HORSE-SICKNESS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
39 
Preventive Measures . 
i 
The most certain way of preventing horse-sickness, in 
my opinion, is to keep horses stabled, and feed them entirely 
on dry food, such as good forage, mealies, bran, &c. I con¬ 
sider it unsafe to give freshly-cut grass during the season for 
sickness. Of course, on farms where horses are bred, such a 
system is impracticable, and at present I can suggest no 
remedy; but these remarks apply to horses in daily use in 
the towns and coast districts particularly. 
More attention should be paid to sanitary arrangements, 
the stables as a rule being too small, ill-made and ventilated, 
and, in many instances, reeking with filth; and yet pure air 
and cleanliness are as essential for the maintenance of health 
in horses as in mankind. 
The diet should be carefully regulated so as to avoid the 
ill effects of bad feeding which are to be seen every day in 
disorders of the liver, colic, and other things too numerous 
to mention, all of which render horses more susceptible to 
disease. 
In the detection of this and other diseases the uses of the 
clinical thermometer will be found most valuable, as it is an 
unerring guide in the earliest stages, when outward sym¬ 
ptoms are not to be relied on, and it gives time to adopt treat¬ 
ment which in manv cases is successful. 
w 
I regret that I am unable in this report to deal so ex¬ 
haustively with this subject as its importance demands, but 
my experience of this disease has been limited, so that 
beyond determining the nature of it—of which I have no 
doubt—I do not feel in a position to speak with very great 
authority on it. 
The investigation of a disease, the cause of which is so 
obscure, is very difficult; but I hope at some future time to 
acquire such valuable information as to its origin and the 
best mode of dealing with it, as I trust will prove of benefit 
to the colony. 
I have the honour to be, sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
Pietermaritzburg, S. WILTSHIRE, 
18th June, 1878. Yet. Surgeon for the Colony. 
