538 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



suit of specific reaction at the jDoint of inoculation, but at a later time 

 the virus is carried by means of the blood vessels and lymphatic ves- 

 sels to other parts of the body and becomes lodged at different places 

 and develops in them; again, when the disease has existed in the 

 latent form in the lungs of the animal and the virus is wakened into 

 action from any cause, w^e have it carried to various parts of the body 

 and developing in the most susceptible regions or organs. The points 

 of development are most frequently determined by the activity of the 

 circulation and the effects of exterior irritants. For example, if a 

 horse which has been so slightly affected with the virus of glanders 

 that no symptoms are visible is exposed to cold, rain, or sleet, or by 

 the rubbing of the harness on the body and the irritation of mud on 

 the legs, the disease is apt to develop on the exterior in the form of 

 farcy, while a full-blooded horse which is emploj^ed at speed and has 

 its lungs and respiratory tract gorged with blood from the extreme use 

 of these organs will develop glanders as the local manifestation of the 

 disease in the respiratory tract. 



The previous reference to the existence of glanders under the two 

 forms more commonly differentiated as glanders and as farcy, and 

 our reference to the various conditions in which it may exist as 

 acute, chronic, and latent, show that the disease may assume several 

 different phases. Without losing sight for a moment of the fact that 

 all of these varied conditions are identical in their origin and in their 

 essence, for convenience of study we may divide glanders into three 

 classes — chronic farcy, chronic glanders, and acute glanders with or 

 without farcy. 



CHRONIC FAECY. 



Sym,ptoms. — In farcy the symptoms commence by formation of 

 little nodes on the under surface of the skin, which rapidly infringe 

 on the tissues of the skin itself. These nodes, which are known as 

 farcy " buds " and farcy " buttons," are from the size of a bullet to 

 the size of a walnut. They are hot, sensitive to the touch, at first 

 elastic and afterwards become soft; the tissue is destroyed, and in- 

 fringing on the substance of the skin the disease produces an ulcer, 

 which is known as a chancre. This ulcer is irregular in shape, with 

 ragged edges which overhang the sore; it has a gray, dirty bottom 

 and the discharge is sometimes thin and sometimes purulent ; in either 

 case it is mixed with a viscous, sticky, yellowish material like the 

 white of an egg in consistency and like olive oil in appearance. The 

 discharge is almost diagnostic; it resembles somewhat the discharge 

 which we have in greasy heels and in certain attacks of lymphangitis, 

 but to the expert the specific discharge is characteristic. The dis- 

 charge accumulates on the hair surrounding the ulcer and over its 

 surface and dries, forming scabs which become thicker by successive 

 deposits on the under surface until they fall off, to be replaced by 



