To afford time for the writer to explain this incident, the reader must vouchsafe some patience. The horse's molar teeth are miniature grindstones. To supply the wear and tear of so violent a service, the molar teeth, originally, have enormous fangs, and, as the eating surface is worn away, the fangs are thrust into the mouth by the contraction of the jaw-bones.

Caries at first pains, but at last destroys all feeling or life in the tooth; the dead organ ceases to possess any vital quality; it loses all power of self-preservation, and is a mere piece of dead matter opposed to a living agent. In consequence, it breaks away, while the opposing molar projects more forward from the absence of attrition. The healthy tooth at last bears against the unprotected gum, upon which it presses severely, and provokes the greatest agony. The animal endeavors to prevent the prominent tooth from paining the jaw by masticating entirely upon the sound side. Hunger is slowly, and perhaps never, satisfied by such imperfect comminution; the outside of the upper molars and the inside of the lower molars become slanting; the first being almost as sharp as razors, wound the membrane of the mouth and lay open the hand which is thrust into the cavity.

If the disease be still neglected and permitted to increase, the stench grows more formidable; nasal gleet appears; the discharge is copious, accompanied by a putrid odor; osseous tumors commence; the bones of the face are distorted; the eye is imprisoned, and ultimately obliterated within the socket by actual pressure; eating becomes more and more painful, until starvation wastes the body and reduces the horse to a hide-bound skeleton.

If such a case be taken early, its cure is easy and certain; the dead tooth must be extracted, and the prominent molar shortened by means of the adjusting forceps and the guarded chisel, invented by Mr. T. W. Gowing, veterinary surgeon, of Camden Town. Then the sharp edges must be lowered by the tooth-file, and if these things appear to occupy time, it is better done at two or even three operations, than unduly prolong the agony of a sick animal. This being accomplished, all is not ended; the horse's mouth must, from time to time, be again and again operated upon; nor will the creature offer much opposition to the proceeding, if only proper gentleness be observed.

Aged horses, from the contraction of the lower jaw, (which change is natural to increase of years in the equine race,) frequently have their upper molars ground to a knife-like sharpness. They wound the inside of the cheeks, cause a disinclination to eat, and provoke a dribbling of saliva. The cure is the tooth-file, which should be applied until the natural level is attained. This should be followed by the frequent use of the wash recommended for aphtha, or by the chloride of zinc lotion.

It may probably provoke a laugh among gentlemen and horsemen to read of toothache in the horse. Few, very few grooms may have witnessed or have noticed such a disease, but the fact exists; it is, indeed, a cruel reality to the animal which experiences it. The ignorance of stable men can establish nothing, for they are, as a class, equally presumptuous and ignorant; they have seen the horse for years, and yet are acquainted with neither the natural ailments nor the proper treatment of the animal. The toothache is to the creature a most agonizing disorder. We have only to look at the healthy horse, to observe how exquisitely it is clothed, how finely it is framed, to imagine how sensitive must be the body. The horse seems capable of a fear the most cowardly of mankind never conceived. So its face, though not made for expression, can denote an anguish which the human mind fortunately has no capacity to picture. The eye is often painful in its speaking. It embodies a desperation, a weariness of the world, and a prayer for death, such as few people comprehend; or the cry would rise, from the length and breadth of the land, demanding, as with one voice, the more Christian treatment of man's fellow-creature.

SCALD MOUTH.

This is an accident which occasionally occurs where grooms are too ignorant, or too thoughtless to read the direction labeled upon every bottle sent into the stable. Potent fluids are sometimes transmitted pure, in small bottles, though the custom is highly reprehensible; nor is the practice bettered because the label orders the contents to be mixed with water before the medicine is administered to the horse. Grooms are generally careless, and proverbially in a hurry; one of them enters the stable to give the drench, sees the bottle, seizes it in haste, calls the helper nearest the stable door, and, with such assistance, pours the liquid fire down the animal's throat.

The mouth is by the potent drug deprived of its lining membrane, and the stomach is lastingly injured; even if the dose be too small to occasion death, the interior of the mouth is rendered raw. Fortunate is the man who can be certain the evil there begins and extends no farther; but who can calculate the effect upon delicate, internal organs? The mouth may be healed, but who can ascertain the state of the deeper injury? Animals are treated as though their sensibilities were not affected by any medium pain; something must be visible before the groom sanctions the right in his charge to be restless. All signs and motions denoting a gnawing agony, but not expressive of overpowering anguish, are visited with chastisement.

The groom is not entirely to blame. The fault resides with his superiors, whom the servant apes. The sin rests with those who (unable to keep a stud-groom) think their duty is discharged by a daily scamper through the stable before they go to business; with those who by their manners corrupt the groom's simplicity, while by a strange costume they induce the ignorant fellow to regard the badge of his disgrace as the upholder of his pride. To the upper classes, the shortcomings of stable men cling; with the superiors, whose example should instruct, rests the real blame of the servant. With educated men abide the errors of the ignorant.

After a scalding drench, an unusual redness declares the state of the mouth; a quantity of saliva flows from the restless lips, which are constantly in motion; they are being moved perpetually up and down, and are always parting with a smack. The food, for a time, is rejected, but good gruel, if cold, is generally taken freely. Boiled roots should constitute the nourishment for two months afterward, the mouth being all the while washed with the application recommended for aphtha.

No immediate danger is to be apprehended from scald mouth. The stomach is more disposed to assume chronic than acute disease. Probably the temporary services of the animal might well be dispensed with, and much might be gained by an extra months' continuance of the prepared food. At all events, the experiment would be intended to ward off a possible evil; and, if we are to believe at all the motive, being based on goodness, the act would not be without its reward.

CHAPTER IV.

Can it create astonishment if an animal so treated exhibit that nasal affection denominated "cold?" The case is similar with hunters. They leave hot stables to join the distant meet. Game may be soon started, or "the find" may occupy hours; at last, men, horses, and hounds scamper off; the fences are cleared; the fields, though they be swampy or plowed, are crossed at the longest stride. The pace is killing while it lasts; at length, comes a check. That saves many a steed, whose breathing ability was well nigh exhausted; but every animal has to shiver till the "view holloa!" again summons the assembly to motion.

How often does my lady's "carriage stop the way?" And how long have the horses to stand in the rain before it does go? How frequently does the gig or brougham linger near the curb, while another glass to good fellowship is drained? Then, we have to reflect upon the breathing forms harnessed to hired carriages; how the street cab rests in storms! How, day or night, the horses must be exposed to all the varied seasons! Unsheltered from the sun; with no protection from the frost! Let the reader reflect upon this and say, not if it be wonderful that a few horses exhibit the affection denominated cold; but whether it is not a legitimate matter for surprise every second horse is not thus affected?

A mild cold, with care, is readily alleviated. A few mashes, a little green meat, an extra rug and a day or two of rest, commonly end the business. When the attack is more severe, the horse is dull; the coat is rough; the body is of unequal temperatures, hot in parts, in places icy cold. The membrane of the nose at first is dry and pale or leaden colored; the facial sinuses are clogged; the head aches; the appetite has fled; often tears trickle from the eyes, simple ophthalmia being no rare accompaniment to severe cold; till at length a copious defluxion falls from the nostrils without immediately improving the general appearance of the animal.

The treatment is plain. When mucous membrane is involved, all depletion must be avoided; the invalid should be comfortably and warmly housed; should have an ample bed, and the body should be plentifully clothed. Then a hair bag, half as long and half as wide again as the ordinary nose-bag, should be buckled by a broad strap on to the sick horse's head; into the bag should be previously inserted one gallon of yellow deal saw-dust; upon the saw-dust, through an opening guarded with a flap upon the side of the bag, should be emptied a kettle of boiling water, the superfluity of which may run or drain through the hair composing the bag.

The boiling water ought to be renewed every twenty minutes, as the bag should be retained upon the head for an hour each time. Should not yellow deal saw-dust be obtainable, procure some of common deal, upon which last pour one ounce of spirits of turpentine. Mix well and thoroughly before you apply the bag to the head; but should not a proper apparatus be in the stable, then it is better to forego the steaming, as the common nose-bag is far too short and too tight for safety. The cloth moreover is apt to swell and not to allow the free passage of the water. Sad accidents have ensued upon the incautious employment of the ordinary nose-bag for steaming purposes.

If the horse appear to be weak, and there is the slightest suspicion that the weight of the appliance for the time directed may tax the strength, let some substance, as a stool, a form or chair, be placed beneath the bag. The animal will require no teaching to understand the use of the intended resting-place. As the weight begins to drag, the head will be lowered, and after a very brief space the steaming apparatus will be found reposing upon its intended support.

While the membrane is dry, use the steaming-bag six times daily. When a copious stream of pus flows from the nose, its application thrice daily will be sufficient. At the same time let the food consist of grass with mashes, to regulate the bowels and subdue the attendant fever. Give no medicine; but the discharge being established, three daily feeds of crushed and scalded oats, with a few broken beans added to them, will do no harm. Likewise, should the weakness be great, a couple of pots of stout, one pot at night and the other at morning, will be beneficial. Good nursing, a loose box, fresh air, warmth, and not even exercise till the disorder abates, are also to be commended. Afterward take to full work with caution, as much debility is apt to ensue upon severe cold. It will also sometimes lead to other diseases, as those of the larynx, air-passages, and lungs. Should the symptoms deepen, the treatment must be changed; the lesser affection (cold) being swallowed up by the greater disorder, which is superadded; consequently, disregard the original ailment, taking those measures requisite to relieve the new and more important affliction.

Animals with chronic cold, or with a constant running from the nose, soon exhibit excessive weakness. Nothing taxes the strength so much as the prolonged disorder of any mucous surface.

All that ignorant people know of glanders is, that the disease is accompanied with a nasal defluxion. The more cunning in horse flesh, likewise, are aware that glanders causes the lymphatic gland within the jaw to swell, or that a glandered horse is always, as such people assert, jugged.

Now, both the discharge and the enlargement are generally present during inveterate cold. Animals of this kind are sold to the unwary as sound horses. The vendors believe the quadruped to be glandered, or to be affected with the most terrible of equine diseases; and the purchaser wants knowledge to perceive the contrary.

Let, therefore, no man who buys "a captain," (which is the slang for a horse with nasal discharge,) become alarmed, and to some member of the gang from whom it was bought, resell his bargain for a few shillings. Large sums are often made by thus disposing of a diseased animal for a high price; then, directly afterward, frightening the purchaser with a view to buying back at a cheap rate the supposed glandered horse. Always take the animal to the nearest veterinary surgeon. Have the quadruped examined; and, if really glandered, order it to be immediately destroyed. Listen to no offer; but have the order obeyed.

A gentleman once attending a sale, bought for a large price a fine black horse. No sooner had the money been paid, than a man came up and informed the purchaser of the real character of his recent acquisition, offering to take the bargain off the new owner's hands for fewer shillings than pounds had just been given. The proposal was indignantly refused. Others came, but all encountered the same answer. The terms were gradually heightened, till double the money expended was tendered. The horse, however, was destroyed; thus a gang of swindlers were deprived of a property which, they owned, had for the last year earned them an easy thousand pounds.

Every man, however, must not anticipate so favorable a proposal. The animals mostly are worthless, and would only be rebought for a very trifle; the swindlers, generally, being perfectly indifferent whether their eyes ever again behold a creature which can be easily replaced.

NASAL POLYPUS.

A polypus, when not otherwise distinguished, represents a pear-shaped body, which has little sensation, but great vascularity. It is not malignant, and its growth is generally rapid. By the increase of its weight, the polypus ultimately hangs from the spot where it grew, and becomes pendant by a sort of stalk, formed principally by the blood-vessels enveloped in the membrane which coats the tumor. Such growths are peculiar to mucous tissues, or to all the cavities of the body which communicate with the external air. With regard to the horse, polypus is mostly met with in the nostrils.

It is a disputed point how these growths are occasioned. However, no compliment is paid to the veterinary science, when it is asserted that, even to this day, no recognized plan of treatment for polypus has been laid down. Such tumors are allowed to be removed with the knife, by ligature, by traction, and by tortion; in short, as you please. The first has generally been employed after a most butcherly fashion, slicing a piece off one day, and taking a morsel the next, till by slow degrees the whole was extirpated. So barbarous an operation is only worthy of ancient farriery; the blood lost must be enormous, and the subsequent weakness of the animal must more than counterbalance any benefit which the operation could have promised. Mr. Varnell, assistant professor at the Royal Veterinary College, lately removed a growth of this kind in a much more surgical fashion. That gentleman had a knife made with an angular blade; by employing this instrument, he was enabled to excise the tumor with a single cut, inflicting little pain, but affording immediate and lasting benefit to the creature. Where it can be employed, Mr. Varnell's angular knife is to be recommended, as the quickest and most efficient means of eradication which the public possess.

Tortion is more repulsive in appearance than in reality. A pair of scissors having sharp curved claws, at the expanded ends of blunt blades, are employed. The tumor is seized by the claws, a little pressure is made, and, at the same time, the scissors are drawn slightly forward. By that means the points are driven into the substance, and a firm hold is obtained. The handles of the scissors are next fastened together with wire, or not, at the pleasure of the operator. The scissors are afterward made to revolve several times, and with each revolution they oblige the polypus to turn upon its pedicle, which motion first twists and ultimately ruptures it. The growth is thus removed; as the polypus is not very sensitive, and the operation should be soon over, small suffering is inflicted, when compared with the permanent ease which the proceeding insures.

Of the operation by traction or dragging away, no notice will be taken; it is a vulgar and a cruel affair. Ligature, however, where it can be used, is generally preferred; because the employment of it is not so sudden, and, consequently, not apparently so violent; because no blood generally follows the removal, and therefore there is no visible evidence of pain. The writer is not certain it is the least painful of the methods proposed; the relief is delayed, although the appearance and the appetite of the animal are assurances that nothing approaching to agony is inflicted.

For ligature procure a fine, hollow tube, having at one end a cover made to screw on and off; the opposite extremity must be open, and should have a cross bar attached externally, one inch from the termination. Upon the cover two holes must be bored, each large enough to admit a fine wire; to arm this instrument, which should be about eighteen inches long, procure a piece of zinc wire one yard and a half long; push this through one of the holes on the unscrewed cover and down the tube; screw on the cover; fasten the projecting end of the wire to the cross bar; return the wire through the other hole, and, passing it down the tube, leave it hanging free. Form of the wire a loop, large enough to surround the polypus; pass it gently over the head of the growth; by means of the tube, work the loop upward, tightening the wire as the size of the polypus diminishes. When the wire is round the pedicle, fix it by winding it also over the cross bar; then slowly make turns with the tube, observing the growth while so doing. When the tumor changes color or the animal exhibits pain, discontinue all further movements; release the wires from the cross bar and withdraw the tube, leaving the ends of the ligature protruding from the nostril and turned up on one side of the face.

Order the horse to be fastened to the pillar-reins that night, and to be watched while feeding. The next day, if the tumor do not feel sensibly cold and has not evidently lost the living hue, reinsert the wires into the tube, fix them again on the cross bar, and give another turn or two. If small alteration be subsequently observed, the same evening the proceeding may be repeated; but, when death appears confirmed in the tumor, twist the tube till the pedicle gives way.

The advantages possessed by this invention is, firstly, the ability of twisting a ligature tight when the growth is partly removed from view. Also, in the adoption of wire which will retain the form it is placed in, and remain unaffected by the moisture natural to the nostrils. Moreover, the tube can be made without the screwing head-piece, and answers quite as well, or even better, when solid. If made without the screwing head-piece, it can assume a flattened form, and it is somewhat easier to introduce; but the wire, in that case, must have both ends pushed through the holes down the tube.

The bleeding polypus is not met with in the horse. For that polypus which sprouts from the nasal membrane and extends to the fauces, impeding respiration and deglutition, appearing like a disease of the structure, to which it is attached by a broad base, nothing can be done. It grows fast, and in a short time renders longer life a larger misery.

The polypus which admits of removal is a smooth, moist, glistening and vascular body. It greatly impedes the breathing. These growths have been known to push out the cartilaginous division of the nostrils until the once free passage was all but obliterated. They provoke a constant discharge of pure mucus, and, on that account, the horse, thus affected, has been condemned as glandered. However, the truth may be at once recognized by closing the nostrils alternately. It is then easy to discover which cavity is affected, as a resistance is provoked by stopping the free channel, which bears no resemblance to glanders. To bring down the polypus, cough the horse, by making gentle pressure upon the topmost part of the windpipe; for, during the stages of glanders, any appearance at all resembling polypus is never present. It was usual, the instant the growth was visible, to transfer it with a tenaculum. This, however, like other barbarities, only did harm. The substance of a polypus is easily rent, and it bleeds freely. The bleeding concealed much, which, after proceedings rendered necessary, should be plainly seen. It is better, when sufficient room is not left for operation or inspection, to proceed with greater boldness, so as to ascertain the advantages likely to result from further measures. Then throw the horse, and with a probe-pointed, straight bistoury, slit up the nostril upon the outer side. That done, release the animal till all bleeding has ceased, when the endeavors may be renewed with a better prospect of success. Afterward, close the incision with a double set of sutures, (one set to the true nostril and another for the false nostril). Apply to the wound the chloride of zinc wash, and in a short time all will be healed.

Nasal polypus, nevertheless, is an affection often requiring the performance of tracheotomy, before any examination can be attempted. For this necessity, the operator must be prepared; but, as tracheotomy is required only to relieve the breathing during examination, the temporary tube invented by Mr. Gowing is, in that instance, decidedly to be recommended.

NASAL GLEET.

This terrible affliction is suppuration of the mucous membrane, lining the facial sinuses. It rarely occurs in the stable; but when it does, the cause mostly is to be traced to the projection of some molar tooth, and the disease is then generally hopeless. The pressure of the tooth has provoked irritation of the bone. The sinuses are no longer hollow spaces, but have been converted into cavities crowded with bony net-work. To cleanse them in that condition is impossible, and death is the only resort left to a humane proprietor.

Horses, when allowed a run at grass, are often taken up with the bones of the face swollen and soft. Percussion draws forth the same response as would be elicited by rapping upon a pumpkin. The animal, suddenly released from toil, has been playing in the field with its new associates. The simple creature could not comprehend the feet were fettered. The equine race always display joy with their heels, and the hoof, which unshod might lightly touch the neighbor's skull and no injury result, being armed with iron carries additional weight with the blow, and leaves behind a deadly bruise upon the facial bones. The following engraving, representing an extreme case of this kind, is a warning never to turn your animal into a field where others are grazing; but if you are obliged to starve a horse on grass, at all events choose a spot where it can be alone.

Besides the distortion, the next prominent symptom attending nasal gleet is fetor. Discharge is not always present. It is irregular in its appearance, but can generally be made to flow, by a brisk trot or by some tempting food being placed upon the ground. Stench and discharge, often coming only from one nostril, but occasionally from two, are likewise symptomatic of the same disorder.

Pus is, naturally, the blandest secretion of the body; but being confined, it corrupts, and then smells abominably. The blow, which started up the secretion, injured the bones forming facial sinuses. Those cavities open to the nostril on either side by two comparatively small flaps, slits, or valves. These are their only means of communication with the external atmosphere; and through these valves all the pus must flow. Is it surprising if such structures occasionally become clogged, till the accumulated secretion, or the increased breathing, or the position of the head, obliges the passage to give way?

The chances likely to result upon treatment are about equal, but the process is generally slow. The trephine has to be employed upon the facial sinus, and circular portions of bone have to be removed. Into the openings thus made is to be injected, by means of a pint pewter syringe, half a gallon of tepid water, or water heated to ninety-six degrees, in which half a drachm of chloride of zinc is dissolved. The chloride of zinc not only destroys the fetor, but also disposes the membrane to take on a new action.

The injection, however, only cleanses the sinuses, and the nose also becomes involved by the disease. It is usual to describe the turbinated bones, or the fragile bones situated within the nostrils, as thin osseous structures, making numerous convolutions upon themselves. They favor such an opinion when viewed in situ; but, being removed, are found to consist of ample sacs or bags, which the external layer concealed from view. These hidden spaces soon fill with pus; here it remains; the position of the head even cannot entirely dislodge it, as the head is seldom carried perpendicularly. Here the pus hardens or concretes, until by degrees the cavities are filled with a foul and solid matter.

Such a store-house of disease may thus be opened and cleansed. Mark with chalk or charcoal the spot in a line with the infra-orbital foramen, and a little anterior to the third molar tooth the positions of both may be clearly ascertained by feeling externally upon the head of the living horse. At that place cut through the skin, but no deeper. Make a T incision, only reverse the letter ⊥. Withdraw the two flaps of skin; remove by means of blunt hooks any structures that conceal the bone, upon which last, when clear, employ the trephine.

The side of the face being opened, insert through the opening a steel probe. Thrust it through the concrete pus, and strive to discover the most depending portion of the sac. To this spot, if possible, apply a hollow metallic tube, about twelve inches long. This instrument has a horn-shaped mouth at the blunt extremity, and a fine sharp steel saw at the other. The saw being fixed upon the spot indicated by the probe, and a few revolutions being given to the horn-shaped end, between the palms of the hands, a circular portion of the bony net-work which characterizes the turbinated structures is removed.

Now, so soon as this is accomplished, force through the hollow instrument last employed an elastic probe armed with a piece of linen tape. The probe, being about eighteen inches long, will, by the application of very gentle force, soon glide through the opening last made, and out of the nostril. The tape is, by traction, made to follow, and the ends being tied, a seton is established. By the daily movement of this last contrivance, the concrete matter may effectually be displaced.

This being finished, the syringe is to be daily employed; and the cure may be often expedited by the following ball, which should be given once every twenty-four hours:—

Should this appear to affect the urinary system, immediately discontinue it. In its place, half a drachm of belladonna should be rubbed down in one ounce of water, and administered every hour, till all appetite is destroyed, and the drug should be discontinued after this effect is gained. The belladonna, however, should be exhibited only every fourth day.

The lymphatic glands under the horse's jaw occasionally enlarge; but as the affection is destroyed the swelling will disappear. However, the cure may be expedited by commodious lodging and liberal food. It evidently is folly to stint the provender and expect a starved nature to vanquish disease.

HIGH-BLOWING AND WHEEZING.

These peculiarities admit of no pictorial illustration. Obviously, it is impossible to picture a sound. Both affections are known by the noises to which they give rise.

Highblowing is complained of only in saddle horses. It consists of forcing the respiration violently through the nostrils, whereby a bur-r-r-r-ing kind of noise is made. This sound children are fond of imitating, when they play "horses;" but in the animal it is unpleasant to the equestrian, because by it the nostrils are cleared, and the trousers of the rider are often soiled. Besides, fashion at present favors a quiet steed. For this habit there is no remedy, except throwing up the horse for harness purposes, in which employment the habit is not generally regarded as objectionable.

Wheezing is a thin, whistling noise, heard only during inspiration. It is provoked by some impediment to the breathing, and the cause always resides in the nasal chambers. It is astonishing how small an obstacle engenders this affection. This, like the former peculiarity, is equally incurable. It is easy to stop each nostril, and thus to tell from which the noise proceeds; yet, for its removal, the affection demands a purely experimental destruction of parts, so ample, that even veterinary science shrinks from the attempt.

However, to such chalices the life of a horse is exposed. The indulgence of a habit which adds to the animal's beauty in the eyes of the foot passenger, is regarded as objectionable in one position, while it is admired in another situation; the advent of the smallest excrescence in a large cavity can deteriorate the value of a life. A loss of value entails loss of caste. The life descends to harder work and lessened care. The first step taken, the others rapidly succeed; for it cannot be asserted that, as a general rule, the lower classes appear to advantage, when the custody of a beautiful animal is morally considered.

CHAPTER V.

There is, among horse owners, much dispute as to the proper mode of harnessing a horse. Gentility has no feeling either for itself or with any of the many lives by which it is surrounded; this vice of modern time delights in labored imposture, and is always best pleased when it is mistaken for something that it is not. Gentility favors the use of a bearing-rein in the horse's harness. The object is to keep up the head, and to give to an animal with a ewe neck the aspect of one having a lofty crest. The artifice is very transparent; it should deceive nobody save him who is foolish enough to adopt it; but it deprives the poor horse of no little of its natural power. Gentlemen's coachmen complain of the work when their horses are driven ten miles daily, although the distance may be repeatedly broken by visits and by shopping. The cabs of London can only employ the horses which gentlemen have discarded; with these last vehicles, however, no bearing-reins are adopted. The cast-off animal that previously fagged over ten miles, when reduced to the rank, has to pull loads which no genteel carriage would carry, and to travel a sufficient distance to pay horse, driver, conveyance, and proprietor. In the possibility of such a contrast is, perhaps, best exemplified the cruelty of the bearing-rein.

When the fine structure of the horse's body is regarded, and we reflect that a creature of so beautiful a frame is by man's will taken from the fields, where every bite of grass is of a different flavor—now hot and pungent by an admixture of the buttercup, then cool and bland by the marsh-mallow mingling with the morsel—where, unknown as yet to toil, such sustenance is sufficient for growth and idleness; when we consider that an animal is suddenly snatched from such a diet, every mouthful of which was endowed not only with a varied taste, but with a change of perfume; when we feebly conjecture how grateful this ever-varying savor must have rendered herbage to any being possessed of the admirable sense of smell with which the equine species are gifted, it can create but small surprise that, when taken into stables, put to exhausting labor, and day after day made to eat a stinted allowance of dry food, the sameness of the diet and the change in habit should occasionally derange the digestion. Sore throat is, however, frequently a sign of some graver disorder; the affection should, therefore, be cautiously treated as a local malady.

When it is present, the symptoms are a constant deglutition of saliva, a want of appetite, accompanied by an inability to swallow liquids. The pail being presented, the act of drinking is accomplished with evident effort; the drops are forced down by a series of jerks, which are often made more emphatic by an audible accompaniment. Notwithstanding this labor, only a portion of the fluid enters the gullet, the greater part returning by the nostrils.

So soon as this is observed, throw the horse up, for sore throat is always attended with weakness. Clothe fully, bandage the legs, place in a well-ventilated and amply littered loose box; feed upon green meat for a couple of days, at the same time always having present a pail of thick, well-made gruel, which should be regularly changed, thrice daily. Morning, noon, and night, a pottle of bruised oats, with a handful of old beans distributed among them, should be scalded, and, when blood-warm, placed in the manger.

Frequently, this is all that is required, and the disorder is well cured, which yields without medicine. Should the bowels prove obstinate, and after the second day continue constipated, a mild dose of solution of aloes should be administered.

Mix, and give.

This, with the diet previously recommended, is rarely required, as the food alone, so far as the author's experience can justify an opinion, never fails in relaxing the body. However, should the sore throat remain, dissolve half an ounce of extract of belladonna in one gallon of water. Hold up the head of the animal and put half a pint of this liquid into the mouth; allow the fluid to be retained for thirty seconds, then take away the support, and the medicine will run from the lips. Repeat this frequently, or from six to eight times during the day.

If the soreness of the throat should appear indisposed to heal, but, on the contrary, should seem inclined to spread, lose no time in resorting to the next preparation. Permanganate of potash, (prepared by Squires, chemist, of Oxford Street,) half a pint; distilled water, one gallon; half a pint to be used to cleanse the horse's mouth, in the manner just directed for diluted belladonna, six times daily, or—

Mix, and use as directed for the previous recipe.

Occasionally the disease does not spread, but, in spite of our best endeavors, it will remain stationary. Then try the brewers' stout. Give one quart morning and evening. However, see that the animal has the beer, for men are partial to that fluid, even more than horses. Should no change be remarked in forty-eight hours, blister the throat. Do this with one part of powdered cantharides soaked for a month in seven parts of olive oil, adding to the whole one part by weight of camphor. Rub this oil, when filtered through blotting paper, into the throat for ten minutes in summer, and a quarter of an hour in winter.

All the endeavors may be useless. Then cast the horse. Have ready some nitrate of silver, dissolved in distilled water—five grains of the active salt to one ounce of the fluid. Saturate in the solution a sponge four inches wide, tied on to the end of a stick eighteen inches long. Have the sponge made as dry as possible without squeezing it. Put a balling iron into the mouth. Insert the sponge through the iron, and having pushed it down to the back of the tongue, rapidly press it against the side of the cavity. Be prepared for what you are about to do, and do it quickly. The operation stops the breathing, and calls forth the resistance which is natural to impending suffocation.

The horse being released, give the following ball, in addition to the stout, twice each day:—

Powdered oak bark and treacle, a sufficiency of each to form a mass.

If none of these measures are successful, the sore throat must be the symptom only of some greater disorder, and all local remedies, in that case, must be ingulfed in the general treatment. However, it is not every measure which will cure every sore throat. In young horses, when first taken from the pure air into the contaminated atmosphere of most stables, such affections are common; but in old animals they are generally most severe. It is a usual plan to turn a horse out to grass when afflicted with obstinate sore throat: this is cruel. The animal, whose labor we enjoyed during its health, has a positive claim on us for kindness and for care when overtaken by disease. Moreover, those who laugh at the above may become serious, when they are informed that animals turned to grass for sore throat are not unfrequently taken up virulently glandered. So closely are moral duty and self-interest associated, when the operation of both is rightly considered.

COUGH.

Cough is too often caused by unhealthy lodging. Few stables are perfectly drained and ventilated; the very great majority are close with impurity. No surprise, then, need be exhibited, if the entrance to the air-passages should display disease, when an animal, so naturally cleanly, is imprisoned in the space man is too thoughtless to keep uncontaminated.

The larynx is the seat of cough, when the affection exists by itself, although the annoyance is often a symptom of some other derangement, and may then spring from laryngeal sympathy with some comparatively remote organ. It may arise from a very trivial cause, as teething; or it may be a sign attendant on the worst of disorders, as farcy and glanders. Broken wind, roaring, laryngitis, bronchitis, chronic diseases of the lungs, stomach, bowels, worms, etc. etc., all are attended by cough, which is more frequently present as a symptom than as a disease. Hot stables, coarse and dusty provender, rank bedding, and irregular work, are the general provocatives of cough, as a distinct affection.

The name is evidently derived from the noise which constitutes the chief symptom of the disorder. Cough consists in spasm of all the muscles of expiration. The air is violently expelled, and an explosive sound is the consequence. During this spasm, the soft palate is raised, and the breath is allowed to pass through the mouth as well as through the nostrils. The horse, as a rule, being able only to respire through the nostrils.