| Infusion of aconite | Half an ounce. |
| Extract of belladonna (rubbed down with one ounce of water) | Half a drachm. |
Persevere with the above till the pulse amends, when withdraw the aconite, but keep on with the belladonna, half a drachm of which may be added to each dose of the ethereal drink; which ought to be resumed, should amendment ensue upon the administration of the aconite draught.
Let the food consist entirely of thick gruel. The appetite occasionally is unaffected during bronchitis; but, however pleasant it may be to behold a horse masticate, all solids should be withheld, especially during the acute stage. Nothing is so injurious to respiration as a loaded stomach, and a single meal (if permitted) would speedily aggravate the symptoms of this disease. When the disorder has subsided, food must be carefully introduced; the water should be, as grooms say, "chilled," or, in ordinary language, should have the chill removed. Boiled roots or crushed and scalded oats should constitute the earliest approach to natural diet. Hay should be given with extreme caution, the desire being to nourish the body, not to load the stomach. A bundle of grass each day may be allowed upon recovery being assured; and when hay is at length presented, mind that for the first month it is thoroughly damped; for nothing more retards recovery after bronchitis than the inhalation of those dusty particles with which hay too often abounds.
THE COUGH OF INCURABLE BRONCHITIS.
When the disorder is to terminate fatally, the proprietor, in the majority of instances, speedily learns the fact. The pulse continues unamended at first, but soon grows very quick and tremulous; the breathing becomes more painful even to the spectator. Every inhalation appears to shake the body; yet, so eager is the desire for air, that the haste and violence of the respiration evidently defeat their object. The nasal membrane assumes a bluish tint, a foul, bloody froth hangs about the nostrils; the eyes are dull and fixed. The cough is the most distressing symptom. It occurs in fits, and during the paroxysms the wretched animal reels about. The noise cannot now be restrained; the horse has no strength to struggle with disease. The sound which shakes the sore lungs and checks the breathing that was already short to suffocation, cannot now be suppressed. It continues until a quantity of discolored fluid is ejected from the nostrils, then a brief respite ensues; but, as time progresses, the fits grow more severe and much longer, while the strength to endure them even more rapidly decreases.
It reads sadly, that hundreds of horses have thus perished without making any impression upon either masters or men. The directions, which have been given at some length, will probably be discarded by grooms as far too troublesome; they like the man who can give physic to a horse when the animal is sick, and "wants no more bother made." The proprietors will object to the expense and the personal superintendence which is necessitated. Most gentlemen hurry through the stable as though they were intruders upon their own premises, and expected all business there transacted to be dispatched most expeditiously. The master, when in the stable, is never at home; he is generally very much abroad; the groom, if a horse dies, always knew of something which must have saved the life, only it wasn't tried; and to prove his comprehension of the malady, in answer to inquiries, he says, thereby showing the real extent of his information, "The horse caught a cold and died of an inflammation." The employer commonly follows a system which custom approves; he does not trouble himself to hire a better qualified or a less prejudiced attendant for his stables. The place and all that is in it continues the same, only it contains one life the less. The lesson is thrown away, and all this great suffering in a huge animal has produced no more than a passing regret for the pecuniary loss.
PNEUMONIA.—INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.
THE COMMENCEMENT OF PNEUMONIA.