ARMY VETERINARY REPORTS. 
467 
Of other diseases there was a considerable variety, but only a 
few cases of any one. 
To conclude, the effectiveness of the cavalry and transportation 
services of the army must depend, to a very considerable extent, 
on the stability of the horses and mules, and their serviceability 
depends largely on their soundness. Of course it is not to be sup¬ 
posed the specification “ sound in all particulars” is to be technically 
construed, else there would be but few animals capable of success¬ 
fully passing a professional inspection. But it is of the utmost 
importance that the animals passed be practically free from dis¬ 
ease. The diseases that are well-marked are, of course, readily de¬ 
tected by any one of common acquaintance with horses; but 
these are not the ones likely to be presented for inspection. It 
is the diseases but imperfectly developed, the diseases that pre¬ 
sent only the premonitory symptoms and as yet cause no lameness 
or other readily perceived signs, that are beyond the detection of 
the best informed non-professional inspectors. 
To illustrate, take some of the most common diseases. 
Where, for instance, is the inspector, unless he be a veterinary 
surgeon, competent to detect cataract in the earlier stages of its 
development ? And yet it is quite often met with in the horses 
presented for inspection. In some of these cases, as is well-known, 
evidence of the existence of the disease is to be detected by the 
use of the ophthalmoscope alone. Is there a non-professional 
inspector capable of making the examination ? The same diffi¬ 
culties exist regarding the detection of all the many diseases that 
cause lameness. In the earlier stages of their development, they 
readily escape detection except at the hands of a veterinary sur¬ 
geon, for at first they rarely cause lameness, and the non-pro¬ 
fessional generally consider an animal sound in the limbs, unless 
he is lame or shows some well-marked evidence of disease. 
That which is true of external diseases holds good also in the 
internal disorders. The lesions of old pneumonias and pleurisies ; 
of heart diseases and the milder forms of brain affections; the 
chronic gastric and intestinal disorders, and the first stages of 
emphysema of the lungs are conditions, the detection of which 
cannot possibly be accomplished by any but the veterinary sur¬ 
geon. 
