Diseases & disorders of the horse : a treatise on equine medicine and surgery

Front matter

DISEASES AND DISORDERS OE THE HORSE.

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Fig. II. Fig. III. Fig. IV

Preface

In no branch of knowledge has there been of late years more decided progress than in that of Comparative Pathology ; and we may venture to say, without fear of contradiction, that upon the still further prospective elaboration of this most important Science, human welfare in large measure depends. To the greater encouragement of original research in the various departments in Pathology by the more enlightened countries, in Europe, in America, and in our colonies, our progress in sanitation and therapeutic knowledge is very greatly due.

The bonds of union between human and veterinary medicine and surgery are yearly — we had almost said daily — becoming more and more intimate, as men are beginning to realise the necessary connection which must subsist between all vital phenomena, whether normal or abnormal. Hence it comes about that investigation in each and every branch of Pathology and Surgery is of the greatest importance, not only in itself, but as bearing upon every other part of each of these two wide subjects.

It was in 1885, that we first put before the veterinary and scientific worlds primarily, and before the public secondarily, “ A Manual of the Theory and Practice of Equine Medicine.” In the preface to that work, our intention to follow it up by the production of other treatises was intimated. We have it in contemplation before long to issue a work on Comparative Pathology, which is already in hand, and conjointly, “ A Manual on the Theory and Practice of Equine Surgery.” A complete and comprehensive book on veterinary medicines is already written by Mr. Ceorge Gresswell, in co-operation with Mr. Charles Gresswell.

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This work, which is now passing through the press, is entitled “ The Veterinary Pharmacopoeia, Materia Medica, and Therapeutics,” and will shortly be published by Messrs. Bailliere, Tindall, & Cox.

It will be evident that the large amount of investigation, necessary before writing such works as these, is only to be accurately estimated by those who have devoted their special attention to similar pursuits. In the midst of professional calls, it is a matter of great difficulty to find sufficient leisure — not to speak of the question of remuneration — for the necessary application. For these reasons, our purpose of bringing to completion a work we have had in view, has not yet been accomplished. Recently we have been engaged in the study of the malignant tumours of men and animals, in the hope of shedding some rays of light on the nature and etiology of these insidious and most interesting manifestations of disease ; and we hope that our work will, in the future, be not altogether in vain, especially as, working together and separately, we have reason to hope for more complete knowledge, than that we at present possess.

Such marked success as we scarcely hoped for has induced us to continue more quickly than we otherwise should have felt courage for, our deliberately expressed resolve. Of course literary and scientific workers will recognise the great difficulties encountered in working thus rapidly. That we should have been utterly unable to do so, we may with all modesty say, had it not been for the fact that much of what we have given to the world has existed in the form of practical and written knowledge for a considerable period. The treatment recommended in this book, as in the others for which we are responsible, is mainly the result of the prolonged experience of the lifetime of a man who has done very much for the progress of veterinary science. The numerous pupils of the late Mr. D. Gresswell will recognise the painstaking care with which he always strived both to alleviate and to prevent the diseases and disorders of the domesticated animals. The study of science in all its forms was to him the chief joy in life, and he has left what we may

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with justice call a monument of fame, if only by the impress he has made on the veterinary science of his day.

The great encouragement we have hitherto received from the press, and the large sale of our previous works, have been to us at once most gratifying rewards for labours achieved, and at the sametime have furnished us with a most wholesome stimulus for renewed application. The need of and consequent demand for such a handbook as the present one have been abundantly testified in numerous ways.

With regard, however, to the way in which this particular work came to be written, we may say that although we had intended to bring

i

out before long a book of this character, still we should in all probability certainly not have carried out our intention so rapidly, had it not been for the enlightened and most kind courtesy of the Editor and Proprietors of The Yorkshire Post. We hope that the readers of that well-known and justly esteemed paper will have derived as much advantage as we ourselves have done. Were it only for the exigencies of providing “copy” a most wholesome, if at times a very inconvenient stimulus to a writer, we ought to acknowledge the benefits we have derived from our connection with this widely circulating, paper. The advantages, however, are by no means confined to this necessity, and we can only say that we hope the good accruing has been shared by all others as well and as much as by ourselves.

In view of the large amount of errors prevalent regarding the diseases of the horse, and the very great detriment often accruing in consequence, we do not apologise for again intruding on the public, inasmuch as our efforts hitherto have met with the approving commendation of many of those justly entitled to form an opinion as to the merits of our work. When the favourable remarks of the general public, to whom we also appeal, were added, we no longer feared that this, our latest production, would meet with a reception no less favourable than that of its predecessors. The number of letters we have

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already received from the readers of The Yorkshire Pos/, justify, we think, this anticipation of ours.

It is well to add that most of the cases described have actually occurred in the practice of Mr. J. B. Gresswell, and that the treatment mentioned and recommended is that usually carried out by him. The whole of the literary and pathological portion of the work has fallen to the lot of Dr. Albert Gresswell ; but the principal part of the recent revision, alteration, and correction, of the whole work as opposed to the original articles as they appeared in The Yorkshire Posi, has been carried out in co-operation with Dr. Gresswell, by Mr. George Gresswell, who also has re-written certain portions here and there, both in the original articles, and in the body of the book as it now stands, as well as the introduction.

To Professor J. M‘Fadyean, of Edinburgh, we are indebted for the two valuable illustrations of the horse’s brain, and to him also we owe our frontispiece and the description of it.

In addition, we have in conclusion, to acknowledge our indebtedness to the following : —

Firstly and chiefly, to the prolonged and extensive experience of the late Mr. D. Gresswell ; and also to the admirable and classical researches of Drs. Fleming, Klein, and Cobbold, to Messrs. Percivall, Williams, Gamgee, Signol, Charles Gresswell, Mayhew, Brown, Chauveau, and others.

ALBERT GRESSWELL,

Kelsey House, Louth.

GEORGE GRESSWELL,

Mercer Row, Louth, Lincolnshire.

JAMES BRODIE GRESSWELL,

Veterinary Institute, Louth, Lincolnshire.

CONTENTS o

CHAPTER I. 'General Diseases of the Horse ••• •••

Influenza or Distemper ...

Strangles or Colt-111 ... ... ...

Glanders and Farcy

Anthrax or Charbon : Anthracoid Diseases ; Glossanthrax, and Anthracoid Angina ... ... ... ... ... ...

Scarlet Fever and Purpura

General Diseases due to errors in Dieting and Management

Weed or Lymphangitis

Diabetes Insipidus and Diabetes Mellitus ...

Lock-Jaw or Tetanus

Rabies, or Hydrophobia ...

Chapter II

Diseases of the Breathing and Circulatory Organs Coughing, Grunting, and Whistling ...

Asthma and Broken- wind

Chill, Common Cold, and Chronic Catarrh

Sore Throat, or Laryngitis

Bronchitis, or Inflammation of the Bronchial Tubes ...

Congestion of the Lungs

Inflammation of the Lungs

Pleurisy

Heart Diseases xxiii.

5 3 7 1 1

i5

28 28 29

47 49

52 54

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CHAPTER III. Diseases of the Digestive Organs and Liver

General Remarks on the Digestive Organs ...

Acute Indigestion, or Stomach-Staggers ; Chronic Indigestion ; Gastritis Rupture of the Stomach ... ... ...

Inflammation of the Mouth, or Stomatitis ; both Contagious and Non-contagious

Inflammation of the Tongue ... ... ...

Crib-Biting and Wind-Sucking

Inflammation of the Bowels ... ... ...

Constipation and Obstruction of the Bowels Diarrhoea

Rupture of the Intestines

Diseases of the Liver

64 66

67 68'

68 69 72 74 75'

CHAPTER VI. Diseases of the Nervous System

General Remarks on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System Stringhalt ... ... ... ... ... ...

Chorea, or St. Vitus’ Dance

Shivering, Immobilite .. ... ...

Megrims, or Congestion of the Brain

Mad Staggers, or Inflammation of the Brain, or Encephalitis, or Phrenitis Epilepsy ... ... ... ... ... ...

Paralysis of the Lips

Hydrocephalus, or Water in the Brain ; Tumours in the Brain

94 97

99'

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CHAPTER VII. Poisoning

Arsenical Poisoning... ... ... ...

Aconite Poisoning

Po’soning by Ergot... ... ... ...

Lead Poisoning ...

Hellebore Poisoning ... ... ...

Poisoning by Preparations of Antimony

Poisoning by Opium ... ... ...

Mercurial Poisoning

Poisoning by Savin, Bryony, Cantharides, Euphorbium or Spurge, Yew Tree, and Meadow Saffron ... ...

On Remedies which can be safely given in order to preserve condition

1 03

109 109 109'

no

1 1 1

CHAPTER I. Diseases of the Skin

General Remarks on the Functions of the Skin

Mange

Ringworm

Urticaria or Surfeit

Hide-Bound

Eczema

Cracked Heels Grease and Grapes Mallenders and Sallenders Mud Fever Warts

1 15 1 17

124 126

Chapter II

Diseases of the Feet Anatomy of the Foot Laminitis, and Pumiced Foot Navicular Disease and Contracted Foot Sandcrack Canker ...

*33

13^

*45

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Chapter II. (continued).

Thrush False Quarter 'Corns Seedy Toe Quiltor Tread

Over-reach ... ,.t

Villitis, or Inflammation of the Coronary Band

Carbuncle of the Coronary Band

Horn Tumours

Pricks and Injuries of the Foot

Side-Bone

Ring-Bone

15°

159 162 166

CHAPTER X. Diseases of the Eye

Simple Ophthalmia

Recurrent or Periodic Ophthalmia

Amaurosis and Cataract ...

212 212 212 ... 213,

INTRODUCTION.

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In these times of severe depression, depression which is certainly very strongly felt by agriculturists, and those who are connected with agriculture, no subject in the nature of an introduction to a work dealing with the more common diseases of the domesticated animals, is more likely to prove of interest and value, than a plain exposition of some of the erroneous views, which are commonly held with respect to the nature, prevention and curability of certain maladies. The knowledge of the phenomena of disease among those who have not carefully studied them, must necessarily be far behind that of the skilful specialist, who advances with the genius and spirit of the times. Some of the opinions held by the public are a source of much evil ; in many instances these errors have been impressed on the minds of the people by their leaders in past generations, and now the uprooting of them proves a slow and tedious process, which still bars the path of progress.

When the historian of the future takes in hand to record the wondrous discoveries made in this latter half of the nineteenth century, he will have a very pleasant and a very lengthy task ; for they have truly been great and marvellous. In the field of practical science, the development of our knowledge of the marvellous and varied properties of electricity, and the inestimable value of these discoveries in everyday life, will no doubt attract deep attention.

In human and veterinary medicine, the elaboration by Pasteur and others of the germ theory of disease originated by Astier, Schwann, and Cagniard-de-Latour in the first portion of this century, marks one of the most important epochs in the history of these sciences. The influence exerted by these discoveries is immense. Almost equally great is the revolution in the modes of treatment of disease, and this is to be attributed partly to that particular practical contribution to the subject of antiseptic measures for which we are principally indebted to Sir J. Lister.

These points hold equally with regard to animals and to man. It is not too much to say that the light, which is thrown by the two departments of medical enquiry on each other, is daily becoming more and more thoroughly recognised.

The microscope has revealed the nature of the ‘poison,’ or ‘contagion,’ or ‘virus’ of the contagious fevers of man and animals; and it is now known that each of. the specific fevers runs a more or less definite course, presenting special peculiarities, by which it may be recognised, in accordance with the

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characters of a particular kind of ‘ virus,’ which multiplies in a most marvellous and rapid manner. Even so long ago as at the time of the ‘ Great Plague r of London, the belief was expressed that the pestilence was probably due to some living organisms, which entered the blood, quickly multiplied in it, and passed from one individual to another, through the medium of the air; or still more certainly, if there should happen to be actual contact between the tissues of individuals already affected, and those of other people. In those days, however, men had not the means necessary for the discovery of the minute living organisms, which give rise to the diseases alluded to. At length, however, it has been demonstrated beyond doubt, that many diseases, such as, for instance, glanders, hydrophobia, anthrax, or splenic fever, tuberculosis, popularly known as consumption, that dread malady of man and beast (which is due to the Bacillus Tuberculosis), and others, are severally connected with, and therefore, in all probability, dependent on the presence of different kinds of vegetable fungi, of microscopic size, in the blood and tissues. Moreover, in the case of those fevers in which special germs have not as yet been satisfactorily demonstrated, there is but little reason to doubt that renewed and more searching investigation will lead to a similar conclusion as to their causation. There is, for instance, reason to suppose that dysentery will eventually be proved to be due to some living vegetable germs ; and,- although it is doubtful if cholera is due to a similar cause, it is most probable that the discovery of the virus of this disease is but a question of time.

If we contemplate the fact that such horrible plagues among the higher animals, are caused by the inroads of myriads of certain specific germs, we shall find very much food for earnest reflection. In the first place we must remember, that all the higher organisms, both animal and vegetable, are in reality, composed of innumerable cells, which may to a large extent be considered as separate living units. More than this, we find the normal blood of a healthy animal containing millions of little cell-like creatures, e.g.y the red corpuscles which are not so very much like living animals, and the colourless corpuscles, which are exactly like those little creatures called amoebae. Who can say what is the real significance of the presence of these small organisms in the blood, — for organisms they can be without doubt truly called ? How do we know that they, originally living in the outside world, have not gradually succeeded in taking up their abode in the blood of the higher animals? This is one way of looking at the question, and it must be confessed that it is an admissible explanation of their presence. After many generations, according to this view, they have come to be essential constituents of the higher animals, and to subserve necessary functions. Of course such speculations are beset with difficulties. With regard, however, to the much more simple germs which give rise to disease, does it not almost look as if certain very low forms of life, happening by some combination of circumstances to be favourably implanted into the bodies of the higher animals, run a certain course of adaptation to their new conditions ? At first, being exposed to a new environment, they multiply rapidly to the very great detriment of their hosts. The latter at length react

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in such a way to the stimuli set up, and so successfully, that tolerance is established, and the disease is not of very great moment after the lapse of generations, when by the influence of hereditarily transmitted adaptation, the organisms are powerless for mischief. This subject, however, is replete with so many difficulties at present, and the ground is so untrodden, that reluctantly we must leave it, and pass on.

In this connection, a few words will shew the dreadful nature of anthrax, and the supreme importance of looking for remedies both curative and preventive of all diseases, which affect man and animals. No one is of greater interest, than that most disastrous scourge, which goes by the name of anthrax. All animals are liable to attack, including birds and even fishes. No clime is exempt from its ravages. In past times, this disease raged as a malignant and destructive epizootic in man and animals. The 17th and 1 8th centuries were especially remarkable for devastations made by severe outbreaks. In 1617, the malady was so fatal, that over 60,000 people died around Naples, from eating the flesh of animals which had died from the effects of these insidious inroads of the Bacilli Anthracis.

Anthrax in man is known as woolsorters’ disease in this country, and also as the so-called malignant pustule, which is developed as the result of local inoculation, produced by handling the wool of animals which have died from anthrax, or by contact of an absorbed or inflamed surface with a diseased carcase. In Northern Asia, it is known as the Siberian plague. Although it does not frequently affect the horse in this country, anthrax is of common occurrence among the equine tribe as Loodianah disease in Central India. It is well-known in Southern Africa, as the Cape horse sickness ; and also in Australia, where it is called the Cumberland disease ; and in North America and South America. As Texas fever, in the United States, it is of frequent occurrence, and makes severe havoc among the cattle there. According to Toussaint, animals of the value of 20,000,000 francs, die annually of splenicfever in France.

In certain districts of England it is not unknown, being greatly dreaded at times by owners of stock, and with good reason. Have any therapeutic measures been found which will stay the growth of germs, and thus prevent the inroads of contagious diseases ? It is well here to state emphatically what we shall have occasion to reiterate as we proceed, viz. : that very much more is known scientifically, than is dreamed of by the populace. Everyday our knowledge grows. Mr. D. Gresswell administered sulphite of sodium extensively as a preventive in cases which were exposed to the infection of anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, and cattle plague, and found that this medicine was of great value in the case of the two former diseases, and also of some value in the third. The value of these measures in the case of the first two diseases has been corroborated by ourselves.

We may here quote a few passages from Finlay Dun’s “Veterinary Medicines,” in order to show our readers what influence this drug has in preventing the development of disease. “Professor Polli, of Milan, made about 300 experiments with the acid sulphite of sodium, mostly upon dogs,,

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and found that it neutralised, or at any rate diminished, the effects of animal poisons. A striking experiment was made with the muco-purulent discharge from a glandered horse. Forty-five grains were injected into the thigh veins of two strong dogs, one of which for several days previously had received two drachms of sulphite of sodium daily. Both became drowsy and panted, but the one protected by the previous administration of the sulphite, although at first seeming to suffer most from the injection, was in a few hours able to eat, and was next day in tolerable health. The other, however, became more drowsy, and stood with difficulty. By the third day the limb was tender ; by the fourth, mortification set in ; and the animal died on the sixth.” The importance of these experiments cannot well be over-estimated.

The fact then appears that in the cases of foot-and-mouth disease and anthrax, animals can in many instances be largely protected against invasion by the influence of certain drugs. It must not be supposed that these measures are always effectual in preventing the onset of these diseases ; but it has been abundantly proved that in many cases at any rate they are of great value.

Talking of the prevention of disease, let us here just discuss very briefly the causes of disease.

Perhaps the most important of all is the general inattention to hygienic laws. In former times, there was great neglect of sanitation ; but now, owing to the preventive measures of better and more careful management, all diseases have become less common. In the case of the horse, those which are doubtless due to the multiplication of germs in the blood and tissues, and we include among these strangles, influenza, glanders, farcy, purpura, horse-pox, and anthrax ; as well as many other diseases in all animals, are most probably largely on the decrease in this country. There is now more attention to drainage, and the general laws of hygiene are more carefully attended to, than was the case in earlier times.

However, just as all other progress is marked by more or less rhythmical waves, so also in the case of diseases, periods characterised by outbreaks of exceptional intensity and virulence alternate with seasons marked by epidemics of less extent and diminished severity. At certain times, glanders becomes more prevalent among horses, and afterwards it again makes its appearance more rarely. When a contagious disease breaks out in great severity, or when it occurs with more than ordinary frequency, as a rule, the cause or causes can be found. Some flagrant hygienic fault or omission, or the importation of diseases from abroad, is generally at the root of outbreaks of disease among stock. Still the average number of cases which have occurred annually during the last five or six years, is much less than in past times. This is no doubt largely due to the injunctions ordered by the Contagious Diseases (Animals5) Act ; but, did not our regard for cleanliness and hygiene alike progress, such laws Avould have but a temporary value.

A knowledge of the causes of disease is of primary value to owners of stock. We often hear that so-and-so has had a “run of bad luck.” This,

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in most instances, simply means that the animals are suffering one and all, from the effects of certain neglected causes of disease. When these and the ordinary laws of health are known and attended to, disease on the farms and in the stables may be expected to diminish in the proportion of 60 per cent, at least. Prevention is better than cure ; and, the causes of disease being comparatively few and simple, time and money spent with the view of obviating them, is very well invested. Diseases are too frequently brought about by errrors in dieting, and in the amount of work done, which may be either too great or too small. Age, cold, damp, and wet are often productive of disorders. Poisoning is still not stamped out. Injuries due to accidents or to carelessness frequently bring about severe wounds, and many kinds of lameness. There are also many minor causes also, such as worms, tumours, external and internal parasites. It will be seen at once, that many of these fruitful causes might be obviated. There is no doubt that those which are preventible are diminishing, in direct proportion as the knowledge of hygiene and science increases among the rural and urban populace. Errors in dieting are still common ; mistakes of this nature being especially made in the feeding of heavy draught horses. The serious disorders caused by exposure to damp, cold, and draughts are diminishing. More care is taken with regard to proper modes of ventilation, and unnecessary exposure is avoided. Many horses are still poisoned by the ill-advised administration of medicines by the ignorant ; but it is very probable that, as veterinary science has made such a determined and successful advance in the last few years, wholesale quackery will probably soon be a thing of the past.

Congenital defects might often be obviated by the exercise of greater care in the selection of animals used for breeding. Injuries and many causes of lameness might also often be avoided. Tumours to some extent probably depend on inherited tendency, and therefore care in breeding is highly necessary. Finally, many specific fevers might doubtless be lessened by greater attention to the principles of hygiene. For instance, there is no doubt that anthrax, which, as we have said, is liable to affect almost all animals, depends on bad drainage, at least to the extent that animals which are exposed to the effects of insufficient and faulty drainage, are more likely to go down with this disease than animals more favourably situated. Similarly too, with sheep-rot, and other diseases of sheep, sometimes a whole flock of sheep will contract a serious affection of the lungs. When this happens, it is often the case that they have been exposed in bad weather to the noxious vapours of badly-drained lands, reeking with decaying vegetable matter. What else could be expected ?

We have mentioned some aspects of recent progress. Let us turn now to another, which is also of the greatest interest and value.

In the field of Philosophy, the firm establishment of the Evolution Theory as a fundamental basis of thought, is of the highest importance. It is only in comparatively recent times, that the Law of Causation, which had been already for some time more or less completely recognised in the less complex of the phenomena around us, was also applied, principally as a

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result of the brilliant researches of Mr. Darwin, to the involved processes of living organisms. More recently still, we have been attempting to unravel the varied and mysterious abnormal processes, which are at times exhibited by animals and plants, in accordance with this same Universal Law.

As an explanation of the mode of development of animal and vegetable life, and especially of the former, whether in the case of the individual or in that of the tribe, of the origin of man, and of his language and social customs, the hypothesis of evolution has been of incalculable benefit in the past ; and it is also of the greatest possible advantage in moulding our methods of research to-day.

Marvellously important however as this belief is, it must be emphatically stated that evolution can only be regarded as a method of procedure. Mr. Herbert Spencer insists that phenomena indicate, or are the expressions of an 1 Infinite and Eternal Energy’; and it is clear that the result of the deepest reflection can only be to carry us much further in the direction of positive belief. That gradual but definite progress of living organisms from simpler to more perfect forms, manifestly points to some Power who ordains this state of things, this wonderful co-ordination of the intricate processes going on around us. Indeed it may be said, that those who attempt to remove in thought the controlling agency, the guiding Power, cannot refrain from admitting the efficiency of Blind Chance to take the helm. It is obviously quite impossible, completely to explain the causation of phenomena, however simple. The initiation and maturation of new organs and new structures, the phenomena of bodily and psychical development, all indicate the existence of something far higher and greater than we can conceive of, some grand reality of which we only see the superficial manifestations.

It is important to remember that when we have assumed the complete idea of connected and continuous causation, which is called the Evolution Theory, we have by no means eliminated the necessity of belief in a Great First Cause.

It is one thing to recognise a necessary and inevitable connection of sequence between those simple forms of matter, the nebulas on the one hand, and the most complex forms of material seen in other portions of the universe on the other ; and it is another to believe that herein has been reached a fully satisfactory solution of all things and all mysteries. All that man can ever claim to have done, is that he has substituted the idea of one great Power, unknown and unknowable, for the innumerable spirits and influences which the savage supposed to be the causes of the occurrence of phenomena. Instead of looking upon the great mysteries of life, the unknown factors which have resulted in our presence here as innumerable and indefinite, we now consider them all as expressions of a Great Reality, which we cannot fathom.

Of this ultimate conception, which all men frame for themselves, consciously or unconsciously, it is impossible to rid ourselves, try as we will. In all creeds and m all beliefs, this idea, more or less pronounced, is present:

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be they the most anthropomorphic, or be they the most abstruse of religious or scientific dogmas. Even those who regard the Evolution Theory'as final — and there are very few, if any, who do so — are logically compelled, as we have said, to introduce an unknown power, for they have recourse to the most unsatisfactory of all factors — that called Chance. Either Chance means practically nothing at all, either it means that facts, which are manifestly great, are to be explained by a very small and insignificant cause, or it really implies a Great Unknown Power. In fact, this belief in one power of some kind, more or less powerful, may be said to be one, in possessing which, all men agree. Such an assumption, is in reality, one of the indispensable conditions of thought. In Evolution we have the dim notion of a method, and, when this is realized, the question still presents itself, — What is it, or rather, Who is it — who guides this process ? What causes this gradual growth which is palpably going on, and so far as we can determine, in the direction of Advance and Progress ? What causes Evolution ? Some may be satisfied with the answer, “ We don’t know.” Let us, however, while acknowledging this in some sense, as, indeed, we are compelled to do, look for and recognise a higher ideal, and boldly acknowledge the Almighty and Inscrutable Power which, try as they will, men cannot refrain from postulating in some form at least.