Among Horses in India. 75 



lungs than by the alimentary canal, except in cases where 

 there is an abrasion upon any part of the mucous membrane 

 of that canal, including, of course, the lips. 



He is evidently inclined to believe that the germs raised 

 by evaporation from the swamps may be carried by the wind 

 over miles of country, and then be taken into the animals' 

 systems, either by entering their lungs, by falling into the water 

 which they drink, or by settling upon the food which they 

 eat. 



He clearly shows another most important fact, viz., that 

 although very insalubrious conditions of life may favour an 

 attack of the disease, they do not produce it unless the germs 

 of anthrax happen to be present. 



In the district of Sylhet, which is the valley of the Barak 

 river, most of the soil is blue clay, and therefore very reten- 

 tive of moisture. During the rainy season the greater part of 

 the valley is under water for many weeks, and in some places 

 for months. As the floods fall, enormous tracts are converted 

 into swamps which are gradually dried by a tropical sun. 

 The ponies of the natives live in very dirty stables, and 

 in the town of Sylhet are fed upon long dhub grass, cut 

 from the dry clay beds of the swamps. They are watered, 

 some from the river itself, but many from small filthy pools 

 surrounded by bamboos and trees, the leaves of which drop 

 into the water and there decompose. 



In these pools, too, the natives daily wash themselves and 

 their clothes. 



In addition to living as here described, the ponies are fre- 

 quently turned out to graze in the swamps, where they must 

 not only breathe the emanations from the stagnant water, 

 but drink the water itself. In spite of all this, anthrax fever 

 is unknown in any part of the Sylhet district. As it is 

 common in the adjoining districts, it seems reasonable to 

 conclude that the exemption is due solely to the fact that the 

 germs have never been imported. 



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