4^2 BUKEAU OF ANIMAL liN^DUSTEY. 



part of the ])od3% are rounded elevations alx)ut the size of a small pea, 

 containing 1)lood which bursts through the scurf skin and concretes 

 like a reddish scab around the erect, rigid hairs. These swellings 

 appear in groups, which remain out for several days, gradually 

 diminishing in size; new groups appear after an interval of three or 

 four weeks, the manifestation being confined to three or four months 

 of spring and disappearing in winter. A horse will suffer for several 

 3-ears in succession, and then permanently recover. A fatal issue is 

 not unknown. To find the worm the hair is shaved from the part 

 where the elevations are felt, and as soon as a bleeding point is shown 

 the superficial layer is laid open with the knife, when the parasite 

 will be seen drawing itself back into the parts beneath. The worm is 

 about 2 inches long and like a stout thread, thicker towai-ds the head 

 than towards the tail, and with numerous little conical elevations 

 (papilhr) around the head. The young worms are numerous in the 

 body of the adult female worm. The worm has become conmion in 

 given localities, and probably enters the sj'stem with food or water. 



Treatment is not satisfactory, but the affected surface should be 

 kept clean by sponging, and the pressure of harness on any affected 

 part must be avoided. Thus rest may become essential. The part may 

 be frequently washed with a strong solution of sulphide of potassium. 



SUMMER SOEES FROM FILARIA IRRITANS. 



The summer sores of horses [Dermatitis granulosa^ boils) have been 

 traced to the presence in the skin of another parasite, 3 millimeters 

 in length and extremely attenuated {Filaria irrltans Railliet). The 

 sores may be seen as small as a millet seed, but more frequently the 

 size of a pea, and may become an inch in diameter. They may appear 

 on any point, but arc especially obnoxious where the harness presses 

 or on the lower |>art of the limbs. They cause intense and insupport- 

 able itching, and the victim rubs and bites the part until extensive raw 

 surfaces are produced. Aside from such friction the, sore is covered 

 by a brownish red, soft, pulpy material with -cracks or furrows filled 

 with serous pus. In the midst of the softened mass are small, firm, 

 rounded granulations, fibrinous, and even caseated, and when the soft 

 pultaceous material has been scraped off, the surface bears a resem- 

 blance to the fine yellow points of miliar}' tuberculosis in the lung. 

 The worm or its debris is found in the center of such masses. These 

 sores are very obstinate, resisting treatment for months in summer, 

 and even after apparent recovery during the cold season they may 

 appear anew the following summer. In bad cases the rubbing and 

 biting may cause exposure of synovial sacs and tendons, and cause 

 irremediable injury. Even in winter, however, when the diseased 

 process seems arrested, there remains the hard, firm, resistant patches 



