Monday, 19th June, 1849.—Three horses ill, two with sore throat and coughs, and one with pleurisy. Veterinary surgeon on Sunday, bled and applied mustard poultices to the latter. Monday morning, at ten o’clock, horse no better, a doubtful case. Proceeded as follows.
Took him out of the stable, drenched his whole body with many pails of cold water, then had him rubbed for several minutes with wet whisps—more water and whisps again, and finally whisped dry. Then wet sheets, wrung out, were wound round neck and body, and covered with dry ones. Before twenty minutes elapsed he was in a glow—in this state he remained for an hour and an half, when the water and friction was again repeated. When nearly rubbed dry, a sheet was doubled, wrung out in cold water, and placed round his loins, a dry one over it, and rugs put to produce a re-action. A change for the better was so evident, that the stud groom (who at first was inimical to the process being tried), declared his conviction it would cure the horse. The whole process was repeated in the evening and next morning, when the horse’s appetite returned, and he was declared better. The same evening he was subjected to the packing-sheet and ablution, wore the bandage round the loins, and was cured. As the medicine, administered the day before, had acted on the bowels, I did not resort to clysters, which I otherwise should have done.
For the sore throat, one horse the first day was treated exactly as above described, but it was found unnecessary to resort to the cold ablution, previous to the packing-sheet process. A wet bandage covered with a dry one was worn round his waist and throat continually.
The third horse, having a sore throat and slight cough, only had a wet bandage with a dry one over it applied to the throat, and changed when dry.
Thus, these three horses, without a grain of physic, were cured in three or four days. The great advantages of being thus cured, are, that the cold water created an appetite, whilst drugs would have deprived the animals of it. It gave them strength, hardened the skin, and rendered them less susceptible to atmospheric influence than they were before, and produced effects the very opposite to those of drugs.
It must be obvious that this treatment had the effect of equalising the circulation.
Several years ago I treated a horse in a similar way, twice a day, for farcy, that is to say, I subjected him to the washing, rubbing, wet-sheet, and bandages, as before described: in ten days he was perfectly well. A friend of mine seeing a cow belonging to a relation of his in the last stage, had her well wetted and rubbed for an hour, put round her waist a wet blanket, and covered her up warm; in a few hours she was better. The treatment repeated a few times twice a day effected a cure.
Bandages.—The application of wet bandages, covered with dry ones round the loins, and to parts affected, after every application of the Water-cure, is most important.
These bandages must be worn day and night; during the day they should be changed whenever they become dry—it is not necessary during the night, except where there is great inflammation, the oftener they are changed the better.
Animals under treatment for fever, inflammations of any kind, should be allowed to drink as much cold water as they like, and eat green food.