163 



Brain-diseases. — Blind staggers, vertigo, &c., were Diore or less prev- 

 alent in Tyrrell, North Carolina; iu Bnllock, Floyd, and McDuffie, 

 Georgia; in Coin tnbia, Florida; in Tishemingo, Mississippi ; in Angel- 

 ina, Texas, where nearly every case was fatal. Post-mortem examina- 

 tion showed a marked congestion of the brain. This malady was also 

 noted in Garland, Benton, Independence, and Crittenden, Arkansas, in 

 some cases causing a loss of 10 per cent. ; in Dyer, Cannon, Cheatham, 

 Fayette, Lauderdale, Haywood, and Robertson, Tennessee ; in Calloway, 

 Graves, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, and Simpson, Kentucky. The 

 mortality in some of the foregoing counties was large. The disease is 

 mostly attributed to feeding worm-eaten corn. It appeared iu but one 

 county north of the Ohio River, Pope, Illinois, where three-fourths of 

 the cases terminated fntally. A few cases of cerebrospinal meningitis 

 occurred in Mercer, Pennsylvania. 



Gastric diseases. — Bots, colic, &c.,were troublesome in Dooly, Scriven, 

 Henry, Towns, Catoosa, ^yllite, and Coweta, Georgia ; in Columbia, Flor- 

 ida; in Sebastian, Arkansas; in Wirt, West Virginia; in Logan, Ken- 

 tucky ; in Henry, Ohio; in (ylay, Nebraska. In different parts of the 

 South, horses were poisoned by musty corn. 



CJiarbon. — This disease was confined to the Southwest, being reported 

 in Coahoma, Wilkinson, and Holmes, Mississippi. It was especially 

 fatal to mules in Wilkinson, where stimulating and tonic treatment was 

 the most successful. Its greatest prevalence and virulence was in local- 

 ities where insufficient food was provided and where stinging insects 

 were most annoying. Many protected their animals by the smoke of 

 burning rags, stumps, brushwood, &c. In Holmes carbolic acid and 

 lime constituted a good disinfectant. This disease decimated the work- 

 ing animals of Avoyelles, Louisiana, and destroyed 400 or 500 in East 

 Feliciana, besides large numbers in Madison, West Feliciana, and Jack- 

 son. In some localities it was more prevalent than any year since the 

 war. 



Miscellaneous. — In Madison, Florida, horses suffered from swallow- 

 ing sand in cropping the early grasses of spring. Rheumatism in the 

 hinder parts is reported in Wakulla Florida. In Hays, Texas, loin 

 disease has prevailed. " Bighead " and resulting debility are reported 

 in Nicholas, Kentucky, Scott, Missouri, and Stanislaus, California. Buf- 

 falo-gnats killed many horses and mules in Madison, Mississippi. Only 

 parts of the county suffered from this nuisance, the pine-timbered sec- 

 tions being free. Pennyroyal infusions were found to be a good pre- 

 ventive, while rubbing the skin with grease or oil was also effective. 

 These insects were also troublesome in Crittenden, Arkansas. In one 

 locality of Fayette, Ohio, the " blackwater " was observed. In Douglas 

 and Cloud, Kansas, the failure of the corn-crop caused wheat to be fed 

 to horses, which it is claimed produced some disturbances in the animal 

 economy. In many other instances, in different parts of the country, 

 improper and insuilicient food subjected animals to the operation of dis- 

 ease by reducing their vitality. In York, Maine, horses were " used up." 



Several new diseases appeared in different parts of the Union. Un- 

 usual symptoms attracted attention in New London, Connecticut, and 

 Union, Pennsylvania, but vanished upon the opening of spring. In 

 Cumberland, Maine, a drooping languor took some animals which sub- 

 sequently fell into convulsions and died within twelve to twenty -four 

 hours. Some fatality resulted from unknown disorder iu Menomonee, 

 Michigan. In Victoria, Texas, horses cut off from their usual winter 

 range by boundary fences grew restless, fell away in flesh, and died in 

 considerable numbers, but whether from disease or starvation, cauiiot 

 2 A 



