Animal Diseases. 263 



HORSE-SICKNESS CO-RELATED TO VELD-SICKXESS. 



During the earlier pari of nn work in this Colony 1 endeavoured 

 without success to transfer the (hsease known as Horse-sickness from 

 the horse to cattle. 



The cattle used in these exi)erimenls were of the class known 

 as Zuurs-eld cattle. 



It has been known during several generations of farmers that it 

 cattle living in sweet veld areas are brought to zuurveld areas ihey 

 are exceedinglv liable to die very soon after their arrival. 



Owing to this the Zuurveld cattle, sold on the Grahamstown 

 market, fetch higher prices than those from sweet veld and. indeed, 

 most farmers, in this area, refuse to purchase sweet veld cattle at 

 anv price owing to the area being a Zuurveld one. 



If then sweet veld cattle die when transferrerl to sour veld, what 

 is the nature of the disease produced in them ? 



After inoculation for Rinderpest had been well advanced in 

 the Eastern Province, it vas found necessary to be exceedingly care- 

 ful of the kind of animals, used to produce virulent blood, and a 

 large number of animals were conve\ed from sweet veld areas to a 

 camp at Waai Nek. about two miles from this Institute. 



Of these considerable numbers died, but the cause of their death 

 was not understood and the enormous pressure of work connected 

 with Rinderpest prevented definite investigations being taken up for 

 this purpose and we had to content ourselves with attempting, by 

 treatment, to save as many as possil)le. 



Most of the deaths were reported to me by Mr. Robertson as 

 belonging to Steynsburg cattle and he emphasized the fact of their 

 being sweet veld cattle while our veld was zuurveld. 



While this condition of things was in progress, a Bechuana boy 

 (a herd brought from Taungs wht) had wcirked with me there) living 

 at the camp, came in and reported to my veterinary assistant, Mr. 

 William Robertson. M.R.C.V.S. (now assistant to the Colonial 

 Veterinary Surgeon) that one of the cows had died of " Paardeziekte." 

 As a result of this rejxjrt Mr. RoberLson rode to the camp and 

 returning almost immediately stated to me that an animal had just 

 died and that it had a cloud of white foam Iving around the nostrils 

 and mouth. 



1 immediately proceeded with him to the camp and saw the 

 animal lying dead. It had a large quantity of white foam King 

 around the nose and mouth exactly as one sees so frequentiv in the 

 cases of horses which have died of Horse-sickness. 



On making a post-mortem examination the similarity to Horse- 

 sickness was extended since we found the following conditions. 



The lungs shewed an exceedingly well-marked interlobular exuda- 

 tion of yellow serous exudation. This was so characteristic, that, had 

 the lungs only been shewn to me, I should have believed they had 

 been taken from a horse that had died from Horse-sickness. In 

 another ca.se f)f the same sort which had been dead some hours before 



