THE SKIN--ITS ACCIDENTS AND ITS DISEASES.
MANGE.
This troublesome disease, which is the itch of the stable, generally
preys upon the poorly nurtured, the aged or the debilitated. Neglect is
the almost necessary associate of poverty; loss of pride attends loss
of means, for seldom can the spirit of man brave the frowns of fortune.
The want of emulation is always seen most emphatically without the doors
of the home; the garden denotes the failure of industry, and the stable
languishes under an absence of activity. The grooming is avoided; the
horse's food is proportioned to the master's means, and is not given at
regular hours; coarse diet and a filthy abode generate that weakness which
will assuredly breed =mange=.
[Illustration: SYMPTOMS OF MANGINESS WHEN CAUGHT IN THE FIELD.]
The disease, once developed, is highly contagious; all horses standing
near the one affected, all that may touch it, or the shafts to which it
was harnessed, or anything that has been in contact with the contaminated
body, are inoculated. The very robust, to be sure, may escape; but this
circumstance is to be regarded as the most stringent test of actual
health rather than as the declaration of that state which the majority of
mankind are pleased to term perfect condition. The animal which escapes
must be of so sound a body as to afford no nutriment to the disorder which
preys upon debility. Probably not one horse in ten thousand could resist
so searching a test; the trial, however, after all, would be no more than
a negative proof; and it is to be much regretted that science, up to
the present time, has not discovered any means by which the presence of
established health can be demonstrated.
Mange depends upon the presence of an insect which is classed with
spiders, though to the uninitiated it looks, under the microscope, far
more like a deformed crab. A representation of this parasite, very
highly magnified, is here given, from Dr. Erasmus Wilson's paper upon
the subject; and the reader may indulge his ingenuity by discovering its
likeness to the spider.
[Illustration: THE MANGE INSECT.]
The parasites are, when attentively searched for, to be recognized by the
naked eye. Any man, by scratching the roots of the hair upon the mane of
a mangy horse, may loosen a portion of scurf; let this scurf be received
or cast upon a sheet of white paper. The paper then should be subjected
to a strong light; the glare of the noonday sun is to be preferred,
as warmth greatly influences the activity of the parasites. Numerous
very small shining points may thus be seen moving about the mass in all
directions. Those points are the insects, and, considering the easy means
we now possess of demonstrating their existence, it seems astonishing
that veterinary science was so long before it recognized the true source
of the contagion. Even at the last moment, the sight was quickened by
the research of a human physician, Dr. Erasmus Wilson; but after that
gentleman soon followed Mr. Ernes, veterinarian, of Dockhead.
Mange would be far less general than it is, did not the convenience or
the prejudice of mankind predispose them to favor a "run at grass." The
horse there placed is all at once taken from a stimulating diet, while,
the groom being relieved of his charge, foulness accumulates upon the
coat. The animal, instead of standing still and feeding upon nourishing
provender, has to travel far and to distend the stomach with a watery
substance before the cravings of hunger can be appeased and satiety
impress the creature with a consciousness that existence has gathered a
sufficient support. The quadruped while at grass is necessitated to be
eating the major portion of both day and night; little leisure is left
from the cravings of appetite for rest or for repose. No comfortable bed
is placed beneath the jaded limbs. There may be an open shed under which
all the inhabitants of the field are free to shelter themselves from the
storms of autumn and from the colds of early morning. That building is,
however, generally taken possession of by horned cattle, or by the victor
of the steeds, and none but favorites are allowed to share the comfort of
the tyrant.
It is assuredly true that the horse, in its primitive state, must have
galloped over the plains free from human care and without a roof to harbor
it. In a similar state man also must once have existed. The early Britons
are described as walking about in painted costume, and as living on acorns
and wild berries. Which of her Britannic Majesty's present subjects would
like for six weeks in every year to return to the habits of our ancestors?
The horse is even more artificial than man himself. It proves nothing,
therefore, that the creature has existed upon the plain; any more than the
possibility of rearing human beings apart from civilization can establish
that the latter mode is beneficial to the body's development. Man has lost
the desire for a wild existence. Then, why is the horse expected to be
benefited by a return to the so-called natural state, although securely
fenced from that freedom and extent of choice which primitive nature would
have afforded?
Horses, when huddled together, often commit fearful injuries upon their
companions. The creatures are unused to the society into which they are
forced, and awkwardness is apt to be rude. Any want of manners in the
heels of a horse is a serious business. But, to put upon one side so
weighty an argument against the grass field, as foreign to the present
subject,--all sorts of animals are there congregated. Some are turned out
"to regain condition;" some to become "fresh upon the legs;" and some
to live cheaply till their services are required. Others are allowed "a
run," after some virulent disorder; and others merely to afford time
for the eradication of obstinate disease. The pony, the cart-horse, the
thorough-bred, and the roadster,--all are crowded together. All sizes and
conditions meet as at a common table. Is it very wonderful, or much out of
the scope of ordinary probability, if one of the creatures so exposed, so
fed, and so tended, should engender mange? A few years back, the children
kept at Yorkshire schools were much exposed to a similar affection. Those
babes, however, had not been more accustomed to cleanliness than the
horse, nor were they exposed to half the neglect which the animal at grass
is obliged to endure. Is it then surprising that the lower creature should
breed a disease like to that which afflicts the human being? Let mange
appear in one, and the rest are prepared by exposure and unwholesome food
to imbibe the disorder; the contagion rapidly spreads; posts and rails
are loosened or overthrown by horses rubbing against them; or, should
such things be wanting, constant irritation instructs instinct, and the
miserable animals scrub one against the other in the open space.
Besides the grass field, foul lodging or filth and poor provender will
breed mange in the horse, as the same causes operating upon the human
subject will engender a like disorder. It is sad to think that with the
horse, as years increase, ailments accumulate and strength departs;
it is sad to think, that as the animal's life becomes more hard to
sustain, its food is always the less nourishing and its labor the more
exhausting; that as care is necessary, so is neglect encountered; that
the wretched quadruped at length is sold to some costermonger, who, when
he makes the purchase, nicely calculates how many days of labor the
emaciated life is capable of before it is turned over to the knacker.
Many a nobleman must have looked upon an animal in the last stage of a
weary life which was formerly the companion of his pleasures. The rusty,
lean, and worn-out carcass most probably was not recognized, or how must
reflection have whispered that power was not given to turn away existence
into wretchedness after willfulness had rendered the body less capable of
sustaining suffering!
In the vast majority of cases this disease first appears in the mane,
among the hairs of which a quantity of loose, dry scurf is perceptible.
Before such a sign, however, is to be recognized, excessive itchiness
is exhibited. The disease, once established, soon extends to the head,
to the neck, to the withers, to the sides, to the loins, and to the
quarters; only in very exceptional cases are the legs exposed to its
attacks. As the disorder proceeds, the hair falls off, leaving vacant
places upon the body; these have a peculiar, dry, acrid, and irritable
appearance; they suggest that portions of the body have been scorched with
quick-lime, so irregular, patched, and scabby are the parts just referred
to. The integument in these places greatly thickens and is no longer soft
and pliable as a lady's glove, but becomes corrugated or thrown into
well-defined folds.
The hairs, however, are not all removed; a few and only a few remain;
these cling with exceeding tenacity to the surfaces which their fellows
have quitted. The force required to pull out one of these remaining hairs
is somewhat surprising, and the hair being extracted, the roots, upon
close examination, will be discovered enlarged and far more vascular than
is usual.
The above are the broad and more obvious indications of mange. However,
should the diseased locality be more minutely inspected, a number of small
pimples are discerned; these elevations are clustered upon different
spots. As they mature, the point of each contains a very slight quantity
of gelatinous fluid; the vesicles ultimately burst; the contents exude and
become dry through the absorption of the atmosphere, forming incrustations
upon the surface. Add to this, the irritation provokes the diseased animal
to scrub itself against any irregular, projecting surface which may be
at hand. Raw places, frequently of magnitude, are often occasioned by
the friction so rudely applied; from this source another set of crusts
spring up. The places which are denuded, therefore, may present a very
varied aspect, but still the parched appearance of the scurfy and dry skin
affords the best external evidence of the presence of mange.
[Illustration: A MANGY PIECE OF SKIN.]
[Illustration: THE HEAD OF AN OLD, MANGY WHITE HORSE.]
An animal, which from being gray in youth has grown white with age, still
retains to its death the signs of its youthful color upon its skin. The
integument is dark, although the hair may have lost the last vestige of
its original hue; the checkered appearance established by mange gives to
the white horse a particularly ragged and dejected aspect.
[Illustration: THE TEST FOR MANGE.]
Unfortunately, man is not, at the present moment, sufficiently enlightened
to recognize the symptoms which indicate an approaching attack of
mange; but the animal energetically announces the malady so soon as the
contamination is established. The disorder being confirmed, its existence
is readily ascertained; the fingers have only to be inserted among the
roots of the mane, and the part titillated with the nails. The horse thus
treated will stretch forth the head and neck, will compose its features
into an expression of excessive pleasure, and will continue motionless so
long as the hand remains upon the crest.
This sign, being witnessed, may be esteemed conclusive. Let such an
animal be placed in the sunshine for an hour, should the weather permit;
otherwise allow it to stand in the warmest house which is unoccupied; then
have the coat thoroughly dressed or whisked, until all the loose scurf
and incrustations are removed; afterward have the following ointment well
rubbed in. Mind the man who whisks the horse goes near no other animal for
eight and forty hours. See that every portion of the skin, from the tip of
the nose to the point of the tail, is anointed; mark that no crevice or
irregularity escapes, from the bottom of the coronet to the apex of the
ears.
_Liniment for Mange._
Animal glycerin Four parts.
Creosote Half a part.
Oil of turpentine One part.
Oil of juniper Half a part.
Mix all together, shake well, and use.
It is impossible to state accurately how much will be required to dress
the horse--the disease, the coat, and the size vary so materially in
different animals. About one pint and a half is, however, the general
quantity employed for one application; every portion of the coat must be
saturated, and in that condition the animal should be left till two clear
days have expired. Thus, supposing the liniment to be used upon a Monday,
it is left on until the following Thursday. Then have the surface washed
with soft soap and warm water; dry the body and allow the animal to stand
in a warm spot as before, so that every portion of moisture may evaporate.
Afterward employ the whisk as has been previously directed; subsequently
repeat the anointing. That operation must be again gone through for the
third and last time after two clear days have once more expired, when the
disease ought to be cured; all the insects should have perished, and the
skin have been benefited by the stimulation to which it has been subjected.
There are many preparations employed to cure mange. All have some repute,
though all (save that already given) are attended with some danger. The
author, however, will recite two, at the same time warning the reader that
neither of those which follow can be sincerely recommended.
_Ointment for Mange._
Strong mercurial ointment Three ounces.
Soft soap One pound and a half.
Mix.
_Wash for Mange._
Corrosive sublimate One drachm.
Spirits of wine One ounce.
Tobacco (made into an infusion) One ounce.
Hot water (which is to be poured into the tobacco) One quart.
Dissolve the corrosive sublimate in the spirits of wine. Soak the
tobacco in the boiling water. When cold, mix.
The question has been much debated, "whether man can derive the itch from
an animal?" Imaginary proofs favoring the possibility are every now and
then confidently promulgated; but all doubts seem to have been put to
rest by the investigations conducted by M. Bourguignon. That gentleman
demonstrated the unfitness of one creature to support the parasite
generated by another. Horses may be violently irritated by insects bred
by fowls; but, remove the birds, the supply ceases, and the irritation
dies away. So an individual handling mangy horses may get some of the
acari upon him and cause vexatious itching; but let the man keep away from
the contaminated stable and the sensation is quickly lost. The repeated
and repeated renewal of the pest gives a seeming warranty to the popular
belief. Certain disorders assuredly are communicable throughout every
species of life, as though to prove to the stubbornness of mankind that
all nature is akin. Such are hydrophobia in the dog, and glanders in
the horse; were all affections, however, equally interchangeable, the
inhabitants of this world would speedily become one breathing mass of
disease.
PRURIGO.
This affection may lead many a gentleman to imagine his horse has caught
the mange; the leading symptom in each disorder is the same. Excessive
irritability of the skin is, in =prurigo=, generally exhibited during
the spring of the year; the animal will rub itself with a fury which
often removes portions of the coat, but which never exposes the dry and
corrugated patches that characterize genuine mange.
[Illustration: THE PROOF OF PRURIGO.]
It is very annoying to behold the horse, when in the stable, scrubbing its
neck upon the division to the stall; it is provoking to witness the animal
leave its corn for the same employment. It excites the fancy of the
master and conjures up the dread of every cleanly horse proprietor; the
symptom is, however, easily eradicated. It only denotes heat of body; let
a portion of the hay be abstracted and a couple of bundles of cut grass be
allowed each day; let a mash be given night and morning, until the bowels
freely respond, and, without further measures, the annoyance usually
ceases.
The irritation may not, however, subside so quickly as shall be desired;
to hasten its departure, either of the annexed may be applied externally:
_Washes for Prurigo._
Animal glycerin One part.
Simple water or rose-water Two parts.
Mix.
Sulphuric acid One part.
Water Ten parts.
Mix.
Creosote One part.
Oil Eight parts.
Mix.
Either of these probably will answer, but the writer strongly recommends
the first; at the same time it is well to try and reach the source of the
disease, or to improve the blood. For this purpose the following drink
should be given every night after the last meal:--
_Drink for Prurigo._
Liquor arsenicalis One ounce.
Tincture of muriate of iron One ounce and a half.
Water One quart.
Mix, and give half a pint for a dose.
A week after the irritation has subsided, all medicine may be withdrawn;
but it is always well to see that a sufficiency of exercise be given, and
to allow an extra feed of oats with a pot of porter every day. These last
will restore the strength; for every form of disease is to be regarded as
the most emphatic testimony of weakness.
RING-WORM.
This affection at first is simply a disfigurement; but, if neglected, it
becomes a troublesome disorder. In the primary instance, the hair falls
off in patches, leaving visible a scurfy skin; some say there are pimples
under the scurf, but the author must confess he was unable to discern
them in those cases which he examined. The scurfy particles, however, are
somewhat large, and resemble, in no little degree, the scales which form
the bulk of bran. At first, these pieces or flakes of cuticle cover the
entire surface; but ultimately they congregate upon the circumference,
which, by their numbers, is made to assume a raised appearance. Should
the =ring-worm= not be attended to, the outward margin at last begins to
ulcerate, becoming the more difficult to eradicate in proportion to the
time of its continuance and the extent of the ulceration.
[Illustration: A REPRESENTATION OF A RING-WORM ON A HORSE.]
For the cure of ring-worm, a rigid attention to cleanliness is imperative;
the parts should, at all events, be washed night and morning with mild
soap, and hot, soft water; to the places--these having been rendered
perfectly dry--one of the following preparations must be applied and laid
rather thickly upon the denuded spot:--
_Ointments for Ring-worm._
Animal glycerin One ounce.
Spermaceti One ounce.
Iodide of lead Two drachms.
Rub the glycerin and spermaceti together, and, when thoroughly
incorporated, add the iodide of lead, or use any of the appended:--
Nitrate of lead Two drachms.
Simple ointment Two ounces.
Mix.
Oil of tar Half an ounce.
Simple cerate One ounce.
Mix.
Creosote Two drachms.
Simple cerate One ounce.
Mix.
Oil of juniper One drachm.
Simple cerate One ounce.
Mix.
Besides the above, which are not one-half of the remedies in general use,
some parties are loud in the commendation of a saturated solution of a
sulphate of iron. Others are strongly prejudiced in favor of pure liquor
plumbi; another class protest they employ nothing but compound alum water,
which invariably and speedily affords relief. There are people who regard
a strong infusion of tobacco as a charm for ring-worm; while another set
will hear of nothing for that purpose but hellebore ointment.
The author, however, has always employed the first preparation, which, in
his hand, has never occasioned disappointment. It has, however, always
been aided by the following drink, administered every night. No medicine
could possibly act better than those here proposed; they seem to go
directly to the skin; but as the state of the integument may be accepted
as evidence with regard to the condition of the entire body, a most
powerful alterative may not, in this instance, be out of place.
_Drink for Ring-worm._
Liquor arsenicalis One ounce.
Tincture of the muriate of iron One ounce and a half.
Water One quart.
Mix, and give every night half a pint for a dose.
This drink must be continued till every vestige of the disease has
disappeared. However, it frequently happens that, after the central bare
spot has been cured, ulceration remains about the circumference. Treat
this with either of the following lotions:--
Permanganate of potash Half an ounce.
Water Three ounces.
Mix, and smear gently over the part six times daily. Or--
Chloride of zinc Two scruples.
Water One pint.
Mix.
The ulcers should be punctually moistened with the last preparation at
the periods already stated, and the horse should be thrown up during the
treatment. The food should be of the best, and a month ought to be allowed
for the cure.
SURFEIT.
Old practitioners generally entertain very false opinions concerning the
importance of =surfeit=; they being inclined to employ more stringent
measures for its eradication than the real nature of the disease demands.
The affection is rather annoying than dangerous; it makes its appearance
suddenly, and seldom involves the entire body. It is a sudden rash or a
quantity of heat spots bursting out upon the skin; the spots are round,
blunt, and slightly elevated; they resemble the blotches which, during
hot weather, often appear upon the human countenance, only the horse's
integument being so much more active than the skin of man, the outward
affection in the animal may be regarded as proportionably the more severe.
Frequently, during the eruption, the pulse is tranquil, the spirit and
appetite being good; when such is the case, the lumps mostly disappear in
a few hours. Still the food should be looked to; about eight pounds of
hay should be abstracted and two bundles of cut grass allowed per day;
the corn should be kept up or even increased, and a handful of sound, old
beans, which have been properly crushed, should be mingled with each feed.
The stable should be airy, and the following drink should be given every
day for a month:--
Liquor arsenicalis One ounce.
Tincture of the muriate of iron One ounce and a half.
Water One quart.
Mix, and give once daily, one pint for a dose.
[Illustration: A HORSE AFFECTED WITH SURFEIT.]
Should the horse be young, and have been neglected throughout the winter,
a surfeit sometimes appears which is of a different character. The lumps
do not disappear; but an exudation escapes from the center of each. The
constitution is involved in this form of disease, and the malady, if
unattended to, is apt to settle upon the lungs.
Should the attack assume the last appearance, on no account take the
animal out, not even for exercise. Attend to the perfect cleanliness of
the bed, and keep every door and window in the stable open during the
day. Feed as directed for the previous form of surfeit, and allow two or
three bran mashes whenever the bowels appear constipated; but do not give
mashes after the constipation is removed. The desire is not to weaken the
system by purgation, but simply to relieve the body; administer the drink
recommended above only, giving one night and morning, but, should the
appetite suffer, reduce the quantity, or withhold all medicine.
Clothe warmly; bandage the legs, and remove from the stall to a loose
box; if the pulse suddenly sink, two pots of stout may be given at
different times during the day. If the appetite is bad, good gruel instead
of water must be constantly in the manger; cut carrots, if presented a
few at a time, will generally be accepted. However, with all such care,
a very speedy termination is not to be expected; nature is casting forth
something imbibed during a winter of neglect, and no art can quicken the
process. The shortest cases of this kind mostly last a fortnight, during
which time the treatment, and the entire treatment, merely consists in
good nursing and in liberally supporting the body.
HIDE-BOUND.
Strictly speaking, the condition signified by the above term is not so
much a disease as the consequence of exposure, of poor provender, and of
neglect. Thrust a horse which has been accustomed to wholesome food and a
warm stable, thrust such an animal into a straw yard and leave it there
through the long and severe winter of this climate. Let the creature which
has been used to have its wants attended to and its desires watched--let
it for months exist upon a stinted quantity of such hay as the farmer
cannot sell--let it go for days without liquid, and at night be driven by
the horns of bullocks to lie among the snow or to shiver in the rain--let
an animal so nurtured be forced to brave such vicissitudes, and in the
spring the belly will be down, and the harsh, unyielding skin will
everywhere adhere close to the substance which it covers.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE CAUSES OF HIDE-BOUND IN HORSES.]
Straw yards are abominations into which no feeling man should thrust the
horse he prizes; and no feeling man should long possess a horse without
esteeming it. The docility is so complete, the obedience so entire, and
the intelligence so acute, that it is hard to suppose a mortal possessing
a creature thus endowed, without something more than a sheer regard for
property growing up between the master and the servant.
Every amiable sentiment is appealed to by the absolute trustfulness of
the quadruped. It appears to give itself, without reservation, to the
man who becomes its proprietor. Though gregarious in its nature, yet, at
the owner's will, it lives alone. It eats according to human pleasure,
and it even grows to love the imprisonment under which it is doomed to
exist. Cruelty cannot interfere with its content. Brutality may maim its
body and wear out its life; but as its death approaches, it faces the
knacker with the same trustfulness which induced it, when in its prime, to
yield up every attribute of existence to gain the torture and abuse of an
ungrateful world.
Liberal food, clean lodging, soft bed, healthy exercise, and good grooming
compose the only medicine imperative for the cure of =hide-bound=. The
relief, however, may be hastened by the daily administration of two of
those tonics and alterative drinks which act so directly upon the skin:--
_Drink for Hide-bound._
Liquor arsenicalis Half an ounce.
Tincture of muriate of iron One ounce.
Water One pint.
Mix, and give as a dose.
LICE.
These parasites are the consequences natural to the states of filth and
debility. Insects, which have been mistaken for =lice=, sometimes infest
large stables and almost drive the horses frantic with the itching they
provoke. Application after application, intended to destroy lice, is made
use of. Every recognized source of contagion is exterminated. Internal as
well as external medicine is resorted to, but every endeavor to remove the
annoyance signally fails. The horses are fat and feed upon the best; yet
they seem to breed the parasites peculiar to the opposite condition. At
last some one points to the hen-roost which leans against the stable. That
building is pulled down, and with it the nuisance disappears.
It may to the reader appear strange that the application which killed lice
did not destroy the insects derived from fowls. Those parasites which
were upon the horse doubtless perished; but the dressing being washed off,
the pests came again and again, being supplied by the source of all the
mischief.
Insects breathe through the skin. On that account, a hornet is more
readily destroyed by dropping a little oil upon the exterior surface than
by immersing the head in hydrocyanic acid. All, therefore, requisite for
the removal of lice is smearing the entire body with any cheap oil or
grease. But when the skin is washed, the business is not ended. Generally
the horse troubled with lice is hide-bound, and may have various other
affections derived from the debility which generated the parasites.
LARVA IN THE SKIN.
These annoyances are another result of turning an animal out to grass, the
fly whence the trouble is derived never entering the stable. The insect
rejoices in the freedom of the field; and man, by turning out his horse,
finds the creature a fitting spot for the deposit of its eggs. This body
is carefully deposited upon the back or sides. The warmth of the animal
hatches the =larva=; no sooner is it endowed with life, than, with the
instinct of its kind, it burrows into the skin. The integument of the
horse, however thick it may appear, is soon pierced by the active little
maggot, which, thus snugly housed, retains its lodging until the following
spring. During the winter, a small lump denotes its abiding place; but as
the second summer progresses, a tolerably large abscess is instituted.
[Illustration:
_a._ The winter residence of the larva.
_b._ The summer abode of the insect.
_c._ A drop of tallow falling upon the center of the abscess.
]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF THE LARVA ABSCESS, DIVIDED THROUGH ITS CENTER.
1. The spot through which the larva breathes.
2. The insect, full size.
3. The mouth of the parasite.
4. The pus surrounding the body, and upon which
the creature lives.
5. The sac of the abscess.
6. The fat of the horse, or the adipose tissue much
swollen and inflamed.
7. The skin.
8. The superficial muscle.
9. The muscle proper to the body of the animal.
]
The interior of the abscess, of course, contains pus. Upon that secretion
the insect lives and thrives. The inhabitant of a warm abode, and
surrounded by its food, the early period of life no doubt is, for an
inactive being, highly agreeable. A division of one of these abscesses,
when fully matured, is represented in the second cut, page 233.
Such swellings are acutely painful and prove the sources of much
annoyance. They mostly occur upon the back. The saddle cannot be laid on
one of these tumors; and, as the spine supports much of the harness, the
proprietor has the vexation of beholding his horse rendered perfectly
useless; for suffering, should service be exacted, occasions the creature
to excite displeasure; besides, the pranks thus provoked by torture often
continue after the cause has been removed.
Upon the summit of the abscess appears a black spot. It is at this spot
the larva receives the air needed to support a dormant existence. This
fact being known to certain people, the knowledge is employed to destroy
the parasite. The swelling is first slightly greased, and then a drop of
melted tallow is let fall upon the breathing place. By such means the
insect is effectually suffocated, and assuredly dies.
Others employ a darning needle as the instrument of execution. The needle
is thrust through the central spot into the swelling for three-eighths
of an inch. The larva thereby is pierced, and the life certainly is
sacrificed.
Neither method occasions at the time the slightest pain to the horse,
and therefore may by some persons be esteemed highly humane; but, in
the end, such plans of cure prove the very reverse. In either case the
maggot dies; but the business, unfortunately, is only rendered worse
by killing the source of evil. The dead body putrefies. A foreign and
corrupting substance beneath the skin may enlarge the abscess to many
times its original dimensions. After all, the system has to cast forth the
irritating matter, and for that purpose inflammation, with its attendant
fever, must be perfected. Much suffering is thus occasioned, and the
proprietor is, for several weeks, forced to forego the employment of a
valuable servant.
The safest, the surest, and the quickest manner of eradicating these
parasites is, with the point of a lancet, slightly to enlarge the central
opening, and then with the finger and thumb, applied on either side of the
swelling, to squeeze out the intruder. The abscess rapidly disappears; and
it only requires a few dabbings with the solution of chloride of zinc,
one grain to the ounce, to close the wound. However, the best manner to
avoid such annoyances is not to endeavor at saving money by treating a
domesticated animal as though it were an untamed quadruped.
WARTS.
A =wart=, when of a fixed cartilaginous nature, should, in the horse, be
eradicated immediately upon its appearance; being permitted to exist, such
growths always increase in number and in magnitude. By certain people, or
rather by a tradition, these excrescences are imagined to breed, or it is
thought that one can produce many. That warts are possessed of any such
inherent property science refuses to acknowledge; but the same system
which has generated one may generate several. The faculty of casting forth
such growths may even be encouraged by allowing them to remain; and it is
possible that the slight shock occasioned by their removal may alter the
tendency of the body. Certain it is that, by some mysterious law, nature
refuses to build up only for human agency to destroy. Youatt asserts that
it was once fashionable to crop the ears of horses until animals were
ultimately born with the ears ready shortened.
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE HEAD OF A HORSE WITH WARTS.]
A portrait of an extraordinary instance of warty disposition, showing
the imprudence of permitting such accumulations to continue, is here
given. The writer's experience cannot at all equal the disfigurement
there represented; the animal was the favorite saddle-horse of a lady
who could not bear the idea of the creature being put to pain. One wart
first appeared upon the inside of the thigh; the motion of the legs
used to chafe the excrescence, and frequent discharges of blood were
the consequence. The growth increased in size, and three times was it
"charmed." However, the cure, said to be potent over the human being, was
inoperative upon the horse; housewife's remedies were next resorted to,
but all of these proved equally unsuccessful.
At length, smaller warts began to show; it would have been easy to have
removed the original excrescence, but the numerous after-growths assumed
a form which would have rendered them difficult to destroy. Many of them
came with wide bases and slight elevation; to have attempted the excision
would have almost necessitated the flaying of a living body. The remedy,
which at first was easy, was by time rendered impossible; the horse being
permitted to exist, could only see imperfectly. It could not move or feed
without hemorrhage being provoked. The animal, of course, became useless;
but still its kind mistress could not consent to its destruction. A
country farrier, previous to the author seeing the animal, had slit up
one nostril to relieve the breathing, which before was much impeded. Of
course nothing could be done for such an object.
There are three different sorts of growth, all of which are recognized
under the term "wart." The first is of a cartilaginous nature and is
contained in a distinct sac or shell, which last is entirely derived from
the cuticle of the skin. Upon the sac being divided, the substance drops
out, leaving behind a perfectly clean cavity, which soon disappears.
Little hemorrhage and less pain attend upon this trivial operation. The
second sort also is cartilaginous, but, unlike the first, is not contained
within a cuticular sac. It adheres firmly to the skin, and is apt to grow
large; sometimes it becomes of enormous bulk, when regarded simply in
its character of a wart. The crown is rough and unsightly; the body is
vascular, and the growth, from its magnitude and uneven texture, is apt to
be injured, when it never heals, but invariably exhibits the ulcerative
process in a tedious form. This species of wart is often to be found,
though of a smaller development, upon the human hand. The third variety is
hardly to be esteemed a true wart, and would not here be named, were it
not universally accepted as one of these abnormal growths. It consists of
a cuticular case, inclosing a soft granular substance.
It is impossible always to distinguish the first and third from the
second; therefore, in a case of this kind, it is advisable to cut into
the excrescence as soon as it is large enough to be operated upon. When
the warts are ascertained to be inclosed in a defined cuticular shell,
the quickest and the more humane practice is to take a sharp-pointed
knife and impale them, or run the blade through each in succession. The
edge should be away from the skin, and the knife being withdrawn with an
upward, cutting motion, the sac and substance are both sundered. This
accomplished, the interior is easily removed and all that can subsequently
be necessary is to occasionally touch the part with the solution of the
chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce of water.
When the growth proves of the fixed cartilaginous kind, no time should be
lost in its removal. The quickest plan--and not, perhaps, the most painful
method--of doing this is by means of the knife. The excrescence should be
thoroughly excised, being sundered at the base. Some bleeding will follow.
This may be readily commanded by having at hand a saucepan of water
boiling on a small fire. Into the heated liquid a budding-iron should be
placed, by which artifice sufficient heat is obtained to stimulate the
open mouths of the vessels when the instrument is applied to the bleeding
surface, without any danger being incurred of destroying the living flesh.
Should excision be objected to, the next best plan is the use of caustic.
Strong acetic acid, only to be generally obtained as aromatic vinegar, is
the mildest cautery; the next in strength is butter of antimony; after
that, ranks nitrate of silver, or lunar caustic; and lastly, comes a
preparation invented by Mr. Woodger, to whose perceptions the veterinary
profession is so largely indebted. It consists of sulphuric acid, made
into a paste with powdered sulphur, and applied by means of a flat piece
of wood.
Whichever remedy is adopted, it must be remembered that the application
will occupy time in exact proportion to the mildness of the means
employed. It may also be proper to hint to the reader that, as an animal
has no foreknowledge to alarm its anticipatory fears, and as, the anguish
past, the mind of the creature does not linger upon painful recollections,
probably the knife is to be very much preferred.
Some people remove warts by ligatures. To this custom the author strongly
objects, for the following reasons: Because the process is slow; because
the pain is great and continuous, till the removal is accomplished;
because the ligature soon becomes filthy, the wart, when large, often
turning putrid before it falls off; and because, when small, the breadth
of base and the slight projection render fixing a ligature an utter
impossibility.
TUMORS.
[Illustration: AN ABNORMAL GROWTH UPON A HORSE'S CHEST.]
It is impossible to particularize the nature of every =tumor= to which
the horse is subject, such formations being so very various. Seldom are
two cases met with in which a precisely similar structure is developed.
More seldom are two cases encountered located upon the same part. These
growths are liable to every possible change. One may be very small,
but extremely malignant, or of that kind which seems to resent the
slightest interference. Employ the knife to this last sort, and incurable
ulceration may start up. All remedies may be powerless and the life may
be sacrificed. Such growths are, happily, rare in the equine species;
but the author has heard of their occurrence, although it has not been
his misfortune to encounter one. Another shall be of such enormous size
as to impede the motions, yet will be perfectly bland in its nature. A
portrait, not of the largest tumor which the writer has witnessed, but
of the most awkwardly situated, is represented herewith. It was not
malignant. The horse which carried about this burden was brought to the
veterinary college during the time when the author was attached to that
establishment. The animal had previously been under the treatment of
various veterinary surgeons. All had cut and cauterized the enlargement,
but without reducing its magnitude. The wounds healed quickly, and the
constitution appeared not to be in the slightest manner affected.
Why was not the swelling removed with the knife, when the kindly nature
of the growth had been ascertained? For good and sufficient reasons. No
operation could, with the slightest prospect of success, be hazarded. In
the first place, nature is apt to resent the loss of so large a substance,
or, in other words, although the surgery may be perfect, the life, from
some unexplained cause, is likely to depart before the operation is
finished. In the next place, most bland tumors, when of magnitude, are
of a semi-cartilaginous nature, and spring either from tendon or from
bone--usually from the latter. This tumor impeded the action; hence
it was inferred that the substance ramified among the fibers of the
pectoral muscles. Those fibers are large, and are divided; they present
interspaces, between which the abnormal growth might readily penetrate.
Now, unless every portion of the tumor were excised, the enlargement would
sprout again, and the surgeon would be disgraced. To remove the pectoral
muscle of a man, would be esteemed of little consequence, so that the life
was preserved. But the limbs of the horse constitute the value of the
creature's existence and to disable these from being safely moved, would
be to return a burdensome life to the proprietor. Therefore that which
is compatible with human surgery could not be entertained in veterinary
science.
A tumor may be small and soft, yet it must be respected. It may be
hard, or even ulcerated and large, still its excision may be readily
accomplished. The majority of these growths which appear upon the horse,
however, are not malignant. Nevertheless, let every man consult some duly
qualified veterinarian of experience before he resorts to measures which,
possibly, may lead to the acutest regret.
One caution must be given before the subject is concluded. Gray horses,
which have grown paler with age, or have become white, are liable to an
incurable and malignant disease termed =melanosis=, which hereafter will
be fully described. The presence of this disorder is generally testified
by the appearance of some external tumor. Unless that enlargement be of
great size and admirably situated for removal, it on no account should be
interfered with. Let, therefore, every light-gray or white horse having
a tumor be submitted to some experienced judgment, and let the owner be
guided by the opinion he receives.
SWOLLEN OR FILLED LEGS.
These are one of the most common troubles of the stable; the coachman is
very apt to complain piteously that in the morning he is sure to find such
and such a horse with the legs filled. Commonly the hinder limbs below
the hock are thus affected; sometimes the fore legs below the knee will
be involved. The coachman mostly bandages the parts. In mild cases this
resort may answer; but in bad instances the leg above the bandage is apt
to enlarge. The cloth or flannel, before applied, should be wetted; this,
however, affords but a temporary relief; the wet often causes the hair to
curl, and the uniformity of the appearance is thereby spoiled. After some
time, the bandage frequently leaves its impress upon the leg, and it is
astonishing how long in peculiar cases this impress will continue.
[Illustration: THE HORSE'S LEG OF A NATURAL SIZE.]
[Illustration: THE HORSE'S LEG WHEN FILLED.]
=Swollen legs= mostly occur in heavy animals and in overgrown carriage
horses; such creatures are of weakly or soft constitutions. They have a
vast tendency to become partially dropsical. Fast work exhausts the system
of the carriage horse, while high food stimulates its natural disposition
toward disease. With heavy horses, the prolonged hours of labor are
equally debilitating, and the Sunday's stagnation generates disorder;
neither have any innate hardiness to withstand injurious influences; both,
when highly fat, have the weakness inherent to their constitutions greatly
increased. The quadruped, loaded with the accumulations of many months'
repletion, may please the eye of the master; but it is rendered more
subject to disease, and less capable of labor or of activity.
Persons who require fast work, should employ light vehicles and small
horses; the creatures should be principally supported by grain--a little
hay may be allowed during certain times, when the animal's attention
requires to be engaged; but the chief sustenance ought to consist of oats
and beans. When the carriage is not wanted for the day, care should be
taken to see the groom gives at least four hours' exercise.
With regard to the heavy animals, the custom of blowing them out with
chaff or hay is not to be commended. A good horse is surely deserving of
good provender, and the best manger food is not generally deserving of
any higher character than the word "good" may convey. A horse for work
should be in sound flesh without being fat; when not required, it should
not be allowed to remain in the stable all day. Who, however, ever saw a
cart-horse being exercised? These animals have to stand in the stall of a
heated stable throughout the Sabbath; the excuse is, that the creatures
may enjoy a day's rest. But four hours' easy exercise given at different
times, although it might occupy the time of the attendant, would assuredly
greatly add to the comfort of the quadrupeds which he is paid to look
after.
When a horse is troubled with swollen legs, take it from the stall
and place it in a roomy, loose box; nothing more quickly removes this
affection than easy and natural motion. At grass, dropsy generally attacks
the abdomen; but the author has not heard of the legs being affected in
the field, the limbs there being in constant action. Having placed the
animal in a loose box, abstain from giving hay for some weeks; procure
some ground oak-bark; having damped the corn, sprinkle a handful of the
powder among each feed of oats. Particularly attend to the exercise; and
should the legs still enlarge, do not allow bandages to be employed, but
set both groom and coachman hand-rubbing till the natural appearance is
restored.
SITFAST.
This, whenever it occurs, provokes great vexation. Generally it affects
animals of the highest value or of fast capabilities, which are used only
for saddle purposes. The affection consists of a patch of horn, resembling
a corn upon the human foot. These patches are not absolutely large, though
of course in size they vary. Neither are they all similar in form or in
thickness. In one respect, however, a family likeness runs throughout
the kind. They are not simple corns, but their different nature is shown
by a margin of ulceration. The situation which they invariably occupy is
under the saddle-tree. Their presence, of course, obliges the horse to
be disused; and they are the more annoying, since there is no chance of
these comparatively trifling ailments disappearing without treatment.
The treatment, moreover, cannot be speedy. Whatever measures may be
resorted to, time is necessary for the cure; and, during this space, the
proprietor sees his horse in high health and spirits, but is forbidden
to mount it because of a petty blemish which, in his eyes, is perfectly
contemptible.
[Illustration: A SITFAST, AS IT APPEARS UPON A HORSE'S BACK.]
Sitfasts, though all said to be caused by the friction of the saddle,
have several distinct excitants. The saddle is without life, and cannot
of itself injure the quadruped. It is common to account for a sitfast by
saying the saddle does not fit. Such may occasionally be the case; for a
saddle, if badly made, will chafe the skin and produce a sitfast. But this
cause is in operation less often than is imagined. A retired surgeon, whom
the author had the honor of visiting at Reigate, wore a cork leg. That
gentleman stated that, whenever the leg used to chafe the stump to which
it was attached, he always considered his body was out of order. Medicine
then was taken, and the symptom disappeared. We mortals refuse to think
the horse ails anything unless the animal is alarmingly prostrated. All
smaller ills are disregarded; yet that derangement of the stomach which
caused the stump of a man's leg to become painful from pressure may, if
not attended to, also cause the skin of a horse to exhibit a sitfast.
An awkward horseman is the more frequent source of the complaint. There
are gentlemen so very energetic as riders that the best of saddles may be
readily moved under them. The saddle must be well made indeed which can,
under no circumstances, be stirred upon the back to that extent which is
required to generate a sitfast. Loose girths will likewise establish the
nuisance, and so also may the saddle-cloth whenever it is hastily put on
so as to become thrown into a fold when the horse is mounted.
The speediest cure for a sitfast is the knife. The excrescence is quickly
removed; and the wound, if treated with the solution of chloride of
zinc, one grain to an ounce of water, soon heals. A more tedious plan of
removal, and one not recommended by any proper feeling, is to rub into the
sitfast, every night and morning, a small quantity of blistering ointment.
Such is the usual direction; but the ointment may be applied, for some
time, to a layer of compact horn, before the true skin or flesh beneath is
affected. The unguent must therefore cover the perhaps ulcerated margin of
the sitfast; and even then it is a tedious and a painful operation, not
likely to improve the disposition of an animal which it is so desirable to
keep free from every excitement.
While the sitfast is being operated upon, the bowels should be rendered
pultaceous by bran mashes. Four of these per diem will usually loosen the
most constipated body in two days. That effect being gained, while the
food is liberal and the animal is led to plenty of exercise, give one of
those drinks, night and morning, which are tonic to the system, but seem
to exhaust their virtue upon the skin.
_Drink for Sitfasts._
Liquor arsenicalis Half an ounce.
Tincture of muriate of iron Three-quarters of an ounce.
Water One pint.
Mix, and give.
GREASE.
This filthy disorder is a disgrace to every person concerned with the
building in which it occurs; it proves neglect in the proprietor, want
of fitness or positive idleness in the groom, and culpable ignorance or
the absence of the slightest moral courage in all people entering the
doors of the stable. It is one of those disorders which it is easier to
prevent than to cure. By an ordinary regard to cleanliness, and by an
average attention to the necessities of the animal, this taint may be
avoided; wherever it is witnessed, it not only argues the human being to
whom the building belongs to be in the lowest stage of degradation, but it
also testifies to the sufferings endured by the poor creatures which are
compelled to drag out life in such custody.
The =grease= is, in the primary instance, inflammation of the sebaceous
glands of the legs; but it soon extends beyond the limits of its origin,
and involves the deeper-seated structures. A white leg is more subject
to the disorder than one of another color, and the fore limbs are almost
exempted from the ravages of grease. The reason of that exemption is found
in the greater proximity of the anterior extremities to the heart or to
the center of the circulation. Consequently the vitality in the fore legs
is more active, and the flow of blood much more energetic; hence the
anterior extremities can resist that ailment which fixes with impunity
upon the posterior limbs. Added to this, in the fore legs the vessels
describe almost perpendicular lines, whereas in the hind members the
arterial current is impeded by numerous angles; these conditions doubtless
operate upon the health of parts, but, above everything else, ranks the
fact that the front legs are not subject to the same external causes as
are the members more backwardly located. The stalls are drained from the
manger to the gangway; consequently all the contamination of the space
in which the horse is confined flows toward the hind feet; there are,
moreover, other reasons, which the intelligence of the reader will not
require should be particularized.
Grease is banished from every decent stable; it may, however, be
occasionally encountered in situations very much secluded; there yet
remain places whence so foul a disgrace is never absent. The wretched
animals which are employed in brick-yards, in dust-carts, and in drawing
canal boats are hardly ever free from this loathsome disorder. These
creatures labor incessantly, and are removed far from the wholesome
check which brutality receives from public opinion; they are resigned to
the mercies of men who, as a class, are certainly not the most refined,
and are seldom inconvenienced by any excess of feeling. The places, not
stables, into which the miserable quadrupeds are thrust can rarely be
entered without the peculiar smell which announces the existence of grease
almost overpowering the stranger. The fact is unpleasant to human sense,
but it is only right that the probable effect upon the creature, which is
doomed for the duration of its weary life to inhale such an atmosphere,
should be considered.
Smell is perhaps the most acute sense with which the equine race are
endowed; the horse can appreciate that in which the human being vainly
endeavors to detect even the slightest odor. Not only is the scent far
more acute than that of man, but the two beings have to be compared as
regards their habits; the animal is most cleanly in its tastes. Flesh
it abhors, and all fatty substance it shrinks from; men eat such things
with appetite. Then, the human subject can dwell, and even labor, in a
tainted atmosphere with comparative impunity. A quadruped may be forced
to toil in such a place; but those who oblige the creature to do this
kind of work know the certain consequences of the act. They buy cheap and
old horses--animals which have suffered much, and have but a year or two
longer to exist. Were younger or dearer quadrupeds purchased, in which an
energetic constitution would render disease more malignant, and were such
animals obliged to breathe such contamination, the loss in every way would
be fearful.
There is, at present, a great fuss made about sanitary laws; but the
attention of those to whom such subjects are confided seems to be
engrossed by man and his excretions. No one yet appears to have imagined
that the subject involves life in all its varieties; the horse cannot
exist in the air which human lungs have exhausted; man cannot live in the
atmosphere in which the horse has perished. The two creatures are not,
therefore, entirely distinct; but the open nostrils and huge lungs of one
horse can consume the oxygen which would support many men. Then, the dung
of the horse, which is always exposed, gives off fumes only slightly less
dangerous than those which emanate from the human body. Yet officers pry
into alleys and into courts; they enter the habitations of the poor, and
count the number of those who _sleep_ in each room. The impacted people
are pointed to as the source of certain diseases, and society shudders as
the medical report is circulated. No one, however, visits the stable; no
one inquires whether horses _live_ in the space which affords sufficient
atmosphere to support existence; no one has yet traced disease in man
as probably originating in the close and contaminated fumes of nearly
every London mews. Still, if the over-crowded rooms of the poor merit an
elaborate report as so very dangerous to society, may not the stifling and
reeking condition of the stables deserve a passing comment in its relation
to the same effect?
Cutting the hair from, and thereby exposing the hinder heels to the
operation of cold and of wet is no unfrequent cause of grease. Such is
a common practice with lazy horsekeepers when not stimulated by the
proprietor's eye. In winter, when the legs most require warmth and
protection, the heels are deprived of the covering which nature intended
should protect them; and parts where the blood flows most tardily are laid
bare to the effects of evaporation and of frost. When the animal returns
soiled from work, most grooms will sluice a pail of cold water over the
legs; the dirt is thereby washed off, but the legs are suddenly chilled,
and soon become more cold, because of the moisture which they retain and
of the evaporation which ensues; for very few stablemen, finding the
appearance pleasing to mortal perceptions, think about the comfort of the
creature which is principally concerned.
Sudden chill striking a part, and followed by gradually-increasing cold,
will certainly induce congestion; the foundation of disease is thus
laid. The better plan would be to instruct the groom that appearance is
secondary to the welfare of his charge. Order the man not to mind about
leaving his horses so very clean and tidy; never allow the hair, which
grows long and luxuriant about the heels, to be cut off. Leave strict
orders that, when the animal returns with dirty legs, the stableman is to
take several wisps of straw and rub them until the surface is quite dry.
The absence of wet will greatly add to the comfort of the horse, while the
friction will increase the circulation and prove the very best preventive
to disease. With the moisture, of course, much of the dirt must be
removed; any which is left behind will readily fall out on the following
morning, upon the hair being carefully hand-rubbed and combed. However,
mind and see this is done, for it entails some trouble; and, if you are
content with merely giving orders, the "old buffer's megrims" are sure to
be laughed at and disobeyed.
Turning out to grass, especially during the colder months, when the wet is
particularly abundant, and the bite peculiarly short, is another fruitful
source of this affection. If a well-bred, aged animal, which has done
its work, after a life spent under the protection of the stable and in
the enjoyment of its carefully-prepared diet, is, from mistaken motives,
turned into the field, life may be prolonged, but it is at the expense of
much suffering, with the almost certain visitation of grease in a virulent
form.
[Illustration:
A HORSE SCRATCHING ONE LEG WITH THE OTHER FOOT--A SYMPTOM OF THE
EARLIEST APPEARANCE OF GREASE.
]
The earliest symptom of approaching grease is enlargement of the legs,
accompanied by considerable heat of the skin. If the animals be now
observed, they will be seen to be uneasy in their stalls; the hinder feet
are occasionally noisily stamped upon the pavement. Should the hair be
examined, it will be discovered loaded with scurf about the roots, while
one hind foot will be frequently seen employed to scratch the back of the
opposite leg.
Should these indications attract no attention, the hairs soon begin
to stand on end or to project outward, as though each was actuated by
a separate purpose, and each desired nothing so much as to avoid its
fellows. At the same time, the part begins to exude a thick, unctuous
moisture, from which the disease derives its name. This hangs upon all the
hairs of the heel in heavy drops. It is an offensive secretion. It emits a
remarkably pungent and a very peculiar odor, which, once inhaled, is never
afterward to be forgotten.
[Illustration: FIRST STAGE OF CONFIRMED GREASE.
EXUDATION.]
[Illustration: THE SECOND STAGE OF CONFIRMED GREASE.
CRACKS.]
Should no regard be now bestowed upon the sufferer, and should the horse
be worked on despite the lameness which it now exhibits, the skin swells,
while cracks, deep and wide, appear upon the inflamed integument. The
lines of division ulcerate, sometimes very badly; a thin, discolored,
and unhealthy pus mingles with the discharge; the odor grows still more
abominable, while the wretched animal becomes yet more lame.
[Illustration:
THE THIRD STAGE OF CONFIRMED GREASE. HORNY BUNCHES WHICH ARE
COMMONLY CALLED GRAPES.
]
Should, even at this period, no proper remedy be applied to check the
disease, the leg enlarges. Proud flesh, or fungoid granulations, sprout
from the lines of ulceration. The granulations grow in bunches, and have a
ragged surface. Often the masses are of great size, and shake, as though
about to fall, with every movement of the foot. The points, from exposure,
become dry and hard; their nature, from that of fungoid granulations,
changes to a substance resembling horn, like which, they are without
sensation. These bunches have been named "grapes," which they are vulgarly
thought to resemble. The likeness, however, is very distant--the one
being pleasant to look upon, the other forming a painful and disgusting
spectacle.
However insensitive the points of the bunches may become, the limb itself,
throughout the disorder, possesses a morbid sensibility. The gentlest
touch occasions exquisite torture, and the animal will tremble lest
the agony should be repeated. Upon the slightest impression, the leg
is instantly snatched up, nor is it trusted again upon the earth until
fatigue necessitates rest or till the cause of suffering has departed.
Horses have even suppressed their urine, lest the fluid, splashing upon
the seat of disease, should provoke any access of the infliction. Few
greasy animals ever have a bed under them, the straw of which might arrest
the liquid in its flight. Indeed, such a luxury might save them from one
source of torture, but assuredly would start up another. The ends of the
straw, pricking or even touching the disorder, would cause such agony as
must occasion the animal constantly to stand in terror.
One peculiarity, witnessed during grease, has not been indicated in the
above illustrations. It has been purposely omitted, because, though
invariably attendant upon the disorder, it in reality forms no part of
the malady, being only a sympathetic effect. The cutis is continuous with
the coronet and lamina, which secrete the outward horn of the hoof. Any
disease fixing upon the one, of course cannot but affect the other. The
irritation which involves the skin of the leg, therefore, necessarily
stimulates the growth of the foot. The hoof of a greasy leg, from this
cause, often becomes of enormous dimensions but this peculiarity has not
been noticed, because it was desired to keep the attention of the reader
fixed wholly upon the more immediate symptoms of the loathsome affection.
The remedy for grease is simple enough. Indeed, did not a sense of duty
oblige it to be resorted to, the smell would, in the majority of persons,
induce it to be employed. In the first place, clip off the hair--if any
remains to be cut off. The natural protector of the heels now can conserve
nothing. It can only heat the skin and retain the discharge. This being
accomplished, if the leg merely be hot and scurfy, have it thoroughly
cleansed with curd soap and warm water. Then a cloth, saturated with the
lotion for the earliest stage of grease, should be laid upon the inflamed
integument. This should be removed so soon as it becomes warm, and
another, also dripping, should immediately supply its place. Thus a wet,
cold cloth should constantly cover the part till the heat is destroyed, or
at all events is greatly mitigated.
For this purpose, two men are required, one to remove and the other to
apply. Four old cloths will be necessary. These, when removed, should be
flung over a line, so that as large a space as possible may be exposed to
the cooling action of the atmosphere. There is nothing so disagreeable
in performing this office as might at first appear. The active agent of
the lotion is a powerful disinfectant and deodorizer. The first cloth
removes almost all the fetor, and hanging the wrappers subsequently over
the line effectually purifies the atmosphere. The part being reduced
to a comparatively natural temperature, the after-treatment consists
in renewing the cloths so often as the heat returns; and in otherwise
moistening the limb with some of the subjoined lotion thrice daily:--
_Lotion for the earliest stage of Grease._
Animal glycerin Half a pint.
Chloride of zinc Half an ounce.
Water Six quarts.
To be employed after the manner already directed.
When the cracks, with ulceration, appear, the previous lotion is too weak
to be of much service; but the same treatment must be adopted: only one of
the lotions subsequently given should then be used:--
_Lotion for the ulcerative stage of Grease._
Permanganate of potash or phosphoric acid One pint.
Water Six quarts.
Or--
Chloride of zinc One ounce.
Creosote Four ounces.
Strong solution of oak bark One gallon.
Both to be used after the manner of the previous solution.
Should the spurious granulations have begun to sprout, lose no time in
having the horse cast. Have near at hand a small pot, with a charcoal fire
beneath it. Let the vessel be full of boiling water. Within the fluid,
previous to the casting, insert several irons; then throw the animal.
With a keen knife excise the external bunches of proud flesh. As each lump
is removed, much bleeding will ensue; therefore, before using the knife
again, take an iron and lay it flat upon the raw surface. Should one not
check the hemorrhage, return the first to the saucepan and apply a second.
It is necessary to operate with as small a loss of blood as possible;
for horses having grease are always old and debilitated. In this manner
proceed till all the external growths are cut away. Then let the animal
rise. Enough has been suffered for one occasion; more agony the exhausted
system of the animal might not sustain. Besides, with every attention
concerning the irons, the bleeding, generally, will not permit more to be
accomplished.
One thing has been forgotten. When removing the fungoid excrescences,
it is always well, for the comfort of the operator, to have the leg
previously saturated with chloride of zinc; also to have a man, with a
sponge and a quart of the solution, ready to bathe the limb as fresh
surfaces are exposed. Subsequently wet the leg frequently with the lotion
last recommended.
In another three days the animal may, a second time, be cast. The
operation being again confined to the crop of growths which on the
former occasion were exposed; all the previous directions should also be
strictly carried out. After three days have once more been suffered to
elapse, the horse, if necessary, should be thrown for the last time, and
the knife once more employed. The after-treatment will depend much upon
circumstances. If the ulceration predominates, employ the last lotion.
Should the granulations appear likely to grow, make use of the first
solution of chloride of zinc--only it should be double the strength which
was originally recommended. When both ulceration and granulation appear
equal, the first and last lotions may be alternated.
Such are the chief remedies necessary for the cure of grease. The other
measures are: the removal to a loose box thickly bedded with refuse tan;
the food should be liberal--old beans are now of every service; each feed
of oats should be rendered damp, and a handful of ground oak-bark ought
to be thoroughly mixed with it. For medicine, those excellent tonic and
alterative drinks may be thus prepared, and given daily:--
_Drink for Grease._
Liquor arsenicalis One ounce.
Tincture of the muriate of iron One ounce and a half.
Porter or stout One quart.
Mix, and give one pint night and morning.
Chopped roots, speared wheat, hay tea, and a little cut grass, should it
be in season, are all proper in this disease. At the same time, walking
exercise is much to be commended. Motion quickens the circulation; but in
grease it seems, in a manner which is not understood, also to allay pain.
A horse having grease will be led out of the stable limping lame; but
after an hour's exercise it may return walking firmly and almost soundly.
After cleanliness, good food and medicine, nothing is so beneficial to
grease as moderate exercise.
MALLENDERS AND SALLENDERS.
[Illustration: MALLENDERS, OR A SCURFY PATCH AT THE BACK OF THE KNEE.]
[Illustration: SALLENDERS, OR A SCURFY PATCH IN FRONT OF THE HOCK.]
These names are to be traced to no derivation, but in their arbitrary
signification they denote a certain condition of the parts situated on
the points of principal flexion in either limb. =Mallenders= appear upon
the back of the knee; =sallenders= are located in front of the hock.
Both, in the first place, are scurfy patches exhibiting a roughened state
of hair and suggesting considerable irritability. Either, if neglected,
will degenerate into a troublesome sore from which a foul discharge will
issue. With ordinary care they neither do much harm; but are rather
regarded as proofs of idleness and as eyesores, than as actual diseases,
to which importance they now seldom attain. For their relief it is
essential to pay scrupulous attention to cleanliness; as, when the coat
suffers from neglect, it is very probable the same cause may likewise
influence the constitution. Therefore, always begin the treatment with the
tonic alterative drinks described on the previous page; at the same time
applying with friction a little of the annexed ointment thrice daily:--
_Ointment for Mallenders and Sallenders._
Animal glycerin One ounce.
Mercurial ointment Two drachms.
Powdered camphor Two drachms.
Spermaceti One ounce.
Incorporate all thoroughly together, and apply as directed.
When the scurf, through neglect, degenerates into a sore, treat after
the manner subsequently advised for cracked heels. But in every case of
this kind always begin the treatment with a change of stable attendant;
for where certain diseases appear, these are conclusive proof that duty is
neglected. No remonstrance, no chiding, can amend the habits of the groom,
who has, from drink or other indulgence, lost pride in the stable over
which he should reign supreme.
CRACKED HEELS.
This is, save where very wrong-headed measures are pursued, the affection
peculiar to the cold and wet months of the year. Even during the inclement
weather of the summer, however, the horse may, if badly managed, exhibit
this form of disease. Should the hair, which nature with kind intention
placed upon the fetlock, be ruthlessly cut away, the animal is thereby
rendered liable to =cracked heels=. The wet very rarely penetrates that
designed defense. When it does, the ample covering of hair falling over
the skin prevents evaporation, and the moisture rather promotes warmth
than causes any excess of cold. The dirt of the road always lodges upon
the surface of the hair, and if the horse-keeper exercise only ordinary
care it can never soil the flesh.
[Illustration: THE HEEL OF A HORSE IN A CRACKED CONDITION.]
The liability induced by removal of the natural covering exemplifies the
folly of those practices which have lately become so very fashionable as
at the present time to be almost universal. But there has always appeared
to exist in the human mind a restless desire to improve the beauty of the
horse. Now the tail has been docked; then the ears have been cut. A short
space prior to these amendments, the skin was tampered with to produce a
star, as a white spot upon the forehead was termed. At the passing hour
almost every man who owns a horse must have the body clipped or singed.
The length of hair is given in this climate as a necessary provision.
Nature never forms anything without its use; though man in his ignorance
may not always be able to comprehend her intention. Were finer coats
desired, it would probably be wiser to obtain them by warming the stable,
increasing the clothing, and avoiding those long stagnations during which
the animal has to remain motionless before street doors. A long coat is
a defense against a cold winter; and unless man provides against the
consequences of our climate, it is evidently flagrantly wrong to deprive a
dumb creature of the protection which nature has bestowed.
Shortening the coat, if anywhere justifiable, is certainly most pardonable
among hunters. Animals used for this purpose always have, or should have,
plenty of attendance; these creatures also are mostly required during
the autumn and early winter. Removing the coat certainly does stimulate
the body. The horse assuredly is capable of greater exertion immediately
after the deprivation. At the same time, however, a greater susceptibility
to disease is engendered, and often the deprived animal falls a victim
to man's fancy, notwithstanding all the care and attention which the
hunting-stable can command. A burst and then a check, when a piercing
wind blows from the northeast, invariably produces sad effects among the
horses, especially at the commencement of the season. A gentleman who
prizes the animal he rides should take it to "the meet" unclipped; and,
perhaps, should the run be long, the quadruped may hold a better place at
the death than horses adorned after the prevailing fashion.
The folly of the custom is shown in the animals attached to London
vehicles. These horses are mostly wanted for spring service. The stimulant
of the autumn is purchased at the cost of debility during the spring.
The coat is shed the later because of the previous deprivation. When the
summer hair is growing, the creature presents a very uneven and ragged
appearance in consequence of the points of the new and the roots of the
old coat being of opposite colors. The gentleman who, therefore, has his
nag and carriage horses shorn of their natural coverings at the time when
hunters are thrown up, beholds the objects of his pride deficient in
animation and beggarly in aspect, while the animal that has been allowed
to wear its native garments dashes past him in all the briskness of the
season and the smartness of new apparel.
The question of clipping and of singeing is simply this. Do you require
your servant's services all the year round, or do you want its utmost
exertions for a comparatively short space immediately subsequent to the
removal of the outer hair; and, at how great a hazard are you prepared to
purchase your wish?
Were the legs of horses allowed to retain that adornment which nature
gave, and were the parts not shorn of their shaggy beauty--were men
not inclined to confound the different breeds of horses, and, because
the thorough-bred has clean legs, to imagine the cart-horse can be
artificially made to display members equally fine--were masters more
resolute in resisting the selfish suggestions of lazy grooms, who love to
have the bushy heels clipped--were the stable-keeper not afraid of doing
his duty, but would go down upon his knees and rub the fetlocks dry,
instead of drenching them with water, and then leaving them to chap in
moisture and in cold,--were these things attended to, there is no reason
why cracked heels should not speedily become a thing which has been, but
no longer is.
However, if animals are exposed throughout the wintry season, under the
pretense of being placed in a straw-yard, the proprietor must expect
to take the creatures up with some defect. The worst case of cracked
heels the author ever looked upon, was produced after the last-mentioned
method; the skin was much thickened and deeply marked by fissures. In
places it had sloughed, and where the integument was absent fearfully deep
ulceration was established. Fortunately, the absorbing process had reached
none of those important structures which are situated about the heel of
the horse; and the animal, after lengthened treatment, was cured.
For cracked heels, if bad, the animal must rest, at all events till the
parts are improved. When slight, always wash them with tepid water and
mild soap, upon the animal's return to the stable; dry them thoroughly
with a soft leather; then damp them with the following:--
_Wash for Cracked Heels._
Animal glycerin Half a pint.
Chloride of zinc Two drachms.
Strong solution of oak-bark One pint.
Dissolve the zinc in water, then mix, and use thrice daily.
Should sloughing and ulceration have commenced, that condition claims the
first attention as being the most dangerous.
Forbear all exercise while such a state exists. Throw up the animal. Allow
it to rest in the stable. Give a few bran mashes or a little cut grass to
open the bowels; but do not take the horse out even for exercise while
such an unhealthy action is in existence. Ulceration is too dangerous and
morbid a process not to be treated with every consideration; and it is far
too irritable and painful a state not to necessitate perfect inaction for
its relief. Apply the following to the heels:--
_Wash for Ulcerated Cracked Heels._
Animal glycerin or phosphoric acid Two ounces.
Permanganate of potash or creosote Half an ounce.
Water Three ounces.
Mix, and apply six times daily.
Upon the ulceration being arrested, the last prescription may be
discarded, and the former recipe resorted to; with these, however, it is
always well to attend to the constitution. A drink, each day, composed of
liquor arsenicalis, half an ounce; tincture of the muriate of iron, one
ounce; water, half a pint, should be given every night. This composition
has been often recommended, but the author knows of none which is more
beneficially tonic to the general system, and which, at the same time,
acts so directly upon the skin.
Stablemen are fond of urging various excuses to hide their disinclination
for exertion. Thus it is common for such people to assert that the horse's
heels cracked while the animal was out on a cold, a wet, or a windy day:
this is nonsense. Stablemen, of course, do not desire the creatures which
they look after to be exposed to that soil which it is their duty to
remove; but nature, that ordained the climate, formed the animal to endure
it.
Were not the heels clipped, nothing short of extreme stable neglect
could occasion those parts to crack. If the hair is removed, nothing but
excessive good fortune will prevent this affection. The groom in the last
case is not to blame, should the heels become sore. However, the best
method of avoiding this affection, where the hair is cut short, experience
has proved to be the following: Upon return to the stable, wash the feet
scrupulously clean with cold water; then dry them thoroughly. Use several
cloths to effect the latter purpose, and do not relinquish the object
while the slightest moisture remains; nor cease to rub them until the
parts are in a glow. Subsequently, smear over the heels a little glycerin;
but even this will not in every instance prevent the affection. No care
can render safe that which human folly has exposed.