Infectious Paraplegia of Solipeds in Maraja. 535 



the wild and susceptible horses caught and brought in. Near 

 the buildings, too, are accumulations of horse and cattle manure 

 and rubbish heaps of all kinds, the breeding places of the flies, 

 which are probably important factors in conveying the infection. 

 Again, the attacks are more numerous and severe and death 

 earlier in the hot, dry summer weather, while there is a pause 

 and a lesser intensity in the cool or rainy season. All domestic 

 animals, .save when kept up for breaking or work, live in the 

 open field day and night and subsist on the green food (capine, 

 graminese), and are thereby exposed to all climatic changes. 



Symptoms. At the first appearance of the disease (1830) it 

 proved fatal in a few hours, but after a year's prevalence, when 

 the more susceptible animals had been killed off, the progress of 

 the malady became slower, death being deferred to the 8th or 

 15th day, so that the symptoms could be more definitely followed. 

 From 7 to 14 days before the more obvious symptoms, there' 

 were lifelessness, tardy movement, hurried breathing, debility, 

 weakness and emaciation without work or other obvious cause. 

 Exercise caused difficult breathing, dilated nostrils and great agi- 

 tation of the flanks. 



One of the most constant symptoms was the loss of power of 

 the hind limbs which would sway and stagger, the femurs turn- 

 ing inward, as if dislocated, and on uneven ground the animal 

 could not walk without falling. When down, he could not rise 

 without assistance. In the earlier experience of the malady 

 (1835) only 8 to 16 per cent, failed to show these paraplegic 

 symptoms, whereas in recent years 50 per cent, or more escape 

 them. In these cases the emaciation goes on alone, gradually 

 encreasing until the patient appears like a living skeleton. Some 

 retain an appearance of liveliness, yet all .stand on three limbs, 

 and change from one hind limb to the other every six or eight 

 seconds. 



The retraction of the abdomen is a marked feature, yet expul- 

 sive contraction is defective, the patient fails to put himself in 

 the position for urination or defecation, and there is more or less 

 detention of urine or faeces, the latter being dry, moulded, covered 

 with mucus and of a reddish yellow color. After a time the 

 urine escapes in fine jets, so small that in the absence of stretching 

 to urinate, or raising of the tail, they are ea.sily overlooked. 



