32 
D. MC EACHRAN. 
ing the present winter. There can be no doubt that it is dcpen- 
cnt on some peculiar atmospheric condition, sudden changes of 
weather, such as have recently prevailed here, or other causes 
purely local. That it is contagious cannot be doubted, and that 
it is infectious I am also inclined to believe, but neither contagion 
nor infection form marked features in the disease. For instance, 
in the College Hospital, which for several weeks back, has been 
full of variolous patients, my own horses and half a dozen others 
have not presented any symptoms of the disease. True, the pa¬ 
tients are in loose boxes, and dressed by different persons from 
the healthy horses. Again, in an establishment of nearly 200 
horses, only three or four cases have occurred, while in some sta¬ 
bles of two or three horses, all have become affected. That the 
disease can be carried to a distance and become epizootic I do not 
believe. Thus, for instance, I do not believe that a horse suf¬ 
fering from variola taken to, say .Boston or Hew York, would in¬ 
troduce the disease to these cities as an epizootic, unless the cli¬ 
matic and atmospheric conditions necessary for its existence and 
spreading existed there, which is very improbable; consequently 
no apprehension need be felt on account of it. At most it is 
merely a temporary inconvenience, necessitating in the majority 
of cases cessation from work for about three weeks, and, if allowed 
to run its regular course, unattended by any injurious results. 
Injudicious doctoring, or keeping the animal at work, may pro¬ 
duce sores of the heels affecting the deep tissues, which are some¬ 
times difficult to heal. 
I may further add that whatever the cause has been, it seems 
to have exhausted itself, as the disease is rapidly disappearing. 
Very few new cases are occurring, and most of those laboring un¬ 
der it are returning to work. 
D. McEachran, E.R.C.V.S. 
Inspector of stock for the Dominion Government. 
