146 PARASITIC SKIN DISEASES. 



air and water, it will heal as an ordinary wound. Abrasions that 

 occur during the hot weather in districts in which this disease is 

 rife, are liable to turn into bursatee sores if neglected. Clean cut 

 wounds (probably on account of the fact that they are generally 

 treated antiseptically) seldom exhibit this tendency. 



4. Recurrence at a particular season of the year. 



5. Recurrence on old sores. Horses that have had this disease 

 and that remain in the condition under which they have contracted 

 it, are almost certain to suffer from its recurrence on the spots 

 which have been previously aft'ected, unless, indeed, the old sores 

 have been completely destroyed by the knife, firing iron, or some 

 strong caustic, and have healed under antiseptic precautions (p. 67 

 et seq.). An intending jDurchaser should therefore view with sus- 

 picion any bald patches indicative of bursatee which may be 

 visible at its favourite seats. 



6. 7^ lie formation in the arffected part of nodules (hunhur), 

 which closely resemble those of actinomycosis (p. 126). 



SYMPTOMS. — Bursatee appears in the form of hard chancre-like 

 sores on the skin and mucous membranes of the mouth, eyelids, 

 etc. The fetlock joints (especially), yard, sheath, front of the 

 chest, face, lips, and tongue, are the usual points of attack. 



The sores — one or more in number — generally make their ap- 

 pearance towards the end of the hot weather, assume their greatest 

 virulence through the rains, and gradually heal up on the approach 

 of the cold weather; though in old and neglected cases they may 

 continue more or less open all the year round. 



Colonel F. Smith states that the disease originates in the tissue 

 imm.ediately under the skin or mucous membrane, in the form of a 

 small hard nodule which is painful to the touch, and is accompanied 

 by heat and swelling, and that, after a few days, the characteristic 

 hard, indolent bursatee ulcer breaks out on the part. 



The sore usually takes a somewhat circular form, and may vary 

 from half an inch to nearly a foot in diameter. It bears a strong 

 resemblance to a hard chancre. It has a hard, well-defined margin, 

 hard base, and, at first, a dark-red, unhealthy look. When situated 

 on a part covered with muscle, as on the front of the chest, the 

 sore may assume a yellowish white, suppurating appearance, and is 

 kept moist by the exudation of watery fluid. There is but little 

 discharge from the ulcer on the surrounding skin or mucous mem- 

 brane, as the case may be. 



Imbedded in the sore, are found small, hard particles (called 



hunhur) of a yellow or yellowish red appearance, and varying in 



size from that of a grain of sand, to that of a small pea. They act 



• as foreign bodies in irritating and keeping open the ulcer, and 



