BRONCHITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE AIR-PASSAGES.
This serious affection is, mostly, the consequence of man's neglect. The master rides far and fast. He dismounts at some pleasant threshold and remains long under the roof. During that time the horse stands outside, either shivering in the cold or pelted by the storm. The general treatment seems to say, that life and machinery, being equally subservient to man's will, are, in fact, the same things in man's regard. Even the wheels and bars of polished iron, however, require care or they soon become useless; the thews and sinews of a living body cannot be abused with impunity. So plain a truth should be acknowledged by something more than words. Life and functions connect men and animals. Their habits may be dissimilar and their food not alike; but, when we consider the wants of each, their liabilities and their diseases, the approach to actual sameness becomes almost startling. The man who can enjoy himself, without bestowing a serious thought upon the unfortunate steed which has carried him hither and will bear him hence, deserves to lose the life of which he is so culpably careless. Change the places of the two existences. Let the horse be rendered comfortable and the man be stationed outside. The result would be the same: the man would in that case probably suffer from bronchitis. Does intelligence require a more startling evidence of the link which binds master and servant while sojourners upon this earth?
Bronchitis is indeed a painful malady. Originally situated upon and confined to the membrane lining the air tubes, it has an aptitude to involve the entire contents of the thorax. Being the ailment of mucous membranes, it requires cautious treatment. A small blood-letting may induce the prostration no tonics can remove; a slight dose of aloes often starts up the purgation no astringents will check. It is agile at metastisis. It too often leaves behind the evidence of its visitation. Add to all this, that though so much to be feared, it does not announce its advent with a thundering double knock. It creeps on insidiously, and comes in so gradual a form, as if it intended to deceive the groom. The appetite, during the primary stage, is often unaffected, nay, is sometimes increased. Stable-men have a strong prejudice where feeding is concerned. The most educated of the class can imagine nothing more than a slight cold, while the corn is only partially consumed. Thus the disease, in consequence of delay, mounts into fury, before its presence is fully recognized.
Very rarely is the groom's attention excited during the approach of the disorder, or while a short cough simply bespeaks irritation; while the breathing is merely excited; while the legs are warm; while the mouth is moist, and the nasal membrane only a little deeper in hue than is positively consonant with perfect health. No! The stable-man is content while any desire for food remains. Let appetite be quite gone; let the horse be averse to move; the cough sore, but evidently suppressed and painful; the breathing quick and audible; the nasal membrane violently scarlet; the mouth hot, dry, and clammy; the legs and body of uneven temperatures—here, cold as ice—there, of a dusty heat. When danger cannot be mistaken, and hope has almost fled, then the stable-man creeps to the parlor, with "Please, sir, I wish you would step and look at the horse."
In a case of such a description, abstract no blood. Depletion is forbidden, when mucous membrane is disordered. The first thing is a large loose box. Into this is put the machine represented in the annexed engraving. It is a portable boiler, having a covering of iron wire. The steam, generated by the charcoal fire, soon renders the air of the place moist and warm. It must be kept boiling day and night. It is of more service during night than day, and it should be very gradually withdrawn.
STEAMING APPARATUS FOR HORSES WITH BRONCHITIS.
The water, as it is exhausted in the above boiler, should be supplied with more at the full temperature. Very little fire will then keep up the steam, though, as the fumes of charcoal are decidedly unhealthy, it is always well when those fumes can, by means of a pipe, be conveyed to the outside of the building; if that be impossible, let every door and window be left open; the necessary admission of air may impoverish the steam, but the vapor is too dense to be entirely dispelled. The steam acts upon the lungs; warm, moist air being soothing and curative to the thorax affected with bronchitis. When the apparatus cannot be obtained, the large nose-bag should be frequently applied during the day.
