110 MANUAL OF EQUINE MEDICINE. 



The diet should be carefulty attended to. In the early- 

 stages a restricted and cooling diet should be ordered, but 

 in the later stages, when debility supervenes, the diet 

 should be nutritious and well regulated, and the limb 

 should be supj^orted by bandages applied pretty firmly. 



Where the limb is much thickened, iodide of potassium 

 or tincture of iodine may be given internally, and the 

 ointment of iodine may be used externally, and continued 

 while the animal is at work. 



BURSATEE. 



Definition. — Bursatee is a disease probably due to a 

 vegetable parasite belonging to the moulds or hypho- 

 mycetes, characterized by peculiar slow structural changes 

 in external wounds, in the subcutaneous tissue, or in 

 internal organs, or in all these situations. 



Distribution. — Bursatee is an Indian disease probably 

 peculiar to the horse, deriving its name from 'Bursat,' 

 which signifies * rain,' from the association of this malady 

 with the rainy season. But probably it is most frequent in 

 the time just preceding the wet season. It occurs through- 

 out the Indian Empire, especially, however, in the northern 

 parts, and is more commonly met with on the plains than 

 in elevated situations. 



Etiology and Nature. — Bursatee is in all probability due 

 to a special fungoid growth, and in the Veterinary Journal 

 of July, 1884, Mr. F. Smith says that he has found a mould 

 fungus in every fresh specimen of the sore which he has 

 examined. The filaments of the mould, or hyphse, as they 

 are termed, are here recorded to be ^-^^ inch in diameter, 

 and of great length. He has not observed any spores. In 

 the propagation of bursatee, flies have been asserted to play 

 a prominent part, and water also is said to be a means of 

 disseminating the disease. The lesions found in bursatee 



