THE TURBINATED BONES OF A YOUNG HORSE WHICH WAS FREE FROM GLANDERS, SHOWING THOSE APPEARANCES A GLANDERED NOSTRIL IS OFTEN ASSERTED TO EXHIBIT.
1. A punctured wound, the skin removed, but darkest toward the center.
2. A lacerated wound, with a flap of pendant membrane.
3. A scratch—long and rough—having the edges slightly raised.
It is usual for low dealers, when a tubercle in the vesicular stage is detected, to assert that it is only a piece of mucus. To test such assertion, wrap a portion of tow, or anything soft, round a small stick, and wipe the place. If it be mucus, it will be removed; but if it remains, the reader may rest assured as to its nature. When an ulcer is seen, the dishonest salesman will laugh, and ask if that is all the inspector can discover—declaring the horse recently hurt itself against a nail. The interior of the nostril is a very sheltered part, and, therefore, very unlikely to be wounded. Yet so that the reader may be prepared to recognize such reality, in spite of the hard swearing and loud jocularity which is designed to confuse him, a diagram of a portion of the nostrils, covered with healthy membrane and showing the veins natural to the part, also displaying the shapes and appearances of wounds—when they occur—is inserted.
The reader has been told what constitutes glanders. He has been instructed how to recognize its more marked indications. There, however, remains to teach him the manner in which a suspected horse should be handled or examined.
The animal's head should be turned toward the strongest light obtainable; if toward the blaze of the noonday sun, so much the better. The examiner should then place himself by the side of the creature's head, not in front, but in a situation where, though the animal should snort, he is in no danger of the ejected matter falling upon him. With one hand the upper and outer rim of the nostril should be raised; when, grasping this part between the finger and thumb, no fear need be entertained. The case would be something more than suspicious, were any risk of contamination incurred.
THE PROOF OF GLANDERS.
1. Termination of the lachrymal duct—a natural development.
2. A discolored membrane, disfigured by ulcerative patches.