SCALMA. 517 



am not aware of any name in English or French which has been 

 applied to it. 



As I am opposed to employing in veterinary medicine any of the 

 nomenclature of human medicine, except for identical, simple, and 

 inflammatory diseases, or for intercommunicable contagious diseases, 

 I will not offer the term " whooping cough " as a name, but 1 will sug- 

 gest a certain similarity between the latter disease in man and scalma 

 in the horse. 



Definition. — Scalma is a contagious and infectious febrile disease 

 of the horse, with local lesions of the bronchi, trachea, and larynx, 

 which is evidenced by cough: It is further characterized by great 

 irritability of temper. It occurs as a stable plague; that is, in en- 

 zootic form, with,-however, great variations in the susceptibility of 

 the animals to contract it. It is rarely fatal except from compli- 

 cations. 



Incubation. — ^The period of incubation is from six to seven days, 

 but the disease may develop in two days after exposure or it may 

 delay its appearance for ten days. It spreads through a stable slowly, 

 developing at times in a horse placed in a stall where the previously 

 sick one had stood, or it may pass next to an animal several stalls 

 away. One attack is usually protective. 



Symptoms. — ^The symptoms are ushered in by fever, in which the 

 acceleration of the pulse and respiration is in no way in accord with 

 the great elevation of temperature. With the appearance of the 

 fever is developed a diffuse bronchitis, which is, however, subacute 

 both in its character and in its course. At times the trouble of the 

 bronchi may extend to the trachea, larynx, pharynx, or even to the 

 nasal fossae. 



In two or three days a trifling grayish albuminous discharge from 

 the nostrils occurs, which continues, variable in quantity, for eight to 

 fourteen days, or may even last for three weeks. The cough is short, 

 rough, and painful, spasmodic in its occurrence and in character. 

 The slight watery or slimy discharge may become more profuse, 

 purulent, or even " rusty," if the bronchitis has extended to the neigh- 

 boring structures. Pharyngeal discharge may take place. The res- 

 piration is moderate and affected only during an excess of coughing, 

 or in complicated cases. The pulse undergoes but little quickening. 

 The temperature rises rapidly to 102.2°, 104°, and in some cases even 

 to 107.6° F. The latter temperature usually, but not always, indi- 

 cates complication by pleurisy. In ordinary cases the temperature 

 drops in two or three days after the appearance of the cough. The 

 skin is dry and rough, with the hairs on end, but the horse appears 

 as an animal out of condition rather than as a sick one. Emaciation 

 may be rapid. The mucous membranes are moderately reddened. 



