RHEUMATISM.
Rheumatism thrives in cold, damp situations, and in wet, foggy weather.
It is often confined to the membranes of the large joints, and sometimes consists in a deficiency of joint oil, (_synovia._) It is liable to become chronic, and involve the fibro-muscular tissues. Acute rheumatism is known by the pain and swelling in certain parts. Chronic rheumatism is recognized by coldness, rigidity about the muscles, want of vital action, &c.
When lameness, after a careful examination, cannot be accounted for, and is found to go off after exercise, and return again, it is probably rheumatism.
_Treatment of Acute Rheumatism._--Bathe the parts with an infusion of arnica flowers, made thus:--
Arnica flowers, 4 ounces.
Boiling water, 3 quarts.
When sufficiently cool, it is fit for use.
Give the following:--
Sulphur, 2 ounces.
Cream of tartar, 3 ounces.
Powdered pleurisy root, 1 ounce.
" licorice, 2 ounces.
Indian meal, 1 pound.
Mix. Give a table-spoonful three times a day in the feed. A light diet and rest are indispensable.
_Treatment of Chronic Rheumatism._--Put the animal on a generous diet, and give an occasional spoonful of golden seal or balmony in the food, and a drink of sa.s.safras tea. The parts may be rubbed with stimulating liniment, for which, see APPENDIX.
BLAIN.
Some veterinary writers describe this disease as "a watery tumor, growing at the root of the tongue, and threatening suffocation. The first symptoms are foaming at the mouth, gaping, and lolling out of the tongue."
The disease first originates in the mucous surfaces, which enter into the mouth, throat, and stomach. It partakes somewhat of the character of thrush, and requires nearly the same treatment.
Make an infusion of raspberry leaves, to which add a small quant.i.ty of borax or alum. Wash the mouth and tongue with the same by means of a sponge. If there are any large pustules, open them with the point of a penknife. After cleansing them, sprinkle with powdered bayberry bark, or bloodroot. Rid the system of morbid matter by injection and physic, (which see, in APPENDIX.) The following antiseptic drink will then complete the cure:--
Make a tea of raspberry leaves by steeping two ounces in a quart of boiling water; when cool, strain; then add
Powdered charcoal, 2 ounces.
" bayberry bark, 1 ounce.
Honey, 2 table-spoonfuls.
Give a pint every four hours.
The diet should consist of scalded meal, boiled turnips, carrots, &c., to which a small portion of salt may be added. If the glands under the ears and around the throat are sympathetically affected, and swollen, they must be rubbed twice a day with the stimulating liniment. (See APPENDIX.)
The disease is supposed, by some veterinarians, to originate in the tongue, but post mortem examinations lead us to determine otherwise. Mr.
Youatt informs us that "post mortem examination shows intense inflammation, or even gangrene, of the tongue, oesophagus, paunch, and fourth stomach. The food in the paunch has a most offensive smell, and that in the manyplus is hard and dry. Inflammation reaches to the small intestines, which are covered with red and black patches in the coec.u.m, colon, and r.e.c.t.u.m."
THRUSH.
_Thrush_, and all eruptive diseases of the throat and internal surface, are treated in the same manner as laid down in Blaine.
BLACK TONGUE.
Black Tongue appears when the system is deprived of vital force, as in the last stages of blaine, &c. The indications to be fulfilled are the same as in blaine, but applied with more perseverance.
INFLAMMATION OF THE THROAT AND ITS APPENDAGES.[12]
In many cases, if attended to immediately, nothing more will be necessary than confining the animal to a light diet, with frequent drinks of linseed tea, warmth and moisture applied locally in the form of a slippery elm poultice, which may be kept in close contact with the throat by securing it to the horns. But, in very severe attacks, mullein leaves steeped in vinegar and applied to the parts, with an occasional stimulating injection, (see APPENDIX,) together with a gruel diet, are the only means of relief.
FOOTNOTE:
[12] This includes the larynx, pharynx, and trachea.
BRONCHITIS.
Bronchitis consists in a thickening of the fibrous and mucous surfaces of the trachea, and generally results from maltreated hoose or catarrh.
_Symptoms._--A dry, husky, wheezing cough, laborious breathing, hot breath, and dry tongue.
_Treatment._--Warm poultices of slippery elm or flaxseed, on the surface of which sprinkle powdered lobelia. Apply them to the throat moderately warm; if they are too hot they will prove injurious. In the first place administer the following drink:--
Powdered licorice, 1 ounce.
" elecampane, half an ounce.
Slippery elm, 1 ounce.