30 
E. J. LIST. 
respectively. The failure of a fatal termination in these two 
cases can be explained upon the theory that they were either 
immune to a fatal form of the disease, or that the dose adminis¬ 
tered was insufficient to produce a fatal attack. 
A PECULIAR DISEASE AFFECTING HORSES. 
By E. J. List, Havana, Illinois. 
Read at Bloomington before the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association, Feb. 12, 
1901. 
As you will readily understand by the title of my paper, I 
am to deal with a disease that is not frequently met with and 
one that I am unable to find described in any text-book or jour¬ 
nal at my command. Therefore, I think it well to bring it 
before you for your earnest consideration, as by so doing I may 
gain knowledge and be benefitted thereby, and I trust that it 
will be of interest to you. 
The disease affects only the equine species, and has been 
traced directly to the feeding of hay grown on bottom lands. 
Havana is situated on the east bank of the Illinois river, where 
the soil is high and sandy. On such soil it is never met with, 
but just across the river is the Illinois river bottom, which 
overflows occasionally ; the soil is mucky and has a great many 
low marshy places in it. From such ground the hay is mown, 
which causes the disease in question, and, peculiar as it may 
seem, it is only in certain seasons that it is prevalent. At other 
seasons it is never met with—that is, we may have it one 
year, then for two or three years be free from it. A great deal 
of this land has never been cultivated, and is covered with 
native slough grass that grows four or five feet high, with a 
coarse stem. This is the hay that most often causes the trouble, 
but it may originate when timothy or other hay is harvested 
from the same soil. It will not cause trouble or produce the 
disease if it passes through the winter. It is most prevalent in 
the fall or summer seasons, it making no difference about the 
condition of the hay, whether cured well or otherwise. 
