By these terms is understood a disposition to bleed on the slightest provocation. In animals so constituted very slight injuries, which in others would prove perfectly harmless, are attended with profuse hemorrhage, and in some instances which have come under the notice of the writer, blood has dripped from the skin at numerous points without any obvious cause. In such subjects bleeding from wounds, whether the result of accident or surgical operation, becomes difficult to arrest, and may even proceed to exhaustion or fatal syncope.

In the human subject it is recognized as a congenital disease, and in some cases the predisposition to this form of hemorrhage has been known to be transmitted from parent to progeny, and this hereditary influence is recognized as the chief factor in the origin of the affection. Men are said to suffer from the disease much more than women, the estimated proportion being eleven of the former to one of the latter.

Its prevalence in the horse is not considerable, but the tendency to spontaneous bleeding from the nostrils is well known to exist in certain families of race-horses, and from time to time this weakness has been the cause of bitter disappointment to trainers and owners of thoroughbred stock. In one celebrated family, well known to all who are interested in the turf, it has exhibited a decided hereditary character, and proved a serious drawback to certain of its members.

Symptoms

Animals which suffer from haemophilia do not exhibit any obvious signs of constitutional disease. They invariably carry abundance of flesh, are sleek in their coats, and present all the indications of good general health. The most common form which the ailment presents in horses is bleeding from the nose, the mucous membrane of which becomes studded with blood-spots more or less numerous, and so closely packed together in some instances as to form considerable patches. Sometimes the amount of blood actually discharged is slight, at others it is very considerable. The breakage of the vessels and leakage may also attack the lungs, when it is attended with a convulsive cough and marked distress in breathing.

Injuries in the form of contusions usually result in swelling out of all proportion to the violence inflicted, the enlargement thus occasioned being produced by the escape of blood into the tissues of the part.

As a skin affection it shows itself by the presence of numerous small points, from which blood or blood-stained serosity oozes from the surface of the integument, and hangs from the ends of the hairs in small red or reddish-yellow drops.

The diagnosis of the disease is affirmed when the bleeding, whether in one form or the other, is repeated from time to time, in which case it may give rise to anaemia, loss of condition, and general debility.

Treatment

Animals affected with this disease should not be subjected to severe exertion, and should be protected against all forms of injury. Where operations require to be performed, it must be understood that they can only be carried out at the risk of inducing dangerous, if not fatal, hemorrhage. Operations should therefore be avoided if possible. In bleeding from the skin and mucous membrane, small repeated doses of perchloride of iron, alone or in combination with turpentine, may be given whenever the hemorrhage appears. The patient should be kept perfectly quiet, and confined in a cool well-ventilated box. The cessation of bleeding should be followed by the administration of small repeated closes of nux vomica and quinine, which may be given in the food.

Whenever a tendency to this disease is known to exist, the general health should be upheld by a liberal allowance of good food, regular and moderate work, and strict regard to the sanitary condition of the stable and other surroundings.