342 
W. L. WILLIAMS. 
atmospheric conditions, faulty hygiene or dirt, too frequent copula¬ 
tion, or too frequent sexual excitement without sexual contact, 
crossing of breeds, vaginal catarrh in the mare, etc. But these 
influences have existed as long in countries where the disease is 
unknown, as in those where it has prevailed for nearly a century 
or more, without producing the disease. 
Others have imagined its cause to be the fornication or bes¬ 
tiality of syphilitic men with the female ass, as is doubtless prac¬ 
ticed by Arabs, in the belief that this bestiality will cure them of 
their malady, and thence from the ass to the horse by copulation; 
but against this theory stands the objection already mentioned, that 
human syphilis is not transmissible to solipeds. 
Symptomatology .—Holding that the so-called benign form of 
the disease, as described by English authors, is a wholly distinct 
venereal disorder, there is no necessity for detailing here the 
symptoms of this affection, but I will follow the description of their 
so-called malignant form, noting such differences as may have pre¬ 
sented themselves in the present outbreak. It may be stated, how¬ 
ever, that in the so-called benignant form authors describe essen¬ 
tially the same local symptoms as in them malignant type, but 
assert that these symptoms remain purely local and are followed 
by recovery in two to eight weeks. 
Symptoms in the mare .—In a variable length of time after 
copulation, usually eight or nine days, the mare exhibits uterine 
excitement resembling exaggerated vestrum (heat), the vulva be¬ 
comes swollen, the mucous membrane of the vulva and vagina is 
reddened and there is a vaginal discharge of at first a serous 
nature, which soon increases, becomes thicker, sticky, viscid and 
white, yellow, grayish or reddish in color, which collects about and 
soils the tail and perinseum. 
The mare is restless, as evinced by occasional stamping with 
the hind feet. The urine is voided frequently in small quantities, 
its passage irritating the already congested or inflamed vaginal 
mucous membrane, causing increased restlessness. The vaginal 
mucous membrane continues to grow more irritable and the color 
becomes a deeper red. The lips of the vulva become more dis¬ 
tinctly swollen, the swelling being of an oedematous (dropsical) 
nature. 
