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It is therefore an easy matter to imagine that Infusoria, which are the
natural inhabitants of all streams and tanks, can, and must be taken in by man
and beast. As the hot season advances in India, these and other forms of life
become densely packed in all stagnant pools and wells, owing to the rapid
evaporation and the constant withdrawal of water therefrom, but they neverthe-
less scarcely ever cease to increase and multiply. Consequently animals watered
at such spots take in repeated doses of the organisms.
In support of the question of well water being one of the most important
factors in the production of Surra in horses, the following notes on cases Nos. I,
II, III, and LXV, are quoted :—
The horses Nos. I, II, III, were the property of a gentleman living out at
Pali Hill, Bandora, near Bombay, and had been submitted to the same conditions
as regards climate, locality, water and fodder, and although the cases occurred in
1890, case No. LXV, of June 1892 may be read at the same time with advantage
in connection with them, as the two stables in which the cases occurred are only
a few hundred yards apart. The water, which is supposed to have been the
vehicle by which the contagium was carried in the two outbreaks, was obtained
from wells of the same description, the water in which had become low and turbid
during the hot weather. This being the case, the notes which accompany case
LXV are applicable to the above three. The owner of these horses was conver-
sant with the fact, that by supplying his animals with grass grown on low marshy
ground he was running a considerable risk of introducing 'Surra' amongst them,
and he had therefore, for some time previous to this outbreak, taken the pre-
caution of obtaining all the requisite grass from as near the highest point of the
surrounding hills as possible. Taking all this into consideration, it appears to
be extremely probable that the well water was the means by which the disease
was introduced.
Again in the case of Horse No. LXV, Mr. G. owned four horses, A, B,
C, and D, which, up to March 16th, 1892, were stabled on Malabar Hill, Bombay,
and drank Vehar pipe water. On March 16th, A, B, and C, were taken to Pali
Hill, Mr. G. having changed his residence. D was on the same date taken
to the Fort, Bombay, and has only been at Bandora for two days up to June
18th, 1892. From March 17th to April 14th, 1892, A, B., and C, were watered
from two wells on Pali Hill, and no other water was supplied to them. The
water in the above wells was low and rather dirty. About April 14th, 1892,
the Sanitary Commissioner, after a chemical examination of the water from these
two wells, pronounced it to be very bad ; the horses were therefore given from
the above date until April the 26th, nothing but the Vehár pipe water described
as "excellent and clear." On April 15th, A refused her food and appeared
feverish. She gradually, however, got better and by April 26th appeared quite
well. On April 2Gth A, B, and 0, were taken up-country into the jungles of
Dharampore States, south of Surat, on a shikar expedition, and during this time
were watered at rivers and wells, mostly the former, the water not appearing to
be bad. The horses did a considerable amount of work in the sun between
April 26th and May 17th. A, during this period, did not eat much grass; she
ate her corn as usual however, but appeared dull and stumbled during action.
Her skin felt hot, and it was several times remarked that she was not well and
appeared to be losing flesh. She was not therefore worked so hard as the
others. The fever was thought to be the consequence of exposure to the sun.
On May 17th, A, B and C were taken back to Pali Hill, Bandora, from
Dharampore. A then looked unwell and on the 19th was driven only a short
distance, owing to the presence of fever. On her return she refused food
and appeared to be very bad. On the 23rd of May B refused food, and an eruption
broke out over the whole body, which passed away in a few days, leaving fever
which continued until the 30th of the month. Between the 4th and 8th of June
both horses A and B showed certain symptoms of Surra. On June 9th, the blood
was examined microscopically. A's blood was free, but that of B contained a
few Surra hæmatozoa. On further examination on the 10th and 11th, the blood
of A was found free from hæmatozoa. On June 12th, A's condition was certainly
much worse, with marked loss of flesh, oedema of the under-surface of the abdo-
men, the swelling extending between the fore legs, and the limbs being much