148 THE HORSE 



trouble formerly named. Certain other diseases are also 

 accompanied by catarrh, though very often the discharge 

 is of a chronic nature — chronic catarrh. When a horse 

 has catarrh it is seldom that it produces much constitu- 

 tional disturbance, but sometimes the affected animal 

 goes off its food for a day or two. The leading symptom 

 in this trouble is a catarrhal discharge from one or both 

 nostrils, along with increased redness of the mucous 

 membrane lining the nose and eyes. The discharge is at 

 first thin and w^atery, but later on becomes purulent and 

 adheres around the margins of the nostrils, therefore it is 

 quite an easy matter to detect the existence of this 

 trouble, unless the nostrils have been previously sponged, 

 but immediately prior to inspection. The heightened 

 colour of the nasal mucous membrane should arouse 

 suspicion as to the probability of this disease developing. 

 The channels through which this disease are spread are 

 not very clearly understood, but the chances are in 

 favour of its perpetuation through the medium of the 

 nasal discharge, as directly and indirectly, and another 

 possible source of infection is the atmosphere in which 

 an infected animal resides. The channel of infection is 

 the respiratory tract. The sources of infection, in addition 

 to the hving animal, are the hands and clothing of atten- 

 dants, mangers, stall posts, private and public drinking 

 troughs, forage, litter, clothing, saddlery, etc. Doubtless 

 some horses contract the disease in railway trucks, in 

 which previously infected animals have travelled. The 

 public water trough may act as a source of contagion, as 

 it is not unlikely that street troughs are frequently 

 infected. Horses which are picketed together may 

 easily spread the disease from one to another by direct 

 contact of the nasal discharge, or through the medium 

 of lines and ropes. The general idea concerning catarrh, 

 more especially amongst the uneducated, is that it is 

 produced by cold or sudden changes of temperature, but 

 this is in all probability quite an erroneous view. The 



