NOTES ON NEW DISEASE OF HORSES. 
821 
The character of the disease being so much like malarial 
fever, the infection was looked for from some other source, and 
a parasite in the blood was suspected. Upon examination of 
the blood of a well-marked case, an animal parasite was dis¬ 
covered, which also was found in all the cases examined. In 
the new cases the parasite was seen, and as the case progressed 
they increased in number, but towards recovery grew less, and 
finally disappeared. 
The parasite is an animal organism, a spirillum, rather blunt 
at one end with a flagellum at the other. In advancing, the 
tail seemed to advance, becomes entangled with the corpuscles, 
and he drags himself forward ; he can go backwards, but the 
most of his movements are with the tail, advancing. They are 
of different sizes, the smaller seemingly a male, the larger a 
female ; they often come together, the blunt ends being attached, 
and the flagellum moving very rapidly. 
That they have some action on the red blood corpuscle is 
very evident, as the blood count is diminished, and the leuco¬ 
cytes increased. 
Where the parasite comes from, his life history, will probably 
necessitate examination of the fly and mosquito. The disease 
is so widespread and the affected animals are fed and watered 
in many ways, the Filipino depending upon grass and rice, 
while the government stock have hay and oats, would in a meas¬ 
ure exclude feeding as a source of infection. 
To Stop Docking in the District of Columbia. —Sena¬ 
tor Gallinger, of New Hampshire, taking his cue from Presi¬ 
dent Roosevelt, introduced a bill to prevent the docking of 
horses’ tails on December 9. If his measure becomes a law, all 
owners of docked horses in the District of Columbia must 
register their animals within ninety days of the passage of the 
act. It shall be unlawful to bring a docked horse into the 
District of Columbia after the measure becomes a law, and all 
persons owning or driving unregistered docked horses shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable for a fine 
of from $100 to $500, or a term of imprisonment of from one 
month to three months, or both. 
