544 NERVOUS DISEASES. 



parts of India, I failed, during a long residence in that country, to 

 draw the distinction which more matured judgment now forces 

 upon me. Kumree is specially j^revalent in swampy districts 

 which are liable to inundations. Colonel Meyriok observes, with 

 respect to this variety, that " the disease was very common 

 amongst the Government brood mares at Buxar, where one of tho 

 late Bengal studs was situated, when I was in veterinary charge 

 of it ten years ago. The country all round was inundated to a 

 considerable extent during the months of July and August, the 

 land gradually drying in September and October. The mares 

 were kept by native farmers, who were bad horse-masters, and, 

 frequently, fed them upon coarse indigestible kinds of grass cut 

 from the bed of swamps." 



HEREDITARY PREDISPOSITION.— I learn from the Bengal 

 Stud Records that kumree is not transmitted by parents to their 

 offspring. A stallion, therefore, if paralysed to but a slight extent, 

 may be used to breed from. A mare similarly affected will rarely 

 be able to bear the weight of the horse. 



CAUSES. — I am strongly of opinion that kumree is caused by 

 parasites which are taken in with the food or water, are absorbed 

 into the blood, and are deposited in the brain or spinal cord. 

 Evidently referring to this form of paralysis, Meyrick observes that 

 it " is most common in districts which are swampy or subjected 

 to inundations during the rainy season, and this fact increases the 

 probability of its parasitic origin." The theory that a horse 

 affected by " worm in the eye " will subsequently suffer from 

 kumree has been frequently advanced in India. Experience, how- 

 ever, does not bear it out. We may safely say that there is no 

 necessary connection between the two diseases ; although it is quite 

 possible that the presence of one or more filarise (p. 406) in the 

 brain or spinal cord might set up inflammation, which would as- 

 suredly cause pressure on the nerves and consequent paralysis. 

 This theory of the origin of kumree is mere supposition, which is, 

 however, to a certain extent, borne out by facts connected with 

 its causes and mode of invasion. Taking for granted the parasitic 

 nature of the disease, there is little doubt but that the worms 

 would be brought to their resting-place in the form of eggs, whiph 

 would take some time to become hatched and developed, and weuld 

 give rise to symptoms that would slowly and gradually manifest 

 tliem selves. 



Some observers consider that kumree is caused by the eating of 

 ergotised grain, the action of which is specially manifested by im- 

 pairment of the general health, and may be followed by grave de- 



