254 
DERMITIS LEADING TO EXTENSIVE DESQUAMA- 
TION OF CUTICLE AND HAIR. 
By Haydon Leggett, M.R.C.V.S, Luton. 
On the 18th January I was sent for to see a chestnut cart- 
gelding, six years old, Suffolk breed. I found the horse had 
a slight swelling on the inner side of the thighs, and of the 
fore legs down to the knees. The pectoral muscles were also 
swollen, and the horse walked with a stiff and rigid gait. 
It appeared from the account given me that the animal had 
been standing in the stable for some days on account of the 
frosty weather, and that on the day before I was sent for he 
had been to Dunstable, a distance of about three miles. 
The road was very slippery, and the animal, not being rough 
shod, slipped about very much, and could scarcely get along. 
On his return home, and while in a state of profuse perspira- 
tion, he went to a pond and drank a quantity of cold water, 
which was probably the more immediate cause of his illness. 
I ordered warm fomentations to the swollen parts, and gave 
a dose of purgative medicine. When I called on the 20th I 
found that both the hair and the cuticle on several parts of 
the body were quite loose ; and that every time the horse 
shook himself, which he did vehemently and often, large 
quantities were detached. The hair was so loose that any 
one might have rubbed the whole of it off as from a scalded 
pig. The state of the skin showed that there could not be a 
doubt but in a few days there would not be a single hair left 
on the face, head, neck, or body, with the exception of the 
hair of the mane, tail, and legs, which was still firmly 
attached. 
I have enclosed a portion of hair and cuticle, so that you may 
examine them under the microscope, should you think fit. 
[A microscopic examination of the cuticle and hair sent 
by Mr. Leggett did not lead to the detection of fungi, or of 
anything otherwise abnormal, to account for the extensive 
depilation. The bulbs of the hair were split up in a remark- 
able manner, but in all other respects both the hair and the 
cuticle were apparently healthy. — Eds.] 
