GLANDERS. 
11 
It is remarkable that the earlier writers should have entirely 
overlooked the contagious nature of glanders. Neither Hippo¬ 
crates, Aspyrtus or Yegetius mention such a thing as conta¬ 
gion. The idea of contagion seems to have first impressed itself 
on man’s mind in the 17th century. The first positive assertions 
are to be found in Solleysel, 1664, who spoke of it as a contagious 
disease easily transmissible from horse to horse, even by means of 
air in stables where a diseased animal was kept among healthy 
ones. In 1734 Gaspard Saunier agreed with the views of Sol¬ 
leysel, and gave very distinct regulations for the disinfection of 
stables in which glandered horses had been kept, such as the re¬ 
moval of cribs and racks and renewal of the plastering. In 1741 
Garsault advised the immediate slaughter of the diseased, and 
strict isolation of suspected horses, in order to put an end to the 
outbreak. Towards the end of the 18th century it was the pre¬ 
vailing opinion that glanders was a contagious disease ; still, ab¬ 
solute proof was wanting. This can only be had by direct experi¬ 
ment. Endeavors in this direction were made by Abildgaard and 
Viborg in Denmark, and Blaine in England, who were successful 
in producing glanders in horses and asses by inoculation with the 
nasal secretion of glandered horses. At this time in France there 
began a powerful reaction against the teachings that glanders was 
a contagious disease, and this did not abate until 1837, when Bayer 
brought before the Academie de Medecine the most convincing 
proof of the transmissibity of glanders to man, when its contagious 
character again gained credence. 
In Germany most of the great authorities had always been in 
favor of the contagious character of glanders. In 1841, Dr. 
Schilling gave sufficient evidence of the transmission of glanders 
to human beings. In 1835, regulations were issued treating the 
disease from this standpoint, and contained a very minute de¬ 
scription of its course in man. The contagious nature of glanders 
gained general adoption as a scientific fact, but the world was 
still in the dark as to the real nature of the infecting agent. 
All observers agreed in considering the nasal secretion of glan¬ 
dered horses as the vehicle by which infection w T as made possible. 
In 1841 Berhard Langenbeck made an exhaustive examination of 
