AN ANOMALOUS DISEASE OF THE HORSE. 
491 
same surroundings, except receiving straw ad libitum from an 
old straw stack, grown during the extreme drouth of 1894, were 
all sick ; two having died, and two more shortly after. 
Symptoms .—Beyond a dull, listless appearance, there were 
few outward signs of suffering, except in an occasional case just 
before death, many dying without manifesting signs of deep dis¬ 
tress. Upon approaching an animal, you would be greeted by a 
most offensive odoi of decomposition, worse than gangrenous 
pneumonia, the odor coming from a sero-sanguineous discharge 
from one or both nostrils. Patches of .petechise were present 011 
the septum nasi; sub-maxillary glands slightly enlarged and in¬ 
durated ; a weak ramolescent pul^e, ranging from 60 to 80; 
temperature from 102 0 F. to 106° F., constantly increasing in 
fatal cases. Appetite good in most cases. 
Post-mortem .—Upon exposing air chambers, a dark gan¬ 
grenous condition of nearly the entire surface of the superior 
maxilla was presented. Near the base of the ethmoid was a clot 
of blood with visible signs of a recent haemorrhage. Fungs 
nearly normal, otherwise than cedematous. Fiver badly con¬ 
gested with \ enous blood and bile. Kidneys to a casual appear¬ 
ance quite normal. Spleen, semi-fluid owing to the rapid blood 
changes. Stomach and bowels, to my surprise, seemed practi¬ 
cally normal, and all signs of mycotic influences absent, as the 
ante-mortem symptoms indicated. 
Etiology .—111 every case coming under my care I believe the 
cause to be a specific one contained in the straw; but I do not 
believe it due to the white muscaradine fungus affecting chinch 
bugs, but rather to a germ from the soil, developed by the ex¬ 
treme drouth, during the summer of 1894 ; then the growing 
crops of the sections mentioned were prematurely ripened ; yet, 
what form and how communicated it is not my purpose to specu¬ 
late. 
Treatment .—Discover the source, and remove it. Give bran 
mashes with oil cake once daily. Oats or corn with hay. 
Heroic therapeutics are unnecessary. Glycerine as a basis with 
•campho-phinique,- applied locally, and may also be given inter- 
