MISCELLANEA. 
595 
Sir, — In your number for November is a very interesting letter 
from a correspondent in India, calling upon your readers for in- 
formation respecting a very fatal malady among hounds in that 
country. Now, sir, from my love of animals in general, and 
those of the chase in particular, I am induced to make some 
reply to “ Vagus, ” which I flatter myself, if attended to, may 
be the means not only of rendering the complaint manageable in 
its treatment, but of preventing, in a great measure, its occur- 
rence. We have a maxim in our profession, which maintains, that 
a knowledge of the disease is half its cure. I shall, therefore, 
first tell your correspondent what, in my opinion, is the nature and 
cause of the disease in question, and then proceed to its cure 
and prevention. First, then, from the excellent description 
“ Vagus” has given of the complaint, its symptoms, and other 
particulars, I have no hesitation in affirming that it is clearly 
and unequivocally an ardent fever, solely produced by a long- 
continued and high temperature, and corresponding exactly with 
the description of the “ climate or seasoning fever,” incidental 
to the European on settling in the West Indies. This fever is 
peculiar to hot countries, and attacks principally men and 
animals recently arrived from northern latitudes : its attack is 
very sudden, its victims chiefly the young, the most robust, and 
the healthiest; the weak, unhealthy, and the seasoned, commonly 
escaping its influence altogether. The complaint never rages as 
an epidemic but during the hot months, when the thermometer 
is upwards of 88° in the day, and at least 80° in the night, and 
is not contagious. 
Its immediate cause is excessive heat, which rarifies and aug- 
ments the volume of the blood, adding thereby greatly to its 
power of stimulating the heart (hence its increased action and 
name of dil-i-baz, mentioned by “Vagus”): most violent ex- 
citement is also produced in the whole of the vascular system ; 
the blood becomes vitiated, the vital powers fail, and the animal 
dies exhausted. This, sir, I take to be the true nature of the 
complaint, and the only plan of cure will be that of depletion , 
with the view of reducing and moderating excessive vascular 
motion: for this purpose, therefore, blood should be taken largely 
at the commencement of the attack; a full dose of calomel should 
be given, followed up by drastic purgatives, and the body should be 
sponged with cold water. If these means fail to arrest the pro- 
gress of the malady, you may despair of all others. I now come 
to the preventive service — the most important of all. It would 
appear from “Vagus’s” statement, that the complaint rages 
chiefly among those hounds that have been recently imported 
into the country; in other words, among those whose bodies and 
