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STABLE MANAGEMENT AND THE
PREVENTION OF DISHASE

AMONG

HORSES IN INDIA.

BY

J. J. MEYRICK, F.RGCYV.S.,

ARMY VETERINARY INSPECTOR,
FORMERLY ASSISTANT-SUPERINTENDENT OF HORSE-BREEDING FOR

THE PUNJAB.

 

LONDON :
BAILLIERE, TINDALL, AND COX,
20, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.

1882.
[All Rights Reserved.]

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A. FE 5G

177! & 30

  
      

fi ‘CORNELL
UNIY EROITY,
. LIBRARY

  

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PREFACE.

THE following pages contain the substance of four lectures
delivered during the present year at the Army Veterinary
School in Aldershot, and are printed at special request.
They were composed for the use of veterinary surgeons and
other officers, who, although well acquainted with the manage-
ment of horses in the British Islands, must necessarily be at.
a disadvantage when first placed in charge of them in a.
different country, where the food, methods of sheltering, and
climate are very different from those at home.

Considerable numbers of horses in India are annually lost
or rendered inefficient through causes which might be avoided;
and the author, having served in that country twelve years,
admits that, for some time after arriving there, his own want.
of local knowledge prevented him from adopting many pre-
cautions which subsequent experience showed to be advisable:

for preserving horses in the fullest health and vigour.

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iv Preface.

The Indian names, excepting those of places, are spelt

according to the Hunterian system, in which

a is pronounced like w in but

a » 7 » ain far
Cy ” » @ in fate
ts $5 »  ¢€in the
0» ” 5 Oin mote
UW sy 53 3, 00 in boot
at 5, - » eb in height
CO 55 ” » OU in house
th ,, i »  # with a slight aspirate after it.

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STABLE MANAGEMENT

AND THE

PREVENTION OF DISEASE

AMONG

HORSES IN INDIA.

 

BEFoRE entering upon the subject of stable management in
India, I will first make a few remarks about the best measures
to be adopted for keeping horses in health where they are
without any shelter whatever, and then go into details as to
the construction of stables.

UNSTABLED HORSES.

The horses of the Bengal cavalry are usually, if not
always, picketed in the open air, and, as some people con-
tend, without any injurious effects. It is true that the
exposure does not appear to cause actual disease in
ordinary seasons, especially among Country-bred horses ; but
when the weather is very hot, Australians and Stud-breds
suffer greatly, and fall off in condition. There is no doubt
but that the Country-bred also is weakened considerably, for
the Stud-bred is almost equal to him in power of enduring
heat. I was stationed at Jhansie in 1878, when the hot
season was unusually severe and protracted. The Artillery
horses, consisting of Australians and Stud-breds, were in

1

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2 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

open lines, and were greatly distressed by the heat. One fell
dead from pulmonary apoplexy. Nearly all of them became
very thin, and the lives of several of the weakest were only
saved by their being placed in the shoeing shed and under the
verandas of the workshops and storehouses. After being thus
sheltered for several days, there was always a marked im-
provement in them, and when they had partially recovered
they were removed to make room for others. This system was
continued until the end of the hot season; but many months
elapsed before the horses entirely recovered their strength and
condition. I may mention that for some time before the rains
commenced in that year, the temperature used to be 118°
Fahrenheit in the shade every day late in the afternoon.

PROTECTION TO THE SPINE.

During exposure to a tropical sun, protection to the spine
of both horse and man is of greatimportance. Among horses
the best practicable method of affording this protection is to
fold the blankets so as to make eight thicknesses of cloth
and strap them in such a way as to cover the back from the
shoulders to the hips.

Protection to the head also would be useful, and the
horses of many private individuals in Calcutta and Bombay
have sunshades fixed to the bridles when at work in harness.

PROTECTION FROM WIND AND RAIN.

Unstabled horses are liable to be chilled by either cold winds
or by the torrents of rain that fall during the monsoon, and
should always be protected by two blankets when it is
actually raining. If these are of good material, the under
blanket will be found almost dry, owing to the warmth of
the skin causing the rapid evaporation of any water that
trickles through the upper one.

During what are called breaks in the rains, which last
from a few hours to a few days, although the temperature of
the air in the shade is less than before the commencement of
the monsoon, the rays of the sun feel hotter than ever, there

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Among Horses in India. 3

being nothing to impede their passage, owing to the air
having been washed clear of all the particles of dust which
floated in it during the dry season, and also owing to the
condensation into rain of the watery vapour which had been
suspended in it. The horses’ backs then require to be as

carefully protected as before, by placing folded blankets
along their spines.

FiLoors oF UNCOVERED LINES.

The floors of the uncovered lines in which not only Bengal
cavalry, but even horses of European corps are kept, are
frequently very defective. They are, as is proper, raised
above the level of the surrounding ground in order that rain-
water may run off; but they are sometimes formed of porous
earth, into which the urine sinks to a depth of two or three
feet, giving off most noxious effluvia. .

The best material for them would be good concrete; but
as that is too expensive for the native troopers, who have to
buy their own horses and make their own stable lines, at
least in the Bengal Presidency, the only good floor usually
practicable is one formed by digging out the soil to a depth of
at least a foot, and filling in the hollow with clean tenacious
clay, rammed as hard as possible, and added to until the sur-
face is five or six inches higher than the surrounding ground.
Upon this should be smeared a thin mortar-like mixture of
clay and water to fill all the cracks or other interstices.
Such a floor is almost impervious to urine, and during the
greater part of the year it is hard and dry.

KANKAR FLoors.

In those districts where the earth called kankar is found,
the floor can be greatly improved by mixing a quantity of it
with the clay, both being first broken into as fine pieces as
possible before being rammed down. The best plan is to
dry both kinds of earth, and, after powdering, pass them
through coarse sieves. They can then be very intimately
mixed, and if afterwards moistened and rammed, will form a
floor far harder and more durable than one of clay alone.

1—2

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4 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

Before the last layer is rammed, a quantity of the kankar
should be made into a thin mortar and spread over the
surface so as to fill all crevices, as recommended above when
speaking of clay floors. After it is rammed, some more should
be smeared on to make it quite smooth.

COMPOSITION OF KANKAR.

Kankar, as found in the soil, is composed of nodules of
chalk, in which a small quantity of clay is naturally mingled.
The amount of clay may be guessed by the colour. When it
is small, the kankar is almost white. When of this colour it
should be mixed with clay in equal proportions to form the
flooring. After a floor is formed, it should be left untouched
for several weeks—five or six if possible. It will then solidify
and harden, and will last much longer than if horses are
picketed upon it at an earlier date.

SLOPE oF FLOORS,

A certain amount of slope is necessary in order that rain
may run off freely; but three inches from front to rear in a
floor twelve feet wide are quite sufficient. Floors are usually
made with a much greater slope, the consequences of which
are that the horses stand with their back-sinews uncomfort-
ably stretched, and that rain runs off with such rapidity as
gradually to cut deep channels and render the surface un-
even.

The stamping of the horses during the rainy season causes
the ground, particularly under the hind-feet, to be worked
into holes. To remedy this it is the custom to pave such
spots with bricks or stones. Care should be taken to remove
them after the rains have ceased, otherwise urine will collect
underneath and decompose.

GOVERNMENT STABLES.

Government stables in India are built by the Public
Works Department, and usually consist of little else than a
roof supported by iron or masonry pillars. This is all that is
required, or that is even advantageous during a great part of

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Among Horses in India. 5

the year, for except in the depth of the cold season there can-
not be too free a circulation of air.

Roors.

The roof is generally made of tiles, or corrugated iron.
The latter, so far as I have seen, is always single, but ought
certainly to be double, with a space of two feet between the
inner and outer layers. Such an arrangement, especially if the
outside of the upper layer were painted white, would keep
out the heat of the sun much more effectually than a single
roof.

JHAMPS AND CHICKS.

Towards the more northern parts of the Bengal Presidency
the winds are sometimes very cold in the winter-time, and
the horses are much benefited by protection from them such
as can readily be given by what are called jhamps or chicks.
The former are portable screens, formed by fixing long grass
like thatch into a frame of bamboos.

Chicks are made by weaving strong cord round thin pieces
of split bamboo, so as to hold them closely side by side in a
horizontal position, something like the laths in a Venetian
blind. They are much more durable than jhamps, but do
not give so much protection from the winds. Of course the
climate of a station decides which are preferable. Unfor-
tunately in many garrisons, where they would be beneficial,
the stables are not provided with them; but they should be
supplied for all stations from Lucknow northwards, and
would often be useful at night as far to the south-east as
Dinapore.

BLANKETS.

Tn the colder stations great attention should be given to
the quality of the blankets with which the horses are pro-
vided by Government. They are all country made, and are
sufficiently long and broad; but are often so thin that the
daylight can easily be seen through them. A blanket to be
really good ought not to weigh less than six pounds; but in
some districts it is very difficult to procure them of that

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6 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

weight. It would add greatly to the comfort of the horses if
the ends of the blankets were fastened together by some of
the broad native tape called niwar, so as to keep them close
round the breast and hind-quarters when the wind blows.

ROLLERS.

The rollers with which the blankets are kept on require
frequent inspection. The pads are not so well stuffed as those
of English make, and after a time become pressed so flat that

the central portion rests upon the spine, and not unfrequently
makes the back sore.

POSITION OF STABLES,

In building stables sufficient attention is not always paid
to the direction in which their ends lie, a point of great
importance. They should be made with their sides opposed
to the prevailing winds, in order that the air may sweep freely
across them.

When there are two or three lines of stabling they should,
if the ground is large enough, be built in échelon, so that the
emanations from one may not be blown into the other. When
this is impossible they should be as far apart as the space
will allow.

In order that there may be no impediment to the free .
passage of air in every direction, stables should have no
buildings near them ; and, above all, they should be as far as
possible from the regimental bazaar, because it swarms with
flies and affords too much facility for the abstraction of the
horses’ food.

FLOORS OF COVERED STABLES.

The flooring of the Government stables is sometimes very
defective, being in certain stations composed of porous earth,
into which urine easily soaks. I have even known it made
of mud taken from the bottom of a dry tank, and full of
decaying animal and vegetable matter.

Floors of solid concrete, or of firebrick set in Roman cement,

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Among Horses in India. iT

so as to be perfectly waterproof, would no doubt be preferable
to any others; but unfortunately such floors are too expensive
for India.

The best of those made by the Public Works Department
are constructed with a mixture of clay, kankar, and sand.
These materials are finely divided, and made into a kind of
stiff mortar before being laid down. They form a solid,
hard mass, at first almost impervious to urine; but are
usually not more than four or five inches thick, and without
a proper foundation. The consequence is that they soon
wear into holes, and are broken through by the trampling
of the horses, so that urine escapes into the porous soil
underneath.

If such floors were laid upon a bed of clay rammed into a
solid mass, the upper layer of clay being mixed with the
kankar and sand before being rammed, and if the layers (a
foot thick altogether) were beaten into as compact a mass as
possible, and then made smooth on the surface by smearing
over it a thin mixture of the kankar, clay, and water, they
would be very durable.

They should be left for fully six weeks before placing
horses upon them, in order that they may become thoroughly
dry and hard. The reason why it is advisable to mix sand
with the kankar and clay is that in process of time it forms
with them a substance far harder than kankar and clay
alone.

I did not recommend it to be used in the flooring of un-
sheltered horse lines for two reasons:

1, During the rains a great deal of the surface is made
into mud by the trampling of the horses, and the sand in
such mud would be very irritating to the skin of the horses’
heels and coronets.

2. During breaks in the rains the flies are such a torment
that horses are perpetually stamping, and as those of native
cavalry are unshod behind, their hoofs, being softened by the
wet, would be worn away upon a surface rendered gritty by
sand.

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8 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

FLoors or CLay ALONE.

When kankar is not obtainable, a floor of clay alone, made
as described in the remarks upon unsheltered lines, is very
good. The flooring was of this kind at the Government
stallion depédts in the Punjab, containing as many as 150
horses and 40 donkeys. During the three years that I was
in charge of them, there was not a single case of disease which
could be ascribed in any way to the effect of impure emana-
tions from the ground.

When sheltered from rain such floors ought to be made
perfectly level, for any slope is to some extent uncomfortable
to the horses; and unless the fall is considerable, the urine
does not readily run off, but partly dries and partly sinks a
little into the clay.

KEEPING Chay FLooRS CLEAN.

The best plan for keeping clay floors sweet and clean, is to
have a small heap of finely-powdered dry clay always ready
behind every two horses. Some of this should be sprinkled
over any spots wet with urine, which is thus absorbed, and
can be carried away to the manure-heap. All the places
stained by urine during the night should be scraped clean
with a small kind of iron spud called a kurpa, which is in
general use among grass-cutters.

The slight hollows formed by the scraping should be at
once filled in with the powdered clay, which should be patted
down smooth and hard with a heavy flat-sided piece of wood,
similar to that used by native masons for smoothing the
floors of dwelling-houses.

The stains from urine on concrete floors should be sprinkled
with dry clay and brushed clean, not scraped with a kurpa,
as that would soon form holes which could not be instantly
repaired, as they can in clay-floors,

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Among Horses in India. 9

CHATTIES.

Another plan of great assistance in keeping the floors clean
is that of supplying one of the small earthern vessels, called
chatties, for every two horses.

When a sais, or native groom, sees an animal about to stale,
he takes up a chttie, catches the urine, and carries it away
to the manure-heap. Chatties are so extremely cheap, that
the cost of supplying sufficient for a whole regiment is
trifling.

Captain Hayes, in his excellent book on ‘Horse Management
in India,’ condemns the above practice, on the ground that it
teaches horses to abstain from staling for an injurious time ;
but I never knew one instance of its doing so among the
thousands of horses of which I have been in charge.

All the above-mentioned precautions seem excessive to
one accustomed only to English stable management; but it
should be remembered that far more attention to cleanliness
is required in a hot than in a cold climate. Many stable
floors in England, upon which horses stand all their lives
with impunity, would be very unhealthy in India, on account
of the great heat hurrying decomposition and favouring the pro-
duction of those lower forms of animal or vegetable life by
which many diseases are now known to be produced. The
measures recommended were carried out in the stables of
which I was in veterinary charge during the greater part of my
service in India. They are not so difficult to enforce as
might be imagined, because a native groom, called a sais, is
supplied by Government for every two horses, to assist the
European soldiers in their work. Constant watchfulness,
however, is necessary, otherwise the saises will merely hide
the urine with earth, which they will pat smooth and level
with the rest of the floor, instead of carrying it away. Ina
day or two a strong smell of ammonia can then be perceived,
and on scraping up the spots where the urine has been
covered, the earth will be found black to a depth of one or
two inches. Saises are also in the habit of throwing the urine
which they catch in the chatties upon the open ground just

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10 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

behind where the horses stand, instead of carrying it to the
manure-heap, and if not obliged to keep the floors clean they
will give up taking the trouble of catching the urine at all,
except when Europeans are present,

Fuoors SATURATED WITH URINE.

When such incessant care as is above described is not
taken, the floors in the course of a few months will become
saturated with urine to a greater or less degree according to
the kind of materials used in their construction, and the way
in which they have been laid down.

When much urine has soaked in they ought to be dug up
and carried away to a distance, the space which they occupied
being filled with entirely new materials. If this precaution
be not taken, low forms of fever, resembling what is often
called blood-poisoning, will be very likely to appear among
the horses.

It seems almost unnecessary to speak of the necessity of
carrying away the earth of which the old floor was formed ;
but I have, on repeated occasions, seen it merely dug up and
rammed down again after some fresh earth had been spread
over the top.

ManvurRE HEAPS.

The dung should be formed into a small heap about fifty
yards from the stables. If at a greater distance, too much
time will be required in going to and from it. It should be
carted away daily, and if collected into a large manure-heap,
this should be at least several hundred yards from the horse
lines.

FLIES.

When nearer, the swarms of flies bred in it add greatly
to the torment endured by the horses. In England people
have no idea of what this torment really is like, especially at
the latter end of the rainy season. The best way to mitigate
it is to keep small heaps of litter, at short intervals, burning
all day, in such positions that the smoke may be blown
amongst the horses.

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Among Horses in India, 11

PICKETING oUT at Nicut.

A few yards in rear of the covered lines there should be
standing room, where the horses may be picketed every
night during the hot weather.

At that season the wind usually falls to a dead calm after
sunset, and the heat is most stifling even under a shed with
open sides, compared with what it is in a completely open
place.

The mangers and pillars of the stables confine the air, and
also absorb heat which they give out during the night; and
the horses are in every way far more comfortable outside the
roofed stables than inside, except when it is raining.

The ground upon which they are picketed should be
covered with clay and kankar, rammed hard like that inside
the stables ; but instead of being level it should have a slope
of about three inches from front to rear, in order that rain-
water may run off it freely.

MANGERS.

Mangers are almost everywhere constructed of mud pillars
with basin-shaped earthen vessels sunk in them, the edges
being level with the top of the mud.

These vessels are frequently small and with round bottoms,
in consequence of which the horses that are greedy feeders
are enabled to swallow their food too rapidly. The vessels
should be not less than a foot in diameter, and with bottoms
almost flat. The grain can then be spread out in a thin
layer, and the horses are compelled to eat it slowly.

Mangers of this kind have two great advantages—they are
easily kept clean, and are very cheap, so that when a horse
has any disease in the slightest degree resembling one of an
infectious nature, there need be no hesitation in breaking the
earthen vessel and pulling down the mud pillar.

PRIVATE STABLES.

I will here say a few words respecting private stables, as
officers rarely keep their chargers with the regimental horses,

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12 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

except occasionally in stations near foreign territory where
horse-thieves are plentiful.

In private stables there is usually far less attention paid
to sanitation than in those belonging to Government ; but the
neglect does not produce so much disease as might be expected,
because only a few horses are kept in them. It is well-
known that when large numbers of either men or the lower
animals are collected together on a small extent of ground,
both the liability to and the virulence of disease are greatly
increased.

For instance, people who breed one or two colts for amuse-
ment are seldom much troubled with strangles. The animals
either escape it altogether, or usually have it in a mild form
like that seen on farms in England. But in the late Bengal
studs, where hundreds of colts and fillies were collected in
stables, strangles used to be of an exceedingly severe type.
A veterinary surgeon, who had been in the studs for many
years, told me that he considered himself fortunate when the
loss amounted to only ten per cent. annually.

Private stables are usually built with thick mud walls, and
are roofed with tiles or a thatch of coarse grass. The latter
is in some respects better than tiles or corrugated iron,
being cooler in summer and warmer in winter; but it has the
disadvantages of being liable to catch fire, and of harbouring
snakes, scorpions, and other vermin.

The chief danger of fire arises from the saises and grass-
cutters being in the habit of making their cooking-places
against the stable walls.

Considering how frequently this is allowed by the owners
of horses, it is surprising that fires are not more numerous.

The stables are usually walled in onall the four sides. This
plan is preferred by many people, because it makes the interior
warm in winter, and also renders it dark, and therefore less
attractive to flies than it otherwise would be.

There is little objection to the plan provided the interior
be wide, lofty and well ventilated, and the horses few in
number; but, on the whole, such stables are, I think, less
healthy than those which have walls on only three sides, and

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Among Horses in India. 13

are open at the rear like sheds, because the air in them is
less pure. The darkness assists in concealing dirty floors,
and the horses lose the beneficial effect which sunlight has
upon all except nocturnal animals.

When only three sides of a stable are walled, the open end
should be provided with chicks. These, while allowing a
free circulation of air, assist in keeping away flies, prevent
too great a glare of light, and afford shelter from cold
winds,

Loosz Boxes.

All horses in private stables should be allowed loose boxes
whenever the space will admit of it. The gentle exercise
which they take when walking around helps greatly to keep
their feet and legs healthy.

The divisions between the boxes are readily made with
mud walls about a foot thick. They should be built suffi-
ciently high to prevent horses reaching over and biting each
other, but should not be made higher, otherwise the ventila-
tion of the stable will be interfered with.

The rear of each box is usually closed by strong wooden
bars, about two feet apart, placed horizontally. Their ends
rest in holes made either in the mud walls or in upright
posts.

The saises and grass-cutters dislike boxes because they
require an extra amount of bedding, and are less convenient
for themselves to sleep in than a long open stable where
every horse is tied. You should always endeavour to pro-
vide a sufficient number of houses for all your servants and
their families. If, as is frequently the case, the accommoda-
tion is small, the attendants upon the horses are sure to be
persuaded by the other servants to sleep in the stables. In
order to avoid being trampled upon they will put heel-ropes
on the horses, and make both these and the head-collar ropes
so short that the comfort of the animals will be much inter-
fered with.

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14 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

GHARAS UNDER FLOORS.

A most detestable practice carried on by saises in some
private stables is that of burying a large earthen vessel called
a ghara in the floor under the place where each horse stands.
This was formerly done in certain native cavalry stables, and
I heard of at least one instance where the vessels were found
in the lines of a British cavalry regiment. The object of so
burying them is to form receptacles for the urine, and they are
left undisturbed and uncleansed for months, or even years.
‘When dug up they are invariably found full of putrid urine,
the soil all round being saturated with it to a depth of two
or three feet.

GROUND VENTILATION.

Ground ventilation is rarely properly provided for, although
it is of great importance in all stables with walls. Its
advantages are that it ensures a supply of pure air for the
horse to breathe when lying down, and that it causes vapours
or gases rising from the urine and dung to be at once carried
off, One or more holes, about a foot square, should be made
in the corners of the wall opposite the doorway, and a few
inches above the level of the ground outside, so that rain-
water may not enter through them. Each hole should be
guarded by a wooden frame containing iron bars, or a plate
of zinc perforated with holes about half an inch in diameter,
so as to keep out jackals, dogs, and other animals. In very
cold weather it is easy to protect the horses from draughts
by placing some loose bedding against the hole, and thus
breaking the force of the wind.

To Prevent ROBBERY OF GRAIN.

As some saises are in the habit of stealing the grain, many
people have their horses brought to the veranda of the
bungalow at each meal-time to be fed before them. It is,
however, quite as good a plan to allow the horse sufficient
food, and let the sais know that he will be discharged if the
animal fall into bad condition. This system generally has

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Among Horses in India. 15

the desired effect, and is far better than the custom adopted
by some of abusing, beating, or fining the man. It is true
that numbers of the servants engaged by Englishmen on
their first arrival in India are great scoundrels ; but when a
sais is paid regularly and is treated with justice and kind-
ness, the greatest punishment that can be inflicted is to
discharge him, and in the majority of cases he will treat the
horse well in order to avoid such a misfortune. I have
known an excellent sais made into a bad one by beating,
but I never knew a bad one made good by it.

The custom of beating or abusing is disadvantageous in
another way. It prevents respectable men offering themselves
as servants, for the character of every officer is known in all
the bazaars of a station shortly after his arrival.

Where several horses are kept, it often is a good plan to
make the oldest sais, if he knows his work well, responsible
for the feeding and grooming of all the animals, giving him
about two rupees monthly more than the others. Make him
also responsible that you be at once informed when any
horse has a thrush, a sore back, or other ailment. Many of
the natives are either too careless to mention such things,
or are afraid to do so lest they should be blamed. They
will consequently leave a thrush undressed, until the frog
is full of maggots; or will cover over a sore on the back with
cowdung or leaves beaten into a pulp, and place the saddle
over it day after day until a large raw hollow has formed in
the skin.

In many private stables it is usual to leave the bedding
under the horses all day. A considerable portion of it is
then almost constantly saturated with urine, which often
causes thrushes in the horses’ feet, and the floor is never
perfectly dry. The litter should be cleaned out at morning
stable-hour, and left all day to be purified by the sun and
air.

MASALIH.

It is a universal custom amongst natives to give horses
daily a mixture of spices, nitrate of potash, and salt, called by

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16 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

them masalih. In the small quantities given it probably
does no harm, but it is certainly unnecessary. All that
horses really require is salt, and measures should be taken to
ensure this being given regularly.

Heet Ropes.

Horses in India are usually fastened with heel-ropes in
addition to the head collar-rope. The latter does not slide
through a ring as in English stables, but is fastened to a peg
driven into the ground close to the manger. The practice of
using heel-ropes was adopted from the natives, and doubtless
originated in consequence of nearly all horses being entire.
Until about twenty years ago all the Government horses,
except a few that were very vicious, were uncastrated, and it
was generally believed that they were capable of more
endurance than geldings; but they were much more difficult
to manage, especially when on a march. Sometimes in the
night one horse would break loose and attack his neighbours,
who in self-defence would use their utmost endeavours, and
often successfully, to break loose also. Many were thus often
injured by bites and kicks, and the rest of the whole camp
was disturbed. When crossing rivers in ferry-boats, although
each horse’s head was held by a man, a free fight often
ensued, when some of the horses were kicked into the water
and were carried a long distance down stream before they
were recovered.

In consequence of these and other inconveniences, a
cavalry regiment mounted on geldings was tried against one
mounted on entire horses in the Madras Presidency, both
being sent upon a march of six hundred miles. Although
many of the geldings had only been castrated a few weeks
before the march commenced, they were found at the end of
it to be in quite as good condition as the stallions. After this
trial the custom of castration became almost universal, at
least in the European regiments.

It is, however, unnecessary with a large majority of the
Arabs which are ridden as chargers. When not in close

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Among Horses in India. 17

ranks they are usually very gentle and good-natured, and, as
a rule, the higher the caste the more quiet an Arab is.

Heel-ropes certainly prevent many kicks; but they are
used to an unnecessary extent, being in some regiments and
batteries placed upon all the horses, even on those which are
never known to kick.

When any horses have their places in the lines changed, it
is well to secure their hind-legs for a few days, until they
and their neighbours become accustomed to each other; but
if they appear to be perfectly friendly, the ropes may be dis-
continued with little risk, and with a great increase of
comfort for the animals.

With regard to those horses upon which the heel-ropes are
kept permanently, constant watchfulness is required, in order
that they may stand and lie down with ease. Many saises
take an extraordinary delight in making both: head and heel
ropes so short that the horses can scarcely move a foot to the
right or left, and they will sometimes shorten the ropes con-
trary to orders after the Europeans have left the stables.
Horses may be seen with their heads tied down below the
natural height, and with their hind-legs stretched far back-
wards. Without doubt very short heel-ropes are one cause
of ring-bones, and of sprains in the hocks and loins.

Both head and heel ropes are fastened to strong pegs
driven ten or twelve inches into the ground.

PICKETING WITHOUT PEGs.

I will here describe a method of fastening which it may be
useful to know if you ever happen to be without picketing-
pegs. I was shown it by some natives, and found that the
plan answered perfectly with six hundred horses of which
I was in charge, with only one European assistant, during a
seven weeks’ march.

With the small spud, called kurpa, used by grass-cutters,
make a hole about three inches in diameter, and eight to
twelve inches deep, according to the hardness, or otherwise, of
the ground. Tie a knot at the end of the rope, and drop this
to the bottom of the hole, then fill in with earth, ramming it

2

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18 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

firmly. The most powerful man cannot draw this out of the
hole perpendicularly, and with a proper length of head-collar
rope a horse has no chance whatever, because he must
necessarily pull in an oblique direction. The saises in charge
of quiet horses usually regulate the depth of the hole and the
amount of ramming, so that they can draw up the rope with
one long, steady pull. This system would of course fail in
loose, sandy soil, but never does so upon land of ordinary
firmness.

Evye-FRINGES.

Horses are universally provided with eye-fringes in order
to protect the eyes from flies and mosquitoes. Great care
should be taken that they are in good repair, and always kept
on, except during the cold season of the year. ‘There are two
kinds of fringes in use—one made by splitting a thin piece of
leather into the shape of a comb. The other by plaiting
string into the same shape. They are fixed on to the fore-
head-band of the head-collar.

GROOMING.

It is unnecessary to go into details about grooming, which
is carried on in essentially the same way asin England. It
should be remembered that the horses are, ou the average, far
better bred than those used at home, and that therefore it is
still more necessary than in this country to prohibit the
application of the curry-comb to the skin. The hind-
quarters of horses may sometimes be seen covered with
patches of white hairs, owing to the follicles having been
injured by the teeth of the curry-comb while the animals
were changing their coats.

WASHING.

Another point of very great importance is to prevent the
saises washing the horses all over. If not watched they will
frequently do this to save themselves the trouble of groom-
ing; and as they rarely more than half-dry the coat, acommon
result is the production of itchy skin or a catarrh, The head-

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man of the saises, called Jemmadar, should always be held
responsible that horses are not washed in the absence of
Europeans. Even when the hair is well dried it becomes
harsh, and does not look so glossy as when cleaned by groom-
ing. If prevented from washing the whole skin, saises will
still frequently wash the mane and tail, when the hairs
become full of scurf through not having been parted and
brushed daily.

CLIPPING AND SINGEING,

Many horses in India have thick coats in the cold season,
and suffer from them when at work in the same manner as at
home. Clipping is then very beneficial, provided that they
are warmly clothed with two rugs each, and are well sheltered
from the cold winds while standing in their stables.

When out in camp in the northern parts of India, where
there is frequently a sharp frost at night, singeing is better
than clipping, because the hair can be left by the former
method long enough to keep the animals warm, while
shortened sufficiently to prevent their sweating too much
while at work.

DRINKING WATER.

The drinking-water with which the horses are supplied re-
quires continual attention. It is sometimes obtained from
tanks dug near the stables, but usually from wells. The
tanks are occasionally so situated as to receive the drainage
of the ground around the bazaar, and are thus necessarily
very impure.

In any case they are objectionable sources of water supply,
for great numbers of natives wash their clothes, and bathe in
them daily ; and the water, being stagnant, swarms with the
lower forms of animal and vegetable life.

The wells usually contain fairly pure water if properly
looked after, but when neglected they become very filthy.
Every well should be surrounded with a low wall or plat-
form in order that the surface drainage of the neighbouring

ground may not run into it; and it should also be covered
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so as to prevent dust, leaves, and insects from dropping in.
Without this precaution a mass of black putrid mud, some-
times two or three feet deep, will gradually accumulate at
the bottom.

On looking into an uncovered well there will frequently
be seen a quantity of dead beetles and other insects floating
about, as well as live frogs and snakes. The last of course
soon die, and assist in polluting the water.

DRINKING-TROUGH.

The trough from which the horses drink is rarely supplied
with running water as in English troop stables, but is filled
with water drawn from the wells, in large leather bags, by
the help of a pair of bullocks. It should be scrubbed and
washed out daily, otherwise it soon becomes foul from dust
and from the saliva of the horses dropping into it when they
are drinking.

When horses are taken to the trough a European should
be present in order to ensure their being allowed to drink as
much as they require. Some natives think that much water
is injurious, and like to lead away the horses the first time
they raise their heads while drinking.

During the extremely hot weather soldiers are not allowed,
except in individual cases, to leave the barracks between about
nine in the morning and five in the evening. During those
houts the saises alone feed and water the horses. The European
stable-orderly ought to be present when they do so, partly:to
ensure every horse being taken to the drinking-trough before
and not after he is fed, and partly to ensure every horse re-
ceiving his food.

Horses ought to be watered fully half an hour before they
are fed, and in very hot weather should be taken to the
trough four times daily.

Driep GRASS.

In India real hay is rarely to be obtained. In some parts
of the country the grass, when long, is cut just above the

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Among Horses in India. 21

ground with a tool like a small reaping-hook, and dried
thoroughly, then collected into sheds and kept for use. It
is, however, dried too much, instead of being saved and
stacked in such a way as to ensure that slight fermentation
which develops the sugar and the aromatic principles exist-
ing in real hay that make it so attractive to horses.

The rule throughout the country is that the grass, except
during the rains and for a few weeks after they have ceased,
is cut daily as required when only from one to three or four
inches high. The instrument used by the grass-cutters is a
short-handled spud called kurpa, which detaches the grass
along with a portion of the root just under the surface of the
ground.

It might be supposed that grass-land would soon be
destroyed by such a system as this, but when there is a
little moisture in the air, even a light dew, the grass soon
recovers. No doubt the stirring of the earth assists it by
facilitating the absorption from the air of ammonia, carbonic
acid, and oxygen, by which the constituents of the soil are
decomposed and food is formed for the plants. Turf, such as
we have in English pastures, would be greatly injured by a
frequent repetition of such treatment, but in the dry lands
of hot countries there is no turf, the grass growing in tufts at
short distances one from the other.

TREATMENT OF FRESH GRASS.

The grass after being cut should be beaten, so as to shake
off the greater part of the earth and the small stones or
sand which may be adhering to the roots. Grass-cutters are
very fond of leaving as much earth on them as possible in
order to increase the weight. A small quantity of mould
would not be injurious, and might, in some cases of acidity
from indigestion, even be useful; but sand rapidly wears
away the teeth, and stones are likely to chip off portions of
them.

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WETTING GRASS.

Grags-cutters sometimes wash the grass and bring it home
when half dry. It is then of a brighter colour and heavier
than when unwashed. This practice should on no account
be permitted.

Standing grass is not injured by rain or water rising into
it gently ; but when it has been cut, beaten to free it from
earth, then tied in bundles and carried for miles, it is so
bruised that the outer shell and sap-vessels are broken.
Water then washes away a quantity of the sap, and penetrat-
ing into the interior of the stalks and blades causes rapid
decomposition, which can only be stopped by the grass being
spread out thinly and quickly dried. If this precaution be
neglected the decomposition is liable to continue after the
grass is eaten, and cause bad attacks of colic. Even when
not wet, green grass ought always to be opened and spread
out to dry shortly after it is brought home, for if left in
bundles several hours it is liable to at least a slight amount
of injurious fermentation. During the rainy season and
early part of the cold weather there is an additional
reason. The grass is so full of moisture that it has a ten-
dency to bring the horses into soft condition. The best
plan then is to make such an arrangement that the grass-
cutters may come home with their loads by midday at the
latest. The bundles should at once be weighed, and after-
wards examined to find out whether they contain too much
earth, or weeds, or swamp grass. They should then be spread
out and left to dry until the next day before being given to the
horses. In the hot weather from March to the commence-
ment of the rains, the grass, unless grown on moist land,
requires no drying, and may be given shortly after it is cut.

QUANTITY OF GRASS FOR EACH HORSE.

The quantity required by each horse depends partly upon
the breed and other peculiarities of the animal, and of course
partly upon the quality of the grass itself.

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Most Australian horses, from having been reared almost
exclusively upon grass in their own country, require large
quantities of it to keep them in good order. Government
allows them one sir (about two pounds) of grain daily more
than horses of other breeds ; but this is quite unnecessary if
they receive all the grass they require, which should be about
twenty-five sir (about fifty pounds) daily, when of fair
average quality and weighed before it is dried.

Stud-bred horses have been reared upon a more moderate
quantity of grass than Australians. Arabs have not been
accustomed to much in their own country, and are usually
smaller animals than stud-breds. Country-bred horses, as a
tule, thrive upon a moderate amount of food, whether grass
or grain, because they are accustomed to it from the time
they are weaned. The majority of natives habitually under-
feed their horses except during and shortly after the rains,
during and after the harvests, and during the time when the
green wheat is young.

As a rule, therefore, stud-breds, country-breds, and Arabs
will thrive upon about sixteen to twenty sirs of grass daily,
according to their size. The whole of this is not eaten.
Horses reject a considerable quantity of the roots and many
of the coarse stalks and weeds. A certain quantity is also
spoilt by their trampling upon it.

BEDDING.

Bedding is usually made from the dry portion of the
grass which is left uneaten, together with various kinds of
tall, coarse grass cut specially for the purpose. One of the
most common kinds used is a species called kas or kans in
Hindustani, and changa or changi in the Punjab. It is the
Saccharum spontaneum of Linneus, and the Pragmites com-
munis of English botanists. It grows to a great height in
soils where water is close to the surface, and when ripe the
seed-heads are covered with a kind of down like raw cotton.
When green it is so sweet that sugar can be distinctly tasted
in it if chewed, Horses therefore are rather fond of eating it

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in spite of its coarse, indigestible stalk, unless it be first
dried for two or three days in a hot sun.

GRASS FROM SWAMPS.

It should be an invariable rule never to feed horses upon
grass grown in swamps, on account of the numerous lower
forms of animal and vegetable life found in stagnant water.
Horned cattle living on swampy land are particularly liable
to anthrax, and there is no doubt but that the very fatal
disease, called in India Loodiana fever (a form of anthrax), is
often caused by horses either drinking stagnant water or
eating grass grown in it. Worm in the eye also appears to
be produced in the same way.

Maxine Hay.

During the rainy season there are some days in which the
rain falls in such torrents that it is impossible for the grass-
cutters to go out. Asa provision against such occasions, or
against the chance of failure of grass, it is customary in many
batteries and regiments to make the men bring in an extra
daily quantity of grass when it is plentiful. This is dried,
and made into ricks. Of course it is not to be compared
with proper hay. That which is cut at the early part of the
rainy season igs immature, and contains little nourishment ;
that which is collected some weeks after the rains have
ceased is little better than straw, owing to most of the nutri-
tive constituents having been expended in forming the seed,
and the sap remaining in the stalk having turned into woody
fibre. Then again, as the grass, after being dried, is added to
the rick in small quantities daily, it does not, what is called
in England, heat—that is, it does not undergo the slight
fermentative process by which the dextrine of the sap, as in
properly made hay, is converted into sugar, while various

‘ aromatic properties are developed.

Unfortunately at most stations the grass is cut from waste
pieces of ground, or from the lands of the native farmers,
often without their consent, and is consequently procurable

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only in small quantities daily, so that there is no chance of
making real hay from it.

RakuHs.

At a few stations there are large tracts of jungle-land set
apart by Government for the purpose of supplying the troop
horses with grass. They are called rakhs in Bengal.
Whenever a regiment or battery is fortunate enough to be
at such a place, a supply of good hay ought to be made every
year. It is wanted when the grass-cutters are kept at home
by heavy rain, and still more in that part of the hot season
before the rains commence, when the grass remaining on the
land is so burnt by the sun that it contains scarcely any
nourishment, and is particularly liable to cause colic and
other abdominal disease.

In the districts of Bengal south of the Punjab there is
sometimes a difficulty in making first-class hay, owing to the
rainy season being so protracted that it is not over before the
mass of the crop has gone out of bloom. The utmost that
can then be done is to cure it while the stalks are green and
before the seeds are mature. There will even then probably
be some of the late kinds of grass still blooming.

In this way, if advantage be taken of occasional dry days,
hay can be made that is decidedly better, as I have proved
by actual experience, than most of that which is given by
contractors to troop horses in England.

At the latter end of the rainy season there are usually
intervals of fine weather every few days. It is therefore
often a good plan to begin cutting the grass after two or
three successive days of rain before it has stopped, as there
will very likely be sunshine about the fourth or fifth day.

The sun being very hot, the hay is made in far less time
than in England. In the Punjab, when not interrupted by
rain, grass can be cut on one day and stacked on the after-
noon of the next.

If the weather will permit, the time for making hay should
be chosen when the grass which is both most plentiful and
also best for making forage is in bloom.

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If, for instance, the land produces about equal quantities
of spear grass and janowa, as the former is inferior to the
latter and also ripens earlier, it is well to wait until it has
begun to run to seed, by which time the janowa will be in
full bloom.

There may of course be now and then a year, as in England,
when rain will last so long that the grass after being cut will
have a great deal of its sap washed out before it can be
stacked ; but even then it will certainly be no worse than that
which is now made into stacks, as above described, from the
extra quantity daily brought in by the grass-cutters.

OXALIS.

In some parts of India a plant called by the grass-cutters
wild lucerne grows in great quantities, and is brought in by
them as part of the grass ration. At first sight it looks like
a small kind of clover; but, on closer examination, it will be
found to resemble almost exactly the English oxalis, to which
it is, I believe, closely allied. The horses will not eat it if
they have enough grass, and it should not be admitted as
part of the ration. It does not appear to be in any way
mischievous.

DHvs.

The most common grass throughout India, and fortunately
one of the best for forage, is the Cynodon dactylon, called
dhub in the Bengal Presidency, and hariali in Madras. It
flourishes at all altitudes, from a few feet above the sea-level
to 3,000 or 4,000 feet ; but at the last height it is, so far as I
have seen, only found in sheltered valleys.

Where there is a little moisture in the earth it grows and
blossoms at all seasons of the year, except when there is
actual frost at night in the depth of the cold weather.

In dry districts it runs along the surface of the ground,
sending down a bunch of roots like a strawberry at intervals
of afew inches. If on rich soil it grows during the rains in
a luxuriant mass to a height of eight or ten inches, and can
be made into hay. In districts like that of Lower Bengal,

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where there is a moist atmosphere during nearly the whole
year, and where the soil is also rich, the grass often loses its
habit of sending out runners with bunches of roots. It then
grows like ordinary grasses to a height of twelve or eighteen
inches.

SPEAR GRASS,

Spear grass (Heteropogon contortus), called lam in the
Punjab, is also very common in some parts of the country.
The spears are long barbed processes at the end of the seed-
covers. It is good fodder if given before the spears form, and
even afterwards horses will thrive upon it if it is well beaten
so as to shake them off. When this precaution is not taken
a horse is sometimes found unable to eat, and on examining
him, a quantity of spears are found embedded in the mucous
membrane of his mouth, generally under the tongue or in the
roof.

JANOWA.

Digitaria sanguinalis (called janowa in Hindustani, and
poliaong,in the Punjab) is an excellent forage grass, and
makes first-rate hay. It has small processes on its seed-
covers like spears, but they are not sufficiently stiff to be of
any consequence even when ripe.

The grass is exceedingly plentiful in many districts.

The above-named three grasses are about the most uni-
versally diffused in the Bengal Presidency. There are many
other kinds which are good for forage, but they are, I think,
more local, being plentiful in certain districts and not found
at all in others.

MANIARA.

In the Himalayas the finest of all grasses, superior even
to dhub, is a kind called maniara by the natives, and
Pennisetum trifloram by English botanists. It grows to a
height of four or five feet during the rains, when on a soil
formed of vegetable mould and decomposed limestone, which
seems to be peculiarly well adapted to it. It contains an
extraordinary amount of sugar, and has a fine, soft, easily

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digested stalk and blade. As it flourishes where there is a
great deal of frost and snow in the winter, it is very pro-
bable that it may be grown in England; and if so, it ought to
be a valuable addition to English grasses. I obtained some
of the seed last year, and it has been planted for trial in two
or three places.

As a general rule coarse grass is not so good for horses as
the finer kinds, but there are exceptions, and the only certain
way of finding out their qualities is by actual experiment.
There is, for instance, a very coarse kind of grass with
stems as thick as wheat straw and rough-looking flower-
heads, which grows in masses four or five feet high during
the rains in the rocky parts of the plains in Central India.
No one new to the country would think it good food, yet
horses thrive upon it, keeping both healthy and fat. Itisa
good rule for those who have trustworthy and experienced
saises to ask their opinion about grasses of which there is any
doubt. ;

When on the march there is frequently no waste land
from which the grass-cutters will be permitted by the
natives to cut grass. It is then necessary to buy it from
men living near the camping-grounds, who supply it some-
times in a green and sometimes in a dry state.

Bap GRAss SOLD AT CAMPING-GROUNDS.

These natives are in the habit of trying to sell the worst
they possess, often such as has been collected in swamps, or
grass which, being very bad, they have bought at a cheap
rate. They will vehemently assert that no other can be
procured, and if the officer in charge of the horses take the
grass, the same trick will very probably be tried at other
halting-places.

The best way to avoid being imposed upon in this manner
is to take a sufficient quantity of good dry grass for at least
one day’s consumption, carrying it in bullock-carts along
with the troops. Then at any camping-ground, if bad grass
be produced, refuse to buy, and leave the whole of it in the
hands of the dealer. The news of this is sure to travel in

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advance and cause good grass to be supplied, most probably
for the whole remainder of the march.

Should there be no means of keeping a reserve of grass
with the troops, and any difficulty be experienced in obtain-
ing it of good quality, the conduct of the dealers should be
reported to the civil officers in charge of the districts through
which the troops will march, and they should be requested
to let their subordinates take measures to ensure the grass
being good at the halting-places in advance.

It is only during a season following a general failure of
rain that there is any difficulty in procuring grass of at least
fair quality, except in some of the most densely-populated
parts where every yard of ground is cultivated to the edges
of the roads, or else in the rainless districts of North-
Western India.

GRAIN.

The grains upon which horses are usually fed are: gram,
barley, oats, kulthi, and some kinds of millets,

Gram, called channa in Hindustani (Cicer arietinum), is
the product of a small leguminous plant, with a purple
flower like a vetch. It is the most common food in the
Bengal Presidency. When good, the grains are of a reddish-
brown colour of various shades, hard, free from smell, and
heavy enough to sink in water. If chewed they taste some-
thing like a pea. When gathered before they are ripe many
of the grains acquire a greenish-olive colour, turning black
with age, and becoming extremely hard. These have a bitter
taste when chewed, and when soaked in water they do not
swell readily like good grain.

When the grain has been exposed to wet or stored in a
damp place, it is liable to become mildewed, or to have a
sour or musty smell. Gram is subject to the attacks of an
insect which bores small holes in the skin and eats the
flour inside. It will then float upon water. A small propor-
tion of grains so affected is of no consequence ; but where they
are numerous the gram should be rejected, for of course it
contains less nutriment than when the grains are perfect.

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Gram is not considered quite wholesome until six or
eight months after it ripens; therefore, as it is harvested in
March or April, it should not be given until the following
October. The usual allowance, when unmixed with other
food, is from four to five sirs daily to horses of average size.
The grain which is supplied to troop horses is roughly
ground, usually in native hand-mills called chakki, but
sometimes in English oat-crushing machines.

It was formerly the custom to soak it for several hours
before giving it to the horses; but this is now, I believe,
seldom done except in private stables. The practice is in-
jurious in various ways.

1. The gram becomes so soft that greedy horses swallow
quantities of it half masticated, and before it is so well
mixed with saliva as it ought to be, in order to ensure the
proper digestion of the starchy portion.

2. In hot weather the soaking sets up a fermentation,
which often makes the grain actually sour. The acid thus
formed is injurious to digestion, and the fermentation is apt
to continue after the grain is eaten, producing colic, which
sometimes ends in ruptured stomach or intestine.

3. When, as is often the case, too much water is used, a
great deal of the nutriment is dissolved out. Some men are
so well aware of this that they give the superabundant water
to weakly horses to drink.

Gram, after being passed through an English oat-crushing
machine, may be given perfectly dry, in which state a horse
is compelled to masticate it thoroughly before he can swallow
it. «A. small portion, however, in crushing is turned into
actual flour, and a very considerable quantity when it is
ground in the native hand-mills. As this is to some extent
blown away, when dry, by the horses’ nostrils, the better
plan is to wet the grain sufficiently to make it damp just
before it is given. Actual soaking should on no account be
sanctioned, for if permitted at all it is almost certain to be
continued to an injurious extent.

Gram is sometimes given both uncrushed and unsoaked.
Thave not known any injurious effects from this practice ;

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but some of the grains are pretty sure to be coated with
saliva and swallowed whole, and eating them uncrushed
must be hard work for the teeth.

Mr. F. F. Collins, late P.V.S. in India, speaks highly of the
system of giving gram uncrushed, but soaked in water for
some hours until soft. When treated in this way it does not
ferment like ground gram, but undergoes the same change as
when in the earliest stage of germination, the starchy matter
being partly converted into sugar.

BARLEY.

Barley, called in Hindustani jai, forms a large proportion
of the grain given to horses in the northerly parts of the
Bengal Presidency, and especially in the Punjab. It should
never be given unless crushed or ground after having been
first parched. It is then very excellent food. The ordinary
hand-mills of India are not capable of grinding it properly
when unparched, and a considerable portion of the grains
pass through them unbroken. Mr. Hurford, who was P.V.S.
in India some years ago, stated in his official correspondence
that hand-mills half as heavy again as those in ordinary use,
and cut with a sharper surface, would grind barley properly ;
but mills of this kind are not common, and it is doubtful
if they could easily be procured except in certain districts.
It is usually given unparched, and the dung then contain
large quantities of whole grains which have passed through
the mill, or of the whole husks of those which were merely
flattened in the English oat-crusher. These irritate the
digestive organs to such a degree that they are liable either
to cause frequent attacks of colic or to greatly ageravate that
itchiness of the skin with which numbers of horses are
troubled every hot season.

When the barley is properly parched neither of these results
ensues. The hand-mill or the oat-crusher readily breaks the
husks into powder, so that they do not cause any irritation,
and the starch granules being burst by the heat are rendered
easily digestible.

Parching is done in every bazaar by putting the grain into

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a large copper or iron vessel over a fire and constantly stirring
it round. If this stirring be neglected, the grains on the
bottom of the vessel are liable to be spoilt by charring until
black.

KULTHI.

Kulthi is rarely given in the Bengal Presidency, but is a
common food in Madras and Bombay. Like gram, it is the
seed of a leguminous plant, which is called by botanists
Dolichos biflorus. The flower is of a sulphur-yellow colour.
It is considered by owners of race-horses to be excellent food
for training upon; but it is rather expensive to use, being so
hard that it requires to be well boiled before being given.

Maize.

Maize, called makki or makkai, is rarely supplied for horses
except when other food is very scarce and dear. Being hard
and tough, it ought to be passed through a crushing machine.
Given for a short time, or in small quantities mixed with
other food, it has not, so far as I have seen, produced any ill
effects; but in full allowances it soon causes the dung to
smell badly, and owing to its containing a large quantity of
oily material it makes horses soft in condition, at least in a
hot country like India.

In North America horses frequently have no other grain,
and seem to work well upon it, probably in consequence of
the long cold winters counteracting the effects of the fat-
forming materials. Even in that country it is not adapted
for putting horses into racing condition. Hiram Woodruff,
the noted trainer of trotters, says, ‘There is no doubt at all
about the fact that oats are the best food for a horse. Keep
the maize for bullocks and hogs,’

In moderate quantities it is a good food for brood mares,
greatly increasing the flow of milk.

In the Veterinary Journal for January, 1879, is a short
article upon this food. It states that ‘the attempt made in
France to feed horses upon maize instead of oats has failed.
According to reports sent in by French army officers to

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Among Horses in India. 33

Government, it has been found that in whatever proportion
maize be substituted for oats, loss of muscle and energy
manifests itself; besides which, horses sweat inordinately and
are easily blown.’ ‘

In Austria 5,200 army horses were fed partly upon maize
for six months. They increased in weight and had very
glossy coats, but seemed to lose in vigour as compared with
those fed upon oats. This was particularly noticed in the
fast paces, in which they sweated far more profusely.

The Vienna Tramway Company made similar experiments,
and found that the saving in cost of food did not compensate
for loss of power and speed.

OATS.

Oats can rarely be procured except in certain districts, but
are grown in considerable quantities in Tirhoot and in the
neighbourhood of Hapur, near Meerut. The former district
being moist and the latter dry, there is little doubt but that
they would thrive in any part of India.

It is a pity that they are not cultivated extensively, for
although inferior to good European oats, being more husky
and less full in the grain, they are the most wholesome food
that can be given to a horse, decidedly superior to gram or
barley.

Captain Hayes, one of the best authorities upon horse
management in India, in his book upon Training, says:
‘My experience is, that even with Indian oats a horse can be
got at least seven pounds better than when any other grain is
substituted.’

Large quantities of oats were grown upon the farm lands
of the late Bengal studs. The unthrashed straw was chopped
into pieces about an inch in length and mixed with other
food.

Mort.

Mote is a grain much used by native horse-owners. It is
called mung or mutki, and its botanical name is Phaseolus
aconitifolius. Like gram, it belongs to the leguminous order

of plants.
3

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34 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease

Basra,

A kind of millet, called bajra, is given by natives to their
horses in many parts of the country, but never, so far as I
am aware, by Europeans. It is a small grain about one-third
the size of barley, has a very thin white skin, and is stated to
be wholesome food.

Another sort of millet, called jowdr (Sorghum vulgare) is
also a good food. The mares of the Belooch tribes in the
Western Punjab receive scarcely any other grain, and perform
the severest marches upon it.

LINSEED.

Linseed, called alsi or tisi, is a very useful food, given
occasionally as in England to horses in low condition. About
half a pound night and morning is sufficient for a horse of
average size. The best way to give it is to boil it until the
grains burst, using sufficient water to keep it covered; then
stir in dry bran until it forms a stiff mass. In this state the
horse is obliged to masticate it to some extent, and thus mix
saliva with it. In the hot weather it ought to be boiled not
long before it is given, for if kept cool for some hours it will
turn sour.

Linseed-tea is often useful for sick horses. When making
it the linseed should not be boiled, because the oil which is
in the interior would be extracted, and might disgust the
patient. The proper way is to pour boiling-water over it in
the proportion of two gallons to one pound, then cover the
vessel containing it so as to keep in the steam, and let it
stand till cold. In this manner only the gelatinous coating
on the skin will be dissolved and diffused in the water,
forming an easily assimilated nourishment.

BRAN.

Bran, called chokar, should form part of the food of every
horse. It assists in keeping the bowels regular, and its
gently stimulating action upon them is communicated by

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sympathy to the liver, lessening the tendency to sluggish
action of that organ, which is frequently observable in the hot
weather. This want of activity, causing a diminished secre-
tion of bile, may be known by a disagreeable smell in the
dung, and may be corrected usually by a few bran-mashes.

In the cold season when the horses are regularly worked,
a good bran-mash once a week, in place of the usual feed of
grain, is all that is required as a rule; but in the hot season
it is a good custom to give bran daily mixed in the other
food.

In stations where barley is cheaper than gram, it must, by
Government order, form part of the rations. In such places
the best food for the hot weather is a mixture of one sir of
bran with one and a half sirs each of barley and gram. I
am convinced from experience that a large proportion of bran
like this assists in preventing the tendency to itchy skin,
from which so many horses suffer.

Indian bran, owing to the imperfect manner in which it is
dressed, is far more nutritious than English, containing a
considerable quantity of flour. It should always if possible
be procured from the Government bakery, whence the soldiers
are supplied with bread. That which is bought from the
contractors is apt to be greatly adulterated with husks of rice
or barley, and worse still, with fine sand. I have known this
carried to such an extent that the sand could be easily felt
when rubbing the bran between the fingers. Of course a
mixture of this kind is very injurious, wearing away the
teeth and frequently causing colic.

CARROTS.

Carrots, called gajar by the natives, are grown near many
of the large military stations, and though much smaller than
those of England, are good enough to form a beneficial change
to the horses, and should be given in quantities of one sir
daily to each. Unfortunately they do not come into season
until after the commencement of the cold weather.

These and other variations from ordinary diet, such as
linseed, are readily procured at the market rates from the

3—2

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forage contractor, by allowing him to deduct the value of
them from the grain ration.

LUCERN.

Lucern should if possible be grown for the horses of every
battery and regiment, as it is a very agreeable change of food
in the hot season, and may be given in quantities of six or
seven pounds daily to each horse. Horses required for hard
work ought not to have more than half the above amount in
the cold season. Very few Europeans in India seem to know
how to grow it properly. The amount obtained from a given
quantity of land depends greatly upon the way in which it
is managed, It is sometimes sown broadcast or in rows upon
ground which has been simply ploughed and then made
smooth. Grown in this way it is seldom luxuriant, and when
irrigated the lower parts of the stalks are soiled by standing
in the water.

The best system of preparing the ground is firstly to
spread over it a quantity of rotten stable manure; plough
this in, pulverize the earth as finely as possible, and then
make it into ridges a foot high and eighteen inches to two
feet apart. Having beaten the ridges into a compact mass
with a spade, plant the seed thinly and not more than half
an inch deep along their tops. This should be done either in
the cold season or during the latter part of the rains. If at
their commencement, the ridges and furrows will be washed
level and half the seed buried deeply during some of the
violent storms. The rain falls much more gently at the latter
end of the season, and for some time afterwards in the
cool weather the heavy dews afford all the moisture required
to make the lucern strike its roots deeply into the soil. It
should be cut when just breaking into bloom. When the
dews cease to be heavy, the lucern will require irrigation,
and if this be properly attended to it will give a fresh crop
about every two months, sometimes even more frequently.
Of course, if planted late in the season when dews have
ceased, irrigation must be commenced at once, otherwise the
seeds will not readily germinate. The water running down

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Among Horses in India. 37

the furrows soaks into the ground where the roots are, with-
out reaching to and spoiling the stalks.

In good rich soil lucern managed in this way grows to a
height of eighteen inches or two feet, but in poor soil it is
rarely more than eight or ten inches high before it begins to
bloom. It should not be allowed to run to seed, because a
great deal of the nutriment is then lost, and the stalks begin
to harden.

In very sandy soil the system of ridges and furrows does
not answer well, on account of the earth drying too rapidly.

It is better then, after ploughing in the manure, to make
the ground smooth and level, plant the seed in lines, and
allow the lower part of the stalks to be spoilt by the water
used in irrigation. The lines in this case should not be more
than one foot apart, in order that the plants, being close
together, may shade the soil from the sun and so help to keep
it moist.

One difficulty that may be encountered on first starting a
lucern plot arises from the fondness which ants have for the
seed. In loose soil they will take up and carry away a large
proportion, if they happen to be at all numerous. I know of
no remedy in such a case except planting a larger quantity
of seed than usual, and making the ridges as hard as possible
by beating them with the flat of the spade. If the lucern
after sprouting appear too thick in places, it should be thinned
out.

In the Bengal Presidency the seed may be bought from
the Government Botanical Garden at Saharunpore. It
can also be obtained from Afghanistan, where it is grown
extensively.

GREEN WHEAT.

Green wheat is very wholesome food, and may be given in
quautities of five sirs daily where horses are not required for
hard work. It has a great effect in making the coat glossy
and if supplied for several weeks will often produce a total
change in a horse which has been thin and hidebound,
making him put on flesh and get into healthy condition.

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In some parts of India natives have a strange way of
preparing their horses for sale or show. They shut them in
a dark close stable, feed largely on green wheat, and keep
them without any exercise for four or five weeks. The results
are that the horses become loaded with fat, have glossy coats,
and are full of spirit, but are of course not fit for hard work.

GREEN BARLEY.

Green barley may be given instead of wheat, and in the
same quantities. It would probably have the same effect,
but I have had no experience in its use.

Bampoo LEAVES.

Young bamboo leaves are strongly recommended by native
horse-owners as often useful to horses with coughs. In some
parts of Assam they are given regularly instead of grass, and
seem to answer well.

SALT.

Salt is usually given twice weekly—about an ounce ata
time to each horse. I think this is not nearly sufficient, and
that at least one ounce should be given daily. To large
Walers two ounces would not be too much. It should always
be mixed with the food under European supervision, other-
wise a considerable portion of it will be stolen by the saices.

For the Government stallions under my charge in the
Punjab I made a practice of greatly increasing the ration of
salt whenever anthrax or Loodiana fever was in the neigh-
bourhood, giving two chittaks, or about four ounces, daily to
each.

I did this in hopes that it might render them less liable
than they would otherwise have been to the attacks of the
disease, and certainly was fortunate enough never to have
had a case amongst them, even when the fever was very
prevalent and fatal in the artillery and cavalry at the same
station. Of course it is impossible to be certain that their
immunity was owing to the salt—but it may have been so—
as that substance is very destructive to the lower forms of

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freshwater life, and is invigorating to the digestive organs of
graminivorous animals.

GRASS-CUTTERS PONIES.

Before dismissing the subject of food, I will refer for a
moment to the feeding of grass-cutters’ ponies. Nominally
the property of the grass-cutters, they in reality belong to the
battery or regimental native banker, to whom nearly or quite
all the grass-cutters and saices are in debt. The banker
advances money for buying the ponies, and receives a certain
sum monthly from the grass-cutters’ pay. The grass-cutters
are usually quite indifferent to the condition of the ponies,
and the latter are generally mere bags of bones unless the
commanding: officer insist upon each animal receiving a sir of
grain daily.

This ought to be given every morning under the super-
vision of the stable orderly, or some other European.

CONDITIONING FOR Work.

In the hot season horses generally have too little work,
and fall out of condition to some extent. Their skins too
become very tender, so that if sent on a march without pre-
paration at the commencement of the cool weather they are
liable to lose flesh, and are very subject to galls. The latter
would be far less frequent if the horses were taken out route-
marching twice weekly for three or four weeks before starting
for their new station. Their skins would be hardened, any
slight misfit in the harness would be detected, and their
muscles, tendons, and bones brought into condition for real
work,

SHOEING.

Roads in India being rarely so gravelly as in England,
shoes can be made extremely light. In the batteries to which
I was attached the rule was to make shoes as light as
possible, provided they did not bend with the weight of the
horse. Even these in most stations could be worn for two
months, being only removed at the end of the first month.

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The shoes of the average-sized riding-horses weighed about
eight ounces, and those of the largest Australian wheelers
not more than from fifteen to seventeen ounces.

Light shoes, although they may not last absolutely as long
as heavy ones, seem to wear less in proportion to their thick-
ness; the reason probably being that the horses do not put
down their feet with such violence as when the weight of
the shoe is considerably greater.

It is easy to calculate the enormous amount of muscular
exertion which is saved in a day’s march by a few ounces
weight being taken off the end of each limb. Supposing for
instance that each shoe is four ounces heavier than it need be,
the horse at every pace raises one pound more than is necessary
off the ground. If he takes thirty paces in a minute, the weight
lifted will be 1,800 pounds every hour. As battery horses
usually march at an average rate of about four miles an hour,
every one in a march of ten miles will raise more than two tons
unnecessarily to a height of some inches from the ground, and
this weight not in the most advantageous position—such as
on the animal’s back—but at the end of the limbs, where the
mechanical disadvantage of moving it is great. As only a
certain amount of muscular force can be obtained from a cer-
tain quantity of food, it is evident that a horse working as
above described either exhausts himself unnecessarily or eats
more food than would be necessary if he were shod with
lighter shoes. Thus the weight of the shoes in a long and
hard march may have a marked influence upon the condition
of the horses,

Of course, there are some horses with thin, flat soles and
low, weak heels, that absolutely require heavy shoes, not to
stand wear, but to diminish the concussion between the feet
and the roads; still, I am convinced that shoes both in India
and England are often made far too heavy for average
horses,

NAtIvE SHOEING.

The shoes applied to private horses by the native shoeing-
smiths, called nalbands, are roughly made, and fastened with

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Among Horses in India. 41

clumsy-looking nails; yet they answer their purpose very
well if fitted under the eye of anyone who understands the
proper way to shoe a horse.

The usual custom is to nail on the shoe considerably within
the edge of the toe, and then rasp away the projecting part
of the wall until it is even with the shoe. The nails in this
case pass too near to the sensitive laminz, and horses, as in
England, sometimes go in rather a tender manner for a few
days after being shod, until the hoof grows sufficiently to
relieve them.

Indian shoes, being always fitted cold, are made of very
soft iron, which can be easily hammered narrower or wider
in order to adapt them to the shape of the foot. They are
so thin that after a few days’ work upon rough ground the
inner edge of the web is bent upwards, and presses evenly
all round upon the sole.

Contrary to what English shoeing-smiths would expect,
this does not cause the slightest tenderness, horses so shod
galloping over rocks without flinching. In this respect
native shoeing is better than that which is practised in
England, because when the sole bears a fair share of the
weight, the concussion to the wall and strain upon the
sensitive laminee must be diminished. I believe that a
great deal of the lameness from subacute laminitis, so very
prevalent in England, is caused by the custom of bevelling
shoes on the foot surface so as to take all pressure off the
sole and thus throw the whole weight of the horse upon the
wall alone. In India lameness from this cause is very rare
amongst native-shod horses.

The practice of bevelling shoes arose from the custom of
cutting away the sound parts of the horny soles in order to
make them look neat. They were pared until too thin to
bear pressure, and then it was thought that they were not
intended by nature to bear any.

Although native shoes have no clips, they are not cast
more frequently than those of English make, owing to their
thinness causing them to conform closely to the arch of the
sole. The thinness is advantageous in other respects. It

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allows the frogs, if uninjured by the knife, to rest upon the
ground, by which thrushes and contracted heels are pre-
vented. It also enables the smith when fitting the shoe to
bend it up at the toe, if required, by a few blows of the
hammer. This shape lessens any tendency to trip which
may exist, and diminishes the strain on the back tendons.

In India charcoal is used instead of coal for making shoes,
both in European and native forges.

All batteries and regiments are allowed native shoeing-
smiths to assist the British farriers. In some forges they
only take off and nail on shoes, and strike at the anvil. If
permitted they can learn both to make and fit shoes in the
English style quite as well as Europeans, and they ought to
be taught to do so, because in the autumn of almost every
year malarious fever is so prevalent that if the European
smiths alone can fit shoes the shoeing will often be consider-
ably behindhand owing to the number of men in hospital.

BazAarn MEDICINES.

The medicines used in regiments and batteries are partly
obtained from England and partly from the bazaars. Such
substances as nitrate of silver, tartar emetic, nitrous and
sulphuric ethers, are supplied from the Government medical
depéts; but many of the medicines in everyday use can be
bought of fairly good quality in most large bazaars.

The following are the most common bazaar medicines,
together with their native names, without knowing which
there is sometimes a difficulty in procuring exactly what is
wanted :

Acetate of copper, called jangal, is not very pure, but is
sufficiently so for external application. I have found it the
best of all remedies when mixed with alum and flour in the
treatment of most cases of open joints.

Aloes, called masabbar, is, J think, the Cape variety, which
it resembles in appearance, and in strength as a purgative
when good, but it cannot always be relied upon. It is there-
fore better to indent upon the Government Stores for it.

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Alum, phitkari, is often impure, but quite good enough
for external use.

Camphor, kafur, cannot as a rule be distinguished from
that sold in Engiand.

Castor oil, rendi ka tel, varies much in quality. Only the
cold-drawn should be used as a purgative. This can be
known by being very clear and of a pale yellow colour. The
common kind is made by boiling and pressing the seeds, It
is of a brown colour, and its strength as a purgative is
uncertain.

Chiretta is a perfect substitute for gentian. The dried
leaves and stalks are sold in the bazaars. They are about a
foot long, as thick as wheat-straws, and of a dark brown
colour. When chewed they have a very bitter taste. They
can be readily powdered, or made into infusion or tincture.
When analyzed they have been found to contain malic acid,
resinous matter, bitter extractive, yellow colouring matter,
muriate and sulphate of lime and of potash. The tincture is
made by putting two ounces of the broken stalks and leaves
to sixteen ounces of proof spirit. Let it stand for fourteen
days, occasionally shaking it, then filter. Doses are the
same as those of tincture of gentian.

An infusion can be made by pouring one pint of boiling
water on half an ounce of the leaves and stalks, letting it stand
for two hours and straining,

Chiretta was formerly considered to belong to the same
natural order of plants as gentian, but botanists are now not
all of the same opinion about it. The plant is obtained from
Nepal and other parts of the Himalaya Mountains.

Ginger is of excellent quality, fully equal to the best that
can be procured in England. Green ginger is called adrak
and dry sonth.

Linseed oil, ulsi ka tel, tisi ka tel, is sold like castor oil—
of good quality when cold-drawn, and unreliable when other-
wise.

Native mustard, rai, is very cheap, but it is difficult or
impossible to get the seeds so finely powdered as those of
English mustard, which is imported in bottles, and can be

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bought in almost every bazaar. It is better, therefore, to use
the latter whenever procurable.

Mylabris cichorii, the blistering beetle, is sold in bazaars,
and is usually issued from the Government medical stores
instead of cantharides. The insect is found plentifully in
India, and is especially fond of settling upon the flowers of
the hibiscus. It is above an inch long, by a quarter of an
inch wide. The wing-cases are a reddish-yellow, with
three broad black transverse bars upon them. The Hindu-
stani name is telni makki, which means oily fly, because
when seized, small drops of oily fluid are exuded from the
joints of its legs. The ointment, as recommended in Tuson’s
‘Veterinary Pharmacopeeia,’ is not strong enough if made with
the dried flies. There ought to be one part of the beetle to
four parts of whatever fatty matter is used for mixing with
it. On the other hand, if experimenting with newly-caught
and undried beetles, it is necessary to be very cautious and
make it far weaker, for in that state they are much more
irritating than when dried. I saw a horse upon whose back
a large piece of skin had been completely destroyed by the
application of a blister made with some beetles just after they
were caught.

For making ointment lard may be bought in many bazaars,
but it is not well adapted for India, partly because it is
always liquid in the hot weather, and partly because it greatly
offends the religious prejudices of many of the natives, espe-
cially Mussulmans.

Mutton suet can often be procured, and when purified by
boiling and straining answers every purpose. Another excel-
lent substance is a mixture of equal parts of beeswax and the
clarified butter, called ghee, melted together.

Ghee is made by boiling butter for some time, and
skimming off the impurities which rise to the surface. It
is then left to cool, and can be kept for many months
without turning rancid or showing any other sign of decom-
position.

Nitrate of potash, shora, is usually impure as sold in the
bazaars, and is often of quite a dingy colour. It should be

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purified by dissolving in hot water, straining through calico,
and leaving it to dry and crystallize,

Nux vomica, kuchla, is sold in the form of the unbroken
seed; this is tough and horny, therefore very difficult to powder
unless first heated. The better plan is to have it powdered
by the natives in the bazaars. As prepared by them, I have
always found it so very efficacious in the treatment of
paralysis that I never used strychnine while in India.

Opium, afim, is so frequently adulterated with starch,
sugar, pounded leaves, and other impurities, that it should
always be procured from the Government stores instead of
the bazaars, and should be kept under lock and key, other-
wise it is sure to be stolen piecemeal by tne native assistants,
who are sometimes sent by the farriers to bring articles from
the pharmacy.

Sulphate of iron, hira kasis, can be bought sufficiently
good for internal use, but very impure samples are frequently
supplied if not refused by the veterinary surgeon.

Sulphate of copper, nila tuthia, is usually good.

Sulphur, gandak, answers well for external use; but it is
not always pure enough to be given internally with safety,
as it sometimes contains arsenic.

Both turpentine, ganda barosa, and oil of turpentine,
ganda barosa ka tel, are mostly of good quality.

Vinegar, sirka&, is not nearly so clear and strong as that
sold in England, but is good enough for ordinary use in
lotion.

Tar sold in bazaars is usually the refuse from the gas
factories of large stations.

When Barbadoes or Norwegian tar is wanted, it should be
obtained by indent from the Government stores.

European olive oil can be bought in bottles at all large
bazaars, but for making liniments, the common sweet oil of
India, mitha tel, answers every purpose, and is cheaper. It
is expressed from the seeds of Sessamum Indicum, called til.

Oil expressed from the seeds of the nim tree, Azadirachta
Indica, is sold everywhere, and is useful for keeping flies
from wounds, but is slightly irritating to the skin.

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Another kind of oil, expressed from the seeds of tara mera,
—a plant closely allied to mustard—is used by natives in
the treatment of mange, and is a good remedy, though irritat-
ing to the skin, and therefore only fit to be applied over
small portions of it at a time. It is on this account less
useful than milder kinds of oil mixed with sulphur, which
can be rubbed over the whole body without fear.

The above are the medicines most commonly bought at
bazaars, but there are many others which are extremely
useful and well worth study. I would strongly advise every
one in charge of horses in India to buy an excellent little
book upon ‘Bazaar Medicines,’ by Dr. Waring, formerly surgeon
in the Indian Army. It is full of important information, and
the most reliable work upon the subject that I have ever
seen. It is sold by Churchill, of New Burlington Street,
London.

There is only one medicine in the use of which the book
might mislead, and to which it is therefore important to draw
attention.

In describing aconite Dr. Waring only mentions the
Aconitum heterophyllum, which grows in India, and is
called atis in Hindustani. This is not very poisonous, being
given in half-dram doses to men with intermittent fever,
and is very different in its effects to the Aconitum napellus
from which Fleming’s tincture and that of the British Phar-
macopeeia are made. It is advisable to obtain this tincture
from the Government stores; but when not procurable, an
excellent substitute can be made from the root of the Aconi-
tum ferox, which is sold in the bazaars. It is fully as strong
as the napellus, and belongs to the same natural order of
plants, the Ranunculacee. Its Hindustani name is mahur,
though it is sometimes called bish or bikh, which merely
means poison. It grows in the Himalayas, and is said to
be used by the natives in some parts of those mountains for
poisoning their arrows.

The root of mahur can readily be distinguished from that
of atis, by its giving a tingling sensation to the tongue and
throat—while the latter is only bitter without any tingling.

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DISEASES.

Of the diseases to which horses are subject in India some
are peculiar to the country, or at least are unknown in
civilized Europe, while the greater number are the same as
are met with in England, but modified to some extent by the
climate, soil, food and drink.

CoLuic.

Perhaps the most common of all diseases, and one from
which many horses die annually, is colic. Its chief causes
are the following:

1. Grass that is indigestible from being too coarse, or so
old that it has become little else than woody fibre.

2. Grass that has been thrown into a heap before it is
sufficiently dry, and allowed to remain in that state until
fermentation has begun.

3. Bran adulterated with sand.

4, Grass upon the roots of which a large quantity of sandy
earth has been left. (Horses as a rule drop roots of this kind
after eating the stalks off them, but some which are greedy
feeders eat them, and the sand being passed along the intes-
tines with more difficulty than the food, gradually accumulates,
and causes irritation. A few horses, owing no doubt toa
depraved state of their digestive organs, seem to have a
craving for earth, and if they happen to be picketed upon
sandy soil, will bring on bad and often fatal attacks of colic
by the quantity of sand which they swallow.)

Other causes of colic are :

5. Grain which is musty, or which has been soaked in
water so long that it ferments.

6. Giving water to drink shortly after a horse is fed, by
which the gastric juice is diluted, and its further secretion is
temporarily stopped by the constringing and sedative effects
of the cold upon the coats of the stomach.

Lastly, colic is caused by (7) want of sufficient clothing in
the cold weather—either from the blankets being ragged or
thin, or from the native attendants taking them off the horses

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for their own use at night. Colic is therefore more frequent
in the cold than the hot weather.

It will be seen that all the above causes are as a rule
preventible, except in stations where, under the present
arrangements, wholesome grass cannot be obtained in the dry
season. If the mounted corps in every garrison had their
own tracts of good grass-land set apart by Government, colic
ought rarely or never to occur. Asa proof of this I may
mention that at the Government Stallion Depédt in the
Punjab, where there were always from seventy to one hundred
and fifty horses and twenty to fifty donkeys, I had the advan-
tage latterly of a very careful Scotch overseer (who was the
only European assistant at the stables), and there was not a
single case of colic during more than twelve months before I
left India, although the animals were in a station where frost
and snow were frequent in the winter season. The stable
management differed in some respects from that practised
with troop-horses. Exercise was given twice daily for fully
an hour and a half in the morning and an hour in the even-
ing. Shelter was afforded from cold winds by the thick
screens called jhamps. Great care was taken to supply good
gram, barley, bran, and grass. In that part of the year when
all the grass on the ground was completely dried, the animals
were fed upon hay made in the English fashion during the
preceding summer. They also received a daily ration of salt
throughout the year. To the last practice may, partly at
least, be ascribed the fact that there were no cases ever known
of horses acquiring the habit of eating earth.

TREATMENT OF COLIC.

Opinions vary greatly as to the best method of treating
colic. My own belief is that sedatives or anti-spasmodics
should never be trusted to alone, excepting where the attack
is simply due to spasm caused by cold.

In the great majority of serious cases, the spasms are
brought on by some agent which is irritating to the stomach
or intestines, and which ought therefore to be removed as
quickly as possible. While, therefore, a sedative may be

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given at first to reduce the pain, it should be quickly followed
by a purgative. I usually give a dose or two of camphor,
and some enemas of warm water. If at the end of an hour
the horse is not cured, this is followed by a purgative of
aloes or oil.

I have for many years given up the favourite remedy,
opium, because, while lulling pain, it stops the action of the
intestines and liver, thus delaying the evacuation of the
irritant. Camphor does not have the latter effect.

Tincture of aconite, in ten-drop doses, is a very excellent
medicine. It allays spasm, and has a tendency, when re-
peatedly given, to increase the action of the bowels.

RvupturED STOMACH.

Cases of death from rupture of the stomach or intestines
occasionally occur now, but were far more common about
fifteen years ago, when it was the universal custom to soak
the gram in water for several hours before giving it to the
horses.

The general symptoms of rupture are, severe pain, a pulse
rapidly increasing in frequency and decreasing in power
until almost imperceptible, vomiting of food in small quan-
tities through the nostrils, cold extremities, profuse perspira-
tion, and sometimes sitting upon the haunches, with the
body raised on the fore-legs like a dog.

When such symptoms are present, it is scarcely necessary
to remark that medicines are useless, and must add to the
horse’s torture.

BILIOUSNESS.

Biliousness, going on if not checked to bilious fever, is not
uncommon in the hot season, especially during breaks in the
rains, when the air is very warm and at the same time
saturated with watery vapour. It can easily be understood
that when the atmosphere is in this state the moisture given
off by the lungs and skin is not so readily absorbed as it
would be by dry air, and consequently escapes with difficulty.
The blood therefore has a tendency to become overloaded

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with the various impurities contained in perspiration, and also
with carbonaceous materials, owing to a smaller amount of
carbon being burnt in respiration by a given quantity of hot
air than by the same bulk of cold air.

The liver has thus a great deal of extra work to perform,
and at the same time has a diminished power of doing it,
owing to its sharing in that languor of the whole system
which is produced by moist heat.

Biliousness is more common among Australians and other
foreign horses, especially during the first year after their
arrival in India, than among country-breds and Arabs.

Want of sufficient exercise, and of green forage, exposure
to the vertical rays of the sun, and living in stables in which
the air cannot circulate with freedom, all predispose to it.

TREATMENT OF Liver DISEASE.

The usual symptoms are yellowness of the mucous mem-
branes with slightly quickened pulse and breathing, offensive
smell in the dung, which is sometimes coated with thick
pieces of mucus and sometimes also of a clay colour instead
of the usual yellow. In bad cases there are pains in the
liver, shown by the horse putting his muzzle towards his
right side, and increased quickness of pulse and breathing.
In the earliest stages of the disease, when there are scarcely
any symptoms except yellowness of the mucous membranes
and offensive smell in the dung, carbonate of soda in half-
ounce doses night and morning is a very useful remedy,
owing to its increasing the secretion of bile, which is carried
off by the kidneys and intestines. At the beginning of an
attack, too, before there is much fever, a purgative dose of
aloes will often cut it short.

When there is actual fever no remedy is equal to tincture of
aconite. If Fleming’s tincture, it should be given in ten-drop
doses ; or if of the Pharmacopceia, in half-drachm doses, mixed
with a half pint of water, three or four times daily. When
there is pain in the liver, mustard-poultices half an inch thick
should be placed on the right side, and kept there for thirty
or forty minutes until the skin is swollen. The horse should

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Among Horses in India. 51

be kept in a shed away from the reflected glare of the sun,
and where the air can circulate with perfect freedom. He
should have pure fresh water constantly within reach, and
should be fed only upon bran mashes and green grass or
lucern. If possible give plenty of the latter; but on no
account allow grain or linseed.

GLANDERS.

Glanders is stated by some veterinary authors of good
repute to be unknown in tropical countries. It exists in a
most virulent form in India, and is diffused over districts
hundreds of miles apart. I have known it brought to a
station by an Australian remount in the days when those
animals used to be sent from Calcutta to their regiments
directly after disembarkation. The disease is said not to
exist in Australia. If this is a fact, the horses must catch it
in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, where it is almost invari-
ably present.

Glanders is usually introduced into a regiment now, either
by the troopers of native cavalry soldiers, which accompany
their owners when on furlough, or else by grass-cutters’
ponies. These stroll about loose, while the grass-cutters are
collecting their loads, and come in contact with diseased
village ponies. It is quite possible also that the latter whilst
grazing may infect bunches of grass which are subsequently
cut and added to the bundles brought to the cantonments.

How SPREAD.

There are many circumstances in India which cause the
disease to spread more readily, and which make it more
difficult to eradicate than in the British Islands.

1. The natives of India can scarcely be made either to
believe in the dangerous character of glanders, or to take
ordinary precautions for preventing its spreading. They are
therefore liable to carry the virus on their hands or clothes
or horse-gear, and unless prevented will allow healthy animals
to graze side by side with diseased. They also leave the

4—)

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carcases of horses unburied until they are eaten by wild
animals,

2. The swarms of flies which exist in most places during
the greater part of the year no doubt often carry the virus
from one horse to another.

8. Some birds, such as crows, are in the habit of eating
carrion, and also of settling on the backs of animals to peck
at wounds or to eat insects. It can thus be seen how easily
a horse may be inoculated by them if they have previously
been feeding upon the carcase of an animal that has died of
glanders.

4, Vultures, jackals, and village dogs also feast upon such
carcases, and must necessarily often carry away the infecting
matter upon their feet and deposit it on the grass over which
they run.

STOPPING GLANDERS.

The following means will be found efficient in eradicating
glanders from a regiment or battery :

1. Inspect all the horses and grass-cutters’ ponies daily,
and if any animal show a symptom in the slightest degree
suspicious, picket him at a distance from the lines. If in the
fly season, fully half a mile.

2. Pulldown the mangers, both that used by the horse and
those on either side of him; scrape the pillars and walls
clean, dig up the floor to a depth of six inches, cart away all
the loose earth to a distance and bury it two or three feet
deep, throwing a strong disinfectant over it before covering
it. Disinfect all the floor, pillars, walls, and mangers near
where the horse stood. (I believe the most certain of all
disinfectants in ordinary use to be chlorine. Chloride of
lime when fresh, and chloride of zinc, are both very efficient.
In closed stables chlorine gas, or sulphurous acid gas, is still
more so. When the above cannot be obtained, carbolic acid
will answer the purpose fairly.)

3. Take the usual precautions against the possibility of the
suspected animal infecting others by means of his food,
drinking-water, or stable-gear, and take measures to prevent

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Among Horses in India. 53

his groom from going near the horse-lines. The best plan is
to pitch a small tent for him to live in, close by the horse he
is looking after.

4. If the latter show decided symptoms of glanders he
should, after being shot, be buried fully four feet deep.
Before he is covered over his hide should be slashed with a
knife, otherwise he may be dug up and skinned by the
natives. Some disinfectant should be thrown upon the
carcase, and the earth over it rammed hard. It should then
be covered with prickly bushes and large pieces of rock.
The last precaution is for the purpose of preventing jackals
scratching away the soil and eating the flesh.

5, All the stable-gear of the horse should be burnt, and
his groom’s clothes boiled before he is allowed to return to
the stables.

Some years ago, when engaged in stamping out glanders
from a Bengal cavalry regiment, in which fifteen troop-
horses and seven ponies were destroyed by the disease, two
remounts became glandered within seven or eight weeks
after they had been handed over to cavalrymen whose in-
fected horses had shortly before been shot.

I had adopted the usual measures for preventing the spread
of the disease, and could only account for the new animals
having become affected by their riders neglecting to obey the
orders about boiling their clothes.

If it be found that glanders exists in any of the neighbour-
ing villages, cavalry guards should accompany the grass-
cutters and see that they do not go near the infected places.
It is quite useless merely to give the grass-cutters orders to
avoid them.

BARSATL

Barsati is a disease peculiar, I believe, to hot parts of the
East. Although it has been studied for years past by various
veterinary surgeons, its true nature is not yet perfectly
known. Mr. Collins, late P.V.S. in India, suggested some
time since that the disease seems parasitic. Veterinary-
Surgeon Smith, of the 12th Lancers, has asserted that he

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found a special vegetable parasite of an algoid nature, and
Mr. Steel, in the Veterinary Journal for October, 1881,
stated that he had discovered a fungus (actually growing and
containing spores) in a piece of diseased matter taken from a
barsati sore.

It has, however, yet to be proved that these fungus-
growths are the causes of barsati. It is quite possible that
they are the product of vegetable spores floating in the air
and capable of growing in any unprotected wound. I believe
that it depends upon some specific germ, either animal or
vegetable, and that flies are often, if not always, the agents
by which this germ is introduced into the system. My
reasons for thinking so are that I have never known a recent
wound assume the character of barsati if effectually shielded
from flies. I have seen the disease appear in the unabraded
mucous membrane inside the eyelids of colts whose eye-
fringes had been lost, but never in those whose fringes were
entire and had been kept on. For many years I made it a
rule to have every wound or abrasion during the hot season,
in horses under my charge, smeared daily with a thick mix-
ture of sulphur and oil, which flies greatly dislike. The
disease never appeared in wounds so treated.

Some veterinary surgeons use a mixture of oil and carbolic
acid for the same purpose. I have tried it, but found that
it does not keep away the flies after a few hours, when the
carbolic acid evaporates.

Others apply calico, which is no doubt effectual when it
covers a wound closely, but is liable to become loose, or to be
displaced.

Barsati appears as a sore during the hot weather. Its
name implies that it comes during the rainy season; but itis
often seen several weeks before the rains commence. It has,
however, like all wounds or sores, a tendency to become
more unhealthy during their continuance, when the air is
filled with moisture.

In the sore itself, and under the skin for some little distance
around it, are hard white nodules, called kankar, varying
from the size of a filbert to that of a pin’s point, and often

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containing gritty matter composed of crystals, apparently
uric acid and phosphate of lime.

About the year 1873 I sent some kankar to the Govern-
ment chemical examiner at Roorkee, in India; but he failed
to discover its nature or composition.

In 1878 I forwarded a considerable quantity in a bottle to
Mr. Fleming, who handed it over to the Brown Institution.

Dr. Thin, who examined it, stated that it appeared to be
merely composed of masses of cell concretions, but he could
detect nothing parasitic about it.

The germs of the disease, whatever they may be, seem to
exist in the kankar; for I have found that if every particle of
it is entirely eradicated from the sore during the first year
after it appears, the wound will heal readily, and the horse
will be no more liable to the disease than if he had never
been affected.

If the wound be neglected or improperly treated during
the first year, the germs are liable to be absorbed and carried
to various parts of the body, and the horse may be subject to
the disease for the rest of his life. In old cases I have seen
lumps of kankar embedded in the substance of the lungs
a quarter to half an inch under the surface of the pleura.
Similar pieces have been found by others in the liver and
various parts of the body. They do not appear ever to cause
ulceration or even the slightest irritation in the tissues sur-
rounding them when situated internally.

Without any treatment whatever, the sores, if not very
large, heal over spontaneously during the cold weather; but
when nodules of kankar are left in them, they almost
invariably break out afresh every year during the hot
season.

When neglected they sometimes spread to a terrible extent,
until they form raw surfaces a foot or more in diameter.
They do not seem to give much pain or cause an animal to
fall away in condition.

Very bad cases of barsati were common amongst the
Government brood mares belonging to the late Bengal studs,
when left in charge of the native farmers.

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No distinct proof was ever obtained that the disease is
hereditary, though some considered it to be so.

I believe that the best method of treatment is to carefully
extract with knife and forceps every particle of kankar that
can be taken hold of, and then to destroy with caustic all the
surface of the sore, because small atoms of kankar, which
are too small to be readily seen or seized with a forceps, are
usually embedded in the tissues. When the slough comes off,
treat the wound with dressings of carbolic acid and oil. Some
practitioners recommend eradicating the whole diseased mass
with caustic instead of knife. This system seems to me less
efficacious, because the caustic, to effect its purpose thoroughly,
must be so severe that there is a chance of its destroying
some of the healthy tissues under the sore, while it may
leave untouched small pieces of kankar some distance within
the edges of the skin. With knife and forceps all the kankar
except the minutest portions can be extracted readily, and
the latter can be reached with ease and certainty without risk
of hurting the healthy tissues, and without putting the patient
to unnecessary pain. Many internal remedies have been
tried, such as preparations of mercury, arsenic, copper, iodine,
and iron, but it is doubtful if they are of the slightest use.

When examining horses for soundness in India, the scars
of wounds should be carefully inspected. If any hard lumps
can be felt under the skin, they are probably pieces of kankar,
and the horse should be rejected as unsound.

At some stations unhealthy sores resembling barsatiin some
degree appear on the lips of horses early in the hot season.
The granulations are of a dark colour, and covered in places
with small white particles like kankar, which can be scraped
away with the finger. The sores are seldom larger than a
shilling, and after attaining that size they rarely increase.
Their chief peculiarity is that nothing in the way of treat-
meut seems to affect them. They remain about the same
size, neither getting better nor worse, in spite of cauterization,
carbolic acid, or any of the usual applications for wounds and
ulcers. At the end of a few weeks—perhaps four or five—
they rapidly heal, whether treated or left alone.

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I never could discover the cause of these sores, and all the
suggestions of Inspecting veterinary surgeons and others as to
their origin were shown to be wrong by various facts connected
with their history. Some attributed them to the horses’
mouths being scorched through the bits of the watering-bridles
becoming heated by the sun before they were put on. This
idea was proved to be incorrect in a battery to which I was
attached, by the sores appearing when the bridles were care-
fully kept in the shade, and also by their healing when no
change whatever was made in the usual disposition of the
bridles.

There were some trees called sissu growing close to the
stables, and bursting into bloom at the time when the sores
appeared. I thought that possibly the pollen falling from
the flowers might prevent accidental abrasions on the lips
from healing; but on introducing it into a wound it had no
effect whatever.

The following year when I had left the battery, the com-
manding officer wrote informing me that the sores appeared
again ab the commencement of the hot season, resisted all
treatment as before, and again healed spontaneously at the
end of several weeks.

CHIBER.

There is a skin disease which I have never heard of out of
India, to which horses are liable if turned on to long grass
during the rainy season or at the time when heavy dews
are falling, It is called chiber by the natives of India, and
in its early stage resembles herpes, except that it will not,
like that disease, get well without treatment.

Chiber consists of an eruption of small vesicles round the
coronets for an inch or more above the hoofs, and sometimes
extending into the heels. These vesicles burst, and if not
properly treated form a raw surface which may be weeks and
months in healing. In some cases this surface becomes, after
a time, covered with hairless skin so hard and thick that it
resembles frog-horn.

The disease occurs only in horses whose legs are left to get

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dry by themselves, when they come from the fields into their
stables. If the coronets are rubbed quite dry at once when
they are brought in, the eruption is never seen. It might
be imagined from this that the disease is of the same nature
as cracked heels, or grease; and in many respects it does
resemble them. The long dewy grass perpetually brushing
against the coronets when the horses walk, would of course
wet the front more than the back of the foot; and the evapo-
ration, by producing a reaction, might bring on inflammation
in the skin, and other symptoms of grease.

There are, however, some points in which chiber differs
from the latter. For instance, there is no swelling in the
lower part of the limb. Then, again, horses in England are
often brought from wet grass-land into stables without having
their legs rubbed dry, yet they never have an eruption on
their coronets, although they may in their heels, Another
difference is that chiber, so far as I have known it, is only
seen where the grass-fields are near swampy land. It did
not occur, even during the rainy seasons, in well-drained
districts. I am inclined, therefore, to suspect that there is
some special irritant floating from the swamps and deposited
with the dew, which produces the vesicles by being concen-
trated as the dew dries from the surface of the skin.

When the disease first appears it may be easily cured in a
few days by applying night and morning a lotion composed
of chloride of zinc, about half an ounce of Burnett’s solution
to a pint of water.

In neglected or improperly treated cases where the raw
surface is denuded of hair, and is becoming horny in its
nature, nothing will cure so well as repeated blisters of
hydrarg. biniod. The internal administration of arsenic in
five-grain doses for about a fortnight seems to assist the cure
in bad or protracted cases.

PrickLy HEat.

Horses in India are subject to a skin disease closely
resembling, and I believe identical with, prickly heat in
man. It commences in the hot season, and the chief

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symptom is an eruption of small vesicles which itch intoler-
ably. The part most commonly attacked first is the skin of
the neck, from which the disease extends down to the
shoulders and often to other parts of the body. If not pre-
vented a horse so affected will rub his mane, tail, and other
parts until the skin is denuded of hair, or even actually raw.
The disease is not contagious, and the itchiness disappears
spontaneously in the cold season of the year.

A great deal may be done to lessen its prevalence by
regulating the diet. As soon as the very hot weather com-
mences, the quantity of grain should be diminished and that
of bran increased. If barley form part of the ration it should
be parched and crushed. Salt should be mixed in the food
daily, and green food, such as lucern, given in place of a
certain amount of grass, which is often dry and indigestible
at that time of the year.

When actually attacked, a horse should be tied so that he
cannot rub against anything, and his skin should be dressed
twice or three times daily with some kind of lotion to soothe
the irritation.

A purgative dose of aloes should be given, followed by
nitrate of potash, as a diuretic night and morning. The
above remedies mitigate the disease as much as, or more than,
any that I am acquainted with. I have tried the internal
administration of arsenic, sulphur, mineral acids, and various
other medicines, but found little benefit from any.

When the itchiness extends over only a small surface,
great relief may be obtained from mercurial ointment, diluted
with oil in the proportion of about one ounce to twenty,
and well rubbed in; but usually so much of the skin is
affected that there would be a risk of the mercury poisoning
the horse.

Among the best lotions are the following:

1. Acetic acid ‘ ‘ : , . 2 ounces
in water 16 ounces, to which it is sometimes useful to add
Plumb. acet. 2 drachms.

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2. Hydrocyanic acid (Scheele’s strength) 4 ounce.

Water ‘ ‘ ‘ : . 12 ounces.
5. Camphor finely powdered 3 . 2 drachms.

Biborate of soda Sa os ; . 1 ounce.

Water. . ; : ‘ . 16 ounces.

Kerosene well rubbed in will sometimes apparently cure ;
but, so far as I have geen, the itchiness always returns in
about a fortnight, except towards the end of the hot season.

Mr. J. Oliphant strongly recommends petroleum mixed
with four parts of oil, and states that it cures permanently.
T never had an opportunity of trying it, having had no cases
to treat during my last three years in India.

THRUSHES.

Thrushes and wounds of feet require much more attention
than in England, for unless well protected they are liable to
become full of maggots, owing to the swarms of flies which
settle on them and Jay their eggs.

With proper shoeing thrushes ought to be very rare in such
a dry climate as that of most parts of India. By lowering
the walls and never allowing any but the ragged parts of the
soles and frogs to be removed, the latter will in most horses
touch the ground after a few months, when the constant
pressure upon them will almost entirely prevent the forma-
tion of thrushes.

For keeping away flies from wounds I know of nothing
better than a thick mixture of sulphur and oil smeared on
daily.

Worm IN THE EvE.

Worm in the eye is common in some parts of the country,
and my experience is that those parts are always districts
in which there are marshes.

According to Professor Williams, ‘There are two kinds of
worms found in the eye—the filaria oculi and the strongylus
—both of which are also found in the intestines, the blood-
vessels, and the areolar tissue of the loins. In the last
situation they are supposed to be sometimes the cause of the

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kind of paralysis called kamri. These worms find their
way into the horse along with the water he drinks, either
fully developed or in the form of ova. Both the parasites
and their eggs are abundantly found in the stagnant water
of India,’

This last statement of Professor Williams may be quite
correct, but I would be glad to know upon whose authority
he makes it. A very experienced helminthologist would be
required to determine with absolute certainty that worms and
eggs in water are exactly the same as those which resemble
them in an animal’s body.

The only worm that I have seen in the eye is the filaria.
It always appears in the cool time of the year, and is thought
to be most common after a heavy rainy season. The ova are
probably taken in with the drinking-water, and they may
also be swallowed with the grass when that is cut in swampy
land.

When the worm appears it is about as thick as thread, of
a white colour, and from a quarter of an inch,to about one
inch long. It swims with great activity in the aqueous
humour, and sometimes disappears behind the iris for
hours,

In a day or two the irritation caused by the worm’s move-
ments brings on inflammation of the eye, with opacity of the
cornea, and after a short time the horse usually becomes per-
manently blind unless relieved.

The whiteness of the cornea occasionally comes on so
suddenly that it is the first symptom which directs attention
to the state of the eye.

Now and then a case occurs in which the worm dies before
the eye is much injured, when it decomposes and is absorbed,
the opacity gradually disappearing and the sight being saved.
This, however, is so rarely the result that the worm should
always be let out by puncturing the cornea as early as
possible. The sooner the operation is performed the more
likely is the sight to be saved. When properly managed the
anterior chamber refills quickly with aqueous humour, the
inflammation subsides, and in the great majority of cases no

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trace of the puncture remains, except a small white spot or
line where the lancet has entered.

I have always made the wound at the lower and posterior
part of the cornea, in order that the objects in front of the
horse might be seen without their distinctness being in any
way interfered with by the scar. I never cast the horse, but
merely let my fingers rest upon the cheek with the point of
a small narrow lancet close to the eye until the animal left
off winking, and then, choosing a moment when the worm
was in the lower part of the chamber, made the puncture so
rapidly that there was no time for the patient to move his
eye or head.

When done in this way the aqueous humour gushes over
the hand and almost invariably brings the worm with it.
In my own practice it has failed to do so in only one
instance, when the parasite was so large that not more than
half his body came out of the aperture, and before I could
seize it he drew himself back into the anterior chamber. By
the following morning he had crawled out, and was found
still alive inside the eyelid, but his movements had so injured
the iris that the sight was permanently destroyed.

After the operation a wet rag should be kept hanging over
the eye to keep it cool and shield it from the light, until the
inflammation has disappeared.

General Sir Frederick Fitzwygram, in his book on ‘ Horses
and Stables,’ recommends the puncture to be made at the
upper and inner part of the cornea. The upper part is
undoubtedly a better situation than the lower, because no
scar can be left in the line of vision when the horse is
observing objects on or near the ground. It is also better
because there is less likelihood of the rapid healing of the
wound being hindered by the aqueous humour trickling
through it. It would be necessary to cast a horse for this
operation, and have his eyelids held well apart before
puncturing.

Wherever the incision is made, care should be taken to
let the lancet enter obliquely, and in a direction almost
parallel to the iris. There will then be no chance of wound-

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ing the latter, and the outer lip of the wound will overlap
the inner, an arrangement which will assist it in closing and
healing rapidly.

If the operator be doubtful of the steadiness of his hand it
is a safe plan to wind a piece of cotton round the lancet,
leaving about a quarter of an inch from the point free.

Kamel.

Many people believe that the kind of paralysis called
kamri is often of a parasitic origin, and associated with worm
in the eye. I have never seen any decided evidence of this,
having only met with one instance in which a horse who had
worms, in his case in both eyes, was also paralyzed.

It is, however, quite conceivable that the ova of these
parasites might be carried along the bloodvessels into the
brain or spinal cord and there hatched, when the irritation
would cause paralysis.

Kamri is certainly most common in districts which are
swampy or subjected to inundations during the rainy season,
and this fact increases the probability of its parasitic origin.
I read an account by one veterinary surgeon, whose name I
cannot now remember, in which he asserted that he had
actually found filaria in the brain.

The word ‘kamri’ merely means ‘belonging to the loins.’
In some parts of India it is called a stroke of the wind, from
the belief that it is caused either by a chill or by something
injurious in the wind when coming from one particular direc-
tion.

Mr. Hallen, Inspecting Veterinary Surgeon of the Bombay
Army, has stated that in one instance he stopped its recurrence
in a native cavalry regiment, where it had been prevalent,
by building a wall high enough to shelter the horses from
wind.

The disease was very common amongst the Government
brood mares at Buxar, where one of the late Bengal studs
was situated, when I was in veterinary charge of it ten years
ago. The country all round was inundated to a considerable
extent during the months of July and August, the land

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gradually drying in September and October. The mares
were kept by native farmers who were bad horse-masters,
and frequently fed them upon coarse indigestible. kinds of
grass cut from the beds of swamps.

The disease usually came on very gradually, the first
symptom noticed being a loss of control over one hind-leg
when the mare was turning round after being trotted out at
the monthly inspection. In two, three, or four months after-
wards the animal was generally incapable of walking with-
out the hind-quarters staggering to one side or the other.

Sometimes a horse will remain only slightly affected for
months or years, being even capable of slow harness-work ;
but usually it is advisable to destroy him within three or
four months at the furthest, after the appearance of the first
symptoms. Treatment is useless in the majority of cases.
The most common remedies, after giving a purgative, are
blistering or firing over the loins or along the course of the
spine, and the internal administration of strychnine, iodine,
sulphate of iron, chiretta, and remedies of that kind. The
compounds of iron might be useful in cases where the disease
is of parasitic origin—iron being poisonous to many of the lower
forms of animal life. Freshly ground nux vomica in doses of
about half a drachm has always appeared to me to produce a
better effect than strychnine. Blistering the loins repeatedly
seems beneficial in many instances; and when the patient
rises with difficulty it is a good practice to put him in slings
of such a length that he can rest in them or stand, as he
pleases. The administration of iodide of potassium in alter-
nation with sulphate of iron has been followed by good
results in my practice, the iodine being given with a view of
promoting the absorption of any effused fluid which might be
pressing upon the spine or spinal nerves.

The diet should be laxative and yet nutritious, consisting
of linseed boiled to a jelly and mixed with dry bran, fresh
green grass grown on well-drained land, green lucern, or
green wheat. Grain should be given only sparingly. If
oats, they should be crushed; and if barley, it should be both
parched and crushed. Gram is not good in this disease,

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being rather difficult of digestion by a horse which is unable
to take exercise. Fully one ounce of galt should be mixed
in the food daily, and even double that quantity to a large
horse.

ANTHRAX.

Anthrax fever is one of the most fatal diseases to which
horses in India are subject. It is usually called Loodiana
fever, because it was first brought into prominent notice by
a very severe outbreak having occurred some years ago at
Loodiana in the Punjab. It sometimes appears in isolated
cases. For instance, one horse only in a whole regiment
may be attacked on the line of march at a camping-ground.
Usually, however, many horses are affected within a few
days when there was previously no reason whatever to expect
an outbreak of the disease.

On its first appearance it is generally very virulent, by far
the greater number of those attacked dying; but at the end
of the outbreak it becomes milder in its character, allowing
a larger proportion to recover. This fact, which is observed
also in cholera and other epizootics, is very apt to mislead
practitioners with regard to the action of various remedial
agents. Having in the early part of an outbreak failed to
cure, they try new plans of treatment, and at last, finding
themselves successful in a large proportion of cases, they
attribute the recoveries to the action of the new remedies.

Some years ago, during my residence in India, a surgeon
tried tartar emetic in the treatment of cholera with such
success that many thought the specific for that disease had at
last been found.

During an epidemic of cholera in the West Indies, a
surgeon treated the last seventeen cases with iced sea-water,
and they all recovered.

Neither tartar emetic nor iced sea-water seem to be much
used now, and the proportion of deaths in those attacked by
cholera appears to be as great as it was sixty years ago.

A saliitri in the Bengal cavalry, in his evidence before a
committee some years since, asserted that he could cure

5

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Loodiana fever, and, doubtless, many cases of what English
officers believed to be that disease had recovered under his
treatment. When it appeared at Rawul Pindi in 1878, the
general commanding the garrison sent for him without delay.
He arrived about two days after the horses were first
attacked, and was found to be as powerless in curing it as
other practitioners.

Causes.—The cause of Loodiana fever is evidently some
kind of blood-poison associated with, or perhaps identical
with, the bacteria of anthrax. In 1878 I sent Mr. Fleming,
I.V.S., some blood of a horse which died with the disease at
Rawul Pindi. Jt was examined by Professor Duguid, and
found to contain great quantities of the anthrax bacilli, A
guinea-pig inoculated with this blood died in two days, and
the local exudation under its skin, as well as the spleen and
the blood generally, were discovered to be swarming with
bacilli of the same kind.

Symptoms.—the first sign of Loodiana disease in horses is
sometimes only a slight dulness, soon and invariably followed
by fever.

The symptoms succeeding this are various, depending pro-
bably either upon one part of the patient’s system being weaker
than the rest, or upon more of the poison accumulating in one
part than another.

In some cases the brain is chiefly affected, when there is
drowsiness, followed by speedy death.

In other instances the brain is not affected primarily, but
becomes congested by the pressure of lymph, effused in the
neck, impeding the flow of blood from the head.

In other cases the disease is concentrated in the digestive
organs more than in other parts, producing symptoms of colic
or enteritis.

In the great majority of horses attacked, a swelling appears
round the throat, at a longer or shorter period after the first
signs of fever. This swelling increases in size, and extends
down the lower side of the neck towards the chest, filling up
the hollow between the trachea and muscles where the carotid
artery and jugular vein lie. There is a discharge from the

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nostrils, usually at first like that in catarrhal fever, but after-
wards of a lymph-like character, and sometimes tinged with
the red colouring matter of the blood. Petechiz are seen on
the Schneiderian membrane, the breathing is quick, the pulse
ranges from 60 to 70, and the temperature of the rectum
frequently reaches 106°.

At the latter end of an outbreak some cases may be so
mild that, if anthrax were not in the station, they might
readily be mistaken for slight attacks of catarrhal fever.

I have seen several horses in a regiment seized at the same
time with symptoms of that disease, the breathing being
quick, but not excessively so, the pulse 60 or 70, the visible
mucous membranes rather red, with a moderate discharge of
mucus from the nostrils. There would be no reason to
suspect danger, except from the high temperature, viz.,
104° to 106°.

Treated with the common remedies for catarrhal fever,
such as salines and diffusible stimulants, some of these horses
have recovered in four or five days; while the others, treated
with the very same medicines, have at the end of the third
or fourth day begun to swell round the throat, and have died
within twenty-four to forty-eight hours afterwards.

On making a post-mortem examination, the usual well-
lenown appearances of anthrax have been found.

Duration of Disease.—The duration of the disease varies
from about two hours to five or six days. Its progress is
sometimes so rapid that a horse, apparently in good health at
mid-day feed, will be dead in two hours afterwards; but even
at the beginning of an outbreak the majority of horses will
be sick from six to ten or fifteen hours before dying.

Causes of Death—The immediate causes of death are
various.

1. Paralysis of the whole nervous system, from the blood
being deficient in vitality, or perhaps from the bacteria
mechanically impeding its flow through the capillaries, such
paralysis gradually stopping the action of the respiratory and
circulatory organs.

2. Apoplexy, produced by the impediment to the flow of

d—2

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blood from the head, through the lymph which is infiltrated
in the neck pressing upon the jugular veins.

38. Indirect suffocation, from lymph infiltrated into the
intra-lobular tissue of the lungs, impeding the flow of blood
through the air-cells.

4. Direct suffocation, from the excessive accumulation of
lymph in the areolar tissue around the throat closing the
aperture of the larynx.

The most common cause of death is the last-mentioned.
This is shown by the fact that, in a majority of cases, the
bronchial tubes are filled with frothy mucus as they are after
death from drowning, and also that the noise produced by
the impediment to breathing can be distinctly heard coming
from the throat.

Post-mortem Appearances.—The post-mortem appearances
vary in some degree, though there is one common charac-
teristic, viz., the effusion of lymph, looking like yellow jelly,
into the areolar tissue, accompanied with dull red patches of
all sizes on the surfaces of the mucous and serous mem-
branes, produced by aggregations of red corpuscles or of their
colouring matter. The blood, too, is dark, and has little or no
tendency to coagulate.

When the brain has been chiefly affected there will be
found some congestion, with effusion of lymph into the ven-
tricles and petechie in the membranes.

When the disease has been concentrated to a considerable
extent on the digestive organs, there is effusion of lymph
into the connective tissue of the omentum and other parts,
into the walls of the intestines and under the epithelium of
the serous membranes; parts of the stomach or intestines
are stained a dull red colour, and the spleen is gorged with
very black blood of the consistency of treacle.

In those cases where the respiratory organs have been
chiefly affected, there will be found effusion of lymph into
the areolar tissue round the throat, down the under part of
the neck to the chest, and in the spaces between the larynx,
jugular veins, carotid arteries and muscles of the neck.
Here and there portions of muscle or connective tissue or

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membrane will be stained a dull red by the colouring matter
of the blood, and such stains are not unfrequently found on the
serous membrane or in the muscular portion of the heart.
The serous surfaces of the lungs will probably be coated with
a thin layer of lymph, the substance of the lungs will be
more or less congested, and the bronchial tubes frequently
filled with frothy mucus.

In these cases there is usually also some infiltration of
lymph in the abdominal cavity, together with dark red spots
on the mucous and serous surfaces of the abdomen.

Treatment.— The treatment of anthrax fever has hitherto
been very unsatisfactory in its results. Remedies of the
most opposite characters have been tried, but under every
kind of treatment the mortality has been very great.

In many cases, death or prostration of the vital powers
comes on so suddenly that no medicines have time to affect
the system. Greater success has followed the administration
of carbolic acid than of any remedy hitherto tried.

This medicine was recommended by Mr. Fleming for
anthrax long before Loodiana fever was known to be a disease
of that nature, and it was given to five horses by the advice
of Mr. F. Collins, late P.V.S, in India, during the outbreak of
the fever at Rawul Pindi in 1878. The doses were half a
drachm in six ounces of water three times daily. As only
one of the five horses died there was reason to hope that a
very efficient remedy had been found; but it is stated that
an equal success has not resulted from the same treatment on
subsequent occasions in other places. The horses treated so
successfully at Rawul Pindi were among those attacked some
days after the first appearance of the disease, when its viru-
lence had begun to abate; but even allowing for this, a far
larger proportion of recoveries has followed the use of car-
bolic acid than of any other remedy.

The acid in its pure form is dissolved with difficulty in
water, and only small quantities can be introduced into the
system without producing poisonous effects. It can be much
more readily dissolved in water if previously mixed in a
mortar with four parts its bulk of glycerine.

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SoDIUM SULPHO-CARBOLATE.

It would be well worth while, in future outbreaks of
anthrax fever, to try the result of administering the acid in
the form of sodium sulpho-carbolate, as suggested by Dr.
Lionel Beale. He states that Dr. Sansom carried on some
experiments with it a few years ago, and found that, in this
form, an amount of the acid could safely be taken into the
system which would be highly poisonous in its free state.
Whether it would have as great an effect, as in the latter
form, in checking the progress of anthrax has yet to be seen,
but there is great reason to hope so.

When given to man in doses of from twenty to sixty grains
every four hours, the odour of carbolic acid was readily
detected in the breath, and the urine contained a considerable
quantity of sodium sulphate, but no acid. Evidently, there-
fore, the salt was decomposed in the blood or tissues.

The dose for a horse would be about three drachms every
three or four hours at first, and at longer intervals if the
patient improved.

Common SALT.

When in private practice, before entering the army, I
found large doses of common salt very successful in treating a
disease in horned cattle exactly resembling Loodiana fever, and
therefore during the prevalence of anthrax, at Rawul Pindi.
I advised Veterinary Surgeon Burton, who was then in
charge of the Royal Artillery horses, to try the effect of
salt upon one horse which was very dangerously ill. He
did so, and the animal rapidly recovered; but like those
treated with carbolic acid, he had been attacked when the
first virulence of the epizodtic had subsided, so possibly he
might have survived without any medicine, This, so far as
I am aware, is the only instance in which common salt has
been given in the disease, but it might be worth further trial.
The doses I would recommend are one pound at once, in two
or three quarts of water, and four ounces every four hours
afterwards, gradually increasing the intervals if the patient
improved.

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While treating the sick horses, great care should be taken
to remove frequently, and bury deeply, after mixing with
disinfectants, any part of the flooring upon which the dis-
charge from their nostrils has been dropping. It would be
better still to burn it, where fuel can be obtained. Inspecting
Veterinary Surgeon Evans states that he has found the bacilli
of anthrax in these discharges, and there is considerable
reason to suspect that they may communicate the disease to
other horses.

Plenty of disinfectants should be constantly used about the
hospital, and all the usual precautions should be taken with
respect to mangers, buckets, head-collars, and other gear, as
well as the stable-flooring.

The disinfectant most easily obtained in Indian garrisons
is Dougal’s powder, which contains carbolic acid. It is very
excellent, but perhaps not quite the best. Now and then the
chloride either of zinc or lime can be procured, and there is
good reason for believing them to be superior to most other
available substances for the destruction of disease germs. In
Braithwait’s ‘Retrospect of Medicine’ for June, 1880, there
is an account of a detailed and microscopic examination by
Surgeon-Major J. Lane Notter, A.M.D., of the effects of
various disinfectants and deodorizers upon some putrefied beef
infusion, swarming with bacteria. Dr. Notten found that
chloride of lime destroyed both the putrefactive odour and
the bacteria themselves, no free bacteria being visible.

Burnett’s solution of chloride of zinc destroyed the bacteria,
but a slight odour of putrefaction remained.

Carbolic acid subdued the odour, while the activity of the
free bacteria was persistent, though lessened.

There is strong evidence for believing that the poison which
produces anthrax is developed in stagnant water. In almost
or quite every outbreak which I have seen or heard of, there
was either actual proof or good reason to believe that the
horses had been fed upon grass cut in or near swamps, or that
they had been supplied with water from very impure sources,
such as tanks where it was stagnant, and abounding in de-
composing organic matter.

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PREDISPOSING AND EXCITING CAUSES.

In a majority of instances the ground upon which the horses
were standing was of a porous nature, allowing the urine to
soak into it and give off the effluvia resulting from decom-
position. In other instances, the drinking water, when not
from tanks, was from impure wells, and carried sometimes
along pipes underneath roads where the downward curve of
the pipe was found to be half filled with putrid mud.

No doubt horses may be—and often are—subjected to all
the above-mentioned deleterious influences without becoming
affected with anthrax ; but it is certain that exposure to such
influences greatly predisposes them to become affected when-
ever they come in contact with the disease-germs.

We see human beings live in fair health for years, while
eating unwholesome food, drinking impure water, or breathing
air filled with emanations from animal excreta; but when
subjected to the influence of the germs of various epizootic
diseases, it is well known that those who have been living in
such a state fall sick in far greater proportions than those
who have lived upon pure air, food, and water.

How To Stop ITS SPREAD.

When anthrax appears in a regiment or battery, the follow-
ing steps should at once be taken to prevent its spread :

1. Picket all the horses upon ground at least a hundred
yards from the stables, and remove them to a new spot every
two or three days, or whenever a new case of disease occurs.
When suitable ground can be procured within a convenient
distance, it is well to take them in the first instance com-
pletely away from the garrison. (By the above measures the
horses will be prevented from breathing the emanations of
decomposing urine arising from the ground in which they
have been stabled, and will run little risk of inhaling the
disease-germs given off by the animals attacked, or which
may be in their mucous discharges or excreta.)

2. Change the drinking-water if there is the slightest
reason to suspect its purity.

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3. Ascertain the source whence the grass is obtained, and
take measures to ensure its being cut upon well-drained land.
(During the hot season, when most of the grass in a district
is burnt to the ground, the grass-cutters are very apt to cut
from dried swamps, or the bottoms of dried tanks.)

4. Increase the ration of salt, giving to each horse one
chittak, or two ounces, night and morning for three or four
days, and afterwards that amount once daily, until the
disease has disappeared from the station.

The period of incubation of the fever is usually only five days
in the Bengal Presidency ; so that if no fresh cases occur after
that time, it is generally safe to conclude that the spread of
the disease has ceased.

It should be remembered, above all things, that a horse
with anthrax is much more dangerous when dead than when
alive. M. Pasteur, who has been engaged for many years
past in investigating the nature of disease-germs, has recently
proved, by actual experiment, that the spores of charbon, a
kind of anthrax, may be brought to the surface of the ground
in the casts of earth-worms after having been buried for two
years, and that they still retain their vitality. He took some
worms from the ground immediately over a spot where the
carcase of an animal which- died from anthrax had been
buried, and inoculated a guinea-pig with some of the contents
of their intestinal canals. The guinea-pig very quickly died,
with all the symptoms of charbon.

It can therefore be readily seen how necessary it is to bury
the carcases .of horses which die of anthrax as deeply as
possible; certainly not less than five or six feet, and ten
would be better.

Before covering them over, the hides should be slashed in
various places, so that natives may not dig up and skin them.
They should then be thickly sprinkled with Dougal’s powder,
chloride of zinc or of lime, or with common salt, both for
disinfecting purposes and in order to prevent worms working
near them.

The earth with which the graves are filled should be
well rammed and covered with pieces of rock and prickly

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bushes. This will prevent jackals burrowing down to the
carcases.

The stable-gear into which it is possible that the discharges
of the sick animals may have soaked should be buried with
them, or burnt.

All this must be done under the supervision of trustworthy
Europeans, as natives cannot be depended upon to do it
properly.

Burning the carcases would be far preferable to burying
them ; but fuel is in most places too scarce to allow of this.

Before the surviving horses return to their stables all the
flooring should be renewed, and other precautions against
infection should be taken, as recommended after an attack of
glanders,

At the latter end of 1880, Dr, Evans, Inspecting Veterinary
Surgeon, was sent by the Indian Government to Assam for
the purpose of investigating the nature ofa very fatal disease
amongst the horses, or rather ponies, of that part of India.

It proved to be anthrax fever, and Mr. Evans’s observations
throw considerable light upon the subject. He found that—

1. There was some reason to believe that the period of
incubation might be quite seven days, although it is not
known to have been more than five in Bengal.

2, That ponies in Assam running loose and unstabled on
the tops of hillocks, and fed, so far as can be ascertained,
upon grass grown on dry ground, or even upon bamboo-leaves
instead of grass, catch the disease almost as readily as those
upon the swampy level land below the hillocks.

3. That although, in large numbers of cases, ponies caught
the disease from drinking stagnant water, yet they were
capable of catching it when the water was apparently pure.

4. That the conditions most favourable to the spread of
anthrax are a large extent of swampy ground gradually dried
by exposure to the sun, The germs of the disease could
readily be carried in the air from such ground to the ponies
living upon hillocks above it. Dr. Evans calls attention to
the fact that experiments have shown that the germs of
anthrax pass into the animal system more readily by the

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lungs than by the alimentary canal, except in cases where
there is an abrasion upon any part of the mucous membrane
of that canal, including, of course, the lips.

He is evidently inclined to believe that the germs raised
by evaporation from the swamps may be carried by the wind
over miles of country, and then be taken into the animals’
systems, either by entering their lungs, by falling into the water
which they drink, or by settling upon the food which they
eat.

He clearly shows another most important fact, viz, that
although very insalubrious conditions of life may favour an
attack of the disease, they do not produce it unless the germs
of anthrax happen to be present.

In the district of Sylhet, which is the valley of the Barak
river, most of the soil is blue clay, and therefore very reten-
tive of moisture. During the rainy season the greater part of
the valley is under water for many weeks, and in some places
formonths. As the floods fall, enormous tracts are converted
into swamps which are gradually dried by a tropical sun.
The ponies of the natives live in very dirty stables, and
in the town of Sylhet are fed upon long dhub grass, cut
from the dry clay beds of the swamps. They are watered,
some from the river itself, but many from small filthy pools
surrounded by bamboos and trees, the leaves of which drop
into the water and there decompose.

In these pools, too, the natives daily wash themselves and
their clothes.

In addition to living as here described, the ponies are fre-
quently turned out to graze in the swamps, where they must
not only breathe the emanations from the stagnant water,
but drink the water itself. In spite of all this, anthrax fever
is unknown in any part of the Sylhet district. As it is
common in the adjoining districts, it seems reasonable to
conclude that the exemption is due solely to the fact that the
germs have never been imported.

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INOCULATION.

Mr. Evans refers, at the end of his report, to the recent
researches in Europe, which show that animals may be pro-
‘tected from anthrax by inoculation with virus which has
been modified by cultivation under peculiar conditions.

Inoculation, it seems to me, is the only means by which
there is any probability of the disease being entirely eradi-
cated from Government stables in India.

SUBSTANCE OF ADDRESS OF M. PASTEUR.

In the Veterinary Journal for September, 1881, there is
an editorial article upon the subject of inoculation, and a
report of the address of M. Pasteur at the International
Medical Congress, in London. It is well worth careful
study.

M. Pasteur states that the virus of chicken cholera, or of
splenic fever (both being forms of anthrax), may be cultivated
in chicken broth for ever, and retain its full destructive
qualities, provided that the germs be protected from the air;
but if exposed to it at a certain temperature they gradually
lose their fatal powers through the action of oxygen. The
longer they are exposed the less virulent they become, until
at last, though they continue to reproduce themselves, they
do not cause death when introduced into the systems of
animals, Yet they cause their respective diseases in a mild
form, and animals so affected are protected for a long period,
perhaps for ever, from the influence of the most virulent
germs. In other words, they are not susceptible to anthrax
any more than a vaccinated man is susceptible to small-pox.

It is earnestly to be hoped that veterinary surgeons in
India will in future take the opportunities afforded by out-
breaks of Loodiana fever, to make experiments like those of
M. Pasteur. It is very probable that the virus may be
capable of the same alteration as that of chicken cholera and
splenic fever, if cultivated in a similar manner.

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Horse Sickness oF SoutH AFRICA.

There is now no doubt whatever but that the disease in
South Africa called horse-sickness is a form of anthrax,
closely resembling, if not identical with, Loodiana fever.

Amongst other descriptions of it is one in the Veterinary
Journal for August, 1881, by a Mr. Hutcheon, V.S,, in the
Cape Colony. The post-mortem appearances of a horse
which he opened were exactly like those frequently found in
India in cases of anthrax. He also discovered great quantities
of bacteria rods in the blood.

INSPECTING VETERINARY-SURGEON Evans’s REPORT UPON
SURRA.

In the Veterinary Journals between July, 1881, and the
present time, there have frequently been extracts from a copy
of a report by Inspecting Veterinary Surgeon Evans upon a
disease called Surra, which he was sent to investigate in
the district of Dera Ismail Khan, on the western side of the
river Indus.

In 1879 I was at the town of Dera Ismail Khan, acting
as judge at a horse show, when the Punjab Government
wrote requesting me to examine some horses of a native
cavalry regiment there, which had been attacked with Surra,
to ascertain if I could suggest any cure or any way of pre-
venting it.

There were then four or five horses ill with it, but as
business prevented my remaining in the station I was unable
to make a proper inquiry into its nature.

The only prominent symptoms then observable were
debility, emaciation, and extreme pallor of the visible mucous
membranes.

So far as I could discover, all the horses attacked had been
living in the neighbourhood of rivers which had overflowed
their banks.

I reported to the Punjab Government that the disease was
probably caused by some blood-poison carried into the

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system, by the horses being fed upon grass that had grown in
marshes or on the swampy banks of streams, and recom-
mended that great care should be taken to have the grass
cut from well-drained land, that salt should be given with
the food, and that the sick horses should be treated with
iron and vegetable tonics, combined with diffusible stimu-
lants.

About twelve months afterwards Dr. Evans was sent by
Government to make a thorough investigation of the disease.
His report is well worth reading in full, but I will here give.
only the substance of it.

Symptoms of Surra.—The chief symptoms observed at
first are capricious appetite, staring coat, great languor, and
tendency to stumble. If the animal be kept at work symp-
toms of considerable fever come on, shown by quick pulse,
hot mouth, and increased temperature ; but these subside
after a few days’ rest. There are often slight catarrbal signs
with discharge of yellow-tinged mucus from the nostrils, and
of tears from the eyes.

In a few cases the submaxillary glands are swollen and
tender, and in a large proportion of the patients there are
dropsical swellings under the chest and in the sheath, which
in some instances subside, and in others increase. Occasion-
ally the swollen glands suppurate and burst, a thick gluey
discharge at the same time running from the nostrils.

The most distinctive symptom is that the membranes of
the conjunctiva and vulva are yellow, with claret-coloured
spots on them. When the saliitri (or native doctor) sees
those, he is sure that the disease is really Surra.

The appetite remains good to the last, yet the visible
mucous membranes become blanched, and the horses gradually
waste away until they die from exhaustion. No case has
ever been known to recover. A few linger for more than a
year, but the majority die in about two months.

Post-mortem Examination.—Post-mortem examination
reveals no structural changes in any of the internal organs.
There is effusion of clear serum in the abdomen, with a layer
of lymph upon the peritoneum. In several instances filaria

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papillosa and other nematode were found in the mesentery,
and in some the mucous membrane of the intestines was
yellow, and marked with petechie.

Possibly caused by Flies.—There is no evidence that the
disease is contagious or infectious in the ordinary acceptation
of those terms, The natives believe that it is caused by a
large fly about the size of an English gadfly, which is common
in the country, and which bites the legs of horses until the
blood flows down them in streams. Dr. Evans thought that
possibly these flies might convey the poison by biting one
horse before the blood which they had extracted from another
had dried upon their mouths.

Animals Subject—Mules and camels are subject to the
disease, but horned cattle and donkeys are said to be exempt.

From a series of experiments, Dr. Evans found that a
healthy horse becomes affected if the blood from a diseased
one be either swallowed or injected under the skin.

Inoculation.—When inoculated in the latter manner the
first external signs of the disease appear on the fourth day,
and on the sixth the blood is swarming with parasites of a
peculiar kind. When the blood was given to drink, the first
signs of illness were seen on the fifth day, and the parasites
on the seventh.

These parasites are apparently round, tapering in front to
a neck, ending in a blunt head. They are white in colour,
with active eel-like motions, and seem to be about three or
four times the diameter of a white corpuscle in length and
one-tenth the diameter in breadth. They appear to live upon
the red corpuscles.

CHANGES IN THE BLOOD.

In the early stages of sickness, the blood firstly has a
greatly increased proportion of white corpuscles; secondly, a
large number of the red corpuscles changed into shapeless
particles of pale red jelly; and thirdly, a large quantity of
small granular particles floating in the serum.

Mr. Evans believes that the parasite is derived from the

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stagnant water which the horses drink, but thinks that it
exists there in a different form, for none could be found in
the water of the same shape as those in the blood, and when
some of the latter containing the living parasites was mixed
with well-water, the animals died and were decomposed, after
which, injection of the water under the skin, and giving
it to drink, equally failed to produce the disease in healthy
horses.

Dog INocuLaTED.

When the blood of a diseased horse was injected under the
skin of a dog, the latter became very ill, and his blood was
found swarming with the parasites, but he afterwards re-
covered.

Causes oF DISEASE.

The disease usually commences as an epizodtic in August,
and continues until January, when it suddenly ceases.

Carbolic acid administered internally had no good effects
upon the sick horses, and Dr. Evans suggests no cure. He
thinks the only means likely to prevent the disease is, either
to boil the water, or ensure its being obtained from a pure
source ; but he appears to be not quite certain that the water
is the cause, though he found that in almost every place
where horses were affected it was stagnant and impure.

HyYDROCELE.

Very bad cases of hydrocele are sometimes seen in India,
the quantity of fluid in the scrotum increasing in the hot
season and diminishing in the cold. Now and then the
scrotum becomes so distended as to impede a horse’s move-
ments.

When a disease of this kind has lasted for some time, the ab-
dominal rings are liable to be so relaxed that the intestine can
easily slip through as soon as the fluid is removed. If, there-
fore, it be thought necessary to castrate a horse affected with
chronic hydrocele, the safest way of doing so is by the covered
operation, wooden clams being applied without caustic, in

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Among Horses in India. 81

order that there may be no impediment to the union of the
internal wound by the adhesive process.

If the uncovered operation be performed, there will be
great danger of its being followed by hernia.

BaGcGcace ANIMALS,

The animals used in India for baggage purposes when

troops are marching, are elephants, camels, oxen, ponies and
mules,

CAMELS.

Camels vary very much in their muscular strength and
other qualities. When large and powerful one of them can
carry for a day or two as much as eight maunds, or about
650 pounds; but on a march an average camel should never
be loaded with more than four maunds, otherwise he will
fall away in condition, and become liable to sore back.
When loaded the usual rate of travel is about two and a half
miles an hour.

The camels of the lower parts of the Bengal Presidency
are almost useless upon ordinary roads in wet weather, owing
to their inability to walk with safety upon slippery ground.
Their legs sometimes slide apart to such a degree that the
muscles which attach them to the body become torn, and
they die from internal bleeding, or at least are incapable of
walking, and have to be left behind.

The camels of the Punjab are much more sure-footed, and
if moderately loaded, will travel in very rainy weather over
slippery clay soil quite as well as horses.

It is often stated that camels are incapable of climbing
steep hills; but this is not true of those accustomed to
mountainous districts, as they will climb rocks easily, and go
almost anywhere, provided the path is free from grass or
leaves, and wide enough for their feet.

While superintending the horse-breeding of the Punjab,
I regularly employed from sixteen to eighteen camels for about
seven months in each year. During the three years I was

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at that work the only casualties I can remember were, one
camel having a sore back, one dying, completely worn out, at.
about the age of thirty, and one becoming useless from an
accident.

MANAGEMENT ON MarcH oF CAMELS.

The only precautions as to their management that I ever
took were, to engage them with their old saddles, to load
them moderately, and to let them start at such an hour that
they could finish their day’s march early enough to go into
the jungle and have a full feed before dark.

AGES OF CAMELS.

A camel is not full-grown until quite eight years of age,
by which time he has the full complement of eight incisor
teeth and four canines, two in each jaw. At six years there
are four incisors, and at seven years six. He will work up
to the age of twenty-five or thirty.

SELECTING CAMELS.

When selecting camels for work a most important point is
to see that the elbows are not close to the ribs. If they are,
they will be sure to gail the sides when the animal is walking.
with a load. Hind-legs very much bent, like those of si¢kle-
hocked horses, are also disadvantageous for carrying heavy
weights. Each animal should be made to kneel in order that
his back may be examined to find whether it has been badly
galled, the owners often being careless upon this point. One
with the hump much wasted away should not be taken, for
it shows either that the animal is old, or has been starved,
or is exhausted by hard work or disease. Short-legged
camels of moderate size are the best for long-continued hard
work,

DISEASES OF CAMELS.

Many of the diseases of camels are extremely puzzling to
veterinary surgeons. It is often difficult to see by any

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symptoms that an animal is very ill, although he may die
within a few hours afterwards. Owing probably to the want
of sensibility in their nervous system, they do not as a rule
show outward signs of ‘internal disorders to nearly the same
extent as horses or horned cattle. Whena veterinary surgeon
does not see clearly the proper way to treat a sick camel,
which will often be the case, judging by my own experience,
his safest course is either to leave him alone or to allow the
natives to treat him in their own way, which is often
effectual, although apparently brutal.

Camels are liable to mange, lung disease, diarrhcea,
dysentery, colic, anthrax, and fits, which are said to be pro-
duced by exposure to a very hot sun.

The symptoms of the last-mentioned disease are walking
in circles, falling down, convulsive movements of the limbs,
and insensibility, lasting for five or ten minutes. It is very
fatal. In treating the disease the animal should be sheltered
from the sun and have a brisk purgative, consisting of three
to four drachms of croton-seed, followed by about half an
ounce of nitrate of potash night and morning. Of course
cold wet cloths should be applied to the head, and such
measures taken as would be advisable in treating the same
disease in other animals.

For colic, give two quarts of ghi or sweet oil, or rather
more than one quart of castor oil.

In cases of dysentery, commence the treatment with an oily
purgative, and afterwards give one drachm of opium and ten
grains of calomel, mixed with a quart of jelly made with
boiled rice, three times daily for two or three days.

Mange should be treated with a mixture of sulphur and
tara méra oil. The native owners know well how to apply
this.

There is no difficulty in giving medicine to camels. They
are made to kneel down, and anything put into their mouths
is immediately swallowed.

In handling camels, and putting them into boats or rail-
way carriages, the men who have been accustomed to them

are far more skilful than Europeans. In working them also,
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any interference, except to prevent actual cruelty, usually
does more harm than good. Always, if possible, allow the
owners of the camels, or servants supplied by them, to ac-
company the animals. Get a sufficient number to admit of
each camel having no more than a fair load, but do not offer
advice to the natives in the actual loading. Leave them to
do it in their own way.

LoaDING CAMELS.

There is great art in putting on the load, as its security
depends entirely upon balance. The pack-saddle, palan, is
not girthed closely to the body, but has merely a slack rope
going under the chest to prevent it falling off when the
camel is loose.

It is very important to let each animal retain the saddle
with which his owner has been accustomed to work him. A
new saddle is very likely to gall until its want of exact
adaptation to the back has been found out by actual trial
under a load, and remedied. Of course, like horses, a thin
camel is much more liable to be galled than one in good con-
dition; and an animal out of work for a long time is more
liable than one whose skin has been hardened by the rubbing
of the saddle.

FEEDING CAMELS.

Camels keep in the best condition when plentifully sup-
plied with the leaves and twigs of various trees and bushes.

When these are not obtainable, they can manage moderately
well upon various kinds of grain and what is called missi
busa, or chaff, made from stalks of vetches. They will rather
starve for a long time than eat white busa, which is made by
chopping or breaking wheat, barley, or rice straw into short
pieces.

If allowed to stroll in a jungle, where food is plentiful, for
several hours after each day’s march is over, they will eat
so much that no more food will be required until after the
march on the following day.

It is said that 40,000 camels died during the late campaign

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Among Horses in India. 85

in Afghanistan. This mortality was chiefly attributable to the
following causes :

1. Want of sufficient food.

2. Employment of camels reared in the southern parts of
India, which were therefore unable to bear the cold of
Afghanistan in the winter.

3. Employment of camels before they were full-grown.

Large numbers of animals were ruined by galls and sore
backs, caused by ill-fitting saddles, or by being kept standing
too long after being loaded. Injuries of this kind could rarely
be properly treated, owing to want of a sufficient number of
veterinary surgeons,

OXEN.

Oxen in India vary so much in size that it is difficult to
lay down any rule as to the loads which they can draw.

Some are smaller than the very smallest Welsh mountain
cattle, while others are larger and more powerful than Here-
ford oxen.

A veterinary surgeon who has had experience in cattle
practice can, of course, treat their diseases more successfully
than natives; but the latter have nothing to learn from us
about the best methods of feeding, working, and general
management.

When journeying for any length of time upon stony roads,
oxen require shoeing. They have to be cast before the shoes
can be applied, and all this is better done by the native shoe-
ing-smith than by the English.

The average oxen of India do not travel more than two
miles an hour when drawing loaded carts. They are there-
fore not well suited for baggage purposes in an enemy’s
country, where it might be necessary for them to march with
camels, mules, or elephants, all of which walk much faster.

Pack OXEN,

In parts of India where there are no made roads or tracks
level enough for carts, oxen are used by natives as pack
animals. There are certain castes called Brinjari who make

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their livelihood, to a great extent, by carrying salt and grain
from one part of the country to another.

In districts where there are no roads suitable for carts,
great use might be made of bullocks for pack purposes. If in
mountains, it would be necessary to shoe them.

The pack-saddles used by the native carriers are fairly
efficient—better certainly for bullocks than any of the saddles
now used by Government for pack purposes.

MULES AND PONIES,

Mules and ponies, especially the former, are faster walkers
than camels or oxen.

The most serviceable height for a pack mule is from
thirteen to about fourteen hands. Under thirteen hands he
has not sufficient muscular power to carry a heavy load; and
if much over fourteen hands, it is difficult to lift a heavy load
on him when packing.

When large numbers of mules are suddenly required in
India, it is sometimes impossible to procure the majority of
them over four years old; and, like horses, they are not full-
grown until five. Provided they are not more than this, it is
not of great consequence if they show signs of age in their
teeth ; for mules can work to a much greater age than horses.

Although Indian ponies are very hardy, mules are still
more so, and they have the further advantage of being able
to work well without shoes, even over rocky roads. For
instance, they will carry loads for weeks at a time in the
Himalayas, doing the usual daily marches of ten or twelve
miles without showing the slightest tenderness in their feet.
I believe, however, that for a long campaign over rocky
ground shoeing might be advantageous. Americans say that
they find shod mules carry loads with more ease than unshod.

Indian mules are usually very sound. They frequently
have toes badly turned out, weak fetlocks, and similar
deformities, caused chiefly by starvation, neglect, or by being
worked at too early an age; but unsoundnesses—such as
spavins, splints, sprains, or ringbones—are extremely rare.

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SELECTING MULES AND Ponrrs FoR WorK,

In selecting mules or ponies for pack purposes, it is well
to remember that the same formation is not desirable as in
those required for riding. For instance, the back should be
straight, or even convex, as that shape gives extra carrying
power, and is less liable than a back hollowed, even gently, to
be galled by the fore and rear ends of the pack-saddle. A
thick, upright shoulder is better than an oblique one. The
elephant, rhinoceros, and other very heavy animals have upright
shoulders—a formation in which the scapula, humerus, and
radius are placed at obtuse rather than at acute angles, giving
them a mechanical advantage for supporting great weights.

Points oF MULEs.

The most essential points to be attended to when buying
pack-mules is to select them with short straight backs, broad
chests, round barrels, deep back ribs, short legs, and black
hoofs. The fetlocks should not be very oblique, and the
hocks should stand well apart. When mules are very cow-
hocked they are apt, if worked under heavy loads and half
starved, as is frequently the case during campaigns, to knock
one hock against the other in walking. Indian mules fre-
quently are sickle-hocked, and have the toes of the fore-feet
turned very much outwards. The latter defect makes them
liable to ‘brush’ when in low condition, unless they have wide
chests. In sickle hocks the tibia and metatarsal bones are
working at a mechanical disadvantage. Of course, when
buying large numbers it is impossible to procure them free
from numerous imperfections, but the less they have of the
above-mentioned defects the better will they work.

There are two other points which should be attended to—
they should have good eyes, and should not have parrot-
mouths, otherwise they will be unable to graze in places
where herbage is short.

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Frerepinc MULES.

A good mule of thirteen to fourteen hands high, when
properly fed, will carry a load of two maunds, or 160 pounds,
on a long march, and considerably more if merely working
for a few days.

Those of average size will work very hard upon two sirs,
or about four pounds, of grain daily, provided they have
plenty of chaff, which they often prefer to grass, at least in
India.

When chaff is not procurable, they will thrive upon the
stalks of vetches, maize, or millet. They will eat and digest
any kind of grain, and with plenty of good grass will work
without grain at all.

Pack SADDLES.

With regard to pack-saddles, I have never seen one
belonging to Government which was not either very heavy or
liable to gall, unless perpetual attention were paid to the
stuffing.

I strongly advise anyone employing Indian mules for
carrying his baggage, to use the native pack-saddle called
sunkha, supplied by the owners of the animals. I have
always done so when travelling about the Himalayas, and
have never had a mule disabled by a sore back. The Guides,
a large corps of both cavalry and infantry belonging to the
Punjab Government, retained the native pack-saddle with all
the baggage mules which they used during the late Afghan
campaign. The colonel commanding told me that they found
nothing superior to it, if so good, and that they had very few
sore backs.

SUNKHA.

The sunkha has some defects, but it is light, and readily
adapts itself to the shape when the animals fall out of condi-
tion. It is composed of a tube of strong canvas, or soft leather,
about six inches in diameter, stuffed with long grass, and bent

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Among Horses in India. 89

into the shape of the staple of a padlock. The two legs of
the staple are held a few inches apart and parallel, by means
of strong broad tape or pieces of leather. They rest along
the back with the spine in the space between them, the
angle formed by the bent portion of the tube being in front
of the withers. A folded blanket is used under the sunkha,
to prevent it rubbing the skin. Boxes and other packages
are carried by being placed in opposite ends of a broad sling,
formed by sewing together the edges of a piece of canvas.
The sling rests with its central portion across the sunkha, the
packages being arranged so as to balance equally.

DONKEYS.

Donkeys, though not employed with armies, have been
of great use in carrying food in India during the famines of
the last few years. They are usually much smaller than
English donkeys, but can carry great weights for their size,
and are so tractable that a boy can drive fifteen or twenty of
them without difficulty. They are very convenient for
putting into ferry-boats when crossing rivers, as they are so
light that when the boats are high in the sides the drivers
frequently lift up their fore-feet over the gunwale and tilt
them in.

I may here mention that some of the ferries in India are
not provided with either piers or planks for enabling animals
to walk easily into the boats. Many horses are extremely
nervous, and difficult to force in, when attempts are made to
do so by pulling at their bridles, and whipping them; but if
one fore-leg be gently lifted over the gunwale, they will
almost invariably leap in without further trouble.

Natives are often very awkward in putting horses into
boats, and ought to be under European direction when doing
so, but they are decidedly better than Europeans in both
loading and unloading boats with bullocks or camels.

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ELEPHANTS,

The elephants used with troops are the property of the
Government, and they are supplied by the commissariat at a.
fixed rate—about ninety rupees monthly for each animal.
They are faster walkers than camels, and can go over any
kind of ground, climbing readily up and down steep places
where a man can follow with difficulty.

One elephant can carry with ease two of the ordinary tents
used by officers in India, one tent being a load for a powerful
camel, and even too heavy for him when wet with rain.

The most common maladies to which elephants are liable:
are fistulous wounds caused by galls, fistula in the feet, cracks.
in the skin of the legs just above the soles, ophthalmia, a
disease characterized by dropsical swellings under the abdomen
and chest, and a form of debility in which the symptoms are
great emaciation and sores on the skin.

Both these last diseases are called zerbad by the natives ;
but as that name only means an evil poison, it gives no clue
to the nature of the sickness. They are probably caused by
want of sufficient wholesome food, and by exposure to the
sun ; for the best treatment is said to consist in feeding well,
sheltering them in sheds, and giving regular exercise. Tonic
medicine should also be given, such as sulphate of iron, one and
a half ounces ; chiretta, three ounces; ginger, three ounces—
mixed with boiled rice and the coarse native sugar called gir.

Ophthalmia may be produced by exposure to the glare of
the sun, and is said by Captain Forsyth to be also caused by
feeding upon too great a quantity of the leaves of the pipal,
or sacred fig-tree, during the hot season, although they are
innocuous in the cold weather.

Of course the same treatment is necessary as in other
animals, such as warm fomentations, sedative lotions, and
protection from flies and light. Should a purgative be re-
quired, give one ounce of croton-seed, and six to eight drachms
of aloes, made into balls with rice-flour and gir.

Elephants are sometimes greatly troubled with worms, and

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Among Horses in India. 91

are stated to cure themselves by eating large quantities of
earth. This causes purgation, probably from the irritation of
sand, and expels the worms.

Should the earth fail to do this, the following medicine,
which acts as a purgative, should be given:

Common salt and pulp of tamarinds, of each, from three
and a half to four pounds, mixed with a large quantity of
boiled rice. The Hindustani name for tamarind is imli.

Elephants cannot be forced to take medicines, but can
readily be persuaded to do so by the native attendants called
mahouts.

They are liable to a kind of insanity, called ‘ mast,’ which is.
stated to be produced by sexual excitement, and which lasts
for three or four months. The disease may be recognised in
its earliest stages by a discharge like pus from the orifices in
the skin behind the eyes. When that is seen, the animal
should be securely chained, or he will be very likely to kill
some one,

THE END.

 

LONDON: BAILLIERE, TINDALL, AND COX, 20, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.

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