152 DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



are propagated through the medium of stabling, and this we believe 

 to be the more usual way in which the disease is communicated 

 from horse to horse. 



2. That infected stabling may harbor and retain the infection 

 for months, or even years ; and although, by thoroughly cleansing 

 and making use of disinfecting means, the contagion might be 

 destroyed, yet it would not be wise to occupy such stables imme- 

 diately after such supposed or alleged disinfection. 



3. That the virus, or poison of glanders, may lie for months, in 

 a state of incubation, in the horse's constitution before the disease 

 breaks out. Of this we have had the most positive evidence. 



4. That when a stable of horses becomes contaminated, the dis- 

 ease often makes fearful ravages among them before it quits ; and 

 it is only after a period of several months exemption from all dis • 

 ease of the kind that a clean bill of health can be rendered." 



From the preceding evidence, it is probable that the reader will 

 entertain but little doubt of the contagious character of the malady j 

 yet it is very important that every one, either directly or indirectly 

 interested in horses, or having any regard for the welfare of man •• 

 kind, should be familiar with all that is important and useful a? 

 regards the cause and nature of the awful malady now under con - 

 sideration. It is often mistaken for other diseases that (in so far 

 as contagion is concerned) are perfectly harmless ; yet many valu - 

 able human lives have paid the forfeit, and many priceless animals 

 have been sacrificed on an altar of ignorance which the light of 

 science has but recently illuminated. Hence, correct information 

 is what the people require, in consequence of the emergency of the 

 peril ; and this is what the author aims at in offering this article 

 for the consideration of the reader. 



Many hundreds of times, during the professional career of the 

 author, have horses been brought to him for treatment, declared 

 by their owners to be the subjects of glanders, simply because they 

 had enlarged glands under the jaw, and a nasal discharge; an 

 by the successful treatment of the same, he has got the credit of 

 curing glanders, a feat which he never pretends to have accom- 

 plished. Mr. Gamgee has very lucidly illustrated this part of 

 ♦he argument, as regards the mistakes made in diagnosing glanders- 

 He states that glanders may be suspected, instead of being a real- 

 ity; hence, many supposed cures are on record. The following 

 are his remarks, under the caption of "suspected glanders^: 



