civilised and uncivilised, has naturally led scientific and professional
individuals to devote much anxious consideration to the physiology of
the animal, and to the determination of the means of healing the
diseases which horse-flesh "is heir to." Buffon placed the horse next to
man in the order of creation; and certainly if the anatomical structure
of the equine species be alone regarded, an argument is provided in
favor of the consecration of thought and intelligence to the
establishment of curative remedies for its disorders. But the service
which the noble animal has rendered in all ages and countries where the
breed is known--his docility, instinct, patience, and courage, have
entitled him to the advantages of human intelligence upon the high
ground of gratitude; and, accordingly, for many years past, the
veterinary art has been pursued with remarkable zeal and earnestness;
the loftiest minds not conceiving the study and practice thereof below
their attention. If, however, the attainment of perfection in the
faculty of curing the bodily ailments of man is a work of tardy
progress, how much slower must be the advancement of a science of
posterior introduction? It was but in the last century that the
circulation of the blood was discovered, and vaccination introduced; it
is only within the last six or seven years that the vast utility of
hydropathy has come to be appreciated. There is now, however, less
excuse for dilatory improvement in veterinary practice than there was
when the alleviation of human suffering was in its infancy. The
physiology and pathology of the quadruped being understood, the value of
the immediate adoption of the remedies applicable to man is at once
determinable by anatomical analogy. Hence the introduction of new
systems of treatment has been almost simultaneous, and in very many
instances the results have been correspondingly fortunate. Hydropathy
is a very remarkable case in point, and the following pages will
illustrate its value.
Priessnitz's precepts recommend themselves as much to the veterinary
surgeon as to the medical practitioner; the success of his treatment of
the diseased animal being, perhaps, even more easy and certain than of
man.
To understand this it will suffice to compare the habits and mode of
living of each. A further investigation will account for the general
health of untamed animals, and the host of maladies that result from
civilisation. On one side all is nature, on the other all is artificial.
As the treatment of the horse or cow at Gräfenberg is not of very
frequent occurrence, Priessnitz has not laid down any positive rules for
the manipulation; that must therefore depend upon the ingenuity,
observation, and experience, of the practitioner.
If, for instance, a horse or cow is attacked with fever, cholic, etc.,
reference should be made to the treatment of man affected with such
complaints. All that has been said on the subject of drugs, the lancet,
cold ablutions, and the importance of the skin applies equally to all
animals.
How can we expect to cure horses with poisons?
How get them into condition, by depriving them of their blood?
A gentleman of high standing in society, and well known in the sporting
world, having, some years since, derived great advantage from the
Water-cure, determined on trying its effects upon animals, by becoming
his own veterinary surgeon; the consequence is, that for five or six
years he has not spent one shilling upon drugs of any kind. On being
applied to for his opinion as to the effect of the treatment upon
horses, he favored the author with a letter of which the following is an
extract:
"With respect to the treatment of horses, my groom can give no
information, excepting indeed, that he can verify the good effect of the
treatment insisted upon by myself; and such is his prejudice (exactly
similar to that of the Medical Profession) that he would, I am sure,
revert to his former practices if he dared. But I can most safely affirm
that the effect of the Hydro-therapeutic Treatment of Horses, is most
wonderful. I have, with coach horses and hacks, say forty horses. I
never allow of any bleeding or physic. When the hunters are to be
prepared for the season, two or three of a day are whisped over with
cold water, a linen cloth of fifteen or sixteen yards in length, dipped
in cold water and well wrung out, is then lapped round from their heads
to their tails, covered over with rugs, and bound pretty close by
surcingles: thus they remain for an hour or so, when they are again
rubbed over with cold water, followed by rubbing with dry cloth or
whisps quite dry, and then sent out to exercise for twenty-five minutes,
or half an hour. This treatment is continued twice or thrice a week, for
_at least_ half a dozen times; and I'll venture to say that nobody's
horses can look, or go better; and they never ail. I will just relate
one fact. I bought a horse for Mrs. ---- seven or eight years ago, a most
excellent lady's horse, but he coughed so badly (always) three or four
years since, that we thought she would be obliged to give him up, he has
been treated as above for two years; I rode him a gallop a few days ago,
when he had not a symptom of cough. Many dealers have been through my
stable:--Smart, Elmore, etc. etc., and they have all adopted my plan of
bandaging the legs of their horses, which I do for two days after a
day's work; and as Elmore said last spring, they looked 'as if they were
going to begin a season instead of ending one,' so clear were their
legs.
"If a new horse (which is often the case) comes down by railroad, he
generally gets a sore throat and cold, this, I need not tell you, is
soon got rid of, as above."--_May 4, 1848._
The following extract is from a letter to the author--written by a
gentleman whose health has been re-established by the Water-cure; who,
during the last forty years, has been the possessor of hundreds of
horses, and is said to be one of the best judges of a horse in England.
"I will not defer answering your interesting letter, although I know not
that I can write anything to be of much use to you. The manner in which
I have treated my horses for the last thirty years is as follows:--If it
is in my power I always bring a horse in cool, my groom first puts a
common watering bridle on, takes one girth off, and slackens the other,
the reason why I do not remove the saddle immediately is, because the
back becomes tender; the horse is then taken into the pond, the boy
holding up his own legs, the higher the water gets towards the back the
better; that is, let the animal go as deep into water as he can, not to
swim; this takes two or three minutes, then two men take scrapers, and
with these press out the dripping water, after this, with straw whisps,
the animal is washed for about ten minutes, he is then covered up with
two blankets, and his legs bandaged; the ears are now well rubbed and
pulled until dry: this is all I do to a horse. He does not break out
into cold perspirations during the night, and next morning he is
perfectly clean. By putting your hands under the blankets when he is
done up for the night, you will find a genial warmth pervading the whole
body. Blood horses, however fatigued, are usually very sensitive to the
brush and whisp, consequently cleaning tires them still more, which
causes them almost always to break out into cold sweats. The ventilation
which ought to be at the top of the stable, must be good, otherwise the
system works ill. Owing to the unusual good health that I have had in my
stable, I was led to think most seriously of applying water in a similar
way to the human subject, so that after reading your book, I became at
once a confirmed Hydropathist. Many people will say, my system was that
pursued in the post-horse stables; but the contrary is the fact. The
post horse was washed, and his heels clipped close, and left to dry
without friction, evaporation was great, grease and other maladies
attacked the animal. I know a coach master who saved £400 per annum by
giving up washing upon this old plan. You have now got the result of my
experience. I have had fewer roarers than most men for the number of
horses in my possession, in fact, only two, one of these went so, when
lent and out of my stable. The loss in valuable horses from roaring is
enormous. I think a friend of mine lost £700 in one season from roarers,
I have the confidence to think that had he pursued the Water-system all
his horses would have been saved. Be assured, water is as applicable to
the animal as the human subject--fever is the bane of the one as much as
the other, and water is the antidote. Why are cart-horses so much
healthier than higher fed horses? simply because the former live much
more after nature than the other. A cart-horse goes to a pond and drinks
what he likes, not so with the blood horse, he must only have a certain
quantity, and this at stated periods; this I conceive to be wrong, and
have in consequence for the last six years always kept buckets of water
in the horses' boxes, so that they might drink when they liked. My
friends have often said, 'But you do not allow them thus to drink when
going to hunt?' 'Certainly' was my reply: if the animal always has
access to water, he never distends his stomach, and by constantly
sipping, fever is kept down. We do all we can to encourage fever, and
then have recourse to strong drastics and bleeding! Constant water cools
the animal, and the gentle sweats, which the blankets produce, operate
as safety valves."--_January 5, 1848._
When in Ireland, visiting the far-famed dairy farm of Mr. Jefferies, in
the neighbourhood of Cork, I was informed by the bailiff, that out of
every seven cows attacked with an epidemic which raged at that time, on
an average five had died, and that the loss on that estate had not been
less than 2000_l_. On my suggesting hydropathic treatment, the bailiff
said that some time ago a traveller by that means had cured him of
rheumatism; this determined him on trying it upon the cows: success
crowned his efforts; instead of losing five out of seven, he saved seven
out of nine; this treatment, however, at once so novel and so
troublesome, he found extremely difficult to prosecute, servants could
not be induced to use the necessary friction, or endure the toil which a
number of sick animals entail: this, together with the discouragement
and ridicule thrown upon his proceedings by the veterinary surgeon,
caused him to desist. The following is a letter which I subsequently
read from the bailiff--
"Dear Sir--I am most anxious to communicate with you as to the efficacy
of the cold-water cure, when applied to cattle affected with the late
epidemic.
"About six months ago, I had it tried on nine head of horned cattle;
seven out of the nine recovered, and are now doing well. I feel quite
confident that, if the cure be generally [Transcriber's note: originally
'genenerally'] known, and properly applied, much may be done in the
recovering of diseased cattle.
"I am, Dear Sir, your obedient servant,
THOMAS B. MARTIN.
_July 14, 1843._["]
It is possible that the omission of any reference to the mortality under
the old treatment, as stated verbally to me, may have arisen from
motives of delicacy towards those who recommended a perseverance in that
treatment.
It would be easy to multiply instances of the effect of the application
of the cold-water cure, but as the limits to which the author intends to
confine himself, at present preclude their accumulation, he must be
content with those proofs of its efficacy already cited, and proceed to
the subject of _treatment_.
An opinion is held by many inexperienced persons that disease in a horse
is a perpetual disqualification; that the physical evil is irradicable,
destroying the animal's title to a future warranty, and rendering him
only fit for the paddock or the knacker's yard. Such notions are as
great an outrage upon the usefulness of veterinarianism as they are
contradictory to all experience. The late Sir Astley Cooper, one of the
most eminent surgeons that ever dignified the profession by his talents,
was said to have taken a peculiar pleasure in purchasing horses which
their owners had condemned, and applying himself to the cure of such
maladies as they might be afflicted with, then putting them into
condition and selling them. He never, for many years before his demise,
gave more than seven pounds for a horse, and has been known to sell them
afterwards for considerable sums. When the horse is well-bred, and his
wind is unimpaired, however reduced he may be, and suffering from
enlarged joints and tender feet, he is still susceptible of cure; and no
system is so conducive to this end as the hydropathic process. Indeed,
the writer of these pages is quite satisfied that an Establishment
devoted entirely to the invigoration of worn-down animals, and the
complete cure of the diseased, would demonstrate the utility of
hydropathy, and prove a most lucrative undertaking.
Without further preamble we proceed to details.
_Ventilation._--The introduction of fresh air, day and night, into
stables, is of primary importance. Stables should be lofty, and
ventilated from the top.
Many years ago, Mr. Horne, the coach-proprietor of Charing Cross, lost
nearly half his horses from glanders. He called in a new veterinary
surgeon, who instantly broke most of the windows in the close fœtid
stable. "If," said he, "the stable is cold, cover the horses better,
but let them have fresh air." By this means the stable was rendered
wholesome, and the horses that were afterwards put into it continued
healthy. All horses would be the better for standing in water
occasionally. All hunting establishments should have a box with a clay
floor, into which water could be introduced, so that a horse might have
a foot bath every day, especially when the feet are hard and dry.
_Food and Exercise._--The arguments made use of against highly nutritive
food, and the necessity for exposure to cold and exercise for man apply
with equal cogency to animals.
Mr. Newman, the postmaster in Regent-street, has no racks in his stable;
but his horses, at stated periods, eat chaff and oats mixed together: he
gives them no hay. This method of feeding horses is found economical and
healthy. A friend of mine feeds all his farm horses as he does his oxen
and pigs, upon Indian corn, oil cake, chaff, and bruised beans boiled up
together. He never gives them any oats, and no horses in the kingdom
look in finer condition.
_Sudorific Process._--This is the same for horses as for men; and is
often sufficient to effect a cure, as the greatest part of the diseases
of horses proceed from suppressed perspiration. In a general way
packing-sheets and consequent ablutions will effect all that may be
necessary to cure a horse or a cow of an acute attack, but instances as
in man, may occur, when sweating would be desirable.
To produce perspiration in a horse the same objection to the use of
hot-air or vapour baths, exists as in the treatment or man; but as the
animal's skin and nervous system is less excitable, it does not apply to
the same extent.
To sweat a horse, that is to bring out of his system a certain amount of
caloric. Throw many pails of water over him, let his body be rubbed with
wet whisps for from five to twenty minutes, and then rubbed dry. Next
envelope him from head to foot in blankets, and over them throw a
Macintosh cover. This might be made to be put on with very little
trouble. After the horse has perspired, for an hour or two he must have
a cold bath or undergo the process of water being thrown over him, of
being wet, whisped, and dried as before. And the whole should be
renewed a second time during the day. Or varied by the packing sheet.
_External use of Cold Water._--Friction with coarse wet cloths or
whisps, packing-sheets, sweating, entire-baths, hip-baths, foot-baths,
douche-baths, and bandages, constitute all the external treatment
requisite for a horse. Friction by rubbing the body of the animal for
some hours with coarse cloths, and whisps of wetted straw, is an
operation of great efficacy in bringing out stagnant humours,
reanimating half paralysed limbs, and in strengthening the joints. The
douche, where no other can be had, is applied by means of a fire-engine.
The baths have the property of giving a tone to the skin and the nerves.
The bandages for the horse are the same as those used for man; they are
of two sorts, heating and cooling.
_Internal use of Cold Water._--There are two ways of applying cold water
internally, viz.: drinks and injections into the cavities; but ablutions
long continued and often repeated form the most important part of the
treatment.
_The Strangles._--This disease is cured by the wet sheet packing, or the
sudorific process, cold-ablution bandages and exercise.
It is much better, by either of these processes, to draw the humours to
the skin, which they undoubtedly will, than to throw them on the lungs,
whence they escape by the nostrils, a means of evacuation chosen by
nature. The natural course being impeded, open the pores of the
cutaneous organs, and the running at the nostrils will cease.
_Foundering of horses._--Friction, the wet-sheet or sudorific process,
the douche and foot-baths, are here brought into requisition.
_The Staggers._--Bleeding procures a temporary relief, but does not
remove the cause of this complaint, which arises from a stoppage of
perspiration, and consequent inertness of the skin. The humours which
ought to be eliminated by perspiration mix with and thicken the blood;
this causes a general stagnation which frequently affects the brain.
This, it is conceived, must be a solution of this malady, because in
the beginning one single friction, powerfully applied, affords immediate
relief.
In severe cases, the animal should be subjected to the sweating process,
and cold ablution. The animal's head should be wetted every hour with
cold water, and green food prescribed as a diet. The douche in these
cases is of the greatest utility.
_Weakness of the Limbs, and Sprains._--These affections are generally
successfully treated by constant friction with cold water. This rubbing
subdues the heat; bandages should be continually worn. The weakness of
the hips and loins soon disappears under this treatment; the douche in
these cases is highly beneficial.
_Broken Knees._--Let the part be carefully washed, then bandages applied
_above_, and _below_, and _upon_ the part affected, and kept continually
wet as long as inflammation continues. After which, use wet bandages,
covered with dry ones, until the part is healed.
_External Inflammation and Wounds._--After having well cleaned the sore,
it should be covered with a heating-bandage; and if the inflammation is
severe, and the heat great, the bandage should be frequently renewed.
The animal should take a bath, but without wetting the wound.
External inflammation proceeds from two causes; first, the tightness of
the saddle, which wounds the flesh; secondly, from the blows which the
horse receives. As soon as you perceive that the horse has been hurt by
the saddle, take it off, and having rubbed him well dry, place upon the
wound a heating-bandage, firmly tied on, and let it be frequently
renewed; but always before renewing the bandage, clean the part affected
with cold water; the parts near the wound must be treated in the same
manner. This bandage and friction are useful in cases of throat
obstructions; the bandage must be changed as often as it becomes hot.
Before it becomes quite dry, it should be renewed, taking care each time
to rub well the parts affected, which renders them, when exposed, less
sensitive. This gives elasticity to the wound.
_Tender Feet._--All horses should stand upon clay, bricks, or stones;
not upon straw, as it heats the feet too much. For corns or tender feet,
foot-baths for an hour or two, two or three times a day are resorted to;
and bandages should be worn from the fetlock to the knee-joints, to draw
the heat from the feet. A friend of the author's, travelling on the
Continent, tried this on a mare which became lame: it succeeded
admirably.
_Cholic._--Apply one or two clysters of cold water; wet the body, and
rub the animal well for an hour with wet whisps, and then put round the
body a sheet wetted and doubled several times, covered with a dry
blanket. If the first operation is not sufficient, resort to the packing
process, and afterwards the rubbing. This system persevered in, the
cholic is sure to give way.
_Lock-Jaw._--Friction, the douche, and perspiration, are the remedies
resorted to. During the intervals of their application, cold bandages
should be applied.
The irritation of the skin counteracts the lock-jaw. The efficiency of
cold water in this complaint has been known in England for years. An
article, some time ago, appeared in the Chelmsford paper, stating that
the possessor of a valuable horse, which had been seized with lock-jaw,
after trying all other means in vain, threw from the loft, upon the
animal, a hogshead or more of water, and then had him covered up in
blankets. This brought on perspiration, and a cure was the result. An
acquaintance of the author's, in Gloucester[s]hire, who treated a horse
in a similar way, was equally successful.
_Fever and Inflammation._--For the treatment of all fevers and
inflammations the reader is referred to the method prescribed for human
beings in similar cases.
For a horse in a high state of inflammation, Priessnitz prescribed his
being put into a river for five minutes, then taken out, rubbed dry, for
five minutes, then put again into the water and again rubbed, a process
renewed until the inflammation had completely subsided. Sometimes this
is effected in a short time; at others, it requires constant application
for seven or eight hours. Perseverance in this treatment is certain of
effecting a cure.
In an ordinary case of fever, resort to the wet-sheet packing; if
necessary, change the sheet often, then administer a cold bath or
affusion; repeat the operation twice a-day.
In all cases of inflammation or fever, if the body is confined, it is
necessary to resort to clysters.
_Want of appetite._--If frictions with wisps of straw upon a wet surface
repeated three times a day do not produce appetite, the wet-sheet
packing followed by ablutions and bandages must be resorted to.
_To refresh and invigorate a horse._--Let him be well rubbed with coarse
wet cloths or whisps of hay for an hour or two twice a day, then walked
about until dry: a foot bath twice a-day for an hour each time, and the
loins and legs bandaged.
If the skin of the animal is dry and contracted, use the packing sheet
twice a day followed by cold-bath, or throw several pails of water over
the body, use friction until the skin is dry, then bandage round the
body.
If horses are allowed to be out at grass, they ought, nevertheless, to
undergo the operations. With certain exceptions it would be better to
keep horses up and send them out to exercise at stated times.
After every operation animals ought to be led about a little.
_Murrain amongst cattle._--On the first symptom of the disease, such as
the coat starting, the animal is to be subjected to the treatment until
shivering is produced, and until shivering has ceased, or at least
greatly decreased.
This will require, generally, one, two, or three hours. The animal
should stand in a cold bath, that is, a pond or river, and water must be
continually thrown over the whole body.
During the whole operation, the body and legs of the animal must be well
rubbed with the hand, or with a coarse cloth or whisp (that is, whilst
in the bath).
It will require two men to do this properly. Should the water be too
deep for the men and sufficiently deep to cover the back, the animal
must remain five minutes in the water, be then taken out and well rubbed
for five minutes, and so continued till the shivering described above is
produced.
Should shivering _not_ be produced the case is hopeless.
On coming out of the bath, rub the animal for five minutes, then give
him half an hour's walking exercise, with a warm rug as a covering.
The bath is to be repeated twice a-day. After exercise a large piece of
coarse cloth wetted with cold water is to be placed over the body and
chest, this wet linen is to be covered with a dry one.
As soon as this bandage becomes dry, it must be re-wetted, but before
replacing it, rub the beast well for at least five minutes.
This bandage is to be continued night and day and frequently changed.
Administer two clysters a day, each to consist of a quart of cold water.