Contagious Diseases and Their Suppression. 273 



Influenza is a very wide term applied to epizootics of 

 the horse; pink eye is one form of the discease, stock- 

 yards fever, so called, is another form. This disease is 

 more or less serious, depending to a great extent on the 

 health of the animal and the healthiness of its surround- 

 ings. It may be set down as a general rule that a horse 

 off feed should not be worked, and if the clinical ther- 

 mometer shows a fevered condition in the animal the 

 veterinarian should be consulted. Partial or complete 

 loss of appetite, fever, great nervous depression, partial 

 loss of control of the limbs, constipation, slimy feces, 

 discharges from the eyes, cough, sore throat, swelling of 

 the limbs, sheath and along the belly, and occasionally 

 a nasal discharge are all common symptons of influenza; 

 a serious result in pregnant mares is abortion, few carry 

 their foals the full time. The duration of the disease is 

 usually six to ten days if uncomplicated; a constant 

 watch must be kept for lung or blood complications. 

 Give good food, pure air, sunlight, etc., avoid drafts; 

 hot mashes containing powdered ginger and chlorate of 

 potash, of each half an ounce, will be useful until the 

 veterinarian is called; if the throat is sore, the ammonia 

 liniment may be rubbed in and the head steamed. 



Clap or gonorrhoea of stallions and mares. A contag- 

 ious disease of some moment during the breeding season 

 sometimes appears in stallions, which may be termed 

 gonorrhoea, being a catarrhal inflammation of the urethra; 

 as the disease can be transmitted to the mare or vice 

 versa its recognition is important. The causes are var- 

 ious, service of mares too soon after foaling, or if suffer- 

 ing from vaginal discharges. The swelling of the geni- 

 18 



