A complete system of farriery, and veterinary medicine : containi[n]g a compendium of the veterinary art, or an accurate description of the diseases of horses, and their mode of treatment; the anatomy and physiology of the foot, and the principles and practice of shoeing. With observations on stable management, feeding, exercise, and condition / by James White ... newly arranged by the publishers, in which are introduced the late and important treatises upon the glanders, farcy, staggers, inflammation of the lungs and bowels, the prevention and treatment of lameness, and precautions to be observed in purchasing horses. By the same author. Illustrated by eighteen elegant plates.
- White, James, -1825
- Date:
- 1832
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A complete system of farriery, and veterinary medicine : containi[n]g a compendium of the veterinary art, or an accurate description of the diseases of horses, and their mode of treatment; the anatomy and physiology of the foot, and the principles and practice of shoeing. With observations on stable management, feeding, exercise, and condition / by James White ... newly arranged by the publishers, in which are introduced the late and important treatises upon the glanders, farcy, staggers, inflammation of the lungs and bowels, the prevention and treatment of lameness, and precautions to be observed in purchasing horses. By the same author. Illustrated by eighteen elegant plates. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
![[50] tiitj of observing, that the horses were, in every respect, ex- tremely well managed, and not overlooked; but I had no oppor- tunity ofseeing how the others were treated. I had the honor of serving, as veterinary surgeon, in the roy- al dragoons, seven years, during which time there did not oc- cur a single case of stomach staggers, nor have I ever heard of a case in any other regiment. In short, it appears that this disease depends on the stomach becoming torpid, or losing its energy, in consequence of a horse's feeding greedily, and partic- ularly when his food is of a bad quality, and difficult of diges- tion. Such is the connexion between the stomach and the brain, that, when the former is thus loaded with food, and in- capable of digesting it, the latter is necessarily affected, and the symptoms produced are such, as would lead a person, unac- quainted with the subject, to imagine, that the brain was the original seat of the disease. With respect to that acute form which the staggers assumed in the neighborhood of Swansea, I can readily conceive, that the stomach may become torpid, or have its natural energy so diminished, by various causes, as to produce all the symptoms by which the disease is characterised. I do not think it probable, that it is caused by any poisonous vegetables among the hay or grass, from the circumstances be- fore stated: but this matter should be carefully investigated, when the disease again occurs in that neighborhood; for, if any euch plant could be discovered, it would lead, perhaps, to an effectual mode of prevention. As to the cure of staggers, I believe there is little chance of it, unless the disorder is attend- ed to at an early period. The stupor and heaviness of the head naturally lead us to expect relief from copious bleeding. Dis- section, however, has proved, that the brain is not inflamed, or overloaded with blood; and, in numerous instances, the most copious bleeding has been found ineffectual. In every case, except one, where purging has been brought on, the horse has recovered. (See case 3.) When the disease had continued three cr four days, and the treatment here recommended had been adopted, I have, in three casses, observed, that the stom- ach had discharged its contents in some measure, and that the large intestines were excessively loaded: it appeared, indeed, that purging would have taken place in another day, had the horses lived so long. On the treatment of StomccJi Staggers. As soon as this disease is observed, let the purging ball b0 given, and washed down with a little warm water; let the bauj](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21163728_0063.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
