Treatment.—Lance the membrane.

Symptoms of Toothache.—Head carried on one side, or pressed against the wall; saliva dribbles from the lips; quidding or partial mastication of the food, and allowing the morsel to fall from the mouth. Appetite capricious; sometimes spirit is displayed—then the horse is equally dejected. The tooth dies; the opposing tooth grows long. The opposite teeth become very sharp, from the horse masticating only on one side. The long tooth presses upon the gum and provokes nasal gleet.

Treatment.—Chisel off projecting tooth; file down the sharp edges of the opposite teeth, and look to the mouth frequently.

TETANUS.

Causes.—Cold rain; draughts of air; too much light; wounds.

Symptoms.—The wound often dries up. The horse grows fidgety. Upon lifting up the head, "the haw" projects over the eye. The tail is raised; the ears are pricked; the head is elevated; the limbs are stiff; the body feels hard. Any excitement may call up a fearful spasm.

Treatment.—Give a double dose of purgative medicine. Place in solitude and in quiet. Put a pailful of gruel and a thin mash within easy reach of the head. Let nobody excepting the favorite groom approach the place; and allow him to enter it only once a day.

THOROUGH-PIN.

Cause.—Excessive labor.

Symptom.—A round tumor going right through the leg, and appearing anterior to the point of the hock. It is nearly always connected with bog spavin.

Treatment.—Never attack thorough-pin and bog spavin at the same time. Relieve the thorough-pin first by means of rags, cork, and an India-rubber bandage, cut so as not to press on the bog spavin. If the corks occasion constitutional symptoms, use a truss to press upon the thorough-pin, which, being destroyed, apply a perfect bandage and wetted cloths to the bog spavin. When attempting to cure bog spavin, however, continue the remedy to the thorough-pin, or the cure of one affection may reproduce the other.

THRUSH.

Cause.—Standing in filth, when it appears in the hind feet; navicular disease, when seen in contracted feet.

Symptoms.—A foul discharge running from the cleft of the frog. This decomposes the horn. The surface of the frog becomes ragged, and the interior converted into a white powder. The affection does not generally lame; but should the horse tread on a rolling stone, it may fall as though it were shot.

Treatment.—Pare away the frog till only sound horn remains, or until the flesh is exposed. Then tack on the shoe and return to a clean stall. Apply the chloride of zinc lotion—three grains to the ounce of water—to the cleft of the frog by means of some tow, wrapped round a small bit of stick. When the stench has ceased, a little liquor of lead will perfect the cure. For contracted feet pare the frog, and every morning dress once with the chloride of zinc lotion; but do not strive to stop the thrush.

TREAD.

Cause.—Fatigue and overweight.

Symptom.—In light horses it occurs toward the end of a long journey. The hind foot is not removed when the fore foot is put to the ground. The end of the fore shoe consequently tears off a portion of the coronet from the hind foot. In cart-horses, after the horse is fatigued, the load has to be taken down a steep hill; the animal, being in the shafts, rocks to and fro; the legs cross, and the calkin of one shoe wounds the coronet of the opposite hoof.

Treatment.—Bathe the sore with the chloride of zinc lotion, one grain to the ounce of water. Continue to do this thrice daily; feed liberally. A slough will take place, and the animal be well in about a month; the only danger being the after-result of a false quarter.

TUMORS.

These are so various and of such different natures, that in every case a surgeon should be consulted.

WARTS.

Cause.—Unknown.

Symptom.—There are three kinds of warts. 1st. Some are contained in a cuticular sac, and, upon this being divided, shell out. 2d. The second are cartilaginous and vascular. These grow to some size, and are rough on the surface. They are apt to ulcerate. 3d. Consists of a cuticular case, inclosing a soft granular substance.

Treatment.—When of the first kind, slit up, and squeeze them out. The second kind, excise and apply a heated iron to stop the bleeding. The third kind are better let alone.

WATER FARCY.

Cause.—Overwork and coarse feed, succeeded by periods of stagnation. It is the warning that true farcy threatens the stable.

Symptoms.—Load less and work less.

Treatment.—Improve the diet, and never allow the horse to remain a day in the stable without exercise. Saturate the swollen limb with cold water every morning, and have it afterward thoroughly hand-rubbed until it is perfectly dry. Should lameness remain after the first day, a few punctures may be made into the limb, but only through the skin. Give the following ball every morning: Iodide of iron, one drachm; powdered cantharides, two grains; powdered arsenic, one grain; Cayenne pepper, one scruple; sulphate of iron, one drachm; treacle and linseed meal, a sufficiency. Mix. The delay even of a day in treatment is attended with danger in this disease.

WIND-GALLS.

Cause.—Hard work.

Symptoms.—Small enlargements, generally upon the hind legs and below the hocks; no lameness; two wind-galls appear above the pastern, one beneath that joint; after extraordinary labor, the round swellings disappear and the course of the flexor tendons becomes puffy. Sometimes continued irritation will cause the wind-galls to greatly enlarge, and ultimately provokes their case to change into bone. During these changes the horse is very lame.

Treatment.—Fold pieces of rags; wet them; put these on the wind-galls; place on the rags pieces of cork, and over the cork lace on an India-rubber bandage. Mind this bandage is constantly worn, save when ridden or driven by the proprietor. Rest is the only alleviation for the change of structure.

WINDY COLIC.

Causes.—Gorging on green food; but more commonly impaired digestion, consequent upon severe labor and old age.

Symptoms.—Uneasiness; pendulous head; cessation of feeding. Breathing laborious; fidgets; rocking the body; enlargement of the belly; pawing. Standing in one place; sleepy eye; heavy pulse; flatulence; the abdomen greatly enlarged. Breathing very fast; pulse very feeble; blindness; the animal walks round and round till it falls and dies.

Treatment.—Three balls of sulphuret of ammonia, two drachms, with extract of gentian and powdered quassia, of each a sufficiency, may be given, one every half hour. Next, one ounce of chloride of potash, dissolved in a pint of cold water, and mingled with sulphuric ether, two ounces, should be horned down. In an hour's time, two ounces each of sulphuric ether and of laudanum; half an ounce of camphorated spirits; one drachm of carbonate of ammonia may be administered. No good effect being produced, throw up a tobacco-smoke enema. As a last resort, procure a stick of brimstone and light it. Remain in the stable while it burns, or the sulphureous fumes may become too powerful for life to inhale them. Continue this measure for two hours; then repeat the remedies previously recommended. All being fruitless, a desperate resort may be adopted. Puncture the abdomen with a trocar; but this operation can only be named here; the reader must turn to the substance of the book for its description.

WORMS

Are of four kinds: the Tænia, the Lumbrici, the Strongulus, and the Ascarides.

The Tænia mostly affect the young.

Cause.—Starving the mare when with foal, and breeding from old animals.

Symptoms.—Checked development; large head; low crest; long legs, and swollen abdomen. Appetite ravenous; body thin; coat unhealthy; breath fetid. The colt rubs its nose against a wall, or strains it violently upward; picks and bites its own hair.

Treatment.—Give spirits of turpentine. To a foal, two drachms; to a three months' old, half an ounce; six months, one ounce; one year, one ounce and a half; two years, two ounces; three years, three ounces; four years and upwards, four ounces. Procure one pound of quassia chips; pour on them three quarts of boiling water. Cause to blend with the turpentine a proportionate quantity of the quassia infusion, by means of yolks of eggs; add one scruple of powdered camphor, and give first thing in the morning. Good food is essential afterward. Subsequently give every morning, till the coat is glossy, liquor arsenicalis, from one to eight drachms; muriated tincture of iron, from one and a half to twelve drachms; extract of belladonna, from ten grains to two drachms; ale or stout, from half a pint to a quart.

The Lumbrici prey upon the old and the weakly.

Treatment.—Tartarized antimony, two drachms; common mass, a sufficiency to make one ball. Give one every morning.

The Strongulus, during life, is generally not known to be present.

The Ascarides cause great itching posteriorly, which provokes the horse to rub its hair off against the wall.

Treatment.—Try injections of train oil for one week. Then use infusion of catechu, one ounce to one quart of water. On the eighth morning, give aloes, four drachms; calomel, one drachm. Tobacco-smoke enemas are sometimes useful, and the following ointment may be placed up the rectum night and morning: Glycerin, half an ounce; spermaceti, one ounce; melt the spermaceti, and blend; when cold, add strong mercurial ointment, three drachms; powdered camphor, three drachms.

WOUNDS.

A lacerated wound is generally accompanied by contusion, but with little hemorrhage. Shock to the system is the worst of its primary effects. The danger springs from collapse. A slough may probably follow. The slough is dangerous in proportion as it is tardy. The horse may bleed to death if the body is much debilitated.

Treatment.—Attend first to the system. Give a drink composed of sulphuric ether and laudanum, of each one ounce; water, half a pint. Repeat the medicine every quarter of an hour if necessary, or till shivering has ceased and the pulse is healthy. A poultice, made of one-fourth brewer's yeast, three-fourths of any coarse meal; or a lotion, consisting of tincture of cantharides, one ounce; chloride of zinc, two drachms; water, three pints, may be employed. When the slough has fallen, apply frequently a solution of chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce of water; and regulate the food by the pulse.

An incised wound produces little shock. The danger is immediate, as the horse may bleed to death.

Treatment.—Do not move the horse. Dash the part with cold water, or direct upon the bleeding surface a current of wind from the bellows. When the bleeding has ceased and the surfaces are sticky, draw the edges together with divided sutures. When the sutures begin to drag, cut them across. After copious suppuration has been established, bathe frequently with the solution of chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce of water.

An abraded wound generally is accompanied by grit or dirt forced into the denuded surface. The pain is so great, the animal may sink from irritation.

Treatment.—Cleanse, by squeezing water from a large sponge above the wound, as was directed for broken knees, and allow suppuration to remove any grit that is fixed in the flesh. Support the body, and use the chloride of zinc lotion.

A punctured wound is dangerous, as the parts injured are liable to motion. On this account those above the stifle are very hazardous. Sinuses form from the torn fascia opposing the exit of the pus; also because the small hole in the skin generally bears no proportion to the internal damage.

Treatment.—Always enlarge the external opening to afford egress to all sloughs and pus. Regulate the food by the symptoms, and use the chloride of zinc lotion.

A contused wound, when large, causes more congealed blood than can be absorbed. This corrupts, and a slough must occur or an abscess must form. Either generates weakness, produces irritation, and may lead to fatal hemorrhage. Or sinuses may form. Wherefore, such accidents are not to be judged of hastily.

Treatment.—When the contusion is slight, rub the part with iodide of lead, one drachm of the salt to an ounce of lard. When large, divide the skin, every eighth inch, the entire length of the swelling. Bathe the injury with the chloride of zinc lotion, and support the body, as the symptoms demand liberality in the matter of food.

In all wounds, gain, if possible, a large depending orifice, and cover the denuded surfaces with a rag saturated with oil of, or in solution of, tar.

The author, having now concluded his labors, cannot forbear from repeating the advice which was given to the reader at the commencement of the present Summary—always appeal to the body of the work so soon as the first danger has subsided. Many hints are therein contained which could not be embodied in anything deserving to be entitled an abbreviation. Ampler space there enables the writer to describe certain precautions and to suggest various stratagems which, of course, would be out of place in the pages where condensation was the professed characteristic. For these reasons the reader is most earnestly recommended never to depend longer upon the contents of the Summary, than the pressure of immediate danger shall render imperative.

INDEX.