ERYTHEMA. GGl 



and wet, were turned into tlieir stables, but never groomed till 

 the morning ; the dirt was then dry, and was brushed off ; whilst 

 his best horses (out on job in gentlemen's carriages), which came 

 in early and had their legs washed, dressed, bandaged, and other- 

 wise made comfortable, were all affected with sore legs. 



Mud-fever is occasionally attended by a considerable degree 

 of systemic disturbance (hence the term, I suppose), ex- 

 cessive lameness from irritation and pain, and desquamation 

 of large patches of the skin; occasionally it is several weeks 

 before recovery takes place. Even after the febrile symptoms 

 have disappeared, an amount of unthriftiness continues ; the hair 

 and cuticle come off in patches on various parts of the body ; 

 the appetite remains capricious, and any condition which the 

 horse may have previously possessed soon disappears. Now 

 and then limited suppurations occur in the flexures of the knees, 

 hocks, and pasterns. 



Mr. Broad, of Bath, writes to me as follows : — "Mud-fever. — 

 The plan of clipping the hair with the clipping machine, from 

 off the legs especially, is the predisposing cause, as it leaves 

 the skin so bare that it cannot so readily resist the effects of 

 irritants of any kind as when protected by its natural covering. 

 The hot water washing opens the pores of the skin, and a free 

 secretion sets in, which, however, becomes suddenly checked 

 from the clothing and bandages not being put on before the 

 vessels of the skin become congested, and subsequently inflamed ; 

 hence the disease. The horse is often, after washing, imme- 

 diately led from the hot steaming stall or wash-house into the 

 open air to his box, the temperature of which is very low ; and 

 in other cases he is exposed to currents of cold air from the 

 opening of doors during the process. There is also another very 

 common and bad practice — that of thoroughly wetting all the 

 legs at the commencement of the washing, so that the water 

 may run on to the feet to moisten the dirt and render them 

 more easily cleaned. Mud-fever may occur after washing with 

 cold water, but not with proper and ordinary attention to 

 clothing and bandaging. I have never known it to occur when 

 the mud has been allowed to become dry and then well brushed 

 off without the application of water ; not even when the horses 

 liave been hunted in districts supposed to cause it. My opinion 

 of the mud of the supposed blistering districts is that it is there 



