Among Horses in India. 77 



HoESE Sickness oe South Aeeica, 



There is now no doubt whatever but that the disease in 

 South Africa called horse-sickness is a form of anthrax, 

 closely resembling, if not identical with, Loodiana fever. 



Amongst other descriptions of it is one in the Veterinary 

 Journal for August, 1881, by a Mr. Hutcheon, V.S., in the 

 Cape Colony. The post-mortem appearances of a horse 

 which he opened were exactly like those frequently found in 

 India in cases of anthrax. He also discovered great quantities 

 of bacteria rods in the blood. 



Inspecting Veteeinaey-Suegeon Evans's Eepoet upon 



SUEEA. 



In the Veterinary Journals between July, 1881, and the 

 present time, there have frequently been extracts from a copy 

 of a report by Inspecting Veterinary Surgeon Evans upon a 

 disease called Surra, which he was sent to investigate in 

 the district of Dera Ismail Khan, on the western side of the 

 river Indus. 



In 1879 I was at the town of Dera IsmaO. Khan, acting 

 as judge at a horse show, when the Punjab Government 

 wrote requesting me to examine some horses of a native 

 cavalry regiment there, which had been attacked with Surra, 

 to ascertain if I could suggest any cure or any way of pre- 

 venting it. 



There were then four or iive horses ill with it, but as 

 business prevented my remaining in the station I was unable 

 to make a proper inquiry into its nature. 



The only prominent symptoms then observable were 

 debility, emaciation, and extreme pallor of the visible mucous 

 membranes. 



So far as I could discover, all the horses attacked had been 

 living in the neighbourhood of rivers which had overflowed 

 their banks. 



I reported to the Punjab Government that the disease was 

 probably caused by some blood-poison carried into the 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



