SOUTH AFRICAN HORSE SICKNESS 55 



with comparative impunity when saturated with rain. I have known 

 instances of dew-laden grass cut in kloof or valley and given to stabled 

 animals which contracted the disease; and of dew-laden grass from the 

 same kloofs which was well dried in the sun the day after cutting, was 

 also given to stabled animals a few yards distance without any fatal results. 



" Inhalation. — I believe inhalation plays an important part in the 

 introduction of the disease into the system. I have known two animals 

 which were taken out of a troop and were ridden a few hours through 

 the dense fog in a kloof contract the disease and die in ten or eleven days 

 later, although, with the exception of mosquito inoculation, there was 

 no other apparent mode of infection, as these animals did not get an 

 opportunity of eating or drinking while away from their station, and 

 they were the only two animals that died from the disease. Edington 

 records one case of spontaneous infection from a horse suffering from the 

 disease to its companion standing in the next stall, the animals being 

 able to smell each other. 



" Inoculation undoubtedly is a very probable mode of infection, and 

 more than likely mosquitos and other winged insects act as hosts and 

 intermediary bearers, when one considers the vast numbers in which they 

 are bred in stagnant water of kloofs saturated with dew. All the pre- 

 ventive measures enumerated hereafter are more or less preventive against 

 inoculation by mosquitos. 



" Symptoms. — There are two varieties of the disease known by the 

 Dutch names, dunpaard-ziekte and dikkopaard-ziekte. In the former the 

 symptoms are, as a rule, comparatively absent until just before death. 

 The animal appears in perfect health and vigour, and within an hour 

 characteristic symptoms may appear, such as hurried respiration, animal 

 lies down and gets up again immediately, soon followed by death in a 

 few minutes. 



" The symptoms usually seen in the dikkop form appear some days 

 before death, and gradually become well defined towards the end, viz. 

 the neck, head, and lips become swollen, in some cases enormously, the 

 eyes close, and the lower lip droops. 



" A sub-variety of this disease is called ' Blawtong', or bluetong, when 

 the swelling of the neck and head is not marked, but mostly confined 

 to the tongue, which presents a livid blue colour, due to intense venous 

 congestion. 



" Owing to the absence of symptoms until just before the onset of death, 

 it was believed the disease was of very short duration. The foregoing 

 symptoms are all that is generally noticed by farmers and horse-keepers, 

 but if the animals in horse-sickness districts, or which have been through 



