THE “ NASAL DISEASE^ IN HORSES. 273 
epizootic, though their having suffered now will not avail to 
save them when another epizootic shall supervene. The 
careful burning of the manure and disinfection of the stables 
is, therefore, probably a work of supererogation, the poison 
seeming to be speedily neutralized after it has affected the 
last susceptible victim. But it is far otherwise in those cases 
in which the great debility, the depraved state of the blood, 
and perhaps the hitherto hidden germs of glanders in the 
stables, have combined to produce that loathsome and fatal 
disease. In such cases the dictates of humanity and the 
sacredness of human life demand the prompt destruction of 
the animal which has become the generator of a deadly poison, 
and the thorough disinfection of the building, litter, clothing, 
harness, and stable utensils, in short of every article which 
may have come in contact with him. 
Cornell Univesity, Ithaca, N. Y. 
THE “NASAL DISEASE” IN THE HORSES OE AUSTRALIA. 
The nature of the disease lately causing so much anxiety 
amongst owners of racing stock has not yet been fully ex¬ 
plained. While chemical and microscopical examination of 
specimens are unfinished, it seems premature to offer 
opinions; and any remarks made at this stage of the inquiry 
must be based upon appearances as seen by the naked eye. 
These observations are doubtless valuable, and if judiciously 
discussed may aid in directing the more intricate part of the 
investigation. 
It would, therefore, be well to refrain from applying to the 
affection any precise term, implying knowledge of its true 
pathology. Haste in this way usually is the first step in 
fixing erroneous medical notions respecting the causes of 
disease. The term osteoporosis will be found inaccurate, and 
cannot be retained. It has been adopted in the latest written 
treatise on veterinary surgery, the only one containing any 
notice of the disease. The term literally means bone¬ 
hardening, and it should not be applied to bone-softening, 
such as the disease in question really is. Besides, those 
diseases of bone tissue described as the osteoporoses by Roki¬ 
tansky, the great German pathologist, who first applied the 
term, were local diseases of individual bones, without any 
general disorder of the system, called by him dyscrasia; 
whereas the disease in the horses referred to was an affection 
of the whole economy. On this ground Professor Varnell, 
