The illustrated horse doctor : $b being an accurate and detailed account of the various diseases to which the equine race are subjectedMayhew, Edward
Science
The illustrated horse doctor : $b being an accurate and detailed account of the various diseases to which the equine race are subjected
Mayhew, Edward
Horses -- Diseases
When a horse has the first fit of megrims, at once throw the animal up.
Do not strive to sell the diseased creature, as such a sale is illegal.
The law presumes everything sold to be fit for its uses. Thus, a person
buying rotten eggs can recover at law, because eggs are sold for human
food, and no man can eat a tainted egg. So a megrimed horse is unfit for
employment. Recovery in this disease is always doubtful. A chance is
best secured by throwing the horse up on the first attack. Do not turn
a sick animal out to grass. Keep in a loose box, covered with plenty of
straw. Feed liberally, and with the best food. Have the body regularly
dressed, and the animal led to, not ridden to, exercise. Allow a quart
of stout every morning and half a pint of oil every night. Above all
things, attend to the stabling. Let the box be large and well ventilated.
Food is eaten but occasionally during the day. Air is as essential as
more substantial nutriment to life, and is consumed night and day. Food
has to undergo a complicated change, and to travel far, before it joins
the blood. Air is no sooner inhaled than it is immediately absorbed by
the blood. After such a statement, it is left to the reader's reason to
decide upon the importance of pure air toward sustaining health. Probably,
were stables erected with a little less regard to the proprietor's
expense and the builder's convenience; probably, were they made in
some degree proportioned to the magnitude of their future inhabitants,
and were the comfort of the captive a very little considered in their
construction,--the health of a horse might not be so very telling a
proverb; while megrims, under a better treatment, if it did not disappear,
might not be so very common.
HYDROPHOBIA.
This is always the fruit of contagion, received from some stable-pet, in
the shape of a dog or cat. It is essentially a nervous disorder. From
the first, it influences the brain to a degree which no other malady
seems capable of exercising. The animal constantly licks some portion
of the body. The place appears to itch violently, and the tongue is
applied with an energy and a perseverance highly characteristic of an
over-wrought nervous distemper. The appetite always is affected; sometimes
it is ravenous. The rack is not only emptied with unusual speed, but the
bed, however soiled, is also consumed with more than apparent relish.
Generally, however, the desire for provender is destroyed. Sometimes,
the longing for fluids is morbidly increased. The horse plunges his
head to the bottom of the pail, will bite at the groom who endeavors to
interrupt the draught, or seize the wood between its teeth and crush it
with a powerful gripe. More frequently, water will cause spasm, and be
avoided with horror. The animal's likings may be morbidly changed: it will
occasionally devour its own excrement, and lick up its emissions.
[Illustration: THE COUNTENANCE OF A HORSE WITH HYDROPHOBIA.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account