160 
REFLECTIONS ON GLANDERS. 
The condemned horses of the cavalry to be the first inmates, in- 
stead of being shot. 
The achievement of the cure of glanders is destined to become 
the work of a national undertaking. The experience of the last 
half century has convinced all who are redolent on the subject, 
that individual exertion, enterprize, and even property, to a 
considerable amount, — all have been embarked in vain. And 
if I may point to our continental veterinary brethren, their united 
efforts, in conjunction, may be said to have been backed by 
consummate skill and talents. But why have they not reached 
the mark I Why has Science been eternally grappling with this 
pest only to encounter defeat] Is the disease, like rabies, ut- 
terly incurable — without one recorded cure, either spontaneous or 
otherwise? I answer most decidedly in the negative. Having 
been incessantly occupied in every variety of veterinary practice 
upon the horse, and which commenced nearly thirty-five years ago 
in the British army, I have been an eye-witness, in the course of 
this lengthened period, to several cases of spontaneous cure of 
virulent glanders, no medicine whatever having being adminis- 
tered ; but in each of these cases the diseased animal has been 
liberally fed upon grain, and exposed for many weeks, night and 
day, to the open air ; together with numerous instances of bud 
farcy. I could, also, enumerate a few cases, in common with other 
practitioners, where the disease has been permanently obliterated, 
apparently the result of long-continued medical treatment. I am 
firmly of opinion that, if the present amount of veterinary lore, 
instead of being scattered by the four winds, were faithfully com- 
piled, concentrated, and energetically brought to bear on a focal 
point, with the aid of all appliances, such as none but a govern- 
ment establishment can furnish, this devouring pest to the horse, 
and occasional destroyer of man himself, would vanish ; and thus 
would be distinguished the veterinarians of the nineteenth century 
by a lustre unknown in the day of their fathers. 
When foreign princes and the most mighty men of the earth 
habitually resort to our horse-markets for their studs in preference 
even to the Arab’s steed, I beg leave to ask, what nation under 
the sun can better afford such an extravaganza than John Bull ? 
The experience of the last twenty years too plainly shews that 
the grand desideratum, viz. the cure for glanders, is not likely to be 
discovered by retracing the beaten path of the ordinary routine of 
general practice, however extensive or scientific in its procedure. 
New paths must be struck out, which will lead to an unexplored 
region; a few master minds must be enlisted in the cause, and the 
retreat of the enemy will be found to be within the deepest recesses 
of the organism. 
