2o8 THE HORSE 



rubbing-posts, the hands and clothing of attendants, 

 by grooming appHances, through water-troughs, by 

 infected Utter and by various animals, such as the cat, 

 rats, mice, etc. As previously stated, ringworm will in 

 course of time exhaust itself, more especially if the 

 general health of the animal is improved. It is customary 

 to speak of ringworm as being contagious, but it is more 

 correct to regard it as an infective disease, as it can be 

 conveyed through so many extraneous agencies. For a 

 considerable period of the war, especially during 19 15 and 

 1916, ringworm caused a great deal of trouble and incon- 

 venience amongst the army horses, in fact it was earlier 

 one of the scourges of the war. Far too much attention 

 was paid to it, and horses which were fit for military 

 service were kept idle and without any just reason. There 

 is no doubt that one of the principal methods through 

 which the disease was spread, and its remarkable pre- 

 valence in consequence, was by means of the grooming 

 appHances — the body-brush, the stable-rubber and the 

 curry-comb plus the hands of the attendants. Treatment 

 comprises clipping the hair off for two or three inches 

 around the seat of a patch and then dressing the surface 

 of the sore with mild mercurial ointment ; with iodine 

 liniment ; with red blistering ointment ; with lime and 

 sulphur lotion or some other agent of an allied nature. 

 Ringworm is not difficult to cure, but it is essential that 

 the scurf be removed from the surface of the patch and 

 that the circumference of the latter be freely dressed 

 with whatever application is employed. If the trouble 

 is distributed over the body, the lime and sulphur dip, 

 recommended for the treatment of mange, is as good an 

 application as one can possibly need. (See Mange.) 



The cleansing of all grooming appliances, stable fittings, 

 harness, cart shafts, saddles, bridles, etc., as well as all 

 other stable appointments, are of course part and parcel 

 of the general outline when dealing with this disease. 

 Thoroughness is the only royal road to success when deal- 



