Pencil-fever

a supposititious disease among racehorses, the preliminary symptoms of which show that an animal has been pretty considerably “milked.” Pencil-fever sets in when, despite the efforts of the “marketeers,” a horse can no longer be kept at a short price in the lists, through his actual condition being discovered, and when every layer of odds is anxious to write his name down. This disorder is also called “milk-fever,” “market-fever,” and other suggestive names.