The management and treatment of the horse in the stable, field, and ...

206 The Management and Treatment of the Horse,
case the breath of the horse will be extremely dis-
agreeable, with a running at the nostrils, and is a sure
indication that mortification has taken place in the
substance of the lungs, and that death will soon follow.
Inflammation of the lungs will be distinguished from
inflammation of the bowels by the pulse, in the latter
case being small and wiry, the mucous membrane of
the nose not being so red, and by pain in the belly,
which is indicated by kicking, pawing, stamping, &c •
This malady is brought on in most instances by the
numerous and sudden transitions from heat to cold,
and more often from cold to heat, to which most horses
are subjected. They are, under the careless and
wanton folly of masters and grooms, often galloped or
otherwise over-heated and permitted to cool in the
open air or in the draught of a stable. The stable
itself is often too hot, frequently from twenty to thirty
degrees above the atmosphere, and most stables are
but ill-ventilated, consequently the air is of an impure
kind, and being breathed over and over again, affects
the membrane which lines the cells of the lungs. The
constant irritation from ammonia, which the horse is
compelled to breathe in a foul, ill-ventilated stable,
weakens the membrane of the lungs, hence the sus-
ceptibility of irritation and inflammation from breath-
ing an atmosphere which is impregnated with
ammoniacal gas, generated by manure and urine. It
is quite evident, from the dangerous nature of this
complaint, that the treatment must be immediate
and decisive, and as the disease is rapid, so also must
be the treatment, as every minute is of vast importance,