When a new-born foal speedily develops abscesses involving the navel and the joints of the extremities, the cause is an invasion of the navel by filth germs and this may easily be prevented. A mare foaling in cold weather should be provided with a clean, fresh bedded, disinfected, light, airy, whitewashed box stall in which to have her foal. In the summer season she may be allowed to foal on grass where filth germs are less liable to be found than in old, dark, dirty stables. But no matter where the foal is born, care must be taken to thoroughly disinfect the navel cord (umbilicus) as soon as it has been severed or tied. For this purpose a 1:500 solution of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) is usually recommended, but we advise the use of a much stronger solution to be prepared as follows: Dissolve ½ ounce of finely powdered corrosive sublimate in 1 pint of boiling water to which has been added 1 dram of dilute hydrochloric acid. When cold add ½ ounce of tincture of iron, as coloring matter; label the bottle “poison” and keep it out of the reach of children.

At the birth of a foal immediately wet the stump of the navel with this solution and repeat the application twice daily until the cord dries up, and falls off and no raw spot can be seen. The solution at the time of using may conveniently be held in a shallow wide-mouthed bottle into which the stump of the cord may be inserted and immersed. As soon as the cord has shrivelled up remove it, if it will come away readily. The new raw surface can easily be got at with the solution. Use of the solution will also tend to prevent leakage of urine from the navel.

It is best to avoid, wherever possible, tying the navel cord at birth. The natural way is for the cord to be broken at birth, either when the foal is dropped or by the mare rising, and so causing it to break by stretching it. When this happens the walls of the fetal urinary passage (urachus), the arteries and the vein of the umbilicus retract and close the opening; whereas these vessels are liable to remain open for entrance of germs if the cord has been ligated, or cut off and the ligature quickly removed, besides allowing the escape of urine by way of the pervious urachus.

Symptoms of Bad Teeth.

In some old horses whose molar teeth are diseased or irregular, perfect mastication of hay becomes impossible. After the animal has chewed for a time, the teeth and tongue tend to form a ball (bolus) of hay which is forced out of the mouth instead of being swallowed. This is termed “quidding,” and when it is seen it may be taken as an indication of the need of a veterinary dentist with his instruments. In other cases the partly masticated food is gathered in a pouch between the molar teeth and cheek, and this can be plainly seen and felt by the careful examiner. This pouch is sometimes called the “granary,” and from the outside its presence is indicated by an elongated tumor which has a doughy feel when pressed with the finger.

When a diseased molar is present in the mouth, or when a “granary” exists, there is a foul odor, which should lead to the discovery of the condition. To distract attention from this odor it is said that horse dealers always take the precaution to cleanse the mouth of the horse with vinegar.

A chronic discharge from one nostril (nasal gleet), accompanied by a fetid odor, should warn the buyer to make a critical examination of the teeth, for if one is diseased and is the cause of the discharge, it will have to be removed by trephining, and that means expense and possibly loss of the services of the horse for some time.

Remedies for Tail Rubbing.

Idle, overfed, and insufficiently groomed horses often persistently rub their manes and tails to allay itchiness of the skin, induced by collections of dandruff which have escaped the curry-comb and brush. The hair on the root of the tail soon becomes harsh, stubby and stands on end so that the part becomes an eyesore, and especially so when continued rubbing has produced sores, cracks and an exudate of serum, blood or pus.

A Virginia horseman once advised the writer that tail rubbing could quickly be cured if, at the outset, the following simple plan of treatment be adopted: Twist a lock of the upright hair of the affected part around the second finger, and then pull until the skin “gives” with a cracking sound. Repeat the pulling, lock by lock, until all of the part has been treated when the rubbing will cease. If it does not do so promptly, repeat the treatment as required. This plan is known also in Scotland.

Another horseman advised that when a mare persistently rubs her tail the cause may be a collection of filth about the udder; a thorough washing with castile soap will end the trouble.

Dealers who handle fine carriage horses and are preparing such animals for sale put each in a box stall during the feeding process and prevent tail rubbing by putting a wide plank shelf-wise on brackets around the inside of the walls of the box. When the horse attempts to rub, the edge of the plank will strike several inches below the itching part, and so make tail rubbing impossible. Another effective plan of prevention is to put a wainscot of boards upon the lower part of the walls so slanted outward at the floor surface that the horse backing to the wall cannot get his rump against any surface upon which to rub.

A Cruel Cure for Heaves.

An old horseman once told the writer that he had cured many a horse of heaves by simply amputating a portion of the tongue. “Guess I’ve cut off enough pieces of tongue,” said he, “to fill a half bushel basket;” and he seemed to take pride in a statement which would strike any humanitarian as the climax of barbarity. The same man also strongly advocated the amputation of the tip of a horse’s tail, when for any reason the animal had gone down paralyzed.

It always is well to examine a horse’s tongue before buying, as mutilations are not infrequently met with. Cases are on record where a brute has put a twitch on a horse’s tongue, to make him stand still in the shoeing shop, with the result that a portion of the organ has been torn off during the struggles of the poor beast. Severe biting of a fractious horse, or tearing by a nail or other sharp object, may also injure the tongue more or less severely and perhaps lessen the value of the animal.

When a considerable portion of the tongue has been lost, the horse is unable to drink without plunging his head up to the eyes in the water, and he also has difficulty in grazing.

Stitches are sometimes put in the tongue of a horse to make it sore and so prevent it from cribbing.

An Astringent for Scours.

The following interesting remedy is taken from the “Complete Farrier,” published in 1850:

“But when the disorder (a scouring) continues, and the horse’s flesh keeps wasting away, recourse must be had to astringents. Tormentil root, dried and pounded in a mortar, and put through a sieve, is one of the best astringents yet found, though very little known. I heartily wish my fellow creatures would make more use of this valuable root than they do. The dose is from an ounce to an ounce and a half. I believe that this valuable root has done more good in my time, in stopping looseness and other bowel complaints, than anything else.”

An Old Operation for Spavin.

A few years ago it was recommended as a new treatment that the saphena vein be obliterated at the place where it passes the seat of spavin, before using the firing irons. We recently ran across an allusion to this method of treatment which shows that it is by no means new. It is referred to as follows in the “Complete Farrier and Horse Doctor,” published in 1850, the writer being John C. Knowlson, of New York, a nonagenarian “horse doctor” of the old school: “Before you fire a horse for bone-spavin, be careful to take the vein out of the way, for it generally lies over the spavin, and you cannot fire deep enough to come at the callous substance without its removal. In order to destroy the vein, cut a nick through the skin to the vein, just below the spavin, and another just above it, and put a crooked needle under the vein and tie both ends: then cut the vein across between the tyings, both above and below, and you may either draw out the piece or leave it in.”

The same author says relative to the treatment of bog-spavin: “As soon as you discover the vein puffed up or forming a bag, lay on some blistering ointment, and in four days after bathe the swelling well with hot vinegar with a little saltpeter dissolved in it. Also put a bandage round it to disperse the swelling as much as you can. If this method does not succeed, you must make two incisions in the skin lengthwise, as the vein runs, one just above and the other just below the joint, and lay the vein bare: then put the end of a buck’s horn under it, raise it up, and fasten it in both places with waxed thread; then cut the vein in two just within the tyings, and, if you think proper, draw the severed piece out. This method of proceeding will cure most bog-spavins at the beginning.”

Facts About Pigment Tumors.

On gray horses that at 10 or 12 years of age are turning white in color, purple-black malignant growths, known as pigment of melanotic tumors, frequently appear where the skin is black in color, and constitute the disease termed melanosis. The common seat of such tumors is the skin of the tail, anus, vulva, and lips, and while most often external, may be present internally. Such tumors are practically incurable, returning after having been amputated and cauterized. They usually burst and discharge bloody pus, and give the affected part a loathsome appearance. In young horses of gray color, a careful examination will often disclose small rudimentary tumors, and horses so affected should be bought with a right understanding of the consequences. Fatal attacks of a mysterious disease may be caused by internal melanotic tumors.

As an indication of the probability of these tumors being present internally, the French veterinary scientists, Goubaux and Barrier, say in their “Exterior of the Horse”:

“The hairs of the mane, like those of the tail, are ordinarily straight. One of our associates, Mercier, has communicated a remark on this subject, which was also believed by the Arabians: that it is in the white or gray horses with frizzled or curly hairs in which melanotic tumors are always found in the interior of the body, although none may have any apparent trace on the exterior, particularly under the tail and around the anus. This remark, the correctness of which we have verified a number of times, both on the living subject and in the cadaver, is very important, because of the dangers to which animals affected with melanosis are exposed.”