BOARD-SHIP PNEUMONIA. 36 L 



instrument will not only inform us of the extent of the danger ; 

 but will also give us timely warning of an attack before the usual 

 symptoms become apparent. 



Board-ship Pneumonia. 



NATURE AND CAUSE.— This form of pneumonia is un- 

 doubtedly the most common cause of death among horses which 

 are carried in large numbers by sea ; but, as far as I can leftrn, it 

 never appears among animals on land, or when the number of 

 horses on board is very small, as in the case when they are taken 

 in portable horse-boxes. It might be supposed at first sight, that 

 the disease was due to defective ventilation ; but experience shows 

 that when it breaks out, it affects not only horses in badly- 

 ventilated stalls, but also those which axe in places where the 

 ventilation is of the freest possible kind, as for instance, in stalls 

 facing large openings on the windward side of the ship. This 

 fact strongly suggests the conclusion that the disease in question 

 is due to an infection, which ■ of ooxirse could not originate on 

 board, but must have been carried into the ship. , Some veterinary 

 surgeons have suggested to me that it is due to stagnation of 

 blood in the lungs, owing to want of exercise, but if that 

 supposition were true, the appearance of the disease would be 

 independent of overcrowding, which is not the case ; and it would 

 also occur on land, when horses are tied up for a long time. The 

 clinical symptoms and the history of the cases suggest the theory 

 that the disease is a form of contagious pleuro-pneumonia (p. ibi) 

 which has been aggravated by the unsanitary conditions of over- 

 crowding. 



I believe that I am correct in saying that this board-ship form 

 of pneumonia is generally complicated by pleurisy. I have seen 

 it break out among horses on board a ship bound to South Africa, 

 three days after leaving England. 



SYMPTOMS. — ^The animal is depressed, more or less off its food, 

 and hangs its head. The eyes are generally closed to a greater or 

 less extent, and are sometimes " weeping.'' The mucous membrane 

 of the eyes is of an intensely red colour, which becomes darker as 

 the disease progresses. If pleurisy also exists, its presence will be 

 indicated by the heaving of the flanks and by abdominal breathing, 

 which is manifested by the presence of a groove on the lower 

 part of the side of the abdomen. The appearance of this groove 

 is shown in Fig. 142 (p. 355), which is reproduced from a photo- 

 graph I took at Port Elizabeth, of a, lately-landed horse that was 

 in the last stage of board-ship pleuro-pneumonia. The nostrils 



