Chapter X (1)

THE SKIN--ITS ACCIDENTS AND ITS DISEASES.

MANGE.

This troublesome disease, which is the itch of the stable, generally preys upon the poorly nurtured, the aged or the debilitated. Neglect is the almost necessary associate of poverty; loss of pride attends loss of means, for seldom can the spirit of man brave the frowns of fortune. The want of emulation is always seen most emphatically without the doors of the home; the garden denotes the failure of industry, and the stable languishes under an absence of activity. The grooming is avoided; the horse's food is proportioned to the master's means, and is not given at regular hours; coarse diet and a filthy abode generate that weakness which will assuredly breed =mange=.

The disease, once developed, is highly contagious; all horses standing near the one affected, all that may touch it, or the shafts to which it was harnessed, or anything that has been in contact with the contaminated body, are inoculated. The very robust, to be sure, may escape; but this circumstance is to be regarded as the most stringent test of actual health rather than as the declaration of that state which the majority of mankind are pleased to term perfect condition. The animal which escapes must be of so sound a body as to afford no nutriment to the disorder which preys upon debility. Probably not one horse in ten thousand could resist so searching a test; the trial, however, after all, would be no more than a negative proof; and it is to be much regretted that science, up to the present time, has not discovered any means by which the presence of established health can be demonstrated.

Mange depends upon the presence of an insect which is classed with spiders, though to the uninitiated it looks, under the microscope, far more like a deformed crab. A representation of this parasite, very highly magnified, is here given, from Dr. Erasmus Wilson's paper upon the subject; and the reader may indulge his ingenuity by discovering its likeness to the spider.

The parasites are, when attentively searched for, to be recognized by the naked eye. Any man, by scratching the roots of the hair upon the mane of a mangy horse, may loosen a portion of scurf; let this scurf be received or cast upon a sheet of white paper. The paper then should be subjected to a strong light; the glare of the noonday sun is to be preferred, as warmth greatly influences the activity of the parasites. Numerous very small shining points may thus be seen moving about the mass in all directions. Those points are the insects, and, considering the easy means we now possess of demonstrating their existence, it seems astonishing that veterinary science was so long before it recognized the true source of the contagion. Even at the last moment, the sight was quickened by the research of a human physician, Dr. Erasmus Wilson; but after that gentleman soon followed Mr. Ernes, veterinarian, of Dockhead.

Mange would be far less general than it is, did not the convenience or the prejudice of mankind predispose them to favor a "run at grass." The horse there placed is all at once taken from a stimulating diet, while, the groom being relieved of his charge, foulness accumulates upon the coat. The animal, instead of standing still and feeding upon nourishing provender, has to travel far and to distend the stomach with a watery substance before the cravings of hunger can be appeased and satiety impress the creature with a consciousness that existence has gathered a sufficient support. The quadruped while at grass is necessitated to be eating the major portion of both day and night; little leisure is left from the cravings of appetite for rest or for repose. No comfortable bed is placed beneath the jaded limbs. There may be an open shed under which all the inhabitants of the field are free to shelter themselves from the storms of autumn and from the colds of early morning. That building is, however, generally taken possession of by horned cattle, or by the victor of the steeds, and none but favorites are allowed to share the comfort of the tyrant.

It is assuredly true that the horse, in its primitive state, must have galloped over the plains free from human care and without a roof to harbor it. In a similar state man also must once have existed. The early Britons are described as walking about in painted costume, and as living on acorns and wild berries. Which of her Britannic Majesty's present subjects would like for six weeks in every year to return to the habits of our ancestors? The horse is even more artificial than man himself. It proves nothing, therefore, that the creature has existed upon the plain; any more than the possibility of rearing human beings apart from civilization can establish that the latter mode is beneficial to the body's development. Man has lost the desire for a wild existence. Then, why is the horse expected to be benefited by a return to the so-called natural state, although securely fenced from that freedom and extent of choice which primitive nature would have afforded?

Horses, when huddled together, often commit fearful injuries upon their companions. The creatures are unused to the society into which they are forced, and awkwardness is apt to be rude. Any want of manners in the heels of a horse is a serious business. But, to put upon one side so weighty an argument against the grass field, as foreign to the present subject,--all sorts of animals are there congregated. Some are turned out "to regain condition;" some to become "fresh upon the legs;" and some to live cheaply till their services are required. Others are allowed "a run," after some virulent disorder; and others merely to afford time for the eradication of obstinate disease. The pony, the cart-horse, the thorough-bred, and the roadster,--all are crowded together. All sizes and conditions meet as at a common table. Is it very wonderful, or much out of the scope of ordinary probability, if one of the creatures so exposed, so fed, and so tended, should engender mange? A few years back, the children kept at Yorkshire schools were much exposed to a similar affection. Those babes, however, had not been more accustomed to cleanliness than the horse, nor were they exposed to half the neglect which the animal at grass is obliged to endure. Is it then surprising that the lower creature should breed a disease like to that which afflicts the human being? Let mange appear in one, and the rest are prepared by exposure and unwholesome food to imbibe the disorder; the contagion rapidly spreads; posts and rails are loosened or overthrown by horses rubbing against them; or, should such things be wanting, constant irritation instructs instinct, and the miserable animals scrub one against the other in the open space.

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.

The above are the broad and more obvious indications of mange. However, should the diseased locality be more minutely inspected, a number of small pimples are discerned; these elevations are clustered upon different spots. As they mature, the point of each contains a very slight quantity of gelatinous fluid; the vesicles ultimately burst; the contents exude and become dry through the absorption of the atmosphere, forming incrustations upon the surface. Add to this, the irritation provokes the diseased animal to scrub itself against any irregular, projecting surface which may be at hand. Raw places, frequently of magnitude, are often occasioned by the friction so rudely applied; from this source another set of crusts spring up. The places which are denuded, therefore, may present a very varied aspect, but still the parched appearance of the scurfy and dry skin affords the best external evidence of the presence of mange.

An animal, which from being gray in youth has grown white with age, still retains to its death the signs of its youthful color upon its skin. The integument is dark, although the hair may have lost the last vestige of its original hue; the checkered appearance established by mange gives to the white horse a particularly ragged and dejected aspect.

Unfortunately, man is not, at the present moment, sufficiently enlightened to recognize the symptoms which indicate an approaching attack of mange; but the animal energetically announces the malady so soon as the contamination is established. The disorder being confirmed, its existence is readily ascertained; the fingers have only to be inserted among the roots of the mane, and the part titillated with the nails. The horse thus treated will stretch forth the head and neck, will compose its features into an expression of excessive pleasure, and will continue motionless so long as the hand remains upon the crest.

This sign, being witnessed, may be esteemed conclusive. Let such an animal be placed in the sunshine for an hour, should the weather permit; otherwise allow it to stand in the warmest house which is unoccupied; then have the coat thoroughly dressed or whisked, until all the loose scurf and incrustations are removed; afterward have the following ointment well rubbed in. Mind the man who whisks the horse goes near no other animal for eight and forty hours. See that every portion of the skin, from the tip of the nose to the point of the tail, is anointed; mark that no crevice or irregularity escapes, from the bottom of the coronet to the apex of the ears.

_Liniment for Mange._

Animal glycerin Four parts.
Creosote Half a part.
Oil of turpentine One part.
Oil of juniper Half a part.
Mix all together, shake well, and use.

It is impossible to state accurately how much will be required to dress the horse--the disease, the coat, and the size vary so materially in different animals. About one pint and a half is, however, the general quantity employed for one application; every portion of the coat must be saturated, and in that condition the animal should be left till two clear days have expired. Thus, supposing the liniment to be used upon a Monday, it is left on until the following Thursday. Then have the surface washed with soft soap and warm water; dry the body and allow the animal to stand in a warm spot as before, so that every portion of moisture may evaporate. Afterward employ the whisk as has been previously directed; subsequently repeat the anointing. That operation must be again gone through for the third and last time after two clear days have once more expired, when the disease ought to be cured; all the insects should have perished, and the skin have been benefited by the stimulation to which it has been subjected.

There are many preparations employed to cure mange. All have some repute, though all (save that already given) are attended with some danger. The author, however, will recite two, at the same time warning the reader that neither of those which follow can be sincerely recommended.

_Ointment for Mange._

Strong mercurial ointment Three ounces.
Soft soap One pound and a half.
Mix.

_Wash for Mange._

Corrosive sublimate One drachm.
Spirits of wine One ounce.
Tobacco (made into an infusion) One ounce.
Hot water (which is to be poured into the tobacco) One quart.

Dissolve the corrosive sublimate in the spirits of wine. Soak the
tobacco in the boiling water. When cold, mix.

The question has been much debated, "whether man can derive the itch from an animal?" Imaginary proofs favoring the possibility are every now and then confidently promulgated; but all doubts seem to have been put to rest by the investigations conducted by M. Bourguignon. That gentleman demonstrated the unfitness of one creature to support the parasite generated by another. Horses may be violently irritated by insects bred by fowls; but, remove the birds, the supply ceases, and the irritation dies away. So an individual handling mangy horses may get some of the acari upon him and cause vexatious itching; but let the man keep away from the contaminated stable and the sensation is quickly lost. The repeated and repeated renewal of the pest gives a seeming warranty to the popular belief. Certain disorders assuredly are communicable throughout every species of life, as though to prove to the stubbornness of mankind that all nature is akin. Such are hydrophobia in the dog, and glanders in the horse; were all affections, however, equally interchangeable, the inhabitants of this world would speedily become one breathing mass of disease.

PRURIGO.

This affection may lead many a gentleman to imagine his horse has caught the mange; the leading symptom in each disorder is the same. Excessive irritability of the skin is, in =prurigo=, generally exhibited during the spring of the year; the animal will rub itself with a fury which often removes portions of the coat, but which never exposes the dry and corrugated patches that characterize genuine mange.

It is very annoying to behold the horse, when in the stable, scrubbing its neck upon the division to the stall; it is provoking to witness the animal leave its corn for the same employment. It excites the fancy of the master and conjures up the dread of every cleanly horse proprietor; the symptom is, however, easily eradicated. It only denotes heat of body; let a portion of the hay be abstracted and a couple of bundles of cut grass be allowed each day; let a mash be given night and morning, until the bowels freely respond, and, without further measures, the annoyance usually ceases.

The irritation may not, however, subside so quickly as shall be desired; to hasten its departure, either of the annexed may be applied externally:

_Washes for Prurigo._

Animal glycerin One part.
Simple water or rose-water Two parts.
Mix.

Sulphuric acid One part.
Water Ten parts.
Mix.

Creosote One part.
Oil Eight parts.
Mix.

Either of these probably will answer, but the writer strongly recommends the first; at the same time it is well to try and reach the source of the disease, or to improve the blood. For this purpose the following drink should be given every night after the last meal:--

_Drink for Prurigo._

Liquor arsenicalis One ounce.
Tincture of muriate of iron One ounce and a half.
Water One quart.
Mix, and give half a pint for a dose.

A week after the irritation has subsided, all medicine may be withdrawn; but it is always well to see that a sufficiency of exercise be given, and to allow an extra feed of oats with a pot of porter every day. These last will restore the strength; for every form of disease is to be regarded as the most emphatic testimony of weakness.

RING-WORM.

This affection at first is simply a disfigurement; but, if neglected, it becomes a troublesome disorder. In the primary instance, the hair falls off in patches, leaving visible a scurfy skin; some say there are pimples under the scurf, but the author must confess he was unable to discern them in those cases which he examined. The scurfy particles, however, are somewhat large, and resemble, in no little degree, the scales which form the bulk of bran. At first, these pieces or flakes of cuticle cover the entire surface; but ultimately they congregate upon the circumference, which, by their numbers, is made to assume a raised appearance. Should the =ring-worm= not be attended to, the outward margin at last begins to ulcerate, becoming the more difficult to eradicate in proportion to the time of its continuance and the extent of the ulceration.

For the cure of ring-worm, a rigid attention to cleanliness is imperative; the parts should, at all events, be washed night and morning with mild soap, and hot, soft water; to the places--these having been rendered perfectly dry--one of the following preparations must be applied and laid rather thickly upon the denuded spot:--

_Ointments for Ring-worm._

Animal glycerin One ounce.
Spermaceti One ounce.
Iodide of lead Two drachms.

Rub the glycerin and spermaceti together, and, when thoroughly incorporated, add the iodide of lead, or use any of the appended:--

Nitrate of lead Two drachms.
Simple ointment Two ounces.
Mix.

Oil of tar Half an ounce.
Simple cerate One ounce.
Mix.

Creosote Two drachms.
Simple cerate One ounce.
Mix.

Oil of juniper One drachm.
Simple cerate One ounce.
Mix.

Besides the above, which are not one-half of the remedies in general use, some parties are loud in the commendation of a saturated solution of a sulphate of iron. Others are strongly prejudiced in favor of pure liquor plumbi; another class protest they employ nothing but compound alum water, which invariably and speedily affords relief. There are people who regard a strong infusion of tobacco as a charm for ring-worm; while another set will hear of nothing for that purpose but hellebore ointment.

The author, however, has always employed the first preparation, which, in his hand, has never occasioned disappointment. It has, however, always been aided by the following drink, administered every night. No medicine could possibly act better than those here proposed; they seem to go directly to the skin; but as the state of the integument may be accepted as evidence with regard to the condition of the entire body, a most powerful alterative may not, in this instance, be out of place.

_Drink for Ring-worm._

Liquor arsenicalis One ounce.
Tincture of the muriate of iron One ounce and a half.
Water One quart.
Mix, and give every night half a pint for a dose.

This drink must be continued till every vestige of the disease has disappeared. However, it frequently happens that, after the central bare spot has been cured, ulceration remains about the circumference. Treat this with either of the following lotions:--

Permanganate of potash Half an ounce.
Water Three ounces.
Mix, and smear gently over the part six times daily. Or--
Chloride of zinc Two scruples.
Water One pint.
Mix.

The ulcers should be punctually moistened with the last preparation at the periods already stated, and the horse should be thrown up during the treatment. The food should be of the best, and a month ought to be allowed for the cure.

SURFEIT.

Old practitioners generally entertain very false opinions concerning the importance of =surfeit=; they being inclined to employ more stringent measures for its eradication than the real nature of the disease demands. The affection is rather annoying than dangerous; it makes its appearance suddenly, and seldom involves the entire body. It is a sudden rash or a quantity of heat spots bursting out upon the skin; the spots are round, blunt, and slightly elevated; they resemble the blotches which, during hot weather, often appear upon the human countenance, only the horse's integument being so much more active than the skin of man, the outward affection in the animal may be regarded as proportionably the more severe. Frequently, during the eruption, the pulse is tranquil, the spirit and appetite being good; when such is the case, the lumps mostly disappear in a few hours. Still the food should be looked to; about eight pounds of hay should be abstracted and two bundles of cut grass allowed per day; the corn should be kept up or even increased, and a handful of sound, old beans, which have been properly crushed, should be mingled with each feed. The stable should be airy, and the following drink should be given every day for a month:--

Liquor arsenicalis One ounce.
Tincture of the muriate of iron One ounce and a half.
Water One quart.
Mix, and give once daily, one pint for a dose.

Should the horse be young, and have been neglected throughout the winter, a surfeit sometimes appears which is of a different character. The lumps do not disappear; but an exudation escapes from the center of each. The constitution is involved in this form of disease, and the malady, if unattended to, is apt to settle upon the lungs.

Should the attack assume the last appearance, on no account take the animal out, not even for exercise. Attend to the perfect cleanliness of the bed, and keep every door and window in the stable open during the day. Feed as directed for the previous form of surfeit, and allow two or three bran mashes whenever the bowels appear constipated; but do not give mashes after the constipation is removed. The desire is not to weaken the system by purgation, but simply to relieve the body; administer the drink recommended above only, giving one night and morning, but, should the appetite suffer, reduce the quantity, or withhold all medicine.

Clothe warmly; bandage the legs, and remove from the stall to a loose box; if the pulse suddenly sink, two pots of stout may be given at different times during the day. If the appetite is bad, good gruel instead of water must be constantly in the manger; cut carrots, if presented a few at a time, will generally be accepted. However, with all such care, a very speedy termination is not to be expected; nature is casting forth something imbibed during a winter of neglect, and no art can quicken the process. The shortest cases of this kind mostly last a fortnight, during which time the treatment, and the entire treatment, merely consists in good nursing and in liberally supporting the body.

HIDE-BOUND.

Strictly speaking, the condition signified by the above term is not so much a disease as the consequence of exposure, of poor provender, and of neglect. Thrust a horse which has been accustomed to wholesome food and a warm stable, thrust such an animal into a straw yard and leave it there through the long and severe winter of this climate. Let the creature which has been used to have its wants attended to and its desires watched--let it for months exist upon a stinted quantity of such hay as the farmer cannot sell--let it go for days without liquid, and at night be driven by the horns of bullocks to lie among the snow or to shiver in the rain--let an animal so nurtured be forced to brave such vicissitudes, and in the spring the belly will be down, and the harsh, unyielding skin will everywhere adhere close to the substance which it covers.

Straw yards are abominations into which no feeling man should thrust the horse he prizes; and no feeling man should long possess a horse without esteeming it. The docility is so complete, the obedience so entire, and the intelligence so acute, that it is hard to suppose a mortal possessing a creature thus endowed, without something more than a sheer regard for property growing up between the master and the servant.

Every amiable sentiment is appealed to by the absolute trustfulness of the quadruped. It appears to give itself, without reservation, to the man who becomes its proprietor. Though gregarious in its nature, yet, at the owner's will, it lives alone. It eats according to human pleasure, and it even grows to love the imprisonment under which it is doomed to exist. Cruelty cannot interfere with its content. Brutality may maim its body and wear out its life; but as its death approaches, it faces the knacker with the same trustfulness which induced it, when in its prime, to yield up every attribute of existence to gain the torture and abuse of an ungrateful world.

Liberal food, clean lodging, soft bed, healthy exercise, and good grooming compose the only medicine imperative for the cure of =hide-bound=. The relief, however, may be hastened by the daily administration of two of those tonics and alterative drinks which act so directly upon the skin:--

_Drink for Hide-bound._

Liquor arsenicalis Half an ounce.
Tincture of muriate of iron One ounce.
Water One pint.
Mix, and give as a dose.

LICE.

These parasites are the consequences natural to the states of filth and debility. Insects, which have been mistaken for =lice=, sometimes infest large stables and almost drive the horses frantic with the itching they provoke. Application after application, intended to destroy lice, is made use of. Every recognized source of contagion is exterminated. Internal as well as external medicine is resorted to, but every endeavor to remove the annoyance signally fails. The horses are fat and feed upon the best; yet they seem to breed the parasites peculiar to the opposite condition. At last some one points to the hen-roost which leans against the stable. That building is pulled down, and with it the nuisance disappears.

It may to the reader appear strange that the application which killed lice did not destroy the insects derived from fowls. Those parasites which were upon the horse doubtless perished; but the dressing being washed off, the pests came again and again, being supplied by the source of all the mischief.

Insects breathe through the skin. On that account, a hornet is more readily destroyed by dropping a little oil upon the exterior surface than by immersing the head in hydrocyanic acid. All, therefore, requisite for the removal of lice is smearing the entire body with any cheap oil or grease. But when the skin is washed, the business is not ended. Generally the horse troubled with lice is hide-bound, and may have various other affections derived from the debility which generated the parasites.

LARVA IN THE SKIN.

These annoyances are another result of turning an animal out to grass, the fly whence the trouble is derived never entering the stable. The insect rejoices in the freedom of the field; and man, by turning out his horse, finds the creature a fitting spot for the deposit of its eggs. This body is carefully deposited upon the back or sides. The warmth of the animal hatches the =larva=; no sooner is it endowed with life, than, with the instinct of its kind, it burrows into the skin. The integument of the horse, however thick it may appear, is soon pierced by the active little maggot, which, thus snugly housed, retains its lodging until the following spring. During the winter, a small lump denotes its abiding place; but as the second summer progresses, a tolerably large abscess is instituted.

_a._ The winter residence of the larva.

_b._ The summer abode of the insect.

_c._ A drop of tallow falling upon the center of the abscess.
]

1. The spot through which the larva breathes.
2. The insect, full size.
3. The mouth of the parasite.
4. The pus surrounding the body, and upon which
the creature lives.
5. The sac of the abscess.
6. The fat of the horse, or the adipose tissue much
swollen and inflamed.
7. The skin.
8. The superficial muscle.
9. The muscle proper to the body of the animal.
]

The interior of the abscess, of course, contains pus. Upon that secretion the insect lives and thrives. The inhabitant of a warm abode, and surrounded by its food, the early period of life no doubt is, for an inactive being, highly agreeable. A division of one of these abscesses, when fully matured, is represented in the second cut, page 233.

Such swellings are acutely painful and prove the sources of much annoyance. They mostly occur upon the back. The saddle cannot be laid on one of these tumors; and, as the spine supports much of the harness, the proprietor has the vexation of beholding his horse rendered perfectly useless; for suffering, should service be exacted, occasions the creature to excite displeasure; besides, the pranks thus provoked by torture often continue after the cause has been removed.

Upon the summit of the abscess appears a black spot. It is at this spot the larva receives the air needed to support a dormant existence. This fact being known to certain people, the knowledge is employed to destroy the parasite. The swelling is first slightly greased, and then a drop of melted tallow is let fall upon the breathing place. By such means the insect is effectually suffocated, and assuredly dies.

Others employ a darning needle as the instrument of execution. The needle is thrust through the central spot into the swelling for three-eighths of an inch. The larva thereby is pierced, and the life certainly is sacrificed.

Neither method occasions at the time the slightest pain to the horse, and therefore may by some persons be esteemed highly humane; but, in the end, such plans of cure prove the very reverse. In either case the maggot dies; but the business, unfortunately, is only rendered worse by killing the source of evil. The dead body putrefies. A foreign and corrupting substance beneath the skin may enlarge the abscess to many times its original dimensions. After all, the system has to cast forth the irritating matter, and for that purpose inflammation, with its attendant fever, must be perfected. Much suffering is thus occasioned, and the proprietor is, for several weeks, forced to forego the employment of a valuable servant.

The safest, the surest, and the quickest manner of eradicating these parasites is, with the point of a lancet, slightly to enlarge the central opening, and then with the finger and thumb, applied on either side of the swelling, to squeeze out the intruder. The abscess rapidly disappears; and it only requires a few dabbings with the solution of chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce, to close the wound. However, the best manner to avoid such annoyances is not to endeavor at saving money by treating a domesticated animal as though it were an untamed quadruped.

WARTS.

A =wart=, when of a fixed cartilaginous nature, should, in the horse, be eradicated immediately upon its appearance; being permitted to exist, such growths always increase in number and in magnitude. By certain people, or rather by a tradition, these excrescences are imagined to breed, or it is thought that one can produce many. That warts are possessed of any such inherent property science refuses to acknowledge; but the same system which has generated one may generate several. The faculty of casting forth such growths may even be encouraged by allowing them to remain; and it is possible that the slight shock occasioned by their removal may alter the tendency of the body. Certain it is that, by some mysterious law, nature refuses to build up only for human agency to destroy. Youatt asserts that it was once fashionable to crop the ears of horses until animals were ultimately born with the ears ready shortened.

A portrait of an extraordinary instance of warty disposition, showing the imprudence of permitting such accumulations to continue, is here given. The writer's experience cannot at all equal the disfigurement there represented; the animal was the favorite saddle-horse of a lady who could not bear the idea of the creature being put to pain. One wart first appeared upon the inside of the thigh; the motion of the legs used to chafe the excrescence, and frequent discharges of blood were the consequence. The growth increased in size, and three times was it "charmed." However, the cure, said to be potent over the human being, was inoperative upon the horse; housewife's remedies were next resorted to, but all of these proved equally unsuccessful.

At length, smaller warts began to show; it would have been easy to have removed the original excrescence, but the numerous after-growths assumed a form which would have rendered them difficult to destroy. Many of them came with wide bases and slight elevation; to have attempted the excision would have almost necessitated the flaying of a living body. The remedy, which at first was easy, was by time rendered impossible; the horse being permitted to exist, could only see imperfectly. It could not move or feed without hemorrhage being provoked. The animal, of course, became useless; but still its kind mistress could not consent to its destruction. A country farrier, previous to the author seeing the animal, had slit up one nostril to relieve the breathing, which before was much impeded. Of course nothing could be done for such an object.

There are three different sorts of growth, all of which are recognized under the term "wart." The first is of a cartilaginous nature and is contained in a distinct sac or shell, which last is entirely derived from the cuticle of the skin. Upon the sac being divided, the substance drops out, leaving behind a perfectly clean cavity, which soon disappears. Little hemorrhage and less pain attend upon this trivial operation. The second sort also is cartilaginous, but, unlike the first, is not contained within a cuticular sac. It adheres firmly to the skin, and is apt to grow large; sometimes it becomes of enormous bulk, when regarded simply in its character of a wart. The crown is rough and unsightly; the body is vascular, and the growth, from its magnitude and uneven texture, is apt to be injured, when it never heals, but invariably exhibits the ulcerative process in a tedious form. This species of wart is often to be found, though of a smaller development, upon the human hand. The third variety is hardly to be esteemed a true wart, and would not here be named, were it not universally accepted as one of these abnormal growths. It consists of a cuticular case, inclosing a soft granular substance.

It is impossible always to distinguish the first and third from the second; therefore, in a case of this kind, it is advisable to cut into the excrescence as soon as it is large enough to be operated upon. When the warts are ascertained to be inclosed in a defined cuticular shell, the quickest and the more humane practice is to take a sharp-pointed knife and impale them, or run the blade through each in succession. The edge should be away from the skin, and the knife being withdrawn with an upward, cutting motion, the sac and substance are both sundered. This accomplished, the interior is easily removed and all that can subsequently be necessary is to occasionally touch the part with the solution of the chloride of zinc, one grain to the ounce of water.

When the growth proves of the fixed cartilaginous kind, no time should be lost in its removal. The quickest plan--and not, perhaps, the most painful method--of doing this is by means of the knife. The excrescence should be thoroughly excised, being sundered at the base. Some bleeding will follow. This may be readily commanded by having at hand a saucepan of water boiling on a small fire. Into the heated liquid a budding-iron should be placed, by which artifice sufficient heat is obtained to stimulate the open mouths of the vessels when the instrument is applied to the bleeding surface, without any danger being incurred of destroying the living flesh.

Should excision be objected to, the next best plan is the use of caustic. Strong acetic acid, only to be generally obtained as aromatic vinegar, is the mildest cautery; the next in strength is butter of antimony; after that, ranks nitrate of silver, or lunar caustic; and lastly, comes a preparation invented by Mr. Woodger, to whose perceptions the veterinary profession is so largely indebted. It consists of sulphuric acid, made into a paste with powdered sulphur, and applied by means of a flat piece of wood.

Whichever remedy is adopted, it must be remembered that the application will occupy time in exact proportion to the mildness of the means employed. It may also be proper to hint to the reader that, as an animal has no foreknowledge to alarm its anticipatory fears, and as, the anguish past, the mind of the creature does not linger upon painful recollections, probably the knife is to be very much preferred.

Some people remove warts by ligatures. To this custom the author strongly objects, for the following reasons: Because the process is slow; because the pain is great and continuous, till the removal is accomplished; because the ligature soon becomes filthy, the wart, when large, often turning putrid before it falls off; and because, when small, the breadth of base and the slight projection render fixing a ligature an utter impossibility.

TUMORS.

It is impossible to particularize the nature of every =tumor= to which the horse is subject, such formations being so very various. Seldom are two cases met with in which a precisely similar structure is developed. More seldom are two cases encountered located upon the same part. These growths are liable to every possible change. One may be very small, but extremely malignant, or of that kind which seems to resent the slightest interference. Employ the knife to this last sort, and incurable ulceration may start up. All remedies may be powerless and the life may be sacrificed. Such growths are, happily, rare in the equine species; but the author has heard of their occurrence, although it has not been his misfortune to encounter one. Another shall be of such enormous size as to impede the motions, yet will be perfectly bland in its nature. A portrait, not of the largest tumor which the writer has witnessed, but of the most awkwardly situated, is represented herewith. It was not malignant. The horse which carried about this burden was brought to the veterinary college during the time when the author was attached to that establishment. The animal had previously been under the treatment of various veterinary surgeons. All had cut and cauterized the enlargement, but without reducing its magnitude. The wounds healed quickly, and the constitution appeared not to be in the slightest manner affected.

Why was not the swelling removed with the knife, when the kindly nature of the growth had been ascertained? For good and sufficient reasons. No operation could, with the slightest prospect of success, be hazarded. In the first place, nature is apt to resent the loss of so large a substance, or, in other words, although the surgery may be perfect, the life, from some unexplained cause, is likely to depart before the operation is finished. In the next place, most bland tumors, when of magnitude, are of a semi-cartilaginous nature, and spring either from tendon or from bone--usually from the latter. This tumor impeded the action; hence it was inferred that the substance ramified among the fibers of the pectoral muscles. Those fibers are large, and are divided; they present interspaces, between which the abnormal growth might readily penetrate. Now, unless every portion of the tumor were excised, the enlargement would sprout again, and the surgeon would be disgraced. To remove the pectoral muscle of a man, would be esteemed of little consequence, so that the life was preserved. But the limbs of the horse constitute the value of the creature's existence and to disable these from being safely moved, would be to return a burdensome life to the proprietor. Therefore that which is compatible with human surgery could not be entertained in veterinary science.

A tumor may be small and soft, yet it must be respected. It may be hard, or even ulcerated and large, still its excision may be readily accomplished. The majority of these growths which appear upon the horse, however, are not malignant. Nevertheless, let every man consult some duly qualified veterinarian of experience before he resorts to measures which, possibly, may lead to the acutest regret.

One caution must be given before the subject is concluded. Gray horses, which have grown paler with age, or have become white, are liable to an incurable and malignant disease termed =melanosis=, which hereafter will be fully described. The presence of this disorder is generally testified by the appearance of some external tumor. Unless that enlargement be of great size and admirably situated for removal, it on no account should be interfered with. Let, therefore, every light-gray or white horse having a tumor be submitted to some experienced judgment, and let the owner be guided by the opinion he receives.

SWOLLEN OR FILLED LEGS.

These are one of the most common troubles of the stable; the coachman is very apt to complain piteously that in the morning he is sure to find such and such a horse with the legs filled. Commonly the hinder limbs below the hock are thus affected; sometimes the fore legs below the knee will be involved. The coachman mostly bandages the parts. In mild cases this resort may answer; but in bad instances the leg above the bandage is apt to enlarge. The cloth or flannel, before applied, should be wetted; this, however, affords but a temporary relief; the wet often causes the hair to curl, and the uniformity of the appearance is thereby spoiled. After some time, the bandage frequently leaves its impress upon the leg, and it is astonishing how long in peculiar cases this impress will continue.

=Swollen legs= mostly occur in heavy animals and in overgrown carriage horses; such creatures are of weakly or soft constitutions. They have a vast tendency to become partially dropsical. Fast work exhausts the system of the carriage horse, while high food stimulates its natural disposition toward disease. With heavy horses, the prolonged hours of labor are equally debilitating, and the Sunday's stagnation generates disorder; neither have any innate hardiness to withstand injurious influences; both, when highly fat, have the weakness inherent to their constitutions greatly increased. The quadruped, loaded with the accumulations of many months' repletion, may please the eye of the master; but it is rendered more subject to disease, and less capable of labor or of activity.

Persons who require fast work, should employ light vehicles and small horses; the creatures should be principally supported by grain--a little hay may be allowed during certain times, when the animal's attention requires to be engaged; but the chief sustenance ought to consist of oats and beans. When the carriage is not wanted for the day, care should be taken to see the groom gives at least four hours' exercise.

With regard to the heavy animals, the custom of blowing them out with chaff or hay is not to be commended. A good horse is surely deserving of good provender, and the best manger food is not generally deserving of any higher character than the word "good" may convey. A horse for work should be in sound flesh without being fat; when not required, it should not be allowed to remain in the stable all day. Who, however, ever saw a cart-horse being exercised? These animals have to stand in the stall of a heated stable throughout the Sabbath; the excuse is, that the creatures may enjoy a day's rest. But four hours' easy exercise given at different times, although it might occupy the time of the attendant, would assuredly greatly add to the comfort of the quadrupeds which he is paid to look after.

When a horse is troubled with swollen legs, take it from the stall and place it in a roomy, loose box; nothing more quickly removes this affection than easy and natural motion. At grass, dropsy generally attacks the abdomen; but the author has not heard of the legs being affected in the field, the limbs there being in constant action. Having placed the animal in a loose box, abstain from giving hay for some weeks; procure some ground oak-bark; having damped the corn, sprinkle a handful of the powder among each feed of oats. Particularly attend to the exercise; and should the legs still enlarge, do not allow bandages to be employed, but set both groom and coachman hand-rubbing till the natural appearance is restored.

SITFAST.

This, whenever it occurs, provokes great vexation. Generally it affects animals of the highest value or of fast capabilities, which are used only for saddle purposes. The affection consists of a patch of horn, resembling a corn upon the human foot. These patches are not absolutely large, though of course in size they vary. Neither are they all similar in form or in thickness. In one respect, however, a family likeness runs throughout the kind. They are not simple corns, but their different nature is shown by a margin of ulceration. The situation which they invariably occupy is under the saddle-tree. Their presence, of course, obliges the horse to be disused; and they are the more annoying, since there is no chance of these comparatively trifling ailments disappearing without treatment. The treatment, moreover, cannot be speedy. Whatever measures may be resorted to, time is necessary for the cure; and, during this space, the proprietor sees his horse in high health and spirits, but is forbidden to mount it because of a petty blemish which, in his eyes, is perfectly contemptible.

Sitfasts, though all said to be caused by the friction of the saddle, have several distinct excitants. The saddle is without life, and cannot of itself injure the quadruped. It is common to account for a sitfast by saying the saddle does not fit. Such may occasionally be the case; for a saddle, if badly made, will chafe the skin and produce a sitfast. But this cause is in operation less often than is imagined. A retired surgeon, whom the author had the honor of visiting at Reigate, wore a cork leg. That gentleman stated that, whenever the leg used to chafe the stump to which it was attached, he always considered his body was out of order. Medicine then was taken, and the symptom disappeared. We mortals refuse to think the horse ails anything unless the animal is alarmingly prostrated. All smaller ills are disregarded; yet that derangement of the stomach which caused the stump of a man's leg to become painful from pressure may, if not attended to, also cause the skin of a horse to exhibit a sitfast.

An awkward horseman is the more frequent source of the complaint. There are gentlemen so very energetic as riders that the best of saddles may be readily moved under them. The saddle must be well made indeed which can, under no circumstances, be stirred upon the back to that extent which is required to generate a sitfast. Loose girths will likewise establish the nuisance, and so also may the saddle-cloth whenever it is hastily put on so as to become thrown into a fold when the horse is mounted.

The speediest cure for a sitfast is the knife. The excrescence is quickly removed; and the wound, if treated with the solution of chloride of zinc, one grain to an ounce of water, soon heals. A more tedious plan of removal, and one not recommended by any proper feeling, is to rub into the sitfast, every night and morning, a small quantity of blistering ointment. Such is the usual direction; but the ointment may be applied, for some time, to a layer of compact horn, before the true skin or flesh beneath is affected. The unguent must therefore cover the perhaps ulcerated margin of the sitfast; and even then it is a tedious and a painful operation, not likely to improve the disposition of an animal which it is so desirable to keep free from every excitement.

While the sitfast is being operated upon, the bowels should be rendered pultaceous by bran mashes. Four of these per diem will usually loosen the most constipated body in two days. That effect being gained, while the food is liberal and the animal is led to plenty of exercise, give one of those drinks, night and morning, which are tonic to the system, but seem to exhaust their virtue upon the skin.

_Drink for Sitfasts._

Liquor arsenicalis Half an ounce.
Tincture of muriate of iron Three-quarters of an ounce.
Water One pint.
Mix, and give.

GREASE.

This filthy disorder is a disgrace to every person concerned with the building in which it occurs; it proves neglect in the proprietor, want of fitness or positive idleness in the groom, and culpable ignorance or the absence of the slightest moral courage in all people entering the doors of the stable. It is one of those disorders which it is easier to prevent than to cure. By an ordinary regard to cleanliness, and by an average attention to the necessities of the animal, this taint may be avoided; wherever it is witnessed, it not only argues the human being to whom the building belongs to be in the lowest stage of degradation, but it also testifies to the sufferings endured by the poor creatures which are compelled to drag out life in such custody.

The =grease= is, in the primary instance, inflammation of the sebaceous glands of the legs; but it soon extends beyond the limits of its origin, and involves the deeper-seated structures. A white leg is more subject to the disorder than one of another color, and the fore limbs are almost exempted from the ravages of grease. The reason of that exemption is found in the greater proximity of the anterior extremities to the heart or to the center of the circulation. Consequently the vitality in the fore legs is more active, and the flow of blood much more energetic; hence the anterior extremities can resist that ailment which fixes with impunity upon the posterior limbs. Added to this, in the fore legs the vessels describe almost perpendicular lines, whereas in the hind members the arterial current is impeded by numerous angles; these conditions doubtless operate upon the health of parts, but, above everything else, ranks the fact that the front legs are not subject to the same external causes as are the members more backwardly located. The stalls are drained from the manger to the gangway; consequently all the contamination of the space in which the horse is confined flows toward the hind feet; there are, moreover, other reasons, which the intelligence of the reader will not require should be particularized.

Grease is banished from every decent stable; it may, however, be occasionally encountered in situations very much secluded; there yet remain places whence so foul a disgrace is never absent. The wretched animals which are employed in brick-yards, in dust-carts, and in drawing canal boats are hardly ever free from this loathsome disorder. These creatures labor incessantly, and are removed far from the wholesome check which brutality receives from public opinion; they are resigned to the mercies of men who, as a class, are certainly not the most refined, and are seldom inconvenienced by any excess of feeling. The places, not stables, into which the miserable quadrupeds are thrust can rarely be entered without the peculiar smell which announces the existence of grease almost overpowering the stranger. The fact is unpleasant to human sense, but it is only right that the probable effect upon the creature, which is doomed for the duration of its weary life to inhale such an atmosphere, should be considered.