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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 405
From the Country Gentleman.
Fatal Disease in Horses.
We published some months since, an account
of a disease in horses, then prevalent in Tennessee,
together with an inquiry as to its cause
and cure, from E. Link, Esq. This was copied
in the Spirit of the Times, in a late No. of that
paper we find the following letter on the sub-
ject:
Albuquerque, New Mexico, Aug. 10, 1855.
My Dear Colonel—I cut the above notice of
a "Fatal Disease in Horses,'^ from a " Spirit of
the Times," published in June of this year.
When I arrived in Albuquerque, in September,
1853, the horses of my company were in
very good health. In two or three weeks I
observed that two of them' were attacked, as I
supposed, with blind staggers, and I treated
them for that disease. They died in ten hours
after they were first attacked. Shortly afterwards
I observed one of my horses standing
•with his forehead pressed forcibly against the
wall of the stable. It required great efforts on
the part of two or three men to drag him away
from the wall. The moment he lost the support
it afforded, he staggered wildly about
the stable, and finally fell down and died, in
great agony, in two or three hours Shortly
afterwards I observed a horse attacked with a
fit of trembling, as if he experienced some hor-
rible fright. A cold perspiration broke out all
over him, the water falling in frequent drops
from his belly and flanks. No remedies which
I could devise seemed to afford the least possible
relief. This horse also died in a few hours.
Others were attacked in a similar manner to
those to which I have alluded, and I never, by
any method of treating which I could glean
from books, or from others' experience, succeeded
in saving a single one, until fourteen
had died in about twelve days.
I observed that the first symptoms of an approaching
attack which each horse appeared to
indicate—however Proteus-like in its phases
the disease might eventually show itself —was
a frequent shaking of the head and " flopping"
of the ears. Then, generally, in an>^ hour or
two, would commence moving about in' a circle,
if he were left in an open yard—frequently
staggering and stumbling in his walk. As his
sufferings became more intense, he would sometimes
beat his head against a wall, until his
eyes would become so swollen as to deprive
him completely of sight. The horse never ate
or drank after he became so far gone as to walk
about as if on a ring ; and I never saw one
that seemed to take the least notice of passingobjects
after that time.
After failing in every method I could adopt
to save even one of the fourteen which 1 lost, I
at length got Surgeon Abadie, of the Army, to
dissect the head of one which had just died,
with a view to discover, if possible, the cause
of this sinoiular disease. The vessels of the
brain were found very much engorged with
blood, and a quantity of water was found between
the integuments that enveloped it. The
skull was sawn asunder so as to expose the
courses followed by the tortuous gallery in
which are situated the organs of hearing. In
this gallery, with his head imbedded in the
tympanum of the ear, and his body so enlarged
as to deprive him of the power of retrograding,
even if he had desired to *' back out" of his
position, the doctor found a large tick. He believed
that the horse had died from the presenc*^
of this insect, and the irritation resulting from
his persistent bite. The doctor suggested pouring
a tea-spoonful of sweet oil into each ear of
every horse, and then in pouring a tea-spoonful
of a strong decoction of tobacco (with, say, a
gill of aqiia ammonia, to six gills of the decoction,)
also put into each ear of every horse.
This I did as often as once a month for the
whole of the succeeding winter. And from
that time to the present, whenever I have seen
a single horse holding his head on one side,
and "flopping" his ears, I have had the whole
number treated in this manner. Since then I
have lost but three horses from this cause, and
I have had more than a hundred at a time in
my stables, at different periods since the fall of
'53. I believe the disease alluded to by the
correspondent of the "Albany Country Gentleman,"
is the same which I had in my stables.
If so, perhaps this communication, which I had
but a few moments to scribble off, may be of
some service.
James Henry Carlton, U. S. A.
From the Ohio Valley Farmer.
County Court Day at Paris, Ky.
It is a custom long established in some of
the interior counties of Ky., to make " County
Court Day" the occasion for the sale of mules,
cattle, horses, and anything else that owners
see proper to offer. Upon arriving in Paris
last court day, (1st Monday in April,) I found
the streets literally jammed with men, quadrupeds
and vehicles. The noise was suggestive
of Babel. Here was an auctioneer upon horseback,
selling a herd of mules, which owners
and bidders had surrounded, and thus kept together.
Near by was another auctioneer,
mounted upon a wagon, selling a lot of sewing
machines; farther along a livery stable was
undergoing ih^ vendue ordeal. Scattered at
random through the streets were vendors of
carriages, saddles, bridles, harness, fruit trees,
and patent corn planters, which last, as explained
by a native, " drapped and kivered
both." Occupying the more retired positions,
were representatives from the mountain
counties, with white pines, chinkapins, mountain
honeysuckles, and tar for sale. The tar
was put up in little kegs, with a view of being
sold direct to the consumer. I was especially