DOUEINE. 533 



PERIOD OP INCUBATION.— " On account of the chronic 

 course of the disease, the infective matter may remain apparently 

 latent in the system of a horse for a very lon^ time, even for 

 more than a year " {Friedberger and Frohner). In mares it is 

 apt to become manifest alter parturition. 



DURATION AND CHANCES OF RECOVERY.—" The duration 

 of the attack may vary from eight months to one or two years, 

 and recovery is rare. In male and female donkeys, the disease 

 runs a very slow course, and is seldom fatal" (Gagny and 

 Gobert). Not infrequently an apparent recovery is followed by 

 a relapse and death. 



CHANCES OF RECOVERY.— The mortality is at least 70 per 

 cent. ; and is greater in stallions than in mares. 



SYMPTOMS. — The symptoms of chronic dourine may be divided 

 into local and general ; and the attack, into three periods. 



First period. — From eleven to twenty days after the stallion 

 has covered an infected mare, the first symptom to appear, is 

 swelling of the penis and particularly of the head of the penis, 

 which, on this account, cannot in some cases be drawn back into 

 the sheath : a complication that may also happen after castration. 

 The swelling spreads from the penis to the sheath and scrotum, 

 and the testicles and the glands of the groin become inflamed. 

 There may be red spots, vesicles, and ulcers on the outer surface 

 of the penis. The orifice from which the urine is discharged 

 (meatus urinarius) is red, swollen, and shows a slimy discharge. 

 During the progress of the disease, these local changes may entirely 

 disappear. The patient suffers from strangury (p. 440) and often 

 from sexual excitement. His appetite continues good, although 

 he falls away in condition ; and his loins become very sensitive 

 to pressure. 



In the mare, the surface of the genital organs is generally 

 swollen, thickened, more or less studded with red spots, gelatinous 

 elevations, vesicles, and ulcers, and covered with a muddy orange- 

 coloured secretion. As in the horse, the local changes in the mare 

 may be insignificant. Usually, the clitoris is swollen and erect, 

 and the mare suffers from excessive sexual excitement, and 

 strangury. She discharges urine in small quantities at a time, 

 or a slimy discoloured secretion (mucus). She keeps whisking her 

 tail about, is very ticklish, and constantly "horses." The urine 

 and mucus from her genital organs soil the tail and thighs, and 

 may scald the skin of the parts upon which they lodge. The 



