firmly as the frame is set, it would not survive a tithe part of the usage it now endures, and, notwithstanding, continues to live on and to obey.

PLEURISY.

This most painful disease, like those of the lungs generally, visits valuable horses during the years when they are most esteemed. The unbroken colt is seldom attacked, and the aged animal is, to an almost equal degree, exempt. The young steed, newly stabled, is liable; and that liability remains up to the sixth year, when it gradually subsides. It is a terrible affliction. Its anguish is localized and concentrated. It is inflammation of the fine, glistening membrane covering the lungs and lining the inside of the chest. At every inspiration and at every expiration the inflamed surfaces must move upon each other. To breathe is the primary necessity of the creature's life. It cannot exist and refuse to inflate the lungs; yet is existence purchased at a price worth many years of happiness. The inflamed surfaces cannot remain quiet; yet, to render the condition of motion the more acute, inflammation stops the secretion, which, during health, smoothed and lubricated the passage of the membranes. During disease, the pleura is swollen, rough, and dry; it grates or scratches as one surface is, by the necessity to breathe, dragged over the other.

Membranes are sensitive in disease in proportion to the fineness of their structure, and to their insensibility during health. The pleura belongs to what are termed serous membranes. These line closed cavities; as the chest, the abdomen, and the joints. Of the existence of none of these are we conscious while they are free from disease; but, let the inflammation set in, and it would be difficult to decide which of them is the most painful. Fortunately, however, =pleurisy=, when concentrated or singly present, terminates generally by the second day.

The symptoms, therefore, are quickly developed. The violence on their first appearance has been so great, that an attack of =pleurisy= has been mistaken for a fit of spasmodic colic. A little care will guard against so fatal an error. The pulse, in colic, is always natural at the commencement, and the fits, when they first occur, are invariably of short duration. In pleurisy, the vessel _strikes_ the fingers; the blow is strong, and the artery is thin; the pain is continuous; the agony never remits or ceases; the horse never feeds; the body is hot, and indicates the fire within; the feet are icy cold; the muscles are frequently corrugated in patches, and partial perspirations break forth upon the surface; a cough is often, not invariably, present; it is always suppressed and dry; it suggests no notion that the intent is to clear the throat; the inclination to cough, from the larynx sympathizing with the lungs, is great; the feeling cannot be entirely mastered,--but the horse is fearful of indulging an impulse, which would violently shake the inflamed chest. The ear, placed against the ribs, detects a grating sound, and the respiratory murmur is less clear than usual. Pressure made on the free interspaces between the ribs sometimes deprives the animal almost of consciousness; it shrinks, and were the torture continued, it would fall. At other times anguish maddens even timidity,--the foot is lifted or the teeth are displayed, to repel the tormentor. When left alone, the head is frequently turned toward the side, with a piteous stare of wonder and inquiry. Altogether the animal is, as it were, inspirited by the disorder.

The fore foot is scarcely ever quiet; it constantly paws, which action, in the horse, always expresses impatience or pain. The breathing, of course, is peculiar; a full inspiration the animal dare not take. Before inhalation is half completed the ribs fly backward. However, the backward action has hardly been accomplished before anguish once more compels a change; thus the breathing, to a looker-on, appears short, jerking, quick, and always imperfect.

The treatment must be active, as it is likely to be short. At the first outbreak, abstract enough blood to ease the horse, but take no more; place the sufferer in a cool, loose box; put woolen bandages upon all the legs, but leave the body unclothed; give, every quarter of an hour, a scruple of tincture of aconite in a wineglass of warm water. Feel the pulse before each dose; when that has softened, discontinue the aconite; every second hour then administer one ounce of sulphuric ether and of tincture of opium in a tumbler of cold water, to dispel any congestion that may lurk about the pleura, and also to lend smoothness or fullness to the pulse.

Pursue these measures for the first day and night. On no account be tempted to bleed a second time, for fear of that weakness which generates hydrothorax. When the pulse and pain are amended, should the cough remain, introduce the steaming apparatus twice described under the headings of the two previous articles. The bowels are generally costive; be not alarmed; with the departure of the disorder they will relax. Place lukewarm water within the easy reach of the horse; but before the symptoms abate, introduce nothing of a more stimulating nature. When the disorder lessens, hay-tea may be allowed; as improvement increases, the diet may be gradually augmented after the manner described, when considering the treatment of pneumonia. Such care is essential, because any violent disorder in a confined part of the body has a tendency to involve other structures, and the danger of this increases as the inflammation is removed from the surface.

The tranquilizing of the respiration, the softness of the pulse and the return of the appetite will announce the departure of pleurisy. When these longed-for indications are remarked, blister the throat and chest; should any seeds of the malady appear to be not entirely removed, repeat the blister to the throat and chest. Should the bowels not be relieved, throw up copious enemas of blood-warm gruel; nothing more must be attempted. Aloes or salts are poisons during pleurisy; wait patiently, and in time the establishment of health will restore all the natural functions, or if they are very confined, a bundle or two of cut grass may be presented with the usual food.

A yellow, transparent discharge from the nostrils, occasionally streaked with blood, and more or less otherwise discolored; a horrible anxiety of countenance, which seems to appeal mutely to every human being the saddened eye rests upon; quickened breathing, a more rapid but a sinking pulse, and a leaden state of the nasal membranes declare the probability of a fatal termination. Pleurisy, however, mostly ends in hydrothorax, for the character of which the reader is referred to the succeeding pages.

Now comes the sad inquiry, what is the cause of pleurisy? All kinds of things may excite it; but those things which lead to so much suffering in an inoffensive animal, are under the control of man. Over-exertion, being driven or ridden far and fast, the spirit being stimulated, and the energy promoted by potent drinks; for men will give the contents of the public-house to the horse when a wager is at stake, and will lash, while the limbs can move, to win any pitiful bet,--these circumstances not unfrequently provoke pleurisy. Injuries received externally not unseldom start up internal inflammation. Hurts calculated to lead to so serious an evil, together with broken ribs, will not be surprising to those who have seen the unseemly instruments which man will, in his rage, seize upon to strike the animal with. Colds, aggravated by change of temperature, as waiting long in the rain and being flurried home afterward; inattention in feeding, thus generating a plethora, is apt to disorder any internal organ, and many other such like causes will generate the disease.

And what right has man to inflict so much agony upon any life intrusted to his care? What right has humanity to complain of tyranny in its superiors, when the human race can neglect and entail such anguish upon the beings beneath them? The greed of gain or the pride of winning are the first motives assigned as the promoters of this terrible affliction; next come the gratifications of passion; then follows carelessness for another's welfare, etc. Which of these several causes is worth the torture of a living body? such torture, too, as the rack cannot equal, and human malice is happily forbidden to rival!

A little self-restraint instilled by a better plan of education, a little more humanity enforced by the teachers of religion, to instruct that man should not view himself as the owner of the earth which he temporarily inhabits; that man should not consider himself the proprietor of the lives which share the globe with him; that man should be actuated by genuine CHRISTIAN LOVE toward all animated nature, feeling kindly for the lives akin to his own, and acknowledging, as fellow-sojourners, the creatures by which he is surrounded,--then, how much affliction might be eradicated from that which wickedness alone renders a "vale of tears!"

HYDROTHORAX.

This is the consequence of the latter stage of pleurisy; or rather, to speak with caution, we fear it is often the result of the severe treatment adopted to dispel that malady.

Man leaves his property, which is very ill of pleurisy over night, hopeless that the animal can survive till morning. On returning, however, to the stable early on the following day, to his surprise he beholds the horse actually looking better. The pain has evidently abated, if not altogether departed; the eye is more cheerful; the manner more encouraging. Having observed this, attention rests upon the flanks. The motion of these parts is greatly increased. They are now forcibly brought into action. The suspicion is awakened. The ear is applied to the chest. Near the breast bone, or low down, all is very quiet. A little higher up nothing can be heard; but rather past the middle of the ribs the sound of breathing is once more detected. Again and again is the experiment repeated, until the disappointed proprietor is forced to believe that which is against his hope.

Still clinging to chance, after conviction has gained possession of his mind, there is another trial he will make to render despair a certainty. He seeks some man--any one will do; and having found a loiterer, he returns with him to the stable. He places this individual upon one side of the horse, and tells the man to slap the side of the animal with the open palm, when the word "now" is spoken. This being arranged, the master goes to the opposite side. He puts his ear to the place where the silence ceased. Having assured himself the spot he has chosen is correct, he pronounces the monosyllable "now." Directly afterward a dull sound is heard, and a metallic ring or splashing noise is soon afterward audible.

All now is confirmed, yet, "to make assurance doubly sure," the owner tries to take the pulse at the jaw. There is none to be felt! The hand is then placed near the chest, upon the left side and over the region of the heart. The sensation of a throb, coming through water, is perceptible. The last requirement is confirmed. The horse has =dropsy of the chest=, and the termination of the disorder is all but certain.

The first thing to be done, in these cases, is to draw off the liquid before it soddens the pleura and further distresses the already labored breathing. The manner of performing this operation is very simple, and the operation itself remarkably safe. A spot near the inferior margin of the chest being selected, a small portion of skin, between the eighth and ninth ribs, is pulled forward, and then a narrow slit with a sharp knife is made upon the place which the skin originally covered. A trocar, armed with a stilet, is then inserted into the opening, and so much force applied as suffices to propel it onward. The moment all resistance ceases, the trocar is within the cavity of the thorax. The stilet is then withdrawn, and the water usually flows forth.

There is in this operation no danger of piercing the lung. The trocar must be driven upward and onward, very far and very forcibly, to induce such an effect. The lung is protected from all lawful violence by the water, on the top of which it floats.

There is, however, a dispute concerning how much of the fluid should be extracted. It is a good rule to take all you can get, or all the condition of the horse will permit to be abstracted. Do not commence the operation with any determinate quantity in your mind. Take all, if the horse will suffer so much to be withdrawn but if the animal, after the loss of a quart, shows signs of approaching faintness, withdraw the trocar, let the skin fly back, and wait a more favorable opportunity for the next attempt.

In an hour or two the trial can be repeated. Make a new opening (for never risk exciting irritation in the original wound, by again thrusting the trocar through it.) There are but few precautions to be observed during the performance of tapping the chest. It is usual to teach, that the posterior border of the ribs is to be avoided, because this portion of the bones is grooved for the reception of the artery. Anatomy, however, shows that such vessels are amply protected by the grooves in which they travel.

There is also some selection to be made in the trocar which shall be employed. If the tube be of too great a size and permits the fluid to gush quickly out, nature may sink under the sudden change induced: the water, consequently, ought to be very gradually abstracted. For this purpose, the instrument cannot well be too small. The most diminutive of those made for human practice will be quite large enough, so that the bulk of liquid within the chest may be insensibly removed, and the horse be scarcely aware of the change. Those trocars, however, which are made for the human practitioner will not be long enough; therefore one must be procured longer, but of the like bore.

Sometimes, after the trocar is properly inserted, no fluid will pour forth: the operation is then all but hopeless. It must have been so long delayed that various substances have been secreted. These cover the interior of the chest. They obstruct the mouth of the cannula and prevent the liquid issuing by the tube.

It is customary, in these cases, to employ a whalebone probe. This is inserted up the trocar, and then moved about in different directions. The intention is to break down the layer of pus or lymph lining the thorax, and to allow the water to leave the cavity. But this is almost needless, as the author does not recollect a single case of this description which ultimately survived.

It is also advisable to draw off the fluid from both sides at the same time, so there may be no pressure upon the delicate divisions of the chest, and upon the important vessels within them. But happily the fluid is, in the first instance, generally confined to one side only.

Always pull a piece of skin either backward or forward, before the incision is made through the integument. The reason for doing this is, because, when the trocar is removed, the skin may resume its proper place, and act as a valve, keeping out the atmosphere from the cavity; for external air, getting into the interior of the chest, is proved to be most injurious to life.

There is to be tendered but one last admonition even this has been in a great measure anticipated by the previous observations. The animal must not be left during the operation. Whatever time may be consumed by the withdrawal of the liquid, the operator must remain a patient spectator of the slow abstraction; for if the horse should be left, syncope may come on during such absence, and the animal, on the person's return, be found prostrate upon the ground. On the first sign of weakness, the cannula should be at once removed; for, should it be suffered to remain, regardless of this caution, the horse may even die through sudden collapse.

The treatment, after the withdrawal of the fluid, is entirely changed; pleurisy has now departed, and weakness is left behind. The most nourishing but carefully-prepared food must be given; boiled oats and beans may be allowed in any quantity which the animal will consume, while the following ball should be administered, night and morning:--

Iodide of iron One drachm. Strychnia Half a grain. Sulphate of zinc Half a drachm. Extract of gentian and powdered quassia Of each a sufficiency.

That which will denote a fatal termination is restlessness; neighing; partial sweats; swellings under the region of the chest, and a distressed breathing, which nothing can relieve. The death struggle is as short as the disease has been painful.

DISEASE OF THE HEART.

This affection is characterized by various names in scientific books, as carditis, pericarditis, hydrops pericardii, inflammation of the pericardium, etc. All such conditions in the horse were discovered by examinations instituted after death, when, unfortunately, all opportunity of observing the symptoms had ceased. Veterinary science cannot distinguish one state from another, while life exists. Probably this deficiency may be attributed to the inutility of such discrimination. =Disease of the heart= in horses is incurable. In man, who can strictly conform to his physician's orders; avoid excitement; abstain from exertion; eat only such a quantity of such a food, prepared after such a manner; feed at such an hour and rest at such a time; who can live by rule;--in man, the diseases of the heart are only to be delayed, not driven from their certain issues.

Practically, therefore, so the heart be diseased, it is of small import what shape the disorder may assume. The death is always sudden; it is likely to occur when the horse is journeying at its topmost speed; when accident generally follows. Consequently, it is perhaps wiser to take the life, thus afflicted and thus dangerous. The horse may appear blooming, may even be skittish; yet, the existence shall at any moment be cut short. Auscultation affords the surest means of detection. Place the ear close to the left side and lower part of the chest; if any unusual sound be audible, conclude the heart to be diseased.

The signs visible, externally, are sometimes sufficiently emphatic to admit of no doubt. The eye is expressive of constant anguish; the countenance is haggard; the pulse is feeble and irregular, but the heart throbs; its throbs are visible, and frequently they are to be seen as plainly on the right side as on the left. The beat is occasionally so violent as to shake the body. The carotid artery can be felt to pulsate in the neck. The regurgitation, within the jugular vein, is nearly always excessive,--it often reaches almost to the jaw. It takes place by jerks, which ascend high and higher, each becoming less and more weak, as it mounts upward.

An attempt to represent this has been hazarded in the illustration. It is, however, impossible to truthfully depict action; and the reader will comprehend the jerks, in nature, do not occur all at the same period; but the first subsides before the second can be exhibited.

The appetite is sometimes ravenous; more often it is fastidious. The breathing is not accelerated, excepting during the existence of pain; lameness is occasionally witnessed in one fore leg; dropsical swellings and abdominal pains have been observed. The animal, when progressing, will suddenly stop, tremble, and appear about to fall; as suddenly, it will recover and proceed upon the journey. Noises, expressive of acute anguish, are, under the impulse of the moment, occasionally uttered. Sometimes the horse cannot be made to move, and it is always averse to turn in the stall. Often it is seen to yawn; but more frequently has been known to heave long and deep-drawn sighs. No ascertained sign, however, announces the climax of the disorder to be near at hand. Death is always unexpected, and, therefore, is a surprise.

The cause of heart disease is unknown. It may, however, be surmised from the fact that it is most common in gentlemen's stables, and is all but engrossed by the animals which have for years been subjected to the abuses therein practiced. It is incurable; and all physic is thrown away upon this disorder.