g is
severe the parts become excoriated by rubbing, and, as in the other
forms of skin disease, the character of the eruption may become
indistinct. Old horses suffer mainly at the root of the mane and tail
and about the heels, and suckling foals around the mouth, on the face,
inside the thighs, and under the tail.
Pustules, like eczema, are especially liable to result from unwholesome
feed and indigestion, from a sudden change of feed--above all, from dry
to green. In foals it may result from overheating of the mare and
allowing the first milk after she returns, or by milk rendered
unwholesome by faulty feeding of the dam. If a foal is brought up by
hand the souring and other decompositions in the milk derange the
digestion and cause such eruption. Vetches and other plants affected
with honeydew and buckwheat have been the cause of these eruptions on
white portions of the skin. Disorders of the kidneys or liver are common
causes of this affection.
_Treatment._--Apply soothing ointments, such as benzonated oxid of zinc,
or vaseline with 1 dram oxid of zinc in each ounce. Or a wash of 1 dram
sugar of lead or 2 drams hyposulphite of soda in a quart of water may be
freely applied. If the skin is already abraded and scabby, smear thickly
with vaseline for some hours, then wash with soapsuds and apply the
above dressings. When the excoriations are indolent they may be painted
with a solution of lunar caustic 2 grains to 1 ounce of distilled water.
Internally counteract costiveness and remove intestinal irritants by the
same means as in eczema, and follow this with one-half ounce doses daily
of hyposulphite of soda, and one-half ounce doses of gentian. Inveterate
cases may often be benefited by a course of sulphur, bisulphite of soda,
or arsenic. In all, the greatest care must be taken with regard to feed,
feeding, watering, cleanliness, and work. In wet and cold seasons
predisposed animals should, so far as possible, be protected from wet,
mud, snow, and melted snow--above all, from that which has been melted
by salt.
BOILS, OR FURUNCLES.
These may appear on any part of the skin, but are especially common on
the lower parts of the limbs, and on the shoulders and back where the
skin is irritated by accumulated secretion and chafing with the harness.
In other cases the cause is constitutional, or attended with unwholesome
diet and overwork with loss of general health and condition. They also
follow on weakening dise
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