264 DISEASES OF BONE. 



After she had been on this diet for about three weeks, she became 

 listless and slightly paralysed, and quickly developed on one side of 

 the face the characteristic swelling of osteojDorosis. I at once 

 had her fed on hay which had been made from young oats, and 

 the enlargement subsided, and the mare got all right in a few 

 days 



I saw on one occasion at the Bahawulpore Stud Farm a great 

 many cases — about 20 per cent, of the entire number — of osteo- 

 porosis. The young colts and fillies had a fair supply of corn ; 

 but the grass was so coarse and innutritions as to be altogether 

 unsuitable for horse provender. Besides, it was grown on ground 

 which was small in extent, and which had remained unchanged 

 and untilled for many years. 



This disease does not appear to be due to an insufficient supply 

 of corn ; for we find, all over the world, horses perfectly healthy 

 on grass alone, in countries where osteoporosis is unknown. 

 Besides, I have seen it appear in Ceylon, among young horses 

 which had been kept for several months previously, on a very 

 liberal allowance of oats. Their grass, however, was coarse and 

 rank. It is instructive to note that the percentage of mineral 

 matter in good hay is at least double that in oats, and that the 

 percentage in both cases is greatly affected by the nature of the 

 soil upon which the grass and corn are respectively grown. In 

 either case, the fodder will be abnormally poor in bone-forming 

 material, if it has been produced on land poor in lime. 



Deficiency in the amount of grass cannot induce osteoporosis ; 

 for thousands of horses in Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and other places 

 where osteoporosis is very rare, remain free from this disease ; 

 although for nine or ten months of the year, they get no grass; 

 their only food being barley and barley straw. Also in South 

 Africa, where the disease is uncommon, many of the horses 

 never get either grass or hay; only straw and Indian corn, or 

 straw and oats. Straw (see "Stable Management and Exercise") 

 contains nearly as much mineral matter as hay. As horses in the 

 open, contract the disease as readily as those which are stabled ; 

 confinement cannot be regarded as a cause. 



A second cause, advanced by Mr. Geo. H Berns (" American 

 Veterinary Review," Dec, 1890), is residence in a damp situation, 

 such as a stable in a cellar, or on low ground. I believe that 

 pit ponies are specially liable to this disease. 



Mr. Harold B. Elliot, M.R.C.V.S. ("Journal of Comparative 

 Pathology," Dec, 1899), tells us that he is convinced from practical 

 experience that the disease is not due to diet, but wholly to 

 climatic influences. It is very common in the Island of Hawaii, 

 which is the chief sphere of his practice, and which furnishes at 



