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
Horses, when allowed a run at grass, are often taken up with the bones of
the face swollen and soft. Percussion draws forth the same response as
would be elicited by rapping upon a pumpkin. The animal, suddenly released
from toil, has been playing in the field with its new associates. The
simple creature could not comprehend the feet were fettered. The equine
race always display joy with their heels, and the hoof, which unshod might
lightly touch the neighbor's skull and no injury result, being armed with
iron carries additional weight with the blow, and leaves behind a deadly
bruise upon the facial bones. The following engraving, representing an
extreme case of this kind, is a warning never to turn your animal into a
field where others are grazing; but if you are obliged to starve a horse
on grass, at all events choose a spot where it can be alone.
[Illustration: NASAL GLEET.]
Besides the distortion, the next prominent symptom attending nasal
gleet is fetor. Discharge is not always present. It is irregular in its
appearance, but can generally be made to flow, by a brisk trot or by some
tempting food being placed upon the ground. Stench and discharge, often
coming only from one nostril, but occasionally from two, are likewise
symptomatic of the same disorder.
Pus is, naturally, the blandest secretion of the body; but being confined,
it corrupts, and then smells abominably. The blow, which started up the
secretion, injured the bones forming facial sinuses. Those cavities
open to the nostril on either side by two comparatively small flaps,
slits, or valves. These are their only means of communication with the
external atmosphere; and through these valves all the pus must flow. Is
it surprising if such structures occasionally become clogged, till the
accumulated secretion, or the increased breathing, or the position of the
head, obliges the passage to give way?
The chances likely to result upon treatment are about equal, but the
process is generally slow. The trephine has to be employed upon the facial
sinus, and circular portions of bone have to be removed. Into the openings
thus made is to be injected, by means of a pint pewter syringe, half a
gallon of tepid water, or water heated to ninety-six degrees, in which
half a drachm of chloride of zinc is dissolved. The chloride of zinc not
only destroys the fetor, but also disposes the membrane to take on a new
action.
[Illustration:
THE TREPHINE, BY MEANS OF WHICH A CIRCULAR PIECE OF BONE MAY BE
REMOVED.
]
[Illustration: INJECTING THE HEAD OF A HORSE FOR NASAL GLEET.
Copied from a work by La Fosse.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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