_Treatment_ is largely preventive. All wounds should be carefully disinfected. This is especially advisable in punctured wounds of the foot. In communities, or on premises where tetanus is a common disease, animals that have punctured or open wounds should be given a protective dose of tetanus antitoxin. _The curative treatment_ is largely good care. If a wound is present, it should be thoroughly disinfected. The animal may be supported by placing it in a sling. A comfortable box-stall, where the animal is not annoyed by noises or worried by other animals, is to be preferred. A fresh pail of water should be given the animal several times daily. _The course_ of the disease varies. Death may occur within a few days, or the disease may last two or three weeks. Animals that recover from tetanus may show symptoms of the disease for several weeks. The death-rate is highest in hot climates and during the summer months. If the animal can eat, it is not advisable to feed a heavy ration of roughage or grain. A very light diet of soft food, such as chops and bran-mash, prevents constipation and encourages recovery. Drugs that have a relaxing effect on the muscles may be given. Tetanus antitoxin may be given in large doses. QUESTIONS 1. What is septicaemia and pyaemia? 2. What is haemorrhagic septicaemia? Give methods of spreading and controlling this disease. 3. Give the cause of anthrax and symptoms. 4. What control measures are recommended in anthrax? 5. What is ulcerative sore mouth? Give the treatment. 6. Describe the symptoms occurring in rabies, and state the control measures recommended. 7. Name the species of animals affected by foot-and-mouth disease, and the countries where the disease is prevalent. 8. Give the methods of distribution and control of foot-and-mouth disease. 9. What is the specific cause and method of infection in tetanus? Give the treatment. CHAPTER XXIX INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF THE HORSE STRANGLES. DISTEMPER.--This is an acute infectious disease associated with a catarrhal condition of the air-passages and suppuration of the lymphatic glands in the region of the throat. Colts are the most susceptible to the disease. One attack renders the animal immune against a second attack of the disease, but the immunity is not always permanent. _The specific cause_, _Streptococcus equi_ (Fig. 113), was discovered by Schutz in 1888. Strangles is commonly spread by exposing susceptible animals to diseased animals, either by direct contact, or by exposing them to the infection in the stable and allowing them to drink or eat food from watering and feeding troughs on premises where the disease exists. The predisposing causes are cold and sudden changes in the weather. For this reason the disease is most prevalent during the late winter and early spring. [Illustration: FIG. 113.--Streptococcus of strangles.] _The period of incubation varies_, usually from four to eight days.