OPERATIONS.
The veterinary art is by no means rendered more successful by the cunning
of its stratagems. Many of its objects are accomplished after the rudest
and the most primitive methods. Not one, perhaps, is more coarse than the
present method of casting or throwing an animal previous to an operation.
The reader has only to ask himself what condition the body must be in
when, with the sight blinded, it is suddenly jerked to the earth; and how
far it is fitly prepared by so violent a practice to be submitted to the
knife of an operator?
[Illustration: THE PRESENT MANNER OF CASTING A HORSE FOR OPERATION.]
There are few operations in veterinary surgery which a person of moderate
nerve and average intelligence might not himself perform. The author has
seen gentlemen with titles, and others holding high rank in the army,
indulge in the strange pleasure of singeing living flesh with the heated
iron. But he has never beheld horsemen handling the knife. The latter
would better become their hands than the first severe and disfiguring
instrument, which, however useful it may have been found in certain
cases met with in human surgery, nevertheless would be well abolished
from veterinary practice, because of its indiscriminate abuse. Firing is
employed for every and for no reason. Now recourse is had to it because
the joints are weak. Then it is adopted because a gentleman is fond of
seeing his horses scored. Next, it is used to gain time, and thus prolong
the treatment. Generally it is brought forward because the practitioner
does not know what else to do. Lastly, it is esteemed the crowning measure
of routine practice.
The author, however, has never been necessitated to resort to so violent
an agent. It is a most unseemly ornament in unprofessional hands; in this
book, which is intended for the general public, the use of the firing-iron
is altogether omitted.
The knife, especially to the animal, is the most humane of remedies. It
often affords instant or immediate relief. The animal seems to suffer
more from the restraint imposed than from the wounds inflicted. The chief
sensation, with all forms of life, resides in the skin; so that the
integument be quickly and effectually divided, the soft parts underneath
have but little feeling. The interference with these last rather produces
faintness or sickness than acute suffering; the knowledge of which fact
will embolden many a humane person, though the writer trusts it will not
be credited by all who are of an opposite character, since boldness,
unrestrained by humanity, only renders the individual a savage without the
savage's excuse.
Such operations as embriotomy, castration, and lithotomy are intentionally
omitted, from a conviction that no gentleman would undertake them; and
because, in every instance, they had better be intrusted to a regular
veterinary surgeon.
Before undertaking any operation, always reflect on what you are about to
do, and make up your mind how you design to do it. Irresolution causes
more suffering than the most perverted determination can inflict. It is
always well (however much in practice the operator may consider himself)
to first perform the intended operation upon the dead subject. This is a
custom which the writer invariably adopted; and frequently it has supplied
his memory with a refresher which, in the hurry of practice, was found a
most timely warning.
Never use small knives. Such things look pretty. The sight of a large
blade may appear very ugly; but it does at one movement that work which
an instrument of notching smallness would not in twenty hacks accomplish.
Understand thoroughly that which you are about to perform, and always
choose the tool likely to get through the business quickly. Periosteotomy
cases were formerly sold by veterinary instrument makers which contained
a knife of moderate doll's dimension. The writer, to accomplish the
purpose which that little knife was specially made for, was accustomed to
employ a bistoury larger than those in ordinary use among gentlemen of his
profession.
Where you anticipate much bleeding, always endeavor, if possible, to
divide the main artery with the first incision. This is by far the most
humane, and therefore the safest practice. The vessel, being divided, can
be taken up, and all further flow of blood thereby checked. But if the
artery be left to the last, it remains to fill the smaller branches. These
are of necessity frequently severed. Each, as it is cut, bleeds more or
less freely; thus the hemorrhage is far greater, and the operation far
more difficult, than if the main trunk had been secured at the earliest
possible period.
Always tie both ends of an artery; because, though the main stream flows
through that portion of the vessel nearest the heart, yet the other half,
being fed by the smaller trunks, and the current having a tendency to
regurgitate, a considerable quantity of the vital fluid may flow out of
the mouth, which, in general opinion, has no medium of supply.
If, during an operation, you make an accidental incision into a vessel,
either take it up, (which is the better way,) or cut it short off when
there is a chance of its retracting and of the bleeding being thus
arrested. Vessels of large size may, when requisite, be excised and tied;
the vital current being afterward carried on by the dilatation of the
lesser ducts.
To tie an artery it is imperative to secure the end of the vessel; this,
if possible, should be accomplished with the forceps. When the mouth of
the vessel is much retracted, it may be necessary to employ the knife; but
that practice should be viewed only as the last resort of the proficient
surgeon.
The end of the artery being fixed and drawn forth, a piece of strong silk,
thrice twisted, (after the method represented in the inferior circle of
the annexed illustration,) is passed over the vessel. The silk is then
drawn tight, and will generally remain fixed. However, sad accidents have
occurred by operators trusting to so doubtful a security; for that reason
it is always advisable to make another twist, (as shown in the smaller
circle of the illustration,) which will render the knot secure.
[Illustration: THE LOUP BY MEANS OF WHICH THE ENDS OF ARTERIES ARE
SECURED.]
Even a vessel of the second magnitude may be obliterated, as the carotid
artery or the jugular vein, without life being necessarily sacrificed.
However, it is always well to spare these parts, or when either is lost
to arrange so that the absence of them may entail the least possible
inconvenience upon the animal. Thus, if the carotid artery be lost, place
the food low down, and thereby aid the flow of blood to the head. If the
jugular vein be destroyed, then put the fodder high up, that the current
from the head may be facilitated.
Never, on any account, remove any portion of skin which is not involved in
some fearful injury, or separated from its attachments by the action of
disease.
Skin is the part of the body which is never reproduced, and even the
place whence it is absent always heals slowly. However loose the skin
may appear, however disproportioned it may seem after some tumor has
been removed, respect every particle of it. Before the wound can heal,
inflammation must set in. That process ended, the skin, under its action,
will have contracted, and in the end there will be only sufficient
integument to cover the part; whereas, if the slightest amount be excised,
to such an extent there will for a long time remain a gaping sore.
Never spare the knife. Think well before you touch that tool; but, having
it in hand, assure yourself its edge is sharp, and never do at two cuts
that which might have been accomplished in one.
Always slit up a sinus where such a proceeding is possible. When the sinus
is too long, supposing the pipe to take an internal direction, as from
the withers to the chest, insert a seton with the guarded seton needle, a
representation of which is given below.
[Illustration: THE GUARDED SETON NEEDLE.]
The blade of this instrument is generally about two feet long. Before
using it, the cutting head is always retracted by pulling back the nut
at the extremity, and securing it in its place by means of the screw
situated on the middle of the handle. The blade then reposes upon a blunt
companion, and may with impunity be inserted down any sinus or false
canal. Having reached the bottom of the pipe, and all important vessels
being passed, the screw is loosened, and the projecting end of the blade
at the extremity of the handle is struck forcibly, when the sharp point is
driven forward, and this pierces the flesh.
[Illustration: THE SETON NEEDLE PROTRUDED, AND SECURED WITHIN THE HANDLE
BY MEANS OF A SCREW.]
Behind the cutting head there is a free space. Through that opening a long
piece of tape is threaded, and the instrument is withdrawn, pulling the
tape into the sinus, in which it remains. A knot is made at either end
of the tape; thus a seton is with safety placed in situations where the
depth to be penetrated would defy ordinary measures, and the vessels to be
passed would render such measures more than doubly hazardous.
The use of a seton is to act as a drain, or to stimulate an unhealthy
canal--to provoke a sinus to secrete healthy pus, instead of a thin and
often a foul discharge--and thus to cause the diseased pipe to heal or to
become obliterated.
When operating, always make your first incision through the skin rather
too large than in the least too small; remember, the division from within
outward occasions much less pain than the separation, made after the
ordinary fashion, from without inward.
Never spare hair; the substance is readily reproduced. It can be wished to
be spared only to conceal the fact of an operation having been performed.
Always refuse to become a party to dishonesty. Do what is necessary for
the proper performance of your office. The removal of hair, which may
otherwise interfere with your sight, is essential: therefore cut it off,
regardless of any wish to the contrary.
Instruct your assistants beforehand how to cast the horse; leave that
business to them: never meddle yourself. The writer has seen veterinary
surgeons, in their operating dresses, push and haul with the utmost
energy. Such silly people have doubtless thought themselves exalted by
this exhibition of violence. It would have been more to their credit had
they devoted half the energy to teaching their people beforehand. But in
what condition must their hands and temper be after having taken a lead in
a struggle with a horse for mastery!
A surgeon should always be cool. His head should direct his hand; his
knife should be held lightly; his eye should be quick, and his mind
prepared to meet any accident. He should do his office neatly, and, if
possible, without soiling his person. The ripping cut and the bloody hands
alone distinguish the ignorant butcher from the scientific operator.
During every operation enjoin the strictest silence upon the spectators.
The horse is never vicious, but it is always timid. Sounds have a powerful
effect upon animals which cannot understand speech. Every word uttered,
even in a whisper, should be of assurance to the sufferer; for the horse
is only to be feared in its efforts to escape from some supposed peril.
It becomes mad in its alarm. It then puts forth its strength and exerts
it without regard to consequences. Man has everything to hope from the
fortitude and noble forbearance of the creature. It responds to kindness
with something more than submission; it answers sympathy by the most
entire confidence and utter dependence. The life, the feeling, the natural
powers are all subservient to the great love which is embodied in a
horse's attachment. There is not among created beings one which has so
large a sympathy; the horse must attach itself to something; to love seems
essential to its being. The stable in which it is captive the patient
prisoner learns to regard, as it were, a palace. The pace is always more
willing when returning to captivity; freedom has no charm; the field has
no allurement to the horse which has lived any time in the most crimped,
confined, and uncomfortable of stalls. It will quit the spring grass to be
fastened once more in the place to which it has been accustomed and has
grown attached.
Then, however much removed from itself, it must pour the richest of its
affections on some animal, should man, in pride, refuse to accept the
offering. Creatures the most opposite have been the horse's favorite. How
often do we hear of the liking formed between a goat, a dog, a cat, and
the horse! Love has a strange freemasonry of its own; how else can we
account for the larger creature being able to make its longing understood
by the smaller life? There may, however, be between animals some
substitute for language; but we can hardly suppose any recognized signs
exist between birds and the equine species. Yet a famous animal-painter
had a pony which formed a violent and lasting affection for a bantam cock.
These two used to march side by side up and down the field in which the
larger animal was confined; for so very expansive is the horse's love
that it will embrace not only its abode, but some life, however distant
apparently from its own.
The voice of the person who is accustomed to groom and feed the animal,
if he has been only ordinarily humane in the performance of his office,
will at all times reassure the beating heart of a prostrated horse. But
vast injustice to the animal's better qualities is done by the mode of
casting it. It is violently jerked off its legs; by a sudden pull it is
thrown "with a burster" upon its side. There it struggles. If mastery
sides with the animal, then let the men be speedy in their flight. The
quadruped, in its fear, designs no harm to any person. It means only
to escape from the terrible danger which encompasses it. Still, it is
regardless in its alarm, and may do more injury than the most evil
intention could accomplish. There is an engraving of the method of casting
horses commencing this chapter. Let the capable reader imagine the effect
produced upon the timid quadruped when it is violently flung upon the
earth with a sound well denominated "a burster."
The horse is much better made to lie down gently, after the method
adopted by Mr. Rarey. Half, and far more than half, the terror excited
by an operation may thus be avoided. The confusion and bustle, conjoined
with violence, which naturally attend "casting," must make a lasting
impression upon the retentive mind of the animal, and, we may suppose,
must aggravate the pain, thus materially endangering the result of an
operation. The hobbles may be fixed quite as readily when the horse is
down as when the animal is standing. Nay, they may be fixed more readily,
as the horse, when down, has lost three-fourths of its power.
Mr. Rarey's method of throwing the most unruly animal is thus described by
that gentleman:--
"Everything that we want to teach the horse must be commenced in some
way to give him an idea of what you want him to do, and then be repeated
till he learns it perfectly. To make a horse lie down, bend his left fore
leg and slip a loop over it, so that he cannot get it down. Then put a
surcingle around his body, and fasten one end of a long strap around
the other fore leg just above the hoof. Place the other end under the
surcingle, so as to keep the strap in the right direction; take a short
hold of it with your right hand; stand on the left side of the horse,
grasp the bit in your left hand, pull steadily on the strap with your
right; bear against his shoulder till you cause him to move. As soon as
he lifts his weight, your pulling will raise the other foot, and he will
have to come on his knees. Keep the strap tight in your hand, so that he
cannot straighten his leg if he rises up. Hold him in this position, and
turn his head toward you; bear against his side with your shoulder--not
hard, but with a steady, equal pressure--and in about ten minutes he will
lie down. As soon as he lies down he will be completely conquered, and
you can handle him as you please. Take off the straps, and straighten out
his legs; rub him lightly about the face and neck with your hand the way
the hair lies; handle all his legs; and, after he has lain ten or twenty
minutes, let him get up again. After resting him a short time, make him
lie down as before. Repeat the operation three or four times, which will
be sufficient for one lesson. Give him two lessons a day; and when you
have given him four lessons, he will lie down by taking hold of one foot.
As soon as he is well broken to lie down in this way, tap him on the
opposite leg with a stick when you take hold of his foot, and in a few
days he will lie down from the mere motion of the stick."
What prevents the hobbles being buckled on? What prevents all necessary
arrangements being carried out? What, indeed, but the stubbornness
inseparable from ignorance! Veterinary surgeons, as a rule, are not an
educated class. In proportion as their information is limited, so is their
adherence to established custom likely to be intractable.
There are, besides the hobbles, two other inventions designed to limit the
capability of resistance. One is the side line. A soft collar is put over
the horse's head and a hobble is fastened to the foot it is desired to
have elevated. From the collar is dependant a metal loop, ring, or other
contrivance. By the side of this a strong rope is attached. The cord is
then passed through the D of the hobble; afterward it is brought back and
ran through the side ring or loop. A man then takes hold of the end of
the rope, and, by gradual traction, causes the leg to be advanced. It is
neither wise nor humane to drag the foot off the ground. A horse which
will stand quiet with both feet resting on the earth, is rendered restless
when one leg is fastened in the air.
[Illustration: THE SIDE LINE.]
The occasion which makes it imperative to apply the side line is, when the
hocks or hinder parts are examined. Many unbroken horses, though quiet in
other respects, will not allow these portions of the body to be touched.
By causing one leg to be advanced, the other is deprived of all power as a
weapon of offense. The horse would obviously fall, if he were to project
the only free hind member; and the timidity of the creature indisposes it
to incur so vast an indignity.
The other invention is the double side line. A rope is fixed to a loop
on either side. The loop or ring is attached to a soft collar. The rope
is afterward threaded through a hobble on each pastern. Both legs are
then gently pulled forward, and the animal, having its posterior supports
drawn from under it, comes to the earth. The ropes are held tight while
the horse is turned upon its back. The instant it is in that position,
somebody seats himself upon the head, while the body of the animal is
propped up by numerous trusses of straw.
[Illustration: THE DOUBLE SIDE LINE.]
This last is but an imperfect method of casting. In general it is rendered
still more cruel by the abuse to which it is subject. The ropes are
commonly pulled with an utter disregard to the living body upon which they
operate. The hind legs are often drawn to the shoulders, and frequently
additional cords are employed to make the poor creatures more distorted
and more fixed. Has man any cause to wonder at a horse being occasionally
what is called "vicious," when the unreasoning creature is thus fearfully
operated upon? Is it not rather a proof of the horse's intelligence that
it can recognize the cause of its suffering, and study ever after to repel
its tormentor?
Let the horse be thrown down after the admirable method introduced by Mr.
Rarey. Let it then be hobbled, and never, during the operation, hear any
sound but soothing accents. Animals do not understand words, but they are
quick readers of characteristics. The language itself these creatures may
not be able to literally interpret; but they comprehend all which the
manner conveys. When kindness is expressed, the meaning is felt, though
the verbiage be lost: it is astonishing how animals will enter into the
intention of speech! How home kind language seems to go to the ignorant
heart, and how true it is that a gentle word is never thrown away! It is
surprising to observe the affection by which the human race is surrounded;
they live and walk among animals eager for permission to adore them,
anxious to love and to serve them; but it is lamentable to see how an evil
spirit repels the feeling which pervades all nature.
There is another point upon which the writer presumes to offer advice.
Veterinary surgeons display ignorance in nothing more than in being
servile copyists. They do not view their sphere of science as a separate
and distinct branch. They always will strive to follow the example of
human practitioners even to particulars. There is no difference in the
dissecting knives used at the King's College and the Royal Veterinary
establishment, though bodies of different bulks are studied in each
school. The operating knives of most veterinary surgeons are ridiculously
small for such purposes. The consequence is, the animal is much longer
down than is absolutely necessary. The author has known one hour employed
in dressing a quittor; whereas six sinuses ought to be laid open and
dressed in less than five minutes. A vast deal of time is thus wasted;
although the opposition to Mr. Rarey's method of throwing will, doubtless,
be the length of time it would occupy. However, granting the objection;
which is the surgeon bound to consider--the welfare of his patient or his
own convenience? It is not every day that the gentleman who enjoys the
largest practice has to cast a horse. It is, in fact, a somewhat rare
and an exceptional occurrence. Could not the most engaged man devote an
occasional half hour to the benefit of his profession?
When operating upon living flesh, always have your knives rather too large
than in any measure too small. The work is performed quicker; besides, the
hands are kept at some distance from the wound, and the eyes thereby are
enabled to direct their movements. The probability of mistakes is thus
lessened, and no man, with a knife in his hand and bleeding flesh under
his eyes, has a right to expose himself to the possibility of an error
which, of course, is not to be erased or atoned for.
Should a horse, when under the knife, struggle, do not attempt to
contend with the animal. Immediately leave hold of your instruments, and
withdraw your person out of danger. Allow your knife, etc. to remain; it
will seldom be displaced, or, if cast out of the wound, can be easily
reintroduced; whereas, did you endeavor to snatch away or to retain your
hold, the most lamentable consequences might be the result.
[Illustration]
Another caution, and this part of the writer's office is concluded. When
you operate upon a leg, have that limb uppermost, unless your incision
is made upon the inner side. Have the foot placed upon a pillow or sack
stuffed with straw, and a strong webbing put around the hoof. The webbing
give to a man who is to pull at it. The dragging sensation renders the
horse inclined to retract the member; therefore place yourself in front of
the limb, or on the same side as the man who holds the webbing. The fore
leg, when advanced, cannot be readily employed as a weapon of offense, and
the hind limb is always, when used in defense, projected backward.
OPERATIONS--TRACHEOTOMY.
This operation is, perhaps, the most humane recourse of veterinary
surgery. Neurotomy may save the horse from greater and longer suffering;
but =tracheotomy= is performed, unlike the former operation, upon an
animal in an unconscious state. Difficult respiration, either from tumor
pressing upon the larynx, infiltration upon the lining membrane of the
larynx, or choking from various causes, produces imperfect oxygenation of
the blood. The vital current being impure, of course the brain which it
nurtures is not in a condition of health or activity. The consciousness
is impaired or altogether destroyed; and immediate relief is experienced
after the performance of the operation. The recovery is as rapid as the
previous symptoms were alarming. The altered aspect of the animal is as
though the body were resuscitated. In certain cases, where every breath is
drawn in pain, the ease afforded by tracheotomy is most marked. It makes
little difference to Nature, by what means the air is inhaled, so that a
sufficiency of diluted oxygen come in contact with the absorbing membrane
of the lungs. This, when the larynx is closed or diseased, tracheotomy
permits to be accomplished. It is equally beneficial, safe, and humane.
However ugly its description may read, it is in practice to be strongly
recommended.
The general fault with veterinary surgeons is the delay which commonly
pushes off the operation to the last moment. In this delay the proprietor
is, perhaps, equally or even more at fault. Hope leads the owner on to
the very last, and even then it is with reluctant horror that consent
is given "to cut the horse's throat." Such is the term by which certain
practitioners characterize tracheotomy; and though it is uttered merely
as a joke, yet it creates an impression which acts against a harmless
operation.
In agricultural districts, the veterinarian is frequently knocked up at
night by a messenger, who announces "Farmer Hodges's horse be a dying."
The farmer may live several miles off in the country; and the reluctant
sleeper hurries on his clothes to obey the implied summons.
In due time the pair reach farmer Hodge's homestead. It needs no finger
to point out the stable. The sound of laborious breathing effectually
notifies it. However, the practitioner, upon entrance into the place, is
horrified to find himself there with no better company than a boy and a
rapidly-sinking animal. The circumstances demand other assistance. The
horse doctor cannot help giving voice to his requirements. The lad hearing
this, says hastily he will fetch somebody very soon--hangs up the lantern
and vanishes into the darkness.
Minutes pass and no footfall greets the ear. The divisions of the hour
are struck by the village church, and still no sound of returning steps.
The animal becomes worse and worse. In its disabled state it fears to lie
down, as that position impedes the breathing. In its efforts to stand,
it reels about--now falling to one side and then to the other. Yet the
departed messenger does not return. The veterinarian finds the limits
of delay are passed: ten minutes more and the quadruped will be down.
He takes out his lancet. One foot from the breast-bone, and as near the
center of the neck as the rocking motion of the horse or the flickering
light of the lantern will allow him to aim, he plunges the blade deeply
into the flesh, if possible at one cut dividing the cartilages of the
trachea. He has little control over the incision. Frequently a gash
results from the tottering of the animal. Mostly he divides more than he
would have done had daylight and assistance been afforded him.
[Illustration: TRACHEOTOMY, AS PERFORMED UNDER DIFFICULTIES--A COMMON
OCCURRENCE.]
The incision being made, the fingers are thrust into the wound to keep
the division open. At first this may be difficult; but as time proceeds,
the standing of the horse becomes firmer and the breathing less noisy.
The veterinarian is, however, impatient at the delay and his enforced
position. He is just beginning to despair, when the messenger returns,
accompanied by a sleepy companion. Both are surprised at the condition of
the horse, and, not observing the wound, imagine the animal has been cured
by magic. However, to the demands of the equine medical attendant, nothing
like a tracheotomy tube is to be invented. At last the spout of the tea
kettle is thought of; and the good dame awakens in the morning to find her
kettle demolished and its spout thrust into the "plaguy horse's throat."
It is the curse of veterinary surgery, that nobody appears to understand
when an operation is required. The practitioner, therefore, is seldom
prepared for its performance. The circumstances allow him little time to
think, and none to return or to fetch the necessary instruments.
However, when he has proper time and choice, he should always make a free
incision through the skin and panniculus carnosus. Make this opening about
one-third up the neck, measuring from the chest. It is more general to
open the windpipe at a similar distance from the jaw, and, assuredly, the
superior incision has this advantage, that there is less to cut through.
But where no important nerves or vessels are endangered, surgery cares
little about the depth of a wound, the chief attention being given to the
probable after-consequences.
The superior portion of the neck is especially the seat of motion; it
varies with every turn and movement of the head. Hence the end of the tube
is apt to be brought into constant contact with the lining membrane of the
trachea, and horses have been slaughtered with huge tracheal abscesses, to
all appearance produced solely by wearing the tracheotomy tube.
To avoid this danger the author chooses for incision a spot nearer to the
chest, where the motion is less constant and not so varied. Even at this
last place all danger is not entirely surmounted, in consequence of which
a horse, while wearing a tracheotomy tube, should never be permitted to
feed from the ground.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM, SHOWING THE STRUCTURES TO BE INTERFERED WITH
DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF TRACHEOTOMY.
1. 1. The sterno-maxillares muscles--a pair--have to be separated, being
joined by fine cellular tissue.
2. The sterno-thyro-hyoidei muscles, lying under the first pair, also have
to be divided, being similarly united.
3. The trachea, which is fully exposed when the above muscles are
disunited.]
[Illustration: THE MANNER IN WHICH THE CARTILAGES OF THE TRACHEA ARE TO BE
EXCISED.]
At the commencement, when the operator has leisure, he generally does not
cut too deep. The first incision fairly divides the skin and panniculus
carnosus quite in the middle of the neck, and is rather longer than a
by-stander would deem to be absolutely necessary. The elasticity of the
skin will somewhat shorten the opening, while the torture of repeated
enlargements will be avoided, and the more important structures beneath
the skin will be fairly brought into view.
In the center of your division will appear two long muscles, joined
together by a fine cellular union; that union you are to separate; it
consists only of cellular tissue, and will necessitate more care than
exertion. Underneath the divided muscles will be found two others, smaller
and paler, but also joined together by means of fine cellular tissue.
These are also to be sundered, and then the trachea lies exposed. There
is neither nerve, nor artery, nor vein to avoid, nor to take up in the
performance of tracheotomy. All consists in making your primary incision
large enough, and, subsequently, in not attempting more than the division
of two pairs of muscles.
The commencement of the incision should be made at the spot already
indicated. After the skin is cut through and the muscles are divided, two
assistants should be obtained to hold them back, while a circular piece is
excised from the cartilages of the exposed trachea.
The trachea is formed of numerous cartilaginous rings each half an inch
wide, but so united by elastic tissue that the whole forms one continuous
tube reaching from the head to the chest of a horse. If possible, only two
of these rings are to be interfered with; that is, a half circle, should
be cut out of each, which, with the elastic connecting medium, will make
an opening of one inch in diameter. Both the rings, however, should be
perfectly divided; but a half circle should be excised from one, leaving
a portion of cartilage to keep the remainder in its place. This matter,
probably, may be made more clear by the engraving on the opposite page.
After the first half circle is made, or when a portion is cut off the
first cartilage, that piece should be bent outward. The elastic connecting
substance will readily permit this to be done, and the current of fresh
air admitted will considerably refresh the animal. The cartilage being
bent outward, it should be leisurely transfixed by means of a sharp needle
armed with strong twine. The string may be fastened to the button-hole of
the operator's waistcoat, and afterward the circle be leisurely completed.
The twine is necessary because the spasmodic breathing has drawn the
excised portion of cartilage upon the lungs, and thereby done as much
mischief as the operator designed to do good. By bending the half circle
outward, some relief is afforded to the breathing, and the character of
the respiration partially benefited. The process is, however, rendered
more safe by the employment of the loop; but care should be taken, when
subsequently using the knife, not to cut the string. Therefore, before the
circle is completed, the cartilage should be bent backward, as shown in
the previous engraving, then laid hold of, and, when firmly grasped, the
excision ought to be perfected.
A tube has to be worn afterward; this is put into the opening, and
fastened in by means of a strap or tape passed round the neck. There are
many tubes sold by the instrument makers for this purpose; the majority,
however, are far too large. None should be beyond one inch in diameter.
The horse only requires to inhale part of the air through the canula,
the remainder coming, as before, through the larynx. A free space of one
inch is, therefore, plenty to admit the deficient oxygen; for no animal
could live through an operation, were air, previous to its commencement or
during its continuance, altogether excluded.
[Illustration: MR. T. W. GOWING'S TRACHEOTOMY TUBE.
A. The canula, with a shifting shield, armed with the pointed trocar.
B. The trocar withdrawn from the canula, showing its peculiar construction.
C. The canula fitted into the horse's trachea, showing how the movable
shield may be adapted, by means of a screw, to the size of the horse or
the swollen condition of the parts.]
The best instrument for hasty and temporary tracheotomy is the invention
of Mr. T. W. Gowing, of Camden Town. To insert this canula no cartilage
need be excised; a puncture is made with a knife through the connecting
medium of the tracheal rings, and through this puncture the tube is
driven. It is of all use for temporary or immediate service, but obviously
would not do for a continuance.
The objection to tracheotomy, when designed to last for any period, is
that the canula, by irritating the lining membrane of the larynx, is apt
to provoke abscess, which impedes the breathing to a degree that destroys
the life. The author has seen some fearful instances of this effect; but
of all tubes, that invented by the French seems to be least open to this
objection.
OPERATIONS--PERIOSTEOTOMY.
[Illustration:
A PAIR OF ROWELING SCISSORS, FOR MAKING SMALL INCISIONS THROUGH THE
HORSE'S SKIN.
]
[Illustration: A SETON NEEDLE ARMED WITH A TAPE, _A_, AND FIXED INTO A
HOLLOW HANDLE BY MEANS OF A SCREW, _B_.]
[Illustration: A BLUNT SETON NEEDLE.]
[Illustration: A TUMOR BEING CUT WITH A PROBE-POINTED KNIFE.]
This operation was first applied to the horse by the late Professor
Sewell. It is intended to relieve the lameness consequent upon exostosis
situated on the shin-bone. A pair of roweling scissors are first employed
to snip the skin above and below the tumor. Then a blunt seton needle,
being fixed into a hollow handle by means of a screw, and armed with a
tape knotted at one end, is to be used. The needle is violently driven
through, and breaks down the cellular tissue which attaches the skin
to the tumor. The point is forced to enter at one snip and come out at
the other, after which the needle is withdrawn by the first opening. A
probe-pointed knife is then introduced into the space thus made; the tumor
is sliced into as many pieces as may please the operator or the nature
of the growth will admit of. The knife is afterward retracted, and the
needle, released from the handle, is passed through the openings, or in at
one snip and out at the other. The knot at the end of the tape prevents
that being drawn after the needle. The unknotted end is next withdrawn
from the needle and tied into a large knot--the whole forming a seton. The
operation is occasionally varied by smearing the tape with terebinthinate
of cantharides, and sometimes by blistering over tumor, seton and all.
This last practice may add to the severity of the operation, but it seems
calculated to do little good. Breaking down the attachment of the skin and
slicing the tumor appear designed to deprive the growth of blood, while a
blister seems calculated to draw to the part an excess of that which the
operation was intended to dispel.
[Illustration:
A HORSE'S LEG WITH TWO SNIPS UPON IT, _c c_, OUT OF WHICH HANG THE
TWO KNOTTED ENDS OF A SETON, _D D_.
]
=Periosteotomy= is not very highly esteemed by the vast majority of
practitioners. It is, however, sometimes very successful. A horse is
thrown, being dead lame; the animal gets up from the hands of the surgeon
and trots sound. It is difficult, however, to predicate the quadruped
on which it will thus act. Certainly the operation is best adapted to
young horses; but even to all of these it will not prove beneficial.
It is therefore looked upon as a surgical experiment, quite as apt to
disappoint as to please. The seton, moreover, is disposed to cause the
edges of the holes through which it passes to indurate. A blemish which it
takes some months to eradicate is the consequence; and this, added to the
expense attendant upon treatment, is not apt to prove pleasing to horse
proprietors, especially when the operation altogether fails.
A modification of periosteotomy might perhaps be tried. Omit the seton
altogether; make an inferior snip with the scissors; introduce a
sharp-pointed needle, and cut a channel. Then insert a probe-pointed
bistoury, and incise the tumor. If periosteotomy were to prove successful,
it probably would be so in this shape. The author has seen small benefit
result from the after-use of the seton, and by operating in the manner
proposed all the subsequent blemish would be avoided. The cut would soon
heal and leave no scar behind: thus the grand objection to the performance
of periosteotomy, as it now stands, would be removed.
The motive for the above proposal is to spare the suffering of the animal.
If the hair is cut short previously, and pressure made above the snip of
the scissors, the wound need occasion little pain. A sharp point cutting
its way through the cellular tissue would not cause one tithe of the
agony which follows the use of a blunt instrument necessarily tearing,
stretching, and breaking a passage through a living body. Cartilage or
bone in a state of health has small sensibility. The employment of the
knife would therefore provoke no struggle, while all the after-torture of
a seton applied directly to the surface of a wound would be avoided.
Perhaps it would be best to bind a broad tape, with a cork under it and
upon the vessels, round the leg before the operation, thereby pressing
on the nerve and cutting off the supply of blood. This would probably
deprive the leg of all sensation. The most severe part of this method of
periosteotomy would be the after-consequences. The incised tumor would
inflame; the vacant channel would have to unite. The one would occasion
agony, the other be probably attended with violent itching. The limb,
therefore, should be bandaged, even though a wound upon the horse's body
does not do so well when covered up. The bandage, however, will prevent
the animal from injuring the sore leg with the opposite shoe, which a
horse may be provoked to attempt by that irritation which attends the
healing process.
OPERATIONS--NEUROTOMY.
=Neurotomy= is the division of the nerve which supplies the hoof of the
fore leg with sensation. The foot of the horse being moved through tendons
by muscles from above, and having in itself no muscular power, obviously
has no occasion for a motor nerve. Consequently the nerve running to the
foot is wholly sentient. It is the means of communication through which
pain or pleasure is transmitted from the hoof to the brain.
To take away a portion of this nerve is evidently to separate the medium
of such communication. Feeling can no more travel along a divided nerve
than electricity can along a broken wire. The knowledge of this fact has
led to a portion of the nerve being excised; and the doing of this has
been named neurotomy.
A nerve is a very compound structure. It is composed of numerous fine
filaments or small threads bound together by a cellular sheath called
neurilema. Healthy nerve feels firm, and has a brilliant white appearance;
unhealthy nerve is of a yellowish tint, and is of a less solid texture.
The operation of neurotomy is certain relief, but that relief is of
uncertain duration. The divided nerve, after a time, reunites. The
junction thus formed carries on all the functions of the perfect
structure; but a bulb is left behind at the place of union. This bulb is
to be easily felt by pressing upon the seat of neurotomy externally with
the points of the fingers; and the bulb being felt leads to a knowledge
that the horse has been subjected to the operation. Neurotomy, therefore,
can never be concealed, if pains are bestowed upon its detection. The
operation, however, is not successful in every case.
In some animals, the wound has just closed when junction seems to be
formed between the divided ends of the nerve. The lameness then returns as
acutely as ever.
In others, the horse will proceed to work, and continue sound ever
after--the restored power to use the foot having, in the last case,
seemingly destroyed the affection.
Some animals are subjected to operation so late that disease has had time
to weaken the pedal structures. The consequence is that no sooner does the
absence of feeling tempt the horse to throw his entire weight upon the
foot than the navicular bone fractures or the perforans tendon ruptures.
Certain horses, from a tingling sensation in the neurotomized
foot--similar to that felt by men in the imaginary fingers of an arm which
has been amputated--will stamp violently till they injure it and provoke
suppuration; while other feet are so irritable that the head is bent
downward and large pieces from the hoof literally bitten off. To account
for this last circumstance the reader must remember that, though the foot
seems to itch, it in reality has no sensation to preserve it from the
teeth of the provoked animal.
Cases occasionally happen of horses having picked up nails, or having
incurred wounds in the foot, which, being deprived of feeling, the animal
wanted the power to recognize. No lameness was exhibited, and the injury
was necessarily unattended to. The foot has been left alone till the hurt
has induced mortification.
Weak feet have not been able to endure the consequences of operation. They
have sustained no external injury, but the heaviness of tread attendant on
a loss of sensation has so battered the senseless member that suppuration
has been induced. The hoof has therefore been cast off and the horse been
destroyed, although it was discovered in the stable standing with the
utmost composure upon the bleeding and exposed flesh.
These are a few of the disagreeables attending a most humane and
successful operation. The first requisite for the performance of neurotomy
is a sound knowledge of anatomy. A familiar acquaintance with the course
of the nerve is essential. It descends in two main branches from the knee,
one on either side of the leg. It travels in company with and behind the
artery and vein on the inner side of the fore limb. On the outer side it
is accompanied by no vessel. About the center of the leg, however, the two
nerves are united by a branch which travels over the perforans tendon,
connecting the sentient fibers of either side. It is therefore essential,
in the performance of neurotomy, to make the primary incision rather
low down, especially if it is meant that the high operation should be
accomplished, or that all sensation should be destroyed on one side by a
single division.
At the pastern the nerve divides; the posterior branch runs direct to
the frog. The anterior branch travels in front of the artery for some
distance, when it takes a more forward course, dividing into several
separate branches.
The generality of operators remove about an inch of the main trunk before
the nerve divides, or above the pastern; and the result certainly confirms
the soundness of such a practice.
The nerve of the frog is, however, frequently excised. The objection to
this is the junction of a filament of the anterior branch with the nerve
below the excision. That union should deprive the operation of all effect;
but, notwithstanding, the division is sometimes beneficial. The operation
is, however, never certain; and to that circumstance the proprietor must
make up his mind when he sanctions its performance.
[Illustration: THE COURSE OF THE NERVE EXPOSED.
_a._ Denotes the nerve of the frog.]
Always examine minutely any horse submitted to you for neurotomy. Do this
to discover if the operation has been previously performed--the object
being that you may thereby be prepared for some trouble in mastering the
retentive consciousness of the animal; likewise, that by such inquiries
you may decide upon the benefit likely to result from the operation; also,
that you may be warned of a bloody and tedious job. The leg which has
previously been subjected to neurotomy becomes doubly vascular. We know of
no reason to account for this phenomenon, excepting it may denote the cost
at which nature repairs her higher order of structures.
[Illustration: A HORIZONTAL INCISION, WITH THE HAIR CLIPPED ABOVE THE
OPENING.]
[Illustration: A PERPENDICULAR INCISION, WITH THE HAIR CUT OFF ABOVE AND
ON THE SIDES OF THE WOUND.]
Before you consent to operate upon any animal, examine the feet. If the
hoof is weak or even weakly, refuse at once. If the hoof be strong and
thick, the wall upright, and the frog small, you may consent, with the
best hopes of success. Have such a horse put into the stable, and the
diseased foot or feet kept wet for a week prior to the operation. This
frequently has the effect of constringing the arteries, greatly depriving
the part of blood. That result renders the use of the knife more cleanly
and more easy. Two days prior to the important one have the hair cut short
over the place or places where you design to make your incisions. By so
doing, all chance of hair getting into and irritating the wound will be
effectually destroyed. This may happen, and, should the hair be left on,
much delay will be occasioned, while the animal's sufferings must be
augmented if the hair be clipped after the horse is down for operation.
[Illustration: THE MODE OF FASTENING BACK THE SIDE OF A PERPENDICULAR
WOUND.]
Never operate upon a horse with the hair uncut--leave that to parties
who league with the lowest class of horse-cheats. Cut off hair two days
beforehand. Make an incision through the skin about three-quarters to one
inch long. Have a needle and thread ready--a strong surgeon's needle and
a stout twine. Pierce the divided skin from the inside to the outside,
leaving a moderate piece of twine hanging out of the wound. Carry the
twine under the leg, and pierce the integument on the other margin of the
wound--also from the interior to the exterior. Then bring the piece of
twine left hanging out of the first puncture and the needle together, at
the back of the leg. Slightly tighten the twine; fasten these two ends in
a bow, and the effect will be to keep the sides of the incision asunder.
If you design to perform the high operation, choose a spot a little
above the pastern, and incise the skin at one cut, if possible. The
high operation is most approved of for general purposes, and, as before
remarked, destroys sensation in the entire hoof. Some proprietors think
it well to leave a little feeling in the forward portion of the foot,
which is free from disease. This is done to escape those results that have
already been enumerated as the effects of total insensibility. The high
operation is, therefore, performed only on one side, and the posterior or
low division on the other. There are two spots at which the low operation
may be accomplished. The author has given the reader a representation of
the anatomy of the leg. He presents a view on page 455, of the places
where the incisions can be made.
Either of the lower operations, regarded by itself, is very uncertain in
its effect; and, if taken both together, they present no advantage over
the superior opening.
These remarks may be better comprehended, by comparing this engraving
with the course of the nerve shown in the previous illustration.
When the skin is divided--supposing the horse is neurotomized for the
first time--nothing is visible but white-looking cellular tissue. This
must be carefully dissected away with a pair of forceps and a scalpel.
Dissect on until the nerve and artery are exposed plainly to view.
Then take a crooked needle and thread. Pierce the nerve--this you may
do fearlessly. The author has not known it to produce pain. The fibers
composing the nerve are so fine that the needle's point is blunt when
compared with them. It, therefore, glides through them without pricking
any of the filaments.
[Illustration:
The superior opening represents the place where one side of the foot
may be deprived of sensation by a single division.
The two middle incisions denote the part where either the fore
or after portion of the foot may, perhaps, be rendered void of
sensation.
The two inferior cuts suggest the situations where, probably, the
parts of the foot toward which the incisions point may be made
insensible.
]
If the horse has been operated upon before, you must expect a tedious
and sanguinary business. It is then of all importance to obtain a very
attentive and equally nimble man to take the sponge. Blood will follow
every movement of the knife. However, with each cut you must retract the
hand, and the man who has care of the sponge must quickly, surely, and
forcibly cleanse the wound. When the sponge is withdrawn, for an instant,
and for an instant only, is there a clear view of the part. The operator
must be ready to make the most of that glimpse; for, the next moment,
blood flows over the lips of the orifice and all is concealed from view.
Thus we proceed, rather snipping than cutting, taking away particles
instead of flakes of cellular tissue, till the nerve is exposed. Then it
is fixed with the needle as before directed.
The nerve being caught, withdraw the needle, leaving the thread behind.
Tie both ends of the thread together, and insert the first finger of your
left hand into the loop thus formed. By gentle traction raise the nerve a
little, and with the knife release its inferior attachments. Then let the
man who held the sponge make pressure with all his force upon the artery
and nerve _above_ the incision. After this has been done about a minute,
and by the stoppage of the circulation you may conclude the sensation to
be in some degree numbed, insert the blade of the knife under that portion
of the nerve which is nearest the body, and cut boldly upward.
[Illustration: THE LOOP RAISING THE NERVE WHILE THE KNIFE LOOSENS ITS
INFERIOR ATTACHMENTS.]
A spasm mostly follows the division; but it is of short duration.
Afterward dissect about one inch of the nerve from its attachments, and
remove this inch from the main trunk. No sign of feeling will follow the
excision when made lower down. All communication with the brain has been
cut off by the previous division, and the sensorium no longer takes notice
of any violence offered to that part of the body which has been isolated.
[Illustration: THE BEST WAY TO CLOSE THE WOUND CONSEQUENT UPON NEUROTOMY.]
Next, having sponged the part, close the wound by means of a pin forced
through the lips of the orifice. Then twist a little tow round it in
the form of a figure of 8. That being finished, so much of the point as
protrudes is to be removed with a pair of wire nippers; a bandage is then
put on; and, if both sides of the limb are to be neurotomized, the horse
is turned over. All being accomplished, return the horse to the stable,
but watch the pin which fastens the wound. If the incision continues
dry, the pin may not be removed till six days have expired; but if the
slightest appearance of pus be suspected, immediately withdraw the pin,
and remove the tow, treating the part with solution of chloride of zinc,
as though it were a common wound.
There are various knives invented for the performance of neurotomy.
That the writer most approves of was the invention of Mr. Woodger, the
admirably practical veterinary surgeon of Bishops Mews, Paddington. The
author has used this instrument himself, and seen it guided by other
hands. In every case it has expedited the operation and thereby shortened
the period of the animal's suffering.
[Illustration: MR. WOODGER'S NEUROTOMY KNIFE.
To use this instrument.--After the nerve is raised, insert the
crooked point, with the edge toward the body of the horse; then
drive the knife forward. By this simple means the cutting portion of
the blade is brought violently in contact with the nerve, which is
excised at the proper point, and about an inch is left hanging out
below the incision.
]
The after-treatment of neurotomy consists in letting well alone, if all
goes on rightly. Should pus make its appearance, bathe the wounds, thrice
daily, with the solution of chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce of
water. Remove the bandages from the legs after the horse has entered the
stable. The incisions heal more readily when exposed to the stimulating
effects of the air. Place a cradle round the horse's neck, and feed
liberally. Avoid all purgative medicine; you now want an injury repaired,
and do not desire to reduce the vital energy.
[Illustration: THE AWKWARD TREAD OF A HORSE WHEN NEWLY NEUROTOMIZED.]
When the wounds have healed, the horse may be gradually taken once more to
work, but it should not be fully used. Excessive and too early labor is
the cause of the many serious objections taken to a merciful operation.
The horse for some period does not feel his foot. He does not flex the
pastern as the hoof nears the ground. The foot is placed flat upon the
earth, and with a kind of sensible jar, as though the animal had made "a
false step." This peculiarity unfits the quadruped to trot upon stones, or
hard roads, until it has learned "to handle its feet," or to accommodate
the tread to the new condition of the hoof.
OPERATIONS--DIVISION OF THE TENDONS.
Many horses when standing knuckle over to such an extent as threatens
to throw them upon their knees. Others can only put the toe of the hind
leg to the ground. The natural use of the limb is equally injured in
each case: the fore legs of the horse support the body and the burden:
the hind legs propel the carcass and the load. Both are deformed by
contraction of the perforans tendon; and both deformities are generally
produced by excessive labor, inducing strain, though a few cases have come
to the author's knowledge of animals being born thus afflicted. When we
contemplate the huge frame of the horse, it seems more than fitted for all
man's ordinary purposes. But country carriers have vans proportioned only
to the extent of their custom; their carts are enlarged as their trade
increases; but very seldom is the power which draws the load augmented
in the same proportion. The horse, so agile and so beautiful, as long as
it can move the cart is esteemed to be not over-weighted. It labors up
hill, and then the carrier congratulates himself that the worst of the
work is over; it may be for him, but it is not for his horse. All the
stress in going down hill lies upon the back sinews; the animal has to
put forth all its strength to check the downward impetus of the load. It
is the same with other horses in the shafts of other vehicles. Three or
four animals--according to the usual English fashion--may be attached to
a load; but the weight which three strengths can draw upon level ground,
when descending an inequality, then, never bears equally upon the leaders.
Clap of the back sinews is a common accident with all horses. The equine
delight is the pleasure of the master. So entirely is the horse the slave
of man, that it, by instinct, puts forth its utmost strength to attain
anything in which its owner takes enjoyment. It does so regardless of its
own probable sufferings. In racing, in hunting, in all kinds of pastime
the horse will strain every nerve and even burst its strong vessels
laboring to gratify an ungrateful proprietor. Who does not remember the
old coaching days? The animals then appeared happy in their vocation. A
well-appointed coach, trotting by the White Horse Cellar, was a sight
to contemplate. However, follow the vehicle to the termination of the
first stage. See the poor panting carcasses unharnessed--the perspiration
lathering their sides, their veins swelling, their tails quivering, their
nostrils jerking, and their limbs stiffened. Who then could regret that
railroads were invented to indulge man's desire for speed? See, as the
coach leaves the metropolis behind it, the cattle deteriorate. At last,
behold life with swollen legs, stiff joints, and diseased feet made to
propel the loaded vehicle. Who, properly regarding such a spectacle, and
having a heart to feel, does not rejoice that a method of traveling has at
length been invented which renders the employment of the lash to overcome
the agonies of breathing flesh no longer imperative?
These fast abuses induced contraction of the perforans tendon in the
front legs. There is, however, this difference between contraction in the
anterior and posterior extremities--one hind leg only may be affected;
but the author remembers no instance of one fore leg being alone involved.
When a tendon is sprained, it is usual to apply stimulating or fiery
mixtures to that part, winding up the treatment with blisters and the
heated iron. Notwithstanding such measures are very seldom successful,
man seems incapable of learning anything where another has to bear the
torture, and he will often endure a great deal of agony himself before an
obvious idea can be awakened.
Such slowness is, however, very lamentable in the case of the horse.
=Division of the tendons= was borrowed from the human surgeon by the
veterinary practitioner. The operation, however, till very lately,
remained as it was originally adopted. Human surgery had advanced; but
veterinary practice stood motionless. At length, Mr. Varnell came from
America, and instructed veterinarians in an improved mode of operating,
which at this date should be universally practiced.
[Illustration:
THE KNIFE EMPLOYED BY MR. VARNELL, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT THE ROYAL
VETERINARY COLLEGE.
]
[Illustration: THE POSITION OF THE LEG WHEN THE KNIFE IS INSERTED.]
A stout knife with a probed point, a curved blade, and a smooth, rounded
back, is first obtained. Before the blade is inserted, the skin is
divided, at the point selected for the operation, by the slight puncture
of a lancet.
The leg is then flexed; the tendons are, by the position of the limb,
rendered flaccid. The knife is next inserted sideways, behind the nerve
and artery, under the tendons. This last act is not, however, in practice,
very easy or very safe.
The edge of the knife is now toward the shoulder or haunch, and the
vessels lie upon that side of the blade which is nearest to the bone. The
operator now, by a simple motion of the hand, turns the cutting edge of
the knife toward the posterior part of the limb. A man at the same moment
takes hold of the leg and forces it straight; the perforans tendon is
thus dragged against the knife, while the suspensory ligament and vessels
are safe at the back of the blade. If the tendon be not divided without
any effort on the part of the operator, he makes a sawing motion as he
withdraws the knife. A slight sensation or a feeble sound often testifies
the separation of the structure.
[Illustration: THE TENDON DIVIDED.]
Often, if the contraction be not chronic, the strength of the extensor
pedis muscle, when released from its opponent's force, is sufficient to
straighten the fetlock. When the disease, however, has existed for any
time, it requires some violence to break down the false attachments which
have been formed. For this purpose the knee of a strong man is placed in
front of the fetlock-joint, and the horse's foot is, by pulling hard,
drawn forward.
The wound is then closed with a pin and twisted thread, as in neurotomy,
and the animal, till junction is perfected, should be kept in the stable,
as the shoe to be worn afterward is not favorable to progression. One week
after the operation, a shoe, with a projecting piece at the toe about one
inch and a half long, is to be put on the foot of the diseased limb. Five
weeks after this, the shoe is to be replaced by one having the projecting
point twice as long; and this last is to be worn till union is supposed to
be perfected--till the expiration of three months at least.
[Illustration:
THE SHOE TO BE WORN ONE WEEK AFTER DIVISION OF THE TENDON HAS BEEN
ACCOMPLISHED.
]
[Illustration:
THE SHOE TO BE PUT ON SIX WEEKS AFTER DIVISION OF THE TENDON, AND TO
BE WORN UNTIL UNION IS PERFECTED.
]
The horse, after having the tendon divided, is said to be as strong as
ever. The author would, however, object to such an animal being put into
the shafts with even a light load behind it, or to its being again used
for saddle purposes. The animal, though forbidden these uses, has still a
large field of service open to it.
This operation is alike effectual and humane. That the last assertion may
not appear based upon a single opinion, the author presents the reader
with an engraving taken from a park near Lewes. That animal seemed to
have all four limbs contracted, or the hind limbs were flexed and much
advanced, to take the weight off the fore members. A foal ran by the side
of the creature thus crippled; though it would be supposed no sane person
would select such a dam to breed from.
[Illustration]
Now had this mare been operated upon, slight pain would have been
inflicted. Tendon, unless in a state of inflammation, has no sensation.
Relief would have been afforded for the remainder of the life, and though,
from her make and shape, the animal might never have held a high station
among her breed, still, with straight legs she must have been worth as
much for work as with bent limbs she could be valuable for stock purposes.
LAYING OPEN THE SINUSES OF A QUITTOR.
Give no opening medicine to any horse previous to this operation. Every
member of the equine race is more likely to be too low from excess of
work, than in any degree inflammatory from over-indulgence. Therefore,
discard the general practice of preparing the horse with a dose of
compound aloes. If the bowels are costive, get them open. But before
employing the drastic drug, try what bran mashes and green-meat can
effect. The entire strength will be needed to repair the injuries effected
with the knife.
Give tonics and high feeding where the symptoms declare the body to be
enervated. It is at all times better to operate upon a system having a
superabundance of vital energy than upon one in which the powers are at
all tardy. Collapse is the greatest enemy the surgeon has to dread. It is
true, animals do not, like men, often "shut up" or die while under the
operator; but frequently the most skillful surgery is defeated by the
horse, after it has been released from the hobbles, never thriving. There
may be no disease to be detected; but the body seems to want the strength
requisite for recovery. To make this apparent to the reader--two gentlemen
shall each perform neurotomy. One shall bungle, yet his patient shall
do well. The wounds shall heal by the first intention, and the horse in
a fortnight be again delighting its owner. The other shall display the
perfection of scientific attainment; yet the horse shall never thrive. The
wounds shall ulcerate, and the animal either gnaw the foot or cast the
hoof. How can such differences be accounted for but by believing the horse
is subject to a peculiar species of chronic collapse?
Rasp the quarter of the horse's foot which has =quittor=, until the soft,
light-colored horn of the laminæ is exposed. Then let the hair be cut off
around the opening on the coronet, and the foot be carefully cleansed.
Afterward throw the horse. Release the quittored leg from the hobbles,
and with a steel director probe each sinus. So soon as the instrument is
well in, take a sharp-pointed knife and run it carefully down the groove
of the director. Then ascertain, with a grooved probe, whether the sinus
decreased in diameter, or whether the whole extent of the pipe be laid
open. If the smallest portion remains, to which the knife has not reached,
use the groove of the probe as a director, and slit it up. Do this to as
many sinuses as may exist.
Next place in each sinus a small piece of tow. These pieces of tow should
be already divided into short and thin skeins. They should be saturated
with chloride of zinc dissolved in spirits of wine, one scruple to the
ounce. Put one of these into each sinus, and let the horse up. In three
days such of the pieces of tow as have not been removed by the sloughing
process may be taken from the wounds, and the foot simply dressed with
chloride of zinc and water, one grain to the ounce, squeezed from a
sponge, as in the case of open joint.
[Illustration: THE QUARTER RASPED BENEATH THE OPENING OF A QUITTOR.]
[Illustration: THE SINUSES OF A QUITTOR BEING OPERATED UPON.]
This operation, when described, reads abhorrent; but it is really most
humane. It is a common thing for a horse to be three, or even six months
under treatment, on account of an ordinary quittor. During the entire
space, the foot--the tenderest part of the horse's body--is burned with
violent caustics, and has had heated wires thrust down its sinuses. By
the operation proposed, the affair is settled in a few minutes. The horse
seldom evinces much sensibility while the knife is being employed; in
three days the animal is so far recovered as to allow the diseased member
almost to be left to nature. The horse should, however, on no account do
any work before the hoof is in some measure restored. Until the outer
covering of dark horn has grown down, a bar shoe, well eased off the
diseased quarter, should be worn. When the hoof is reproduced, instead of
false quarter or other deformities, the usual results of quittor, it is
all but impossible to decide which has been the affected foot, and which
was operated upon.
* * * * *
The author has now stated at length that treatment which the horse for its
own sake deserves, and which, for the honor of the being whom it serves,
the animal should receive. He has, designedly, rather appealed to the
reason of his readers than sought to enlist their feelings. The subject
was, indeed, a wide one. Man has hitherto been too content to consider
animals as something given absolutely to him to be treated according to
his sovereign will or merest pleasure. He has not reflected that, when he
was created lord of this earth, he was invested with a title which had its
responsibilities as well as its privileges.
[Illustration]
ALPHABETICAL SUMMARY.
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE FOREGOING MATTER, ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.
This abbreviation is made for the purpose of hasty consultation, when
the symptoms exhibited by the horse are so urgent as will not allow the
owner to refer to the body of the book. That, however, he is earnestly
recommended to do after the first anxiety has subsided; because what
follows is to be regarded only as notes of cases, and by no means to be
viewed as a substitute for the more detailed descriptions of diseases and
their treatment.
ABSCESS OF THE BRAIN.
_Cause._--Some injury to the head.
_Symptoms._--Dullness; refusal to feed; a slight oozing from a trivial
injury upon the skull; prostration, and the animal, while on the ground,
continues knocking the head violently against the earth until death ensues.
_Treatment._--None of any service.
ABDOMINAL INJURIES.
_Ruptured Diaphragm_ generally produces a soft cough; sitting on
the haunches or leaning on the chest may or may not be present; the
countenance is haggard.
_Ruptured Spleen_ answers to the tests described under "Hemorrhage of the
Liver."
_Ruptured Stomach_ is characterized by excessive colic, followed by
tympanitis.
_Introsusception_ possibly may be relieved by the inhalation of a full
dose of chloroform; but the result is always uncertain.
_Invagination_ is attended with the greatest possible agony.
_Strangulation_ is not to be distinguished, during life, from invagination.
_Calculus_ causes death by impactment; but however different the causes
of abdominal injury may be, they each produce the greatest agony, which
conceals the other symptoms, and makes all such injuries apparently the
same while the life lasts.
ACITES, OR DROPSY OF THE ABDOMEN.
_Cause._--Chronic peritonitis.
_Symptoms._--Pulse hard; head pendulous; food often spoiled; membranes
pallid; mouth dry. Pressure to abdomen elicits a groan; turning in
the stall calls forth a grunt. Want of spirit; constant lying down;
restlessness; thirst; loss of appetite; weakness; thinness; enlarged
abdomen; constipation and hide-bound. Small bags depend from the chest and
belly; the sheath and one leg sometimes enlarge; the mane breaks off; the
tail drops out. Purgation and death.
_Treatment._--When the symptoms first appear give, night and morning,
strychnia, half a grain, worked up to one grain; iodide of iron, half a
drachm, worked up to one drachm and a half; extract of belladonna, one
scruple; extract of gentian and powdered quassia, of each a sufficiency;
apply small blisters, in rapid succession, upon the abdomen: but if the
effusion is confirmed, a cure is hopeless.
ACUTE DYSENTERY.
_Cause._--Some acrid substance taken into the stomach.
_Symptoms._--Abdominal pain; violent purgation; the feces become
discolored, and water fetid; intermittent pulse; haggard countenance; the
position characterizes the seat of anguish. Perspiration, tympanitis, and
death.
_Treatment._--Give sulphuric ether, one ounce; laudanum, three ounces;
liquor potassæ, half an ounce; powdered chalk, one ounce; tincture of
catechu, one ounce; cold linseed tea, one pint. Repeat every fifteen
minutes. Cleanse the quarters; plait the tail; inject cold linseed tea.
The whole of the irritating substance must be expelled before improvement
can take place.
ACUTE GASTRITIS.
_Cause._--Poison; generally given to improve the coat.
_Symptoms._--Excessive pain, resembling fury.
_Treatment._--Give, as often and as quickly as possible, the following
drink: Sulphuric ether and laudanum, of each three ounces; carbonate of
magnesia, soda, or potash, four ounces; gruel, (_quite cold_,) one quart.
Should the pulse be sinking, add to the drink carbonate of ammonia, one
drachm. If corrosive sublimate is known to be the poison, one dozen raw
eggs should be blended with each drench. If delirium be present, give the
medicine as directed for tetanus, with the stomach pump.
ACUTE LAMINITIS.
_Cause._--Often man's brutality. Horses driven far and upon hard roads are
exposed to the disorder. Any stress long applied to the foot, as standing
in the hold of a ship, may generate the affection.
_Symptoms._--The pace seems odd toward the end of the journey; but the
horse is placed in the stable with plenty of food for the night. Next
morning the animal is found all of a heap. Flesh quivering; eyes glaring;
nostrils distended, and breath jerking; flanks tucked up; back roached;
head erect; mouth closed; hind legs advanced under the belly; fore legs
pushed forward; fore feet resting upon the heels, and the limbs moved as
though the horse were dancing upon hot irons.
_Treatment._--Put on the slings in silence. To the end of the cords append
weights. Soak the feet in warm water, in which a portion of alkali is
dissolved. Cut out the nails from the softened horn. Before the shoes are
removed give half a drachm of belladonna and fifteen grains of digitalis,
and repeat the dose every half hour until the symptoms abate. When the
slings are up, open the jugular vein; abstract one quart of blood, and
inject one pint of luke-warm water. Clothe the body; place thin gruel and
green-meat within reach, and leave two men to watch for the first three
nights.
Next morning give sulphuric ether and laudanum, of each two ounces, in a
pint of water. Should the pastern arteries throb, open the veins and place
the feet in warm water. While the affection lasts, pursue these measures;
and it is a bad symptom, though not a certain one, if no change for the
better takes place in five days.
ALBUMINOUS URINE.
_Cause._--Unknown.
_Symptoms._--These consist of the positions assumed by the horse. The legs
are either stretched out or the hind feet are brought under the body.
Straddling gait, and much difficulty in turning within the stall. Some
urine being caught, it is thick, and answers to certain chemical tests.
_Treatment._--Bleed moderately; give a laxative, and apply mustard to the
loins. As after-measures, perfect rest, attention to diet, and repeated
doses of opium.
APHTHA.
_Cause._--Unknown.
_Symptoms._--Small swelling on the lips; larger swellings upon the tongue.
As the disease progresses, a clear liquid appears in each swelling. The
bladders burst, crusts form, and the disease disappears.
_Treatment._--Soft food, and the following wash for the mouth: Take borax,
five ounces; honey or treacle, two pints; water, one gallon. Mix.
BLOOD SPAVIN.
A disease never encountered at the present time.
BOG SPAVIN.
_Cause._--Brutality of some kind.
_Symptom._--A puffy swelling at the front of and at the upper part of the
hock.
_Treatment._--Pressure, maintained by means of an India-rubber bandage.
BOTS.
_Cause._--Turning out to grass.
_Treatment._--No remedy. Wait till the following year, and the parasites
will be ejected naturally.
BREAKING DOWN.
_Cause._--Violent exertion; generally when racing.
_Symptoms._--The horse, when going, suddenly loses power to put one
leg to the ground. The foot is turned upward; pain excessive; breathing
quickened; pulse accelerated; appetite lost. In time these symptoms abate,
but the leg is disabled for life.
_Treatment._--Bleed and purge, or not, as the symptoms are severe. Place a
linen bandage round the injury, and see that this is kept constantly cold
and wet; put on a high-heeled shoe, and leave the issue to nature. The
animal is afterward serviceable only to breed from.
BROKEN KNEES.
_Causes._--Terrifying a horse, or rendering alive only to fear. Pulling in
the chin to the breast, or driving with a tight bearing-rein.
_Symptoms._--The horse falls; the knee may only be slightly broken, but
deeply contused. A slough must then take place, and open joint may result.
Or the animal may fall, and, when down, be driven forward by the impetus
of its motion. The knee is cut by the fall, and the skin of the knee may
be forced back by the onward impulse. This skin will become dirty; but the
removed integument will fly back on the animal's rising, thus forming a
kind of bag containing and concealing foreign matter.
_Treatment._--Procure a pail of milk-warm water and a large sponge. Dip
the sponge in the pail, and squeeze out the water above the knee. Continue
to do this, but do not dab or sop the wound itself. The water flowing
over the knee will wash away every impurity. Then with a probe gently
explore the bag. If small, make a puncture through the bottom of the bag;
if large, insert a seton, and move it night and morning until good pus is
secreted: then withdraw the seton. "Rack up" the horse's head, and get
some cold water, to every quart of which add two ounces of tincture of
arnica. Pour a little of this into a saucer, and then dip a sponge into
the liquid. Squeeze the sponge dry above the joint. Do this every half
hour for three and a half days, both by day and night. If at the end of
that time all is going on well, the head may be released; but should the
knee enlarge and become sensitive, while the animal refuses to put the
foot to the ground, withdraw the seton; give no hay, but all the oats
and beans that can be eaten, with two pots of stout each day. Place the
quadruped in slings; apply the arnica lotion until a slough takes place;
then resort to the chloride of zinc lotion, one scruple to the pint, and
continue to use this as has been directed.
BROKEN WIND.
_Causes._--Old age, prolonged work, and bad food.
_Symptoms._--Short, dry, hacking cough, caused by irritability of the
larynx; ravenous appetite; insatiable thirst; abundant flatus. Dung half
digested; belly pendulous; coat ragged; aspect dejected. Respiration
is performed by a triple effort; inspiration is spasmodic and single;
expiration is labored and double. The ribs first essay to expel the air
from the lungs; these failing, the diaphragm and abdominal muscles take up
the action. Broken wind can be set or concealed for a time by forcing the
animal to swallow quantities of grease, tar, or shot. A drink of water,
however, will always reproduce the symptoms.
_Treatment._--No cure. Relief alone is possible. Never give water before
work. Four half pails of water to be allowed in twenty-four hours. In
each draught mingle half an ounce of phosphoric acid or half a drachm of
sulphuric acid. Remove the bed in the day; muzzle at night; put a lump of
rock-salt and of chalk in the manger. Never push hard or take upon a very
long journey.
BRONCHITIS.
_Causes._--Riding far and fast; then leaving exposed, especially to the
night air; neglect and constitutional liability.
_Symptoms._--Appetite often not affected; sometimes it is increased. A
short cough, in the first instance; breathing only excited; legs warm;
mouth moist; and nasal membrane merely deeper color during the early
stage. When confirmed, the appetite is lost; the horse is averse to move;
the cough is sore and suppressed; the breathing is audible; the membranes
are scarlet; the mouth is hot and dry; the legs are cold; the body is of
uneven temperatures.
_Treatment._--Do not deplete. Place in a large, loose box; fill the place
with steam; apply scalded hay to the throat; fix flannels wet with cold
water to the back and side by means of a Mackintosh jacket. When the
flannel becomes warm, change it immediately. Do this for two hours. After
that space the flannel may remain on, but must not become dry. Prepare
half a pound of melted Burgundy pitch, and stir into it two ounces of
powdered camphor, with half a drachm of powdered capsicums. Apply the
mixture to the throat. To restore tone to the pulse, give, every half
hour, sulphuric ether and laudanum, of each one ounce; water, one pint.
If no effect be produced by three of these drinks, substitute infusion
of aconite, half an ounce; extract of belladonna, half a drachm, rubbed
down in water, a quarter of a pint. When the pulse has recovered, resume
the former physic, only adding half a drachm of belladonna to each dose.
Support with gruel. Introduce food gradually; "chill" the water; be
careful of hay, and mind, when given, it is thoroughly damped.
BRONCHOCELE.
_Symptom._--An enlargement on the side of the throat.
_Treatment._--Give the following, night and morning: Iodide of potassium,
half a drachm; liquor potassæ, one drachm; distilled water, half a pint.
Also, rub into the swelling the accompanying ointment: Iodide of lead, one
drachm; simple cerate, one ounce.
BRUISE OF THE SOLE.
_Cause._--Treading on a stone or some projecting body.
_Symptom._--Effusion of blood into the horny sole.
_Treatment._--Cut away the stained horn, and shoe with leather.
CALCULI.
_Causes._--Unknown.
_Symptoms of Renal Calculus._--Urine purulent, thick, opaque, gritty, or
bloody; back roached. Pressure on the loins occasions shrinking; the arm
in the rectum and the hand carried upward provoke alarm.
_Treatment._--Two drachms of hydrochloric acid in every pail of water; but
the result is dubious.
_Symptoms of Cystic Calculus._--Same states of urine as in renal calculus.
The water, when flowing forth, is suddenly stopped; every emission is
followed by straining; the back is hollowed; the point of the penis is
sometimes exposed; and, when going down hill, the animal often pulls up
short.
_Treatment of Cystic Calculus._--Examine per rectum. An operation for the
horse, or Mr. Simmonds's instrument for the mare, is imperative. When the
stone is small, hydrochloric acid may be tried.
_Symptoms of Urethral Calculus._--Suppression of urine; great suffering.
If the urethral calculus is impacted in the exposed portion of the
urethra, the passage is distended behind the stoppage.
_Treatment of Urethral Calculus._--Cut down upon and remove the substance.
CANKER.
_Cause._--Old horses, when "turned out" for life as pensioners; aged and
neglected animals will also exhibit the disease.
_Symptoms._--Not much lameness. The disease commences at the cleft of the
frog; a liquid issues from the part, more abundant and more abominable
than in thrush; it often exudes from the commissures joining the sole to
the frog. The horn firstly bulges out; then it flakes off, exposing a
spongy and soft substance, which is fungoid horn. The fungoid horn is most
abundant about the margin of the sole, and upon its surface it flakes off.
This horn has no sensation. The disease is difficult to eradicate when one
fore foot is involved. When all four feet are implicated, a cure is all
but hopeless, and the treatment is certain to be slow and vexatious.
_Treatment._--See that the stable is large, clean, and comfortable;
note that the food is of the best; allow liberal support; pare off the
superficial fungoid horn, and so much of the deep seated as can be
detached. Apply to the diseased parts some of the following: Chloride of
zinc, half an ounce; flour, four ounces. Put on the foot without water.
To the sound hoof apply chloride of zinc, four grains; flour, one ounce.
Cover the sound parts before the cankered horn is dressed; tack on the
shoe; pad well and firmly. When places appear to be in confirmed health,
the following may be used: Chloride of zinc, two grains; flour, one ounce.
At first, dress every second day; after a time, every third day, and give
exercise as soon as possible.
CAPPED ELBOW.
_Cause._--Injury to the point of the elbow.
_Symptom._--It is often of magnitude, and is liable to ulcerate and become
sinuous.
_Treatment._--The same as capped hock.
CAPPED HOCK.
_Cause._--Any injury to the point of the calcis.
_Symptom._--A round swelling on the point of the hock, which, should the
cause be repeated, often becomes of great size.
_Treatment._--If small, set several men to hand-rub the tumor constantly
for a few days. Should the capped hock be of magnitude, dissect out the
enlargement, without puncturing it. Remove none of the pendulous skin.
Treat the wound with the lotion of chloride of zinc--one grain to the
ounce of water--and it will heal after some weeks.
CAPPED KNEE.
_Cause._--The same as the previous affection.
_Symptom._--A soft tumor in front of the knee.
_Treatment._--If let alone, it would burst and leave a permanent blemish.
Draw the skin to one side, and with a lancet pierce the lower surface of
the tumor. Treat the wound as an open joint.
CATARACT.
_Cause._--Looking at white walls, or receiving external injuries. Specific
ophthalmia generates a permanent cataract.
_Symptoms._--When partial, shying; if total, white pupil and blindness.
_Treatment._--Color the inside of the stable green, as cataract, when not
total, is sometimes absorbed.
CHOKING.
_Causes._--Something impacted in the gullet, either high up or low down.
_Symptoms._--_High Choke._--Raised head; saliva; discharge from the
nostrils; inflamed eyes; haggard countenance; audible breathing; the
muscles of neck tetanic; the flanks heave; the fore feet paw and stamp;
the hind legs crouch and dance; perspiration; agony excessive. _Low
Choke._--The animal ceases to feed; water returns by the nostrils;
countenance expresses anguish; saliva and nasal discharge; labored by
seldom, noisy breathing; roached back; tucked-up flanks, while the horse
stands as though it were desirous of elevating the quarters.
_Treatment._--_Make haste when high choke is present._ Perform tracheotomy
to relieve the breathing; insert the balling-iron, or, with a hook
extemporized out of any wire, endeavor to remove the substance from the
throat. If the choking body is too firmly lodged to be thus removed,
sulphuric ether must be inhaled to relax the spasm. The ether not
succeeding, an egg is probably impacted. Destroy its integrity with a
darning-needle carefully inserted through the skin; then break the shell
by outward pressure. _Low choke is seldom fatal before the expiration
of three days._ Give a quarter of a pint of oil every hour; in the
intermediate half hours give sulphuric ether, two ounces; laudanum, two
ounces; water, half a pint; and use the probang after every dose of the
last medicine. Should these be returned, cause chloroform to be inhaled;
then insert the probang, and, by steady pressure, drive the substance
forward.
Subsequent to the removal of impactment feed with caution.
CHRONIC DYSENTERY.
_Cause._--Not well understood; generally attacks old horses belonging to
penurious masters.
_Symptoms._--Purging without excitement, always upon drinking cold water;
violent straining; belly enlarges; flesh wastes; bones protrude; skin
hide-bound; membranes pallid; weakness; perspiration; standing in one
place for hours. At last the eyes assume a sleepy, pathetic expression;
the head is slowly turned toward the flanks; remains fixed for some
minutes; the horse only moves when the bowels are about to act; colic;
death.
_Treatment._--Give, thrice daily, crude opium, half an ounce; liquor
potassæ, one ounce; chalk, one ounce; tincture of all-spice, one ounce;
alum, half an ounce; ale, one quart. Should the horse belong to a generous
master, give one of the following drinks thrice daily, upon the symptoms
being confirmed: Sulphuric ether, one ounce; laudanum, three ounces;
liquor potassæ, half an ounce; powdered chalk, one ounce; tincture of
catechu, one ounce; cold linseed tea, one pint. Or, chloroform, half an
ounce; extract of belladonna, half a drachm; carbonate of ammonia, one
drachm; powdered camphor, half a drachm; tincture of oak-bark, one ounce;
cold linseed tea, one pint. Feed lightly; dress frequently; give a good
bed and a roomy lodging.
CHRONIC GASTRITIS.
_Symptoms._--Irregularity of bowels and appetite; pallid membranes; mouth
cold; a dry cough; tainted breath; sunken eye; catching respiration;
pendulous belly; ragged coat, and emaciation. Sweating on the slightest
exertion; eating wood-work or bricks and mortar.
_Treatment._--Do not purge; administer bitters, sedatives, and alkalies.
Give powdered nux vomica, one scruple; carbonate of potash, one drachm;
extract of belladonna, half a drachm; extract of gentian and powdered
quassia, of each a sufficiency. Or give strychnia, half a grain;
bicarbonate of ammonia, one drachm; extract of belladonna, half a drachm;
sulphate of zinc, half a drachm; extract of gentian and powdered quassia,
of each a sufficiency. Give one ball night and morning; when these
balls seem to have lost their power, give half an ounce each of liquor
arsenicalis and tincture of ipecacuanha, with one ounce of muriated
tincture of iron and laudanum, in a pint of water; damp the food; sprinkle
magnesia on it. As the strength improves, give sulphuric ether, one ounce;
water, one pint, daily. Ultimately change that for a quart of ale or stout
daily.
CHRONIC HEPATITIS.
_Cause._--Too good food and too little work.
_Symptoms._--Cold mouth; pallid membranes; white of eyes ghastly,
displaying a yellow tinge; looks toward the right side; the right side may
be tender for a long time, with generally repeated attacks of this nature,
although the horse may perish with the first fit.
_Treatment._--Hold up the head, and if the horse staggers, this proves
hemorrhage from the liver. Give sufficient of nutritious food, but only
enough of it, plenty of labor, and the following physic: Iodide of
potassium, two ounces; liquor potassæ, one quart; dose, night and morning,
two tablespoonfuls in a pint of water.
CLAP OF THE BACK SINEWS.
_Cause._--Extra exertion.
_Symptoms._--The maimed limb is flexed; the toe rests upon the ground. In
a short space a tumor appears; it is small, hot, soft, and tender, but
soon grows hard. Great pain, but attended with few constitutional symptoms.
_Treatment._--Administer physic, and bleed gently; then give a few doses
of febrifuge medicine, but go no further than to reduce the pulse to
fifty-five degrees. Put a linen bandage on the leg; keep this constantly
wet until the primary symptoms abate. Cut grass for food while fever
exists; continue the cold water till recovery is confirmed. The horse will
not be fit to work for many months.
COLD.
If mild, a little green-meat, a few mashes, an extra rug, and a slight
rest generally accomplish a cure.
_Symptoms_ of severe cold are dullness; a rough coat; the body of
different temperatures; the nasal membrane deep scarlet, or of a leaden
color; the appetite is lost; simple ophthalmia; tears; the sinuses are
clogged, and a discharge from the nose appears.
_Treatment._--Give no active medicine. Apply the steaming nose-bag six
times daily; allow cut grass and mashes for food, with gruel for drink.
If weak, present three feeds of crushed and scalded oats and beans daily,
with a pot of stout morning and evening. Good nursing, with pure air,
warmth, and not even exercise, till the disease abates, are of more
importance than "doctor's stuff" in a case of severe cold. Cold, however,
often ushers in other and more dangerous diseases.
CONGESTION IN THE FIELD.
_Cause._--Riding a horse after the hounds when out of condition.
_Symptoms._--The horse, from exhaustion, reels and falls. The body is
clammy cold; the breathing is labored; every vein is turgid.
_Treatment._--Bleed, if possible; cover the body; lead gently to the
nearest stable; keep hot rugs upon the animal; bandage the legs and hood
the neck; warm the place, either by a fire or tubs full of hot water.
Give, without noise, every half hour, one ounce of sulphuric ether, half
an ounce of laudanum, half a pint of cold water. Should no chemist be at
hand, beat up two ounces of turpentine with the yolk of an egg; mix it
with half a pint of water, and repeat the dose at the times stated. Allow
an ample bed, and place a pail of gruel within easy reach of the horse. Do
not leave the animal for thirty hours, as in that time its fate will be
decided.
CONGESTION IN THE STABLE.
_Cause._--A debilitated, fat horse, unused to work, being driven fast with
a heavy load behind it.
_Symptoms._--Hanging head; food not glanced at; blowing; artery gorged and
round; pulse feeble; cold and partial perspirations; feet cold; eye fixed;
hearing lost; and the attitude motionless.
_Treatment._--Give immediately two ounces each of sulphuric ether and of
laudanum in a pint of cold water. Give the drink with every caution. In
ten minutes repeat the medicine, if necessary. Wait twenty minutes, and
give another drink, if requisite; more are seldom needed. Take away all
solid food, and allow gruel for the remainder of the day.
CORNS.
_Cause._--In a flat foot, the heels of the coffin-bone squeeze the
sensitive sole by pressing it against the shoe. In a contracted foot, the
sensitive sole is squeezed between the wings of the coffin-bone and the
thick, horny sole. A bruise results; blood is effused; and the stain of
this left upon the horny sole--generally upon the inner side and anterior
to the bars--constitutes a horse's corn, which is mostly found on the fore
feet.
_Symptom._--If the stain is dark, and is to be removed with the knife,
this indicates a corn has been, but no longer exists. The smallest stain
of bright scarlet testifies to the existence of a new and present corn.
Corns are of four kinds--the old, the new, the sappy, and the suppurative.
The old and new are produced by the blood, and are judged by the scarlet
or dark-colored stain. The old is generally near the surface, the new is
commonly deep seated. The sappy is when the bruise is only heavy enough to
effuse serum. The new corn alone produces lameness. The suppurating corn
may start up from either of the others receiving additional injury. It
causes intense pain and produces acute lameness.
_Treatment._--Cut out the stain. If a suppurating corn, place the foot
in a poultice, after having opened the abscess. Then, the horn being
softened, cut away all the sole which has been released by the pus from
its attachment to the secreting surface. Tack on an old shoe, and dress
with the solution of the chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce.
Afterward shoe with leather, and employ stopping to render the horn
plastic.
COUGH.
_Causes._--Foul stables; hot stables; coarse, dusty provender; rank
bedding; irregular work; while the affection may attend many diseases.
_Treatment._--Crush the oats; damp the hay; give gruel or linseed tea
for drink. Clothe warmly, and give, thrice daily, half a pint of the
following in a tumbler of water: Extract of belladonna, one drachm, rubbed
down in a pint of cold water; tincture of squills, ten ounces; tincture
of ipecacuanha, eight ounces. No change ensuing, next try--Barbadoes
or common tar, half an ounce; calomel, five grains; linseed meal, a
sufficiency: make into a ball, and give one night and morning. This being
attended with no improvement, employ--Powdered aloes, one drachm; balsam
of copaiba, three drachms; cantharides, three grains; common mass, a
sufficiency. Mix, and give every morning.
A daily bundle of cut grass is good in the spring of the year. A lump of
rock-salt has been beneficial. If the animal eats the litter, muzzle it.
Roots are good. Moisten the hay; and, above all things, attend to the
ventilation of the stable.
CRACKED HEELS.
_Cause._--Cutting the hair from the heels, and turning into a straw-yard
during winter.
_Symptoms._--Thickened skin; cracks; and sometimes ulceration.
_Treatment._--Wash; dry thoroughly; apply the following wash: Animal
glycerin, half a pint; chloride of zinc, two drachms; strong solution of
oak-bark, one pint. Mix. If ulceration has commenced, rest the horse.
Give a few bran mashes or a little cut grass to open the bowels. Use the
next wash: Animal glycerin, or phosphoric acid, two ounces; permanganate
of potash, or creosote, half an ounce; water, three ounces: apply six
times daily. Give a drink each day composed of liquor arsenicalis, half an
ounce; tincture of muriate of iron, one ounce; water, one pint.
CRIB-BITING.
_Cause._--Sameness of food and unhealthy stables, or indigestion.
_Symptoms._--Placing the upper incisors against some support, and, with
some effort, emitting a small portion of gas.
_Treatment._--Place a lump of rock-salt in the manger; if that is not
successful, add a lump of chalk. Then damp the food, and sprinkle magnesia
upon it, and mingle a handful of ground oak-bark with each feed of corn.
Purify the ventilation of the stable before these remedies are applied.
CURB.
_Causes._--Galloping on uneven ground; wrenching the limb; prancing and
leaping.
_Symptom._--A bulging out at the posterior of the hock, accompanied by
heat and pain, often by lameness.
_Treatment._--Rest the animal. Put on an India-rubber bandage, (see page
307,) and under it a folded cloth. Keep the cloth wet and cool with cold
water. When all inflammation has disappeared, blister the hock.
CYSTITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER.
_Causes._--Kicks and blows under the flank. Abuse of medicine, and bad
food, with the provocatives generally of nephritis.
_Symptoms._--Those common to pain and inflammation. Urine, however,
affords the principal indication. At first, it is at intervals jerked
forth in small quantities. Ultimately it flows forth constantly drop by
drop. A certain but a dangerous test is to insert the arm up the rectum,
and to feel the small and compressed bladder. A safer test is to press the
flank, which, should cystitis be present, calls forth resistance.
_Treatment._--Give scruple doses of aconite, should the pulse be excited;
the same of belladonna, should pain be excessive; and calomel with opium,
to arrest the disease. Place under the belly, by means of a rug, a cloth
soaked with strong liquor ammonia diluted with six times its bulk of
water. Or apply a rug dipped into hot water or loaded with cold water;
change when either becomes warm.
DIABETES INSIPIDUS, OR PROFUSE STALING.
_Causes._--Diuretic drugs or bad food.
_Symptoms._--Weakness loss of flesh; loss of condition.
_Treatment._--Do not take from the stable; keep a pail of linseed tea in
the manger; give no grass or hay; groom well. Order a ball composed of
iodide of iron, one drachm; honey and linseed meal, a sufficiency. Or a
drink consisting of phosphoric acid, one ounce; water, one pint. Give the
ball daily; the drink, at night and at morning.
ENTERITIS.
_Causes._--Greatly conjectural. Prolonged colic may end in it.
Constipation may induce it.
_Symptoms._--Dullness heaviness; picks the food; shivers repeatedly;
rolling; plunging; kicking, but more gently than in spasmodic colic;
quickened breathing; hot, dry mouth; wiry pulse. Pressure to the abdomen
gives pain. Remove your coat; insert the arm up the anus; if the
intestines are very hot, all is confirmed.
_Treatment._--Extract one quart of blood from the jugular, and inject into
the vein one pint of water at a blood heat. Give aconite in powder, half
a drachm; sulphuric ether, three ounces; laudanum, three ounces; extract
of belladonna, one drachm, (rubbed down in cold water, one pint and a
half.) As the pulse changes, withdraw the aconite; as the pain subsides,
discontinue the belladonna. The other ingredients may be diminished as the
horse appears to be more comfortable. Should the pain linger after the
administration of the eighth drink, apply an ammoniacal blister. Sprinkle
on the tongue, if any symptoms declare the disease vanquished but not
fled, every second hour, calomel, half a drachm; opium, one drachm. Feed
very carefully upon recovery, avoiding all things purgative or harsh to
the bowels.
EXCORIATED ANGLES OF THE MOUTH.
_Cause._--Abuse of the reins.
_Treatment._--Apply the following lotion to the part: Chloride of zinc,
two scruples; essence of anise seed, two drachms; water, two pints.
FALSE QUARTER.
_Cause._--Injury to the coronet, producing an absence of the secreting
coronet of the crust from the hoof.
_Symptoms._--No lameness, but weakness of the foot. The soft horn of
the laminae, being exposed, is apt to crack. Bleeding ensues. Sometimes
granulations sprout when the pain and the lameness are most acute.
_Treatment._--In cases of crack and granulations, treat as is advised
for sandcrack. Put on a bar shoe, with a clip on each side of the false
quarter. Pare down the edges of the crack, and ease off the point of
bearing on the false quarter. A piece of gutta-percha, fastened over the
false quarter, has done good.
FARCY.
_Causes._--Excessive labor, poor food, and bad lodging operating upon old
age.
_Symptoms._--It is at first inflammation of the superficial absorbents.
Lumps appear on various parts. If these lumps are opened, healthy matter
is released but the place soon becomes a foul ulcer, from which bunches
of fungoid granulations sprout. From the lumps may be traced little cords
leading to other swellings. The appetite fails, or else it is voracious.
Matter may be squeezed through the skin. Thirst is torturing. At length
glanders breaks forth, and the animal dies. There is a smaller kind of
farcy called button-farcy the smaller sort is the more virulent of the two.
_Cure._--There is no known cure for the disease.
FISTULOUS PAROTID DUCT.
_Causes._--Hay-seeds or other substances getting into the mouth of the
duct during mastication. Stones being formed within the canal. The
stable-fork in the hand of an intemperate groom.
_Symptoms._--The duct greatly enlarges behind the obstacle, which,
becoming swollen, prevents the secretion from entering the mouth. Great
agony is occasioned by every mouthful masticated. The duct bursts, and a
fistulous opening is established, through which the saliva jerks at each
motion of the jaw. From the absence of a secretion important to digestion,
the flesh wastes, and the animal soon assumes a miserable appearance.
_Treatment._--Make an adhesive fluid with gum mastic and spirits of wine,
or with India-rubber and sulphuric ether. When the horse is not feeding,
pare the hardened edges from the wound; cover the orifice with a piece of
strained India-rubber; over this put a layer of cotton; fasten one end
to the horse's cheek by means of the adhesive fluid; that having dried,
fasten the other end tightly down. Place other layers of cotton over this,
allowing each layer to cross the other, and fastening all to the cheek.
Fasten the head to the pillar-reins; allow the horse to remain till the
cotton falls off, and give only gruel for food. Put tan under the feet;
and should the first trial not succeed, repeat it.
FISTULOUS WITHERS.
_Cause._--External injury, generally by the lady's saddle, which bruises
one of the bursæ placed above the withers.
_Symptoms._--When first done, a small, round swelling appears on the off
side. If this is neglected, the place enlarges, and numerous holes burst
out, which are the mouths of so many fistulous pipes.
_Treatment._--In the early stage, go to the horse's side, impale the tumor
and divide it. Touch the interior with lunar caustic; keep the wound
moist with the chloride of zinc lotion, one grain to the ounce of water,
and cover it with a cloth dipped in a solution of tar. If the sinuses
are established, make one cut to embrace as many as possible. Clean out
the corruption. Scrape or cut off any black or white bone which may be
exposed. Cover with a cloth, and keep wet with the solution of chloride
of zinc. Should there exist a long sinus leading from the withers to the
elbow, insert a seton by means of the guarded seton needle. This seton
should be withdrawn so soon as a stream of creamy pus is emitted.
FUNGOID TUMORS IN THE EYE.
_Cause._--Unknown.
_Symptoms._--Blindness; a yellow, metallic appearance to be seen in the
eye.
_Treatment._--None of any service.
GLANDERS.
_Cause._--Bad lodging, stimulating food, and excessive work operating upon
young life.
_Symptoms._--Staring coat; lungs or air-passages always affected; flesh
fades; glands swell; spirit low; appetite bad. A lymphatic gland adheres
to the inside of the jaw; the membrane inside the nose ulcerates; a slight
discharge from one nostril. This becomes thicker, and adheres to the
margin of the nostril, exhibiting white threads and bits of mucus; then it
changes to a full stream of foul pus; next the nasal membrane grows dull
and dropsical; the margins of the nostrils enlarge; the horse breathes
with difficulty; the discharge turns discolored and abhorrent; farcy
breaks forth, and the animal dies of suffocation.
_Treatment._--There is no known cure.
GREASE.
_Causes._--Age; debility; excessive labor; neglect; filth. Cutting the
hair off the heels; turning out to grass in the cold months.
_Symptoms._--Scurfiness and itchiness of the legs. Rubbing the leg with
the hoof of the opposite limb; hairs stand on end; moisture exudes, and
hangs upon the hairs in drops. Smells abhorrently; lameness; cracks on
the skin; swelling; ulceration; thin discharge; odor worse. Lameness
increases; leg enlarges; granulations sprout in ragged bunches; their
points harden and become like horn; pain excessive; horn of hoof grows
long.
_Treatment._--Cut off all remaining hair. If hot and scurfy, cleanse with
mild soap and hot, soft water; saturate a cloth with the following lotion:
Animal glycerin, half a pint; chloride of zinc, half an ounce; water, six
quarts. Lay it upon the leg. When this cloth becomes warm, remove it,
and apply another, also wet with the lotion; thus continue applying cool
cloths to the limb till the heat abates; afterward moisten the leg thrice
daily. When cracks and ulceration are present, adopt the wet cloths; but
subsequently use one of the following to the sores: Permanganate of potash
or phosphoric acid, one pint; water, six quarts. Or, chloride of zinc, one
ounce; water, one gallon: employ thrice daily. If the granulations have
sprouted, remove them with a knife, in three operations, (_full directions
are given in the book;_) likewise always place in a loose box. Feed
liberally; allow old beans; give a handful of ground oak-bark with each
feed of oats. Night and morning exhibit liquor arsenicalis, one ounce;
tincture of muriate of iron, one ounce and a half; porter or stout, one
quart: one pint for the dose. Chopped roots; speared wheat; hay tea; cut
grass, and exercise are all good for grease.
GUTTA SERENA.
_Cause._--Over-exertion.
_Symptoms._--Fixed dilatation of the pupil; a greenish hue of the eye;
total blindness. Active ears; restless nostrils; head erect; high
stepping; occasionally a rough coat in summer and a smooth coat in winter.
_Treatment._--No remedy is possible.
HEART DISEASE.
_Symptoms._--Auscultation. The beat of the heart to be seen externally;
haggard countenance; pulse feeble; heart throbs; the beat of the carotid
artery is to be felt; the regurgitation in the jugular is to be seen.
The appetite is sometimes ravenous--often fastidious; the breathing is
not accelerated excepting during pain; lameness of one leg; dropsical
swellings; stopping short when on a journey; averse to turn in the stall;
noises; yawns; sighs. Death always unexpected. No treatment is of any use.
HEMATURIA, OR BLOODY URINE.
_Cause._--Unknown.
_Symptoms._--Discoloration of the fluid. When the bleeding is copious,
breathing is oppressed; the pupils of the eyes are dilated. Pulse is
lost; head is pendulous; membranes are pale and cold. Lifting up the head
produces staggering. Back roached; flanks tucked up; legs wide apart.
_Treatment._--Be gentle. Act upon the report given. Give acetate of
lead, two drachms, in cold water, one pint; or, as a ball, if one can be
delivered. In a quarter of an hour repeat the dose, adding laudanum, one
ounce, or powdered opium, two drachms. Repeat the physic till one ounce
of acetate of lead has been given. Leave the horse undisturbed for two
hours, if the symptoms justify delay. If not, dash pailfuls of cold water
upon the loins from a height. Give copious injections of cold water. Pour
half a pint of boiling water upon four drachms of ergot of rye. When cold,
add laudanum, one ounce, and dilute acetic acid, four ounces. Give two of
these drinks, and two cold enemas, of twenty minutes' duration. Suspend
all treatment for eight hours, when the measures may be repeated. (_For
after proceedings, see the article which is presented in the body of the
book._)
HIDE-BOUND.
_Cause._--Neglect, or turning into a straw-yard for the winter.
_Treatment._--Liberal food, clean lodging, soft bed, healthy exercise,
and good grooming. Administer, daily, two drinks, composed of: Liquor
arsenicalis, half an ounce; tincture of muriate of iron, one ounce; water,
one pint. Mix, and give as one dose.
HIGH-BLOWING AND WHEEZING.
Habits which admit of no remedies.
HYDROPHOBIA.
_Cause._--Bite from a rabid dog or cat.
_Symptoms._--The horse is constantly licking the bitten place. A morbid
change takes place in the appetite. Eager thirst, but inability to
drink, or spasm at the sound or sight of water is exhibited. Nervous
excitability; voice and expression of countenance altered. More rarely the
horse--when taken from the stable--appears well. While at work, it stops
and threatens to fall. Shivers violently, and is scarcely brought home
when the savage stage commences. The latter development consists in the
utmost ferocity, blended with a most mischievous cunning, or a malicious
pleasure in destruction.
_Treatment._--No remedy known. Confine in a strong place and shoot
immediately.
HYDROTHORAX.
_Cause._--Pleurisy or inflammation of the membrane lining the chest.
_Symptoms._--The horse is left very ill. The next morning the animal is
looking better; the pain has abated; the eye is more cheerful; but the
flanks heave. A man is procured; he is told to strike the chest when the
person listening on the other side says "now." The word is spoken, and a
metallic ring follows. The pulse is lost at the jaw; the heart seems to
throb through water. The horse has hydrothorax!
_Treatment._--The first thing is to draw off the fluid. A spot between the
eighth and ninth ribs is chosen, and the skin is pulled back; a small slit
through the skin is made; into that opening an armed trocar is driven.
When there is no resistance felt, the thorax has been entered; the stilet
is withdrawn and the water flows forth. Use a fine trocar; take all the
fluid you can obtain. Should the horse appear faint, withdraw the canula,
and in two hours again puncture the chest. Afterward the food must be
prepared, and a ball administered night and morning, consisting of iodide
of iron, one drachm; strychnia, half a grain; sulphate of zinc, half a
drachm; extract of gentian and powdered quassia, a sufficiency.
IMPEDIMENT IN THE LACHRYMAL DUCT.
_Cause._--A hay-seed or other substance getting into and becoming swollen
within the duct.
_Symptom._--Swollen lid and copious tears.
_Treatment._--Inject, forcibly, a stream of water up the duct.
INFLUENZA.
_Cause._--Unknown but suspected to be generated by close stables. It is
also episotic.
_Symptoms._--Weakness and stupidity; local swellings; heat and pain
in the limbs. Loss of appetite; rapid wasting; every part of the body
is diseased. Youth most exposed, but no age exempt. Spring-time the
general season, but an attack may ensue at any period of the year. The
following symptoms are somewhat uncertain: Pendulous head; short breath;
inflamed membranes; swollen lips; dry mouth; enlarged eyelids; copious
tears; sore throat; tucked-up flanks; compressed tail; filled legs; big
joints; lameness and hot feet. Auscultation may detect a grating sound
at the chest, or a noise like brickbats falling down stairs, within the
windpipe. When the last is audible, there is always a copious discharge.
Sometimes one foot is painful; purgation has been seen; but constipation
is generally present, and the horse usually stands throughout the disease.
Always suspect influenza when it is in the neighborhood, and the membranes
are yellow or inflamed.
_Treatment._--Move to a well-littered, warm, loose box. Suspend a pail
of gruel from the wall; change the gruel thrice daily; sprinkle on the
tongue, night and morning, calomel, one scruple; wash this down with
sulphuric ether, one ounce; laudanum, one ounce; water, half a pint. If
weakness increases, double the quantity of ether and of laudanum. When
the pulse loses all wiry feeling, and the discharge becomes copious,
give from the hand some bread, on which there is a little salt; when the
cough appears, give a pot of stout daily. Beware of purgatives or active
treatment.
INJURIES TO THE JAW.
_Causes._--Pulling the snaffle; abuse of the bit; too tight a curb-chain.
_Symptoms._--Discoloration before or behind the tush; bruise under the
tongue or upon the roof of the mouth; tumor and bony growth upon the
margin of the lower jaw.
_Treatment._--Cut upon the discoloration till the knife reaches the bone;
if fetor is present, inject the chloride of zinc lotion; keep the wounds
open, that the injured bone may come away.
LACERATED EYELID.
_Causes._--Nails in the gangway, or the horses playfully snapping at each
other.
_Treatment._--Bathe with cold water till the bleeding ceases; allow the
separated parts to remain until the divided edges are sticky; bring
together with sutures; place the horse in the pillar-reins till the
healing is perfected.
LACERATED TONGUE.
_Causes._--Sticking to a horse when giving physic; making a "chaw" of the
halter-rope.
_Treatment._--Insert no sutures; if the arteries are excised, cut off the
hanging portion of the tongue; should the vessels have escaped, allow all
to remain; feed on gruel and soft food; after every meal wash out the
mouth with the solution ordered for aphtha, or with the chloride of zinc
lotion.
LAMPAS.
A groom's fancy.
LARYNGITIS.
_Cause._--Foul stables.
_Symptoms._--Dullness; enlargement over the larynx; stiff neck; short
and suppressed cough; breathing hurried and catching; pulse full; nasal
membrane almost scarlet.
_Treatment._--Give drachm doses of tincture of aconite, in wineglasses
of water every half hour, to amend the pulse. Refrain from bleeding.
Put on a steaming nose-bag, and keep it almost constantly applied, to
amend the breathing. Fix some hay, soaked in boiling water, upon the
throat, by means of an eight-tailed bandage. Give, very carefully, the
following drink, thrice daily: Infusion of squills, two ounces; infusion
of ipecacuanha, two ounces; infusion of aconite, half an ounce; extract
of belladonna, one drachm, rubbed down with a pint of warm water. Place
in a cool, well-aired, thickly-littered, loose box; bandage the legs;
clothe the body; give only gruel for food, changing it thrice daily. On
improvement, a little moist food may be allowed. When improvement is
confirmed, put a seton under the throat. Blister the throat; pick and damp
the hay; sift, bruise, and scald the oats. Employ no lowering agents.
LARVA IN THE SKIN.
_Causes._--Turning out to grass. The fly lays its egg upon the hair, the
warmth of the body hatches it, and the larva enters the skin. The next
summer a tolerably large abscess is established, the insect occupying its
center.
_Treatment._--With a lancet open the abscess, and squeeze out the larva.
Dab the wound with a lotion made of chloride of zinc, one grain; water,
one ounce.
LICE.
_Causes._--Filth and debility.
_Treatment._--Rub the skin with some cheap oil or grease. Wash, and then
look for other diseases, as hide-bound, mange, etc.
LAMINITIS, (SUBACUTE.)
_Causes._--Age; long standing in the stable; over-work, and stinted diet.
_Symptoms._--First noticed by the manner of going upon the heels of the
fore feet.
_Treatment._--Get into slings. Remove the shoes. Do not bleed. If
costiveness is present open the bowels with green-meat, but do not purge.
Give a quart of stout, night and morning. Allow two drinks per day, each
consisting of one ounce of sulphuric ether and half a pint of water;
half-drachm doses of belladonna, to allay pain; sound oats and old beans,
both crushed, for food; water to be whitened; no hay. No limit to this
food, but five feeds to be given if the horse will eat so much.
LUXATION OF THE PATELLA.
_Cause._--Bad food and constitutional weakness.
_Symptoms._--The horse stops short, and has one of the hind legs extended
backward. A swelling upon the outer side. The pastern is flexed, the head
raised, and the animal in great pain. In colts it will sometimes appear on
the slightest cause.
_Treatment._--For colts, any flurry may restore the bone; but feed well,
to eradicate the weakness. For horses, get into a shed, and, throwing a
rope, one end of which has been fixed to the pastern, have the leg dragged
forward while some one pushes the bone into its place. A man should be put
to keep the bone in its situation for some hours. Give strengthening food,
and do not use for six weeks subsequently.
MALLENDERS AND SALLENDERS.
_Cause._--Neglect.
_Symptoms._--Scurf upon the seats of flexion; mallenders at the back of
the knee, and sallenders at the front of the hock.
_Treatment._--Cleanliness. Give the liquor arsenicalis drink, recommended
for grease; change the groom; rub the parts with this ointment: Animal
glycerin, one ounce; mercurial ointment, two drachms; powdered camphor,
two drachms; spermaceti, one ounce. If cracks appear, treat as though
cracked heels were present.
MANGE.
_Causes._--Starvation; bad lodging and no grooming; turning out to grass.
_Symptoms._--Scurf about the hairs of the mane; the hair falls off in
patches; the skin is corrugated; a few hairs remain upon the bare places,
and these adhere firmly to the skin; scrubbing the body against posts;
sores and crusts. To test its presence, scratch the roots of the mane and
the horse will exhibit pleasure.
_Treatment._--Place the horse in the sunshine, or in a heated house, for
one hour; then whisk thoroughly, to remove scurf and scabs; then rub in
the following liniment: Animal glycerin, two parts; oil of tar, two parts;
oil of turpentine, half a part; oil of juniper, half a part. Mix. Leave on
for two days; wash; anoint again; wash; anoint and wash once more, always
leaving the liniment on for two clear days.