660 
MATTHEW WILSON. 
thorough hand rubbing to limbs she moved around stall, 
though with difficulty. I now discontinued the use of all 
medicines excepting fl. ex. hydrastis, and gave a soft diet. 
From this time on her recovery was rapid, and in one month 
from time of operation she left my hospital cured. She is 
now in fine condition and again in foal. 
INFLUENZA. 
By Matthew Wilson, M.M.C.V.S., Mendota, Ills. 
(A Paper read before the Illinois State Veterinary Association.) 
Influenza is a disease that has long been known to medical 
science, both human and veterinary. Its history can be traced 
back with certainty only to the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, although as far back as the year 1300 we have ac¬ 
counts of an epidemic among the horses of Italy that seems 
to-day to be recognized as influenza. 
With the beginning of the sixteenth century we have ac¬ 
counts of epidemics the wide distribution of which have 
been reached by no other acute infectious diseases. 
Up to the present time a great number of epidemics have 
been described, which generally extended over whole coun¬ 
tries and frequently over several quarters of the globe. 
They returned at indefinite periods and affected every 
season and latitude, advancing as a rule in a great wave. 
In some cases they appeared to be preceded by sporadic 
cases, but more commonly a large number of the animals 
would be affected simultaneously, the disease spreading with 
great rapidity. 
Among the numerous outbreaks the following are re¬ 
corded : 
In 1648 an epizootic of this disease appeared in Germany 
and from there rapidly spread to other parts of Europe, and 
in 1711 it attacked the horses of the European armies, causing 
great losses. 
In 1732 the disease appeared in London and later on in the 
same century in Scotland. 
In 1766 we have the first attacks on the horses of America, 
