430 



harness on any aflFected part must be avoided. Thus rest may become 

 essential. The part may be frequently washed with a strong solution 

 of sulphide of potassium. 



SUMMER SORES FROM FILARIA IRRITANS. 



The summer sores of horses {dermatitis granulosa, boils) have been 

 traced to the presence in the skin of another parasite, 3 millimeters in 

 length and extremely attenuated {Filaria irritans, liailliet). The sores 

 may be seen as small as a millet seed, but more frequently the Size of a 

 jjea, and may become an inch in diameter. They may appear on any 

 point, but are especiallj^ obnoxious where the harness presses or on the 

 lower part of the limbs. They cause intense and insupportable itching, 

 and the victim rubs and bites the part until extensive raw surfaces are 

 produced. Aside from such friction the sore is covered by a brownish- 

 red, soft, pulpy material with cracks or furrows filled with serous pus. 

 In the midst of the softened mass are small, firm, rounded granulations, 

 fibrinous, and even caseated, and when the sof t pultaceous material has 

 been scraped off the surface bears a resemblance to the fine yellow 

 points of miliary tuberculosis in the lung. The worm or its debris is 

 found in the center of such masses. These sores are very obstinate, re- 

 sisting treatment for months in summer, and even after apparent recov- 

 ery during the cold season they may appear anew the following summer. 

 In bad cases the rubbing and biting may cause exposure of synovial 

 sacs and tendons, and cause irremediable injury. Even in winter, how- 

 ever, when the diseased process seems arrested, there remains the hard, 

 firm, resistant patches of the skin with points in which the diseased 

 product has become softened like cheese. 



The apparent subsidence of the disease in winter is attributed to the 

 coldness and comparative bloodlessness of the skin, whereas in sum- 

 mer, with high temperature, active circulation, and rapid cell-growth, 

 inflammation is increased, itching follows, and from the animal rubbing 

 the part the irritation is persistently increased. The hotter the cli- 

 mate the more troublesome the disease. 



The life history of the parasite is unknown, but it probably enters 

 the system with the food or water. 



Treatment consists, first, in placing the animal in a cool place and 

 showering the surface with cold water. The parasite may be destroyed 

 by rubbing the surface of the wound with iodoform, and covering it 

 with a layer of collodion, and repeating the applications every twenty- 

 four hours for fifteen days, or until the sores heal up. Ether or chloro- 

 form may be used in place of iodoform, being poured on cotton wool 

 and applied to the sore for two minutes before painting it with collodion. 



CRACKED HEELS — SCRATCHES — CHAPS ON KNEE AND HOCK. 



This usually sets in with swelling, heat, and tenderness of the hollow 

 of the heel, with erections of the hairs and redness (in white skins), 



