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

5G The Management and Treatment of the Horse,
stracted in the one case, as is abstracted in the other.
There is no doubt whatever that in those cases struck by
lightning, they are instantaneously and completely
deprived of animal electricity, and the function of vitality
ceases at once. Influenza is only a modified form of this
very phenomenon ; the one is instantaneous and com-
plete, the other gradual, imperceptible, and incomplete,
fortunately affording an opportunity at this important
and critical juncture for the prudent surgeon to step in,
and by the employment of wise and well-considered
treatment, to fan the flickering flame of life until Nature
rallies, reaction is established, and life saved. I now
approach the most important part of my subject, the
treatment of complicated and simple influenza. In all
cases it is advisable to obtain the services of a practical
veterinary surgeon, but the mode of treatment given in
these pages has been frequently and successfully tried by
the author, as well as by many veterinary surgeons.
We will take complicated influenza first. This, in a
practical point of view, is a question that demands a
more careful consideration than any other, as the very
life of our patient depends upon our correct diagnoses.
There are many cases that require all the practice, ability,
and enlightened judgment we can exercise to clearly
comprehend them. How I wish I was endowed with a
stronger intelligence that would enable me to clear away
all the mist that surrounds this part of my subject. I
have devoted much time upon this matter for a number
of years, yet I find the more I study the more I have to
learn. But of this I think it is fully demonstrated, that
influenza is not the fault of the groom, as too many