joint; but probably the other joints are equally liable to this affection. It is sometimes accompanied with a morbidly irritable state of the stomach and bowels, and, if a strong or even a common purgative is given in such a case, there will be danger of its producing inflammation of these parts. The same irritable state of the stomach and bowels is sometimes observable also in chills, as they are termed, and when the hind leg is suddenly attacked with inflammation and swelling, after violent shivering and fever. In all such cases, though physic is often necessary, that is, when the bowels are in a costive state, yet it is likely to do great harm unless in a moderate dose, and guarded with cordials or opium. The following ball may be given on such occasions: it must be observed, however, that copious bleeding is the essential remedy, and must precede every other. Purgative with opium, or cordial cathartic:-Barbadoes aloes four to five drachms, ginger one drachm, hard soap three drachms; syrup enough to form the ball. The affected parts may be fomented and rubbed with some stimulating liniment or embrocation.

6. Rheumatic affection in the hock-joint, accompanied by an irritable state of the stomach. In this, and every other case in which the constitution is any way affected, the affection ought first to be removed by an attention to the general health of the animal, and we may fairly expect that, as soon as the constitutional debility is healed, the local disease will disappear; and we take this opportunity strenuously to recommend the observation now made to such of our readers as may have the care of this noble creature confided to their charge; for the primary procedure of first considering whether the topical malady was not occasioned by the disordered functions of the system, has been many years established with respect to the human constitution, and has been one essential means of securing to surgery its modern name.

7. Chest founder, or flying lameness. Some modern practitioners have disputed the existence of this disease, and the ancients attributed the lameness arising from it to some disorder in the foot; there is, however, little doubt but it is rheumatism. There is an affection of the muscles of respiration, some of which support the body, and advance the fore legs. There is also an affection of the diaphragm; from which, as well as the increase of the disease, after considerable exercise, with every appearance of the lungs partaking of the attack, obtained for it the name of bastard peripneumony. In this disorder the muscles of the shoulder and chest are of a diminished size, with a contracted motion of the fore legs, and weakness of all the supporting muscles. The feet will almost always be found affected in horses laboring under chest-founder, from their partaking in the rheumatic affection; but often disease of the foot is mistaken for chest-founder: however, examining the foot will often decide, and if no apparent cause of lameness appears then, and yet the horse suddenly becomes stiff and lame after heats, swimming, &c., we may conclude it is rheumatism. All that it is necessary to say on it is, that horses so affected are fit only for very moderate work in harness; for the musVOL XXII.-.PART 2.

cles of respiration, and of the shoulder, are so affected as to render them quite unsafe for the saddle. It is to be regretted that such horses are frequently used in stage-coaches and postchaises, and urged to exertions far beyond their powers. Horses laboring under this disorder have generally been possessed of great spirit and power, and will, if fed high, and urged by the whip, appear to go on with spirit for a short time, but after standing they suffer great pain, and terminate their short career by a miserable death. The animal should not be exposed to cold, and should be covered with a rug in the stable. He should be kept regular by aloetic and antimonial balls, and often have a warm mash, with nitre. Perhaps the mustard seed might be given with advantage; and blister on the chest, which we think better than rowels.

8. Acute founder, or chill. This disorder is brought on by excessive exertion, and a consequent exhaustion of nervous power, and not merely by a chill or suddenly cooling the animal, as it is supposed to be. This excessive exertion of the muscular system brings on a peculiar state of inflammation in the whole body; so that not only the muscles of the loins and hind parts, but every other muscle, and even the heart and capillary arteries, participate in the affection. The kidneys often partake of the affection, the horse voiding high-colored urine, sometimes mixed with blood: this happens only in bad cases, and then the kidneys are often inflamed; and the pulse is quick, and accelerated by the slightest exercise. The inner surface of the eye-lids are always very red. The horse should be immediately bled until he becomes faint; the bowels should be emptied with clysters, and the stable should be made as cool as possible.

Genus IV.-INTEGUMENTS.

Species 1. Surfeit. This word, derived from super over and above or excess, and fio to be made, applies to the notion which was entertained that the malady arose out of a superabundance of humors produced by over feeding. There are different causes which produce surfeits, but they mostly arise from bad food. When the coat of a horse is of a dirty color, and stares, he is said to labor under a surfeit. The skin is covered with scurf and scabs; these return, although rubbed off. Sometimes the surfeit appears on the skin of the horse in small lumps, like peas or beans; this is often occasioned by his drinking much cold water when unusually heated. This kind of surfeit will be cured effectually by a gentle purge and bleeding. In some cases the scabs appear covering the whole of the body and limbs; at times moist, and at others dry. The irritation is generally so great, as to cause the horse to chafe himself, producing rawness in many parts, and degenerating into mange. In the first instance, it will be requisite to give him a dose or two of mercurial physic. Should his condition be good, and able to bear it, he may subsequently take the following balls, which will produce a gentle purging and perspiration on the skin, and lead to beneficial results :

Take crocus of antimony, flour of sulphur 2 C

nitre, Venice soap, Barbadoes aloes, of each in fine powder, four ounces; precipitated sulphur of antimony one ounce. Let them be mixed, add a sufficient quantity of honey or treacle, and liquorice powder, and make them into a mass fit for balls. The weight of each ball should be one ounce and a half.

2. Hide-bound. When a horse's hide or skin sticks to his ribs, as it were, and cannot be drawn out or moved, as in the healthy state, he is said to be hide-bound. It indicates great weakness and poverty, and sometimes a diseased state of the mesenteric vessels, and consumption. It is generally occasioned by ill usage, and bad or insufficient food, and can only be removed by proper feeding and good treatment. A good piece of grass is the best remedy, especially in the early part of summer.

3. Mange. This is a well known disease, highly contagious. It however as frequently arises from debility as from contagion. The horse first begins to rub and scratch; the hair, then, at various parts, falls off, leaving bare patches; and, if the disease be suffered to continue, the animal pines away amazingly. The cure of mange is simple: common sulphur ointment rubbed well in, all over the animal, once a day, will cure it in a week. The following remedies are also effectual :

Lotion. Take of tobacco and white hellebore, three ounces; and boil in two quarts of water to three pints; then add an equal portion of lime water. Wash the horse all over with this every day.

Ointment.-Arsenic one drachm, sulphur eight ounces, lard a pound, train oil sufficient to improve its consistence. In curing the mange, the horse should have a purging ball first, and then in a day or two a dose of nitre and cream of tartar. His food should be green if it can be obtained, or, if not, turnips, carrots, or speared

corn.

very obstinate. An emollient poultice should be first applied, and continued for a few days, or until the inflammation has completely subsided. The crack or ulcer, as well as all the hollow part of the pastern or heel, should be covered with the following paste, which is to remain two or three days, and then to be washed off and repeated. When the crack is perfectly healed or dried up by this astringent paste, a little sallad oil or fresh hog's lard is often necessary to supple the part. In obstinate cases it is necessary to keep the horse perfectly at rest until the crack is healed, and sometimes to apply the following ointment, spread on a pledget of tow, and confined by a bandage :-Take of litharge plaster two ounces, best sallad oil one ounce. Melt slowly; and when removed from the fire, continue stirring until it is cold. Three of these dressings will generally cure the disorder. During this treatment the horse must not be taken out for exercise, but be turned loose into a cool box or out-house, where he may move himself about gently. As he takes no exercise during this time, he should be fed with bran mashes, and have only very little hay, as his bowels would otherwise be loaded with excrement, and much mischief might thereby be done. Though the disease is entirely local, it may not be amiss to give half an ounce of nitre once or twice a day in his mash. Horses that are constantly kept trimmed out in the heels often lose the hair from the part by the constant friction of the dirt of the roads; and, besides the deformity this occasions, they are still more liable to those painful cracks. I have lately, Mr. White observes, found the following treatment successful :-If the cracks are very painful, poultice for one day and night, then wash them three times a day with the following lotion, for one or two days, after this apply the astringent ointment, which generally heals them in a short time. Lotion.-Superacetate of lead and sulphate of zinc, of each two drachms, water eight ounces. Mix.

4. Mallenders. This is a scurfy eruption at the back part of the knee, or bending of the joint. The affection, if allowed to remain, degenerates into a disagreeable discharge. By washing the parts with soap and water, and drying them with a soft cloth or sponge, and then anointing with the following ointment once a day, the disease will be removed :-Take of mercurial ointment an ounce, sulphate of zinc a scruple. Mix.

5. Sallenders. This is the same disease as mallenders, only that it affects the inside of the hock joint. Its treatment is precisely the

same.

6. Cracks in the heels. These are frequently occurring, especially in saddle horses, even when properly treated, except in one particular, and that an important one, for it is occasioned entirely by the foolish practice of trimming out the heels. This renders them liable to injuries in travelling on gravelly or muddy roads, or indeed in any kind of road, as loose stones can not be avoided. In this way small bruises take place in the bend of the pastern, the skin is inflamed, and an ulcer or crack follows. These cracks are very painful, and often cause lameness: from improper treatment they often prove

7. Crown scab, of the same nature as the mallender, and may be cured by the same means: it generally leaves a blemish consisting in the loss of hair.

8. Rat-tails, an affection of the same kind essentially as the preceding, but under a different formality, the eruption appearing in lines or wheals, which from their shape have received the fanciful denomination of rat-tails.

9. Treads. Waggon horses, especially in mangy stables, have often an itching about the heels, which causes them to injure themselves, sometimes severely, in endeavouring to rub or scratch the part with their own feet. It is thus that they tread on the coronet or heel, and sometimes cause quittor. The injury, however, is seldom so severe as this, and may be soon cured by poulticing for a few days, and dressing the part afterwards with the tar ointment. It is always better to lay up the horse, and poultice him, than to put him immediately to work, as is commonly done, because the disease appears trifling: they are almost always obliged to do it at last, and then a much longer time is required for the cure. Treads have been noticed

in this place because crown scab and rat tails are a mangy kind of complaint, and often occasion the accident. Horses that have this itching of the heels and legs, if carefully examined, will sometimes be found to have lice in the skin. The legs should be well rubbed with mange ointment, and some sulphur or alterative powder may be given them inwardly.

10. Grease, so termed from the similitude which the discharge bears to that animal secretion called by the same name. This very frequent disease is a discharge from the skin of the part immediately above the hoof, sometimes attended with cracks and swellings extending higher up. It is caused by weakness of the parts, occasioned by long standing in a stable, or by cold from repeated washing of the legs without rubbing them dry, or from moisture constantly under the feet. Grease may be sometimes owing to constitutional debility, particularly in young horses, brought on suddenly by changes in their diet, &c., and the want of exercise. The hind legs are oftener attacked than the fore; perhaps, because they are usually not so well, rubbed and dried; and, perhaps, from the stretch which is kept upon them in stalls which slant downwards. Although a horse may be fat, and apparently in good condition, still the disease may be caused by this very fulness, producing a partial debility in the feet. Grease may be either a simple discharge, or be connected with cracks and swelled legs. The treatment, therefore, must be adapted to the different degrees of the complaint. In the first instance, when the complaint is mild, the feet should be bathed in warm water, and, having been dried, the following astringent lotion should be applied, by tying a rag wetted with it on the parts, and repeating the application twice a day, with gentle exercise, and green food if possible, mashes, opening medicines, and nitre:-Take of sulphate of zinc two drachms, decoction of oak bark a pint. Mix. If cracks begin to show themselves, with an ichorous discharge of a thin and greenish nature, we must not use the above lotion, but first poultice the parts with warm linseed poultice or mashed turnips, bathing the parts occasionally with warm water. These applications are to be continued for eight or ten days, until a healthy discharge comes on, when the above astringent may be safely applied.

If, however, the cracks become large, and swelling of the legs follow, the above poulticing and fomenting plan must be mainly assisted by constitutional means, such as occasional diuretic balls and alterative medicines; and the following may be used after the astringent lotion is tried-Take of verdigrise half an ounce, prepared calamine stone one ounce, chalk powdered two drachms, tar a quarter of a pound. Mix. Anoint the parts daily with this. Confirmed grease, notwithstanding all our efforts, will often follow; and this is when the cracks become ulcers and discharge a foul and peculiarly stinking fluid; horny or thick nobs will also form, called by the farriers grapes. Then we must, in addition to warm fomentations, use the fermenting poultice, which is flour moistened and leavened into a state of fermentation by yeast.

This will be found to correct the discharge in a few days. The discharge, however, ought not to be too suddenly dried up when the complaint has gone to such lengths, but rowels or setons should be applied in the thighs, and allowed to discharge several days first. Then the following astringents may be applied to dry up the discharge:-Take equal parts of verdigrise, white vitriol, alum, and sugar of lead, half an ounce. Dissolve them in half a pint of water, or of oil of vitriol half an ounce, water half a pint. Mix. Or of corrosive sublimate two drachms, dissolved in a little spirit of wine, and added to half a pint of water. When the discharge is stopped, and the disease apparently removed, let the horse be turned to grass, or into a straw-yard; and, in a week or two, fire the parts, so as to cause the skin to contract, and so establish a permanent pressure on the parts.

11. Broken knees. These like the preceding are contused wounds, but generally of a more serious nature, not only on account of the blemish, but likewise from the violence with which they are inflicted. Whenever there is a flap of skin it should be immediately cut off. A poultice is the best remedy for the first three or four days, or a week, and, when the inflammation has been thus subdued, the white astringent paste should be applied as prescribed at the end of this article. When the wound is completely skinned over, a little hoof or tar ointment may be applied daily to promote the growth of hair; the ointment may be softened, if thought necessary, by a little oil of olives, or colored red or black by means of bole or lamp black.

12. Sand crack. This complaint is most general among horses whose hoofs are of a dry and fragile substance, on which account the horn at the upper part of the inner quarter is liable to break and crack. These sand cracks in most cases affect the sensible portions of the foot. The crack or cleft should, in the first instance, be opened with a drawing knife, and all the hollow portions of the horn, as far as they extend under the crust, should be thoroughly cut out; also every portion of horn detached from the sensible parts must be cut off. Some tow steeped in a solution of blue vitriol should then be applied, and the hollow parts afterwards with tar ointment. When the foot appears lame and inflamed, it must be poulticed for about seven or eight days; after this it would be well to send the animal to grass for a month, when a small portion of new hoof will be seen growing above the sand crack. The whole of the crack should be laid over with tar ointment, and the part where the crack appears should be reduced as much as possible by the use of the rasp. By attention to these instructions, sand cracks are not unfrequently cured, without much trou ble. When the animal is taken out from grass, the soles must be pared thin, the foot stuffed with tar ointment, and a wide easy shoe put on. In some time after, when the horse improves, a smaller shoe can be substituted in its stead. If the feet be unusually hot, apply wet cloths constantly to them until the heat be removed. The frog should be kept well pared or rasped, and overlaid with tar ointment, which should also 2 C 2