blood-tinged serum from the nostrils is observed as a result of this very thin blood oozing from the mucous membranes. Petechiæ, or small hemorrhagic points, are sometimes noticed on the nictitating membrane and conjunctiva of the eye, while paleness of the visible mucous membranes of the nose and mouth is usually in evidence, although they may have a yellow or mahogany tinge. Often a fluctuating, pendulous swelling may appear on the lower lip, point of elbow, sheath, legs, under the belly, or on some other pendent portion, especially late in the disease, which is indicative of poor circulation, thinning of the blood, and consequent loss of capillary action.

After death the carcass is found to be very emaciated and anemic, the visible mucosa being very pale. The marked absence of adipose tissue makes the skinning of the animal a difficult task. Subcutaneous and intermuscular edema and hemorrhages are frequently observed, although it is remarkable in many cases how few macroscopic lesions may be present. The predominating and most constant lesion is probably the petechiæ so often observed in the muscle or on the

serous membranes of the heart. The heart is generally enlarged and may be the only organ to show evidence of disease. In other cases the lungs may be studded with petechiæ, with a serous exudate present in the thoracic cavity. In addition to the petechiae already noted, the pericardial sac generally contains an increased amount of fluid. The abdominal cavity may show peritonitis and a hemorrhagic condition of the intestines, which probably result from overfeeding in consequence of the ravenous appetite. The liver sometimes presents. a few areas of degeneration, although generally normal. The spleen is at times found to be enlarged and covered with petechiæ. The kidneys may appear normal or anemic and flaccid, but microscopically they usually show a chronic parenchymatous degeneration. Lymph glands may be enlarged and hemorrhagic.

DIAGNOSIS.

The diagnosis of the disease is not difficult, especially in advanced stages. The insidious onset, remittent fever, progressive emaciation and anemia, unimpaired or ravenous appetite, staggering gait, and polyuria are a train of symptoms which make the disease sufficiently characteristic to differentiate it from other diseases affecting horses in this country. The peculiar relapsing type of fever, the great reduction in the number of red blood cells, and the absence of eosinophilia are sufficient to differentiate it from the anemias produced by internal parasites, while it may be readily distinguished from surra by the nonsusceptibility of cattle and the great ease with which the trypanosoma may be found in the latter affection.

PROGNOSIS.

The prognosis of the disease is very unfavorable. Veterinarians in different sections of the country where the disease is prevalent report a mortality of 75 per cent, or even higher. Recovery takes place only when treatment is begun early or when the animal has a long convalescent period.

TREATMENT.

The treatment of the disease has so far been far from satisfactory. The iodid, permanganate, and carbonate of potash have been used. Arsenic, atoxyl, quinin, and silver preparations have been suggested, but all have uniformly been without success. Intestinal antiseptics have been resorted to, and the results are encouraging, but not altogether satisfactory. Symptomatic treatment seems to be the most dependable. For instance, Davison, of this Bureau, was able to reduce greatly the mortality from this affection by giving an antipyretic of 40 grains of quinin, 2 drams of acetanilid, and 30

grains of powdered nux vomica four times daily. In the late stages, with weak heart action, alcohol should be substituted for acetanilid. Cold-water sponge baths may be given, and in addition frequent copious injections of cold water per rectum, which has a beneficial effect in reducing the temperature and in stimulating peristalsis of the bowels, which, as a result of the disease, show a tendency to become torpid during the fever. The administration of purgatives should be avoided unless absolutely necessary, on account of their debilitating effect, but instead laxative, easily digestible feeds should be given. Not infrequently a dirty-yellowish tinge of the visible mucous membranes has been observed, in which cases 20 grains of calomel in from 2 to 4 drams of aloes in a ball, or 2-dram doses of fluid extract of podophyllin may be given. Following the subsidence of the fever a tonic should be administered, composed of the following drugs in combination:

Arsenious acid

Powdered nux vomica__

Powdered cinchona bark

Powdered gentian root

grams__ 2

__do____ 28

__do____ 85

_do___ 110

These should be well mixed and half a tablespoonful given at each feed to the affected animal.

As in the case of all other infectious diseases, the healthy should be separated from the sick horses, and thorough disinfection of the infected stable, stalls, litter, and stable utensils should be carried out in order to prevent the recurrence of the disease. As a disinfectant the compound solution of cresol, carbolic acid, or chlorid of lime may be used by mixing 6 ounces of any one of these chemicals with 1 gallon of water. One of the approved coal-tar sheep dips might also be used to advantage in a 5 per cent solution (6 ounces of dip to 1 gallon of water). The disinfectant solution should be applied liberally to all parts of the stable, and sufficient lime may be added to the carbolic-acid solution to make the disinfected area conspicuous.

Investigations are now in progress with a view of producing a vaccine or serum that will protect horses which have been exposed to the disease.

MYCOTIC LYMPHANGITIS.

This disease has been known as epizootic lymphangitis, otherwise pseudo-farcy, or Japanese farcy; it is a chronic contagious disease, particularly of equines, caused by a specific organism, the Saccharomyces farciminosus, and characterized by a suppurative inflammation of the subcutaneous lymph vessels and the neighboring lymph glands. Owing to the fact that this affection does not spread as an epizootic and that its causal factor is a yeastlike fungus, the name mycotic instead of epizootic lymphangitis is suggested. This disease was first

described by Italian and French veterinarians, and the specific organism was discovered by Rivolta in 1873. The presence of the disease in the United States was first observed by Pearson in Pennsylvania in 1907, although it is probable that it has existed in various parts of this country for many years. More recently its presence was definitely established in Ohio, Iowa, California, and North Dakota, and there is a probability of its existence in Indiana and several Western States. The disease is also present in the Philippine Islands, Hawaiian Islands, and Porto Rico.

BACTERIOLOGY.

The Saccharomyces farciminosus forms slightly ovoid bodies 3 to 5 microns long and 2.4 to 3.6 microns broad, which are somewhat pointed toward the poles and have a sharp double contour. They have more or less of a homogeneous content and grow by budding. This characteristic can be especially well observed in old growths on culture media. Their staining with the ordinary stains is quite unsatisfactory; they may, however, be readily recognized in fresh smear preparations or in the hanging drop of a small quantity of the suspected pus, where the above-described bodies can be distinctly noticed. A satisfactory method of staining the organism is the Claudius method, which is as follows:

1. Stain with 1 per cent aqueous solution of methyl violet for two minutes.

3. Place in a half saturated solution of pieric acid for one to two minutes.

4. Decolorize with chloroform or clove oil.

5. Treat with xylol.

6. Mount in Canada balsam.

The organisms grow very slowly in the various culture media. It requires about ten days before vegetation is noticed on agar in the form of grayish-white granules, which gradually grow to larger colonies, appearing considerably elevated and having a wrinkled surface. They also grow in bouillon, in which a white flaky deposit makes its appearance after fifteen or eighteen days. In taking cultures it is advisable to open a fluctuating abscess, over which the skin should be shaved and well cleaned with bichlorid solution and alcohol. The abscess should be opened with a sterilized scalpel, and culture media may then be inoculated in the usual way. In case of a mixed infection, the organism may be isolated by plating.

The period of incubation varies greatly, extending from three weeks to four months, or even longer. In artificial inoculations. with pus through wounds in the skin, inflammation and swelling of the lymph vessels may be noticed in twenty to sixty days, and these vessels show in their course a development of hard nodules, from which abscesses form.

The natural infection is without doubt caused through superficial wounds, such as galls, barbed-wire cuts, or through various stable utensils, harness, bandages, insects, etc. Solipeds are mostly susceptible, but cattle may also be infected.

SYMPTOMS.

The inflammation of the lymph vessels is usually first observed on the extremities, especially on one or both hind legs (fig. 24); it may also appear on the fore legs, shoulder, or neck (figs. 25 and 26), and more rarely on the rump, udder, and scrotum. The lesions as a rule develop in the tissue adjacent to the place of inoculation. In the early stages of the disease the lymph vessels appear very hard and thickened, and along their course hard nodules develop, ranging in size from a pea to a hen's egg. Later these nodules soften, burst spontaneously, and discharge a thick yellowish pus. The surface of the resulting ulcers or abscess cavities soon fills up with exuberant granulations which protrude beyond the surface of the skin, giving a fungoid appearance. The affected extremities are considerably enlarged, similar to cases of simple lymphangitis. In rare cases the mucous membrane of the nostrils may also become affected, showing yellowish flat elevations and ulcerations, and these may extend by metastasis to internal organs. (See fig. 27.) In cases where the mucous membrane is affected the submaxillary lymph gland may also become enlarged and suppurate.

The constitutional symptoms accompanying this disease are not very marked or may be altogether absent. There is usually only a very slight fever, which seldom runs over 102° F. The appetite is not impaired except in the advanced cases.

LESIONS.

The anatomical changes are most marked in the skin and the subcutaneous tissues. They may become 2 to 3 inches thick and