THE CHEST AND ITS CONTENTS--THEIR ACCIDENTS AND THEIR DISEASES.
CONGESTION IN THE FIELD.
[Illustration: A HORSE PROSTRATE FROM BEING OVERRIDDEN.]
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.
[Illustration: CONGESTION IN THE STABLE.]
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.
[Illustration: STEAMING APPARATUS FOR HORSES WITH BRONCHITIS.]
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.
[Illustration: EIGHT-TAILED BANDAGE FOR RETAINING ANY SUBSTANCE AGAINST
THE THROAT OF A HORSE.]
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.
[Illustration: A HORSE DRESSED FOR BRONCHITIS.]
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.
[Illustration: THE COUGH OF INCURABLE BRONCHITIS.]
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.
[Illustration: THE COMMENCEMENT OF PNEUMONIA.]
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.
[Illustration: THE POSITION ASSUMED BY THE HORSE DURING AN AGGRAVATED
ATTACK OF PNEUMONIA.]
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.
[Illustration: A STEAMING APPARATUS.]
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.
[Illustration: A MUCH-WISHED FOR SIGHT DURING DISEASE OF THE LUNGS.]
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.
[Illustration:
ADHESION 1. THE PLEURA PULMONALIS UNITED BY DISEASE TO THE PLEURA
COSTALIS.
_a a._ The pleura pulmonalis, or the natural covering of the lung.
_b b._ The pleura costalis, or the lining membrane of the chest.
_c._ The false adhesion, fixing the lung and preventing its full
expansion.
_d._ The divided surface of the lung.
]
[Illustration:
HEPATIZATION 2. OR THE LUNG BY DISEASE CONVERTED INTO A SUBSTANCE
RESEMBLING LIVER.
]
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.
[Illustration: A HORSE SUFFERING UNDER PLEURISY.]
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.
[Illustration: A HORSE DYING OF HYDROTHORAX.]
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.
[Illustration: MAKING THE PRIMARY INCISION FOR TAPPING THE CHEST.]
[Illustration: A TROCAR WITH THE STILET UPON IT.]
[Illustration: REMOVING THE FLUID IN HYDROTHORAX.]
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.
[Illustration: DISEASE OF THE HEART IN THE HORSE.]
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.