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Horse Sleeping Sickness. A dramatic demonstration of just how useful a veterinarian can be and how badly an animal can need him burst on the convention while it was still sitting. In Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Maryland and Virginia an epizootic† of sleeping sickness broke out among horses. Hundreds of horses drooped their heads, leaned against their stall walls, collapsed into the straw, died. Some, excited by the nervous effects of the disease, banged their heads against the stalls, died trying to run on their sides. A vaccine against this disease, which is also called equine encephalomyelitis and blind staggers, is made from the brains of infected horses. But last week there was not enough vaccine to go around.
* Estimated number of dogs in the U. S.: 15,000,000.
† Among animals (Greek zoa), the equivalent of epidemics among human beings.