Inflammation of the pharynx owes its existence to the same _causes_ as
_Laryngitis_.
_Symptoms._ The general symptoms being like those of _Laryngitis_, the
specific and distinguishing ones only will be here noticed. The larynx
is not tender to the touch nor is cough thereby excited. The glands
beneath the root of the ears (parotids) are swollen and tender and cough
is induced by handling them. The intermaxillary glands are enlarged. The
cough is loose and followed by the ejection of glairy materials by the
mouth and nose. Food and drink are swallowed with difficulty and effort,
dry grain or hay is often refused, or dropped from the mouth, after it
has been chewed, to avoid the pain of swallowing. Deglutition is
accompanied by a gurgling sound caused by the abundant secretion in the
pharynx. In swallowing liquids a portion is often rejected by the nose.
The mouth is hot, red at its back part, and filled with fetid saliva
which often drivels from between the lips in the coarser breeds of
horses. The fever varies according to the intensity of the inflammation.
This disease is rarely serious, and improvement is manifested, by a free
discharge from the nose of a white opaque color, by the ability to
swallow without pain, and the better appetite and general appearance.
Collections of pus in the _Guttural pouches_ may result from
pharyngitis. See _Chronic Nasal Catarrh_.
Reynal has seen chronic cases of this disease due to: 1st, fracture of
the large branch of the hyoid bone; 2nd, Laceration or ulceration of the
soft palate; and 3rd, an abscess of the pharyngeal mucous membrane.
The _treatment_ does not differ materially from that of laryngitis
except in the greater value of soft food, mucilaginous and acidulated
drink and of electuaries which act on the throat as they dissolve.
Subjoined is a formula:
Recipe: Extract Belladonna, four drams; potassium iodide, one ounce;
sodium hyposulphitis, three ounces; mellis, five ounces. Mix. A desert
spoonful to be smeared on the inside of the cheek thrice daily.