288 EPIZOOTIC AMONG ARTILLERY HORSES. 
and the palpitations of the heart were so violent that they 
could be distinctly heard. In spite of the efforts of the 
veterinary surgeons attached to the battery, these symptoms 
in some of the horses soon changed into a state of the most 
acute agony. They stood up erect on their hind legs, or 
threw themselves in violent convulsions on the ground. The 
muscles seemed to become rigid in some, while others swelled 
to an enormous size. By the next morning thirteen of them 
were dead, while all the horses which had gone out first to 
water were more or less ill. Several of the horses were 
opened, but nothing was found except a congestion of the 
intestines, scarcely sufficient to cause death. Since then the 
intestines have been sent over to Scutari to be chemically 
examined by an analytic commission formed for the purpose. 
Of course, until this inquiry is concluded, it is impossible to 
say what the cause of this sudden illness and death was, but 
all the circumstances which have hitherto come to light seem 
to point out a case of poisoning on a large scale. The first 
idea suggested was that some poisonous plant might have 
impregnated the hay, but on examination not only no trace 
was found of this, but likewise, although all horses received 
the hay indiscriminately from the same bales, there were many 
which were not attacked. All the horses that died and that 
were seriously attacked belonged to the first batch that was 
taken out to water. When they had drunk, the water in the 
troughs was removed, and the second batch, the troop of 
Captain Oakes, of the 12th Lancers, which drank from this 
water, showed indeed symptoms of illness, but none died. 
A detachment of Artillery horses and the other troop of the 
12th, that had been out drilling, came in late, and which were 
only watered in the afternoon, when the water had again 
been removed, were not attacked at all. Besides this, all the 
horses which died were those which drank from the troughs 
in the middle, where the water runs out from the fountain, 
while those that drank more towards the end escaped alto- 
gether, or were only slightly attacked. One driver deposes that, 
of the two horses in his charge, one which seemed very thirsty 
and drank a great deal, was one of the first dead, while the other, 
having tasted the water, refused to drink, although repeatedly 
brought to the trough, and this horse never was ill. What- 
ever the cause was, the effects showed themselves on the 
muscular and nervous system especially, although the 
symptoms were of the most different character. Up to this 
morning twenty horses have died, and several more are 
expected to die. All these horses were attacked at the same 
time, and not one case showed itself since the first day, which 
