SPECIFIC AND CATARRHAL COMPLAINTS 



exceptional instances horses have acquired the disease through 

 eating infected fodder, or whilst grazing over an anthrax buiial 

 ground. This latter shows the necessity for cremation. 

 Acquired in this manner, we assume that the animal must have 

 had some abrasion about the mouth, lip, etc., in order that the 

 anthrax germs (bacteria) could gain admission into the blood 

 streams. In swampy districts, ^'.g., the fens of Lincoln and Norfolk^ 

 the horse now and again falls a victim to anthrax. Sometimes 

 head and tongue participate. There is intense swelhng and 

 inflammation of the tongue, etc., under these circumstances 

 CGloss Anthrax). The germs of anthrax are v^ery minute, and 

 they have the form of short rods. Their presence is diagnostic 

 of the malady. Of course, no layman could — unless an experi- 

 enced microscopist — be expected to detect the organisms in the 

 blood. 



In the event of an outbreak of anthrax in any animal, 

 immediate notification to the local authority of the district is 

 necessary. Failure to notify renders the proprietor liable to 

 fine, or to imprisonment. 



RHEUMATISM AND JOINT-ILLNESS. 



For a considerable time it has been suggested that 

 rheumatism is of a specific nature, or, in other words, caused by 

 germs in the blood. The hyper-acidity of this fluid is probably 

 the outcome of an organised ferment. 



Muscular rheumatism is not frequent in the horse, though 

 cases of it are now and again seen. Foals are frequently 

 affected, and their joints become exceedingly hot, tender, 

 swollen, and painful, and the navel is often very sore ; in fact, 

 part of the disease infection takes place from here. 



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