About Horse Distemper

Worden, Mich., Dee. l'O, '93. 'l'o the Kiüior of the Parmer. e is per-haps no disease so comluim aino.ng liorses or rum w they suffer so niueh, aa that coimnonly known as i r. Many pasa a si without having inore or lesa o' tliis disease among thelr horses, and ,. the alfeeted Uorse one coinmi ised, unlrss ]ic i so Biek to bs under the floctor's care, or ia immedlate danger oí dying, l:e is still kept in service, iH'ing driven upon the public highway, to the market town, to church on Sunday, to the blacksmith sho-p, hitched to public hitching poets, and in public barns. Thus the disease is scattered broadcast in violation of the Iaw. Muth of this coinés írom a waJit of knowledge that th ere is any Iaw upon this subject. AVill you, therefore, in the interest of the liorse, the noblest of the animal creatina, and in the interest of hls owners. ïuany of wlioni are constant readers of your valuable paper, jilease say througli its columns : Tliat the disease eommonly known as horse distemper is a cöntaglous or Imfectdoue disease (see Webster's or Worcester's dietionary) and as Buch comea under the provisión of the law found in Chapter il a, 3rd Vol. Howell's Aa. Statutee, page 3,150 to 3,154. !Xo person lias the rlght to exposé even his own animáis to disease. and on discovering tliat aay horse belonging to Mm, or is in liis poseessian has the dlstemper, it at once becomes his duty to quarantine the animal. Vol. '! Howells' An. títat., .Sec. 2,136. It is the duty not only of the owner, !:;it of every persoen who knows of a horse that iia.s the dietemper, to unce report the case to some member of t'he State Live stock Sanltary Commission, ''or to some member of the local board of henlth" in liis townsliip. the lat ter board being by statute (Vol. 1 Howells' An. Stat., . 3 ,633,) the townsliip board whlch is composed of the supervisor, the two Justltes of the peace, whose term of office wlll soonest expire and the township clerk (Vol. 1 Howells' An. stat.. Sec. 744,) to any one oí -whoni cases oí liorse distemper may be reported, and it is the duty oí such boaxd t al onee Investígate the case. Vol. 8 Howells' An. Stat., See. :!136 o, 213(3 p. The si;i tule forblds the drivlng of uorses affected with distemper or in any other way exposing other horses to the dixease. Vol. 3 Howells' An. Stat., See. 2136 v. Any persen who wHlfully violares or dteregai'ds any oí the provlsione ol this act sliall be deemed guilty oí a misdemeanor, and upon convlction thereof shiili be íiiud nol lesa than ten dollars nor more than one hundred, or be Imprisoaed in the eounty jail not less than ten days nor inore than ninety, or both such fine and imprisonment in the dlscretion of the court. (Vol. 3 Howells' An. Stat., Sec. 2136 ..v. The State Llve Stock Sanitary Commisslon is at preseni composed of Hon. H. H. Hinds, . Stanton, Mich.; Hoa. !. .1 . Woodman, secretary, Paw Paw ; Bxm.. J. E. Barrlnter, Arm Famfliarity with the luw on this subject, and a strid compliance with provisions, or a i-i.nci enforcement thereof, will prevent ninety-nine per cent oí tl o,1 Uörse distemper. HENRY C. WAI.IJIÏUN. That our correspondent is calling attention to a very important matter every one who has had any experience in ralsing colts will admit. It is generally regarded as ;i certainty that all colts or horses in an infecteil stable will, if tliey have not before had the di&eaee, become alfected, and consequentiy uu attempt at proper sanltary precautions is made. In the i issue of the Breeders' Gazette Hn A. .1. Cassatt, breéder of thoroughbrede, details the method he lias adopted in quaranttning affected animale, and the good resulta vhi;li liave followed the practice. He says: 'I linvc ,-i siiuill detached lot of iour or five acres adjaeent to the (arm, but separated from ii by a railroad, on which there is :; liou.se oecupied by oae of my stablemen, and a small, old-fashiooed barn. I altered and rearranged this barn at light expense, anti was able Mi conveft it into a very eomfortable stable contalning Eive dry and well-ventilated box-stalls. Connectd wlth the stable is a grass paddoek of about an acre. "My plan tor preventing the spread oí disteinper, ie a very simple one, and Lüiisists only in isolating" at once r.ny cases that may appear. 'This fall a thoroughbred Bjiekling foal ehowed a sliLïht swelling bei ween the jnws. It was at once taken with ii.s dam o the hospital. In ft day or two it developed an ordlnary case oí distemper, with discharge irom the nostrils and increassd ewelliag oï the abscesa under the jaws, which sooii broke. ïhe case was treated in the usual way : the only pereon allowed lo go near the foal was the stableman who attended to ir. and who aever went wliere any oí thc other young horses were. Wiih10 a lew days after thás toa! was attacked, a Hacfcney Buckling foal on a different part oí the farm half a away from the thoroughbreds, I a similar cas: ol distemper. 11 was ateo at once removed to the pital and treated In the same way. Whi'ii the tóate had fully recovered and the openlngs under thelr jaws were entlrely healed, the mares and foals were careiully Bponged all over wlth a wenk solution oí carbollc acid and rubbed dry with i-lean unen rubbers ; tlieir haltera were put in bolling water, and tlien washed with carbolle soap, after which the maree and foals were put back with the others. The hospital stable was thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, all bedding belng removed, and the walls, feed troughs, et!., were washed with carbolic soap and a weak solution of carbollc acid. The temes a round the paddock were eimilarly treated. 'These were the only two cases (in the iarin this year. Heretofore when a case of distempér appeared every foal or yearllng on the place not havhig previouely had it was sure to catch the disease, and frequently sonie of tlie young thdmga would have it a secQnd time. "I also nse the hospital stable for quaranttoe purposes, kepping mares coming from auspected places in it for a eúftlcient time to Insure againsí their brimging the diseaee on to the farm. "I know that some breeders think tliat all liorses must somier or later have the distemper. and thai it is as well to let the foals have it and be done with it. I cannot agree with either oí those views. Horses need not necessarily have distemper. lly oíd friend. Mr. D. D. Wlthérs, for twenty years the mainetay of the American turf In the east, told me not long before bis death, that for a number oí yeara lie liad liad no distemper on his place, and, Ín answer to my inquiry, said that the yoting ones he sent to the race courses did not seem liable to eatch the disease there ; that in fact lie liad no trouble whatever from that sour.ee. "Besldes, the very worst time for an -animal to have the di-iease is weaning time, an 1 it is then that it is most likely to appear, and once on the farm it is sure to go through the lot unless preventatlve measures are taken."'