These incentives are formally recounted in books; but surely something is wanted to complete the catalogue. If all the animals exposed to the operation of such provocatives were to have enteritis, two-thirds of the horses inhabiting Great Britain would be dead by to-morrow morning. The principal thing, therefore, is the predisposition; incline toward a particular malady, and any triviality may start up the disease; yet this predisposition we at present are too ignorant to recognize.
A severe fit of colic, long continued, may end in enteritis. This is well known; yet it was not the colic which induced enteritis; but the real cause was that which originated the first affection. The predisposition must be present before the bowels would exhibit that inflammation into which the colic merged; the injudicious and cruel treatment most horses receive from those to whose service the life is devoted, may probably be accused as the root of all these evils; disease is the loudest proof that the life is stinted in some essential particular. The same food is placed before all horses; one animal will, however, purge upon exertion; labor, on the other hand, may constipate the fellow occupant of the same stable. When the same effect has produced such opposite causes, all the bodies cannot be alike; an old proverb asserts "that which is one man's food is another man's poison." The diet which supports one animal in health may loosen or constringe its companion; yet we are too ignorant to practically use such distinctions.
Again, there is no practice more general than to load the rack and pile the manger after any uncommon toil has been endured. The practice may originate in the best intentions; but no intention can convert that which is evil into a positive good. The wretched animal is tempted to cram the stomach when excessive labor has weakened the vital functions. Horses which are brought home late at night do not usually receive much notice; the grooms are sleepy and eager for their beds. The dressing of the animal, however much such attention might conduce to health, is consequently left to the following morning. Rapid motion quickens the circulation; the blood is sent to the skin, and copious perspiration is the result. However warm the stable may be, warmth only promotes evaporation; cold of the lowest degree results from evaporation; the consequence is, the body of the quadruped speedily shivers; the blood is repelled to the internal organs, the bowels are prepared for inflammation, and thus enteritis often follows upon the midnight return from a long journey.
Moreover, when the frame is exhausted, rest is far more essential than food; the nourishment then should be very light, and such as can be quickly swallowed. A quart of thick flour or of oatmeal gruel should be first offered after the return. When the cleansing of the animal's body is finished, another quart should be given; these will occupy little time in being put out of sight, and the administration need not interfere with the repose which is desired. The gruel being swallowed, a feed of crushed and scalded oats may be placed in the manger; no hay should be allowed; the wish is to sustain a debilitated body, not to blow out an idle stomach. Then the creature should, after being fully clothed, be left to itself, and no more nourishment be provided for that night. The danger of introducing substances into a stomach dead to its functions would thus be avoided; nothing likely to irritate or to operate as foreign bodies upon the bowels would be set before the debilitated horse. Besides, the groom would be obliged to remain up for some space, and, as a good servant always finds time hang heavy when without occupation, the animal is more likely to be dressed before the man retires. Moreover, the clothes would prevent the cold which ensues upon unchecked evaporation.
Constipation, if permitted to exist for any period, is always dangerous; hardened feces are one of the surest causes of enteritis. Disregarding this fact, the endeavor of the immediate age seems to be to keep horses cheap. Strange mixtures are now substituted for wholesome corn, in which the grain and husk are mingled, the one supporting the strength, the other stimulating the bowels. It is folly to seek for profit from a life, and to stint the nourishment which feeds the strength, or to view cheapness as desirable where the service is unlimited. It is wicked to imprison a living being and then to regard it only in connection with our conveniences; "much care and no spare" is a good stable proverb. The food makes the work; omnibus masters know this fact; their horses perform hard work and eat of the best, however abominably the generality of these slaves were once lodged. The home of a London horse is mostly a miserable hole: heated only by fermentation; too often undrained; nearly always without sufficient ventilation. The stall of such a building is large enough for the animal to stand in and not wide enough for the recumbent frame to rest in; the roof is low, and the refuse of the body is piled near the entrance. When will man learn that his interest is best consulted by the proper observances due to vitality in every form? A horse cannot be treated as though it were a jug; it cannot be placed upon a shelf and taken down when required. The functions which nature has placed within a beautiful and exquisitely framed body will, if thus regarded, soon become deranged. Sickness will soon cost more money than health would have required for its sustainment; and, in the end, he who strives to blend the animate and the inanimate will speedily find himself possessed only of the latter description of property.
The predisposing cause may, in most instances, be difficult to discover; but the premonitory symptoms of enteritis are well marked. The animal is dull and heavy. It may not notice aught about it, or it picks at its food; repeated and violent shivering fits usher in the attack. When the above characteristic signs are observed, at once take away all hay and corn. Bandage the legs, which will be cold; clothe the body, and, if already dressed, loosen the surcingle. Litter well the stall or remove the horse to a loose box; give two or three drinks, one every quarter of an hour, containing sulphuric ether and laudanum, of each one ounce; water, half a pint; and observe the animal without disturbing it. These symptoms are, however, generally unseen, because the groom is between the bedclothes while his charge is suffering.
The primary symptoms of decided enteritis are termed "colic" or "fret." Such words simply represent bellyache; but harm is done and valuable time lost, if the terms of the stable are accepted in any absolute signification. Grooms always have some invaluable nostrum hoarded up; such people are proud of and confident in their secret knowledge; they will lie rather than communicate the contents of their charm. With the best hopes the foolish servant will waste precious moments in useless expectation, and watch for results from an injurious or worthless potion till the time when curative measures could have been effective has passed. Never permit the men who clean the horses also to administer to their diseases; the poor fellows may mean well, but they can have no knowledge which, in the presence of danger, can be beneficial.
The primary symptom, to an uninformed observer, may simply announce a mild fit of gripes. When the shivering has subsided, the horse rolls, plunges, kicks, etc. etc., as he does in spasmodic colic. The struggles, however, are less abandoned and far more mannered in inflammation of the bowels, than in genuine spasm. The pain, moreover, which in enteritis accompanies all movements of the diaphragm, throws the labor of respiration upon the walls of the thorax. The ribs can only partially dilate the lungs; nature endeavors by quickening the motion to supply the deficiency. In colic, the breathing is at first only excited by the exertion; it is deep and full. At the commencement of spasm, the mouth is moist and in temperature natural; during enteritis, the breathing is very short and the mouth is always hot and dry.
THE TEST FOR ENTERITIS AT THE
COMMENCEMENT OF THE ATTACK.