568 
ECZEMA EPIZOOTICA. 
many years ago, before the members of the Veterinary Medical 
Association, on some of the diseases peculiar to the horses in 
the United States (see the ‘ Veterinary Record and Trans¬ 
actions of the Veterinary Medical Association,’ vol. iii, 
page 192), I stated that I had (while residing in the States) 
seen a disease of the mouth and feet of horses, which in all 
its stages was similar to that affecting the same parts of 
cattle, &c., in England. This affection raged among the 
horses of that country, with more or less violence in various 
places, and also in a part of Upper Canada, but in about 
three or four years it gradually disappeared. By a perusal 
of the volume above referred to, it will be seen that the 
symptoms I then observed, especially in the feet, were pre¬ 
cisely like those described by Mr. Lepper; and judging 
from the foot forwarded by him to the College, I have 
reason to think such was the case. In the western portion of 
Pennsylvania, being the part in which I at that time resided, 
and in the State of Ohio, it was thought by some persons that 
nearly one fourth of the horses were affected with this dis¬ 
ease, and a great many died. In the eastern portion of the 
State of Pennsylvania and the western part of the State of 
New York, the feet of the horses, and but seldom the mouths, 
were attacked; and it was no uncommon thing for their 
hoofs to be shed. 
In the early stage of this disease, small vesicles would 
appear on the edges of the tongue and buccal membrane, 
which would enlarge, and eventually coalesce with each 
other. At first, their contents would be as transparent as 
water, but as the disease advanced the discharge would 
become dark in colour, and, in a short time, offensive; the 
tongue would be also much congested and swollen. The 
vesicles likewise around the coronets would behave pretty 
much in the same way as those in the mouth; and a sepa¬ 
ration of the horn from the sensitive and vascular structures 
very soon took place. 
From the dark appearance of the tongue in the latter 
stages of this affection, the disease was designated “ Black 
TongueV 
For a fuller account of the disease, as it existed in that 
country, I would refer the reader to the publication above 
alluded to. 
