262 CONFESSIONS OF A HORSE DEA.LER. 



which a sound horse may be accidentally inoculated with 

 the discharge from glanders, for the slightest scratch in 

 any part of the body is sufficient to convey the poison 

 into the blood. Horses that are cleaned with a curry- 

 comb are very apt to be scratched in those parts where 

 the bones are prominent, such as the inside of the hock 

 or knee, and the shank bones ; to such scratches glander- 

 ous matter may be conveyed by the hands of the groom, 

 or more frequently by the wisp used after the curry-comb 

 and brush. Glandered horses will generally rub their 

 nostrils against the sides of the stall, or on the edges of 

 the manger, the rack, or anything they come near, to 

 alleviate the itching and pain which they constantly 

 suffer* Thus they often deposit matter which may be 

 taken up by the next sound horse that may chance to 

 occupy the same stall. It was recently reported that 

 glanders had made its appearance among the troopers 

 in the Camp at Aldershot, but I believe without foun- 

 dation. Nevertheless, the report created great alarm at 

 the time, and was the subject (a short time ago) of many 

 unpleasant questions and remarks being made in the 

 Houses of Parliament. The roofs were taken off the 

 stables where the horses (suspected to be affected) had 

 stood, and the patients removed far away from the troop 

 stables. I knew a large cab proprietor in Manchester, 

 who lost every horse he had by this disease. There 

 was once an instance of glanders finding its way among 

 the horses of a regiment of English cavalry, and fifty 

 horses were shot in one day. The 23rd French Dra- 



