HORSE SICKNESS OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 493 
and fogs arising from such localities. In the western 
districts it was customary for the horse breeders to trek 
from the plains to the mountains, or from the moun¬ 
tains to the seaboard, and the results, as may be ima¬ 
gined, were most disastrous, being on the principle of a 
man trying to walk off an attack of inflammation of the 
lungs, which was the very thing these misguided people 
were trying to do. Their object doubtless was a change of 
air and feeding, and had they carried the animals to the 
change, good might have resulted. I have had the mis¬ 
fortune to witness examples of men with diseased lungs 
voluntarily undergoing the most desperate bodily exercise 
w ith a view of gaining strength, the consequence being, that 
their end, instead of being retarded, was accelerated, and 
they fell victims to their indiscretion earlier than they other¬ 
wise might have done; so in the case of the western province 
breeders trekking their animals with affected lungs it could 
not but be attended with untow^ard results. Again, an 
epizootic, such as is now prevalent among horses of all sexes, 
ages, and condition, stabled or unstabled, breaks out, and 
horses are attacked everywhere, for it resides in the atmosphere, 
which carries its infinitesimal poisonous influence into the 
circulating fluid of such animals as from causes unknowm 
may come within the scope of its power; and if this peculiar 
horse sickness should come in the epizootic form, then as an 
old native non-commissioned officer observed to me, ‘‘you 
might shut a horse up in the cells and it w^ould find him out.” 
How’ever the views embodied in the foregoing remarks may 
correspond or differ with the experience of some of your 
readers, let me assure them that I have only one object at 
heart in this matter; and that is, to raise the veil of obscurity 
w^hich hangs over and bewdlders people wdth respect to the 
nature, &c., of this so-called peculiar disease,—peculiar only, 
I believe, because confounded with other diseases of the 
lungs which closely resemble one another in some of their 
phenomena, but w'hich require to be thoroughly understood 
and dissociated before a proper and judicious treatment of 
them can be set forth. 
It is to be recommended that farmers, horse-breeders, and 
others interested, should themselves carefully and diligently 
inquire into the subject of diseases among their stock, by 
reference to good standard wmrks on the treatment of horses, 
cattle, sheep, &c., such as those published in the ‘ Farmer^s 
Library,'’‘ Blaine on the Horse,^ ‘Youatt on Cattle,’ and a 
host of others; by po8t-mortem examinations, and 
comparing them with the symptoms of disease, and the 
