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
Besides the grass field, foul lodging or filth and poor provender will
breed mange in the horse, as the same causes operating upon the human
subject will engender a like disorder. It is sad to think that with the
horse, as years increase, ailments accumulate and strength departs;
it is sad to think, that as the animal's life becomes more hard to
sustain, its food is always the less nourishing and its labor the more
exhausting; that as care is necessary, so is neglect encountered; that
the wretched quadruped at length is sold to some costermonger, who, when
he makes the purchase, nicely calculates how many days of labor the
emaciated life is capable of before it is turned over to the knacker.
Many a nobleman must have looked upon an animal in the last stage of a
weary life which was formerly the companion of his pleasures. The rusty,
lean, and worn-out carcass most probably was not recognized, or how must
reflection have whispered that power was not given to turn away existence
into wretchedness after willfulness had rendered the body less capable of
sustaining suffering!
In the vast majority of cases this disease first appears in the mane,
among the hairs of which a quantity of loose, dry scurf is perceptible.
Before such a sign, however, is to be recognized, excessive itchiness
is exhibited. The disease, once established, soon extends to the head,
to the neck, to the withers, to the sides, to the loins, and to the
quarters; only in very exceptional cases are the legs exposed to its
attacks. As the disorder proceeds, the hair falls off, leaving vacant
places upon the body; these have a peculiar, dry, acrid, and irritable
appearance; they suggest that portions of the body have been scorched with
quick-lime, so irregular, patched, and scabby are the parts just referred
to. The integument in these places greatly thickens and is no longer soft
and pliable as a lady's glove, but becomes corrugated or thrown into
well-defined folds.
The hairs, however, are not all removed; a few and only a few remain;
these cling with exceeding tenacity to the surfaces which their fellows
have quitted. The force required to pull out one of these remaining hairs
is somewhat surprising, and the hair being extracted, the roots, upon
close examination, will be discovered enlarged and far more vascular than
is usual.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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