NOTES ON VARIOLA EQUINA. 
13 
hollow of the pastern. A few discrete vesicles surrounded it but no 
nodules were felt on the leg. 
On the front legs no eruption could be seen except in the 
hollow of the pastern, where two or three of the nodules were felt. 
The rest of the body was free from vesicles, but the skin was 
tender to the touch and the hair not so smooth as in health. 
From these symptoms variola equina was diagnosed and the 
following treatment prescribed : A purgative ball to relieve the 
bowels, and an ointment composed of carbolic oil and tr. benzoin 
equal parts, to be applied every morning to the sores. 
This treatment was followed until the 9th, when the scab 
began to form on the heels. Pulse, 34; respiration, 9. Two 
ounces of fever mixture in one pint of water were administered, 
the dressing continued as before. 
The fever mixture were repeated the next day and then dis¬ 
continued, as there was no symptoms of fever or constitutional 
derangement. During the next four days the dressing was con¬ 
tinued and the desiccation of the exudation and formation of 
scabs gradually extended until the 13th, when the horse was so 
much better that the owner removed him from the hospital. I 
have not seen the case since, but learn that he is now well enough 
to take a little exercise daily and will soon return to work. 
^ ^ ^ ^ 
This case has been selected, not for any particular interest it 
may have, but because it is an ordinary case of variola equina, 
and may be taken as a fair type of the disease in the present out¬ 
break in Montreal. The eruption is generally confined to the 
hollow of the pasterns of the hind legs, and vesicles are not usual¬ 
ly seen on other parts of the body ; but in some cases, however, 
the eruption is general, and nodules can be felt all over the body, 
being particulary noticeable on parts thinly covered with hair— 
the lips, perineum and sheath. The vesicles in these cases may 
also be seen on the buccal membrane of the mouth ; and inside 
the lower lip, where the skin contains no pigment, is the best 
place for studying the peculiar characteristics of the eruption. 
I have not seen any of the pustules on the Schneiderian mem¬ 
brane, although Fleming says that they are frequently present 
