f99 ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 



into the lungs, mixed with other impurities of the stall itself ; this, actmg 

 perhaps more readily upon the nasal membrane than upon the other 

 linings of the air passages, produces inflammation. This inflanmiation 

 may long exist, and unsuspected by the ordinary observer, till some 

 intense action is set up, when ulceration takes place. 



Or it may be produced by an3i:hing that injures and weakens the vital 

 energy of this membrane ; as violent catarrh, accompanied by long con- 

 tinued discharge from the nostrils ; a fracture of the bones of the nose ; 

 «nd the too frequent injection of stimulating and acid substances up the 

 nostrils. Ever3^thing that weakens the constitution, may, under peculiar 

 circumstances, produce glanders. Among the hurtful influences that 

 may operate to this end we may enumerate : hardships and an exhausted 

 constitution ; any interference with the due elimination or throwing off 

 of morbid and waste matter from the system ; want of regular exercise ; 

 isudden and violent exercise when the horse has not been previously pre- 

 pared for it ; placing a weak and worn-out horse upon a course of diet 

 that is too nutritious and stimulating ; and hereditary predisposition to 

 certain forms of disease. 



One point is deserving of special mention : it is sometimes present and 

 contagious in animals apparently in fine bodily condition ; other horses 

 may contract the disease from such a one and die of it while it is stiU 

 difficult to discover unmistakable traces of it in the first. There may be 

 inflammation, and minute ulcers so far up the nasal passages as not to be 

 seen ; these little hidden ulcers may discharge so small a quantity of mat- 

 ter as to escape notice, and yet the matter is so poisonous that when it 

 ectmes in contact Avith any thin and delicate membrane, by which it may 

 b<5 absorbed, it will produce glanders. Weeks, and even months, may 

 intervene between the first existence of inflamed membrane and the 

 development of the disease. In this case there nia}^ be counteracting 

 tendencies, requiring some violent action or sudden change to determine 

 the issue. 



It must be observed that its infectious nature is not general, but par- 

 ticular — depending upon inoculation with the matter exuded from 

 glanderous ulcers, or at least from poison received in some way from th© 

 Ijlandered animal and communicated directly to a wound or to some del- 

 icate membrane of another horse, an ass, or a human being. 



How to know it. — As may be inferred from the preceding, it is not 

 always easy to detect the actual presence of this disease, though it is 

 often a matter of paramount importance that it should be known. Its 

 dangerous character as an infectious disorder makes it essential that it 

 •hould be known in its very earliest stages, that the proper precautions 

 may be taken to prevent the infection from spreading. 



