34 
GEORGE C. FAVILLE. 
With the great majority of affected animals the food was the 
best that could be procured in the market, and being to a 
great extent what we know as Western food, it was practi¬ 
cally the same food as fed to the thousands of non-affected 
animals. In the city the water is used from the hydrants, 
James River water, and is, according to numerous tests by 
competent chemists, a practically pure drinking water. 
4th. I have met with the disease in animals ranging from 
yearlings to aged horses, but never saw a case in a mule, ass 
or hinny. 
I am firmly convinced that the predisposing cause of the 
disease is undoubtedly the faulty construction of stables. The 
site of the stable and surroundings also have much to do with 
the cause. I mean to infer that the want of proper ventila¬ 
tion, drainage and sunlight in and about stables are the pre¬ 
disposing causes of osteoporosis. 
I have never seen a case in a stable where the hygienic 
essentials received attention. That the many badly con¬ 
structed stables, with little or no ventilation, do not produce 
the disease prove nothing; the predisposing cause is there, 
but the exciting cause is wanted. 
As to the nature of the proximate cause, I am not at pres¬ 
ent prepared to express an opinion. In this age of microbes, 
one dare not say that such a disease is not due to specific 
micro-organisms; but I am confident that osteoporosis is not 
a contagious disease. All my observations point to the fact 
that the disease is never transmitted from one animal to an¬ 
other, and I am equally positive that the affected animal can¬ 
not infect a place where he is kept, either directly or indi¬ 
rectly. 
5th. Treatment cannot possibly be satisfactory if the 
animal is kept in the stable where he contracted the disease. 
The first and essential thing to do is to remove the affected 
animal or animals to desirable quarters. As the conditions 
which predispose an animal to osteoporosis are such as pro¬ 
duce rheumatism, I am not surprised to find rheumatism as a 
complication in a great majority of my cases, and hence this 
complication requires special attention. For the rheumatic 
