490 
REMOUNT HORSES IN INDIA. 
Bilious fever is a prevalent complaint in India among all horses; if 
not taken in time it pulls them down terribly, and must be guarded 
against by diet and healthy exercise and, in the case of young and 
immature horses, by keeping them out of the sun. When convales¬ 
cent, chiretta tea is an excellent tonic. Chiretta is obtainable in 
every bazaar at a very small price, and an infusion easily made there¬ 
from. Horses are most liable to this disease between the months of 
July and October, it being then the rainy season, and the atmosphere 
very sultry and oppressive. Many Australian horses, especially the 
darker colored ones, suffer also at this period of the year from an irri¬ 
tation of the skin akin to prickly heat, they break out in spots and 
become very itchy, especially about the tails and manes; some horses 
become thereby terribly disfigured. Almost every treatment has been 
tried for this disease by professional men and Officers Commanding 
regiments and batteries, but I do not think any have been entirely suc¬ 
cessful ; people vary much in their ideas of its origin and of the best 
treatment fcr it. 
It certainly affects horses worse in a damp climate than in a dry one. 
Personally, I am of opinion that it is a complaint easier to prevent than 
to cure; I have also noticed that the batteries that do the most work 
during the hot season suffer in a less extent from skin disease than 
those that do but little. 
I recommend that such horses as are liable to this disease and have 
had it before (it generally recurs) be fed very sparingly on gram 
during the hot and rainy months (the bad cases I would feed entirely 
on bran and chaff) ; also that no lucerne grass be given them at that 
time of year, although other laxatives and green food such as carrots, 
guinea grass and Indian corn, being less heating, do no harm. 
When a horse shows any symptoms of itchiness or spots, I should re¬ 
commend its being well sweated, then groomed and washed down with a 
weak solution of phenyle, it would be well also to administer 4 ozs. of 
Epsom salts daily in its evening mash for three or four days. To horses 
that are known to be liable to this disease, I always give 4 ozs. of linseed 
oil twice a day for 10 days in each month during the trying season of 
the year; the latter treatment I find to be most beneficial. 
Horses that rub their manes and tails badly must be tied up so that 
they cannot lie down or rub themselves against the posts and walls of 
the stable. Prussic acid, 1J drs. ; solution of potash, 8 ozs.; water, 
12 ozs., will be found a good dressing for the irritated parts. I strongly 
deprecate the use of any greasy dressing myself, although there arc 
many other excellent applications no doubt. 
When the irritation has subsided, which in most cases it will do of 
itself when the cold weather commences, a little cocoa-nut oil rubbed 
on the bare places will encourage the growth of the hair wonderfully. 
Stable Management. 
The stable management here in India being so different to that at 
home, and requiring a much more minute supervision and constant 
care, it may be advisable to say a few words on the subject, as those 
who have no experience of Indian ways find themselves rather handi¬ 
capped at first. 
