602 
DISEASES OF ANIMALS IN INDIA 
self down and not think of it, or go but a short distance for 
fear of dirtying the horse and giving himself labour. 
On a march, you may halt two or three days, be engaged 
on business or pleasure in the cantonments away from your 
tents; and, unless you do as I have before advised, your 
horses will not be once loosed from picket. 
I have written thus far, not merely as a practical horse- 
man, cautioning any one going’ to India against this ; but 
professionally showing what, I believe, are the causes of the 
losses, after a few hours* illness, of many valuable horses, 
not easily replaced. 
I had not been many months in India before I had the 
vexation to lose a valuable stallion, travelling under my care, 
from this disease, enteritis, one march from the civil sta- 
tion of Bittern, where I had halted two days, whereas it had 
usually happened to others at Bittoor, which is one march 
from the cantonments of Cawnpore; and so frequent was 
its occurrence, that the native tanners were suspected of 
having poisoned the horses for the sake of the skins. This 
was told me by the superintendent, and I was glad he was 
satisfied there was no neglect or want of skill on my part. 
I w T as then ignorant of the natives, but subsequent expe- 
rience soon convinced me the tanners had nothing whatever 
to do with it, but that the causes were as I have before stated. 
I was sent for while at Calcutta, in the latter end of the 
cold season of 1 822, to see about 80 horses that had arrived 
a short time before from Delhi, a march of 900 miles. On 
inquiry, I believe the horses had been standing at picket in 
a cantound (walled-in place), feeding upon an increased 
quantity of pulse to get them into condition for sale, with 
little, and for several days no exercise. Some were in the 
first stage of this disease, very costive, the faeces covered, 
more or less, with w r hitish slime, or whitish opake, or yellow 7 - 
ish thicker coagulated lymph. The horses were dull, refused 
to feed, or did so sparingly ; the pulse w*as hard, but not 
increased in frequency ; the mouth w 7 as hot and dry ; the 
skin and extremities were warm, the horses w 7 ere standing 
in the sun ; the membranes of the eyes and nose w r ere pale. 
The horses did not lie down and get up again — this symptom 
of enteritis occurs when the horse has been attacked at work ; 
you overtake your horse in this state on a march, or at the 
end of it. I took a large quantity of blood from these horses, 
and administered 5j doses of aloes in solution every three 
hours, at the same time copious clysters. Some of these 
recovered. 
Other horses, the greater number, w T ere in the second 
