143 



one, the fixing of a net under the penis in such fashion as will pre- 

 vent the extension of the penis, or so prick the organ as to compel 

 the animal to desist through pain. 



MAL DU COIT-^DOUEINE. 



Til is is i)ropagated, like sj^philis, b}' the act of copulation and 

 affects stallions and mares. It has heen long known in Xorthern 

 Africa, Arabia, and Continental Europe. It was imported into Illi- 

 nois in 1882 in a Percheron horse. 



From one to ten days after copulation, or in stallions it maj' be 

 after some weeks, there is irritation, swelling and a livid redness of 

 the external organs of generation, sometimes followed by the eruption 

 of small blisters one-fifth of an inch across, on the i^enis, the vulva, 

 clitoris, and vagina, and the consequent rupture of these vesicles and 

 the formation of ulcers or small open sores. Vesicles have not been 

 noticed in this disease in the dry climate of Illinois. In the mare 

 there is frequent contraction of the vulva, urination, and the dis- 

 charge of a watery and later a thick viscid liquid of a whitish, yel- 

 lovvdsh, or reddish color, which collects on and soils the tail. The 

 swelling of the vulva increases and decreases alternately, affecting 

 one part more than another and giving a distorted appearance to the 

 opening. The affection of the skin leads to the appearance of circu- 

 lar white spots, which may remain distinct or coalesce into extensive 

 patches which persist for months. This with the soiled tail, red, 

 swollen, puckered, and distorted vulva, and an increasing weakness 

 and paralysis of the hind limbs, serve to characterize the affection. 

 The mare rarely breeds, but ■^^^.ll take the male and thus pro^^agate 

 the disease. The disease winds up with great emaciation and stu- 

 pidit}', and death in four months to two years. In horses which serve 

 few mares there ma}^ be only swelling of the sheath for a j'ear, but 

 with frequent copulation the progress is more rapid. The penis may 

 be enlarged, shrunken, or distorted; the testicles are unusualh^ pen- 

 dent and may be enlarged or wasted and flabby; the skin, as in the 

 mare, shows white spots and patches. Later the i^enis becomes par- 

 tially paralyzed and hangs out of the sheath; swelling of the adjacent 

 Ij-mphatic glands (in the groin) and even of distant ones, and of the 

 skin, appear, and the hind limbs become weak and unsteady. In 

 some instances the glands under the jaw swell, and a discharge flows 

 from the nose as in glanders. In other cases the itcliing of the skin 

 leads to gnawing and extensive sores. Weakness, emaciation, and 

 stupidity increase until death, in fatal cases, yet the sexual desire 

 does not seem to fail. A stallion without sense to eat except when 

 food was put in his mouth, would still neigh and seek to follow 

 mares. In mild cases an apparent recovery may ensue, and through 

 such animals the disease is propagated to new localities to be 

 roused into activity and extension under the stimulus of service. 



